Latest / 987 The Shock Circuit / INTERVIEW: J.P.A.G | THE SHOCK CIRCUIT | 14 OCTOBER 2026
Transcript
- 0:03Speaker 1: Today we've got a pretty crowded studio, Joe. Yeah, so
- 0:06Speaker 1: what I'm holding up live on 987's TikTok, if I
- 0:09Speaker 1: can get the angle correctly. Uh, if you want to
- 0:12Speaker 1: book this lovely young band for any events or we're
- 0:15Speaker 1: talking about weddings, special appearance. Here is the QR code.
- 0:20Speaker 1: You can scan it. I think I'll leave it up
- 0:23Speaker 1: for the entire performance, but last week, or was it
- 0:26Speaker 1: two weeks ago, you might have seen a video that's
- 0:28Speaker 1: gone viral.
- 0:29Speaker 1: And covered on so much of our press outlets here
- 0:32Speaker 1: in Singapore and when I saw it, I felt quite angry.
- 0:34Speaker 1: I mean, look, even we talked about it on air, right?
- 0:36Speaker 1: And um just TLDR TLDR, they went from, you know,
- 0:41Speaker 1: an ordinary day busking to a confrontation with an uncle. Yes,
- 0:46Speaker 1: that's the, that's the conclusion, right? And when I was
- 0:48Speaker 1: when they came in the studio, I said kudos to
- 0:49Speaker 1: them for keeping calm because I don't know about our reactions.
- 0:53Speaker 1: You have shouted back, but say hello to JPack Band.
- 0:56Speaker 1: They are in the studio. Hello guys. Yeah.
- 1:00Speaker 1: Good morning. Is this too early for you? Like, how's it,
- 1:03Speaker 1: how's it going, guys? It's going OK. It's great. The
- 1:06Speaker 1: energy is still not there. waking up waking up. Wait,
- 1:11Speaker 1: wait till you hear them sing. OK, guys, before we
- 1:13Speaker 1: get to whatever happened in that video, take us to
- 1:16Speaker 1: your leader. Who do we direct questions?
- 1:19Speaker 1: and then you all can spit among yourselves with your
- 1:22Speaker 1: hands pointing everywhere pointing at each other, pointing at each other. OK,
- 1:26Speaker 1: for the sake of our audience who might uh just
- 1:28Speaker 1: getting to know you right now, maybe you can introduce
- 1:31Speaker 1: yourselves and left to right, what you do, sing, play
- 1:33Speaker 1: one by one. Yeah.
- 1:35Speaker 2: Hi, I'm Phoebe. I'm the keyboardist of the band.
- 1:38Speaker 1: Hello, I'm Jess. I'm the singer.
- 1:41Speaker 1: He's got to lean in. So I'm the guitar.
- 1:46Speaker 1: Hi everyone, my name is Gerald. I play the drums
- 1:48Speaker 1: and I also do a bit of backup singing when
- 1:50Speaker 1: she needs to take a break.
- 1:53Speaker 1: OK, OK. OK, so let's go back to the beginnings
- 1:57Speaker 1: of this band. How do you all even form, meet
- 2:00Speaker 1: and start jamming together?
- 2:02Speaker 1: Um, we actually were at the same place, the same
- 2:05Speaker 1: music school, so we met through there and then um
- 2:09Speaker 1: because uh we, they wanted us to do some performance
- 2:12Speaker 1: in the morning for school assemblies for the MOE schools
- 2:16Speaker 1: and so we started um jamming from there.
- 2:20Speaker 1: Yes. Oh, OK. And how long ago was this? This
- 2:23Speaker 1: was just last year. Oh, so you're like a newly
- 2:26Speaker 1: formed band. Wow, I thought they knew each other for
- 2:29Speaker 1: like super long, man, but that's the impression that I got,
- 2:32Speaker 1: you know what, let's just apply for license. So, so
- 2:40Speaker 1: here's the thing, I mean, the, the concept of busking
- 2:43Speaker 1: and how people perceive it has changed so much over
- 2:46Speaker 1: the years, right?
