MASSESZINE NO. 8 : THE ROCK ISSUE

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The Rhythm of Modern Rock

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EIGH T

Editor-In-Chief

Cover Photo

Masses Studio

Bryan Chin

Alif Ridzuan

14A, Jalan 1/77A, Pudu,

@bryanbotakchin

@alifridzuan

55100 Kuala Lumpur.

Editor

Special Thanks

Connect

Jeremy Tan

Abang Rom

hello@masses.com.my

@jeremiahnatusch

@rommohdnor

www.masses.com.my facebook.com/massesmy

Contributing Editor

Aizat Ady Ikram

twitter.com/massesmy

Aaron Lee

@3rdpartyproject

instagram.com/massesmy

@mister.hitori Assistant Editor Lim Jing Run @jrforeal Writers Tunway Yeoh @tunway Khaliss Khair @muhamadkhaliss Fazlur Redza @fazeatworld Photographer Safwan Sarimin @_safwans Editorial Designer Carmen See @carmensee Advertising Manager Chloe Gan @chloewenwen

Bunkface @bunkfaceofficial Jason Lo @jasonlo1 Jenn Thompson @jennthompson2811 Jiman Casablancas @jimancasablancas Massacre Conspiracy @mc16band NAO @naoband Wing Meng @wingmengsg

The Rhythm of Modern Rock

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p.7 Editor’s Note p.8 The Brief History of Rock p.18 Bands That Have Defined Local Rock p.26 The Rhythm of Modern Rock p.34 A Decade of Bunkface p.44 Flow With The J Lo p.52 Moshing Madness p.68 Massacre Conspiracy p.78 In the Here and NAO p.86 Biar Mati Mencuba Jangan Mati Kecewa p.94 Rocking Out Through The Lens of Aizat Ady Ikram p.110 How I Want My Clothes To Be Heard p.116 Love Me Business p.116 Directory

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EDITO R ’ S N OT E

Rock music’s history on this side of the planet has been illustrious to say the least. Ever since the rock n’ roll phenomenon breached our shores, countless bands have coalesced over the years, suffusing the local airwaves with their own definition of the popular genre.

Heavily influenced by blues, R&B and country music, rock finds itself best experienced on the live stage and assumes a particularly imposing position within the underground music scene in Malaysia. However, many think the rock scene has said its reluctant farewell to its golden age, with live shows on the decline and a bevy of prominent rock bands seemingly experiencing its twilight years. True or not, the current condensation of modern rockers aspiring to make it big indicates that the scene has yet to lose its beating heart.

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Prominent figures within the rock community have much to say about how rock is true music and how the scene could mend itself should certain steps be taken. We pried into the mind of ROTTW’s founder, for instance, for a more insightful look at our countries rockers. Meanwhile, Kak Jenn shares, among other things, a little bit about why we should eradicate the ‘free mentality’ that is commonplace among Malaysians and how doing this will help the scene as a whole.

We’ve also got Bunkface featured this time around, in which we managed to glean a little bit of info on the band’s upcoming all-English album. Of course, in keeping with MASSES tradition, we start off with a brief history lesson on rock music itself before touching on the local bands that have made an impact on the rock culture here.

Please enjoy this rock-flavoured issue and never stop rocking hard!

Jeremy Tan, Editor.

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The Rhythm of Modern Rock

Words by Aaron Lee

Kurt Cobain. Metallica. Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The Smashing Pumpkins. Elvis Presley.

What do all these names have in common? You probably guessed it right; it’s rock music. Throughout the decades, rock music has been very much a part of our life and well-ingrained into popular culture today. From influencing fashion trends, hairstyles and lifestyles, rock ’n’ roll still lives on. Here, we take a peek into rock music’s origins and how it established itself as a timeless genre of expression. This history lesson is by no means exhaustive but will nonetheless provide a little insight into the greats that lived rock ’n’ roll, from the time of Elvis to the era of Led Zeppelin.

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The Brief History of Rock

(1950s) Origins / Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

The style of music that came to be known as rock ’n’ roll grew out of many other American musical styles. The most notable of these genres were the blues which were played mostly by African Americans, and country music that was primarily, though not exclusively, rooted among the white American demographic. Perhaps the clearest musical predecessor of rock ’n’ roll is the jump blues and swing style of the 1940s, brought about by the music of Louis Jordan and Louis Prima. Once electric guitars picked up in popularity, they replaced the saxophone as a band’s "lead" instrument. This proved to be a significant change in the development of rock ’n’ roll, with the focus on electric guitars and power chords becoming a rock band’s musical signature.

In the early 1950s a new type of sound exploded onto the scene. The songs “Rocket 88” and “Rock around the Clock” are a couple of the earliest songs associated with this genre. This excited a growing teenage audience while startling many others who

preferred the music of Patti Page and Bing Crosby.

Popularised by disc jockey & radio deejay Alan Freed in 1951, the term “rock and roll” came to be used to describe a new form of music, heavily influenced by blues, country and gospel. These musical genres were previously known collectively as “black music”.

Teenagers fell head over heels with this new music, listening to it on their radios and buying it in record stores. Many parents believed that this music was simply noise that had a negative influence on rebellious, impressionable teens.

In 1956, a 21-year-old Elvis Presley was introduced to the public with his rockabilly (a portmanteau of rock ’n’ roll and hillbilly) style of music. His first record, "Heartbreak Hotel" was the first of a consecutive 14 records to sell over one million copies. Presley's rise to national attention in 1956 had a huge impact on popular music and therefore had a huge effect on the broader scope of popular culture. As the catalyst for the musical revolution that was rock ’n’ roll, he was central not only in

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Bob Dylan

defining it as a music genre but in making it a symbol of youth culture and a rebellious attitude.

Also known as the ‘King of Rock and Roll’ or simply the ‘King’, he went on inspire other country singers to sing rock and roll. This started a trend for "cover" recordings. This was when white singers covered simplified versions of black recorded songs. White singers were played on more radio stations and became very popular.

Adolescent listeners became rock music’s largest audience. Prominent singers such as Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis became famous with songs that featured adolescent issues such as "Young Love", "16 Candles" and "Teenage Crush".

Love ballads also became more popular, with the musical audience looking for sentimental and honest expression. This morphed some of the more popular music from rock to folk ballads. Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul, and Mary can count themselves among the more notable folk singers.

Chuck Berry

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The Brief History of Rock

(1960s) The Beatles / The Rolling Stones / Golden Era

The Beatles

Any rock ’n’ roll enthusiast worth their salt will be aware that the Beatles became the most popular band of the 60s, but not before going through a few name changes. During the 50s, the Beatles were also known as Johnny and the Moondogs and later on, as the Moonshiners. Finally, as the Silver Beatles, their popularity skyrocketed beyond all imagining. They brought about the age of rock and roll in England, starting in Liverpool. John Lennon led the Beatles as the lead singer and songwriter and so did Paul McCartney. In 1962, Ringo Starr joined the band as their drummer. They were then known as The Beatles a.k.a the Fab Four.

