CQ#2

C Q #2 | An indie powered magazine!

FIVE STAR Five ASEAN bands for you to check out

FLYING HIGH DJ Maggy Wang shares the secrets behind the mic

HE DID IT One on one " with Aidit Alfian"

MUSIC AND LYRICS Ten musicians share " the meaning of their art

ONE AND ONLY The first (and last?) " interview with SMXL

PUSHING THEIR BUTTONS Why DJs do more than press play

ROUGH RIDE Trials and tribulations " of an amateur musician

SOUND SPEED Audio engineer Adrian Yew sounds off

THE AUDIO EDITION

THE SOUNDS AND SONGS THAT MAKE UP THE STORIES OF OUR LIVES

EDITORIAL NOTE! It is 11:06PM. Saturday night.

The world is outside, reveling the hours away. Many would spend it with their friends and family, enjoying life as they know it, the sights and the sounds.

The sounds.

I sit here, in the hotel room, as Pompeii is premiered on Fox Movies Premium.

Below, on the ground floor, the entertainers belt out songs way into the night, caring not for the sleep of the guests above them. The hotel’s tag line, intriguingly, is “Imagine the happening, all just by next door…”# #

We live in a world surrounded and crafted by the stories we are told and tell. What we hear, as much as anything, plays a big role in this. Yet for the most part, we rarely stop to listen. Hear, yes.

Listen? That is another story completely.

To that end, we dedicate this issue to those who crafts the sounds of our lives. We have interviews galore, beginning with radio DJ Magdeline Wang. She talks about the ups and downs of being a host on the air, while audio engineer Adrian Yew lets loose his volley of opinions about the appreciation of sound by professionals and the public alike. Further afield, guitarist and all-round Malaysian legend Aidit Alfian discusses his career and the industry as a whole.

Speaking of letting loose, Emillio Daniel gives us an insight into what it is that DJs actually do. The same goes for Zue Hashim, whose words colours for us the world of an amateur musician making her way up the ladder. For those who have already reached the higher rungs, they discuss with us the meanings of the art they make.

That’s not to say, of course, that we’re

limited only to the so-called theme of this issue. Had the editor in chief not called on me at the last minute to do this, I could perhaps spend more time to talk about more of the short stories and poems that form the bread and butter of this magazine. As such, I’m just going to keep quiet and let you enjoy it in your own sweet time.

Time. Every song is a time machine. Try to listen to a song the next time, and try not to remember the meanings we attach to it. Even if we have not heard of it before, that first time is a part of the process of meaning creation, and it is to those who make it we pay tribute to in this issue.

Pompeii has just finished, and the credits are rolling up on the screen.

However, Fox Movies Premium decided to squish it, the trailer for an upcoming film deemed more important than the names of those who had worked hard to create the very film we had just watched.

Don’t tell Adrian this, though.

Listen up, listen well, and enjoy the second issue of CQ Magazine.

ADI ISKANDAR LAYOUT DESIGNER

CQ Magazine is an indie powered e-publication for creative explorations adhering to a high standard of professional writing and journalism.

Design inspired by Swedish Film magazine.

Licensed under Creative Commons.

Editorial Board EDITORS IN CHIEF FIKRI JERMADI WANI ARDY

SUB EDITORS AISYAH EZRAL DEANNA ISHAK EZZAH MAHMUD KIMI ISMAWI SITI NOORAIN

CONTRIBUTORS AARON SEE ADRIAN YEW AIDIT ALFIAN AISYAH EZRAL AKMAL FIRUL ANWAR HADI ARAF AZIZ DEA ISHAK EMILLIO DANIEL KAMALIA RAMLAN MAGDELINE WANG MARIA ADIBAH AZMI RAHIM RAMLI SITI NOORAIN WANI ARDY ZUE HASHIM ZULAIKHA BINTI SABRI

LAYOUT DESIGNER ADI ISKANDAR

FRONT COVER SAMI PYYLAMPI / FLICKR Get in touch with us online:

cqmalaysia.blogspot.com

@cqmalaysia

cqmalaysia@gmail.com

#2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 1

CONTENTS!

IMAGE: TOM MAGLIERY / FLICKR!

40

36

28 IMAGE: STEVE SNODGRASS!

IMAGE: TOKYO TIMES!

IMAGE: ANDY ARMSTRONG / FLICKR!

IMAGE: MAGDELINE WANG!

13

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IMAGE: ART ASCII / FLICKR!

08

3 FRELSI AISYAH EZRAL! 4 KABUL WANI ARDY! 5 LANGIT DI SINI MASIH CERAH MARIA ADIBAH AZMI! 6 SURAT CINTA MERAH JAMBU AKMAL FIRUL! 8 IN THE BEGINNING ZUE HASHIM! !

10 COMFORT RAHIM RAMLI! 13 BACK AT ONE ANWAR HADI! 14 ACROSS THE SEA SITI NOORAIN! 16 HERE COMES THE BOOM ADRIAN YEW! !

22 BUNYI KAMALIA RAMLAN! 26 NOWHERE RAHIM RAMLI! 27 RUMAH HANTU AKMAL FIRUL! 28 SUPERSIZE THEM SMXL! !

33 SAMPAI BILA ARAF AZIZ! 34 UTERO AISYAH EZRAL! 36 THIS IS HOW THEY DO IT EMILLIO DANIEL! 39 RAJUK ZULAIKHA BINTI SABRI! !

40 ON AIR WITH MAGGY MAGDELINE WANG! 44 WHAT MUSIC AND SONG WRITING MEANS TO ME WANI ARDY! 48 BOAT, FLOAT DEA ISHAK! 49 MASTER OF A FINE ART AIDIT ALFIAN! !

53 WOUND DEA ISHAK! 54 CHILL THE FUDGE UP ANWAR HADI! 56 WALK AARON SEE!

POETRY AISYAH EZRAL

Yesterday, yesternight# and for nights more to come# though they screeched "one night only, for one night only!"# the menacing Mozart mess marches on# How their strings tie up our tongues# How their wind blows us into a state of trance# How they hit and beat them skins# and like the oxen we are led to slaughter# And every path of this lie of a kingdom# closed down, blocked, wrapped with carpeted walls and velvet drapes# Their pitch, their shrieks,# overbearing# til our voices rot as corpses unpreserved in dry thirsty graves# unable to rise from the afterlife# left without a hint of echo# even in the darkest of caves.# And so,# we rob back our tongues# our thoughts,# we rob back our hopes, our dreams# and we throw you back your disfigured plastic masks# your Pied Piper flute# And we will sniff away,# now beheaded rats# no longer blind in the dark.#

Frelsi

TEXT: AISYAH EZRAL IMAGE: BEN FREDERICSON / FLICKR! AS RECITED IN THE SHORT FILM OF THE SAME NAME! DIRECTED BY AMEERUL AFFIQ @ CHULAT!

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POETRY WANI ARDY Will our children

run together,

hand in hand,

through bushes and forests?

Will they be good friends?

Will they grow old still telling stories to each other

between cups of hot, honeyed, black tea?

Tales of war-ravaged buildings

and vendors at the bird market?

Through this sugar cube,

I could see your almond eyes.

You, my friend,

have been my rooftop and my rug,

throughout times

of fortress and graveyard.

We are travellers.

We brunch on tragedies

and stroll through disasters.

God-willing,

so shall our children

seek refuge

in prayers

and long-lost letters.Â

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Kabul

TEXT: WANI ARDY IMAGE: JAMES SOLLY!

POETRY MARIA ADIBAH AZMI

Langit Di Sini Masih Cerah TEXT: MARIA ADIBAH AZMI IMAGE: CARO WALLIS / FLICKR!

Langit di sini masih cerah.

Awannya juga belum puas berarak.

Merisik khabar dari suara Tuhan.

Menyapa hati leluhur murni.

Langit di sini masih cerah.

Paginya juga masih setia menerangi.

Berapa jauh lagi syurga dan neraka.

Sedang kami asyik menjamah dunia.

Jiwa sudah mulai basah.

Air mata hampir penuh ditadah.

Dalam kesedihan melempar tangisan.

Suara jiwa anak-anak Gaza bertempiaran.

Kurniakan mereka siang yang terang dengan kekuatan.

Malam yang bercahaya dengan kesabaran.

Dan izinkan kami berkongsi langit yang cerah ini.

Sehingga perjuangannya tamat.

Denting berbunyi melewati suara-suara kami.

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SHORT STORY AKMAL FIRUL

TEXT: AKMAL FIRUL !

IMAGE: AFTAB UZZAMAN / FLICKR!

Surat Cinta Merah Jambu 6 | CQ MAGAZINE | #2

“Saman lagi! Hari-hari saman! MBSA ni memang bodohlah!” Syah menghidupkan enjin kereta jenis Perodua Kancil berwarna merah. “Kau bukan bayar pun samansaman MBSA sebelum ni kan?” Rosli tersengih. Peluh di dahi segera dibuang dengan tapak tangan. Dia tahu, rakan sebiliknya itu takkan membazirkan duit poket untuk membayar saman-saman Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam kerana tidak meletakkan kereta di tempat yang dibenarkan. Dia memerhatikan kertaskertas bertulis dan bercop yang berada di cermin hadapan setiap kereta di sekelilingnya. “Nak ke mana ni?” Shah menekan pedal minyak. Sempat dia menjeling pada meter minyak yang sudah empty. “Kita nak beli barang, kan? Dah hujung semester ni banyak pula barang nak kena beli” Rosli membuka cermin tingkap. Butang bajunya dibuka sebelum membiarkan angin luar meraba ganas dadanya. “Mana tempat barang murah?”

Kereta yang dipandu Shah semakin laju memecut di atas jalan raya. “Mana ada barang murah sekarang, Shah… Semua tempat sama je” Rosli mengeluh.

Tangannya menyeluk ke dalam poket seluar. “Rosli, pakai seat belt! Kena saman satu hal pula nanti…”

Jam menunjukkan pukul 8 pagi. Shah dan Rosli bersiap-siap untuk ke kuliah. “Rosli, aku guna perfume kau sikit. Ubermen Indulge aku dah habis.” Shah mencapai sebotol minyak wangi di dalam almari besi yang tidak sedap mata dipandang.

“Gunalah… Dahlah tak mandi. Nanti satu kelas pengsan bau badan kau yang hapak tu” Rosli memasukkan sebuah buku nota ke dalam beg biru lusuh yang sering dibawa ke mana-mana. “Air tak keluar, bro!

Macamana kita nak mandi. Nak berak pun susah. Nasib baik aku ada kereta, boleh pergi Pertronas ke… Shell ke… Itu pun kalau air kat sana ada. Kalau tak, tak berak lah kau berhari-hari…” Shah menjerut lehernya dengan tali leher berwarna merah.

Baju kemeja hitam yang lekat di tubuhnya dibelai-belai dengan tapak tangan. “Jom, kelas!”

Jam menunjukkan pukul 2 pagi. Tingkap bilik yang terbuka luas mempamerkan pandangan langit gelap yang tidak berbintang. Panas sungguh malam ini.

Sama seperti malam-malam yang lalu.

Shah yang hanya berseluar pendek sedang duduk di atas kerusi membelek-belek sebuah buku tebal. Rosli pula tertiarap di atas tilam tipis yang tidak bercadar dengan hanya berkain pelikat sahaja. “It is life, I think, to watch the water. A man can learn

so many things. Nicholas Sparks.” Shah menoleh ke arah Rosli yang dari tadi memejam mata dengan mulutnya yang terkumat-kamit. “Rosli, kau dengar tak? As a man, what do you think?” Rosli mengangkat badannya perlahan-lahan sebelum bersandar di dinding. “Aku rasa air kat Shah Alam ni semakin kering, duit aku pun semakin kering, dan aku tengah nak menghafal, kau kacau pula.” Matanya ditutup, mulutnya kembali terkumat-kamit.

Shah tergelak. “Alah, kau ni. Tak payah nak hafal sangat! Kau mesti boleh jawablah exam nanti.”

Suasana tiga jam yang sunyi sepi bertukar riuh seperti pasar pagi. Para pelajar bertaburan keluar dari dalam dewan peperiksaan seperti lebah-lebah keluar dari sarang mencari madu. Rosli menyangkut beg biru lusuhnya ke bahu dan berjalan sambil tersenyum. Lehernya dipanjangpanjangkan seperti rusa ternampak harimau. “Jom, makan!” Shah menepuk bahu Rosli. Kelihatan kedua-dua pelajar Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam ini sedang gembira. “Hari ni jom makan luar.

Kita celebrate dah habis exam!” Shah menyangkut lengannya pada bahu Rosli.

“Baru habis exam, belum grad lagi tau.

Kau jangan nak celebrate sangat eh.

Result pun belum keluar.” Mereka berdua ketawa sambil meninggalkan bangunan Akademi Pengajian Bahasa.

Sinar mentari membakar ruang kulit sehingga terasa seperti ada api yang sedang marak di celah-celah bulu roma.

Rosli dan Shah berlari seperti dikejar seekor anjing menuju ke kereta Kancil merah yang diletak di tepi jalan raya bersama deretan kereta-kereta yang lain.

“Pelik! Kau perasan tak Rosli?” Shah membuka pintu kereta dalam keadaan tercungap-cungap. Rosli mengerutkan dahi dan memuncungkan bibirnya. Peluh di dahi dibiarkan mengalir sehingga ke dagu sebelum dilap menggunakan baju. “Apa yang pelik sangat?” Enjin kereta dihidupkan. “Takkanlah kau tak perasan?

Hari ni tak macam hari-hari lain.” Rosli menggaru kulit kepalanya yang tiba-tiba gatal. “Apa yang berubah? Cuasa masih panas, air tak keluar. Sama je! Dah lah, jom pergi makan. Aku lapar ni.” Shah tersenyum. “Hari ni aku tak dapat surat cinta merah jambu.” Rosli mengetap bibirnya. Shah menekan pedal minyak.

“Shah, aku rasa, mungkin pegawai MBSA tu tak kerja hari ni sebab tak mandi! Air tak keluar!” Suara gelak tawa mereka memenuhi setiap ruang di dalam kereta.

“It is life, I think, to watch the water. A man can learn so many things. Nicholas Sparks.”

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FEATURE ZUE HASHIM

In The Beginning Why kind of struggles do an amateur musician go through? Here, Zue Hashim opens Up on her experiences in performing music, and why it’s still the best TEXT: ZUE HASHIM IMAGE: ART ASCII / FLICKR!

Okay, so here's the thing: I like to sing and I like to perform. They make me feel alive.

They remind me that I am alive and that one day I will no longer be alive. Morbid?

Yes, but it's the hardcore fact. Though isn't that the beauty of life? It can only last for so long before it gives in to something else. So let me tell you my story, because as of now, I am here and I am alive.

I first picked up a guitar when I was 19 and took my time in learning it. I honestly did not think about performing in public when I first started. I just wanted to find an outlet to express myself. I started with covers and tried experimenting with my own tunes. They were not exceptionally good but I felt proud to be able to write my first few songs and performing them to an audience. The best part of it all, their cheers and applauses.

I perform for the sake of performing. I cannot take one day without just humming a random tune. And it makes things better when I perform for the people I love. The art of performing always comes down to one simple factor, as cheesy as it sounds: Love is really enough to make a simple performance a meaningful one.

I choose songs to cover at random. There are no preferences to the original singers and/or the lyrics. If I like a certain song and I feel like I could perform it, I will do it. Up to now, as I am writing this, there about 13 cover songs that I have uploaded on my SoundCloud account, although there are more that will remain private to the public ear. All of which range from Kelly Clarkson to Korn, Lifehouse to Blackstreet. It is not rare to have instances when I listen to a song on the radio and immediately doing a

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cover after that.

Someone also told me that he realized that I had done several songs in Japanese.

Well, I had done one song in French but I removed it because my pronunciation was embarrassingly hilarious. Anyway, the reason behind my preference for songs in the Japanese language is simple: I can speak – to an extent – the language. I took up Japanese Language as my third language for three semesters whilst doing my degree so there is a sense of nostalgia whenever I perform these songs.

I developed the habit of performing the songs that I like, only the ones that I like, regardless if they've been playing on the airwaves for months and topped the Billboard charts. That was one of my problems: I couldn't care less about what the audiences wanted. I mean, it was fine for me to do it back when my audience consisted of my friends. But then, here they were all strangers and they would not care about what's my favorite songs, they wanted to listen to something that they are familiar with.

I performed only the songs I like. That was one of my problems: I couldn't care less about what the audiences wanted.

So when I got a job as an in-house performer at Campus Cafe at USM, there were several awkward moments when people were confused about what I was doing (on the first evening that I performed, there was no microphone so I had to practically scream and lost my voice several times) and at times I was completely ignored. My boss was very patient with me as he let me experiment with different songs to suit the audience.

One particular night, I was completely taken by surprise. There were about a dozen students that evening who were having a get-together cum birthday celebration. I was asked to sing a birthday song and they sang along with me. Then after they had their meal, more than half of my audience left the room.

