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What better way to entice Filipino travelers than music? That’s what Singapore Tourism Board thought, when it revealed it on Tuesday, May 19 at 12 Monkeys in Century City Mall that it collaborated with Up Dharma Down.
The collaboration, of course, comes in a form of a song and an accompanying video. UDD’s newest single, “All the Good Things” is inspired by their trip to Singapore last February. “It’s not our first time there, but we experienced something new,” says vocalist Armi Millare.
“We chose Up Dharma Down because the band resonates with Filipinos of all ages. They are familiar with Singapore and they best personify the different experience that Singapore has to offer,” says Mr. Adrian Kong, Singapore Tourism Board’s Area Director of Philippines and Brunei.
He says “All the Good Things” will be used primarily for the Philippine market, which is in Singapore’s top 10 visitor arrivals list of 2014. “But music is one of those things that transcends boundaries. The song is in English, too, so if it translates well, maybe we can use it for other English-speaking markets like the US or the UK,” Kong continues.
While it is a collaboration, the band had full creative control with the song. “It’s all Up Dharma Down,” laughs Kong. “From the flavor of the music, to the lyrics. It’s all them.”
Says bassist Paul Yap, “With every album we try to make it different, at least for us, so this last trip to Singapore, where we saw a lot of new things, it really inspired us.”
The band went around SG, exploring Tiong Bahru and Haji Lane, drinking at rooftop bars, and hanging out at the Gardens by the Bay and the Garden Rhapsody, which, both the band and STB agree, have been translated eloquently into the song.
The accompanying video features some of the sights and places that inspired. Adds Kong, if you visit the STB’s website, you will find special promotions and discounts of those very same sights and places. What do you think? Maybe somebody should start a UDD tour in SG?
This campaign is part of STB’s 50th anniversary so that’s why they’re going all out on this, collaborating with local talents like Up Dharma Down to entice different markets around the world to visit the Lion City.
“All the Good Things,” says UDD, will be included in their fourth album, to be released in the first quarter of 2016.
Watch the video below:
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