From Geek to Gig
Drummer Mao Yudi, a Year 4 student, has performed on various occasions such as the charity concert Ignite (2016) as well as the most recent Year 4 Bicultural Camp. In the Bicultural camp, he even had the opportunity to share the stage with Xinyao singer Ms Tay Sia Yeun, along with other Year 4 students. In addition to being a member of the Bicultural Leaders Academy, Yudi was also a facilitator for the bicultural camp.
Since we were already covering the Bicultural Camp, we decided to catch up with Yudi during his lunch break so that he can shed light on how he clinched his gig.
[Note: commentary in italics are inserted by the author]
Before the Xinyao performance:
Q: When did you start drumming?
A: I started ten years ago in my primary school band. (When he was in Primary 1!)
Q: What was your first performance in RV?
A: I joined Revel Fest in Year 3 and was part of a group called Mellifluous with Bi Feng and Chee Wen.
Word of the day: Mellifluous
Q: How did the group come about?
A: I got to know Bi Feng and Josiah (Year 4) through Chee Wen, who was from the same primary school as me!
Q: Who asked you to perform in the Bicultural Camp?
A: Mr Yang.
He contacted Amalyn (Revel Fest solo finalist 2016). She then got in touch with Josiah who then contacted me.
[So what are you waiting for? Start forming your band for Revel Fest, and get connected to other musicians!]
In this segment, Yudi shares with us about his whirlwind preparations for the Bicultural Camp performance.
Thoughts on the Xinyao Performance:
Q: How long did you get to practise?
A: I was only informed two to three weeks prior to the event that I was going to perform.
At that time, we only knew that 青春彼岸 was one of the songs we were supposed to perform. The other two songs were decided on the day the singer came for the rehearsal, which was one week before the performance.
Q: Describe your practice sessions.
A: When I practise alone, I listen to the music which we’re going to perform and think of the beat.
Q: How do you come up with the beat?
A: For drumming, I usually play based on feel. The beat is different, depending on the mood of the song.
You can get the main beat from the song. Other than that, it’s impromptu.
Q: How do you feel about getting to perform with Ms Tay Sia Yeun?
A: It was a great pleasure [touches heart]. Ms Tay shared much of her story with us during the rehearsal. She even treated us to dinner afterwards so we got to hear even more of her story.
Q: Is this the best opportunity you’ve had thus far?
A: It could be one of the best, as the singers are experienced. Other opportunities I’d consider the best are Ignite and ReVel Fest. (basically all of ‘em)
Looking at the final performance of the show, we couldn’t tell that there was just one rehearsal as there were no major slip-ups that day (just ask the people who were there).
Pic sources:
Ms Tay Sia Yeun’s picture https://www.esplanade.com/festivals-and-series/all-things-new/2017/intune-music