Snakeweed Sessions: The Iconic Local Studio’s Eponymous Series Finally Returns

Snakeweed Studios is name that every Singaporean musician should know about (Credit: All images provided by Canglo)

If you deem yourself a fan of the scene, then you’ll know the name, Snakeweed Studios, and its founding father, Leonard Soosay. The former, founded in 2000, is the esteemed brainchild of the dominant yet down-to-earth music producer. Leonard Soosay is a mainstay who’s perfected the sounds of who’s who in the music industry, building a portfolio that’s included Electrico, Plainsunset, Force Vomit, Caracal and West Grand Boulevard over the decades. Till this day, he is someone who hasn’t lost his Midas touch, and remains in demand amongst young musicians who wish to give their budding sound a world-class edge. This is the legacy of Snakeweed Studios, and if you haven’t had a chance to swing by, this new series will give you an inside look.

The studio will be presenting Snakeweed Sessions, a five-part video series that features high-profile acts in the local scene. On this new season, the series will premiere performances of original tracks that were recorded at Snakeweed Studios, spanning both the pop milieu and underground circuit. Performers include prominent pop act, Gentle Bones, who will showcase a medley of singles from his first EP; and mellifluous indie-pop starlet, Linying, who performs new material from her recent full-length. Fan favourite, Charlie Lim, goes orchestral by revisiting his collaboration with cellist, Ng Pei-Sian. And then you have performances of unreleased tracks from dream-pop darlings, Sobs, and grindcore phenoms, Wormrot.

“Carrying on with the tradition of building music communities, Snakeweed Sessions aims to provide artists with a space where they can truly be authentic and perform their songs stripped down, capturing the raw spirit and honesty in their music,” shares Leonard Soosay. “It has always been our vision for Singaporean music to be heard around the world, and it is our hope that this initiative will create a wider reach for our artists, fostering a stronger sense of community-building within the music industry, and provide perspective while serving as a reference for our aspiring artists.”

Snakeweed Sessions is an initiative that first surfaced back in 2011, bearing a similar format of live acts performing in the famed space. It captured intimate performances of bands that helped define the scene in the new century, including MONSTER CAT, Lunarin, Inch Chua and Hanging Up The Moon, just to name a few.

More recently last year, Snakeweed Studios co-launched a video series called Alive and Kicking with National Arts Council. That series followed alternative acts as they embarked on foley expeditions to gather samples, which were used as building blocks of new songs that were recorded at the studio.

Snakeweed Sessions will premiere on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube on 11(Gentle Bones), 16 (Linying), 21 (Charlie Lim & Ng Pei-Sian), 25 (Sobs) and 30 March (Wormrot).