The Singing Sisters
GILLIAN & JOELLE
It might be easy to overlook their presence due to their petite frames, but their strong performance makes them hard to miss. A sweet, silvery voice croons into the ears of shoppers outside Mandarin Gallery, accompanied by the gentle strumming of guitar chords.
Say hi to Gillian Cheong, 17 and Joelle Ocampo, 18.
These girls were inspired by the many young buskers that roam the streets of Orchard, and in December 2015, they decided that they wanted to be part of this community as well.
They are schoolmates from Raffles Institution, and are part of their school’s guitar ensemble. But the similarities do not end there — both of them also share a strong passion for music.
“We’ve been wanting to play music somewhere, and what better place than town? Plus we get to earn additional pocket money on the side too,” Gillian said.
“Bottom line is, we just wanted to try busking,” Joelle added.
And within their three months of busking, the pair had already won themselves fans from the crowd, some requested for pictures, while others invited them to perform at gigs.
It is not hard to see how they managed to charm the town crowd that easily — their acoustic versions of trending pop songs exude relaxing vibes that form a stark contrast to the usual hustle and bustle of the street. Their repertoire pieces includes songs by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber.
They revealed that they were definitely not as confident as they are now when they first performed in public.
Three months back, these girls were two bags of nerves. But with a devotion for sharing their music and an adrenaline rush coursing through their veins each time they perform, they managed to get over their awkwardness, and can now belt out songs naturally.
“We constantly felt like there were eyes on us all the time, even when we’re setting up, and that made us feel even more awkward,” Joelle said.
“But I guess getting over the awkward stage takes time, and we just keep doing it over and over again till we’re used to the crowd,” Gillian added.
But no matter, for they strive to improve their songs and technique with every time they busk. To put it in their words, “it’s not everyday that we get to perform in front of a lot of people”.
"We busk because it opens us up to many performance opportunities."
– Gillian, 17 & Joelle, 18
Catch Gillian & Joelle perform around Somerset on late afternoons during the school holiday season.
Meet The Rest
 The Wordsmith |  The Soldier |  The Jester |
|---|---|---|
 The Unlikely Duo |