Raised on a diet of Shoegaze, Indie rock, Punk and Riot Grrrl mixtapes, Ginette Chittick got her break as a resident at the legendary now-shuttered underground bar, Home Club for 7 years with her cult BEAT! nights. She concurrently did a short residency at Avalon Singapore. She’s shared the stage with Klaxons, Kele Okereke (Bloc Party), Lovefoxxx (CSS), Hot Chip, Mani(The Stone Roses), Kaiser Chiefs, Peaches, The MisShapes, Digitalism, White Lies, Holyf*ck, Simian Mobile Disco, Mani of Stone Roses, Foals, LadyHawke, Holyf*ck, Beachhouse, Yeasayer, Warpaint and !!!. She now dabbles in Nu-Disco and Indie Dance as she sees it as a natural progression from the rock revivalist music that she still loves.
Three questions with Ginette Chittick
A large part of your life has to do with the arts. What do you feel about being labelled “non-essential”?
I think the term “non-essential” needs a little unpacking and context. It was used in the time of Circuit Breaker to categorise services that needed to exist for the citizenry to live, to just basically survive. Would people die without the arts in a short period? The truth is no. It isn’t food nor is it water that we produce. But, (there is a big but!) without the arts, the citizenry will wilt over time. What we as musicians, artists, performers, DJs, designers, etc do is provide food for the soul. So I’m not particularly insulted by that, but wished that more was carefully done to explain what this meant.
Has anything that used to be run of the mill halted for you since the “new normal” has been in place?
Yes I used to run monthly indie rock nights at the Projector called DAYDREAM NATION. I also occasionally joined Aldrin at his Singapore Island Culture Club nights. And now I don’t know when this’ll all resume again.
I have also brought my materials home to work on my pieces for exhibitions where I used to practice in my studio. I do miss my art studio, it’s so calm and I have a large space to work out of. Now I’m mainly working off my dining table.
You also have a lovely daughter (and a lovely husband of course). Can we get to know the lil’ munchkin a bit?
She’s 5 and just a ball of energy. She’s very funny, unafraid to laugh at herself, loves rock climbing, being a princess with lurid pink glittery costumes (what have I done to deserve this? haha) and has just started on her ballet classes. She isn’t too keen on my music that I made with my band Astreal (haha, she knows nothing!). She doesn’t really like to sleep, but it’s always hard to wake her up for school. She also sings terribly out of tune with all the wrong lyrics. It’s so cute, I don’t correct her. And she very affectionate.
Watch Ginette Chittick at F for Fantastic!
More about the event here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/305477767225022/
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