Their first song “Love Me Do” was recorded in 1962. In 1964, the Beatles invaded the United States with their music and drove the crowds there wild. Through their sensational music, the Beatles bridged generation gaps and language barriers. They were trendsetters, with their style of dress and hair changing the face of the young people. They also influenced the use of hallucinogenic drugs, Indian music and Eastern mysticism. The Beatles’ last concert was in San Francisco in 1966. The band broke up in 1970, with Lennon going on to record solo albums with his wife, Yoko Ono. McCartney went on to form Paul McCartney and Wings, with his

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The Rolling Stones

wife, Linda. Harrison and Starr also went on to do solo albums and Starr also starred in some films.

There were rumours of a reunion until the murder of John Lennon in 1980 squashed it.

their time together, more than 35 albums were produced. Many of their lyrics covered what was then considered taboo subjects such as sex and drugs.

The Beatles’ legacy would continue to live on in other rock bands of that decade. Some of the groups influenced by the Beatles were The Who, Cream (Eric Clapton was a notable member who later on had an impressive solo career) and Chicago Blues.

They brought into prominence loud music, guitar screeches and onstage smashing of instruments.

During this time, rock operas and musicals also became popular.

The 60s was also known as the golden era of rock. The Woodstock Festival that took place in August 1969 clearly showed that rock ’n’ roll was a musically important part of American youth. This also brought about a whole different look at the music industry. During the 1960’s hippies, drugs (LSD and Acid) and protests filled the air of this time. Groups such as The Mamas and The Papas, Country Joe and the Fish and Jefferson Airplanes were influenced by these trends. Motown became popular during the late 60s with the emergence of female singers such as Diana Ross and the Supremes. Other Motown singers such as the Temptations used dance and music together to enhance their popularity. Stevie Wonder was also another Motown great. Notably, these developments gave rise to the trend of soul music, but that’s a whole other story in itself.

Another band worth noting for its lasting legacy is the Rolling Stones. Formed in 1962, the Rolling Stones burst into the scene armed with wild stage antics and brutal lyrics. By the late 60s the Londoners self-styled themselves the world’s greatest rock band. The Rolling Stones went on to become number one on both sides of the Atlantic with their hit “Satisfaction” in 1965. Throughout

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The Brief History of Rock

(1970s) Subgenres of Rock Music / Led Zeppelin / Punk Music

Led Zeppelin

This decade saw rock music split into subdivisions beyond the general categories of hard rock (very loud and electrically amplified) and soft rock (mellow sounds with acoustic instruments). A new type of rock emerged from Jamaica in 1972, featuring a blend of reggae and a mix of rock, soul, calypso and other Latin rhythms. Other styles that emerged in the 70s were punk rock, bubble gum music (notable recent examples are N-Sync and Britney Spears) and heavy metal rock which continued the hallucinogenic approach of acid rock, but using loud volume, electronic distortion, and vulgar stage antics. Some of the more iconic bands playing this kind of music were Kiss, Alice Cooper and Led Zeppelin.

Led Zeppelin, also a British rock group, was one of the most popular rock bands during this time period. The band members were lead singer Robert Plant, drummer John Bonham, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones and guitarist Jimmy Page.

Founded in1968 by Jimmy Page (formerly from The Yardbirds), the band released their eponymous first album that same year. Other notable albums include Led Zeppelin II (1969) and Houses of the Holy (1971), The Song Remains the Same (1976) and In Through the Out Door (1976). Their most famous and influential song is `Stairway to Heaven'

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reunion held in 1988 for Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary celebration.

Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin

that was released in 1971. Led Zeppelin went on to become one of London’s most successful rock bands till the death of Bonham in 1980. With his death, Led Zeppelin disbanded with members Plant and Page embarking on solo careers. The reunion of the remaining band members was in 1985, for a Live Aid benefit concert in Philadelphia with a second

This decade also saw the emergence of punk rock bands in America as well as England. Some of these bands included Ramones, Wayne County, Johnny Thunders, Heartbreakers and Sex Pistols. Each of these bands had their unique style and an unique identity comprising signature clothing, hairstyle and lyrics. Punk rock fashion was an identity of all punk musicians. Mohawks, piercing, leather jackets, ripped jeans and chunky jewellery were some of their distinguishing characteristics. This fashion was the uniqueness of punk rock musicians and is still adopted by people across the world. In the mid 70s, England was having a bad time with its employment rate and the youth was getting disoriented and needed an outlet for their frustration. They started producing music that had anti-establishment themes tied to it, with sounds that expressed their anger and discontent. Other fans of Sex Pistols also became influenced with this music and thought that they could do something similar too. Gradually, punk rock music began shaping its way into Britain with the youth identifying themselves with this type of music with funky hairstyles and boots from Dr Martens.

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The Brief History of Rock

Conclusion

Duran Duran

The 80s and 90s are probably music we are most familiar with from our high school/college days.

From the 80s Duran Duran, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer to the 90s Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, Nirvana, Blink 182 we have been exposed to glam/ pop metal, alternative and grunge rock music no thanks to MTV (which was the channel to watch back in the day). Later on, towards the late 90s to early 2000s, rock bands began experimenting with fusing rock and other popular urban music. An example would be Red Hot Chilli Peppers mixing funk and hard rock and Linkin Park mixing rock and hip-hop.

From fashion trends to your music playlists, there’s no denying how rock music has been an influence in popular culture today. There are many other bands we did not list because there are just too many rock bands to mention and that’s only a testament to how popular rock music is in the ever-changing soundscape of rock music. Currently, bubble gum music seems to be reigning supreme over the airwaves with no signs of it slowing down. As more and more teens grow more accepting towards this genre of music, will we see rock returning to its more traditional roots? Only time will tell.

Metallica

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Megabeth

Garbage

The Smashing Pumpkins

Nirvana

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The Rhythm of Modern Rock

Words by Fazlur Redza

Much of the local rock scene was centred in Terengganu, which had a thriving punk and hardcore scene. The vigor and popularity of such loud and aggressive music is thanks to the local youth, a demographic that tends to gravitate toward ‘emo’ music or melodies that resonate with frustration and teen angst. A lot of the music that is born locally, therefore, reflects these emotions. Considering this, plenty of local musicians tend to jump on the rock music bandwagon in some form or another.

Rock, as a genre of music, is unsurprisingly an integral part of the identity of Malaysia’s music, especially if you take a peek at our independent music scene. In yet another trip down memory lane, we explore some of the bands that have popped up through the decades, defining and elevating the state of the local rock scene as we know it.

