What started out as a lo-fi bedroom project using portable synthesizers and cassette tape recorders has since evolved into some kind of dreamlike technicolour pop universe – one in which Singaporean electronic avant-pop musician The Analog Girl creates and performs using a myriad of illuminating instruments including the Tenori-On, Monome and Percussa AudioCubes. Named by TIME magazine as one of 5 Music Acts To Watch in 2008, The Analog Girl has had audiences worldwide plugged into her sound at a spectrum of venues and festivals including CMJ Music Festival in New York, Nick Knightʼs SHOWstudio Revue in London, Worldtronics Festival at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, the Cirque Electrique in Paris, Superdeluxe in Tokyo, RRRec Fest in the Valley by Indonesia’s Ruang Rupa, Heineken Music Lab in Kuala Lumpur, and Mosaic Music Weekend at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay in Singapore. She has also supported a number of international acts including JUSTICE, Men I Trust, The KVB, Iceage, The Whitest Boy Alive and Telepathe. The Analog Girl’s latest album Golden Sugar Crystals and fourth studio release’s lead single ʻWhat You Are Showing Me Is A Fantasyʼ was handpicked by the editors at Apple Music for Best of the Week Playlist, and second single ‘More Than You Know’ featured on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction with Nick Luscombe. Her newest project is soundtracking a smart business park and building called ALICE At Mediapolis 3 times weekdays – morning, noon and evening.
Three questions with The Analog Girl
This is our pandemic era: tell us, has life been analogous to pre-COVID (pardon the pun), or has it been very different for you?
Haha I see what you did there 😉
Well, there have been some slight adjustments as in I spend more time at home, mostly two weeks at one go before heading out to visit family and running errands for a day. So, these two-week quarantine rounds have actually been beneficial to me as I get to work on my mixes for the upcoming album mostly uninterrupted.
I have also been getting requests to livestream my shows, and I really enjoy doing that as I get to reach out to audiences beyond our shores, and also get creative with the setup and visuals at home.
You play with so many gadgets. If you have to isolate one “instrument” to play with it in silo, which will it be?
For live shows, I guess it would be the Tenori-On. It is this 2-way LED lit sequencer which plays back beats and loops, so that is pretty captivating, and the audience get to see what I am doing on stage with all the lit up buttons, and I would sing on top of this.
We are expecting a new release from you pretty darn soon. What’s your main inspiration or theme behind it? Tell us a bit about it if you will!
Yeah it’s going to be called Awe, and it will be out a day before the F For Fantastic show!! There will be dance pop, dream ballads and floaty instrumental interludes. A couple of tracks were inspired by my love for disco, and Kylie Minogue, but you know, the final product always tends to deviate from concept so you’ll hear some hybrids. I have also been diving into a vast collection of synth sounds and you will hear them drifting in and out of some of the dreamier stuff.
Watch The Analog Girl at F for Fantastic!
More about the event here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/305477767225022/
Live Music in Singapore 