British band Lawson stopped by Singapore for their promo tour for their debut album, Chapman Square which reached the #4 spot on the UK Albums Chart. The band has performed alongside fellow British band, The Wanted, Westlife and even opened the show for Canadian punk princess, Avril Lavigne. Urbanwire managed to catch up with two of the members, Joel Peat and Ryan Fletcher as reporters were split into 2 groups for the interview.

You’ve at least something in common with mutiple Grammy Awards-winner Taylor Swift if you idolise Brit band Lawson.

The country superstar was at their London concert just before last Christmas, and came over to after the gig to introduce herself saying, “Hi, I’m Taylor. I’m a huge fan and “Standing in the dark” is my favourite song.”

Lawson bassist Ryan Fletcher who recounted this to UrbanWire on Apr 7 at the Gallery Hotel,  said they were blown away. He added, “We’re just like what?! How are you introducing yourself to us? We’re just 4 idiots!” Receiving such words from their idol and an amazing songwriter was a huge compliment for the guys, who were in Singapore for their Asian promo tour.

Like many guys in their early twenties, the 4 British lads are themselves big fans of Swift. It explains why country music is a big influence in their debut album, Chapman Square, which was released last October. Besides drawing inspiration from her, the boys struck gold when their album was certified gold with over 100,000 copies sold in the UK just 4 months after its release. They’ve also had 3 sold out headline tours. What an accomplishment for the new band who listened to artistes such as Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban, when they were recording their album in America.

When it comes to choosing their favourite Taylor song, Fletcher and guitarist Joel Peat couldn’t stop at just 1, listing songs like “You Belong With Me” and her new single “22” as a few of their favourites. Peat freely admitted loving her albums Fearless and Speak now, while Fletcher complimented Swift on her song “Enchanted”. “ When the first chorus drops, it’s just huge!”

Just as elated were Lawson’s own fans at their showcase on Apr 6 at St. James Power Station. The packed crowd of 900, saw male adults among the young girls and teenagers who made the majority of the audience. The 8 songs they performed in the 40-minute set included faves “Taking over Me”, “When She Was Mine” and their no. 1 hit, “Standing In The Dark”. Temperatures rose visibly when frontman Andy Brown cheekily faked making out with Fletcher when they did a cover of Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger”, and when Brown later squatted at the edge of the stage and leant towards the crowd.

How it all started

The 4 British boys come from different parts of the UK. Frontman Andy Brown and drummer, Adam Pitts decided to meet after talking on MySpace. Brown brought in guitarist Joel Peat, who asked long-time friend and bassist, Ryan Fletcher, to join their band. Lawson was thus born, named as a tribute to Brown’s doctor, who did brain surgery on him when he was 19.

“We clicked as friends straight away, well before we clicked as musicians,” said Peat. Building the chemistry took them “a lot of practice”.

To prevent any big fallouts within the band, the boys also have a strict honest policy. “I know it sounds cliché but we are all like brothers, best friends.” “If someone is being a d*ck,” Fletcher shrugged, “(We’d) tell them straight away, then everything is out in the open, never any animosity,” Peat continued.

Musical Influences

When it comes to personal musical influences, John Mayer was a huge influence on Peat, whereas Fletcher is a more rock and roll person with influences such as Guns N’ Roses and Bon Jovi. Despite their different music tastes, they also have their similarities. “It was quite weird to find 3 lads that are into the same stuff that I was, ” Peat explained.

Hidden talents

Adam Pitts designed the stage show for the last tour in the UK for Chapman Square. Not only that, he also created the band’s logo and has actually piloted a plane!

Andy Brown’s hidden talent is catching fruits in his mouth, from any distance and in any quantity. It’s not as easy it sounds and it really takes skills to do it like he can. His record for catching fruits in his mouth is 15 blueberries, all without biting or swallowing.

Ryan is very proud of his drawings. Maybe that’s why he has so much body art?

Joel confesses that he enjoys cooking. Fletcher vouched for him by saying “I like his food. Solid food, great.” As if we need a reason to get even more envious of his girlfriend?