In between songs, I thought I could just casually have a simple conversation with them, you know, the standard, “Hope you guys are enjoying yourselves” sort of talk.

They stayed for a full hour despite not being familiar with my song choices.

Talking to them, bless those boys, this is what they said: “We stayed because we want to listen to the performance.”

I swear to God this could still bring tears to my eyes.

Check out Zue Hashim at soundcloud.com/zue-hashim.!

I cannot take one day without just humming a random tune

#2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 9

SHORT STORY RAHIM RAMLI I opened my eyes to find out that I was in a strange, yet beautiful garden. I was lying down on the grass. Then, I lifted my body up and looked around.

“What is this place?” I asked myself while continuing to look around the place.

I held my forehead with my right hand. I tried to remember what actually happened before I was here. After musing for a while, I remembered.

I remembered that my life sucked. I did not perform well in school. I got very disappointing marks for some of my tests.

“With the way you are doing right now, you cannot expect to go far,” said one of my teachers.

Then, I tried to approach a girl that I had been admiring for a very long time. I remembered seeing her walking past my classroom. I always felt somewhat mesmerized every time I saw her.

Unfortunately, nothing was as it seemed.

Neither was she. I had this idea that she may be the one who could comfort me.

But just a moment after I handed her a heart-shaped box of chocolate, indicating my feelings for her, that idea had been shattered to a thousand of tiny little pieces.

She ended up slapping my hands, causing the box of chocolate to fall onto the ground, and embarrassing me in front of other students.

“Ew. Have you ever looked in the mirror lately? Too poor to buy one, I assume.

You’re not good enough for me. Never have been and never will be,” she said straight to my face in front of her two friends and some other students.

To pour salt to an already deep wound, there were three male students who laughed at me. I turned and looked at them with a resentful face. Then, they came to me to tease and make fun of me in front of the girl and her friends.

“This is your dream girl?” one of them said.

“Unfortunately, you’re not her dream boy,” another one of them said.

“Yes, that’s all you are. Just a boy. Not to mention a pathetic one,” the third member of the trio said.

I remembered pushing the third one before I walked away while they continued laughing. I remembered turning around for a while and seeing the stern expression on the face of the girl that I admired before I ran off with bitterness and resentment.

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As far as I could remember, it had to be the worst day I had ever had in my entire life. I was really frustrated throughout the rest of the school period. In the class, I could not even concentrate on what was going on around me, much less what my teachers had to say in front.

I remember that arriving back home, I kept thinking about what happened at school. It continued to haunt me. I shut myself in my bedroom, listening to songs about emotional pain and replaying the bitter memories of what happened at school over and over.

I screamed and pulled my hair. I decided that I could not take it anymore. So I took out some pills I had been keeping in one of my drawers. All the negative emotions and all the hurtful words said to me just kept eating away at my heart until I ended up swallowing all the pills. I choked myself out and before I knew it, everything in my sight faded away.

Now, here I was, wondering where I could possibly be. I was still in my school uniform, only without a necktie, just what I wore before I arrived here. Was this Heaven? That sounded too good to be true. I meant, I tried to commit suicide but ended up in Heaven? No way. But this did not look like how I always imagined Hell to be either.

I stood up and continued to look around.

Then, I decided to walk and explore the space. There was not so much here. Just a place filled with green grass, some big trees and flowers of various colours. The sky was blue and the air was fresh.

I continued walking. Then, I stopped. I felt surprised. I saw a human being. Well, a woman to be precise. Her skin was pale.

Her eyes looked puffy. She had messy, short black hair. She wore white pyjamas.

She was standing and looking down at the grass.

I took my steps toward her. The sounds of my feet stepping on the grass were loud enough for her to hear. She seemed to notice and lifted her head up. She seemed surprised when she saw me. I continued walking toward her until I was just right in front of her. When I took a closer look, she seemed quite attractive, yet frail and skinny. I was mesmerized.

“Excuse me,” I approached her.

“Hm?” she responded.

“Do you know where we are?

Comfort TEXT: RAHIM RAMLI!

I laid down on the grass while looking at the blue sky. I pondered about what happened to both of us

IMAGE: TRISTAN MARTIN / FLICKR!

SHORT STORY RAHIM RAMLI

“No, I don’t,” she answered calmly. This was followed by a moment of awkward silence.

“I’m Andrew. You are?” I introduced myself. She was seemingly trying to figure out what to say as a response.

“I’m Emilia,” she answered.

“This place seems strange,” I said to her.

“Yes, it does seem so,” she said.

“Would you like to look around?” I asked her. She stared at me for a brief moment.

“Sure, even though I had been exploring this place by myself before you arrived.”

“You were here long before I came?” I was curious.

“Not too long I guess, but I could not really tell how long it has been,” she said. There was another moment of awkward silence.

“Can we go now?” I asked her to break the awkwardness.

“Sure.”

So then, Emilia and I were exploring the space together. It all seemed to be the same, just green grass, some big trees and flowers of various colours. The sky was blue but there seemed to be no sunshine.

After exploring, we both sat on the grass

surrounded by flowers. We sat side by side. There was an awkward silence. So, I figured I may try to talk to this Emilia and get to know her more, even though I was not supposed to be much of a talker, much less a sweet one.

“So, how did you end up here?” I asked Emilia.

“What do you mean?”

“What did you do that brought you here?

You must have done something, right?”

“You sound like you know something regarding how we could end up here. What do you think I did that brought me here?”

Emilia responded to my question with a question of her own.

“Well, I guess I will have to admit it, even though I don’t really want to. I tried to commit suicide. I swallowed some pills and before I knew it, I arrived here,” I was just being honest.

“Why did you try to commit suicide?”

Emilia asked me. She seemed both curious and pleasantly surprised.

“Life sucked. So many things went wrong,” I said directly.

“What about you?” I asked her, followed by several seconds of silence.

“I also tried to commit suicide,” she confessed.

“What? Why?” I asked her, anticipating what she had to say next.

“Well, I guess it’s just like you said. Life sucked. My mother has long been gone.

My father became abusive ever since my mother’s death. He always hit me. At school, I was teased and made fun of because of the bruises I had on my face and my body. I was being bullied too, perhaps because I was frail and skinny,” she opened up to me.

“What did you do then?” I asked her curiously. She pulled up the left sleeve of her pyjama top, revealing some cuts on her pale left wrist and forearm.

“I did cut myself sometimes, perhaps hoping that some light could find its way into me. But it was not until that one day where I thought that I could not take it anymore. So, I cut my myself even deeper than before, trying to end my own life, I guess,” she said as I stared at her selfinflicted cuts.

I laid down on the grass while looking at the blue sky. I pondered about what happened to both of us.

“Guess we are both poor, unfortunate children. We both had it rough,” I said.

“Maybe you’re right. But I guess now I’m glad it happened,” Emilia said as a response.

#2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 11

SHORT STORY RAHIM RAMLI “I don’t know,” I myself felt clueless and helpless.

Out of the fire, came a number of humanoid shadows. One of them grabbed Emilia from behind and dragged her into the fire.

“No!” Emilia screamed.

“Emilia!” I screamed out Emilia’s name and tried to reach for her hand.

Suddenly, hands of another shadow grabbed and pulled both of my legs, causing me to fall on my belly. I myself was being pulled away into another side of the surrounding fire.

“No!” I screamed.

“Andrew!” Emilia screamed out my name.

“Emilia!” I, in turn, screamed out hers.

We both extended our hands to reach for one another but it was futile. We both continued to be pulled into two different sides of the surrounding fire.

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling.

I looked around and noticed that I was in the hospital. I was lying on a hospital bed. I lifted my body up and held my forehead with my right hand, trying to remember what actually happened.

I remembered being in that space full of green grass, big trees and flowers of

various colours. I remembered meeting a girl named Emilia in that space. I remembered being pulled into a side of surrounding fire while seeing Emilia being pulled to another.

Thinking that it all was just a dream, I was both relieved and disappointed. I was relieved because there were no fire and scary humanoid shadows, yet I was disappointed because there was no girl named Emilia either.

Few minutes later, I decided to take a walk around the hospital hall. I tried to figure out what to do once I got out of the hospital.

Should I try to go back and live my miserable life again? Could I make it any better after what went down before my suicide attempt? After the humiliation I went through? Being a pessimist I was, I did not really think so.

I continued walking before I suddenly stopped. I could not believe what was in my sight. There was a girl sitting on a bench against the wall. She looked exactly like Emilia. Her left wrist was bandaged.

She was looking down on the floor.

Then, she lifted her head up and turned her gaze toward me. I was rather shocked. She also seemed surprised when she saw me. I wonder if she actually recognized me the way I recognized her. Then, her surprise expression turned into a smile. Assuming that I figured out what that meant, I smiled back at her.

IMAGE: JAMES / FLICKR!

“Why?” I asked. She went on to lay herself down on the grass just beside me. We both looked at each other in the eyes. My heart was pounding fast.

“Because if it didn’t, I wouldn’t get to know you. I wouldn’t know that there is someone who is just like me. I mean, I could be wrong, but it seems like you’re the same as me,” she said while smiling.

“Oh, okay. I also think that you may be just like me, that we may be the same,” I might have blushed, so I turned my gaze towards the blue sky.

“What do you think about this place?”

Emilia asked me. It took me some time to answer.

“To be honest, I guess I don’t mind being here forever, as long as it is with you. If this is just a dream, I don’t want to wake up,” I confessed my feelings without looking at her.

“Me too,” I heard her said.

“Really?” I was surprised and looked at her. She was smiling.

Suddenly, we heard a loud sound. It sounded like an explosion. We both panicked and stood up. We were shocked.

Our surroundings was on fire. The sky turned black.

“What’s happening?” Emilia panicked.

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REVIEW ANWAR HADI

Back At One TEXT: ANWAR HADI !

IMAGE: TOM MAGLIERY!

Premiering in 2013, Begin Again is an American romantic-comedy-drama with a lot of (necessary) musical parts interspersed throughout the movie. Written and directed by John Carney — whose other notable piece was the 2006 film, Once — it boasts a star-studded cast consisting of Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner aka The Hulk), Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean), Adam Levine (of Maroon 5 fame) and even producer-singer-songwriter, CeeLo Green.

Ruffalo plays Dan Mulligan, a music producer/record label founder who is fired from his own company by his partner, Saul (played by Mos Def). Already living separately from his wife and daughter, he goes out for a night of drinking from bar to bar and chances upon a performance by Gretta James (Knightley) — who has just broken up with her boyfriend of five years, Dave Kohl (Levine) — and is immediately attracted to her music, offering to sign her into his former record label. After some coaxing, Gretta agrees to bring her music to Saul. Saul, on the other hand is not convinced, setting Dan out to produce and record Gretta’s album in order to change Saul’s mind. Dan gets this crazy idea to record the album in public places around New York city.

One of the first things that hit you from the first fifteen minutes is how good Ruffalo is able to play his character, Dan Mulligan. All Dan’s actions are that of a douchebag, but we can’t help but feel sorry for him and

immediately take his side when he is fired from the label he started, since he seems so earnest in his view of music and what it means to him. He has his fair share of problems, but we can see that his heart is in the right place.

This movie also exposes the uninitiated viewers such as myself to how good production can take a song to a whole other level. At the beginning of the movie, we get first hands look/listen at how different a song can sound with the appropriate musical elements to support it — especially with Keira Knightley doing her own singing, it becomes a very convincing and moving piece.

Having said that, most of the original songs made for this movie come off as a bit too radio-friendly singer-songwritery for me. It’s not that they’re bad; they’re decent enough songs, but they’re hardly stuff that would cause this writer to hum to its tune even two minutes after listening to them.

They’re the kind of songs that you would hear plenty of if you put on the “singersongwriter” playlist on Spotify. Again, not that it’s a bad thing. Just not my thing, I suppose.

Overall, the movie is for light watching. It won’t give you deep philosophical insights into the human psyche or anything like that. It’s just a nice, feel-good movie, something you’d end up watching with a smile on your face.

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FEATURE SITI NOORAIN

Across the SEA Why go so far for your rhythmic satisfaction? Siti Noorain argues that music need# not cross that many boundaries to be enjoyed…

IMAGE: YAT FAI OOI / FLICKR!

“Haha. Cutenya pronunciation Kak Ain.”

That was my housemate’s statement when she heard me singing a Thai song.

Well, there is nothing wrong with me singing a Thai song, right?

I have quite a diverse interest in music. I listen to most of the music genres available in this world, and I do not restrict myself to listen only to the languages that I understand, which are Malay and English. I enjoy listening to Japanese songs since I was 7 years old, I listen to Korean songs way before the K-pop hype was born, I took a liking on Tagalog songs because of the drama Pangako Sa ‘Yo and just a few years ago, I started to listen to Thai rock bands because my housemate is a ThaiMalay mixed. And I do not even understand what the lyrics are saying, most of the time.

Music is so powerful and it brings a major impact on my life that this kind of stuff happened to me. Some would say that I am being an ignorant person because I rarely listen to Malay or even English songs, and I can say that this is not true. I have my favourite Malaysian bands, and I am a big fan of Justin Timberlake. So, those people who used to call me ignorant, you are wrong!

Nevertheless, I am here not to rant or write an essay regarding music and its philosophy. I am here just to share with all you readers out there that it is okay to listen to and enjoy music in other languages. There’s nothing bad about that.

With that, I am presenting to you, my

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favourite bands from South East Asia. I could not cover all the countries in the region, but I do have a list of bands I love so much and I would encourage you guys to check them out. They are all bands because I like bands. The more the merrier.

Plus, they sound awesome when they play their instruments live.

Potato (Thailand) Yes, the band’s name is Potato and they are one hell of a s(mash)ing band. I got to know them through that same housemate, and I’ve been hooked to them like glue ever since. Yeah, they are pretty much your average pop rock band that sings love songs most of the time, but their music composition, is kind of different from others. They have been around for more than 13 years now and still their music is being accepted by all ages. To find more about them, you guys can go and check them on Youtube. Make some time for the song Do You Still. It is the ‘it’ song that got me hooked on them so bad that I memorise most of the lyrics without even understand what it means.

Hello, Is This The Band? (Malaysia) Hello Is This The Band? is a Malaysian pop punk rock band, born in Alor Star, Kedah.

They are actually bunch of school friends who love music so much one day they decided to create a band. They asked randomly in MySpace asking people if they want to be part of their band. People would just call them and ask, “Hello, is this the band?” Hence, the band’s name. They are a five piece band with a female vocalist. Many label them as a Paramore wannabe, but seriously, what’s wrong about being influenced by your favourite musicians? We need influence to enhance

our lives, to do and be better especially in things that we love to do, and this band is doing just that.

Maliq & D’Essentials (Indonesia) Besides rock, I have major crush on soul/ jazz music. Thus, I am presenting you Maliq & D’Essentials. This soul and jazz music based band is from from Jakarta, Indonesia and they have been around for more than ten years. The genre is called soul for a reason. It’s originated from African-American gospel music, mixed with some R&B and jazz music. Thus, Maliq & D’Essentials’ songs bring some sort of inner peace towards their listeners.

Well, that’s what they do to me. And their lyric writing is beyond awesome. Genius, yet beautiful structured lyrics, the use of classic Malay words mixed with Indonesian language, plus the harmony between the male and the female vocal, they are just so good to the ear. Soul/jazz is not really a famous music genre in Malaysia. Maybe people sometimes just do not care about music genres because when I ask them whether they listen to funk or jazz or soul, they answer is no. They would then play a funk song (Bruno Mars. Have you people heard of him?). Why go so far away to the States when you can get good quality music from this band? Trust me, the time you spend online checking them out is worth it.

This is Atlantis (Singapore) This Is Atlantis is an instrumental rock band from the Lion City that is Singapore, and they play…without any singing. I got to know them just a few years ago, when my friends asked me to join them for a gig.

I did, and discovered This Is Atlantis. I am not really a fan of instrumental rock or

FEATURE SITI NOORAIN

post-rock music but…hey, if they sound good, what’s the harm in it? In my opinion, sometimes music alone can do magic to your life. Lyrics are great, too as they unintentionally express your feelings through words but with solely music, you can create your own lyrics and expression.

Since that gig, I’ve been Youtube-ing them and Googling their music page. You should, too.

Typecast (Philippines) One of the oldest bands around South East

Asia are definitely one of the best alternative rock bands I’ve encountered in my life. Hailing from the Philippines, these guys have been a big influence for so many bands out there today. Their melodic, sometimes emo lyrics just cut deep into your heart. Add a dash of their awesome music, and it makes me want to scream and sing my lungs out. The feels, people, the feels! You can start your journey with Typecast by listening to one of their hit songs entitled The Boston Drama. Don’t worry about it this time, for their lyrics are

in English, so you can understand them without learning Tagalog. And you can go emo with them all you want, since they are a very emo band.

There you go, guys. There are actually a lot of other musicians that I really love to write on but these five acts are definitely some of the best ones. Now, go to Google, Youtube, Spotify, Deezer or any music portal website and start listening to them.

