NADA, Intriguant and Forests share their artistic journeys in ‘Trust the Process’, an NME x Baybeats documentary

In partnership with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

‘Trust the Process’, the first of two documentaries produced by NME in partnership with Singaporean alternative music festival Baybeats, is out now – watch the video, featuring NADA, Intriguant and Forests, above.

• READ MORE: Baybeats 2023: Delta Sleep, SOS, Forests and more announced

These documentaries come ahead of Baybeats 2023, the biggest alternative music festival in Singapore, which takes place October 6 to 8. Organised by and held for free at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay annually since 2001, the festival is renowned as a celebration of local, regional and international talent of all sounds and stripes. Performers this year include Delta Sleep (UK), Mass of the Fermenting Dregs (Japan), SOS (the Philippines), Wormrot (Singapore) and many more.

For ‘Trust the Process’, NME approached four musicians (and Baybeats alumni) to discuss a perennial topic: the artist’s journey. Every creative walks a different path, not least the subjects of our documentary. NADA, the duo of Rizman Putra and Safuan Johari, began nearly a decade ago as a project interrogating nostalgia by turning old Malay music into new forms. Intriguant is the producer and DJ Louis Quek, who has gone from hip-hop and turntablist roots into ambient, downtempo and breakbeat directions. Darell Laser is the vocalist and bassist of Forests, who play a blend of emo and math rock that has been described as ‘party emo’.

As NME speaks to these musicians, who make vastly different music and are each loved and respected in Singapore’s music scene for different reasons, we found a shared emphasis on process. “In the world of art-making, process is king,” as Rizman of NADA puts it. Intriguant, who treats his music as “a stepping stone to where I’m going next”, wouldn’t change a thing about the “ups and downs” he’s experienced. Darell, too, finds it important to learn from the early, frustrating times – “You need to go through that phase” – and, above all, to keep creating and releasing music.

Watch ‘Trust the Process’ in full above and keep an eye out for our next NME x Baybeats documentary – as well as more videos from the festival itself – coming soon.

Baybeats 2023 takes place at Esplanade – Theatres by the Bay in Singapore from October 6-8. Admission is free. Find more info on Baybeats here.

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