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Bands That Have Defined Local Rock

Lefthanded

Fabians

S.Y.J

Ella and The Boys

Not many metal fans are aware that Malaysia had its own rock ‘n’ roll movement that gave birth to a legion of bands during the mid to the late 70s. The most prominent among them were rock pioneers Sweet Charity and Kingdom of Rock from Singapore that were able to record their own album during that period. At the time, there were no real distinctions between Malaysian and Singaporean acts as the countries, being neighbours, shared a lot of common ground in terms of culture and historical background. By the beginning of the 80s, rock music got bigger and became increasingly accepted among the masses. This resulted in the emergence of many rock/heavy metal groups. Bands like Search, Wings,

XPDC, Exist, S.Y.J, Lefthanded, Ella and The Boys, Amuk, Rusty Blade, Blackshed, Febian, Metallian, The Revolvers, Burnmarks, Headwinds, Rockers, Crossfire and hundreds more marked their own way in the local music industry. Though many of the names stated here carved out some measure of fame locally, sadly none of them gained international success as this is probably due to the lack of originality where local bands were just imitating Iron Maiden, Loudness and Dio, among others. Further exacerbating this lack of prominence abroad was that most of their albums were conveyed in the Malay language.

21 Arguably, the wheels of the local rock scene truly drove into the golden age sometime during the mid to late 80s with the advent of punk rockers.

Some of the earliest local punk bands include Mallaria, who started out in 1986 in the city of Kuala Terengganu. A year following their debut, they released a four-song demo mix that carried a sound people labelled as crossover thrash. Mallaria never got the chance to release an album on the back of a major label, but their drummer Shahlan went on to establish yet another punk band called The Stone Crows. Meanwhile, their guitarist Ku Yie went on participating in several other bands like DPSA,

Zink and PROV. Bands from this early period had a considerable impact on the development of the local punk scene despite very limited mainstream success.

In the midst of the rock ‘n’ roll development that was considered extremely heavy and rather exotic music in Malaysia during those years, the fastest and most brutal musical sensation in America and Europe known as speed/thrash metal came to Malaysia. The earliest heavy and extreme band was Metal Ghost that played hard rock/heavy metal in 1982 before morphing into Blackfire in 1984, with their music

Wings

Search

Amuk

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Bands That Have Defined Local Rock

The Times

The Bollocks

OAG

Grey Sky Morning

A.C.A.B

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Hujan

direction morphing appropriately into black metal.

From 1987 to the late 80s, a lot of thrash bands rose into the scene such as F.T.G (Freedoms That’s Gone), Punisher, Nemesis, Saxo, Picagari, Rator, Bacteria, Sil Khannaz, Brain Dead and Cromok.

Fast forward to the early 1990s, the punk rock scene took root underground in metropolitan Kuala Lumpur. Bands the likes of The Pilgrims, The Carburetor Dung, The Bollocks, Formation Bee, Stoink, The United Color Of Frustration, A.R.T and “Mechanical-Baby” were all playing in the underground gig circuit during this period. The Oi! - a subgenre of punk rock that originated from the United Kingdom in the late 70s - was made popular by street punk music thanks to bands such as A.C.A.B., The Official and Roots ‘n’ Boots that adopted the skinhead subculture. This time period was a blend of different music genres and diverse cultures.

Beyond the realm of punk rock, Malaysia has seen the rise of other notable rock outfits such as Crossing Boundaries, indie rock sensation Hujan, post-rockers Moi Last Von, prog-rock talent Meet Uncle Hussain, Disagree, The Endleaves, alternative rock outfits nicestupidplayground and Azlan & The Typewriter, and post-rock band Deepset.

Though most Malaysian rock bands over time have had a tendency to sing in English (minus the heavy metal groups of the 80s era) in more recent years

bands have started singing in Bahasa Malaysia.

Contemporary bands such as OAG, Butterfingers, MARIONEXXES, Estranged, Plague Of Happiness, Pop Shuvit, Bunkface, Pesawat, One Buck Short, Laila lounge, Bittersweet, Grey Sky Morning, The Times, Couples and Paku all garnered success not only in Malaysia but also in Indonesia. The distinctive style and sound of Indonesian rock bands had previously greatly influenced their Malaysian counterparts so it’s likely this reason that catalysed their success there too. These bands also gained popularity in Singapore and Japan due to frequent collaboration with internationally renowned artists.

One band in particular, Pop Shuvit, saw great success in Japan with three successful headlining tours as well as a Top 20 album sales charting at Tower Records.

Slow rock became highly popular during the early 90s thanks to talents such as Terengganu rockers Iklim. Rock enthusiasts familiar with the local scene back in the day will undoubtedly recognise the name; Iklim is a rock band that formed at the end of the 80s, or more specifically the year 1989.

This group is synonymous with the delivery of rock songs and rhythmic slow rock to local shores.

Iklim’s debut album, Satu Kesan Abadi was released in 1993 under Rock Record of Malaysia, known as SCS Record at the time. Satu Kesan Abadi became a platinum selling hit and spawned several hit singles in 1991. Other notable bands include Slam, Spoon, Sting, Kristal, Jinbara and many more.

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Bands That Have Defined Local Rock

Bacteria

Pop Shuvit

Cassandra

One Buck Short

Jinbara

Incarnation

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Love Me Butch Sil Khannaz

Second Combat

Brain Dead

The hardcore music subculture that followed included the advent of notable hardcore outfits such as Devilica, Kias Fansuri, Restraint, Naratu and Second Combat (Straight Edge). With the coming of the new millennium came the popularity of metalcore in Malaysia as well as renowned underground bands such as Groundless Victim, Forsaken, Foreground Division, Beyond Sight, Groundrule, Amarah, Dewata, Furion Escalada, Cafergot, Dominator, screamo band Tyrant, Dead Eyes Glow, Mad Monsters Attack, Cassandra, The Padangs, Daarchlea, Incarnation, Black Teritory, Farasu and post-hardcore pros Love Me Butch supporting the local scene. One of the most notable underground indie bands of all-time, The Matrix (metalcore/speed metal) from Berkeley Garden of

Klang, Selangor, played gigs all over the Klang Valley during their earlier days. Most of their inspiration came from heavy metal bands, in particular Metallica... and also the sultry Bon Jovi.

Since the rise of rock ‘n’ rock in Malaysia, many hundreds of bands have come and gone, each in their own way contributing to the rich history of our music scene. One can scarcely imagine how the music landscape would have been instead if this particularly adrenaline-pumping genre never seeped into the heart of Malaysia’s music history. Love it or hate it, one cannot deny that local rock has been a potent catalyst to the nation’s love of music and the lively culture it spawned.

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The Rhythm of Modern Rock

Words by Khaliss Khair Photographs by Safwan Sarimin

“People are not as passionate as they were before; their love is not real,” remarks the founder of Malaysia’s very first music magazine, Rhythm of The Third World (ROTTW). With more than 20 years worth of experience being on the front and back of the stage, Mohd Rom Bin Mohd Nor, famously known as Abang Rom, fears that the collective creativity of the local rock music scene is continuing on a downward spiral.

The modern state of local rock, in Abang Rom’s eyes, is a mere husk of the scene’s golden age during the 80s.

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The Rhythm of Modern Rock

If the pulse of the local rock scene truly is closer to flatlining than it ever was before, what is causing the scene’s downfall? Is the Malaysian breed of rock ‘n’ roll really dead or is it just getting old and wrinkly?