Enjoy!

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INNER VIEW ADRIAN YEW

Here Comes The Boom In this exclusive interview, sound engineer Adrian Yew turns up the mic to give us the lowdown on the importance of audio engineering in…well, almost everything…

TEXT: FIKRI JERMADI IMAGE: ADRIAN YEW!

Mr Adrian Yew! Finally, we have the chance to sit down and do this. How are you doing?

Hello there! It's been awhile since we last met. I'm doing alright. I had a memorable 2014 and I’m hoping for a better year to come.

Right, let's start right at the beginning; I know you, but the readers don't. Who is Adrian Yew and what does he do?

In short, I am an audio professional working in the Malaysian film industry, with a strong passion for sound and everything related to it. One might even call it an addiction.

I specialise in sound design and location sound recording, working mostly on documentaries, reality shows, commercials, corporate videos, short films and the occasional feature film when they come along.

For sound design, I work mainly from the confines of my home where I have my personalised audio workstation set up in my room, running my Pro Tools system. It's small but cozy.

What got you interested in sound to begin with?

I think the interest was probably derived from my passion for music at first, which was my initial introduction to the art of sound. I had been playing guitar since I was 14 years old. Later on at 19, I started dabbling with synthesisers and audio editing softwares. Up till that point, any thought of sound design or film had not even crossed my mind. I enjoyed watching movies, but that was about it.

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It all changed however when I attended SAE Institute Singapore to study Audio Engineering in 2009. It was then that I came to realise and appreciate the intricacies and complexities of sound in film. Its ability to evoke emotion, reflect mood and underscore actions within the context of a film really drew me in. In a way it also complements what I like to do with music, to use sonic elements to tell a story.

Sound can be used in such a profound way that goes beyond what you see or hear. It can affect the way you feel about a particular character, scene, and even the overall film as a whole.

Were there any particular film or filmmaker that caught your attention in that regard?

I remember in my college days, Kevin Teoh, my sound design lecturer at that time, gave us an assignment to study three particular movies, Let The Right One In, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and last but not least, to my horror, the Thai thriller Shutter. These 3 movies were the first to really open my eyes and ears to a whole new level of experience in film.

Speaking of education, how did you come across the SAE Institute?

I came across SAE Institute Singapore when I was looking for a place to study sound engineering for music at first, but later discovered that audio production encompasses an even wider range of studies such as digital audio, acoustics, live sound and sound design, as well as the business aspects of the industry.

How useful was all that to what you're doing now?

I would say extremely useful. Though I still have a long way to go, I would not have accomplished half of what I have without my years at SAE, I owe a lot of it to my education, my lecturers and my family.

What was your first job in the industry, and how did you get it?

My first full-time job was for a company called I-Yuno Media Group. A Korean company based here in KL, they specialise in localisation (dubbing & subtitling) services for broadcast clients like Fox, Disney, Sony and National Geographic. A friend of mine saw the job posting on an online forum and gave me the heads up. I had just graduated and was still in Singapore at that time. I arranged for an interview and came up to KL the next day.

I got the job because they were impressed that I had experience freelancing in Singapore while studying, and had also interned at a music recording studio. The little things often go a long way and act as a stepping stone for bigger opportunities to come, especially when getting your first job. I would like to recommend anyone who is just starting out, students and film enthusiasts alike, to get out there and get one foot through the door as early as possible.

You mention localisation for a number of television programmes. Which programmes did you do that we might have heard of?

NCIS, Criminal Minds, MegaMind, How To Train Your Dragon and Shrek 4ever After, to name a few, along with a handful of Korean dramas.

Can you explain to us a little bit about a

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IMAGE: ADRIAN YEW!

INNER VIEW ADRIAN YEW

part of the localisation process? # From a technical standpoint, think of it as additional dialogue replacement (ADR) but for different languages and voice acted by different people. In short, dubbed programs are meant to cater to local viewers who wish to catch their favorite foreign TV shows in their local language.

For example, we get the original content from Fox Asia, like NCIS, and dub it into different languages based on our client's requirements; for programmes on Astro, it was Bahasa Malaysia.

The process involves the collective effort of several different teams with various skillsets. There are the translators, script editors, voice actors & audio technicians all working hand-in-hand to make it happen.

We receive the translated scripts from the editing team and proceed to cast the right voice talents to voice the roles of each character from an episode. Again, using NCIS as an example, we would have to find a suitable local voice to match that of Gibbs, Ziva, Tony, McGee and so on.

An episode can take a day to fully dub and might involve 6 -10 different voice actors all scheduled to come in one by one and act out their scripts. One voice actor may voice several characters in a show, sometimes up to five or six.

As for the recording setup itself, we have the talents placed in a vocal booth

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adjacent to our studio room with a microphone, headphones and a screen.

We then play back the original episode at each dialogue point and the talents voice acts the scene based on their scripts.

We then mute the original English dialogue and sync up the new Malay ones to the lip movement of the characters on screen to make it seem like they are speaking Malay.

This can be a lengthy process as there are a lot of dialogues and characters to dub in a single episode but thankfully we had a very efficient system and a highly skilled team working around the clock.

What were the biggest challenges in doing that? I imagine it can't be easy, dealing with different languages and all…

The biggest challenge was actually the workload. Back then we were recording up to 6 episodes a day, all of which would show up at my station the next day. My job would then be to mix these 4 to 6 episodes and have them all broadcast standard ready at the end of the day to be sent to their respective stations. You can imagine the burn-out I went through after working on 600–800 episodes in my first year!

800 episodes! Goodness. Well, at least there is some respite to be found in your film work, as you also did a lot of sound recording and sound design for a lot of short films and feature films. Most of them tend to be independent films. Why

is that?

When it comes to narratives, I tend to favor the independent projects. This might just be down to opportunity, but I do feel that with independent projects like short films, most filmmakers tend to be more experimental and bolder with their storytelling elements. This gives me greater creative freedom to be expressive with my approach and explore new possibilities to sound design. Independent films are great platforms for filmmakers to really showcase their talents, ideas and to leave their mark in the industry, which at the end of the day is what we are all here to do.

In being a sound recordist, what kind of power do you have? In some countries, sound recordists can even say “Cut!” due to a disturbance in the sound, while in other contexts, they’re only expected to say “Speed!” and little else.

It comes down to the crew you are working with at the end of the day and how much of a priority and importance they regard sound to be. I've worked with productions that gave me full power to call “Cut!” and re-take whenever I deemed the sound unusable. I have also come across productions with little to no regard for live sound whatsoever, often obsessed with only what the camera sees and are the principle offenders of the dreaded “We'll fix it in post!” speech.

It's still a problem because often times sound teams are forced to adapt to unnecessarily difficult working conditions

while still expected to produce top quality results. This issue I feel stems from sound not being a visual thing, many people only use their eyes on set and not their ears.

You often see the lighting department, art department, the grip team, all busting a gut to ensure the camera team is happy and getting their perfect shot but no one really cares whether the sound team is getting the right sound. It's a weird juxtaposition when you consider someone like David Lynch, who said, “Films are 50% visuals and 50% sound. Sometimes sound even overplays the visual”. Productions need to learn to be more accommodating to the sound team, we are at the end of the day, striving to achieve the same thing, which is to make the movie great.

What was the most challenging moment you had in location sound recording?

Honestly, when it comes to sound recording on location, everyday is a challenge. It’s primarily down to noise disturbances beyond your control, like heavy traffic, rain, wireless interference, loud generators, trains and angry mobs, amongst others. It’s a nightmare out there!

What if I were to ask you to pick one?

Well, I did have an exceptionally bad experience last year while shooting a short horror film in Kuala Lumpur. To start with,

we were shooting in an abandoned house at night ridden with mosquitoes and I have just got out of the hospital at that time due to dengue. Before we could even get started the generator died on us, so we were left doing nothing in the dark for 2 hours while waiting for power to come back on.

To make matters worse, the production team was horrendous; I think they came just to eat and take pictures. I remember the director of photography saying he needed the frame clear of all the rubbish and old furniture in the front lawn and neither the production assistants nor the production manager moved a single muscle. In the end, I (the soundman!) had to put down my gear, clear the trash and

WHEN PUSH COMES TO SHOVE, YOU HAVE TO PUSH THROUGH TO MEET THAT DEADLINE. IT’S YOUR JOB, PERIOD

move the damn abandoned sofa out of frame for the sake of moving forward.

To top it all off, they even left an hour earlier than the crew, which is by all accounts unprecedented. It even rained that night as well! I could really go on but I'll just sum it up that basically everything that could have gone wrong that night, did.

Murphy’s Law.

Moving to sound design, I am a little biased here: you did the sound design for my short film, Following. The schedule you kept at that time was a little frightening. Can you describe for us, from your perspective, what it was like to continuously work for that two or three days, non-stop?

I remember your film very well. That project had plenty of memorable moments, with none more so than having half the sound files stolen from our dear producer's car.

As a result, we had to ADR half the film's dialogues with the actors in one night and deliver it the next day. It was my fault really, for not doing a double back up.

The last hours were pretty frantic because we were rushing for the deadline of a short film competition. I think I must have gotten only like 90 minutes of sleep over the span of the 2 or 3 days working on it. The film

had a lot of scenes with long dialogues and also very quiet scenes with no dialogue and no music except for one part in the middle, so I had the task to fill up most of the scenes with sound.

Even a quiet scene is never really quiet from a sound designer's perspective, in the absence of dialogue and music, the subtler elements like ambiences, wind, footsteps, clothes, movement and breaths then come to the fore to dictate the scene. I remember heading down to my car at 6 in the morning with a mic and a zoom recorder to get some car foleys and general ambience for your park scene.

That’s professionalism and energy money can’t buy…

I think projects like that is a good test of your perseverance and character - you must have plenty of both to be in this industry. When push comes to shove, you have to work through your mental and physical fatigue to meet that deadline at all costs. It's your job, period.

In the end, it worked out alright. I remember you being happy with the outcome and that’s what matters. Sure, I would have loved to work on it a little more to iron out a few details here and there but given the time constraint, I think overall, it was a good effort from everyone involved.

Moving on, you were also involved in the sound recording for a number of TV shows, such as the PETRONAS Fuelled

by Fans, Powered by Primax. What was that experience like for you?

It was an experience I truly cherish till this day because I had the opportunity to work alongside my peers Fauzan Aziman, Jimi, Hafizi Cham, Atan Radzi, and Mispan.

These are sound men with years and years of experience under their belts and I look up to them a lot.

As for the shoot itself, I would say reality style shows are probably the most exhausting yet most fun at the same time.

You are constantly on move all the time

following your contestants through their obstacles and adventures, whether it’s running, hiking, driving, swimming, flying etc. We are there with them at all times capturing every single moment.

On shoots like these, having constant focus is key. You cannot switch off for one second or the moment is gone as it is unscripted and your talents are contestants, not actors. Furthermore, it requires you to be in good physical condition. Can you imagine lugging several kilograms of field equipment around for over 17 hours a day, booming with one hand and mixing with the other while guiding the camera operator? On top of that, we shoot for weeks on end at times. It can really take a toll on your body.

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IMAGE: STUDIO 904!

INNER VIEW ADRIAN YEW

IMAGE: ADRIAN YEW!

INNER VIEW ADRIAN YEW

I suspect that there is a difference to be noted between recording TV shows and films. Am I right, or is sound recording the same everywhere?

In essence, they are the same. We still strive to achieve the best possible results to record clean dialogue with the best signal-to-noise ratio possible, while maintaining good sound perspective to suit the camera angle and story-telling aspects of the particular shot or scene, be it with the use of boom mics, hidden lavaliers and wireless systems, pressure zone mics in cars, planted mics on ceilings or props in plain site.

Where the differences lie between the two are the number of personnel and amount of equipment we are accorded. Ultimately, it is down to the budget, which in turn determines the overall quality of TV show as opposed to a feature film.

Thus far, we’ve focused on the more difficult moments, but I’m sure you’ve had your share of satisfactory moments as well. Can you describe for us the best moment of your career thus far?

I think I had a lot of personal satisfaction working on a short film, Sunrise, which was directed by a friend of mine, Bradley Liew. I was given the liberty to really shape the tone of the film's sonic landscape the way I

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wanted. It allowed me to be really creative with my use of sound effects and ambiences that went from near pin-drop silence to a full on atmospheric symphony at times. It was especially fun stacking layers upon layers of wind, drones, and synthesised sounds together to give texture and spatial depth to the movement of the clouds and color change of the sky for the opening time lapse shot of the sunrise.

I remember getting a call from an editor friend of mine who saw a screening of the film weeks later, telling me that the sound design of the film was amazing. Though I was quite contented with the work I had put out, to be acknowledged for it really added that icing on the cake.

Having done your fair share of both recording on set and designing in the studio, which do you prefer, and why?

At the moment, I’m at the stage in my career where I’m still deciding which one I would like to specialise in. There are perks in both, as well as drawbacks. With recording on set, you get the luxury of leaving your work behind once you are done. You give your all during the shoot, come wrap time, you hand over the sound files and go home to your family and enjoy the rest of the day with a clear conscience.

The drawback however, is having to spend a long time away from your love ones during a shoot, because working hours are long, between 12 to 20 hours a day. Longform projects like reality series and feature films can take months to shoot.

Sound design, on the hand, holds a very different challenge. Although you work from the comfort of a studio or home and may take considerably less time to complete a project, you do have to go through hours upon hours of sound effect (SFX) libraries and foleys in search of the right sound effects and ambiences to suite a scene, then the artistic side comes in where you tweak the sounds you've found so they blend into the context of the scene.

Apart from that, you constantly have to deal with client feedback and changes on the fly.

Here is where you must be most meticulous and choosy with your decisions, because you are the final stage of quality control for sound before it goes out to broadcast stations, the Internet or even cinemas. The most challenging aspect however, is to know when to stop, to resist the urge to tweak and fix the tiny details in an attempt to achieve the perfect mix. It will never be perfect as long as there is time to work on it, that’s where the

INNER VIEW ADRIAN YEW deadline comes into play because without it, a sound designer’s work would never be over.

It really depends on which one you are more suited for at the end of the day. I see myself doing more studio work in the long run because it allows me to be in tune with the more creative aspects of sound.

As an aside, you're also involved in the band Forever in Atlas as the guitarist.

Tell us a little bit about your band.

I started this band along with two friends during high school and we've stuck together since. We now have 5 members and have been under the banner of Forever In Atlas since May 2014.

Last year was a specially productive year for us. From May onwards we performed nearly 20 shows across Malaysia. We are looking to improve that this year and hopefully get the opportunity to perform at even bigger shows in front of bigger crowds.

We have a couple of demos up online for listening and we are working recording our first extended play (EP) or even an album this year. Check out the link to our page below, you might just like us. I also compose my own music on the side, experimenting with electronic and atmospheric stuff whenever I get the chance to do it.

Staying with this, I notice a lot of sound designers and recordists are very musical, in the sense that they tend to be involved in music as well. How important is a sense of musicality to a sound designer?

I think having a good understanding of music can be advantageous to a sound designer, because sound design and music go hand-in-hand in film. Both are similar in their use to orchestrate the mood and feel of a movie.

I’m reminded of a video I once saw on the music and sound design of 'The Dark Knight Rises' where film composer Hans Zimmer and supervising sound designer Richard King described how closely they worked together at finding the right balance between choosing which elements on screen should be represented by sound design and which by music. For example, musical cues and stabs can signal an event or action, but so can a sound effect or a foley. It's a fine line sometimes to distinguish the two and there is also a question of diegetic versus non-diegetic elements. Essentially it boils down to artistic interpretation and communication between the sound designer and film scorer.

Having said all that, it's not paramount for sound designer to be musically-educated, as I feel they are two separate fields and skill sets. Having an understanding for music in film can be beneficial, but being proficient in your craft, having good taste and a good ear for details will probably get you further as a sound designer than knowing how to play an instrument.

In your opinion, how valued is good sound design in the context of Malaysian film productions?

I think the appreciation is there, but it is sadly not valued enough. Many producers here are still not willing to fork out the appropriate budget required for quality sound design although knowing the importance of it. It's a subject that’s been going on for ages and sadly, until something drastic is done to improve the situation here, I don't know when it will ever change.

What can be done to ensure that people pay more attention to and appreciate sound design?

Get them to watch a horror movie with the volume all the way down and see if they still get scared when the ghost shows up.

Check out Forever in Atlas atreverbnation.com/ForeverInAtlas, and listen to Adrian’s compositions at soundcloud.com/adrian_yew.

IMAGE: ADRIAN YEW!

A good understanding of music can be advantageous, because sound design and music go hand-in-hand in film

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SHORT STORY KAMALIA RAMLAN

Bunyi TEXT: KAMALIA RAMLAN IMAGE: FE ILYA / FLICKR!

Tuut... tuutt... tuutt...

“Helo?”

“He...lo. Nina? Nina ke?”