For those of you who don’t know, the Lawson lads are big fans of tattoos. As we were having our interview with the boys, there was a tattoo guy in the hotel room right then, ready to ink them when they get back. Fletcher shared with us that he wanted to get a paper airplane tattoo to commemorate this experience by getting “a little stamp”, with all the international touring that’s been going on for them in Asia, US and UK.

Another curious fact about Peat UrbanWire was curious about is his phobia of people touching belly buttons. It turns out the phobia runs in his family. “When my sister got her belly button pierced, my dad went mental cause he was like this is the most awful thing in the world.” He told us he had it ever since. “I can look at it. When people put a finger on it, it gets a little odd, I get a little queasy… nauseous… I can’t explain it.”

Fletcher may look the toughest of the lot with his broad shoulders and bulky biceps, but inside lies a soft and emotional person. I mentioned to him about his tweet the day before, where he tweeted the lyrics of American rapper Chris Brown’s “Don’t Judge Me”. Turns out he was “vibing out last night”. “All the lads actually laughed at me,” he said. He then told UrbanWire what was on his iPod. “I’m into a lot of Hip Hop and R&B. I think my favourite album at the moment is Frank Ocean’s “channel Orange”… love that album. Obviously bands like kingsley and maroon 5 as well.” The bassist has also “gone back” with music, listening to the Eagles, and country music by Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts and Lady Antebellum as well.

The dream date

When UrbanWire asked which Lawson member they’d date if they were girls,  Fletcher immediately ruled himself out, and not just because he’s attached. He chose Brown who’s known to be romantic, whereas Peat gave his vote to Pitts because he’s a very loyal person. Only Brown and Pitts are still up for grabs ladies.

So who’s the big brother figure and who needs the most looking after? Brown takes the title for both! “Peat explained to UrbanWire, “He’ll leave his phone and his wallet. He is the big brother but he is also the one who needs looking after the most.” “Yeah cause he’s very wise, but he’s an idiot!” teased Fletcher.

Dealing with fame

The newfound fame hasn’t been much of an issue as they’re more easily recognised overseas than back home and only when all 4 of them are together do they get recognised on the streets. “We’re at a point where it’s really nice, it’s not too much, it’s not like Justin Beiber. It’s Justin-oungh to know that you’re getting good enough,” joked Peat. Get it?

Lawson’s filthy fans

It isn’t hard to see why girls are so attracted to them. They’re tall, well-built, charming, talented and have such cute British accents. The Geese, the name their fans gave themselves, have been very expressive and a little explicit when it comes to catching their idols’ attentions. Fletcher recounts some of the not-so-pretty stuff they’ve seen and heard from fans. “There are ones that I don’t want to repeat,” he said with a look of disgust on his face. It was sure hard to come out from his mouth especially when there are words like “Ryan slap me like you slap your bass,” and “Adam bang me like your drums”.

Other crazy things they’ve got from fans include chocolate boobs, grow-your-own boobs, and “mainly boobs” Fletcher nods. “I’m sensing a trend!” Peat joked. However, it gets “quite filthy” with gifts such as a mankini, a 1-piece male bikini, made out of sweets, that Fletcher received and Brown ate, and a disturbing book called “50 shades of Lawson”.

“It’s basically a picture book with various images they found, adult images if you will, with our faces photoshopped on. It was kind of weird,” Peat explained. That book has been haunting Fletcher ever since. “I still wake up in sweat having a nightmare about that, so thanks for that.”

The other thing that irritates them is attention-grabbing fans who “bring a bag of glow sticks… and they just keep throwing at you and you’re trying to play a song but you kept getting hit by glow sticks and it maybe hits your guitar and makes horrible sounds.” said Fletcher. “You should just wear the glow sticks. Wear them with pride.”

Despite that, the boys still gave compliments to their fans, especially the ones at the concert in Thailand, just before they came to Singapore. These used their iPads and phones to light up the concert venue, something really creative that they had never seen in the UK. “Everything else is great!” “It’s always funny when you get hit by a bra,” Fletcher laughed. Another good memory for him was when the audience threw condoms on the stage. “I looked down after the first 3 songs and I was just covered. It was hilarious. That made me laugh. So yeah, it can be good fun.”

