Peter Huang, Tim Kua, Bryan Tan, Jin Ng, Mike Cho and Dolf Ng. The six members of Skritch have become forever inscribed in the annals of Singaporean vocal history. Skritch is a pop-rock, hip-hop vocal band recognized as one of Singapore's—and indeed, Asia's—finest a cappella singing groups. With a dynamic and innovative sound that stretches the limits of human imagination, Skritch has taken its groundbreaking style of vocal music around the world, receiving rave reviews, critical acclaim, and multiple awards and accolades from some of the most influential people and organizations in the music industry. Today, Skritch is widely acknowledged to have pioneered several standards and performance practices in the Singaporean vocal band community, and continues to set the standard for aspiring young musicians who dream of one day performing music sans instrumental accompaniment.
The band was formed in 1999 as the brainchild of Peter Huang and within a mere two years, was recognized as the youngest established vocal band in Singapore. Initially branded as "just another boyband," the boys of Skritch quickly put those notions to rest. Heavily influenced by the progressive vocal band scene of the U.S.A. and Europe, Skritch worked tirelessly to develop a uniquely urban sound and an unparalleled stage presence that would eventually set them apart from other local a cappella groups. Skritch was the first group to introduce "mouthdrumming"—a style of percussion that minimizes the use of the vocal chords and is more closely related to the underground hip-hop element of beatboxing—to the Singapore a cappella scene. At a time when the entire nation was still caught up with traditional "vocal" percussion methods, Peter was taking the lead from his personal mentor Jake Moulton of the American funk vocal band M-Pact, and dilligently pursuing this new and then-unheard of art form. Unbeknownst to him, his beatboxing chops would open an entirely unexplored world to Skritch, and would enable the band to leave the traditional "doo-wop" form of a cappella behind - trading it in for a wholly more exciting realm of performance. It is no surprise that today, Skritch is most well known for its screaming rock numbers, wild rap solos, intense vocal drum-and-bass jams, innovative vocal turntablism and scratching highlights, spontaneous hip-hop dance sequences, and larger-than-life stage presence - in fact, Skritch has constantly been at the forefront of vocal innovation since the band's rise to prominence: writing original a cappella songs, gaining international exposure and experimenting with new techniques, styles and equipment. The sum total of these achievements and facets of the Skritch experience defines the sensory extravaganza recognized today as Da 6-Man Vocal Band Jam.
To date, Skritch has recorded bestselling albums, single CDs and music videos to widespread praise. Their debut EP, Godsend, was sold out across the nation within a mere two days of its release, propelling it to #5 at HMV's Top 20 Hot Singles Chart - a rare feat for a local band (a local, vocal band, no less). They have received personal invitations to sing for the President of the Republic of Singapore, His Excellency SR Nathan, at the Istana (the Singaporean equivalent of the White House), been invited to represent Singapore on numerous occasions at overseas music festivals (including representing the entire continent of Asia at the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America's East Coast A Cappella Summit in 2004), shared the stage with Asian music superstars like Regine Velasquez, headlined benefit concerts for an array of charitable causes, won multiple awards for their music and Live performances and appeared countless times in the Singaporean and international media alongside various celebrities (they remain the only Singaporean vocal band to receive regular airplay on American radio stations); and all the while sharing their gift for progressive vocal music and capturing the minds and hearts of raptured audiences the world over.