“Ya. Jue ke?”

“Nina... aku dengar lagi bunyi tu.”

“Mana Ariff? Kerja luar lagi ke?”

“Dia tak balik seminggu. Minggu depan baru dia balik sini.”

“Okey, kau kat mana ni?”

“Dalam bilik. Dalam al...mari baju.” Suara Nina semakin berbisik. Dia takut.

“Jue, benda tu tak kacau kau, kan?”

“Tapi aku takut dia datang sini.” Jue dah mula menangis, tapi seboleh-boleh dia tahan daripada bunyi tangisannya didengari.

“Kau nak aku buat apa?”

“Nina, kau teman aku. Macam biasa... okey?”

Nina mengangguk walaupun dia tahu Jue di talian sana tidak dapat melihatnya. Lalu Nina dan Jue hanya diam membisu di talian masing-masing. Tidak perlu meluah kata, yang Jue mahu hanya peneman untuk mengurangkan debar takutnya. Ia berlaku hampir setiap malam. Mujur ada Nina yang tidak pernah menolak atau marah dengan ajakan Jue. Dia sebenarnya rasa kasihan yang amat sangat pada rakan baiknya itu. Walaupun sudah lama tidak bersua kerana Nina sudah berpindah jauh ke utara negeri, mereka masih saling menghubungi. Cuma sejak akhir-akhir ini, kerap pula Jue menghubunginya. Lebih-

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lebih lagi pada waktu malam, jam 11 malam ke atas. Katanya dia dengar bunyi macam orang buka pintu rumahnya dan guna dapurnya. Itu belum lagi derap tapak kaki perlahan-lahan naik ke tingkat atas.

Pintu bilik sebelah dibuka dan ditutup.

Mujur, bukan biliknya yang dituju. Itu cerita Jue pada Nina.

Apabila ditanya mana Ariff, suami Jue, dia hanya menjawab Ariff kerja luar. Ya, memang sejak sebelum Jue dan Ariff berkahwin pun Nina memang sudah tahu yang Ariff itu sibuk orangnya. Kerjanya sering membawanya bekerja di luar daerah. Namun, setelah dua tahun berkahwin, Nina lihat Jue dan Ariff masih seperti pasangan biasa yang lain. Biasalah kalau gaduh-gaduh kecil. Kadang-kadang Jue ada juga menceritakan perihal rumah tangganya pada Nina, tapi sekadar dasar sahaja. Tak lebih-lebih dan Nina pun anggap tiada masalah serius dalam rumah tangga kawan baiknya itu. Maklumlah, dia turut rasa sedih kalau ada perkara yang tidak enak tentang rumah tangga mereka didengar. Selain daripada Jue itu sahabat baiknya, dia juga sebenarnya menjadi orang tengah memperkenalkan mereka berdua. Ariff itu teman kepada tunangnya.

Setelah hampir 15 minit, Jue bersuara separuh berbisik

“Nina, aku dah tak dengar apa-apa lagi.”

“Kau okey ke ni?” Nina ingin meminta kepastian.

“Erm... okey. Aku okey.” Ada getar dalam suara Jue tapi dia sudah semakin tenang.

Peluh yang memercik di dahinya segera dilap dengan tangan.

“Erm... kalau macam tu, kau sambung tidurlah, Jue.” Nina pun sebenarnya sudah mengantuk tapi dia tahankan juga matanya

demi Jue.

Kata Jue, perkara misteri ini berlaku sejak beberapa bulan yang lepas. Pada masa itu Ariff tiada di rumah atas sebab kerja. Jadi, Jue seperti biasa akan tinggal berseorangan di rumah. Pada malam pertama keadaan masih normal. Tiada apa-apa yang aneh berlaku di rumahnya.

Namun, apabila masuk malam kedua, tibatiba Jue terdengar bunyi-bunyi aneh. Daun pintu dibuka perlahan-lahan. Suis lampu dapur terbuka dan tertutup sendiri. Itu belum derapan kaki yang perlahan-lahan naik ke tingkat atas. Kerana terlalu takut Jue menyorok dalam almari bajunya sehingga pagi. Apabila setiap malam berteman dengan ketakutan, Jue nekad untuk menghubungi Nina. Dia memberitahu segala-galanya pada Nina.

Pada mulanya Nina tak percaya dengan cerita Jue, tapi apabila rakannya itu kerap menelefonnya pada tengah-tengah malam dengan suara yang ketakutan, sedikit demi sedikit dia mula mempercayainya.

“Kau tak beritahu Ariff ke fasal ni?” Suatu malam Nina bertanya pada Jue yang pada masa itu yang cuba menahan tangisnya daripada didengari.

“Dah..,” balas Jue dengan suara yang lirih.

“Apa dia kata?”

“Dia kata tu mungkin khayalan aku. Aku kan memang penakut.”

“Itu aje?” Nina tak puas hati.

“Aku ada bagi tahu dia banyak kali, tapi apabila dia ada kat rumah, benda tu tak pernah terjadi pun. Okey aje semuanya.

Jadi, dia tak percaya apa yang aku beritahu.”

“Apa kata aku yang telefon Ariff nanti. Aku

Badan Jue menggigil ketakutan dan air mata mula menitik menahan debar yang memuncak #2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 23

SHORT STORY KAMALIA RAMLAN

IMAGE: JAKUB HLAVATY / FLICKR !

bagi tahu dia masalah kau. Mungkin ‘benda’ tu takut pada Ariff kut?” Nina cuba bercanda tapi tidak disambut oleh Jue.

“Eh, kau jangan telefon Ariff! Tak payah.

Biar aku aje yang cakap dengan Ariff.”

Cepat-cepat Jue menolak permintaan Nina.

“Tapi sampai bila, Jue? Aku risaulah dengan kau ni.” Nina mengeluh.

*** Jue tengok kalendar. Sepatutnya hari ini Ariff akan pulang ke rumah. Rasa terujanya membuak-buak apabila hari ini juga merupakan ulang tahun perkahwinan mereka yang kelima. Walaupun sudah lima tahun berkahwin, tapi mereka masih tiada rezeki untuk dikurniakan zuriat. Memang ada terbit rasa sedih dalam hati Jue, tapi Ariff tidak pernah menyalahkan dia melainkan rezeki masih belum ada buat mereka.

Hari ini Jue bercadang untuk memasak sesuatu yang istimewa buat mereka berdua. Jadi, dia bertungkus-lumus menyediakan menu kegemaran Ariff, iaitu ketam masak lemak bercili. Tidak dilupa, pencuci mulut dan minuman istimewa khas untuk hari ulang tahun perkahwinan mereka.

Jam sudah menunjukkan hampir pukul sepuluh malam, namun Ariff masih belum pulang lagi. Jue sudah beberapa kali menguap keletihan. Dia kemudian melangkah perlahan ke dapur. Nampak gayanya dia terpaksa menyimpan laukpauk yang dimasaknya petang tadi ke dalam peti sejuk. Begitulah yang selalu berlaku. Ariff selalu mungkir janji untuk pulang tepat pada waktunya. Kadangkadang rasa marah dan geramnya membuak-buak, tapi mengenangkan betapa kasihnya dia pada si suami, dia tahan sabar. Bagi Jue, Ariff adalah segalagalanya. Ariff itu dunianya. Dia tidak akan menukar ganti Ariff untuk orang lain.

Walaupun dia tidak menjamah sebarang makanan sejak makan tengah hari tadi, selera Jue mati. Dia terus melangkah ke atas dan mula masuk ke dalam biliknya.

Selesai membersihkan diri, tiba-tiba dia terdengar bunyi daun pintu rumahnya dibuka.

Kreakk...

Jue telan liur. Mustahil Ariff yang pulang.

Baru tadi dia terima mesej daripada Ariff yang suaminya itu pulang pada awal pagi esok. Katanya ada tugasan kecemasan yang perlu diselesaikan segera.

Badan Jue menggigil ketakutan dan air

24 | CQ MAGAZINE | #2

mata mula menitik menahan debar yang memuncak. Dia cuba bertenang.

Bertenang... bertenang. Mahu saja Jue menelefon Nina seperti malam-malam sebelumnya, tapi kali ini hatinya berkata jangan. Sampai bila dia harus hidup dalam ketakutan begini? Kalau Nina hanya mampu menjadi pendengar dan Ariff sendiri tidak mampu membantunya, maka barangkali inilah masanya untuk dia bertindak sendirian. Dia perlu berani.

Tanpa berfikir panjang, Jue mula mencaricari sesuatu sebagai pelindung diri walau dalam hati ada rasa ragu-ragu sama ada ‘benda’ di tingkat bawah rumahnya itu benar-benar hidup di dunia nyata atau sekadar ‘sesuatu’ yang mahu bermainmain dengannya saja.

Cepat saja dia mencapai penyangkut baju besi di dalam almari sebagai alat pelindung walau dia tahu penyangkut baju itu tidak akan memberi kesan apa-apa jikalau benar-benar seorang manusia berada di tingkat bawah rumahnya sekarang.

Perlahan-lahan Jue keluar dari biliknya.

Mujur, lampu di tingkat atas ditutup.

Sekurang-kurangnya dia terlindung daripada dilihat dengan jelas. Daripada beranda ruang tamu tingkat atas, Jue dapat melihat lembaga itu menuju ke arah dapur. Suis lampu dapur dibuka. Sekilas, lembaga yang seperti seorang lelaki itu kelihatan namun cepat-cepat Jue berlari masuk ke dalam biliknya semula. Kini dia sudah tahu, memang benarlah ada seseorang yang menceroboh rumahnya.

Kini rasa takutnya tidak sia-sia dan Ariff harus mempercayainya kali ini.

Apabila dia terdengar suis lampu dapur ditutup semula dan perlahan-lahan derap langkah seseorang naik ke tingkat atas, debaran hatinya semakin membuak-buak.

Tanpa melengahkan masa, Jue segera bersembunyi di dalam almari dan cuba menahan tangis daripada didengari. Tahan tangis... tahan tangis, Jue. Jangan berbunyi walau sekelumit suara pun.

Namun, apa yang berlaku adalah sebaliknya. Tangisan yang ditahan-tahan tadi semakin lama tidak dapat dibendung sehingga akhirnya raungan suara Jue bergema di seluruh rumah dua tingkat itu.

Dalam kegelapan, bunyi tapak kaki itu semakin menghampiri almari di mana Jue menyembunyikan dirinya. Tangannya terketar-ketar sambil cuba menutup mulutnya daripada terus menangis, tetapi dia gagal. Tangisannya terus galak sehinggalah...

Kraakk...!

Pintu almari dibuka dari luar. Jue terlalu

SHORT STORY KAMALIA RAMLAN Jue?”

“Keadaan ruang tamu ni yang sentiasa kemas dan masakan di dapur ni, tak lain tak bukan memang air tangan Jue.”

“Kenapa kau tak bertindak awal-awal? Jue selalu telefon aku. Katanya ada ‘benda’ yang cuba ceroboh rumah kau orang, tapi tak sangka pula dia yang sebenarnya ceroboh rumah ni.”

“Aku tak mahu Jue tertekan. Aku pernah hantar dia pulang dua tiga kali ke rumah keluarga dia sebelum ni, tapi dia datang balik senyap-senyap macam ni. Jadi aku biarkan saja sampailah aku dengar bunyi raungan dari bilik bacaan. Aku fikir, cukuplah ini kali terakhir Jue buat macam ni pada aku.” Ariff melepaskan satu keluhan yang berat.

“Kenapa kau berdua bercerai?” Nina raguragu untuk bertanya tapi dia rasa sebagai seorang yang rapat dengan Jue, dia perlu tahu.

“Jue, dia tu... menakutkan aku.” Ariff membalas sambil mengetap bibir. Dia harap Nina faham maksudnya.

“Maksud kau... ini? Sekarang yang berlaku ni?”

“Nina, aku memang sayang Jue... tapi aku rasa ada perkara yang perlu ada hadnya.

Cinta tu memang buta, tapi betul ke Jue tu benar-benar cintakan aku? Kalau dia betul cintakan aku, dia tak akan kongkong aku dan buat kerja gila macam ni.”

“Ya, aku faham. Jadi macam mana dengan Jue?”

“Aku harap mak ayah dia betul-betul faham keadaan aku sekarang ni. Jue tipu mereka dengan cakap dia tidur rumah kau.

Aku akan tukar segala kunci rumah dan kalau keadaan tak berubah juga aku akan pindah.”

Nina mengangguk. Dia mengangguk sungguh-sungguh. Air mata tumpah setitik demi setitik tatkala melihat Jue yang bagaikan orang bingung itu.

“Jue, cinta itu bebas dan kerana itu bebaskanlah orang yang kau cintai...”

Perlahan-lahan Nina membisikkan katakata itu pada Jue lalu mengucup dahi sahabatnya itu.

IMAGE: DORKYMUM / FLICKR!

terperanjat sehingga akhirnya dia pengsan di situ juga. *** Perlahan-lahan dia membuka mata dan dia wajah pertama sekali yang dilihat adalah wajah Nina.

“Kenapa kau tak bagi tahu aku, Jue?” Nina bertanya setelah beberapa ketika.

“Aku malu,” jawab Jue ringkas sambil memandang ke arah lain. Dia tidak mahu bertentang mata dengan Nina.

Nina geleng kepala. Rasa terperanjatnya masih lagi belum hilang apabila dia mendengar cerita Ariff. Rupa-rupanya ketakutan Jue selama ini pada lembaga misteri itu memang tidak masuk akal langsung. Malah, cerita yang Nina dengar daripada Ariff itu masih lagi belum dicerna puas-puas. Tak masuk akal.

“Aku perasan ada benda pelik yang berlaku kat rumah ni dan aku mula syak ada sesuatu tak kena. Mungkin ada kenamengena dengan Jue.” Ariff memberitahu Nina.

“Macam mana kau tahu semua ni angkara

#2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 25

Nowhere TEXT: RAHIM RAMLI IMAGE: ERIK SODERSTROM!

26 | CQ MAGAZINE | #2

Where you were? Where have you been?

Where you are? Where will you be?

I wish I could have foreseen,

So I wouldn't be so lonely.

Where you went? Where have you gone?

Where you go? Where will you go?

I wish I could have followed,

So I wouldn't be so emo.

Through the cold night I'm walking,

Hoping that you are around;

But you are nowhere to be seen,

You are nowhere to be found.

I wish and long for nothing more,

Than your smile being in my sight;

Even if I do want something more,

It'd be having you by my side.

I don't think I'm asking for too much,

When it's your presence I'm asking for;

But if it is indeed too much,

It's the one thing I'd be greedy for.

It just won't be that easy,

To be at where you happen to be;

I wish I could track you down,

Just to hear my name you pronounce.

It just won't be that simple,

Even though they may seem so little;

The wish to have you close,

The wish for my eyes to meet yours.

POETRY AKMAL FIRUL

Dalam mendung, Dua kaki yang dahulu kuat berlari ini melangkah.

Tiada kukuh lagi di sini.

Di sini, Bukan di belakang sana.

Yang gelap dan takut, Sebuah rumah hantu, Tak berbumbung, tak berhujung.

Dalam gerimis, Menggigil dua kaki ini.

Kulit-kulit yang berkedut, Seperti kertas putih, Yang direnyuk oleh si penyair, Lalu dicampak keluar jendela, Kerana ketandusan punca dan rasa.

Saat menulis sebaris kata.

Dalam hujan, Tubuhku terhenti.

Dek tiada kudrat lagi Untuk menyahut dan menyambut, Panggilan dan lambaian Sang tiada bernama.

Sang tiada berjasad.

Keinsafan.

Dalam basah, Baju lusuh ini Seluar koyak ini Juga basah.

Tapi hati ini tetap kering.

Dahagakan seteguk keampunan, Cukup setitik kemaafan.

Apa mampu teruskan perjalanan?

Dalam lebat, Fikirannya bertakung Dengan dosa rumah hantu.

Yang tak akan roboh, Tak pernah sunyi, Tak pernah kosong.

Pasti ada penghuni, Walau kini ku tak ingin kembali.

Dalam banjir, Lemas semangatnya, Tenggelam kudratnya Dalam lautan usia.

Walau niatnya kini masih muda, Juga penyesalan yang murni tampaknya.

Apa mampu ke daratan semula?

Tersimpan segala macam rahsia padaNya. Maha Pengampun lagi Maha Mengetahui.

Rumah Hantu TEXT: AKMAL FIRUL IMAGE: ALEXANDER SYNAPTIC!

#1 | CQ MAGAZINE | 27

INNER VIEW SMXL

Supersize Them Though theirs was a short-lived journey, SMXL remains a unique addition to the local Music scene. CQ Malaysia sat down with them to find out how IMAGE: STEVE SNODGRASS / FLICKR!

Hi guys! How are you guys doing?

Kimi: Swell! Fatter, older, and smarter. *flexes arm muscles* Sa’emah: I’ve been doing okay. I’m doing a lot of part-timing work, since I don’t feel like continuing my studies yet.

