SEPTEMBER FEATURE STORIES

SAVAGE REPUBLIC

Before it was hip to be unhip, a band of UCLA undergrads had already decided on the sound of the future. Savage Republic's Bruce Licher, Jeff Long, Mark Erskine, Jackson Del Ray, and independently Ethan Port and Greg Grunke, had come up with the sound of "rage" one long hot summer in the subterranean utility tunnels of the University of California in Los Angeles. That sound led to four albums over a span of seven years - experimenting with noise, industrial, hardcore with a North African-Mediterranean flavour. It was like an underground attack on the effeminate '80s. Savage Republic were uncompromising. Irregular releases and infrequent performances removed them from the public eye. But through word of mouth, the band's cool album covers and "unhip" music built a loyal audience. Now in 2002, the band is reforming to play The Beyond the Pale Festival in San Francisco with Neurosis, Low, and Steel Pole Bathtub. All their albums have been remastered and are issued once again on CDs. Michael Cheah talks to Bruce Licher and Ethan Port about building a band just for the music. Now in the new millennium, it's hip to be unhip.







DO YOU REMEMBER?
BigO's 17th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

Do you remember all the concerts you went to, your favourite bands whom you swore allegiance to, how young you were and all the hopes you had for the Singapore music scene? In this photo special, we celebrate BigO's 17 years and the people and music we cared for.




THE MAN FROM HONG KONG DVD

Long before Jackie Chan crossed the waters for greener pastures, Jimmy Wang Yu already made the crossing in this Hong Kong-Australian production. A veteran Shaw Bros/Golden Harvest kung fu star by then, Wang was the leading action hero and was poised to look for a bigger market... Of course, it was the action that mattered... choreographed by a 22-year-old Sumo Hung. And while the latter-day Jackie Chan and even Chow Yun Fat (in Replacement Killers) never got the gals, Wang bedded not one but two Australian honeys...

Pick up September's BigO and you might win a DVD of this cult classic.



For more... check out the hard copy

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