Indie Duo Islandeer Rocks in Singapore
Meet Islandeer - the musical duo of Christian Jansen and Michael Garcia, which had begun to carve a name in the Lion City. Both born and raised in Singapore, the two met at the Singapore Polytechnic (SP) as classmates in the school’s Diploma for Music and Technology programme.
Islandeer duo: Christian and Michael.
The fresh indie-rock-duo released its first single “Momento” in 2019 and their self-titled debut album “Islandeer” on December 18, 2020. The album consists of 13 tracks, nine of which were produced during the ongoing pandemic.
While finishing their final year at SP, they formed a three-man band with another classmate, Amin. Known as Advanced Press, the trio wrote their own songs and did the usual gigs in Singapore but broke up when their National Service began. Christian and Michael went on to continue writing songs as a duo and eventually formed Islandeer.
Christian’s great grandfather on his mother’s side was a Filipino bandmaster who toured Asia and settled with his family in Singapore in 1940. His Irish-Filipino mother is self-taught in piano, while his Chinese-Eurasian father played drums for different bands in the 1980s.
Michael’s parents are both Filipinos who came to work and live in Singapore in the early 1990s. His father plays passable keyboards and piano, while his mother played the bandurria in school.
The band regularly rehearses for their live performances; hoping easing COVID measures will continue in Singapore. We had a candid chat with Christian and Michael to hear their story, Filipino roots, their music and what comes next.
FMAG: Tell us about your music and influences.
Michael: Our music combines styles from 60-70s rock and pop.
Christian: Also, indie-rock and modern psychedelia. We draw inspiration from The Strokes, Bombay Bicycle Club, Tame Impala…
Both: The Beatles!
FMAG: Any Filipino influences in your music?
Michael: Filipino music has been part of my life since childhood. From hearing various OPM (Original Pilipino Music) songs my dad always played, to discovering current Filipino acts that are somewhat the same genre as us. I gravitate more to the OPM songs in English like “With a Smile” and “214”, but I also love the songs in Tagalog, even though I don’t understand what they are saying.
Christian: Filipino music is very much engraved in my childhood. From learning the National Anthem as a kid from our helper to my grandmother teaching my dad how to sing “Dahil Sa Iyo”. It is a part of my childhood and has influenced me a lot as a person.
FMAG: Do you cover Filipino songs?
Christian: I would definitely like to try covering “Dahil Sa Iyo.” It is just the constant Filipino song in my life, and I love Nat King Cole’s version of it.
Michael: I would love to cover “Alapaap” by Eraserheads with the band. It gives off a lot of The Cure vibes, with a catchy guitar hook and very singable vocal parts. Just have to learn to pronounce some Tagalog words properly.
FMAG: What is next for Islandeer?
Michael: We would wanna go into all sorts of genres. More pop stuff, heavier stuff, acoustic stuff. It is all on the list, we just gotta knock them out one at a time.
Christian: We could possibly do some ballads, but we would probably write it individually and contribute arrangement wise to each other’s songs. Ballads are a bit too personal to be a collaborative thing to us, songwriting wise.
Michael: We are gonna be exploring different genres and be more experimental with our approach to songwriting.
So much ahead for Islandeer; can’t wait to watch them live again!
