BIOGRAPHY

Ugly In The Morning is arguably Singapore's naughtiest badass alternative funk rock band. Merging wordplay innuendos with tight rhythm jabs backed by searing guitars, Ugly In The Morning are veterans at making geeks feel sexy. The band's sound can best be described as an eclectic mix of Funk, Blues and Rock with liberal doses of R&B / Soul with emphasis on vocal harmonies and kicking funk rhythms.

Formed in 1999 from the ashes of an earlier incarnation also called Ugly In The Morning, then a 3-piece acoustic guitars / vocal harmony group formed by Eric Lee, Noel Ong, and David Baptista, that played covers at pubs before deciding to recruit a bassist and a drummer to write original music in a full band format. The band went through several line-up changes before finally settling on Clement Yang, a mad professor of music, on bass; and Goh Ling Pin, who has since added a much heavier element to their sound, on drums.

The band released their debut self-titled album in 2004. Amazingly, the extremely disparate musical influences of each of the members resulted in a strange yet pleasing musical brew that (hopefully) the band could call their own; cramming funk rhythms together with layers of blues, jazz, R&B, rock, punk, folk and even country into a swirling cauldron of bubbling rock reactants, resulting in a madcap brew called Ugly In The Morning.

In January 2008, the band began recording their second album, "For, Nikette Frehley" and released the music video for the first single, "Me, Not Humphrey At 23" in December. The music video, directed by Kenny Png of The Enigmatic Army, garnered airplay on MTV Asia and has been well received by fans and supporters of the band. The band officially launched their second album on the 4th of April 2009 at the Singapore Art Museum to a room packed with fans and friends.

Their sophomore effort sees the band's sound becoming more defined and focused. It is definitely heavier and not as light or tongue in cheek as the first album, and reflects a conscious shift in attitude towards 'song', rather than 'jam'. It should also display a move away from being clever to being meaningful. It deals with matters of the heart (again), and hopefully speaks to you, the listener (in a mildly boozy, slurred but intimate whisper in your ear), about hope, loss, direction and drift, love, redemption, cigarettes and alcohol.

For now, Ugly in the Morning is enjoying the firmest line-up they've ever had, and are dedicated to coming up with the most badass, most kicking original music that they possibly can. As always, their sights are set firmly, but barely, above the gutter. Stay tuned.

Eric Lee

Vocals, Tambourine

Eric's childhood ambition was to become a professional soccer player; unfortunately a weakness for deep-fried foods and large quantities of alcohol put an untimely, though foreseeable, end to that dream. An avid Tottenham Hotspur supporter since the age of six, Eric also loves Snooker and claims that possessing an eighth of Ronnie O'Sullivan's skills would make him a very happy man.

Musically, Eric is a big fan of Adam Duritz's vocal and lyrical charisma and believes that CCR really kicked ass in their heyday. He also wishes the Rolling Stones would retire.

Influences: Jayhawks, Wilco, Counting Crows, Dire Straits, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Meat Puppets, Tom Petty, The Hang-Ups, and Beautiful South.

David Baptista

Guitar, Backing Vocals

David claims to hear music in his head all day long and is very influenced by the playing style of John Frusciante. He suffers from G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and enjoys buying all sorts of guitar effects.

A self-taught guitarist, David is into all sorts of music including Jazz, Classical and even Electronica, but has a personal preference for Rock, Metal, and Funk music. He insists that playing the guitar gives him solace and stops him from going mad.

Besides playing for Ugly In The Morning, David also recently joined Singapore-based Mandarin Goth Metal band, La'Dies, as their second guitarist.

Influences: John Frusciante, Marc Ford, Led Zeppelin, Big Wreck, Jimi Hendrix, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains, Phelps "Catfish" Collins, Tool, James Brown, Galactic, Faith No More, Medeski Martin & Wood, Blind Melon, Mr Bungle, Our Lady Peace, Ben Harper, The Tea Party, Johnny Winter, Primus, Opeth, and Dream Theater.

Noel Ong

Guitar, Backing Vocals

Noel remembers not really feeling like he fit in school -- being 6-foot tall, having a hugely crooked nose, knock knees and HUGE teeth. Where oh where did he belong? The answer came when he discovered the joys of playing the electric guitar when he was 17 years old.

Today, he still feels that strange sense of disenfranchisement but happily has tempered that feeling by finding a woman (thankfully!) that can actually stand him and tolerate his mindless mouth noises, thus reassuring himself of his worth (to at least one person).

Noel loves the Blues and Blues music. He thinks all guitarists should start playing the blues first before branching out into other forms of music. He wishes he could write a really sad song instead of the pithy party-time fluffy mindless crap that he continually churns out, but the magnitude of his talent does not meet the amplitude of his desires. He also believes Peter Green is like Jesus, just fatter.

Outside of Ugly In The Morning, Noel also plays guitar for Singapore-based Mandarin Goth Metal band, La'Dies.

Influences: Peter Greenbaum, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, The Edge, Angus Young, Leslie West, Erik Marshall, B.B. King, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Marc Ford, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Gary Louris, Matthew Sweet, G Love and Special Sauce, Billy Corgan, Big Wreck, Soundgarden, The Jayhawks, Parliament, Funkadelic, Prince Rogers Nelson, Black Crowes, Guns N Roses, Johnny Marr, Steven Street, and Steven Stills.

Clement Yang

Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Clement believes that success comes easily only through hard work. He loves music and aspires to play the "deep stuff" you hear in Jazz music. He also suffers from G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and enjoys collecting various kinds of musical equipment. He insists he looks serious if you don't know him, and looks like a 'dick' if you do know him.

Clement started out playing the guitar and then switched to the bass because there were fewer strings. He feels that timing is more important than anything else when playing in a band, though having a good set of ears wouldn't hurt.

Lately, Clement has been dabbling in production and audio engineering work and it is mainly his production work that you will be hearing on "For, Nikette Frehley".

Besides Ugly In The Morning, Clement also plays bass with The Amps and is also part of the acoustic guitar duo, Timmy, alongside Ngak.

Influences: Jaco Pastorius, Marcus Miller, Billy Sheehan, Nathan East, John Myung, John Pattituci, and Victor Wooten.

Ling Pin

Drums, Backing Vocals

Ling Pin is a bit of an enigma; he looks a little like Brock Lesnar but is really a sweet guy who likes his music, movies, interior designing, and his books. He is also a professional photographer / videographer and enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities in his free time.

Music-wise, Ling Pin listens to all kinds of music and is influenced by almost everything he can get his hands on. Brought up playing classical piano, he eventually took to percussion instruments while in school until he got sick of the marimba, glockenspiel and the timpani, as well as old long-dead composers telling him what to play. Now he draws his fun playing what he likes listening to and teaching kids to do the same.

These days he cuts his teeth playing with Ugly In The Morning, adding a heavier dimension to their overall sound.

Influences: Southern Sons, Dream Theater, Rage Against The Machine, Extreme, Tower of Power, Dave Matthews Band, Primus, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pantera, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, The Spin Doctors, Screaming Headless Torsos, Incubus, Mr. Big, Led Zeppelin, Sting, and lots more.

CONNECT

Connect with Ugly In The Morning
» Facebook
» Email: info@uglyinthemorning.org