The boys also named Singapore’s as one of the best crowds they had, describing our Singaporean fans to be really loud. “You’ll know within the first 10 seconds whether it’s going to be a great gig or not. Last night the crowd was so loud, like soooo loud. The Singapore fans are singing as loud as they could and it was awesome.”

Expectations from Lawson

Lawson hopes fans see and like them as a rock band, instead of a manufactured boyband. “We write music that is very personal to us and put ourselves out there. Every song and every thing we’ve done, every title, especially the band name. Everything is very personal to us.” Fletcher said.

As for future collaborations, you might expect to hear some female vocals and even some rap in their music as they’d like to work with female artistes such as Jessie J, Taylor Swift, and rappers like Wiz Khalifa and B.OB. They’re keen to take a direction similar to Maroon 5, unlike their album now, which is more similar to Irish band, The Script. That said, they’re very inspired by The Script when watching their documentary, watching them perform in big arenas around the world. “Our aspiration is to do venues like that all over the world, and that’s like an aspiration for the band ‘cause we pride ourselves on our live shows and performing our songs live. Touring is like a big thing for us.”

If you’ve not heard of The Drums, it’s about time you did. Currently on their 25-stop world tour, they delivered an impressive and sincere performance during their 60-min gig at the Singapore’s renowned youth-centric nightclub.

Drumming to the Beats

This indie-pop quintet ensemble, formed in 2006, claimed to fame in the States in 2009 with their fresh music and distinctive self-written compositions.

Made up of 5 all-rounded and skilled musicians, The Drums consist of vocalist Jonathan Pierce, Jacob Graham (guitarist-cum-keyboardist), Connor Hanwick (drummer-cum-guitarist) as well as 2 others who only participate in the band’s live performances, Myles Matheny (guitarist-cum-bassist) and Chris Stein (drummer).

Being crowned the ‘Best Hope for 2010’ in a readers’ poll from Pitchfork Media, The Drums has been hailed by magazines and critics since 2009 as one of the most notable groups foreseen to be the next big thing.

Live and Loaded

The Drums held the screaming fans captive during their show at St. James Power Station Powerhouse.

The band kicked off the night with ‘What You Were’, a track from their upcoming album, slated to be released at the end of the year. From Jonathan’s melodramatic vocals to Jacob’s upbeat keyboard prowess, and even to Chris’s deep immersion in the performances, The Drums successfully executed 15 songs, including their hit singles ‘Let’s Go Surfing’, ‘Best Friend’ and ‘Forever and Ever Amen”. In the midst of the concert, the band also performed another unreleased track entitled ‘Money’.

But what kept the audience enthralled throughout the 1-hour concert was probably lead vocalist Jonathan’s signature dance moves, emotional singing and outlandish behavior – rolling his eyes, playing with his ‘air keyboard and guitar’, swaying his body as if he was tipsy; you name it, he did it. Perhaps he was just too engrossed. Nevertheless, you have to give him major points for his candid and unfeigned personality as he poured out his heart and soul for pieces such as ‘We Tried’.

Into the 45^th minute of the show, The Drums earned many disappointed groans from the fans as they announced ‘Forever and Ever Amen’ to be the final song of the night. Nevertheless, die-hard fans called for an encore by chanting, ‘We want more! We want more!’ in perfect unison. When that didn’t work out, they belted out a choir version of ‘Down By The Water’. Eventually, they erupted into cheers when The Drums reappeared onto the stage, rewarding the fans’ dedication with an encore performance of 3 more songs – ‘Skippin Town’, ‘Down By The Water’ and ‘The Future’.

Lead vocalist Jonathan delivers a passionate performance to the horde of fans.

Eager fans take the chance to interact with Jonathan as he descends into the animated crowd.

It’s Not the End Yet

Devoted fans who missed the band’s performance, don’t have to kick themselves, the band’s promised to return to Singapore for another show. With their forthcoming new album due out in several months it may not be much longer…

From left: Connor, Jonathan, Jacob

Urbanwire snagged an exclusive interview with drummer-guitarist Connor Hanwick before the gig at Curious Teepee.

Q: How do you find Singapore?

