Mervin Ye, Stephanie Lim, Ryan Chan

Singapore indie-pop trio HubbaBubbas has collaborated with Korean indie darling Kwak Pureunhaneul on their brand new single “Rumble Under My Toes.” The collaboration song was released via Singapore-based indie label Umami Records.

The release also includes a Korean version of “Sunset in My Pocket” featuring Kwak. The original version has just been nominated for five categories at the Singapore Youth Music Awards 2020.

HubbaBubbas comprises lead vocalist Stephanie Lim, guitarist Ryan Chan and beatboxer Mervyn Ye. The band is the recipient of the inaugural Singapore Youth Music Awards 2019 for Best Cover Artist and has been nominated for five categories at the Singapore Youth Music Awards 2020.

In August 2016, HubbaBubbas’ debut EP “Amy(gdala)” was released at a sold-out EP launch. The band has been called upon to perform at events like the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, the ASEAN Paralympic games, Singapore Night Festival, Music Matters 2018, Bangkok Music City and South Korea’s largest music festival Zandari Festa.

In 2017, HubbaBubbas had its first show in South Korea by playing at Zandari Festa. Lim, Chan and Ye loved the country so much that they went back again to tour in 2019 and that was when they wrote “Rumble Under My Toes” with Kwak, also known as Hongdae IU, a nickname she picked up from her time on Korean television talent show series “Superstar K.”

“When we were facing uncertainty, we weren’t able to find much music to relate to because a lot of the music that we were listening to always had a clear feeling of the artist’s emotions, (including) joy (and) sorrow, and for good reason but we felt this was a part of ourselves that was not so clear and we wanted to encapsulate it in a song,” Lim shared. “We also thought that perhaps there were people out there who felt the same way, and we found Kwakpu. She shared with us her personal reasons for being on a hiatus from music and you can feel her emotions from her performance in the studio.”

Lim, Chan and Ye are working on their new EP titled “New Home.” They will start releasing it at the end of 2020.

“Rumble Under My Toes” is available everywhere at Umami Records. Watch a behind-the-scenes video of the collaboration between HubbaBubbas and Kwak in South Korea here: