sonicbrat

Charmed by the evanescence of things and the tacet moments in life, sonicbrat celebrates the ephemeral quiesce of an urban reality. The genesis of Darren Ng, his musical penchants reside in the complexity of the simple, quiet and minimal.

For two decades, Darren has carved out a singular presence in Singapore’s art and theatre landscape, weaving sound into over 250 productions, with accolades that trace his relentless pursuit of innovation and defiance of convention.

In 2008, he stepped onto the global stage at the Red Bull Music Academy in Barcelona — a turning point that led to performances and installations at leading international festivals such as SONAR (Barcelona), Zomerparkfeest (Netherlands), and Wiener Festwochen (Vienna).

A multi-instrumentalist trained in classical piano, Darren has been exploring re-interpretive playing and improvisations on various music instruments. An unwavering zealot in subtractive methods and minimalism, he continues to find balance and co-relations between music and sound, blending acoustic instrumentation with the environment, found sounds, field recordings and acousmatics.

Acclaimed by The Wire, Darren joined KITCHEN. LABEL in 2013 with Stranger to My Room. The album has since become a defining work in his artistic journey — timeless and quintessential sonicbrat. Recorded at home, it transforms fleeting domestic moments into meditations on time, space, and existence.

His follow-up, MURMURATIONS (2016), elevated his artistry with deeper experimentation on the acoustic piano. Through inventive miking techniques, Darren uncovered the instrument’s hidden textures — creaks, vibrations, and resonances — crafting a raw yet intricate sound palette that highlights his meticulous attention to detail and intimate sound design.

While Darren continues to keep his pulse on the everyday rhythm of the theatre and arts ecosystem in Singapore, sonicbrat retreated into the shadows, still very much a vital force but just out of view. Where the world could have seen him rise, he chose the quiet — backstage, behind the curtains. At his peak, sonicbrat hovered on the brink of something monumental, as if poised to be Singapore’s very own Ryuichi Sakamoto or Phillip Glass.