Esah: I’m still homesick for Malaysia.

Perhaps a more informed introduction is in order. I know you guys fairly well, but the readers don’t. Who’s who and what’s what in SMXL? K: Kimi’s the S sized violinist.

E: I’m Esah, or supposedly the M of SMXL. I do the main vocals, but only because I can’t play a musical instrument to save my life. Kimi and Sa’emah have better vocals than I do, and they do back-up sometimes.

S: I’m the guitarist of the band, the XL of SMXL. I’m also part-bodyguard of the band. You mess with my girls, you mess with me.

I won’t do that, that’s for sure. What got each of you interested in music to begin with?

K: I have a father who sings all the time, and a mother who listens to Bee Gees, as well as an uncle who made me watch The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night DVD after I got back from school. What do you expect?

E: Me too! My parents have always been listening to music around us, taking us to live shows, and I would say my mum’s family has always been a musical one, especially with singing. Barney and Friends probably played a huge role too. Then came the local indie music phase in my life, which got me (and every other wannabe) daydreaming of someday starting a band of my own!

S: For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved music. Maybe it was the first

28 | CQ MAGAZINE | #2

time I watched The Sounds Of Music with my cousins when I was a little kid. Maybe it was because of my parents, always playing their music; my dad always blasted Queen’s songs in the car, while my mom loved her classicals.

Out of all this, can we pick out names you were inspired by?

K: It’s hard to name anyone or any specific band. Every one of us listen to different thing. From Sheila On 7, The Specials and Rokiah Wanda to Tibetan throat singing and K-pop…everything.

E: Pass. Not PAS, but pass this question, I never can answer this kind of question, sorry! Who was SMXL inspired by eh?

K: Nice pun! *high-fives Esah* # E: *high-fives back from the States* S: Well, even though I love listening to Kpop like Big Bang and 2NE1, I’ve always been inspired by McFly. My big sister was a huge fan of them, and since I’ve been her roommate as we grew up, she made me listen to them all the time. Somehow, it got stuck and I’ve been fantasising on playing and writing music just like Tom Fletcher did. I got my first guitar when I was sixteen, then the rest was history. Well, my history, not SMXL as a whole.

How did this love for music grew to the point where you guys want to perform it? Was there a moment of great epiphany for all of you?

E: It grew from utter boredom. It was nice to have something other than classes to keep us occupied at UiTM. The only great epiphany we had would be with the naming of the band. It started as a joke, an obvious and not-so-nice, albeit brilliant, one. We like it when people try to figure out what it actually is, and most of the time

succeed, of course, it’s so easy.

K: Yeah, the jam session depan unit kesihatan when we were in our third semester at UiTM was cool.

S: I guess it started after our second semester, really. That was when we got closer to Kimi, the then-loner-ish punk girl.

I started asking her to come over to my house more often. Esah’s already my housemate, by the way. One day, after lepak-ing and some coffee, Kimi came by with her violin, I had my guitar and we started jamming. Esah started joining in with her singing and there you go, that moment of epiphany.

What about your first official performance?

S: Well, technically, our first official gig was at an event called Lepak Akustika, and it started at night time.

K: Or was it Puisi Satu Petang by Zine Satu Malam?

E: Yeah, it was actually an impromptu one!

The actual show that we booked was later that night at Gravy Baby in Shah Alam. It was for a show [independent singersongwriter] Wani Ardy used to organise back then. Earlier that evening, we killed time at another event called Puisi Satu Petang at Taman Tasik Shah Alam. The vibe was nice, outdoors, and with friends, and they welcomed any performers, and not without much hesitation at first, we decided to go for it.

S: In the evening, we performed Ayah Agi’s Apa Yang Nak. E: We took it as a rehearsal for the later show, and performed two of Pak Agi’s poems, since it was a poetry event. Book in hand, and no audio enhancements whatsoever: it was satisfactory. Later that night at the cafe, we were so nervous, I

I don’t think virtual selfpromotion and online presence is as effective as being out there showing people what you’ve got for real #2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 29

INNER VIEW SMXL I stumbled on some lyrics. That was pretty funny.

Since then, you’ve performed at a number of different venues in and around the Klang Valley. Which was the most memorable and why?

K: We loved every venue in the Klang Valley, but the most memorable was Penang! We shared the stage with Si Bunga Hitam.

E: Yup! The ones outside of the Klang Valley are the most memorable ones.

Roadtrip, duh!

S: For me, it was our gig in Penang. Since it was our last gig together, it was the first time we travelled that far from Klang Valley together.

E: It’s hard to choose between the studio just across the ocean in Georgetown, Penang or the 4th floor of a parking basement of a really unconventional building in downtown Seremban. Both were awesome because we had to travel all the way (train to Seremban, bus to Penang) and because we were the anomaly at both gigs. I mean, an all-girl band playing poetry on guitar & violin? We were surrounded by all these underground punk rockers: old-timers, skinheads, from all around the region. The crowd at both venues turned out to be good sports, though, and both were fun shows!

S: Sigh, too many precious memories.

Earlier, you mentioned about studying at UiTM, where you graduated from the creative writing course at the Faculty of Film, Theatre and Animation. How much of link can you make between what you studied and what you perform?

K: We performed what we studied. # S: I guess it’s the fact that once you understand and at least be able to relate to what is written, the way you perform shows.

K: True, creative writing doesn’t stop on papers, or forever in your computer. We took our writing and our mentor’s writing out on stages.

S: Sure, it could be a show that was meant to give thanks to someone or probably just a random performance to have fun.

Ultimately, the feelings you give out somehow reaches to the audience. We connect.

E: Each serves as a source of inspiration, stimulation, and escape for the other.

In many aspects I often think of songs as poems sung more than anything else, yet they’re not exactly the same thing.

What kind of correlations can you guys draw between the two? How much does one inform the other?

S: Ask Kimi!

K: Ask Esah!

E: OK, fine! For sure, there are musical

30 | CQ MAGAZINE | #2

elements in poetry, and poetic elements in music. They have similar forms, functions, and purposes. Music on its own, lyrics aside, conveys certain tidings and emotions, and seek to affect, just as the words and rhythm in poetry do. I don’t have the proper knowledge to begin talking about the compositional structure of music that has similarities with the composition of poetry and stanzas, amongst others.

Simply put, musical accompaniment is one of the many ways to perform poetry, and the combination of both definitely enhances the whole experience.

We can’t, of course, talk about poetry and performance without touching on the godfather himself, Pak Agi. I know that he has a big influence on you guys, but before we talk about that, can you guys remember the very first time you met him? Did you know who he was and what he’s all about?

E: I’m ashamed to admit that before I came to FiTA, I had never heard of Pak Agi before, although I have read Mat Som, in which he had a cameo appearance.

Ultimately, there were several foretold tales and anecdotes from seniors about his many quirks, a popular one being his habit of standing on the table in class.

K: Yes, that’s right Esah! The firs time for me was in class, and he performed his poem atas meja, mencangkung. Like Esah, I had never heard of him. I did, though, know of Anak Alam, but did not realise he was one of the Anak Alam(s).

S: For me, the first time I’d met him was when each student had their first meeting with their respective lecturers for each class. I remember that one of our classmates had asked if it were okay to use the F word in our writings. The lecturers just laughed amongst themselves, and Ayah Agi suggested using the Malay word for it – senggama. Yes, that was the first time I was introduced to that word and I was so fascinated by that discovery that I remembered all the details.

E: Stories like these may have contributed, but even from the very first time I was graced by Pak Agi’s presence, I knew he was indeed an extraordinary person. It was just something in the way he looked and smiled at me. This might sound unorthodox, but from that moment I had a feeling we would have an equally extraordinary kinship, and indeed that has been the case.

Well, it seems somewhat redundant now to ask of his influence on you guys…

S: He taught me that it was okay to be crazy. It was better to be true to yourself than to just follow the flock...

K: Exactly. That ‘respect your own art’ thingy, remember those many times he said, “Tak kisah audience kau seorang or

Music on its own, lyrics aside, conveys certain tidings and emotions, and seek to affect, just as the words and rhythm in poetry do

INNER VIEW SMXL

IMAGE: SMXL!

penuh satu hall, perform your art sebaik mungkin.” Tak kisah orang dengar atau tak…

E: Pak Agi is a one-of-a-kind teacher who teaches you connotatively rather than denotatively (one of his precious lessons: connotative and denotative language elements).

S: More to the point, he was our father. He cried when we belatedly showed that we could play music and show our interest in performing on stage, and said that he felt guilty for not finding out sooner.

E: We were inspired by the stories he shared about his life, his ideas and perspectives, his feelings about various things, and most of all his spirit and gusto.

And his works of course!

Not only that, but you guys actually performed with him!

S: It was a danger. When two volatile and explosive energies fuse together, the explosion becomes so much wilder.

E: Yeah, but it’s only natural, since we mostly perform his poetry.

K: Every semester we would have some kind of field trip with him. He would take us to his shows, which is one of his methods of teaching. He would ask us who wants to perform.

E: I think he enjoyed sharing us (and our whole class, actually) with the world, like we're his partners in crime.

S: For sure, it was crazy, but we loved it.

We get high on stage together.

One of the poems performed was

Hingga Ketemu Selamat Tinggal, which you guys even recorded and uploaded on SoundCloud. What was it about this poem that attracted you guys enough to perform it?

E: Because it’s short, maybe?

S: Ayah Agi had given us the first edition of his book of poems, Yang Yang. One night, as I was reading the book, I noticed the simple poem of Hingga Ketemu Selamat Tinggal.

K: The mood of the poem, the longing feeling, not wanting to depart or be separated; it’s the last song we play at every show.

S: The sucker for romance and sad farewells that I was, I grabbed my guitar, a pen and a paper and started working on a rhythm for that song and…it stuck.

K: Personally, I like its questioning nature, and how mysterious yet so relatable it is.

It leads me to this question. Collectively, you guys were together and active for a relatively short period of time. Were there any plans to record and distribute at least a part of your music more actively? I know that you have more than what your SoundCloud account has to offer…

S: Of course we do…

K: Once, long time ago, we had the idea of recording a few of our songs, lo-fi style, burn the CDs and pass it to our friends for free.

E: I think we never got to the point where we took ourselves seriously enough for that.

#2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 31

INNER VIEW SMXL S: It’s just that we didn’t really know what to do, so we left it at that.

E: It was always just a side thing that we did purely to have fun and share our… umm, talents.

Speaking of sharing talents, I’ve been meaning to ask a more general question. Now in the digital age, we have more tools at our disposal to further promote our works and activities. However, with everyone else being in the same boat, how much harder is it to stand out from the crowd?

What can be done to achieve that?

K: Stand out? Esah once wore a baju kurung sekolah at a gig we performed at lol lol lol.

E: #BreakTheInternet!

S: It is very, very hard to stand out, thank you very much! There’s always the talk about our style of music, our choice of songs and the kind of original music we would want to pursue…

E: Although just as important now, I don’t think virtual self-promotion and online presence is as effective as being out there showing people what you’ve got for real.

K: Yeah. We’ve never really cared if we stood out…

S: God, even with the jobs and gigs we’ve had so far, it’s all thanks to our friends who

IMAGE: SMXL!

32 | CQ MAGAZINE | #2

called us up. I guess, at the end of the day, the connections you make really count for a lot more than we’d actually thought.

Alright, let’s talk about the future. You guys are currently on hiatus right now, but are there any plans to get back together sooner rather than later?

E: Maybe, who knows? SMXL in The States?

K: Anytime everyone of us ada di satu tempat sama, buat masa yang lama, why not?

S: If we ever get a chance to perform with my girls again, I’d never let it slip away. You can count on that!

K: But maybe we’d be less terkinja-kinja like the old days, extra preppy.

Separately, how actively are you pursuing your respective music careers? Is it a viable option right now for young Malaysians, or must we all get jobs first to do this?

K: I used to sing and play ukulele at art events, but now I am on an indefinite hiatus, focusing on my writing.

S: I’m just doing covers on SoundCloud, really. It’s just one of the many channels from this so-called modern age that most inspiring amateurs use to promote themselves to the world.

E: Me, I’ve never really done it as a ‘career’ or actual life pursuit. Singing and music’s just a pastime for me.

K: We live in an era where it is easy to get famous, you can even get famous for the most stupid things. So, if music, or any kind of art at all, is your passion and you wanna make a living with it, buat muka tebal and just do it. But yes, get a job just in case you flop, you never know.

S: Yeah, I kinda agree with Kimi that one should get a steady job while making a living with music. Riding that kind of life is like riding on a Ferris wheel.

E: I’m married now to someone who enjoys making digital music, we’ve talked about composing and writing songs together.

For those who are interested in doing this, what kind of advice would you give to others?

E: Umm… S: Dude, do it for the love of music.

K: Love what you do, respect people’s art.

Don’t discriminate…and all the clichés you can think of.

Follow SMXL on Twitter at @smxl_.

Sampai Bila TEXT: ARAF AZIZ IMAGE: ZEEVEEZ / FLICKR!

Sampai bila nak makan disuapkan? Sampai bila nak pakai baju disarungkan?

Sampai bila nak 2dur disorongkan bantal?

Sampai bila nak jalan diangkat dan dikendong?

Sampai bila?

Aku tak nak leka dalam kemanjaan duniawi, sampai satu saat semuanya hilang, aku yang teraba-­‐ raba mencari belas kasih untuk menghulurkan tangan meneduhkan aku dari hangat mentari dan dinginnya hujan.

Namun, syukur pada Tuhan kerana masih lagi memberikan nikmat ini, walaupun aku cuba untuk berdiri sendiri, jauh di sudut ha2 ini masih lagi aku ingin dihulurkan tangan yang bisa memudahkan jalan yang di hadapan.

Dan, sampai bila?

#2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 33

Utero TEXT: AISYAH EZRAL IMAGE: TODD BINGER / FLICKR!

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EXPERIMENTAL AISYAH EZRAL dijadikan subjek hasad dengki insan lain.

Insan lain yang dispekulasikan telah membunuh Kurt Cobain tetapi cuba memberikan gambaran seakan Kurt Cobain yang telah mencabut nyawanya sendiri.

Insan lain itu, menurut spekulasi-spekulasi insan-insan dalam penafian, adalah isteri Kurt Cobain sendiri, Courtney Love. Aku tak percaya ini. Aku tak percaya pada penafian.

Dan disebabkan itulah, hari ini, sedekad selepas pemergian insan hebat wira aku itu, Kurt Cobain, hari ini hari aku. Aku enggan menafikan lagi, enggan menanti tanpa pasti perkara yang paling pasti dalam kehidupan.

Sebab itulah, cd R.E.M kini sudah berada dalam tanganku, berjaya aku temui setelah sekian lama mencari. Begitu juga serbuk putih. Cuma senapang patah tak berjaya aku dapatkan. Tak mengapa, hidup (dan mati) perlukan improvisasi. Aku sudah sedia setelah sekian lama membuat persediaan. Ini perkara paling penting dalam seluruh hidup aku, hidup yang bakal ditamatkan sebentar lagi. Signifikannya bagi aku untuk melakukannya pada tarikh dan waktu yang sama, dalam keadaan yang hampir sama, cuma bezanya, sedekad lewat. 5 April 2004, jam 4.23 petang, itu masa yang dinanti-nantikan.

Warkah terakhir, tidak aku coretkan, melainkan tulisan menggunakan Colgate di cermin bilik air, ini yang aku tuliskan, “Sejak usia tujuh tahun, aku sudah menjadi benci pada semua yang umumnya bergelar manusia.”. Itu petikan pernyataan Kurt Cobain sendiri, dialih bahasa. Aku harap ayat 14 perkataan itu dapat menyimpulkan perbuatan aku ini, semudah itu.

2.23 pm, dua jam lagi. Aku turun ke dapur, aku duduk, aku makan hidangan terakhir air tangan mak aku. Waktu itu mak aku bising mengenai In Utero. Aku diamkan saja, aku tersenyum. Dia berang. Dia rampas pinggan berisi daging masak merah yang terhidang di depanku, dia lempar ke mukaku. Merah mukaku terkena kuah masak merah. Bukan merah kerana aku

marah, tidak. Aku tenang, aku tersenyum, aku bangun berdiri, aku meninggalkan mak.

Tanpa sepatah kata. Buat selama-lamanya.

Dalam hatiku, aku wasiatkan In Utero itu buat mak. Ironi lagi. Insan yang pernah meng-in utero-kan aku. In utero itu menggambarkan keadaan manusia semua sebelum dilahirkan. Sembilan bulan dalam rahim ibu yang menggendong kita kepenatan – dan mungkin bagi mak aku, kebencian. Satu jam setengah sudah aku di tingkat teratas rumah pangsapuri dua puluh lima tingkat di tengah bandaraya kota berlumpur ini. Dekat dengan matahari yang semakin rendah, jauh dari ketenangan.

