Tape Days: The Final Jam wraps up a great semester

Every year, the student body comes together for Tape Days, an annual concert featuring a variety of student bands at Yale-NUS College. This year, Tape Days: The Final Jam was held on April 19 at the Yale-NUS Black Box Theatre and featured bands that consisted of current students and alumni. Many turned up for the “good vibes”, as well as to support their peers performing onstage.

Manisha Saigal (Class of 2024) singing onstage with the Mani Makers. Image provided by Xinyi Lin.

Manisha Saigal (Class of 2024), the vocalist for the Mani Makers, has been singing with her band since her first year at Yale-NUS. Every year, they perform during a segment of Tape Days and practise weekly in preparation for it. Manisha remarked that Tape Days brings different people at Yale-NUS together through the planning committee, artists, music-lovers, and music-makers and thus celebrates the diversity and resilience of the community. For her, it serves as a time to celebrate what everyone has accomplished throughout the school year, before students part ways for the summer. As a performer, Manisha reflected that she has grown a lot, commenting, “It [Tape Days] has given me more confidence but has also taught me so much about myself. It has taught me how to control and manage intense emotions and to lean on my bandmates for support because it is a team effort!”

Alan Seah (Class of 2025) strums his guitar as he plays with his band, All Dogs Go 天堂 (Tiān Táng). Image provided by Thaddeus Ang.

Alan Seah (Class of 2025) is the guitarist for his band, All Dogs Go 天堂 (Tiān Táng). This year’s Tape Days marks the third performance their band has done together. Formed since their first year of college, the band came together as a group of five friends who enjoy the same genres of music and plays together as a form of relaxation. For Alan, he feels that taking part of Tape Days has increased his confidence as a performer. He shared, “I have become less nervous and aware that I am on stage. During this year’s Tape Days, it felt like I was just jamming with my bandmates but with lights, loud cheers (which help cover up my mistakes) and ten times the volume.”

Aside from being a guitarist, Alan is also an organiser for this year’s concert and heads the logistics committee. He noticed that the popularity of the event has increased with every iteration and feels that it reflects the love the Yale-NUS community has for good music and shows. It also demonstrates how students come together to support the passion of their peers who are performing.

Gabriella Sim (Class of 2024) engages the crowd during her band’s set at Tape Days. Image provided by Xinyi Lin.

Gabriella (Gabby) Sim (Class of 2024) spearheaded this year’s Tape Days. Ever since her first year at Yale-NUS, she has been involved with the concert’s setup, either through organising or performing onstage. She feels that it is important for the concert to embody the same spirit that Tape Days had when it first started, and to be able to pass this legacy on to future batches of NUS College (NUSC) students. Given this, she worked closely with students from NUSC to plan this year’s concert and commented, “I am really excited to see how the future NUSC students will take the Tape Days tradition in their stride and bring their own creative visions of the concert to life.”

Overall, Gabby enjoys seeing how the concert brings the Yale-NUS community together as students organise team meetings and band practices. Besides this, the concert extends to past and present staff and alumni as well. In line with how past community members watch or perform at Tape Days every year, former Yale-NUS faculty member Dr Carissa Foo played bass this year with her band gar(b)age. Reflecting further on this, Gabby noted, “Tape Days is unique because it is almost entirely student-run, and most bands play songs Yale-NUS students grew up with. Hence, it’s an event that everyone in the College can deeply relate to.”