For most musicians here, music is at best a side hustle if not just a completely non-monetisable hobby.

“In Singapore, pursuing a career in the arts is discouraged both by parents and the education system. I mean, your parent might be happy that you found something that you’re passionate about, but they’d never support their kid pursuing it as a career,” says Calvin Phua, lead guitarist of Gouch, one of the bands performing tonight.

No one here is delusional enough to think that playing music makes their parents happy. They play music out of pure passion, and no one epitomises this passion more than Isaac himself. For the past few months, he’s been devoting all his free time to planning the event, designing merchandise, and parodying Baybeats advertising on the Naybeats Instagram account. At the show itself, when he’s not inciting mosh pits, he’s cramming himself onto the tiny stage to sing along with the bands, whose original lyrics he knows by heart. And while he could have made a few bucks off of his hard work, Isaac decided to donate any proceeds from Naybeats to an animal rescue charity.

It’s only because of this shared passion for music that the local indie rock scene is at all sustainable. Indie producers like Isaac make essentially no money off of shows, and no one is bitter about paying the meager sub $10 entrance fee because they know it’s the only way to keep the indie scene alive and thriving.

While wider societal support for the indie scene is certainly lacking, the support within the community is incredible. Plenty of more successful musicians are here tonight to including Jiv from Knightingale, who the CB Dogs had convinced to come watch their debut. He ended up liking them so much that he became their impromptu sound engineer, tweaking their levels so they sound just right. In the local indie community, the success of 1 band feels like the success of every band.

While the community is tight knit, it is also extremely welcoming. In between sets, spectators and performers alike flood the street outside to crush beers, banter, give props to the musicians, and just talk music. I introduce myself to a few people, and before the end of the night they have introduced me to most of the bands. Everyone is so nice to me that it feels more like some kind of evangelical church group outing than a concert, but one where drinking is encouraged and dogmatic doctrine is replaced by good music.

Yet no one is trying to convert me to anything. They’re just excited to know that they’ve been able to reach just one more person with their art.

“It’s cool to see that someone all the way from San Francisco can come and appreciate Singapore’s music,” says Calvin.