Connor: “It’s really cool. This is the first time we (The Drums) have been here and it’s a really distinct city. It doesn’t really look like anywhere else we’ve been. Statically, it looks different, and it feels different. It feels like Japan in the summer, but it looks really modern, almost like Brazil. It’s just like a crazy mash of a lot of places.”

Q: Recently, Urbanwire did a phone interview with Jacob, and he said that ‘Book of Stories’ is the song that represents the band. Out of all the songs, why this one?

Connor: “I guess it’s just the sensibilities in that song. It’s like dance-y, yet the lyrics are very miserable. If we are not completely one-sided, it has all the sides that are incorporated in The Drums, I guess.”

Q: Are there any music festivals that you guys really want to play at? Any specific countries you guys would like to go?

Connor: “I’m pretty excited to go to China. I was excited to come here (Singapore), and now we’re here. Festivals, I actually like go to watch that, and if there were any I’d like to perform at, it would be All Tomorrow’s Parties (ATP). I don’t go to a lot of festivals to hang out but I actually go to the festival if there’s somebody I like.”

Q: Which bands inspire you and whom you’d love to play alongside?

Connor: “We’ve been lucky enough to play with a lot of really good bands… There’s a ton of bands that inspire me I guess. The Pastels, Beat Happening, Beastie Boys, Dulite, Joe Smooth.”

Q: What were you guys doing before the band formed, and how did you meet?

Connor: “I was a cook at a restaurant (laughs). It wasn’t very good though. I’d probably got fired really quickly if it wasn’t my friend’s restaurant, but I worked there for 4 years. Jon and Jacob were working at different shops. They met a long time ago when they were kids but I met them about 2 weeks before we started the band.”

Q: Have The Drums gotten into any conflicts while touring?

Connor: “Yeah (laughs). We definitely have, but probably not as many as other bands. I think our touring lives are pretty tame compared to any other bands.”

Q: Do you guys prefer to party or chill out?

Connor: “I guess it goes in phases, depending on the kind of mood. Usually if it’s a long tour, we’re not going to have the energy to party hard. But we like to have drinks before and after shows. It’s hard when you are on a long tour. Some bands can do it, we’ve been on tours with bands and I was just amazed at how they are really good with partying (laughs). I could never keep up with that.”

Q: Will there be any surprises during tonight’s show at St. James Power Station?

Connor: “For this tour, we’ve been trying out some new songs since we just finished recording a record. So tonight, we’re going to play some new songs from the album that will come out at the end of the year. We had some friends of ours (Myles and Chris) come up and play with us because we couldn’t pull off the song with just 3 of us. So we kind of moved around, I used to be playing drums, now I’m playing the guitar and Jacob moved to keyboards. ”

Q: Which is your favourite song to play live?

Connor: “The song called ‘The Future’, it’s pretty fun to play. I like playing ‘Best Friend’, ‘It Will All End in Tears’, and I like playing the new songs because they’re new and we (Jonathan, Jacob and Conner) have been playing for 2 years (laughs).

Q: Speaking of ‘Best Friend’, did you really have a best friend who died? Are the lyrics of the song based on a true story?

Connor: Nah. It was about Jon and Jacob. They’re really together before I met them. It was about them being best friends. They thought it was kind of a boring thing to write a song so they just made a dramatic effect – they said one of them died (laughs).

Q: So far, what is the best part of your music career?

Connor: “I see a lot of people who are really like delusional, and they sort of like invent a bubble to live within. They are really affected by reality and lose any self-awareness that they ever had. I think it’s kind of like the opposite for me. I feel pretty grounded. When I was young, that was all I ever wanted to do. I think the best thing that my music career has done for myself is to reach the goal by doing what I wanted to do for a long time, without working in a kitchen (laughs).”

Were you rocking with The Drums at St. James Power Station? Share your experiences below!

Additional reporting by Francesca Tay.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Chang, Aloysius Lim and Tay Wan Lin (Kilix Photography).

Pop rock band Maroon 5 played what was their 2^nd and possibly, last concert on Singapore shores on Monday, 25 Apr.

