Masters Of Their Universe: Psych-Rockers Spacedays Are Still Shooting For The Stars

Spacedays takes you on a cosmic adventure (Credit: Wong Min)

The most intuitive music is the sort that reels you in with its manoeuvres, compelling you to let go of expectations and flow along the journey with faith. As musical skippers, Spacedays steer a vessel that embarks on wild sound voyages, delighting all passengers who dare go along for the ride.

Rooted in psychedelia, the audial stamp of Spacedays is wavy, fuzzy, crispy and foggy all at once – winding adventures that spiral around a groove-locked core. It’s akin to tumbling into a kaleidoscopic blackhole that consumes you, pulling you omnidirectionally with its myriad influences of indie-rock, funk, disco and prog. They present a distinctive soundtrack honed since their formation in 2009, and it’s been bookmarked through their existence by several albums including their Is It In The Circle? debut and the Moondust EP. A miasma of lineup changes, logistical mishaps and hunts for the right collaborators delayed them for seven years, but it eventually paid off with the release of their latest third album, Lucy.

This isn’t a Lucy in the sky with diamonds, but a Lucy in the cosmos with its masterfully-crafted gems. Self-produced by the band with assistance from Kribo Records and Fauxe, the four-track EP dives into the dangers of a mind in isolation; a trope the band explored even before the detaching circumstances of the pandemic. Yet they convey this heavy narrative with whimsical pieces that cover everything from past loves and loneliness, to Geylang and space gardens.

The musical tapestry reflects these imaginative endeavours, showcasing the vim and versatility of their sound. You have the opening “Good Times”, a heady vortex that segues from cosmic lullaby to boisterous rock ruckus. “Lucy’s Space Garden” is an unapologetically psychedelic journey with celestial climaxes and tropical-tinted instrumentals. And then there’s “Disco In Technicolour”, a bobbing funk-hued jam with choppy guitars and chubby basslines. This willingness to shapeshift is what gives Spacedays its magnificent glow, and it is an ambition that shoots for the stars.

Sharing more about this newest excursion, the Spacedays crew take a break from a jam session to engage in some casual chatter. This interview is ready to lift off.

A seven-year delay would shatter the morale of most bands. But not these fellas (Credit: Wong Min)

Lucy has finally blasted off into the cosmos; congratulations on that. The album took seven years to come together. As a band, how did all of you remain patient and hopeful till its long-awaited release?

Akid: We didn’t even think about it. We just continued working on the songs until it was ready. There was no pressure to release anything; we weren’t trying to be famous or get chicks. We just wanted to express ourselves.

Wan G: Yeah, it did not even feel that long really. We were just jamming and recording in the studio and suddenly it was 2022.

I understand there were some roadblocks that delayed the album, such as lost masters and lineup changes. Can you tell us about some of these obstacles?

Mamat: Well, my computer died. And somehow, all the earlier recordings and masters for “Good Times” and “Lucy’s Space Garden” were gone. But we weren’t even 100% happy with the sound so it was also a good thing that we could restart from scratch again.

Akid: But for sure, the biggest hurdle was when Zaki decided to leave the band in 2019. He had been with us from the start writing all the songs. So we had to regroup and luckily, Wan G wanted to join the band and take up the role and make the songs we wrote with Zaki lah. My guy.

01 Spacedays - Lucy Singles - GOOD TIMES.jpg

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Click on the artwork to listen to each single.

One breath of life that resuscitated the album came in the form of new collaborators like Kribo Records and Fauxe. How did these figures help pry the album out of its rut?

Wan G: Kribo had all the vibes and equipment we needed to make us feel like that was the studio to record in. And Fauxe came in and cleaned up our vocal tracks. He really tried to dig into what we were going for and made sure the vocals sounded the part. So it helped a lot when it came to mixing it ourselves.

Akid: Definitely, Kribo and Fauxe were people that I was used to working with and trusted with the sound. And it helps that we were all in Geylang at the time so we were just bouncing between different rooms making things happen.

Some of these songs were written many years ago. As songwriters, do you try to retain the original essence of these pieces or do you let them evolve over time? Have they changed drastically, you think?

Akid: The songs are still changing till today [laughs]. It’s probably going to sound different when we play it live.

Hanis: I think it’s just part of us as a band. We love the jam and seeing where the music takes us. A lot of the earlier tracks have evolved so much that we’ve even forgotten what they sounded like at the beginning.

“There was no pressure to release anything; we weren’t trying to be famous or get chicks. We just wanted to express ourselves.” (Credit: Wong Min)

Let’s talk about some of the tracks in detail. “Disco In Technicolour” is framed as a mock soundtrack for a retro Geylang. Where does this fascination with the notorious red-light district come from?

Akid: We’re here. It is where we are; where we jam and write our songs.

Wan G: It’s the environment that is around us when we meet to jam at night. It has an effect on us.

And where does the narrative of Lucy come from anyway? Who is Lucy in the imagination of Spacedays?

Akid: It’s about an old love. It is Latifah. It is Liyana. It is any girl whose name starts with an L. Or maybe I’m just feeling myself, ’cos it’s my imaginary lover and she might not be good for me.

Another track that stands out is “Echo”, with a theme that touches on mental health and loneliness brought about by the pandemic. Was this song created to battle the social stigma on mental health?

Hanis: I don’t think we intended to battle the stigma of mental health. But the song shares a truth in our emotions and experiences going through bouts of loneliness and feeling lost. We’ve all gone through these spells, and the ebb and flow of emotions kinda resonates with how the music crests and troughs through the song too.

They might be all grown up with personal commitments, but they still keep the stars of Spacedays aligned (Credit: Wong Min)

In terms of exploring new sounds, how do you think the band has grown and evolved with this album?

Akid: We’ve been growing as people, first and foremost. We’re all more chill and relaxed now. We’ve learnt there’s value in working with each other’s creative minds and learning to compromise to let the song go when it’s needed. It’s just a result of playing with each other for so long.

Some might say that there’s a disconnect between being a psych-rock band and living in a conservative country like Singapore that has a history of frowning upon psychedelic culture. What are your thoughts about this?

Hanis: We don’t give a shit. We just play.

Mamat: Yeah, we really don’t care. We just love listening to all sorts of music. And it inspires us to play whatever we want to play so we don’t care what anyone thinks ah. We just want to do our thing.

It’s undisputed that you guys are now veterans of the scene. What do you feel about its growth through the 13 years you’ve been together?

Everyone: We old men siol [laughs].

Akid: Yeah we’re old, but we’re still doing it.

Mamat: Are you serious? It’s been 13 years already? It doesn’t even feel like it.

Hanis: Time to think of a 15th year anniversary, Mamat! Bring back the old members.

And what about on a personal level? How have you felt you’ve grown as bandmates with the emergence of personal commitments?

Wan G: Some of us got baby, got wives.

Hanis: Yeah, now we jam very late at night when baby and wives sleep.

Wan G: But yeah, we’re all open to compromise and accommodate each other now. No longer petty if someone can’t make a jamming session. Like we’re just taking it easy. If cannot make jamming this week, it’s okay, we’ll jam next week.