Everything You Need To Know About Singaporean Band SOBS

What do you think about when you hear the word SOBS? Sadness, sorrow, tears, heartache, and probably everything else related to sobbing and crying.

Well, SOBS also happens to be an indie pop trio all the way from our favourite neighbouring country, Singapore.

To say that they play sad music is an understatement. So without further ado, let's get to know a bit more about the three talents, Celine Autumn, Jared Lim and Raphael Ong.

We spoke to SOBS ahead of their performance at Urbanscapes 2019's Unlimited Grooves Festival (UGF) with 777 Music Presents.

How did the band come up with the name? There's actually a funny story behind it.

"Celine used to always reply to messages with "sobs" before we had a band name, and it unfortunately kinda stuck," the band shared.

While we may think that SOBS only plays sad music, for lack of a better word, they describe their tunes more as uncool pop music, in the coolest manner.

According to Celine, she had spent her teenager years listening to bands like Hole and Marilyn Manson. Since she really grew a liking for guitar music and chart pop because of that, her music is now subsconciously influenced by all of that.

As for Jared, his music inspirations are the first two albums of Avril Lavigne as well as Weezer's first four albums.

On the other hand, Raphael never really got into music until he discovered post rock and math rock at the tender age of 13. From then, he got really into twee pop and shoegaze.

Now, if this is your first time hearing of them, the trio recommends listening to "Telltale Signs", "Eastbound" and "Girl" to start off with. The three songs should turn you into an instant fan!

Oftentimes, new experiences and friends help Celine when it comes to songwriting.

"I get really uninspired and restless staying in one place for too long, so travelling helps," she said.

Interestingly, the same goes for Jared. Staying in one place for too long somehow inspires his songwriting.

SOBS' show in Kuala Lumpur this year will be their second time playing here, so they are extremely excited to take the Malaysian stage again, especially alongside their favourite bands and friends like Boy Pablo, Sunset Rollercoaster and Lost Spaces.

"The audience that we’ve played to in Malaysia last year was so much fun, and so is the response that we’ve had for the show next month. It still blows our minds that people outside of home listen to our music!" the band expressed.

What else can we say, Malaysian know good music when we hear it.

For bands like SOBS, playing live is always a different kind of euphoria. What Raphael loves most about playing live is being able to make noise.

And for Celine, being able to connect with their fans on a more genuine level is always a plus point, as well as putting a face to the names they tend to see on social media and making friends whenever they're on tour.

Although the band is still fairly news -- they debuted in 2017 -- they are already working on some new music, slowly but surely!

"Right now, we're about halfway through writing our new album," Raphael shared.

And guess what? You'll be able to hear some of the new songs live when they play at UGF with 777 Music Presents tonight, 21 November, 7pm onwards at Sentul Depot.

Get yourselves ready for their show with this playlist:

For more details on what else is happening at Urbanscapes this year, visit their official website, Facebook and Instagram.