Bingit kota di bawah. Namun aku pujuk diri aku, selepas ini bakal aku bersemadi dengan ketenangan selama-lamanya.

4.15 pm. 4.16 pm. 4.17 pm. 4.18 pm. Aku tekan on pada pemain cakera padat yang telah aku bawa naik bersama. CD R.E.M. sudah sedia untuk diputarkan. Trek yang sama dinikmati oleh corong telinga Kurt Cobain sebelum dia dipekakkan selamalamanya. Automatic.

4.19 pm. Aku masih mencakar langit. 4.20 pm. Aku di penjuru hujung bumbung. 4.21 pm. Aku tutup mata.

4.22 pm. Aku burung terbang melayang tanpa payung terjun.

4.23 pm. Aku berperang melawan hukum fizik. 4.24 pm. Ada daging segar tenggelam dalam kuah merah di atas tanah bahagian paling bawah bangunan mencakar langit itu. Jeritan dan hiruk pikuk kenderaan di jalanan tidak lagi kedengaran. Hanya Automatic – R.E.M. di gegendang, selamalamanya. Senyuman yang sudah terjahit berkekalan di wajah yang kini umpama lempeng merah. Dan aku harap, seperti nasib Kurt Cobain, turut bagi aku, ada insan-insan yang berspekulasi dalam penafian. Aku harap, orang yang menjadi mangsa spekulasi penafian itu, adalah manusia yang begitu bertaut dengan In Utero itu. Mak aku. Yang suka bising tu.

IMAGE: ERIC SHOEMAKER / FLICKR!

Hari ini mak aku bising lagi. Mak aku bising fasal bisingnya kebisingan yang aku bisingkan. Apa lagi kalau bukan putaran kali ke lapan belas juta darab infiniti cd In Utero. Album studio rilisan ketiga kugiran yang di mata kepala hati telinga jiwa serta segala anggota deria pancaindera aku adalah kugiran paling menggoncang alam semesta pernah hidup, walau kini mati.

Sememangnya aku suka berbicara menggunakan gaya bahasa hiperbola.

Begitu juga ironi. Ironi adalah konsep yang paling gemar aku bencikan. Ah, itu pula sudah jadi paradoks. Gemar dan benci bertautan. Kembali ke Nirvana. Yang sudah bersemadi di nirvana sudahnya. Walaupun hakikatnya hanya vokalisnya sebagai tonggak yang telah secara harfiah meninggalkan dunia ini, kugirannya bersamanya terkubur, namun impak yang mereka tinggalkan masih marak menyala apinya di dunia. Dan aku, aku yang sewaktu album ketiga yang sedang aku putarkan untuk kali ke infiniti dalam bilik aku yang menurut ibuku serupa kandang kambing ini, sewaktu album ini baru diriliskan, aku belum lagi dilahirkan. Aku yang hanya berusia hingusan satu tahun semasa dunia digemparkan dengan berita tragis yang telah membunuh Nirvana.

Pembunuhan yang telah membunuh mereka. Pembunuhan diri. Tunjang kumpulan yang aku yakin atau mungkin hanya sekadar harap seantero semesta kenal jika aku katakan namanya Kurt Cobain. 5 April 1994, dia – beliau – ditemui dengan lubang berisi peluru berlumuran darah hampir pecah ranah di kepalanya.

Dan senapang patah di tangannya yang sudah tidak bernyawa selama enam belas jam. Dan serbuk putih yang namanya beritma sama dengan nama penghidunya, kokain. Dan waktu itu, di bilik bawah tanah rumah agam Kurt Cobain itu, sedang berkumandang tersekat-sekat dari cakera padat, lagu kumpulan R.E.M. Ramai yang cuba menafikan hakikat bahawasanya orang sehebat Kurt Cobain telah menamatkan riwayat sendiri. Walhal hidupnya cukup gah, cukup gah untuk

#2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 35

FEATURE EMILLIO DANIEL

This Is How They Do It Ever wondered what it is that DJs actually do when they play music? Don’t they just press play? We look at why they don’t TEXT: EMILLIO DANIEL IMAGE: PHOTOGRAPHER / FLICKR!

“They’re just pressing play” #

I could lament over how this response to the work that goes on behind the DJ booth enrages me. Today, however, isn’t the day to do that. Instead, make yourself comfortable; you’ll want to grab a drink as we take a closer look at an often misunderstood art surrounding the music scene.

Why, though, do people think this is all we do? To think that given all that equipment we place on a table sometimes totaling in at the thousands of dollars range, we’d still just “press play”; even the cheapest equipment would set you back at around 400 dollars if you want any chance of actually getting hired to play a venue.

The songs have to be purchased as well, as club sound­ systems can make it rather obvious if you’ve taken a rip off Youtube, so we often spend a dollar USD on average per-­track. Thank god digital distribution allows us to buy individual tracks instead of having to nab an entire album!

Furthermore, music is constantly evolving with every passing day, and we have to keep up with it. If you think hipsters are listening to all the things before it was cool, we listened whilst it was fresh out the oven. We search high and low for music we like, then we present that to you at a venue in a different context.

Yet, I can understand those who raise this pressing play question, for that is exactly what some people bearing the DJ title do.

It’s heartbreaking to see that even some big name DJs out there resort to this

36 | CQ MAGAZINE | #2

option as we know most of our audience won’t know what it is we’re doing in the booth anyway.

Whilst it’s obvious that the drummer is banging a drum to make a sound and the bassist is plucking a string, what a DJ does isn’t something the untrained eye can make out just by watching. The fact that our equipment is face down for us to see doesn’t help, as the disconnectivity forces the audience to merely listen.

A DJ however, has one job: keep people dancing.

How we do it can vary from one DJ to the other depending on style. The basic principles and goals are always the same, however: create a continuous mix of music for the duration of the event to suit the crowd. Doesn’t sound very hard right?

Actually, you’re right. The principle is easy.

You could go ahead and open up your iTunes and play one song after the other right now. It’ll be disconnected but it’s a continuous run of music. Radio DJs do this, after all. What makes it hard then?

Research and preparation, that’s what.

Here’s how it usually goes.

Step 1: Crate Digging

The term ‘crate digging’, stems from the crates record stores would place vinyl records in. DJs used to sort through these crates to find something they like.

Nowadays however, we just buy what we need online from digital stores such as iTunes, Beatport or Amazon. That doesn’t

quite make it easier, though.

You see, a regular DJ set will normally run at an hour but if you’re working a club, it’s common to hold down the floor for the whole night, which can run you at around 6 hours. In an hour it’s easy to burn through around 20 tracks if you’re just playing back to back. That’s around a 120 tracks per-­ night, which is not too shabby.

You have to know these tracks though. You have to know how it goes, where you can transition in it, and whether the genre will fit the current mood of the crowd. As we’re improvising, it’s wise to keep an abundancy of tracks in the library so we’re prepared for anything. Even without a residency to a club, I’ve already stacked in at 2,700 tracks collected this year alone.

Step 2: Telling a Story

If you’re a writer, the three-act structure should be familiar to you. Well, guess what? We DJs adopt that structure in our mixes too! We’ll have our setup that starts out slow and builds over to introduce our main theme (genre), the confrontation where the action rises and all the big things happen, and the resolution where we get ready to exit the stage and be done with the performance.

Beatmatching, reading the crowd, transitioning: these are all things you’ll also have to be aware of when being a DJ, of your venue and event. If you’re playing for a club you have to make critical musical choices, what to play for the opening hours where the club doors just opened? Are you playing peak hours where everyone

You’ll want to grab a drink as we take a closer look at an often misunderstood art surrounding the music scene

#2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 37

IMAGE: TOKYO TIMES!

FEATURE EMILLIO DANIEL

You’d think shorter sets would be easier, but it’s a whole different problem altogether

38 | CQ MAGAZINE | #2

expects to hear all the hits and ‘bangers’?

Or are you playing after­-hours where the weirder selections start coming in to get trippy?

Markus Schulz, a German-American DJ, once spoke of his experience as DJ where he started out with residencies to clubs that run for 6 to 10 hours long and as he got more popular his sets got shorter.

You’d think shorter sets would be easier, but it’s a whole different problem altogether. It means you have to cramp up your selections and still create a coherent front to back story.

Step 3: Press Buttons-Turn Knobs

Okay! Time to get on to the decks. You have the DJ gear, your USB or laptop is filled to the brim with music, and you’re dressed to kill. You drop your first beat and someone in the audience is bobbing their head. You go, dude! Okay, but now your first track is almost over...what now?

Well, this really depends on what kind of DJ you are at this point. Staying with the story angle, Ean Golden of DJ Tech Tools likes to refer to it as a stage­-play. Thinking of the DJ performance as a stage play, he will introduce a main theme (a popular song that’s within your respective genre), a backdrop similar to a stage backdrop setting (drumloops, usually), main character (a song played throughout), and then a complementing main character, which is another song to switch places with the first main character.

Playing around with these elements, he creates his story.And there you have it.

This is what’s going on behind the booth.

Essentially, it is telling a story, so it’s never just pressing play if you’ve got a DJ who prides themselves on their art up there.

As an aside, I suggest downloading an app called SoundHound to your smartphone. It detects a song that’s being played, because god forbid asking a DJ what the song being played is. Keep in mind, we are working there and sometimes what’s being played is a ‘secret weapon’, a special track only that DJ has.

Just be understanding, all right? We’re musicians too, after all.# #

Need a DJ for your event? Email Emillio at soundchildstudios@gmail.com.

Rajuk TEXT: ZULAIKHA BINTI SABRI IMAGE: tOrange.us!

Bila ada ceritera, Mana mungkin tiada sengketa, Bukan syurga yang ingin dicipta, Tapi manakan sama realitinya.

Bila ada rajuk di hati, Ubat dengan masa yang ada, Jangan dilempar bicara dusta, Minda jangan fikir sengketa.

Hilangkan rajuk hilang sengketa, Yang baik diambil manfaat, Duka biar ditiup angin suasana, Dijalin ikatan agar kukuh terbina.

Duka hati biarkan rahsia, Menasihati putik menghijau lara, Memaafkan adalah jalan akhirnya, Agar jalanan sungai tiada tercela.

#2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 39

INNER VIEW MAGDELINE WANG

On Air with Maggy CQ recently sat down and caught up with Fly FM DJ Magdeline Wang to talk about career challenges, balancing lives and breaking down on air.

TEXT: FIKRI JERMADI IMAGE: MAGDELINE WANG!

You're a DJ with Fly FM. It seems like a pretty cool job. How did you become a DJ with them?

Good question. I sometimes forget how I stumbled upon my dream job too, haha!

Well, I was one of the Top 8 Finalist for Miss Malaysia Universe 2012, and after the pageant ended, I felt like I needed to do something for myself. The eager beaver in me couldn’t settle with just being a finalist, and I found my passion for presenting during the one month of filming the reality TV series. I spoke to the National Director at the time, Andrea Fonseka, who was the greatest mentor I could ever ask for. I remember her telling me, “Maggy, you should do TV. But I reckon you should train the way you speak first. Why don’t you try radio?” And the rest, as they say, is history!

What kind of training did you go through prior to going on air?

I actually spent about 7 months training before officially going on air. Simply put, I spent hours almost everyday talking to myself: trying to improve my pronunciation, intonation, the way I speak and lots of other factors that I never really knew mattered so much. Sometimes I would also sit in with the senior announcers and watch how they manage their shows.

Do you remember the first show you did? What was it like?

Nerve-wrecking! I remembered I was so excited that I couldn’t even sleep at night. I go on live you see, so everything had to be perfect. One mistake and that’s it, my job could be taken away from me. Thank God, it went well and I received good feedback from my friends and family. Having said that, being a radio announcer means you need to constantly improvise, otherwise

40 | CQ MAGAZINE | #2

your listeners will get bored of you. So, I’m still learning everyday. Each time I go on air, I treat it like as though it’s my first time.

I try my best to impress my listeners and still be myself. It’s not easy, but practice makes perfect!

Can you describe for us a typical daily routine for you if you’re scheduled to be on air?

If I’m doing the morning shift (usually 10am to 2pm during the weekdays), I’ll have to wake up by 7.30am to beat the traffic, and after I’m done I’ll usually head for lunch or gym. If I have classes then I’ll head back to university. Honestly, I don’t really have a fixed schedule as to what I do. I like going with the flow. The weekend shows are usually more relaxed because I don’t have to wake up super early. So, thank God for that!

You spend hours in the studio, for sure, and I'm wondering about the work process; I hear that radio DJs have to do a lot of multitasking…

We sure do! From volume controls, clip editings, callers, getting the latest Hollywood goss and prepping for what to say next…I think multitasking is an understatement!

In terms of selecting the songs, what kind of power do you have? Are you able to play any song in the world, ever?

Well, we have our music director and she’s one of the best MD I’ve ever had. She makes the call most of the time. However, at Fly FM we play what our listeners want to hear, so we have our daily FLY30 countdown (8pm-11pm weekdays) where listeners get to vote for their favourite

songs. Of course, we get song requests, where listeners call in to request for their song choice. If we have it in our music library, we’ll definitely play it, for sure!

What’s the biggest difference between doing live shows and pre-recorded ones?

Basically, you have more control over prerecorded shows because you get to rerecord if you fumble or if you make any mistakes. You don’t have the luxury of doing that for live shows.

We're sure not everything has gone all that smoothly, either. What's the most challenging moment thus far in your DJing career?

Bad days! Bad days are the toughest to get through especially when your job is to put a smile on people’s face. It is more mentally challenging than anything else.

There was this once when I was really really down to a point where I was actually tearing up while I was live on air. Of course, I’m not supposed to cry on air! So, I had to hold it in and just keep that smile on. It wasn’t easy at all. The moment my mic went off, I was bawling my eyes out. It was one of those really bad days and work was unfortunately…in the way.

How do you deal with that? Is there a particular thought process you go through?

You just have to do it. That’s all I can say, haha! Well, I learnt from my previous experience. You just have to leave all emotions and worries out of the studio.

Never, ever bring it with you to the show.

Being a DJ on national radio surely brings with it extra responsibilities;

#2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 41

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IMAGE: MAGDELINE WANG

Follow Magdeline on Instagram at @magdelinewang.

replaceable. There will always be someone who looks prettier than you, taller than you, better than you and it may (or may not) hurt your confidence. So, never ever let those things kill the fire in you. Fight for your dreams and remember, passion drives… always! Most importantly, know what you’re fighting, stick to your values and principles. It’s very easy to go astray but as long as you keep yourself grounded, you’ll be fine.

It is not going to be an easy journey, but hey, dreams will only be dreams if you’re not going to do anything about it. So, get out of your comfort zone and go the whole hog! As Erada put it, “if it’s terrifying and amazing, then pursue it!”

IMAGE: MAGDELINE WANG

you're the face of the radio, even when you're not on air. What kind of added pressure does this bring?

To be frank, I haven’t really thought about that yet. I’m still a part-timer, so technically, I’m not really the face of the radio.

However, I do get people recognising my voice now that I’ve done radio for almost 2 years. In that way, I still do represent the station, so it is important to always keep a good and healthy reputation. I don’t really find it pressurising though. I believe in being yourself and that is what I’ve always been doing. Don’t have to try too hard, just take things easy. Makes life a lot easier.

Of course, on the bright side I'm sure you have had some memorable moments, too. Describe for us the most rewarding moment you had on air thus far.

There are a few in mind, but one of the most rewarding moments in my radio career happened quite recently actually. It happened during our weekly air-check when my bosses told me, “Maggy, you sound so good! I think you found it! Well done!” I don’t think the readers would understand how rewarding that was, but to me, it meant a whole lot!

You mention going to university just now. What do you study and how has your education helped with DJing?

I’m pursuing a Double Degree in Business/ Commerce (majoring in Management) and Communications, minoring in International Studies. To be honest, it doesn’t really apply much because my Communications major is mostly theory-based, so I get my dose of practical from my job and line of work. I’d like to think it’s a good balance. I am also planning to start a business on my own, but it is still in the talks, so management-wise, my knowledge is still applicable. I believe knowledge is power, so it doesn’t really matter whether or not what I’m studying now is applicable to what I do at this point of my life, because I believe it will always come in handy!

You've also taken part in events such as Miss Universe Malaysia. Between university and work, it seems like you're always on the go, 24/7. Do you get any sleep?

Of course I do, haha! I can’t function without sleep. In fact, I sleep a lot. I will make sure I complete my task as soon as I can and once I do, I’ll rest. Can’t neglect the beauty sleep, you know?

Having charted your own course, what kind of advice would you have for those who may have similar aspirations?

You have to understand that being in the entertainment industry, you’re very

INNER VIEW MAGDELINE WANG

IMAGE: MAGDELINE WANG

Once, I came down to a point where I was tearing up while I was live on air.

Of course, I’m not supposed to cry on air #2 | CQ MAGAZINE | 43

COLLAGE MUSIC AND SONGWRITING

What Music and Song Writing Means To Me TEXT: WANI ARDY! IMAGE: RAFAEL / FLICKR!