- 2:47Speaker 1: Um, how did you decide to, OK, I want to
- 2:49Speaker 1: go into busking specifically and not like try to get
- 2:53Speaker 1: gigs another way. Who, who had this idea? Um, it
- 2:58Speaker 1: was my initially and Phoebe, we were already bus, so
- 3:01Speaker 1: we decided that two men is not enough because we
- 3:03Speaker 1: only cover singing and keyboard.
- 3:06Speaker 1: So we thought, why not just create um four-man band, OK,
- 3:10Speaker 1: with Vero with jazz, and let's see how it goes. Yeah.
- 3:14Speaker 1: So why basking first is because we were just starting out,
- 3:17Speaker 1: we were still very new to, to being a band,
- 3:20Speaker 1: so I wanted to try to build our repertoire first. Yeah.
- 3:23Speaker 1: So once we build enough repertoire, then we tried to
- 3:25Speaker 1: just go for another audition for 4 of us and then, yeah.
- 3:29Speaker 1: The rest is history. OK. Only because among the four
- 3:34Speaker 1: of you, at least for me, she shows up on
- 3:36Speaker 1: my algorithm a lot. Jazz, we, we know you can
- 3:39Speaker 1: sing opera, you're an operatic trained singer, and you also
- 3:42Speaker 1: teach music. I love the different ways you teach sing.
- 3:46Speaker 1: How different is operatic singing and then going into pop
- 3:49Speaker 1: music as well? Oh, I think it's very, very different
- 3:53Speaker 1: styles and everything, but the technique wise because I had
- 3:57Speaker 1: formal training.
- 3:58Speaker 1: Into pop was wasn't too difficult for me. So the effortless.
- 4:05Speaker 1: I mean, didn't you see the soundtrack just now, like
- 4:07Speaker 1: pretty effortless already. So I have a question. So when
- 4:10Speaker 1: it comes down to busking, right, um, it's not always
- 4:14Speaker 1: a captive audience. Am I right to say that? Sometimes
- 4:18Speaker 1: on like if you're at a good location with high
- 4:21Speaker 1: traffic of people, they might stop and watch. But how
- 4:23Speaker 1: do you then like build your confidence to just keep
- 4:26Speaker 1: going when people are just like moving around?
- 4:28Speaker 1: I don't know. Do you feel that way? I mean, I,
- 4:30Speaker 1: I noticed that, right?
- 4:32Speaker 2: Yeah, actually more or less because whenever we see people
- 4:35Speaker 2: stop by, we like, oh come on, let's let's faster
- 4:38Speaker 2: like get it on, you know, like just keep going
- 4:40Speaker 2: and stuff like that. But then when we see like
- 4:42Speaker 2: the low traffic, that's when we're like, OK, let's take
- 4:45Speaker 2: a short little water break and then OK, let's faster
- 4:48Speaker 2: like get back into it. Yeah, but it it really
- 4:51Speaker 2: depends on the people as well because sometimes they will
- 4:53Speaker 2: stop by, they will film us and then some people.
- 4:56Speaker 2: They walk past, they were also from us. So this
- 4:58Speaker 2: is how we get like their, their connection with us. Yeah.
- 5:02Speaker 1: So you have to read their energy also the word
- 5:03Speaker 1: of mouth. But I was gonna say, uh, Sonia and
- 5:07Speaker 1: I have hosted in empty malls before and sometimes you
- 5:10Speaker 1: have to try to stop people. So it's very hard.
- 5:12Speaker 1: So we know exactly how you feel. But this really
- 5:15Speaker 1: brings up the shamelessness factor in us. Just do only, yeah,
- 5:18Speaker 1: just sing and host and do it only, yeah.
- 5:20Speaker 1: Hm. OK. OK, so, um, take us to Pasir Ris
- 5:25Speaker 1: right now, which I grew up at actually, that's my hood. Yeah,
- 5:29Speaker 1: and I know, um, two of you live around the area, right? Um,
- 5:33Speaker 1: was it an immediate decision to be like, OK, Pasir
- 5:35Speaker 1: Ris is our zone or were you assigned to the
- 5:38Speaker 1: location when you applied for the permit? when we can
- 5:39Speaker 1: log into and then you can book.
