ARTIST BIO DETAILS

Wendy Phua (pronunciation: /poo.ah/) is a bassist, producer and songwriter from Singapore. She generally performs solo and is known for using mainly bass tapping and live looping techniques.

== Early years ==

Wendy has been performing and recording in various bands since the mid-90s. She was also the founder and bassist in progressive rock band ZHEN that was featured in various high profile events like the ESPN Starsports Asian X Games in 2004 and 2005 1 Baybeats 2 in 2005 for which ZHEN was hailed as the "Best Breakthrough Performance” 3. The band was also first runner-up in a nation-wide music competition Power Jam 2004 held by Power98FM radio station of SAFRA Radio in Singapore and garnered a “Most Rocking Band Award” presented by European brewery Baron.

In 2005 Wendy took over the bass role in a psychedelic rock band The Embryo, formed by guitarist and singer Randolf Arriola since the early 1990s. Inspired by Arriola's craft of live looping on the guitar, which led him to perform at notable events like the Y2K7 International Live Looping Festival (6th Annual), Wendy thus began to incorporate live looping on bass in her performances.

== Going solo ==

By 2006, Wendy started exploring in earnest the bass as a solo instrument. She became one of the very few bassists in Singapore to use primarily tapping and live looping techniques in her solo performances.

Her early childhood musical education was founded on 7 years of classical piano training. This influenced Wendy greatly in her approach on playing the bass like a piano where she would tap conventional bass lines with her left hand and simultaneously tap melodic lines with her right hand. Wendy also sets her bass to various tunings i.e. E B D G instead of E A D G in order to still gain access to the wide harmonic possibilities offered on the piano but limited through conventional bass tuning and playing.

To function effectively as a solo musician during live shows, Wendy's rig is set up in a way that allows her to perform sounds beyond the bass instrument and create layers of music on top of each other. Her gear includes the multi effects pedal Boss GT6B and looper Line 6 DL4, Ableton Live, Mobius and Behringer FCB1010. She also uses a violin half-bow on the electric bass to create string sounds in live looping scenarios.

Wendy is currently using Tobias Classic 4-string bass and is supported by Gibson (Singapore). She is also using Zon Legacy Elite 6-string and Ibanez GWB-1 fretless 5-string.

=== Solo Bass Clinics===

Wendy has thus far performed in two of the first solo bass showcase to take place in a public arena in Singapore. The first was an event called Tonequest held at Old Parliament House, Singapore on October 6, 2007 and it was supported by Gibson, National Arts Council Singapore and Lee Foundation. The response to Wendy's solo bass performance was very positive and includes audience comments "Wendy Phua was magnificent... really opened my eyes towards bass techniques", "Wendy was great as usual. She just keeps getting better." and "Wendy Phua's compositions were incredible." 4

The second bass showcase Wendy performed at, The LoDown in Music was held at the National Youth Council of Singapore Scape Centre on February 2, 2008 and included numerous other well-known bass session players in Singapore. The event was supported by Line 6 that featured Line 6 Lo Down bass amplifiers for the show.

=== Bass Session Gigs ===

Apart from recording and performing as a solo bassist, Wendy has also sessioned for various International artists like reggae-rap superstar Shaggy, French opera singer Emma Shapplin and Riki Hendrix (cousin to the late guitar legend Jimi Hendrix).

Wendy’s most recent session gigs include playing with the highly popular Singapore’s only all-female jazz/R&B band Walking On Water, and guitarist Rosli Mansor who released a concept instrumental album in 2007 that has received much acclaim amongst local media. Wendy was also invited to perform alongside Ibanez guitar endorsee Addy Rasidi and Pearl drums endorsee Alvin Tan in the Rosli Mansor Band during the televised broadcast of Anugerah Band 2008 on Mediacorp’s TV12 Suria channel.