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What is the meaning of music and songwriting? We ask ten musicians to indulge us a little further into the meanings they make from making meanings for others.

Reza Salleh (singer/songwriter) " Music to me is a train of beats, carrying melodies in the sky of our mind. Music is time travel, a pause button, a freeze frame, a pre-packaged instant perencah explosion of thoughts and feelings. When you choose to board that train, there's nothing like it. Short stop or long haul, there's something for everyone.

Songwriting, you could say is kind of like designing the train ride, but I see it more as a special train, the ultimate magic train in the sky. Songwriting is all the different ways you can board that train, how you choose to pluck out those beats and interact with those melodies, taking along other people for your own personal roller coaster ride. rezasalleh.net"

Iqbal M. (vocalist and lyricist of kugiran Iqbal M.)" Muzik itu pada saya sama macam makanan, benda yang kita perlu supaya kita boleh 'bertenaga' semula membuat kerja - tinggal jisim makanannya itu ngam dengan deria rasa kita atau tidak. Kalau ngam, orang akan suka/sokong dan 'makan' kita berulang-ulang kali, dan pada yang tidak ngam, mereka akan buang/ kutuk kita semaksimum mungkin. Saya dan abang-abang saya yang lain dari Iqbal M. bikin muzik untuk kongsikan/berikan lagi contoh yang lain terhadap muzik

Malaysia/Nusantara dengan gaya sekarang. Jadi, selepas awak baca tentang ini, jangan dengar sesebuah muzik/ senikata itu sekali lalu. Cuba analisa.

Percayalah, awak bakal jumpa ‘sesuatu’… ‘sesuatu’ yang orang dengar sambil lalu itu tidak akan jumpa! # soundcloud.com/iqbal-m"

Psytrus (producer at Pulse Soundworks/ vocalist of HardCandy)" I believe music is an extension of oneself, hence the vast differences in styles and taste. However, it's undeniable that music is the one universal language. As a songwriter, it's instinctive to use music and lyrics to pour out you thoughts and emotions but at the same time it needs to be relatable to just about anybody. As a songwriter, I'm lucky enough to have many outlets. For HardCandy and other artistes, I know I need to make sure the words are simple enough for anyone to understand and feel what I felt while writing. Knowing that I'm not going to be the one singing in the end helps keep my focus. But as a singer-songwriter, this is an outlet for me to challenge myself creatively as I know I'm the story teller, and I use words and music intertwined to convey an emotion, regardless what language the listener understands. facebook.com/psytrumusic

Otam (singer/songwriter)" I want to feel the sensation of a being leader, but I have always been a macai. At workplace, in the line of customer service, I am never the boss. And when I play soccer, the coach always puts me as the

COLLAGE MUSIC AND SONGWRITING defender. Well, in music it is different. I cherish the moment during every live show.

I am talking about having the power to move the feelings of a group of people or just a person. You, the performer, have that power. This is when leadership kicks in; everyone is expecting your next move or how you are going to end your performance. After all, you own the mic. I love this moment because finally a macai can be a boss for once. #

Songwriting is a diary for me. I never stop creating. If I do, that probably means I have found something new that is better than music. So far, music tops my chart and I believe I’ll keep on creating songs.

Keep on and keep on. # reverbnation.com/otam#

Az Samad (guitarist/educator) To me, music is a way to communicate emotions. It doesn't matter what level of technique you have as a musician, you can still express what you feel, or what people feel as a collective via your music. Of course, just like language - the more fluent your command of the vocabulary, the more it allows you to express the nuances of what you want to say. That's why my philosophy in music is that learning never ends. You can always find something new to learn, something that you already do to refine and something that you can work on to perfect it. Inherently, music and art to me is a work in process. Therefore, if you quit learning and growing, you are not fulfilling your responsibility as a musician and artist.

Songwriting to me is a way to learning and expressing what you can. I do love playing songs by great musicians and composers...however, there is something special in writing your own music. It may not be perfect but it is a reflection of you, your world and your thoughts at that moment. A song can mean different things to different people and even if one person finds meaning in your song, that can make a difference. A good song is like a friend that is there for you. azsamad.com # Falahi Sarisatriya (Captain G vocalist / guitarist)" Music is an enabler towards the development of a better society, except for popping pills music, which is utterly rubbish.

If wisely deployed, songwriting is a platform to express and educate the public at large. Unfortunately, the world went crazy over Gangnam Style.# soundcloud.com/falahi-sarisatriya#

Eyza Bahra (singer)" Music and songwriting are both therapy to

me. I have a love for words. Sometimes, I have problems explaining things that I want to say. I stumble, I stutter. But with music and songwriting - they help me to deliver and express my feelings. In a way they also help me to boost my confidence level. Music can affect your mood. The lyrics in it, the beat or the arrangement of the music, it affects your mood like no one's business. # facebook.com/eyzabahmusik"

Karl Agan (poet / singer / songwriter) Menulis dan meggubah lagu adalah sesuatu yang menyenangkan saya, seperti juga kegiatan menulis puisi. Saya bahkan mula menulis puisi setelah bermula dengan menggubah lagu di awal penglibatan.

Seperti dakwaan hampir semua penggiat seni, lagu dan seni kata seringkali menuntut emosi penulisnya secara menyeluruh. Denting not musik dan gema suara yang tertinggal di hujung baris sesebuah lirik adalah umpama sebuah pintu yang sengaja ditinggal terbuka untuk pendengar masuk dan menjelajah makna dan perasaan yang disampaikan penulisnya. Secara ringkas, lagu dan seni kata adalah suara yang sukar dilepaskan dalam perbualan seharian, suara genuine yang sangat takut melukakan. Menulis lagu dan menyampaikannya boleh diibaratkan seperti sepasang kekasih yang saling merenung tanpa berbicara namun cukup mengerti tentang makna di sebalik lirik mata. soundcloud.com/krlagn "

Songwriting particularly has been an outlet where I can explore different emotions, scenarios and perhaps step into characters that I am not able to in real life

# Ian Chow (Lelaki 2.5) One of my mentors, Dato’ Faridah Merican mentioned to me before that “science is the food for your mind meanwhile arts is the food for your soul”. I truly believe in that; that music completes oneself and coexist harmoniously with all the other elements in our life. And without it, you are not a balanced individual… as though you are missing some sort of nutrient in your diet.

Songwriting particularly has been an outlet where I can explore different emotions, scenarios and perhaps step into characters that I am not able to in real life. But it also allows me to share my thoughts or messages with the masses.

Acap F (vocalist of The Fridays / bassist of Wani Ardy & The Guitar Polygamy) I was a hyperactive child with ADHD.

This caused a lot of people much grief, pertaining to the way I behaved. You would muck things up, no matter how good your intentions were. My parents and teachers, much as they loved me, would be worn out and irritated just to contain me on a daily basis. This, in turn caused me lash out more in retaliation, out of frustration.

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IMAGE: SMYSNBRG / FLICKR!

COLLAGE MUSIC AND SONGWRITING

Songwriting adalah proses memerah otak yang sihat untuk pemalas macam saya " "

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I was put in environments where I would cause the least damage; two things held grip over me, video games and pop music on the radio. The latter probably saved me, in more ways than I probably know. The way Alanis Morrisette destroyed whatever it was that was bothering her on Jagged Little Pill taught me very early on that I could use music to channel pain, anger or disappointment into a legitimate place that didn't include getting an earful from parents or the police. The three-minute pop song was the best way to let loose; it didn't require the patience and discipline of sitting down and completing a novel, so it was perfect for me and my ultra-short attention span.

Throughout my adolescence the hyperactivity was replaced by bouts of depression and self-loathing, so I picked up the guitar and wrote songs on how to survive high school and the various (now cliched) pitfalls of teenagedom. Every single bump in the road would be meticulously documented in one way or another, just for the purpose of processing, to get it out of the way and render it harmless, so it wouldn't harm me by way of internalisation.

Today I continue writing songs as a mean of maintaining my (to some extent) sanity

and for documentation; I want to hear in these songs that, in all fairness, taking the good with the bad and all that jazz, I really have an interesting life after all. facebook.com/thefridays

Mohd Jayzuan (Singer-songwriter, novelist, and founder of art collective Projek Rabak) Selain self-expression, muzik dan songwriting adalah padang saya mendokumentasi moments. Membikin muzik seperti terapi. Ada keajaiban dalam not dan nada terhasil membentuk bunyi yang buatkan rasa semuanya okey seperti pujuk rayu memujuk tanpa jemu.

Saya hanya perlu angkat gitar dan menangis bersamanya. # # Muzik macam kekasih yang tak akan curang.# #

Perkara paling diutamakan saya ketika menulis lagu ialah idea atau bentuk lagu tersebut. Sound of recording, pedals, brands of guitars semua jatuh di tanggatangga terkemudian (bukannya tak penting, tapi tak sepenting idea untuk lagu). As a fan of lo-fi music, saya embrace raw and mistakes yang terjadi ketika rakaman. Bukan saya akan sentiasa membiarkan kesilapan terjadi tanpa dipadam, tapi kadangkala ada silap-silap rabak ‘kena’ dengan muzik itu -- bunyi jari terkelepet memegang kord, drum sticks terkena ring, dan ‘magic-magic lain’ ketika rakaman. Ianya priceless, my friends.# # Saya tak suka benda-benda draggy dan akan memastikan semua lagu yang dicipta tak melebihi 4 minit (dan rasanya saya tak pernah ada lagu durasi 4 minit).

Songwriting adalah proses memerah otak yang sihat untuk pemalas macam saya. # #

Exercise is for you and definitely not for me. # # While we’re at it, saya percaya kita perlu have fun dan menjadi silly ketika layan proses songwriting. Apalah makna mencipta muzik untuk nampak pandai atau please the market sedangkan hati tak enjoy. Mencipta seni asalnya untuk syok sendiri kerana kita ‘sakit’ dan perlu keluarkan apa di dada dan hati — kalau tak, kita mati. Syok sendiri is a good thing, actually. Kalau orang suka, dia beli. Benci, dia kutuk. And in the end of the day, paling penting, kita tetap syok. Walaupun syok sendiri — dan bukankah seni dicipta untuk menenangkan hati gundah resah gelisah ini?# # Music is not my way of life, but undeniably it is part of my life. Music is not everything but it is something. soundcloud.com/mohdjayzuan

COLLAGE MUSIC AND SONGWRITING Takahara Suiko (of The Venopian Solitude)# “What is music and songwriting to you?”

Kak Wani posed this question to me in the wee hours of two. Not that I woke up and ponder long and hard about it; I was out cold with a dawning fever.

What is music and songwriting to me?

I'm just going to focus in what songwriting is because music is like food and sleep; it's a necessity.

So far my answer has been simple: it's therapy. And this simple idea of it being a therapy was introduced to me by Boon Ken from Time Out KL when he interviewed me while we were having drinks(and cake; I don't function well without cake). He concluded a 14-minute ramble into one word: therapy.

Curse you Boon Ken and your brain.

Which is true for the most part of the songchurning years that I've gotten myself through. I would experience extreme emotions when reading a stupid online article; sad, angry, jolly and end up

churning songs about living in warzones, helpless animals being robbed of their homes, leaders and peasants alike lacking common sense. I would resort to noodling on instruments and abandoning all coursework when the reason for the stress was neglecting to finish up said coursework in the first place. And then gelabah gelabah last menit baru nak buat pastu stres pastu capai gitar. Lepas tu tinggal lagi.

Vicious cycle, it was. A vicious cycle that I could've avoided by NOT procrastinating, that is!

Some people play football, some play chess (do people even play chess anymore), I churn bulltahi. Not exactly a hobby but I just have to do it. That's what makes therapy, therapy.

But one thing about songwriting that I cannot claim is, whatever that comes into and out of my head, they're not mine. Like every single thought that is in our head, from “are we inhaling Higgs boson instead of air” to “nak makan ape ni”, stems from Luh Mahfuz, the core of every single knowledge in this universe. Personally, it's not at all Islamic and something only

Muslims can relate to, it's just a fragment of God that He sends to us through those strings of signals; thoughts, inspiration, ideas, via Luh Mahfuz the transmitter. The brain only acts as a receptor of those signals. Therefore, claiming whatever I've came up with in the past and hopefully further down the future, is just downright arrogant. It just shows how vast our universe (and possibly multiverse) is, and how immensely great God is.

Bak kata PK (the movie with the naked Aamir Khan), “There are billions other planets and galaxies in his huge universe.

You are merely a speck in this corner of the universe. You can't protect God, God doesn't need protection. He created this universe.” (This scene was actually referring to a response after a religious leader said “Who's going to protect God if you’re taking away the privilege of having faith in God?!”)

In conclusion (dah lapan tahun tak guna ayat ni), music is a necessity like sleep, drink, eat, move yo bum. Songwriting, personally, is therapy. Ewah.

Sekian, terima kasih. # facebook.com/thevenopiansolitude

IMAGE: VINCENT LOCK / FLICKR!

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Boat, Float TEXT: DEA ISHAK IMAGE: MARIAMʼS BLOG!

The sea roars. The fishermen draw their nets back on board. The waves grow bigger.

Angrier. Angry at the fishermen. And the fishermen at the waves. The fishermen try to fight, but their boats are small and getting smaller and smaller every time the waves grow bigger and bigger.

The waves are strong. The fishermen are not. But the fishermen have a will. The fishermen do not surrender. The fishermen refuse to fail.

The waves, emotional as waves are, push the boat off. The fishermen scream, but they will not prevail. The fishermen keep trying to make it safe.

No, the waves say. Tonight, you’ll no longer float. Tonight, you’ll not sleep so tight.

Tonight, you won’t be alright.

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INNER VIEW AIDIT ALFIAN

Master of A Fine Art One of the key movers in the Malaysian music industry discusses with CQ Malaysia # his humble beginnings, entering zones and the digital impact on music TEXT: WANI ARDY!

With over 30 years in the Malaysian music industry, Aidit Alfian is a name which needs no introduction. As years passed by, the technologies evolved, and the industry blossomed, many may not know that Aidit Alfian was potentially one of the few renowned composers who actually believed, supported, and helped our young musicians in the local independent scene.

Let’s dig into his story – who is this amazing dude, really?

Salam and hello, Aidit Alfian! Now tell us a little bit on your background. Were you formally educated in music or did you simply come from a musical family? You seem to have always known that this is what you want to do.

I studied classical guitar when I was 12 years old. But when I was 11 years old, I had already taught myself to play the keyboards. When I was 21 years old, I studied a little music theory but I did not sit for any of the formal exams. I learnt mostly from friends.

My family can be said to be a musical family even though they didn’t come from a formal musical background. My parents, especially my father loves music, and listened to a wide variety of music. So I was exposed to their varied tastes – multiple genres, and English and Malay music. My father also wanted me and my siblings to learn music – he bought and sent me and my siblings to music classes.

My youngest brother played the saxophone for our secondary school band.

Originally, even though I have always loved music and singing, my first love was football. My dream then was to be a

professional football player. Unfortunately, circumstances and injuries prevented me from continuing with this dream. My next dream was to be a session guitar player but at that time, I did not even own an electric guitar. As writing songs came easy for me, I wrote songs and my first published song was recorded by Jay Jay entitled Garis Antara. From royalties I earned writing songs, I was then able to buy myself an electric guitar to begin pursuing my second dream. At that time I had no intention of seriously becoming a songwriter.

So how did you get into the local music industry? I bet there were people who believed in you, supported you, and helped you in getting to where you are today, just like what you are doing now for the younger musicians of the present generation.

Azanil Ahmad, who is the brother of drummer Zahid Ahmad, introduced me to Norman Abdul Rahman, who at that time was managing Musicworks Sdn Bhd, which was a music publishing company owned by Roslan Aziz. So I signed to Musicworks and started sending many songs to them in the hope that my songs would be used by the local artists. Jay Jay was the first artist to choose a song of mine for his album. That song was called Garis Antara, and the guitar works for that song was done by the guitarist Man Keedal.

At that time, a friend of mine called Arab, who it turns out was also good friends with Man Keedal, returned from his studies in the US and visited Man Keedal. While visiting, Arab listened to various songs that Man Keedal was working on at that time,

and somehow asked Man Keedal about a particular song. Man Keedal told him this song is written by a new writer called Aidit.

Recognising my name as his good friend’s cousin whom he met and befriended when I was just 15 years old, he contacted me and we reconnected. He also knew that I was seriously pursuing the guitar and told Man Keedal about me.

On hearing this, Man Keedal told Arab to bring me over and introduce me to him.

From there, I started following Man Keedal to the studios and learned about producing songs from him. At that time, Man Keedal was in high demand as a prolific album producer. He would choose songs from among those that I wrote, for the artists he was producing at that time. A song recorded by the band CRK was my second published song, which became a hit. It topped the then most important music charts in the country, Carta Muzik Pujaan Nescafe for 26 weeks. It was called Cita dan Airmata, and it spurred me to write more songs and also brought in more royalties for me.