Abang Rom believes it is the aftermath of the Internet that might have led to local rock’s malnourished state. The world wide web is a double-edged blade; an endless, easily accessible information superhighway at our fingertips that prompts increasing amounts of people to rely solely on the computer. As a result, would-be bands become excessively dependent on it and neglect the most important aspect of it all – the nitty-gritties of making music.

We can never deny the fact that aspiring musicians can certainly learn to play their instruments with help from the web. However, the real issue begins when the fun of playing music clouds them from staying true to the path of learning. “You have to crawl, you have to walk and go through the phase,” he says.

The man also thinks that the Internet has caused the industry to suffer sluggish growth for quite some time. According to him, our community tends to copy inspiration from the net rather than creating something new out of it. In other words, innovation is lacking among the rockers of today. “They form a band to sound like the (other) band and none of them are changing anything,” says Abang Rom. Moreover, this also leads to a lack of uniqueness among the bands that we have in our industry.

Rom thinks our bands are not unique enough simply because they refer too much to their more established peers. According to him, to be unique is to strive for something unlikeable first because anything that is likeable is definitely not new. “Be happy if people don’t like your stuff, it shows you are exceptional. What you need to do next is to work your way around it,” he says.

Based on his observations, most bands think making music is easy because they are able to do everything on their own.

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“They write, sell, play and then expect people to like it. This perception needs to change, bands must first form a solid structure in order for them to grow,� Rom says.

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The Rhythm of Modern Rock

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The Rhythm of Modern Rock

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“I have not heard anybody talk about tone for over a decade and I rarely see anybody working on emphasizing a riff or guitar solo,” Rom laments.

Adding salt to the wound, Rom says that “bands are using their ears too much and end up not knowing what they are doing. Some of them can’t even tell the name of the chords.” This is shocking, considering that this is very essential knowledge when writing a music piece.

“In doing so, they can only play with themselves because they can’t communicate in the language of music.” To Rom, music truly is just another language, with bands - being music’s native speakers - needing to be familiar with the fundamentals of the music making process in the same way we first learn the alphabets in order to form coherent words and sentences.

“They must fulfil the fundamental or they will be retarded,” he jabs. Despite this sounding very much like Music 101, Abang Rom has noticed that most bands are skipping the fundamentals in their euphoria of simply rocking to the tunes.

Further, it is a known fact that tone plays an important factor in determining the quality of a note and essentially the overall sound of a music piece.

However, this tenuous grasp of the fundamental of

music making has moulded a debilitating habit in bands to not focus on tone.

“People must realize that they need to start from point A,” he says, adding that it is the best possible solution to alleviate the downtrodden state of our music. “Somebody has got to tell them that they failed, someone must be the black sheep,” he notes frankly.

Despite his sharp tongue that may offend many, Abang Rom’s only intention is to emphasize on the importance of education. “I will shoot and be the asshole to school them,” says the man who hopes that doing so would steer them straight again.

Finally, Abang Rom’s advice to those who wish to go far is to make preparations for the journey. In order to be successful in the industry, entities in the band must give their full dedication and team effort. “It doesn’t take the best to create something nice,” he says.

“If you think you want to do it, do it right by equipping yourself with knowledge and put your whole heart into it.”

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The Rhythm of Modern Rock

Interview by Fazlur Redza Photographs by Safwan Sarimin & Lim Jing Run

A born and bred Malaysian rock band that’s strongly anchored itself within the local rock community, Bunkface has a decade’s worth of experience rocking out in the scene, captivating audiences nationwide with hits such as “Silly Lilly”. What’s keeping the band ticking? We sat down with the band as Sam, the outfit’s frontman, recalls their journey thus far and what’s in store for the road ahead.

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A Decade of Bunkface

How would you summarise your musical journey over the last 10 years?

We formed as a band in 2005 and it’s been 10 years up and down the music industry. We started off playing bunch of local gigs, Battle of the Bands and so on. Eventually we started to get recognised. After that we came up with our first EP; now everyone’s really familiar with our old songs like “Silly Lilly”.

Then we started producing Malay songs and here we are now. It’s been a great journey; we’ve learned a lot and we improvised our skill, our image. We also now have our own production house starting up and of course our first ever Bunkface Perfume.

The band recently came out with “Masih Di Sini”, a track under the BoBoiBoy movie. Considering the track’s title, are you surprised that Bunkface is still alive and kicking?

Of course we are surprised because not all heavy bands could achieve what we have. It is not as easy as it looks, since we’re all full time musicians. Like we said it’s been a hard journey and we’re still here.

We are really blessed for the last 10 years as a band.

Looking back over the decade, is there anything the band would have done differently if given the chance? Any lingering regrets?

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No, not at all! We think everything was worth it. The pressure, the race, the journey, the fun, the tough times... everything came out perfectly for us.

What was the toughest period you guys have had to deal with since the band first started rocking out?

No matter how bad it got, it was meant to be so we just took it in stride; life must go on. Besides that, you need to know what you really want. For us, when we were still in school we already knew we wanted to be a successful band. Some of us really sucked at studying so staying on that path was a definite “NO” (laughs). So around nighttime, Yob and I (Sam) would hang out at Pa’an’s place, composing songs

after attending extra classes. It was bad, we literally got kicked out from our house once!

In our current state where technology is moving things so fast, do you guys think it is hard to stay relevant in terms of pop culture? Or does the band just focus on making the kind of music you all love to do regardless?

We think everyone should ‘own’ their music and that you don’t need to copy what other musicians are doing. Copying doesn’t exist in our book.

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A Decade of Bunkface

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A Decade of Bunkface

41 Tell us a little bit about the “Bunkface sound” and how it has evolved over time.

It definitely grew; we took all the influential experiences that cropped up along the way as a band and that has affected our sound. Our experiences and music come in a package, so it moves and grows together. Naturally as we got older, our songwriting changed as well... it’s just a little thing that happens on the journey.

As a band in Malaysia, being original is tough. It’s a lot easier to follow the trend than being truly distinct musically. As a band that’s both original and successful, how do you all make the two aspects NOT mutually exclusive options?

It’s about teamwork. To get the sound you’re looking for you need to listen to each other. I mean, you can’t just point out and demand, like, this person has to do this and that. Where’s the fun in that? You have to work it out together and come to one decision.

Being in a band means having mutual understanding amongst its members. That’s how we got through the past couple of years together not just as a band, but more as a family.

What’s the secret here, when it comes to making a mark in the music scene?

The secret, we think, is writing that one song, that one hit single. That’s all it takes to get the fans, that one song. You have to make the fans not only like you, they have to remember you. It’s like dating, you’d only call the girl back if she left an impression, right? It’s the same between the bands and their fans. When it’s your first performance, your first song or making a first impression, you need to make sure you catch their hearts and that’s it.

How do you see the band developing over the next, say, in 5 -10 years?

