User:VeroLingy/sandbox

Welcome To The Machine (Band)
Welcome To The Machine (WTTM) is a Pink Floyd tribute band. Operating mainly out of Singapore, the regularly perform in and around South and South East Asia. They were formed in 2013 by guitarist Noel Ong and bassist Lim Kiang, in an attempt to recreate Pink Floyd’s music and live shows in as authentic and faithful a manner as possible. Their shows range from smaller and more intimate pub gigs, to full concerts at larger venues, complete with video, lights and lasers to complement the music, and also Pink Floyd’s famous round truss and projection screen.

History
Initially formed in 2013 as an excuse for Noel and Kiang, both long time friends and avid Pink Floyd fans, to finally be able to play in a band together, the project soon gained a life of its own and grew rapidly. As new members joined and the band become more polished, more offers from pub/bar owners in Singapore came along, and the band realised that there might be more potential to this they initially thought. Being great fans Brit Floyd, the band was greatly inspired to emulate their amazing live shows, albeit with their own stamp on it. They also saw that there was a niche in Asia that they might be able to fill, and so started playing more shows overseas in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, as well as slowly becoming more ambitious in their staging and lighting set up. The icing on the cake was the addition of drummer Laurence Bucci, who was not only a welcome addition to their line-up, but also happened to be a dab hand at video creation, editing and production.

With then singer Steven Naarden, the band commenced rehearsals with the intent of playing in the local Singapore music scene. Their first and only show that year was at Home Club in August  Recognising the potential for saturation due to the small music scene in Singapore, the band ended the year with two shows in Saigon Vietnam, playing at Acoustic Bar, and RFC. Through 2014 to 2016, WTTM continued to play throughout Asia, adding bars, Yoko, and Saigon Ranger to their rota in Saigon Vietnam, and also Thaiwai bar in Thailand, as well as Hood Bar in Singapore. Locally the bands’ popularity began to increase once local Singapore establishment Timbre invited to the band to play at Timbre’s Barber Shop venue which led to an invite to the 2015 Beerfest Asia event, also run at the time by Timbre,  playing along side globally renowned tributes acts such as Lez Zeppelin. Unfortunately, due to a back injury sustained by drummer Laurence in 2016, the band took a hiatus. Using the time off, Laurence then developed the bands video productions and rebranded the bands image incorporating the Triangle of Dark Side Of The Moon and the two shaking hands of the Wish You Were Here album. With the departure of singer Steven Naarden in 2017, singer Arindam (Ari) Chatterjee joined the band in June 2017. Timbre Barber Shop soon after became a staple of the band as its local popularity surged. The Band returned to do a secret show show at Hood Bar in June, using the venues large projection screen, as a test of their video production, and laser show. With the success of the show, the band began planing a larger production for the future, playing Dark Side Of The Moon, and Wish You Were Here Albums in their entirety.

Wala Wala Cafe, and Muddy Murphy’s were added to the list of local Singapore venues played in 2018, and three years after their initial debut at Beerfest Asia 2015, WTTM was invited back to play at Beerfest X, celebrating the 10 years of Beerfest Asia. The band used this opportunity to bring their video and stage production ideas to the greater public in hope that the "audience is naturally engaged" by the show, and that "real Pink Floyd fans emerge and appreciate" the show with audiences walking out "thinking ‘that was a faithful tribute band". WTTM went about hiring their own sound and lighting team, and incorporating a laser show, something not seen at the festival before. Again the band played along side larger well known international acts such as The Killer Queen Experience, and the U2 Tribute Show. In an attempt to shake up their stage appearance, during the performance of Pigs (Three Different Ones), the wore pig masks, a gimmick the band has not to repeated since, due to inability to hear well on stage.

In February 2019, as a fully self-produced home-grown outfit, with no high roller financial backing, just collaborations with friends in the industry, a highly engaging video show from drummer Laurence, and a determination to play Pink Floyd, they held their own fully self funded sell out show titled ‘Brain Damage ’. To better the audience experience the band hired local experimental and design team 'MI5Chief Makers' of Zoukout fame to bring a hi-tech show with video projection, laser lighting, circular truss and their quadraphonic sound system. The 'Brain Damage' concert covered both ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ in their entirety, back to back, to a sold out crowd of 700 people at ‘The Pavilion’, in downtown Singapore.The following day members of the band, Noel Ong, Lim Kiang and Laurence Bucci had the honour of representing the band along side famed local musicians Jeremy Monteiro, Jacintha Abisheganaden and Douglas Oliveiro, at the tribute show for Zul Sutan,  “Goodnight, Go Home, A night for Zul’, at the Hard Rock Cafe Singapore. The stripped down version of the band was fronted by singer Pam Oei, performing Wish You Were Here.

WTTM was again invited back to Beerfest Asia 2019 in June, performing at both the VIP tent on the Friday, and the main stage in support of Hell's Belles, the internationally renowned all female AC/DC tribute band, on the Saturday. Once again the band chose to bring its own sound and lighting technician to provide a full show experience for the crowd. Aside from the smaller shows through out South East Asia, in August 2019, Keyboard player and original member, Yuk Wong played his last show with the Band at the Red Noodle Bottle & Bar. Yuk was replaced by Jesse Lai. Wong left the band to grow his coffee chain Venture Drive Coffee. WTTM's last show for the year was at the Star Theatre s Singapore as part of the 'Rock Uncaged' event. This was to be their last large show till 2021due to covid.

Band
Present core members for all shows
 * Lim Kiang - Bass, Backing Vocalist (2013 - present)
 * Noel Ong - Guitars, Backing Vocalist (2013 - present
 * David Baptista - Guitars, (2013 - present)
 * Laurence Bucci - Drums, Samples, Video Production (2013 - present)
 * Arindam Chatterjee - Vocals (2017 - present)
 * Jesse Lai - Keyboards (2019 - present)

Past core members


 * Steven Naarden - Vocals (2013 - 2017)
 * Yuk Wong - Keyboards (2013 - 2019)

Session Musicians


 * Benson Ong - Saxophone (2019 - Present)
 * Amanda Tee - Backing vocals (2019)
 * Zsa Zsa Scorpion - Backing Vocals (2019)
 * Ng Qing Yi - Backing vocals (2021 - 2022)
 * Kit Law - Backing Vocals (2021 - 2022)
 * Edmund Wuu - Saxophone (2022)