Catch Heritage Live on 13 Jan 2012, Fri, 9.30pm at Esplanade Recital Studio

1. Firstly, why are you guys called Heritage?

My brother Ashley and I actually joined this band Heritage. We never found out why it was called Heritage, I guess it was just a name they thought sounded cool. Nothing deeper than that I afraid!

2. How did  you guys get  together in the 70s?
We(my brother and I)were in a few bands before Heritage, notably Barbed Wire, Polecat and Fried Ice. When Fried Ice broke up, the guitarist Ray Anthony joined Heritage, and when Heritage’s bass player and vocalist left subsequently he invited us to join.

3.  What were you guys  influenced by back then?
The progressive rock movement that was happening in England and the USA. Of course the bands that initially awakened our interest in music were the 70s groups The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals – I mean at the school assemblies we were belting out their songs when we were supposed to be singing the national anthem! Ahem!so much for patriotism…But we were influenced from a young age by my dad’s jazz, blues, calypso and rock and roll records. I also remember listening to a daily children’s programme by Aishah Akbar just for the classical music pieces. Chinese, Malay and Indian music also permeated our daily life and their influences magically bubbling to the surface in our original compositions later on!

4.  The 60s and 70s were considered the Golden Age of Singapore music with bands like The Quest, The Straydogs and Naomi and The Boys – how influential was  Western Pop Culture to Singaporeans back then?
Western pop culture was considered hip because of the constant new songs, trends and fashion that we were being exposed to every week, every day even as does today. A young mind is always impressionable and receptive to new things is’nt it?

5.  Was there  any Singaporean act that has somehow influenced you guys to start playing?
Watching and listening to the local bands back then did have a cumulative effect of igniting the latent spark that was within us. Before we started playing music I remember watching The Straydogs and Pest Infested at the National Theatre and being impressed that they were doing blues and rock stuff that we had just got into!

6. What was  one your  most memorable gig in the 70s?
All the gigs were memorable in a way but maybe the one that stands out I think is the Warner Brothers concert at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur in 1978. We played to an audience of 12,000 and our performance went down exceptionally well with the cheering Malaysian crowd. The next day we were in all the major newspapers!

7. How  vibrant was the  local music scene back then?
I remember a time when local bands and artistes headlined concerts and kind of ruled the airwaves.

8.Did you guys hang out with other bands?
There was always a friendly rivalry among the bands that’s what I can say. I hung out with my band more!

9.How did Heritage  ended up touring Amsterdam? How did that come about and any Rock star moments?
Trilogy, an off-shoot of Heritage, not Heritage per se busked in Amsterdam’s streets and parks. We were not getting any appreciation for our original compositions in Singapore so we packed our bags and left for greener pastures. Mainly we wanted to see how our stuff was received in another context, in another land.

It was summer, it was fun, the Dutch dug our trio’s songs and we made some money to cover our living expenses. We were invited to play on Dutch radio and were featured in couple of magazines.

10.Tell us more about  your gigs in Amsterdam? How receptive were the audience towards an Asian band?
Besides busking in well-known tourist spots like Vondel Park and Dedam Square, we did gigs in clubs like Flower Power and even an Art Exhibition next to an indoor riding school! We had planned to tour Europe busking but we had such a nice time in Amsterdam we stayed the whole summer. Anyways, people from Spain, France, Germany, Italy all came to Amsterdam because of its liberal culture so it was like micro Europe. We always got a good response to our music, even the police would smile and wave, eventhough busking was actually illegal!

11. How long were you guys there and did your musical perspective change once returning to  Singapore?
We stayed for three months until Autumn and then it began to rain so we came back. Back in Singapore it was like a culture shock all over again because we could’nt play originals in clubs. From a high of having the freedom expressing ourselves with our own music back to having to play covers for living, it was sad. It nearly broke my heart..

12.  Tell us about your first album? Which song meant the most till today?
Our first album under the WEA label was recorded in 1979. We were first local band to produce and record an album of 10 original compositions. Back then we were known as band who played their own songs. I remember I was in the Capitol Cinema watching a movie when Jimmy Wee, who had left EMI to head WEA, leaned over from the seat behind and said, “Hey Atwell do you want to make an record?” and I “Yeah sure of course!” After that I could’nt concentrate on the movie I was so excited. So, we put our heads together and came up with 10 songs..The first recording was an experience I will never forget. Little Boy Lost is the last song on the album and probably the most memorable. Composition-wise it is the most melodic and is like a fairy tale about a curious little boy who gets lost in an enchanted forest We will be playing it at our Esplanade concert.

13. Boy Becomes Man? What’s with the album title?
 Boy Becomes Man is the title track. Its a song narrative of how an African boy has to ritually prove his manhood by killing an animal. We set out to do a powerful song of epic proportions complete with real African chants! Ha ha!

14. How has the band evolved musically from the first album and Boy Becomes Man?
Well, the Boy Becomes Man album has more direction and some of the songs have strong messages if you listen carefully. We tried dealing with more mature themes although for the first album we did sort of touch on some. Songs are the perfect vehicles for messages don’t you think?

15. After  playing together for close to 2 decades, was The Realms of Fantasy just another album or  some way a special album?
It was like an experimental album. The songs were also personal and we wanted to record them for posterity if you like. We knew we would have trouble selling the idea to the recording labels so went ahead and recorded it on our own. Moreover, two talented members Rosita Ng and Dharma(now in The Observatory) were leaving the band so we wanted to record their contributions.

16.  Winning COMPASS must have been quite an achievement for a band that has never been mainstream per say. How did that feel?
The COMPASS Artistic Excellence Award was like a form of recognition from our peers, most of them musicians of all genres, for an underground and unorthodox band, so it felt good.

17. Heritage has been around long enough to witness the trends and happenings in the local music industry. From Anita Sarawak to Stephanie Sun, Siglap Five to Observatory – how vibrant do you guys think the local music industry is now? More importantly do you think the scene has reached the peak  or there’s still more to come?
Well, there are more platforms now and the concert scene is awash with international acts unlike before. Does that make the scene more vibrant? Local bands still can’t play a club gig with original material and you hardly hear homegrown stuff on radio!There is a marked preference for foreign bands among Singaporeans. Local bands are always put on the fringe at Arts events, and we are always mentioned last in line-ups if we are mentioned at all! I am afraid we are far from the peak, my friend.

18. So what’s next for Heritage?
To be able to play your own compositions is to have the freedom to express yourself truly. We have been trying to do that for years and every opportunity is indeed a god-send! To see and hear a band in its element doing its own thing, this is what we offer our audiences. Always have. All we ask for in return from our audience is to LISTEN.

19. When the day finally comes and the chapter is closed,  how would Heritage want to be remembered?
Well, we’ll be lucky if we are remembered at all!?