Keeping Setbacks At Bay: How Baybeats 2020 Continues To Be A Beacon For The Scene

The legacy of Baybeats stays strong this year, in ways that might surprise you (Credit: Baybeats Facebook page)

As far as local music institutions go, Baybeats is one of the scene’s crown jewels.

For starters, it exposes the masses to sounds beyond the mainstream with its discerning curation of regional alternative music, be it intimate electronica or anarchic metalcore. It’s also a golden ticket to fame for local bands that pass the notoriously competitive audition process, with victors obtaining a coveted performance slot at The Esplanade; an instant boost for their reputation. Together with a pristine track record that dates back to 2002, Baybeats is a festival that enlightens and inspires, pushing the scene to do better year after year.

This year, of course, has been a baffling one. COVID-19 remains a lingering threat that continues to create misfortune for events, with Baybeats being no exception. With crowd restrictions still very much in place, the festival has tentatively shifted its three-day programme from August to November this year, although realistically, its actual fruition is still at the mercy of COVID’s presence in the city.

Regardless, the hardy promoters behind Baybeats are pushing on, with its audition process for budding bands still underway. And in the meantime, they’re even filling the void in the current gigscape with a never-before-seen online edition of the festival, which continues to embody the essence of its physical format. From 21 to 23 August, the online edition will feature a series of live-streamed and pre-recorded performances from local musicians like Bakers In Space, Charlie Lim, ANECHOIS, and Tell Lie Vision. These will be further lined up with archived sets from past editions of Baybeats and panel discussions covering industry issues in the region. It’s certainly an impressive adaptation that feeds the scene, and frankly, I expect nothing less from a team that truly cares for it.

The online edition will feature acts like Annette Lee (Credit: Provided by Baybeats)

Charlie Lim (Credit: Provided by Lee Chang Ming)

And Iman’s League (Credit: Provided by Baybeats)

I grabbed a chat with Sai Akileshwar, lead programmer of the Baybeats team, to hear his thoughts on making the festival a reality in light of these distressing circumstances. And all I can say is that the spirit of Baybeats is still as unyielding as ever.

It’s great that you’re showing so much optimism this year in spite of the COVID-19 restrictions. How do you strike that balance between positivity and pragmatism in organising the festival this year?

In terms of planning, the entire team is quite optimistic. We are always trying to do things that push the envelope. But having said that, one of the major criteria is obviously the safety of our patrons. It’s always been there, but it’s more magnified now because of COVID. That’s where us being pragmatic comes in, especially with a live festival like Baybeats. We’re keeping all this in mind while still wanting to give back to the community. Baybeats is ultimately a community festival. It’s a very delicate balancing game. I cannot say we can dream without any restrictions, but that’s the angle we heavily concentrate on.

How do you reckon this will affect the festival in November?

Baybeats has always been proud to show a lot of local bands, so maybe we will be more local-centric this year, although it’s still up in the air. In terms of the number of stages, it depends on audience experience. Certain spaces are compact, so it’ll depend if we can have a good number of people down there. If not, it won’t make sense and impede the audience experience. We may see a reduction in stages purely because of safety, but it’s not because we don’t have enough bands to show.

What can you tell us about the shortlisted talent this year? Is it as strong a showing as ever?

Based on what we’ve seen, the calibre has always been high. I’ve been with the team since 2016, and it’s quite heartening to see the calibre growing. You see a lot of sub-genres popping up, and certain genres coming back like shoegaze. It’s pretty vibrant. There’s actually no shortage of bands if you look at it. However, this year has been unprecedented. When it comes to the way bands have reacted this year, we are still thankful that they have shown the commitment to even apply for it, despite having uncertainties whether they can meet up and jam. That’s the good thing we’re witnessing, despite how things are so ambiguous now. There are not many bands that have asked us “What’s gonna happen?” and they just apply. All of us are just keeping our fingers crossed.

Also on the lineup for the online edition is Dreebsby (Credit: Provided by Baybeats)

As well as Tell Lie Vision (Credit: Anwar Nurhakim)

The lineup of Baybeats has always been pretty diverse. What determines the curation?

The main focus on Baybeats has always been the alternative side of music. However, it also follows consumption. What do youngsters listen to? So you see other sorts of music pop up like dream-pop and what-not. And that’s why we introduced hip-hop in 2018 as well. The whole thing revolves around our artistic direction. When we curate this festival, the main thing is, when people go there as laymen, they should be able to listen to different genres and stuff they wouldn’t normally listen to. It’s a broad curatorial guideline that we follow.

Baybeats Online will feature throwback sets like B-Quartet’s performance in 2007 (Credit: Provided by Baybeats)

It’s great to see Baybeats adapting to the digital space in the meantime. How has it been planning the upcoming online edition?

It has been quite a steep learning curve, I won’t lie. But it’s been fun too. We’ve kind of put together something that’s a mix of live-streamed events and pre-recorded stuff. We wanted to remind everyone what the Baybeats experience is, be it in the comfort of your own home or through your phone. We have taken certain liberties as to how we’re gonna show things, but nevertheless, the soul of the festival hasn’t changed. You’re still gonna see a huge mixed bag of artistes and genres, but it’s going to keep in line with whatever we’ve done in the last few years. We’re also looking at having multiple components like talks and panel discussions, and even throwback performances.

Lately, there’s been dip in attention levels for online shows and streams. Has this been a concern for the team?

We have our content and marketing team, so that was something they kept reminding us. We’ve found a balance between panel discussions with lengthier durations and more succinct things like performances. The one good thing going for us is the kind of bands that we are live-streaming are the ones that we haven’t seen in the online scene, practically because you don’t get to see underground bands. That’s what we feel is advantageous to us.

Where The Esplanade is concerned, will there be a substantial financial toll if Baybeats doesn’t happen this year?

For us at The Esplanade, 70% of our programmes are non-ticketed. So that sets a few things in motion and you can see where certain ideologies lie. We take a lot of pride in doing non-ticketed festivals and presentations. Baybeats, like many festivals, is a valued festival. It reaches out to that one concentrated segment. In terms of financial backing, there’s always been fantastic backing by Esplanade for Baybeats. But seeing that it’s non-ticketed, the kind of KPIs that we see are more qualitative.

Yes, it’s been challenging this year purely because we cannot do that many ticketed performances; that’s for every other industry. But the commitment for Baybeats by Esplanade hasn’t really diminished in terms of finances. It’s now purely on how can we give that experience no matter what the portal is. Now, it’s us trying to translate it to a different format. It’s unfair for me to say that there’s a huge financial withdrawal symptom, but really now I dare say we are a lot more passionate. Quite sadly if you look at it, there aren’t a lot of things being done for underground music. I won’t say we are the only ones doing it, but we want to be doing this along with a lot more people. We want to be part of that cog in the entire wheel. Thus, the Baybeats online edition.

Baybeats Online happens on 21-23 August 2020, starting from 8pm on each evening. For more details of the lineup, timings and accessibility, visit its official website.