Tune in to The Shimmer Glimmers’ indie pop fantasy

Elves and music are the best things.

They both come from the same wispy, mystical, beguiling place in our minds where we imagine better worlds.

My band is the The Shimmer Glimmers, I am the songwriter-guitarist-keyboardist, and we create tunes about elves.

Our first EP, Elfbook One, came out just a few weeks ago and managed to reach No. 2 on the Singapore iTunes Chart. No one was more surprised than we were.

Our first music video, That's All, is up on YouTube, and you can also check us out on Spotify and Instagram.

With music reminiscent of early 80s new wave and lyrics about magical trees and beach fairies, we are definitely doing our own thing.

Our singer is my favourite vocalist in the world, Nadirah Zaidi, 26.

She is the size of a sandwich but has the vocal power of a thunderstorm.

We met when she was a producer on Kiss92, where I am currently employed as a DJ.

How did she feel about joining an "elf rock" band?

CRAZY IDEAS

"I was intrigued," she once said.

"Jason has all these crazy ideas. There is nothing wrong with being weird. I have been told I like weird things plenty of times.

"With our music, if you like it, that is super awesome. But we are pretty niche."

Fortunately for us, Nadirah looks like an elf and has a fay quality that makes her the perfect frontwoman for the group.

This free spirit has travelled the world, often alone, and not just the safe places.

She has a wide-open mind and a wide-ranging taste in music.

She said: "I love jazz, hip-hop, rock, pop of all kinds - Japanese, Spanish, German. The fun is in discovering music from around the world."

Nadirah's hope for The Shimmer Glimmers is that one day, the producers of The Lord Of The Rings might use us for a soundtrack.

I am not holding my breath.

Our drummer is my personal drum teacher Joel Seah from My Drum School.

He said: "Jason and I really clicked with our shared love of (US heavy metal band) Dio. When he invited me to join The Shimmer Glimmers, it was a no-brainer."

With his fondness for Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, Seah, 29, is looking forward to the release of our much harder-edged second EP, Elfbook Two, coming out in the first quarter of next year.

Until then, he will have to put up with the jibes of his metalhead friends.

The final piece of the puzzle is our silent fourth member Ereen Toh (also a producer at Kiss92).

The 32-year-old is the band's most loyal supporter and also the co-director of our videos.

"Jason is such a goofball at work, I was shocked he could be so on the ball when shooting the first music video. Who would have guessed that he could actually be productive?" she joked.