We think Bunkface will still go strong, but we’re going to move into producing since we’re opening our own music production house soon. It’s going to be just us chilling in the studio composing songs, building up new artists, stuff like that. Maybe one

day, we could start something like a “Bunkface Empire” and focus more on branding, merchandise and so on. After a decade of touring the same country we literally covered all of Malaysia, so we think it’s a good time to take a short break and do some other stuff. After that we’ll be sure to rock the stage again!

What do you guys think is the biggest hurdle to be successful as a Malaysian musician?

The scene is unpredictable; you never quite know your luck. Exposure is one thing, but social media really helps in that regard. Ultimately it’s about pushing the band harder to its limit. But we’re really thankful that we happened to come into the scene at the right time, when the so-called indie scene was rising way back when. We didn’t plan it or anything.

The band has done very well for itself, considering you all took a massive risk by giving up school and not having a day job.

At the time we first started, we were literally gambling with our future. Determination is one thing, just clear your mind and focus on what you want.

Like we said, all you need is just that one song to get going. A lot of new bands these days just don’t get it. It’s not just about how good you are, its about what that one song is. We wrote “Situasi” - that’s our first Malay song ever - and suddenly it was happening. You just have to dig deeper to find it.

Can you share with us some thoughts about the current state of our local rock scene and the music scene in general?

We don’t think that the scene is there anymore even though there are a lot of newly formed bands here. In the past the scene was more like a whole community where indie bands like Hujan were in it.

The community started around the time when people would regularly go and watch bands perform live.

We think technology killed the scene a little bit by making music far more accessible digitally, but we can’t fully blame it because that same technology has done bands a lot of good too. We are all fully aware that people, especially teenagers these

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A Decade of Bunkface

days don’t earn enough pocket money to attend live shows, either. So you can’t point out saying that the scene back then was easier compared to now because everything has its own pros and cons attached.

Who’s the band clown? Surely there is that particular person that makes everyone laugh, or that one person that gets constantly laughed at.

Pa’an, of course! He’s the champion of band clowns (laughs).

Let’s talk about something that’s been a little hushhush so far. Can you give us a little insight into your upcoming English album that’s slated for release next year?

Basically we’re re-branding our band image with this upcoming album. We’re going deeper into a little bit of pop rock and modern rock but not as heavy as Bunkface used to be. We’re really being experimental with the sound; it’s something we’ve never thought of doing before and we want it to reflect the “deepest” side of Bunkface. It’s definitely risky.

Tell us a little bit about your perfume line, Bunkface Revolution. How did that come about and what scent were you guys going for?

Our perfume range has one for men and one called “For Her”, for the ladies. The price is only around RM35 each. It’s affordable and yes, it’s suitable for all ages. If you’re talking about the smell, it is very nice for all occasions. You can check out our Bunkface Perfume Instagram to purchase one for yourself or for your loved ones.

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What is the best advice that you’ve ever received?

Sam:

“The man with the worst past can make the best future”, so never underestimate or judge anyone.

Pa’an:

Always be grateful. We humans tend to forget who we once were, so always be grateful for everything that you have.

Yob:

Always believe in yourself. Not wish, not hope for something to happen but instead no matter what you do you just have to believe in you.

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The Rhythm of Modern Rock

Words by Jeremy Tan Photographs by Lim Jing Run

Rock The World, a festival that is remarkable for being the most enduring and longest running rock music showcase in Malaysia, is set for its 16th incarnation by the end of the year (don’t be fooled by the fact nothing official has been announced so far).

The mastermind orchestrating this recurring behemoth of an event is someone who believes rock is real music. A music artist, music producer, entrepreneur and aspiring DJ-to be, the multi-talented Jason Lo has played a pivotal role in providing great exposure for our local rock talents.

Nothing could have prepared us for the eccentricity of this Chinese-Irish 40 year old as we waited patiently to borak-borak with him one afternoon. We had stockpiled questions and were adequately equipped for the interview, but our brains were completely unfortified for J Lo’s hilarious and equally awkward antics. Flip over for our account on some of the craziness that transpired!

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Flow with The J Lo

Thanks to the critically chastised Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice superhero action flick, Ben Affleck has become the newest face of the Gotham Knight... though the sight of Jason Lo as he enters the hallway makes it evident he hasn't gotten the memo. "I'm Batman!" he declares in a pseudorobotic voice. An awkward silence follows these words as we stare in slight disbelief. He's wearing a Batman Voice-Changer Helmet, which explains

the bad impression of Batman's guttural growl. His reasoning for wearing the children's toy, however, remains elusive.

Bear in mind that our rendezvous point is the headquarters of Tune Talk Sdn Bhd and that he is on the upper end of the corporate ladder. We're used to seeing CEOs in a fancy suit and tie so this was a remarkable defiance of the norm. Soon after

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exchanging pleasantries we are led into his office, where we were regaled with a hilarious performance of "Evening News" by J Lo himself while wearing that silly voice-changing helmet. Corporate settings elsewhere are rarely ever this entertaining, but then again, you wouldn't normally see a rocker turn a corporate environment into his playground. So how did this rock star end up comfortable heading the largest mobile virtual network operator in Malaysia?

"Rock stars are all CEOs, because they always start with a blank sheet and work from there. There's also people management involved, then you have to think about marketing the band, their branding.

If there's an album to produce but you don't have the resources then you'd have to (metaphorically) beg, borrow and steal," he explains. He's certainly not implying that someone will have the makings of a CEO if they start off in a band, but the skill set he acquired back during his more musician-oriented days has definitely helped his development into a full-time entrepreneur.

He's a far cry from the average person, the real life Malaysian counterpart of Peter Pan who completely retains his child-like wonder; always inquisitive, excited and full of youthful imagination. He seems to be conceiving a million different ideas at once

if you observe the way he speaks, jumping from an anecdote to his plans for his many projects and then to his philosophy of how the mind tackles fear.

At one point, he takes out his tablet, fires up an DJ beat making app and begins to concoct a beat on the spot.

This is the man behind Rock The World. One might have a hard time digesting the fact that someone with such a fleeting attention span could stay focused long enough to physically manifest the greatest local rock showcase we've ever seen, but here he is. It's far easier to believe that timeless "Evening News" is his brainchild, given his sheer creativity. J Lo has an interesting take on the concept of making ideas such as these real.

"It was Einstein who said that true genius is when you can take an idea in your head and turn it into reality," he says. "And that is why I am a genius." We roar with laughter at the matter-of-way he says this.

"There's no false modesty there. As a musician I had to write a song every single time and then create a reality out of it. RTW is an idea turned to reality as well," he adds. More random chatting ensues, but eventually we manage to steer the conversation back to RTW and its beginnings.

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Flow with The J Lo

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Flow with The J Lo

"The initial idea was to play in front of a lot of people, that's it. Before, there was no proper outlet for local bands to properly gain exposure. We wanted a scenario where all relevant parties work together to help the scene," he says. Fortunately, the inaugural RTW drew in a massive crowd of roughly 8,000 people, an impressive number for its first time. The reason the event has been so good at drawing in the crowd has nothing to do with uniqueness or gimmicks. RTW, as big as it is, operates on the very simple premise of flaunting local rock talents, nothing more nor less. J Lo notes the criteria to be eligible for your moment on that stage is equally simple.