And speculation could not have been any greater as the band, consisting of frontman Adam Levine, guitarist James Valentine, keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, bassist Michael Madden and drummer Matt Flynn, had earlier hosted a press conference where vocalist Levine gave rather ambiguous answers when it came to the topic of the quintet going separate ways.

Still, talk of disbandment did little to dampen the spirits of the audience. As soon as 8.20pm rolled along, drums rolled and the quintet belted out the lead single of their third album, Hands All Over.

From then on, the crowd was experiencing any emotion but misery, as Levine seamlessly progressed into their next song, ‘If I Never See Your Face Again’.

The 32-year-old who’s dating Russian model Anne Vyalitsyna, spoke of how girls were the motivation behind their songs throughout their 16-year career. “The amazing thing about women,” he paused for a moment, before continuing, “Is that you keep us men writing songs about you for all our lives.”

It was clear who the fan favourite among girls was - frontman and guitarist Adam Levine.

It was no joke on Levine’s part. Maroon 5 were formerly called Kara’s Flowers, in tribute of a girl they all had a soft spot for. Their debut album in 2002 was titled Songs About Jane, a jibe at Levine’s ex-girlfriend of the same name.

Naturally, fans got to hear from that album, as Levine took fans’ breaths away with ‘Harder To Breathe’ and ‘The Sun’.

Tributes took centrestage during the 90-minute-long show, as the quintet did mashups of their songs with other classics, interspersing ‘The Sun with the late King of Pop Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘Secret’ with Tina Turner’s 1984 smash hit ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It’, to the delight of fans in their 30s and 40s.

The quintet rocking it out onstage during their 90-minute gig.

Still, it was their own classics that led to their followers singing along to the beat. Amid the rapturous screams and cheers from excited fangirls, more than half the crowd could be heard harmonising with vocalist Levine to their 2002 hit ‘She Will Be Loved’. Levine was suitably impressed at the male audience members’ supposed vocal prowess, referring to the chorus of the song as “a little too high to be sung”.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic student Jolene Sng, 18, who won tickets to the concert, lapped up every moment of it. “(Adam Levine) was so involved with the audience!” she cooed, referring to how Levine tossed his shirt into the hands of screaming fans.

And high was the word to describe the crowd as their deafening screams continued throughout the band’s renditions of songs like ‘Wake Up Call’ and ‘This Love’.

Just when it looked like the band was about to make a repeat of their 2008 gig here by clocking less than 80 minutes, Levine initiated a return to the stage, with more recent numbers like ‘Hands All Over’ and ‘Makes Me Wonder’, before bowing out with a final encore, ‘Sunday Morning’.

After this successful gig, will the 5 of them consider coming back for a third time? Levine seemed to imply so, at the press conference earlier. “What we love about Singapore is the amazing crowd!” he said grinning.

Maroon 5, with (from left) 987FM DJ Jacqueline Thibodeaux, Michael Madden, Jesse Carmichael, Adam Levine, James Valentine, Matt Flynn and 987FM DJ Divian Nair.

After 16 years of performing together, 3 studio albums, 13 singles, and numerous awards, are Maroon 5 finally going their separate ways?

That was the question on many minds about the LA-based rockers during the 20-minute press conference at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Apr 25.

In response to the query, frontman Adam Levine of the Grammy Award-winning band expressed surprise, “Why is everyone asking us that?”

Levine, who also plays the guitar, should know better. He was the one who had hinted to the Rolling Stone magazine at a possible disbandment plan after the release of their third album, Hands All Over, causing a frenzy among diehard fans and leaving the media guessing at when they’d finally call it quits.

Still, Levine appeared as upbeat as ever, as the quintet received a commemorative plaque for attained Gold certification for their latest and possibly, last album.

Despite rumours running rife of the band's possible disbandment, members of Maroon 5 appeared as jovial and upbeat as ever.

Conference hosts Divian Nair and Jacqueline Thibodeaux, both 987FM DJs, had a Singlish challenge in store for the boys. Divian got the ball rolling by challenging Levine to wrap his tongue around the local colloquialism ‘shiok‘ (meaning ‘awesome’), which the latter effortlessly enunciated.

