Interview with The Experryment: ‘The three of us found the light again to follow our passion to complete this album’

Singapore-based pop punk band The Experryment will release their debut album If You’d Give Me A Chance later this year, offering us eight tracks about giving people and things a chance.

The band comprises lead singer Perry, Danny (guitar) and Shah (drums). Their name is a play on words on ‘experiment’ and Perry’s name. Perry and Danny met at college, when they were 18 and he dated one of her friends. ‘He was always around and the only common ground we had was pop punk, not many people like it here,’ Perry laughed. ‘He and my friend didn’t work out but he became part of the band.’ They bonded over their shared childhood dream of playing on a Van Warped tour in the US one day. Shah met them at a studio where Perry worked and the band was launched in 2016.

If You’d Give Me A Chance comprises eight songs, including their recently released debut single, ‘Worse Than This’ and ‘Trying Times’, ‘What Is Love’ and ‘Good Enough’: ‘We’re experimenting with pop punk, a few songs are sadder,’ Perry said. Shah weighs in: ‘The whole album is about asking someone to give you a chance, it could be a loved one, or family, give love a chance, give me a chance,’ she said. ‘The album tells a story across the eight songs.’

Their next single will likely be ‘I’m Sorry For Apologizing’, which Perry describes it as an acoustic, more pared back track with violins: ‘It’s about loving someone you can’t have because your heart doesn’t stop loving them,’ she said. That comes across in the lyrics: ‘I’m so scared to say this cause I know that it’s wrong, you’ve got a lover waiting for you at home. But I know what I’m feeling, it’s everything, ‘cos I’ve loved you since we were 18.’

‘Worse Than This’ is an incredibly accomplished and infectious debut and was written by Perry about her high school years: ‘I had a crush on a popular kid but people wouldn’t give me the time of day back then,’ she said. ‘There’s the line in it “I’ll be the first one with a rocket straight to bed”. I just wanted to get the first rocket home, so I could be with them in my dreams.’ I ask if the person in question has heard the song and if they know it’s about them and she laughs: ‘No, I doubt it, they’re married with kids now!’

‘Listening to and writing music keeps me on track’

It has been a tough few years for them, despite playing a lot of shows in 2016 before Danny lost his mum to Hepatitis B. Following that, Perry, battled depression, and, shortly after, Shah’s mum also passed away: ‘Losing my mom, listening to and writing music keeps me on track,’ she said. ‘It really comforts me.’

Perry agrees: ‘So many things were happening, and it was really a trying time, all three of us really wanted to just give up on life, which is why we took a two-to-three year hiatus,’ she said. ‘We reunited again when COVID started and started writing more songs based off our experiences in life and realised that music was our refuge. Eventually, the three of us found the light again to follow our passion to complete this album. We’re happy to say that we are definitely in a better place and more determined than before to let our music be heard, starting with ‘Worse Than This’.

The Singaporean music scene is dominated by metal, according to Perry. Danny agrees: ‘There’s a lot of pop but pop punk is under the radar,’ he said. ‘Modern metal is popular, like Bring me To The Horizon (from Sheffield).’ Perry jumps back in: ‘There’s not much rock.’ Shah agrees: ‘Yeah, it’s really soft or hard here,’ she said.

‘We’re gonna make Mariah pop punk!’

Perry cites her biggest musical influences as being Baltimore pop punk band All Time Low, Nashville rock band Paramore and Taylor Swift. Danny’s biggest influence has been blues legend B.B. King for his incredible guitar solos. ‘Who’s B.B. King?,’ Shah asks him before telling me that she likes Mariah Carey and Eminem. Perry laughs: ‘We’re gonna make Mariah pop punk!,’ she said.

After her first heartbreak, Perry says that she discovered that she could best express her emotions through songwriting. At the age of 9, she wrote her first song and at the age of 13, she taught herself the guitar by watching YouTube videos. She has since taught herself music production and has written more than 20 songs. She’s a fan of South Korean pop punk band Blackpink: ‘They’re dance pop, I discovered them during COVID, they’re very catchy but I have no idea what they’re saying!’ Danny discovered his love for music when he was 12 when he first listened to ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ and says that Guns ‘N’ Roses was a big inspiration for him to learn the guitar. Shah, for her part, graduated from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Singapore) with a major in Fine Arts and Graphic Design, teaching art in high school for five years before deciding to focus on music full-time. She started learning drums at the age of 14 and covered an Avenged Sevenfold track as her first song. ‘Recently, I discovered Olivia Rodrigo, her ‘Drivers licence’ song got really popular.’ Danny joins in: ‘Olivia Rodrigo, she reminds me of Hayley Williams from Paramore.’

If they could tour with anyone, Perry and Danny go with a travelling Van Warped tour. ‘Or to play Glastonbury,’ Perry said excitedly. ‘A lot of bands we look up to play there. Or the Bay Beats festival in Singapore, they have a lot of different genres of music there.’ Shah has other ideas: ‘I’d like to play at the Super Bowl, it would be insane! I wouldn’t believe it even if I was there.’ Perry thinks of some more tour partners: ‘I’d love to tour with Taylor Swift, I’ve been to all her shows, her production is so good. She switched genres and it worked for her.’ Danny picks Sydney pop group 5 Seconds of Summer. Shah is thinking: ‘I’d like to tour with Mariah Carey, I love her so much, her songs inspire me so much. I’ve met her three times at the airport, she let us take photos. She came for the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Singapore.’ Danny is laughing and I ask if he’s not a fan and he shakes his head. ‘He’s a Taylor Swift and Mariah Carey hater,’ Perry laughs. ‘Maybe he should leave the band?!’

(Photo from left to right: Danny, Shah and Perry.)