"If you play music and you're hot (figuratively), you can play. We don't judge based on personality. Crap music equals a crap audience. RTW is all about the local music and that's dependent on the scene at any given time. We just run with it and let the festival be what it is," he says. Of course, accomplishing an event of this scale year after year is no mean feat, with J Lo noting that organizing the festival hasn't always been smooth sailing.

"RTW has always been challenging to set up, though the worst one was during RTW 4," J Lo recalls. "Nazri from Hitz.fm was handling security during that year's event, and the crowd at the time was so large they actually managed to break the barricades, moshing until they just dropped." It's a little funny that he considers RTW 4 to be the worst of the series when, just the year before that, he was on the verge of being physically assaulted by an individual backstage. On top of that, RTW 3 had been threatened to shut down. J Lo says it all turned out fine in the end though.

"You don't fight fire with fire, or else it'll be a blaze," he says when asked about how he dealt with the craziness. It's reassuring for the rock scene that RTW has not ended its run quite yet, but J Lo says it's still a challenge to keep the event alive. "Even now it's not a given that RTW (this year) will receive funding," J Lo admits. We have our fingers crossed.

When talking about the local rock scene itself, we found him significantly more optimistic. "There are so many interesting songs that have come from

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local talents. Grunge bands in particular have gone from strength to strength," he says. Despite this, even he can't deny that the rock scene has seen better days.

"DJs are the new superstars now. But rock's real music; there's an energy about live (rock) bands that you cannot replicate elsewhere. The thing is, music is born out of emotional pain, frustration, but DJs don't transcribe pain very well. You can't reproduce those emotions with a DJ," J Lo says, and we are inclined to agree. Rock music isn't a background thing, he says, because it's the kind of genre where you truly get engaged with the music.

The problem with the scene, however, is that bands are not adapting to the nature of the modern music industry as well as they should. "I have not yet seen a Malaysian band fully optimize what's available on the Internet. We need to be brave and digitize our music. The challenge is to change with the times, but if you don't embrace change you don't embrace life," he says.

As it currently stands, even Malaysians don't take Malaysian musicians seriously. "But we allow it to be this way," J Lo says. "Nothing great was ever done by being simple and easy. Many artists have made it on the back of great songs. You don't need what you think you need to make it out there. Your psychographic is what stops you. People don't realize that true genius can come from anywhere."

Regardless of the current condition of the rock scene or the uncertain state of this year's Rock The World, we're sure J Lo's keeping the faith that it'll all work out eventually. He may be completely engrossed in tinkering with his DJ beat maker app, but his love for rock is very much alive. RTW is on the horizon this year, just you guys wait. Besides, even if it doesn't materialize J Lo could always resort to Plan B: playing his old songs with his Batman Helmet on.

We'd pay good money to see that.

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The Rhythm of Modern Rock

Words by Jeremy Tan

Whether you consider it nothing more than an excuse for violence or the purest form of stress relief, moshing is certainly a thrilling activity. Many people have negative notions about the nature of this aggressive dance that is considered a way to express a crowd’s satisfaction of a live rock performance. A lot of these notions stem from a face value analysis of moshing, but there is more to the dance than just violence and aggression.

Here, we take a brief look at how moshing came to be and what lies behind all the madness.

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Moshing Madness

Words by Jeremy Tan Photographs by Aliff Ridzuan

From Mash To Mosh

The earliest known form of what is now called moshing surfaced in the advent of the American hardcore punk scene circa late 1970s. Being essentially punk music on steroids, hardcore punk is typically faster, harder and harsher, both musically and lyrically, than its regular counterpart.

It's probably no shocker that a genre of music with such strong anti-establishment roots would be the catalyst for moshing to exist, considering that a horde of concert-goers committing themselves to the dance tends to mirror scenes at the beginning of riots, like a Bersih rally being dispersed without Federal Reserve Unit trucks. Now, the dance is

linked to aggressive music genres such as the various metal sub-genres, in particular thrash metal which borrowed the practice from hardcore punk.

Details are a little hazy, though it’s said that the early form of moshing may have originated in Orange County, California. Initially the dance was called “mash�, if fanzines and record liner notes back then are any indication, but a certain iconic mispronunciation of the dance name eventually led us to the now commonly accepted spelling, mosh.

The culprit behind the epic mispronunciation was

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Paul D. Hudson, the lead singer of hardcore punk band Bad Brains, a group wildly regarded as the band that popularised moshing. During concerts, Paul D. Hudson had a penchant for stirring the crowd into a frenzy by urging them to “mash it up”, which was hardcore punk vernacular for “please go wild and crazy with the tune of the music”. Thanks to his fake Jamaican accent, people heard the words “mosh it up” instead. Since Jamaican accents sound cool and the hardcore community then didn’t seem to care much for terminology, the name stuck in the early 80s.

Media caught on eventually in the mid 80s, with the term appearing in print with its current spelling.

Thanks to the mainstream success of bands such as Nirvana and the Stormtroopers of Death, the term came into the popular vernacular. In fact, by the time thrash metal band Anthrax used the term in their song “Caught in a Mosh”, the word was already seeing common use within the hardcore and thrash community.

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Moshing Madness

Born in the Pits

The etymology of moshing is truly ridiculous, but those that view moshing as nothing more than an angry person’s excuse for dance will frown upon the art itself more than the history behind its name. I’m not going to bet that there is a modern dance more controversial nor in possession of a bloodier history than moshing, what with countless stories circling the Internet of participants drawing blood from the mindless clash of fist, feet and face. Despite major criticism on various fronts over the years, moshing has endured as a well-loved avenue for unleashing aggression and other negative emotions in a relatively controlled environment.

Identifying the dance is a simple affair; if you see someone running around and ramming randomly into crowds or otherwise flailing their arms in wild abandon, you have just witnessed moshing... or at least one interpretation of it. Variations exist and although moshing to recorded music while alone is not unheard of, the dance is meant for situations where the music is live, loud and heavy.

However, nothing is stopping you from moshing at, say, a Justin Bieber concert, though this is neither recommended nor particularly sensible. In any case, moshing is a means to amplify the appreciation of music with a natural endorphin and adrenaline rush.

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Moshing is usually not a solo endeavour as it mostly involves colliding and pushing into other people who are equally keen on colliding and pushing you back.

All this typically transpires in a “mosh pit� that’s created either organically by the snowball of effect of random people suddenly wanting to playfully knock people around, or inorganically via the urging of the live band performing onstage.

Those that enjoy the dance will maintain the notion that a good mosh pit is chaos with etiquette and only aesthetically violent. No one in a true mosh pit intends to actually harm one another; true

moshers treat it as a modern war dance and not as an outlet to inflict injury with impunity. Camaraderie is established in the best mosh pits, where the moshers dance with their hands loose (as they understand that closed fists are for fighting) and people are hastily picked up and cared for should they suffer a fall or injury. As much as there many horror stories associated with violent mosh pits, there are also many accounts of people recalling great moshing experiences where the crowd was simply colliding and jumping in a rhythmic manner, enjoying the music as one large horde.