Levine, however, had trouble when it came to the term ‘siao zha bor‘, a derogatory term in Hokkien used to described a deranged woman. “I’ll need you guys to write that down,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Drummer Matt Flynn took to the microphone when it came to a question about their most hardcore fan. The 40-year-old, the band’s drummer for the past 5 years, was quick to mention an Indonesian girl named Pipit.

“She used to email us  – we’d email back and forth,” Flynn chuckled. “That was the first experience we had with any international fan.” This mention couldn’t come at a better time for Pipit, as the band will be performing in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Wednesday.

Michael Madden, the band’s bassist, had a message for the diehard fangirl. “If Pipit is listening, we love you and we’d hope you would come to the concert and bring a banner with your name on it, so we know who you are.”

The band was presented a gold plaque, in recognition of their latest album being certified Gold.

On the subject of American Idol contestants covering Maroon 5′s hits on the show’s 11th season, Levine jokingly shot back, “You mean, ruining our music?”

As the laughter died down, he gave a nod of approval: “I think it’s really flattering,” Levine said, “The songs are culturally relevant, people love it and I think it’s great!”

When quizzed on the numerous tattoos on Levine’s body, the 32-year-old gamely rolled up his sleeve to reveal a tiger tattoo. “I’m part-tiger,” he commented in jest, before going on to show another tattoo representing his hometown, Los Angeles. The jovial Levine even teased the journalists by ‘admitting’ that he had a unicorn tattoo on his buttock, drawing laughs from the crowd.

But seriously, will this be Maroon 5′s swan song in Singapore? To that, Levine would only say, “I’m not sure, I just say things. I like messing around with you people.”

Catch sister TV station CTV’s exclusive coverage of the press conference here.

Photos courtesy of Tay Wan Lin, Klix Photography, m:idea

The group from Bradenton, Florida are best known for their previous single “Check Yes Juliet”, which peaked at 37 in U.S. Billboard Pop 100 charts in 2008.

The band members, Travis Clark who provides the lead vocals and plays the guitar, Hunter Thomsen on the guitar and backing vocals, Drew Thomsen on the bass and Danny Duncan who does the drums, go way back. They originally started as a high school band, and began touring when in college. However, the annals of history tell us they really met at Martha B. King Middle School (Middle School is typically for between 11- to 14-year-olds), which provides the inspiration behind band’s name.

Compared to their self-titled debut album – this sophomore effort, Smile Kid, delivers another catchy, foot-tapping album. Unfortunately, the lyrics lack depth, revolving mainly around the themes of love, girls, with the occasional ode to their hometown.

The music is energetic, and beats are infectiously upbeat, which will translate into live performances nicely. This time, however, the long-haired boys dabble in a bit of electric with the synthesizer, which does the delicate balancing act of making their music more interesting, yet staying faithful to their pop-rock roots.

Smile Kid supplies some notable tracks that fans will enjoy. The album opens promisingly with “She Takes Me High”, “Promise The Stars” and “Heaven Can Wait” with its many hooks, positive lyrics about the depths of love and the typical WTK’s high-powered chorus that will make you bop to the music.

You’ve probably heard their latest single, “Heaven Can Wait” on the radio. While their music video doesn’t quite make sense, the concept of a Dog Show is quirky nonetheless and produces some chuckles.

Unfortunately, the album loses momentum towards the middle with “Rain Falls Down” and “Spin”, which are less than memorable, compared to the other tracks and feel overly long at 4:30 minutes and 4 minutes respectively.

Their seventh track in this album stands out with its progressive story-line type lyrics. Synthesized music is used to good effect in “In-N-Out”, which makes this number sound kooky and fun.

Once again, you can’t escape the group’s love for their hometown, although the references are less direct, unlike “This is Our Town” from their debut album. “Anna Maria” is probably named after the island just off the coast of Bradenton, while “Summer Love” is reminiscent of balmy summer days, freshly-cut grass and afternoons spent at the beach – doesn’t that remind you of the ever-sunny state of Florida? However, both songs lack that something to make them stand out.