- 5:44Speaker 1: Slot from there. OK, so you select your location. Was
- 5:51Speaker 1: there a debate on where to go or was it no, no,
- 5:54Speaker 1: you were clueless at first. So initially we were thinking
- 5:57Speaker 1: of central location so that more people can, uh, it's
- 6:00Speaker 1: easier for people to come, but then we realized that oh,
- 6:04Speaker 1: the traveling distance is quite far and plus we have
- 6:07Speaker 1: so many equipment.
- 6:09Speaker 1: It was very tough for us, yeah, especially the Orchard area. Well,
- 6:13Speaker 1: the carrying the lugging, everything was very tough. So we
- 6:18Speaker 1: decided that, OK, how about we do somewhere that is
- 6:20Speaker 1: closer for us, yeah, more convenient. Yeah, so we decided
- 6:23Speaker 1: to pass at Pasir Ris. So do you equipment at
- 6:27Speaker 1: the people who stay at Pasir Ris house like the
- 6:30Speaker 1: keyboard and stuff like that? Do you leave it at
- 6:32Speaker 1: someone's house near Pasir Ris? Yes, they leave it at
- 6:34Speaker 1: my house.
- 6:36Speaker 1: You're chosen. You're the chosen one. OK, when we come back,
- 6:40Speaker 1: I believe you've prepared some tracks for us. What will
- 6:43Speaker 1: you be doing for us today? Alright, our first song
- 6:46Speaker 1: will be Don't Stop Believing by Journey. OK. Now we'll
- 6:50Speaker 1: give you a second to set up. We're still live
- 6:51Speaker 1: on TikTok right now, but I wish I could paint
- 6:53Speaker 1: you a picture if you're not tuned in on TikTok Live.
- 6:55Speaker 1: They've actually got a lot of equipment. They brought their
- 6:58Speaker 1: full range of instruments here today. We're very, very excited.
- 7:01Speaker 1: Good vibes, good energy here in the studio. We're about
- 7:04Speaker 1: to have some live music.
- 7:06Speaker 1: I'm very proudly holding up the QR code that you
- 7:09Speaker 1: can scan on TikTok Live to view JPEC's busking schedule,
- 7:12Speaker 1: and you can also book them for events, I think,
- 7:14Speaker 1: given how they kept themselves calm and collected during whatever
- 7:18Speaker 1: happened last week or two weeks ago in that video,
- 7:21Speaker 1: to which I want to ask, OK, someone break down
- 7:24Speaker 1: the entire situation. I'm pretty sure loads of local media
- 7:27Speaker 1: outlets have asked you the same question as well, but
- 7:29Speaker 1: maybe we can hear it from your point of view.
- 7:31Speaker 1: What happened? So we know you guys kept to 65 decibels,
- 7:35Speaker 1: and then
- 7:35Speaker 1: the whole situation. So it was on 2nd of October,
- 7:39Speaker 1: it was a Friday and we booked our busking slot
- 7:42Speaker 1: at Pasir Ris MRT from 10:00 a.m. to 12 p.m.
- 7:45Speaker 1: So we were busking for about an hour and 50 minutes.
- 7:49Speaker 1: So it all was good. There was no complaint from
- 7:52Speaker 1: SMRT and uh our last song was Locked Out of
- 7:55Speaker 1: Heaven by Bruno Mars. Yeah, and OK, then at first
- 7:59Speaker 1: when we started, it was all good and we saw
- 8:02Speaker 1: an uncle approach us.
- 8:04Speaker 1: And initially I thought he was gonna um say a
- 8:07Speaker 1: comment or like make a song suggestion or something, but yes, yes,
- 8:12Speaker 1: song request or then after that he started um telling
- 8:15Speaker 1: us lower your volume, you're too loud and then immediately
- 8:19Speaker 1: I was like, oh, OK, and then I nodded my
- 8:22Speaker 1: head to acknowledge him, but because I was in the
- 8:25Speaker 1: middle of all my instrumentalists, so I couldn't walk to
- 8:29Speaker 1: the speaker to lower the volume immediately, so we were
- 8:32Speaker 1: planning to do it after the song.