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Moshing Madness

Method behind the Madness

Given that moshing is a dance, there is more to the art than tackling each other and recklessly throwing your limbs around. There is a method to the madness and a proper mosh involves adjusting your aggressive movements to the rhythm and mood of the music. As it stands, most if not all mosh techniques are easy to learn and master, so being born from a boombox isn’t a prerequisite required to throw your weight around with the mosh collective.

One such technique is called pogoing. As the name implies, you pretend to ride an imaginary pogo stick and jump around in one spot to the beat of the music. Then there is “the lap”, where you bump and jostle the crowd as you all move in a circle, creating

a mass vortex called the circle pit. The intensity and speed of the lap corresponds to the intensity of the music.

If you can call it a technique, pushing is yet another one, though be considerate and moderate the strength of said push to the level of power you’d used in a pillow fight with your significant other.

If your push is too forceful you may meet physical retribution, such as a punch to the teeth. Skanking is a technique similar to the running man, only that you add punching or flailing movements for extra hardcore flair. It’s probably one of the cooler moves in the mosh arsenal. If you want to simulate

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fighting - the keyword here being simulate - you’d love wrecking, a move that involves a couple of people lightly punching each other in the chest while dancing. Punching anyone in the chest, lightly or no, isn’t something that should be done carelessly so be sure to do it with someone you know.

No talk on moshing is complete without mentioning the infamous Wall of Death. The Wall is moshing’s equivalent of every brutal clash of bodies in the movie 300. What happens is that the crowd splits into two large hordes on opposite sides of the mosh pit before dashing into each other. Think about it as

two armies clashing, minus the weapons and the unfortunate side effect of death by stampede.

Moshing isn’t for everyone. No matter the amount of etiquette in any given mosh pit, it’s not an environment for someone without at least a small appetite for violence or aggression. The dance is all about the clash of bodies, so if rugby-style dancing is not your cup of tea, stick to ballet. Even if you decide against joining the moshing culture, so long as there is music worth rocking out to moshing will never truly die.

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Moshing Madness

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Moshing Madness

Words by Jeremy Tan Illustration by Carmen See

Getting acquainted with mosh pits can be a very daunting affair. Only a masochist would love being on the receiving end of a knuckle sandwich, with mosh pits arguably one of the most likely environments to get punched in the face if you aren’t careful. If you are unaware of moshing etiquette or simply lack common sense, your first foray into a crowd of moshers during a live show could very well be your last.

Moshing can be a very exciting and thrilling activity when done right so don’t ruin the experience by going in blind and throwing your fist around carelessly.

Aspiring moshers need to understand that there is an art to the madness. Only horrible mosh pits are devoid of etiquette while sometimes even relatively decent mosh pits may harbour unsavoury individuals who are out for blood. Knowing what to expect and learning proper mosh manners will help you maneuver around the pit, minimising the chance of particularly forceful limbs smacking you in the head and ensuring you aren’t just another careless and overly violent mosher yourself.

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Clothes Maketh The Man (Or Woman)

It's not quite the high-end social club, but that doesn't mean you should wear anything you want for mosh gatherings. Dress for the occasion. Mosh pits are a concentration of human bodies jumping around and leaking enough sweat to create a new Salt Sea, so it's going to be hot and dirty in there.

Your clothes should be light and breathable, not to mention comfortable, but don't just wear your favourite casual tee and call it a day. Be fully aware of the possibility that your attire could be dirtied or even torn in the pit so wear clothes you're sure you won't shed a tear for if they do end up ruined. Your clothes are likely going to be subjected to some grabbing and pulling, which is why you should avoid wearing a tank top if you’re a lady.

This isn't a fashion runway either so keep the accessories to a minimum. Items like metal watches and spiked wristbands aren't appreciated if they're smashed into someone's flesh so don't wear them in the pit. You should do without the nipple piercings too. In essence, anything that could easily hurt a fellow mosher or can be easily ripped off you should steer clear from the mosh pit.

As for shoes, make sure they're a snug fit and are laced properly. The last thing you want is for your bare feet to be vulnerable to a stampede of moshers because a shoe fell off.

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Moshing Madness

Watch The Crowd

Not all mosh pits are equal so look around before you start wading into the whirlpool of clashing bodies. Note if there is anyone that seems to deliberately feed knuckle sandwiches to unwitting participants in the pit. Moshing has varying levels of ferocity; if you’re uncomfortable joining a pit that’s doing more than just pogoing and circling around, take the wildly flailing arms as a sign to exit.

It doesn’t hurt to pay attention to the music either.

The craziness of the pit is highly dependent on the music that’s playing at the time, so if a band is doing some insane thrash metal guitar solo or you feel like the music is about to reach audio climax and the crowd is already getting wilder, it might a cue to exit. If not, be ready to adapt to the ebb and flow of the songs being played. This is a lot easier if you are familiar with the songs themselves so you can predict when the breakdown hits and the crowd goes nuts.

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Moshing Madness

In & Out

Entering and leaving a mosh pit can be difficult depending on what stage the music is on. The collective intensity and speed of the mosh pit tends to jump early on before gradually slowing down so don’t jump headlong into the pit at the very start.

Wait a bit for the pit’s intensity to taper off before making your way in. The pit might be a human hurricane, though it’s not always calm at the centre.

Avoid going into the middle of the commotion as a circle pit could form as people collide and start running in the same direction.

When you’ve had enough, try to exit via the left or right side of the stage and not the front as the area will be saturated with people. Also, don’t try to dance and flail your way out of the pit if you’re already at the edge as this might just prompt the people at the sides to push you back in to avoid getting hit. In more violent mosh pits, trying to walk your way slowly out may just get you run over - in the same way that driving turtle slow on the fast lane is dangerous - so follow the intensity of the crowd until you get pushed over to the sides.

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Moshing Madness

Mosh Manners

Common sense largely applies to moshing etiquette.

Essentially, treat others how you’d expect to be treated if shit does hit the fan. Keep your body loose, not rigid as no one wants to take a closed fist to the face. Be wary if you’re moshing on the edge of the pit because the people of the sidelines are there precisely because they aren’t keen in getting on with the action just yet. Don’t flail wildly on the edge

and don’t try to force the guys on the sides into the centre. Suppress the urge to kick and punch about until you’re a safe distance away from everyone else.

If you do end up hitting someone, don’t aggravate the situation by pretending it didn’t happen. Avoid potential brawls with a friendly gesture such as

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attempting to shake their hand, yelling an apology or just clasping their shoulder. If someone is hurt in the pit and they have difficulty exiting the crowd, try and get the guys around you to lift that person up and crowd surf them to relative safety. Make sure to ask permission first before lifting them above your shoulders.

