Biography
Cabaret-punk from Palmerston North’s Victoria Singh with (former Builders drummer) Derek Champion. The duo released a CD and 7″ on Andrew Tolley’s Kato Records label in the late 1990s. In a live context Singh was backed by The Santina Droids – Champion and Chris Swain.
Breathy sung-spoken vocals, noodly guitar, drum machine beats, big dollops of bass and organ shrieks. It’s a wholly original sound that feels strangely familiar. Singh had previously appeared as a contributor to the oddball Wellington troop Dr Versuvs And The Uranus Moon Children.
It’s a smorgasbord that’s by part obsessed, possessed, stylised weird & wondrous. Crackpot, crack-up, elegant & detached. It’s a weird film soundtrack to an imaginary film mash of “Logan’s Run” & “Valley of the Dolls“.
Put it in a nowadays context, it’s as if Lana del Rey had gone on a Suicide (the band) bender, did a 24 hour repeat watch of “Barbarella“, then did the same on “Clockwork Orange“…and proceeded to nail down a resulting album of ethereal madcap music.
Kato Records
In March 2014 Singh made ripples in Wellington’s art community with her performance art piece ‘The Waiting Room’, an installation that turned it’s observers into part of the performance:
The room was installed to look like a waiting room “locked in time“. Everything in the room reflected time, patience and waiting – knitted toys, TIME magazines, a large clock and paintings that depicted the tides of time…. The public were invited to contemplate how long they have had to wait, and how waiting may have changed their life for better or for worse.
Footage from video interviews played in the space and was updated daily, the wall papered in hand written “waiting stories” grew. The space itself was also in waiting – for its new occupant. 100s of people waited, representing a diverse cross-section of culture and ethnicity. The duration of this project was 200 hours. The artist “waited” everyday during this period.
The Waiting Room (urban dream brokerage)
In 2019, after what seems like along break from music Singh resurfaced alongside Jamie Scott Palmer in the Peter Jefferies inspired duo Buffalo Bunny.
Members
- Victoria Singh (Dr Versuvs And The Uranus Moon Children, Buffalo Bunny, vocals / guitar)
- Derek Champion (Harmony Sold Her Dragon, The Builders, Nasty On)
- Chris Swain
Discography
- ‘Annabelle’ / ‘Doll Valley’ 7″ single (1996, Kato Records, SS-1)
- Clitoris Goddess (1997, Kato Records, KA9.29362)
Links
- Discogs entry
- BandCamp page
- Satina Saturnina – Sector X (performance piece on Vimeo)
- Victoria Singh’s YouTube channel
- The Waiting Room: Day 1 to Day 9 (YouTube)
- The Waiting Room (urban dream brokerage)
- The Waiting Room (Eye Contact magazine)
- The Mixtape: Andrew Tolley (Radio NZ)