Micappella is arguably Singapore’s biggest vocal band. It recently clinched top prize at a competition in Moscow, got 1.5 million views on a video, and even gets flown around the world to perform – a big leap from the days when they had practically nothing. The band shares what it takes to become that good at what you do.
Micappella is arguably Singapore’s biggest vocal band. It recently clinched top prize at a competition in Moscow, got 1.5 million views on a video, and even gets flown around the world to perform – a big leap from the days when they had practically nothing. The band shares what it takes to become that good at what you do.
1 Put yourself out there
There’s zero point in making good music if no one’s going to listen to it. The band, even in its amateur stages, signed up for international a cappella competitions to build its brand. Peter Huang, Micappella’s vocal percussionist (he makes all the drum noises), says the members initially had to fund their own trips. But it paid off when they started winning. Grants started coming in, which allowed them to travel more for gigs and become well-known enough for concert promoters to engage them.
2 You gotta hustle, and hustle hard
If you want to make it big in music, it’s hard to do it part-time. Juni Goh, the band’s tenor singer, quit his job in 2012 to take part in a three-month-long competition in China – The Sing-off China 2012 – which set the band on the path to international success.
Even with the breakthrough, the hard work didn’t stop. Kexin Tay, who sings soprano, says: “Even when we don’t have engagements or tours, we’re recording, shooting videos, and putting content out there.”
3 Make an impression on social media
Two words: viral videos. Micappella members scour the Internet to see what other artistes are doing, so they can identify strategies to make their own band’s clips go viral.
They’ve picked up fast. Recently, their video, Those Lucky Years, a mash-up of songs from two popular Chinese movies, garnered more than 1.5 million views and quintupled their online fan base. The video appeared at the right time – shortly after the original songs topped the charts – and had a fun back-to-school theme that tapped the nostalgia factor.
Frequency matters too. They say you should release good content once a month to stay on the radar.
4 Don’t expect cash to roll in
Some of Micappella’s early gigs were unpaid. Even the paid gigs meant sharing a small sum among the members. “In the beginning, I was earning as little as $300 to $400 a month, even though I did small gigs and taught music classes,” says Calin Wong, who sings alto. She adds that she often cold-called companies to build her network so the band could get gigs and earn more.
5 Have a superpassionate squad
“Decisions have to be made, whether it’s as simple as planning our next song or figuring out where we want to do our next concert,” says Peter. If one member is more keen on performing for passion rather than commercial success, it’s harder to plan long-term and largerscale goals for the band. -SM
Micappella’s solo concert is at 8pm on Nov 4, at Capitol Theatre. Ticket prices start from $48. Go to www.apactix.com for details.