- 8:34Speaker 1: But because the uncle was still raising his voice, so
- 8:37Speaker 1: my guitarist actually stopped playing. Yeah, so the volume was
- 8:41Speaker 1: already lowered, but he continued uh raising his voice at
- 8:45Speaker 1: us and he actually went to my keyboardist and he continued,
- 8:48Speaker 1: he continued shouting and um my keyboardist also lowered her volume, yes,
- 8:53Speaker 1: so we were already softer, but um the uncle was
- 8:56Speaker 1: still not satisfied, yeah, so um we had to stop
- 9:01Speaker 1: the music.
- 9:02Speaker 1: Uh, right there, and, um, so a few passersby actually
- 9:05Speaker 1: went up to like protect us, to stop the uncle, yeah,
- 9:11Speaker 1: and uh after that, um, someone told us to ignore
- 9:14Speaker 1: the uncle and just continue with our basking session, but
- 9:18Speaker 1: um because I didn't want to um cause a scene,
- 9:21Speaker 1: I just wanted to leave because you know, um, you know,
- 9:23Speaker 1: their safeties are my priority.
- 9:26Speaker 1: So I told them that, OK, let's pack up, let's
- 9:28Speaker 1: leave and then um someone said to call the police
- 9:32Speaker 1: but I didn't want to blow things up, yeah, so
- 9:37Speaker 1: uh maybe a passerby called the police, so shortly after
- 9:40Speaker 1: when we were packing, the police came and they took
- 9:43Speaker 1: our statements, but by the time the police arrived, the
- 9:47Speaker 1: uncle already.
- 9:48Speaker 1: Yeah, is, is this uncle like recognizable? Like, you know,
- 9:52Speaker 1: sometimes you recognize people walking about. You've never seen him
- 9:55Speaker 1: before you've encountered him. Was he even a Pasir Ris resident?
- 9:59Speaker 1: That's my question. So, so have you all seen him
- 10:03Speaker 1: make an appearance since that day? No, yeah, no, I
- 10:06Speaker 1: think he knows he went viral also. So if I
- 10:07Speaker 1: say I don't want to go there. Someone on TikTok
- 10:09Speaker 1: say you should invite the uncle to the studio.
- 10:13Speaker 1: Find out why. Find out why. No, no, but, but again, again, guys,
- 10:17Speaker 1: kudos to staying calm and of course Jess for being
- 10:20Speaker 1: like the leader and protecting the bandmates and making sure
- 10:23Speaker 1: they're all safe as well. Uh, Lion on TikTok says
- 10:26Speaker 1: Pasir Risians don't claim this uncle. I also don't claim
- 10:28Speaker 1: because I used to stay there on behalf of all
- 10:30Speaker 1: the Pasir Ris, yes, all of us.
- 10:33Speaker 1: So, so before we get to your first track, have
- 10:36Speaker 1: you guys received a lot more requests and follows ever
- 10:40Speaker 1: since that incident because it was pretty viral. I mean,
- 10:43Speaker 1: a lot of media outlets covered it. Yes. So we
- 10:46Speaker 1: received more requests. Nice and also uh some bookings as well. Wow.
- 10:51Speaker 1: Thank you, uncle.
- 10:53Speaker 1: We, we, we booked you for our studio show. I
- 10:56Speaker 1: love that. OK, now you've prepared a couple of tracks
- 10:59Speaker 1: for us. What will we start with? Right, uh, we
- 11:02Speaker 1: can start with Don't Stop Believing by Journey. Alright, let's go.
- 11:05Speaker 1: Anytime you're ready, take it away.
- 11:28Speaker 1: a small town girl
- 12:11Speaker 1: Smoking
- 15:06Speaker 1: I love that. You know how many comments we're getting
- 15:08Speaker 1: right now saying blessing to our ears in the morning,
- 15:11Speaker 1: loving the sets. Wow, where's this pianist from? You know what,
- 15:17Speaker 1: in defense of their song choice, if you grew up
- 15:20Speaker 1: watching Glee, this made me very happy. Don't stop believing.
- 15:25Speaker 1: You know, it's been a while since we've had that
- 15:26Speaker 1: song on air.
- 15:28Speaker 1: Because we play top 40 music most of the time, right?