Even then, my goal was to still to become a guitar player and not a songwriter.

Songwriting was still for me a means to an end. I was practicing the guitar every day – working and living with Man Keedal set a good example for me in the disciplines of a professional guitar player, and so I started making a name for myself as one. I also became a recording artiste, first with Arab as the duo Arab dan Aidit.

Arab sang while I played the guitar in an album produced by Man Keedal. We had some success, although we only produced one album before going our separate ways

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INNER VIEW AIDIT ALFIAN was very privileged to have friends and music industry people who believed in me and my songs, and started to take my songs to be used for various artistes in the industry. One of the first was Johan Aziz, who was with BMG Music at that time. He took my songs and recorded them for artistes like Zamani, Izzla, Illa Sabry and many more. My first hit with my new publishing house was the song Rondo Cinta Buta, with lyrics written by my good friend Ad Samad, more well known as the ‘Acapkali’ song.

So many people supported me and believed in me during this time. I was and am very lucky, because from then, my old friends that I had known for years, supported me and I was able to form a production team to produce the songs I wrote. My team then, which is still the backbone of my production team even today are the brothers Alfa Booty and Rumie Booty. Alfa Booty has been one of my most prolific arrangers, and his brother Rumie my sound engineer and mix man. I was also privileged because Ajai, who was an important producer for Warner Music at that time, liked my songs, and took many of my songs for his production projects, and eventually for his own duet album with his then wife Nurul. The song Keliru, even though it was fully written by me, was chosen by Ajai to be the the first single from that album, which went on to win the Anugerah Juara Lagu 2002. It was with this win that the public began to know me, although at that time I had already been in the industry for a decade.

Of course outside of the industry I also had many supporters and people who believed in me. First of all, of course there was my wife who always believed that I was a good songwriter, and good friends like Ad Samad and Fariq Hamdan, Amir Sharifuddin; Shazni Sulaiman, my brother Bakhtiar Effendy and many others.

Writer’s block is a nightmare for all

writers – be it songwriters, scriptwriters, or just creative writers in general. Some people, however, do not believe in the existence of this dreadful phase, and assume it as merely an excuse. What about you?

There is a book on songwriting that I like with the big title As I Wrote. It has a little footnote title as well which is: Only For the Brave. Writer’s block to me, is mainly due to ‘fear’. A person who is involved in the creative process – a songwriter like me, and also writers, novelists and scriptwriters, I believe, need to be brave.

Once one succumbs to one’s fears and insecurities, nothing will come out of it.

Writers like me, usually like to enter certain ‘zones’, like returning to our childhood days, recalling moments of happiness and even of despair and heartbreak. You could also say that we try to stay in contact with our feelings in order to catch an idea or a melody. Also by knowing certain basic rudiments of music, I can explore and understand the current pop scene, which can also help to inspire me. I also learnt that I needed to ‘unlearn’ what are apparent ‘rules’ and ‘regulations’ in music and songwriting so that I would be free to use my creative process in different and sometimes ‘unconventional’ ways, that ‘break the mold’ if you like.

I learnt not to dwell too long on my own songs – appreciating one’s own songs is important of course, in order to be able to understand and identify what others may like. At the same time, if one dwells too long on what has already been written, one is likely to be trapped by it and that may make us unable to move on, to write other good songs. Sometimes when you’ve written one song that happens to be a hit or that you like, you may fear that you may not be able to write something better.

Again, it is that fear which is your undoing.

Appreciating and admiring songs written by others is also important, because from

IMAGE: PHOTOSTEVE101 / FLICKR!

as recording artistes. Thereafter I formed a band, called BABA which was signed to Warner Music. We released one album, in which I wrote and co-produced most of the songs, some in collaboration with the band members. Despite us winning the Best New Artist award at the Anugerah Industri Muzik at that time, the album did not do well and the band and I parted ways.

At that time also, I had just gotten married, so I had to work hard to find regular jobs.

Since BABA had not done well, there were not many shows so I started to become a regular guitar sessionist for live performances with artistes like Fauziah Latiff, Nora, Yantzen and Awie. I was the busiest with Awie’s band at that time, and we toured extensively around Semenanjung Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. I also did session guitar recordings for karaoke and jingles, and also artistes like Rahim Maarof, Nora, Mazleela and Gary Chow, as well as an upcoming new artiste, Siti Nurhaliza.

Because work was scarce and hard to come by at that time, I had to think very carefully about what I wanted to do with my music career. My dream of having a successful band was already in tatters and as a guitarist, I was alright but nowhere near what I wanted to be, as compared to my guitar idols like Man Keedal.

Finally I made a decision to hang up my guitar and concentrate on songwriting. At that time, my contract with Pustaka Muzik EMI was ending. I started learning about music publishing and its in and outs from various friends, and decided I would start my own music publishing company. With money loaned from my father, I set up Indah Karya Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd, started writing songs and sent them out to various music labels and music producers that I was acquainted with.

That was a crucial period in my growth in the music industry and as a songwriter. I

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IMAGE: NRKBETA / FLICKR!

INNER VIEW AIDIT ALFIAN

there we can also learn about the writing process. Similarly, it can also present a trap for us if we are not careful, and may instill a sense of inferiority and a lack of confidence when we feel we do not measure up, are not good enough or may never write anything as good.

When a songwriter or a novelist writes something for people to listen to or to read, we are literally wearing our hearts on our sleeves. We are actually exposing ourselves and allowing others to make judgements and criticise us. Whether we will receive praise or insults, we have to be prepared to accept the opinions of others.

Again, it boils down to the same thing, which is overcoming ‘fear’.

You personally have created so many songs and won so many awards. Which song holds a special place in your heart or has a significant value that makes it exceptional compared to your other works?

The song titled Barangkali sung by Mawi. It is a traditional Malay song that I produced with the support of my friends and production team. Everyone performed excellently, and Mawi delivered the song very very well. Somehow the whole process of songwriting and production of this song was perfect as far as I was concerned.

For me personally, writing and producing it felt like a ‘homecoming’, a return to my roots as a Malay of Javanese descent. It is also a song I was proud to let my father and uncles listen to. This song didn’t win any awards, and was not a big hit, even though it was a finalist for Best Song in the Anugerah Industri Muzik, but I still consider it the best song I have ever written because of the reasons above.

What was the best moment and the biggest challenge you had faced throughout your career?

The best moment for me was the day I received my first substantial amount in my royalty cheque because it made me realise finally that I could make a career and a living out of writing songs. I can support my family, and in fact it enabled my wife to stop working for several years.

Who are your favourite musicians whom you admire, idolise, and have been strongly inspired by?

Admire and strongly inspired by (not idolise): Man Keedal, M. Nasir, Sting, P. Ramlee, Loloq, Diane Warren, Ad Samad, Ramli Sarip, Jamal Abdillah, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jeff Beck, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Damien Rice, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Iwan Fals, Melly Goeslaw, Sudirman Hj Arshad, Manan Ngah, Saari Amri, Adnan Abu Hassan, Habsah Hassan, Carole King.

If there is one song out there that you'd wish you were the one who created it which song would it be? And why?

No one song. Too many to elaborate.

With illegal music downloads, piracy, and all these new technologies surrounding us this era, musicians are facing new challenges to survive. How do you manage this issue and what is your advice to others who are facing this issue?

First of all, everyone who wants to be in this industry needs to understand the music business in general. The music business is a very rich and diverse field, and surprisingly many of the creative arms in music, such as musicians, songwriters, producers and even artistes, are vastly ignorant about these very important aspects. Knowing about the different types

It boils down to overcoming fear

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INNER VIEW AIDIT ALFIAN of rights and royalties, and what goes into contracts is very important. To be a ‘real player’, we must get to know the ‘real players’, the influential people in this industry.

One of the first things I learnt when I embarked on songwriting full time was to learn about music publishing. I learnt from experienced persons in this industry and also from books and such, and I realised that one of the most important things after knowing my rights is to own my own songs. I therefore set up my own music publishing company in order to administer my own songs. After setting up my company, music started to evolve at a very rapid rate into what it has become today.

Honestly, even the bigwigs in the industry still cannot predict where music will go in this era of the internet, rampant music piracy and new technologies. We are still thinking of new solutions as to how an artiste, musician and songwriter can make a living in this day and age, and these solutions are ever evolving. I suppose my one advice is for the creative people not to be put off by these technicalities and actively involve themselves in these processes and changes.

For example, being part of organisations like music publishers organisations and musicians’ guild is important because as a group, our voices are much louder and more effective in fighting for our rights in this industry. We should not just complain, and voice our dissatisfaction without knowledge because doing this only showcases our own ignorance and does not benefit us in the long run.

How does the Internet help you and change the way you do and see things?

Easier access to different types of music from all over the world enriches my own musical growth. I’m also able to learn about new technologies and softwares; some are easily bought and downloaded through the internet. For others, I get to make my own assessment based on reviews and video demos as to whether a particular hardware or software is workable for me in my own set-up. It opens up more options for me, to improve my own songwriting tools.

In music production, file transfers become much more convenient with the internet. I can share and transfer files between my production team and musicians, and also opens up new options for mixing and mastering as I am also able to send files overseas for these purposes.

List down 5 things or qualities that every local musician of our generation needs

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to have in order to be successful.

Belief, respect, courage, teamwork and perseverance.

That’s awesome, Aidit. Such generous information and inspiration you’re sharing with us there; I feel like I’ve just attended the Malaysian Music Industry 101 class!

Thank you so much for spending your precious time with CQ - it has been a great honor.

IMAGE: RUSSELLSTREET / FLICKR!

Guilds are important…as a group, our voices are much louder and more effective

Wound

TEXT: DEA ISHAK IMAGE: CARO WALLIS / FLICKR!

The wait. The hardest part is always the wait.

You wish for it all to end. You wish for it all to heal,

But time doesn’t allow it now.

So you wait till one day you wake up,

And the numbness is gone

The deafening silence,

And the emptiness that you feel

You want it gone

Time doesn’t allow it now,

And you wander the streets like a ghost

Looking for her lost soul

And you walk down the sorrow

Hoping you’d feel the scorching sun on your skin

Because you want to be alive again

You want to fly off and be free like the birds you see

But the pain keeps you chained up to the ground

With nothing but a broken heart

So you wait

You wait…

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REVIEW ANWAR HADI

Chill The Fudge Up Anwar gave The Venopian Solitude a spin, and tells you why you won’t want to miss this musical ride IMAGE: .PXL / FLICKR!

The Venopian Solitude has been terrorising the interwebs as early as 2009, and after five years of ripening, this one (wo)man band finally came out with her debut commercial release, Hikayat Perawan Majnun in 2014. With an eclectic mix of musical influences ranging from Kimbra to Laura Marling to tUnE-yArDs, this bedroom-songwriter-cum-recording-artist manages to conjure up a sound that stands out in pretty much any crowd she is put into. Her cryptic lyricism which pack a whole lot of social commentary comes off as the scribbling inside the poetic diary of an angst-ridden youth who is making her stand with a middle-finger waving in the air. Mix that with an aversion to cliché sounding melodies and beats, this album doesn’t even try to win your attention - it demands it!

The album starts off with an eerie introduction, which eases us into the first track, Mother Nature Father Man Made, a fairly light track musically, but tackles on the much heavier topic of environmental conservation with a critique of the people who disrupts the delicate nature of, well, nature. The track acquaints the listener to what will be going on in the rest of the album rather well while not doing that at all, as the listener will come to find.

Then, we get into Mahar, a dramatic track discussing the culture of dowry which persists even today in our modern society.

The third song on the album, Kehadapan Para Pencemar is an open letter to the corrupt in our society, telling them to be afraid, urging them to “run, at the speed of sound, from our piercing eyes” (Lari! Lagi pantas dari bunyi! Daripada renungan tajam kami!).

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Then comes the lead single off the album, The Rojak Uta: Stampede. This is a trilingual track, where Suiko Takahara raps in English, Malay and Japanese, an impressive feat by any measure. The song addresses the universal issues that plague our modern world from the West to the Far East to even our humble abode in South East Asia in three minutes and a half.

That is followed up by a drop in tempo for us to enjoy the softer, more introspective half of The Venopian Solitude, Kembang Bunga and Khilaf Ratna demonstrating that our Perawan Majnun is capable of letting go of the throttle and still deliver some food for thought. The Leading Reaper provides us with insights about the fragility of life and how easily it can be taken away from us. The album closes with Tenangkan Bontot Anda, a reminder to us all to chill the fudge up.

If you have been following the band before the album came about as I have and have been to their live shows, you would know that this album could have been even better. Nevertheless, this is definitely one album you don’t want missing from your collection, since this will be the start of the shaking of the local music scene, and, one hopes, maybe even more.

Mother Nature Father Man Made tackles on the much heavier topic of environmental conservation

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POETRY AARON SEE

Walk

TEXT: AARON SEE IMAGE: ANDY ARMSTRONG / FLICKR!

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50 years, my wait has been.

200 years, for the world.

I emerged from the sea, a pioneer, An explorer, a scientist, A child. In a Hazmat suit.

London. 40 Kilometers

My booted feet sank into golden sand.

This.

Is. Land.

A Nuclear Wasteland.

A playground for puny men behind big buttons.

With creation comes destruction, Uncle Rice had said.

I drove the amphibian. Westward.

Books and films fed me ideas, Of earth and mankind, Before the War to end all wars.

Barrelling through the road, I observed the wreckage, The rubble, chaos, destruction, Car metal twisted in agony, Homes shredded like paper, the decay.

Life had not survived here.

I saw.

The waste of my race, I was ashamed. I was silenced.

The City of London. A dynamic metropolis.

Colour, vigour, energy, vanity.

Pomp and their majesty.

But that was a long time ago.

Nothing left but broken toys, and orange air.

The air was safe, my Geiger assured, Off came the helmet.

I breathed. It smelled toxic.

It smelled exhilarating.

The colony underneath the sea is disintegrating.

The Bubble plays tricks on the mind, with time.

The iconics, the red phone booths, the black cabs, The ad-laden double-deckers.

The Union Jacks, Songs and movies ran through my head.

Ian Flemings, Austin Powers, Blur, Queen, Reminding me of the life that once was.

I could not compute, it was before my time.

I have a duty now; to find life.

To see if earth is fit for man once more.

No. Not quite.

To see if man is fit for earth.

I walked past an aeroplane, in a mall.

My grandfather told me stories.

Of the explosions, the hysteria, The mushroom cloud, its grandiosity.

Hellfire burned on earth, Planes fell from skies like flies, Ground zero. Life equalled zero. Not a tree in sight.

A reset.

POETRY AARON SEE Man had to find shelter below.

The Molers dug a hole underground and built communities.

Us Fishers swam deeper and built a world.

And there we stayed. For the day of resurfacing.

This fateful day, Middle June 2323.

The smell of stale poison, I lost its scent, The thick musky air lingered.

I collected my samples, and played with a bicycle bell.

And then, the sun through a gap, of orange clouds, Shone on a flower.

And Life had equaled one.

I stopped to admire Napoleon’s tulips.

On its own between the cracks in the pavement it endured.

I sniffed it. I felt strange. I sneezed.

I wasn’t quite myself.

Encroaching, I heard the sounds of a diesel engine, dying; Like everything else. What’s new Nancy Drew?

The lorry Roared passed my pendulum side, Spewing dust and fumes THICK and BLACK, I did not blink. Then I did. Only because I could.

Sorry lorry baloney left in its wake, A fog of polluted air. While still black and warm, I jogged - to the middle of the road. And drew…

The greatest picture of all time!

Of Mona Lisa’s estranged sister Agnes, Squeezing a lime.

But I’m no artist, so I drew a revolver!

A silver Bullet in its chamber.

But no sheriff I am, So I drew a breath. Of smog.

IN … … … … … … … … … … (burp)… … … … … … … … hale, Come, come, olfactory neurons. Feedback.

Nothing. I smelt nothing. I became irritated.

I kicked a dried leaf nearby, to demonstrate my irritation.

I craved that smell. I yearned it. I longed for IT. IT. It. Hit. Bit. Fit Lit and Kit. Sit. How splendidly convenient! A bench. May I sit?

Konnichiwa, Bench.

Sayyy, have you been doing the macarena?

No? Because you look fit.

Unless you have been… (I allowed some time to pass) …Bench-pressing?

Ahah! Baw Haw Haw. I slapped my knee and nudged the bench.

I knew it got it.

You’re a pensive bench. I like pensive benches.

I shall name you…Fernando.

And so I named it Fernando.

I looked up at the sky. Mighty blue today innit? I asked my new friend.

Fernando acknowledged without acknowledgement.

In the heat of madness, I found humble pie.

This morning, I was rudely awakened.

I got stabbed in the eye, By my pet woodpecker Fred.

He wanted steamed belacan for breakfast, I wanted to snooze instead.

Yet I arose, half-blind to Rock N’ Roll Fed my pet woodpecker Fred, And went out for a stroll…

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C Q

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