Disney girl, Demi Lovato joins the boys in the sweet and wistful, “We’ll Be a Dream” in this ballad that’s perfect for the hopeless romantic in you. The song is well suited to be a duet and has a lovely melody as well as a euphoric chorus. Demi’s strong vocals complement the band well, although there are instances where she overpowers them.

If you purchase the deluxe edition from iTunes, it includes 2 bonus tracks, the acoustic versions of “Heaven Can Wait” and “She Takes Me High”. They are a much welcome addition, as there’s more emphasis on the frontman, Travis Clark’s vocals, which are pleasing to the ear.

Overall, We The Kings know their what they’re good at – catchy melodies and hooks, but don’t rock the boat too much by embarking into more adventurous waters.

Smile Kid provides plenty of fun, infectious tunes, which will definitely please their teenage fans. Most tunes grow on you, although tracks are best played in shuffled mode, otherwise you’re warned against having them played altogether or on repeat, especially if you are not a huge fan of pop music. This can be overwhelming. Ultimately though, to the discerning ear, the album leaves something wanting.

Title: Smile Kid
Artiste: We The Kings
Language: English
Record Label: S-Curve Records
Release Date: Dec 8 2009

Track list:

1. She Takes Me High
2. Promise The Stars
3. Heaven Can Wait
4. The Story Of Your Life
5. Rain Falls Down
6. Summer Love
7. In-N-Out (Animal Style)
8. Spin
9. Anna Maria (All We Need)
10. We’ll Be A Dream (feat. Demi Lovato)
11. What You Do To Me

Bonus Tracks:

Heaven Can Wait (Acoustic)
She Takes Me High (Acoustic)

Mention Simple Plan and you think of punk rock music. But the 5-member French-Canadian band was in Singapore on Aug 2 to meet the press at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and promote, LaMB, an original anime  production by Animax Asia.

LaMB, Filipino author Carmelo Juinio’s award-winning entry for a scripwriting contest will air on the subscribed channel in February 2009. It will also be the first anime that is screened in high definition (HD).

LaMB tale
The anime is set in an indeterminate time in the future in a desert planet known as Cera. There, “Lamination” is a means of slavery and identification where felons wear laminated suits and are hence known as LaMBs. The story revolves around Jack, a scientist, and Eve, an ex-weapon expert, who find themselves involved in this debatable project and eventually fall in love with each other.

As mentioned in the press conference, the anime is of hybrid origins, having Western plot influences, Japanese-style anime as well as Chinese kung fu elements to it.

The Band Speaks Up
Simple Plan, who was in town to perform for Singfest 2008 a premier live music event in the region, were happy to talk about the anime they will loan their musical talents to.

The guys who have been rocking the music scene with their first album (No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls) since 2002, are behind “I Can Wait Forever”, that will serve as the title track of LaMB.

What makes it more refreshing is that band members Pierre Bouvier, Chuck Comeau, David Desrosiers, Sebastien Lefebvre and Jeff Stinco will be showcased as an animated band within the anime. “Summertime” by The Click Five another world renowned band, will also be featured in the show.

According to singer Pierre, the song is about love. It talks about the struggle to stay together with a loved one during troubled times. He added that it makes an ideal song for the anime as it accentuates the plot of the whole production.

The music video for the song will be out in December.

Simple Plan says they want to do this not only because they’re fans of anime (guitarist Sebastian says he enjoyed the Final Fantasy series, specifically Advent Children), but because they can reach a wider audience – in this case, lovers of Japanese cartoons. This is Simple Plan’s second dive into the animation industry as they had previously performed the title song of ‘What’s New, Scooby-Doo?’.

On whether the public can expect to see more of such projects in the future, the band was in unanimous agreement. They believe in always striving to make progress. Trying out new ideas is also part of their game plan as seen by their music over the years. The fact that they love embracing new ideas can be seen in their side projects.

One of the better-known examples of these is the Montreal-based Simple Plan Foundation. Its main purpose is to help teenagers who are facing problems as well as families experiencing difficulties. They hope to make it international in the near future.

The first 2 episodes of LaMB will be aired back-to-back for  1 hour in February 2009 across Asia. More information regarding Animax or LaMB can be found at www.animax-asia.com