- 15:30Speaker 1: But thank you for putting a fresh spin on it. Um,
- 15:32Speaker 1: is that one of your favorite songs to perform in general?
- 15:34Speaker 1: It is. Why? It's just a feel good kind of
- 15:37Speaker 1: thing or this gets us a lot of. Yeah, I mean,
- 15:41Speaker 1: it's one of the ultimate sing-alongs to jam. But can
- 15:45Speaker 1: I read a comment from Shariki, the uncle coming to
- 15:48Speaker 1: 987 now.
- 15:50Speaker 1: Uncle on the way.
- 15:53Speaker 1: I mean, to answer some of your questions on TikTok Live, yes,
- 15:56Speaker 1: it's their first time here in the studio. We're very
- 15:58Speaker 1: happy to have them here. And it's been a long
- 15:59Speaker 1: time since we've had like a full band like that
- 16:02Speaker 1: in the studio, you know, I think it's so impressive.
- 16:04Speaker 1: I'm glad our space can accommodate, but we know you
- 16:06Speaker 1: have one more song for us. Do you need a
- 16:08Speaker 1: break or anything? OK?
- 16:10Speaker 1: No, they're good lah. I think they're fine. They can
- 16:12Speaker 1: keep going. I hold the board again. What? It's OK,
- 16:16Speaker 1: it's OK. We can prop it up. We don't distract
- 16:18Speaker 1: the performance. Just sit down, just sit down. OK. Ready?
- 16:22Speaker 1: What are you going to be performing for us here today?
- 16:26Speaker 1: By the way, this is like life decision making right now.
- 16:33Speaker 1: casually having this conversation while we are still live on air,
- 16:36Speaker 1: by the way. Can I, can I play as the uncle? Yes, please.
- 16:40Speaker 1: I think you are the uncle. I want to sing
- 16:43Speaker 1: the full song not being interrupted. Ready anytime. OK, no,
- 16:47Speaker 1: take your time, take your time. No rush, no rush.
- 16:51Speaker 1: Guitarist the taps. Get ready. If this is proof that
- 16:54Speaker 1: it's absolutely life, OK, if you needed any extra proof
- 16:58Speaker 1: at all, um, I think that some of the song
- 17:01Speaker 1: requests coming through right now and a lot of people
- 17:04Speaker 1: saying uncle on his way, OK, don't worry. We know,
- 17:06Speaker 1: we know, we know. Ready anytime you guys are. Let's
- 17:11Speaker 1: go in 32112123.
- 17:49Speaker 1: I'm.
- 17:50Speaker 1: time you spend
- 17:55Speaker 1: makes.
- 17:57Speaker 1: red
- 18:47Speaker 1: You brimming.
- 18:48Speaker 1: Please make me testify.
- 18:53Speaker 1: You can
- 18:55Speaker 1: Change.
- 19:01Speaker 1: I can't wait.
- 19:06Speaker 1: And
- 20:54Speaker 1: And give it.
- 20:58Speaker 1: Wow, what a great performance, you guys. Thank you so
- 21:01Speaker 1: much for putting that up. You've got so many fan
- 21:03Speaker 1: messages coming through right now, by the way. Um, people
- 21:05Speaker 1: saying the pianist is my idol. Um, I want to
- 21:08Speaker 1: see the guitarist's face. I want to sing like you.
- 21:11Speaker 1: Where's the drummer's face?
- 21:14Speaker 1: A lot of new fans here this morning. Their singing
- 21:16Speaker 1: woke me up. Good. OK. So, a quick question, now
- 21:19Speaker 1: that you are done with us here on 987, are
- 21:21Speaker 1: you all gonna zoom on down to Pasir Ris to
- 21:24Speaker 1: what's the plan? What's the plan for today? I'll be
- 21:26Speaker 1: going back to school. Oh, OK. And, and what else
- 21:30Speaker 1: can you tell us? I mean, I know we have
- 21:31Speaker 1: the QR code here, but maybe for our on-air audience
- 21:33Speaker 1: who cannot, you know.
- 21:34Speaker 1: scan it right now. Um, what are some of your
- 21:36Speaker 1: upcoming gigs that we can catch you at? We'll be
- 21:39Speaker 1: having a Halloween gig on 24th October, Saturday. It's at CC.
