Dulcinea

Who they are

First formed as a trio in 2006 by guitarist Mathew Thomas, 31, and bassist Jason Ng, 27 – who met as students at SAE Institute after moving here from Malaysia – Dulcinea is inspired by finding beauty (their name comes from a character in Don Quixote). Along with local drummer Rashid Said, they released an album, The Politics of Fear, in 2008, after which the group recruited two additional members, guitarist Paul Yong and Singaporean vocalist Gerard Richards, who now fronts the band.

Need to know

As a quintet, the group began directly working on a new repertoire of songs – and with its new recruits, the band began gravitating towards a heavier, guitar-driven sound, contrasting with the electronic nature of Politics. ‘We first started playing some of the songs [from Politics], but there was really only one song that had more of a band context’, says Yong, who arrived from Malaysia several years ago. ‘The band has evolved. When we play together, we see what works. Usually we start off by jamming, then see what else we can add.’

Despite all holding down full-time jobs, the Dulcinea members met nearly every week and have now completed recording In the Shadow of the Sun. While it’s the group’s official sophomore release, it’s perhaps the first in which the band truly defines its identity, and the one where they hope to make a name for themselves. ‘We’re working towards getting played on the radio,’ says Yong. ‘There’s a station in Malaysia we’re trying to get onto, FlyFM, and we’ve recently played on the online video station LiveoMusic.com.’ The band also tries to gig locally on a monthly basis, playing at venues such as Se7en1nch and *SCAPE.

Sounds like

‘I guess we’re bordering on progressive, but we’re more alternative,’ says Yong of the band. ‘I think we’re quite radiofriendly in that sense. There are quite a lot of hooks in there, with the guitar riffs and the choruses.’ What about their influences? ‘There’s a lot to mention,’ he says. ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Soundgarden, a lot of late-’90s bands.’ They promise an album-release concert soon; recent shows have featured standout tracks from Shadow such as ‘Sacred Star’, ‘Voice Inside’ and ‘Vertigo’, as well as a few covers thrown in, such as Led Zeppelin’s ‘Immigrant Song’ or Alice in Chains. ‘Usually for our gigs, we will include other ideas,’ says Yong. ‘Gerard sometimes plays guitar, so moving forward, we’ll have three guitars; some time we’ll add some electro sounds as well.’

Go to www.facebook.com/Dulcineaband for more info.