Wayne ThunderExclusive Interview [Thundering over the horizon with Wayne Thunder]
by Bob Tan
There are few on our beautiful island state who have not heard of the brave and bold band the Suns, and even fewer who have not heard of this drummer extraordinaire who's as colourful in personality as he is on the drum kit.
Audioreload proudly presents... Wayne Thunder!
1. Greetings Wayne! General well-being question. How have things been?
Very bad timing on this question! I've been pretty burnt out to be honest, but I won't overburden your readers with the details! It'll all come good though.
2. What's up on the radar nowadays? We understand you've been getting busy with cables, connectors and vst plug-ins.
Yes, I have been spending lots of time in the studio! Engineering/producing/mixing The Great Spy Experiment's new album with Leonard Soosay at Snakeweed has been hard but good work. I co-engineered Shirlyn Tan's upcoming album and arranged 4 of the songs. I'm also producing Levan Wee's (Ronin) solo project. That's been very fun because he's been bringing in lots of different session musicians to suit the songs he's written. It gets a bit disorganized at times but it's very satisfying when we get things right.
Besides that, I've been getting GILArock.com up and running! Keeping the site up-to-date with fresh content is easy but very tedious work. Same with the gig guide - I have to trawl heaps of websites and countless bands' Myspace accounts to stay up to date which is really annoying, but then that's the whole purpose of the gig guide in the first place. Hopefully people will be able to appreciate the benefits of my work!
Finally, GILA does have an events team for which I've been laying down some groundwork for. That side of it is still in its infancy but if things go according to plan, we'll have some interesting projects to play with in the coming year.
3. How does all that sit comfortably with drumming for one of the sunny island's bravest bands?
Well, The Suns are officially on hiatus; we want to compile enough good songs for a full album and tour it internationally, but that's not easy when all three members of the band aren't in the same country. Still, we'll keep trying to make things happen on that front.
4. You've been playing and getting yourself involved in our local circles for a long time now. Anything that's been catching your eye on the scene nowadays, that's worth a little compare and contrast?
It's easy to see there's been a surge of interest in Singapore music in the past year and half; there's lots more people getting involved as musicians, promoters, studio owners, engineers, fans. Bands these days are getting technically better and more committed to learning and being more professional in everything they do, which is great to see, but let's not get carried away. There's still a long way to progress for Singapore music to be a truly viable industry.
5. We haven't done this before, but there's always time for a first - a play-list you think our readers should interest themselves in checking out?
Besides the albums I've been working on in the studio, some of the bands that I think have something special are Nothing To Declare, A Vacant Affair, Caracal, The Pinholes, The Sallys and Comic Strip. I won't get into individual songs. Just go check these bands out!
Before we go, some final personal questions for to pique our readers...
6. I guess the outstanding question that comes to mind - please do share with us your real name? And why Thunder, not lightning, storm, hurricane? The list goes on!
I was named so because I make such a thunderous racket on the drums. It's become such a part of my identity that some of my friends even call my parents Mr and Mrs Thunder!
7. If applicable, does it apply to the volume of your stick playing, or othewise? Haha, we digress - any last words?
I personally don't think I play much louder than the next drummer, if at all. I rarely bash the skins to a pulp or crack cymbals. It's just the style, intensity and emotion you put into your drumming that comes across to people and gives the perception of loudness or "thunderous-ness" in my case.
Last words? Visit GILArock.com, check the gig guide and then go out and support a Singapore band!