- 21:48Speaker 1: That's happening very soon actually. So are you dressing up
- 21:50Speaker 1: as anything like Halloween dressing up as the uncle, right?
- 21:56Speaker 1: That's why the uncle in play. Honestly, that'll be damn funny.
- 22:00Speaker 1: Your uncle is somewhere here in Singapore twitching, talking about
- 22:04Speaker 1: me we got to thank him. We got to thank
- 22:06Speaker 1: him for all this publicity right now, man, for sure.
- 22:09Speaker 1: But no, for real, why are you wearing? We bought Teletubby.
- 22:13Speaker 1: So cute. Wait, so are you actually wearing what you
- 22:17Speaker 1: all might be wearing for pole. She's pole and your
- 22:20Speaker 1: tinky Winky, is it in purple. Then Jess, you are
- 22:25Speaker 1: probably lala. And then there's dipsy.
- 22:29Speaker 1: That's hilarious. I don't even remember what is the name.
- 22:32Speaker 1: It's scary that I actually know. So who's the vacuum cleaner,
- 22:35Speaker 1: the naughty Nu uncle.
- 22:41Speaker 1: OK, maybe Joey and I might appear as the sun.
- 22:45Speaker 1: We stand in the background is the sun. Anyway, thank
- 22:49Speaker 1: you so much for all the good vibes here today.
- 22:51Speaker 1: Really appreciate you being here. Would you like to say
- 22:54Speaker 1: anything to your newfound audience? Um, we've got so many
- 22:57Speaker 1: viewers right now, just saying how much they appreciate your
- 23:00Speaker 1: music this morning and they were all singing along as well.
- 23:03Speaker 1: Thank you so much for supporting us. It really means
- 23:05Speaker 1: a lot to us because um
- 23:08Speaker 1: All started from zero, from scratch, so we are very
- 23:11Speaker 1: grateful for all the support this uh this new year, yeah.
- 23:16Speaker 1: Any anything else you want to add while you have
- 23:17Speaker 1: the mic
- 23:20Speaker 2: since you're actually, yeah, I really want to thank all
- 23:23Speaker 2: the support that we received so far because we we
- 23:25Speaker 2: do know that uh because of the uncle complaint and
- 23:29Speaker 2: stuff like that.
- 23:31Speaker 2: It might have been a bit scary to us, but
- 23:33Speaker 2: thank you for all your positive comments, and that always
- 23:37Speaker 2: keeps us going,
- 23:38Speaker 1: yeah.
- 23:42Speaker 1: Anyone else? Anything else? Uh, anyways, I'm the oldest here
- 23:52Speaker 1: actually and my birthday is just yesterday.
- 23:58Speaker 1: And I'm feeling so grateful to have them. Yeah, they
- 24:00Speaker 1: actually trained me a lot. They scold me a lot
- 24:04Speaker 1: because I'm the, you know, um.
- 24:07Speaker 1: I'm always slow in terms of playing music and need to, uh,
- 24:12Speaker 1: you know, a bit hardworking, but they all are very supportive.
- 24:16Speaker 1: They scold me in a good way, so yeah, you know, uh, yeah, birthday. OK, wait,
- 24:24Speaker 1: can I end this on the one that I always
- 24:26Speaker 1: believe in Sonia. If a busker stops you and you look,
- 24:30Speaker 1: you owe them $1.
- 24:32Speaker 1: Oh, that's the rule, is it the rule. I mean,
- 24:34Speaker 1: if I make eye contact, I'm giving everything in my
- 24:35Speaker 1: wallet really. I'm like, I'm like that under pressure. I'm
- 24:39Speaker 1: that kind of person. So look at her. Thank you
- 24:44Speaker 1: so much for being with us here today. We wish
- 24:45Speaker 1: you all the best for having us. If you have
- 24:48Speaker 1: anything that you ever need to showcase or you want
- 24:49Speaker 1: to perform again, please hit us up. You know what
- 24:51Speaker 1: to do, OK? Alright, thank you, James.
- 24:55Speaker 1: When I wake up. It's the shock circuit with Sonia
- 24:59Speaker 1: and Joakim on 987.