No one wants to be groped either so don’t go touching the ladies unless you want their male friends to reconstruct your facial features.

Ultimately, the best way to facilitate a good and relatively safe mosh pit is to ensure you’re a considerate mosher yourself so be a good sport and it’s likely others will respond in kind.

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The Rhythm of Modern Rock

Words by Fazlur Redza Photographs by Asyraf Zulkefli

An electrifying 6-piece band churning out melodic metalcore tunes, Massacre Conspiracy has been a strong component of Malaysia’s underground music scene in recent years. Kicking off the ground in 2008, the band comprises lead vocalist Ash, Emy on drums, Sonny on guitar and vocals, Godoy who rounds up the band’s guitar duo, Daniel on bass and Ax working the keyboard and synth. Nicknaming themselves MC16, they’re known for their riveting live performances and adrenaline pumping, head smashing music.

We got in touch with the band to talk casually about a little bit of this and a little bit of that while touching on some slightly deeper topics such as the state of the country’s rock scene. Here’s what this chill group has to say!

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Massacre Conspiracy

Throughout the years there have been changes to your line up, something that’s a common occurrence among a lot of other bands too. How has the band adapted to it?

The most common challenge when going through situations like this is working on the chemistry amongst the band members. Even if a line up change involves just one person, it can distort the relationship and mutual goals between band mates. So far we have faced it professionally and positively. Such challenges allow us to grow professionally and stronger as a band.

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Massacre Conspiracy

73 Are there any favourite local bands or artists that you’ve always wanted to do a collaboration with?

We would love to collaborate with Yuna, Faizal Tahir, Joe Flizzow or even Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza (laughs).

Any one of them would be great!

Did any of your respective family members disagree with you guys playing in a metal band?

Yes, our families disagreed with the idea during our early years as a band. It was really difficult to convince them that we were very passionate about playing metal seriously, even when we told them we had gigs almost every weekend. This was way back around 2008 to 2010. We eventually managed to convince them and change their perception toward what we do after we made some achievements like playing at Rock The World, Planetrox’s Envol et Mecadam 2011 in Quebec City, Canada and winning 8TV’s Shout! Awards Break Out Award (2012), not to mention winning some notable Battle of the Bands nationwide. We even asked them to come to any of our shows and they really did attend one to watch us finish our set!

Do you have any regrets choosing metal as your main music genre? We ask because some might say that metal ain’t exactly mainstream and therefore won’t really sell.

Nope, not even once. Metal is our passion, that’s all there is to it. You won’t regret doing the things you love.

How has Massacre Conspiracy’s music has evolved over time?

We’ve rapidly developed our own identity as a band over the years. During our early years we were labelled as a “Malaysian BMTH” or “Malaysian ‘this and that’”. Gradually, our music style matured from one song to the next and our fans began to recognise us as an original band that doesn’t fit a certain label.

As an independent band, it took a lot of hard work to be where you guys are now. What is your advice to local bands that are trying to make it big?

Just keep on playing and show them what you got.

Playing metal, or any other genre you like, is all about passion and originality. We need to open the eyes and minds of Malaysians here to make them see that our metal scene is as great as any other music scene out there. Never stop doing what you love!

What are your thoughts on our underground rock scene?

It’s doing alright, but not good enough. We’ve got a hell of a lot of music talents but they are slowly disappearing due to a lack of support. Our underground talents need that support; it’s what keeps them alive and playing music. Malaysians should start looking at the underground scene here as a great way for our local talents to express themselves and not as a negative influence that leads our youth astray. We could be bias, but we think the underground scene is where most local music comes from these days.

What are the challenges the band faces when trying to bridge the gap between the mainstream and underground music scenes?

That is a huge responsibility to carry. We need to stay true to our passion but at the same time educating through media on what metal is all about. Most parents out there view metal music in a negative light. For us to narrow the gap between the mainstream and underground scenes, we need to show society (mainly parents) that metal music isn’t a negative influence.

People have wondered why the band is nicknamed MC16. Is there a story behind the nickname?

This started as a joke during a practice session back in 2008. There was a night when Ash suddenly shouted out ‘MC16’ on mic. We were thinking of

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Massacre Conspiracy

75 using that as our band’s nickname as a joke on every show, but never imagined that the name would actually stick!

How does MC16 work on developing its own distinctive metal music?

We share our different musical interests with each other. From there, we try to create and play something new and different. For example, this person loves one band and another person loves another band so we take influences from both, fuse the ideas together and suddenly we have a fresh sound waiting to be heard by the world. The most important thing is getting the vibe and energy of our music right. We always want to get the adrenaline pumping.

In the past you guys have been selected to be the opening act for most of the metal titans that have performed in Malaysia such as Suicide Silence, All Shall Perish, August Burns Red and BurgerKill. Is there any other band you would love to share the stage with?

Slipknot, definitely. Their appearance, aura and musical vibes totally make our senses tingle. Even after 21 years, their energy on the stage has never ceased to amaze. We still get goosebumps watching their shows on YouTube or DVD. However, if we could choose others besides Slipknot we would love to share the stage with our mutual idols Darkest Hour, In Flames, All That Remains, Megadeth and The Black Dahlia Murder.

Cliché as it sounds, certain people have always claimed that trying to make a living out of music is a waste of time. Your thoughts?

Playing music is not about making a living out of it. Playing music is always about passion. If you can showcase your music and make a career out of it, just pursue it. Playing music isn’t likely to let you live large here, but at least you got some extra money for your miscellaneous expenditure. For us, we work on weekdays and play shows on weekends.

We manage our time and money wisely. It doesn’t sound too hard to do, does it?

What do you guys hope to see for our local rock scene in the future?

We hope our local rock scene can be recognised for its originality and good music. The scene here isn’t really big compared to similar scenes internationally but it is our responsibility to make it look big and notable. We hope our local music will become recognised worldwide too as our country has a lot of potential talents that can stand alongside the international greats as well.

What are the best and worst moments MC16 has experienced over the course of the band’s journey so far?

Some of the greatest moments for us are definitely all of the international tours we’ve had so far. It’s awesome to be a tourist and performer at the same time. Though THE best experience to date was sharing the stage with our idols As I Lay Dying and Bring Me The Horizon. That takes the cake!

As for the worst experience in our journey? Back in 2011 when we went to Quebec, Canada for our show at Envol et Mecadam, we missed our flight from Montreal to Heathrow as our flight from Quebec to Montreal arrived late by an hour due to bad weather conditions. We couldn’t think of other alternatives for us to get back to Malaysia as we didn’t have enough cash to re-book the flight tickets for 6 people. The tickets had cost about... RM12,000 to RM15,000? Thankfully, the management sincerely apologised to us and gave us a one-night stay at Montreal’s Best Western Hotel with complimentary dinner and breakfast. They rescheduled our flight for free as it was not actually our fault and we ended up getting back home one day later than originally scheduled.

There are a lot of other major rock festivals both local and international. Is there a festival the band dreams of performing at?

Wacken Festival. If metal is a religion, