Lion City Rock

What has Loud Guitars, Big Energy & A Little Cat Chaos? Ultra Mega Cat Attack, that's what! When we saw them at the launch of their EP, The Future Is Meow , we just knew we had to get them on the pod. So we did! Hear from the Singapore alt-rock band as they chat about their music, their unforgettable name, and why it's really okay to wear their band T-shirt at their gigs! --- LINKS Fol...

We're excited about this episode because one of our guests is a local music icon: Dr Liang Wern Fook, one of the key voices of xinyao (meaning "Singapore songs") – which became a national musical and cultural movement. Alongside him is Wang Chenwei, who was the composer-in-residence for the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) and arranged Dr Liang's xinyao songs, which they performed...

A special minisode featuring Friend of the Pod, Patrick Chng, who's back with us to share all about Indie Pride, the new gig collab we're doing with The Substation! --- Links: Buy Indie Pride tickets Facebook Instagram YouTube Buy us a kopi on Buy Me A Coffee

A little minisode to wish our country a Happy 61st Birthday, Singapore! 🇸🇬 🎉🎂🎇 Plus, we've got a few different things going beyond our usual podcast. Deets to come soon. ---- LINKS Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/lioncityrock / Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/lioncityrock / Lion City Rock on Spotify Lion City Rock on Apple Podcasts The Lion City Rock Playlist Buy Us A Kopi Email u...

📺 Watch the episode now on YouTube: https://youtu.be/J7tsd9gKzbY --- Eyes-Free Listening. Originally recorded June 2025 Dru Chen latest effort may be "Sparkle", the new song he co-wrote with singer Gareth Fernandez for the 2026 National Day album. But this episode, we take a time machine to the past. Real talk: We actually recorded this gem of an interview back in 2025, but the chat is so...

Check out the new Lion City Rock YouTube channel WE'RE BACK! (and this time, can see our faces! 😜 ) Welcome back – or if you're new, welcome in – to a new season of Lion City Rock! It's been one hot minute, and we're kicking off with a bit of an upgrade. No more just listening to us talk cock about local music history; you can now actually see what we’re obsessing over on our offi...

Who's the most important person when it comes to a live performance? No, not the singer. Not the band manager. Not even the guy who removes all the blue M&Ms. If you're in a band about to do a show, the sound engineer or sound tech is the person you want on your side. They can make you sound great on the night. (And vice versa if you're being a turd to them.) Like our guest,  Mark...

What is it like being an experimental jazz singer-songwriter in the Lion City? How does one navigate a musical niche in a space like Singapore? How easy is it to explore out-of-the-box musical inspirations in a place where traditional forms seem to be favoured more? Namie Rasman , lead singer of Namie & The Waves and a jazz singer in her own right, takes the hot seat to answer these questions...

With nightlife and entertainment spots closing over the past few weeks – Projector, Vertigo26, and for one hot minute, even Wala Wala – Kevin and Chris ask the hard question: How can dis be allow? In this special extended episode, the TCSS returns – iykyk – as they also unpick the "now you can drink alcohol in pubs until 4am" scheme (but only in selected areas, T&Cs apply) and pick the...

What do echoes, money, dogs and time have in common? What's the dark side of tribute bands? And how much stroking is necessary before a podcast episode can actually begin? Laurence and Noel of Welcome To The Machine, a Pink Floyd tribute band from Singapore, answer those questions and more. Their new show, a complete performance of Pink Floyd's landmark album, The Wall , is a cross between...

Dominic Chin has been singing ever since he was in his teens. His first original song, "You First Believed" – a tribute to Singapore's founding father and first Prime Minister, went viral. Now, 11 years later, he's back with a new single, "Needy" and plans for a new album drop at the end of the year. In between, he's performed thousands of shows – on his own and with th...

Can you believe that it was 60 years ago when Naomi and The Boys released their megahit, "Happy Happy Birthday Baby"? That same year, the Lion City decided to make its way in the world by itself! Coincidence? Maybe. But to mark SG60, we decided to do what all Singaporeans do best: go makan chicken rice – what else? Oh, and Kevin wrote a song for National Day too! Listen here -- "I Love...

It's been a long time coming, but we finally did it! We have Leslie Low on the show! Sure, it took us the better part of three years – specifically three years, seven months and 3 days – but hey, who's counting? Leslie one of Singapore's finest songwriters, and if there ever is a Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame for Singapore musicians, he should be in it! So we got him to answer all...

WE'RE BACK! Welcome to the new phase Lion City Rock, which is... pretty much like the old phase Lion City Rock, if we're being honest – but with more sprinkles! We've quite a few things in the pipeline, though, and we're going to do our best to make sure they all come to pass. Just what are they all about? Listen to find out, lah... "Nothing Is Real" and "Screen Scars&#...

DID YOU KNOW that Leslie Low's music journey kinda sorta began at the same time as one of Singapore's influential arts companies, The Substation ? Well, we didn't – until we were asked to support this cool event on 10 Aug, 5pm at the Esplanade Recital Studio . Passing  is a lyrical and sonic journey through Leslie's indie-pop and soft rock reflections as an artist growing up, livin...

Was there a better way to spend a Sunday than having your eardrums blasted and your face melted by some of the biggest bands of the 1990s? Well, if you're not into that sorta thing, then yes, probably. But for us at the Lion City Rock pod, Day 2 of the BigO 4-0 show brought the house down as six bands took the stage at The Blackbird! Disko Biscuit, The Oddfellows, Rudra, Astreal, The Pinholes...

As crowds throng the spaces to listen to political candidates wax lyrical about how they plan to improve Singapore, the LCR team look back on two days in April when crowds thronged The Blackbird Singapore to listen to veteran indie rockers who came together to wax lyrical about the 40th anniversary of BigO magazine, the pre-eminent champion of local indie music back in the late '80s and throug...

Where can you go to hear a live band play Steely Dan's "Reelin' In The Years" or the 11-minute opus that is the live version of "Sultans Of Swing", complete with sax solo? Well, The Blackbird at Gillman Barracks, that's where. The Blackbird's resident band, Reverie, plays songs that aren't always on your Spotify Top 10; instead, revelling in dishing out rarer tr...

What a show we have for you! Yes, you and only you! Our featured guests on the podcast are none other than The Oddfellows ! They helped spearhead the Singapore indie scene in the late 1980s and have garnered much acclaim and accolades through the years. But what exactly are they doing now? Well, they're part of BigO 4-O: 40 Years Of Counter-Culture , the music fest on 12-13 April at The Blackb...

We're continuing our  Lion City Rock x BigO 4-O  series for the 40 Years Of Counter-Culture music festival, which will be held on 12-13 April at The Blackbird to celebrate the 40th anniversary of BigO Magazine, one of the cornerstones of Singapore's indie music scene of the 1990s. The line-up features The Mother, Typewriter, Obstacle Upsurge, Force Vomit, Plainsunset, Opposition Party, Dis...

It's the first of our Lion City Rock x BigO 4-O episodes for the 40 Years Of Counter-Culture music festival. Happening on 12-13 April at The Blackbird, it's two days of music remembering and celebrating one of the cornerstones of Singapore's indie music scene of the 1990s: BigO Magazine. Bands performing include The Mother, Typewriter, Obstacle Upsurge, Force Vomit, Great Spy Experimen...

IT'S FINALLY HERE: Our monumental mega-episode with ASTREAL ! As one of the key shoegaze bands here in the Lion City over the past three decades, Astreal has been going through thick and thin, releasing three albums and performing at every major gig you can think of. Ginette Chittick (bass/vocals) and Muhammad Alkhatib (guitars) share the ups and downs of Astreal's musical journey: What wa...

Happy International Women's Day! To mark the occasion, we're looking back at an album that made a splash back in the day: No Excuse For Sexism . Released in 1998, it was the first album to feature an all-female line-up, with all-female or female-fronted bands: Clothes Peg, Flying Pills, Sideshow Judy, Psycho Sonique and Astreal. How does the album hold up after all these years? Was it an a...

We're honoured to be part of  No Finer Time To Be Alive , a music event on  15 March 2025, 6pm at Vertigo26  where The Substation will kickstart celebrations for its 35th anniversary. To share more about this lively do is the lively duo behind it all, DJ KiDG, aka Robin Chua and award-winning composer Joe Ng. The gig will feature iconic Singaporean music curated and mixed live by KiDG, and you...

We're honoured to be part of No Finer Time To Be Alive , a music event on 15 March 2025, 6pm at Vertigo26 where The Substation will kickstart celebrations for its 35th anniversary. Featuring iconic Singaporean music curated and mixed live by DJ KiDG (Robin Chua), the five-hour non-stop set will take you through Singapore’s music history, with tracks from legends like Zircon Lounge and The Ques...