About
Trevor is a music producer, cultural worker and co-founder of independent underground music organiser Rabak Records. He is also the vocalist and guitarist for post-metalcore/post-shoegaze band SEER.
Founded in 2022, Rabak Records focuses on Singapore's underground indie music scene, providing a platform for local, up-and-coming artists to stay true to their craft. Since then, it has organised over 15 events, featuring 50 bands and attracting more than 700 audience members. The organisation has collaborated with brands and venues including Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore, Crane and Nineteen Eighty Studios. As Rabak Records' leading creative and administrative force, Trevor is driven not only by expression and connection, but by feasibility and practicality.
With over 10 years of experience as a performer and organiser, Trevor's first step into event management was as president of Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Song Composing Club, laying the foundation for his work as an arts manager.
Aside from his practice as an arts manager, Trevor enjoys sociology and cultural policy research. Outside of the arts, he enjoys SCUBA diving, hiking and science fiction media.
Cosmopolitanism and Nation-Building: A case study of the Singapore International Festival of Arts
This thesis examines how the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) reflects and negotiates identity, values and cosmopolitanism within Singapore’s cultural policy context. Since its 2012 hiatus, SIFA has received limited academic attention, leaving a critical gap in understanding how the festival operates under contemporary policy framework. Existing studies have predominantly focused on the history of the festival from its founding to 2010, employing policy and interview-based approaches.
This research utilises a single case study methodology, analysing festival guides from the 2022 to 2025 editions of SIFA, covering the entire artistic tenure of festival director Natalie Hennedige, alongside an interview with Ye Junmin, the head of SIFA and the deputy director of programming and producing at Arts House Group.
Drawing on Bourdieu’s theories of habitus and cultural capital, the study systematically categorises 102 programmes across four years to identify how the festival positions cosmopolitan representation, local identity and the negotiation between the two ideologies within its programming.
Three key findings emerge. Firstly, while SIFA maintains a strong cosmopolitan orientation, a decisive shift towards nationalist programming occurred in 2025, shaped by the SG60 celebrations. Second, this shift operates through an “artistic habitus”, where policy frameworks influence programming indirectly through meeting key performance indicators and commissioning targets rather than direct state mandates. Finally, cosmopolitanism and nationalism do not function as opposing forces within SIFA; instead the festival programmes can accommodate both ideologies simultaneously, using universal themes as a bridge between them.
Live video from a music concert organised by Trevor.
Professional practice
Trevor's research and practice lie on two opposing ends of the spectrum. On one end, his research focuses on the macro – examining the effects of state-led cultural policy on the arts environment in Singapore over the years, and how policies have shaped artistic practice and arts consumption in Singapore.
On the other hand, his practice involves organising DIY, low-budget music events with little to no government or corporate support, bringing together a small community to organise and attend shows.
Sibiu International Theatre Festival (FITS) 2025
Trevor was chosen to represent LASALLE at the international student forum Cultural Exchange and Global Dialogue for FITS 2025, where he presented on 'Underground Music in The Red Dot: How to Organise, Curate, Execute and Produce Low-Budget Music Events'.
Poo Pei Yi
Jenelle Yap Zhi Ting
Nurul Syazwani Binte Mohamad Shahril
Jenise Lee
Aria Maish Nichani
Amirra Wardah Binte Shamsul-Bahari
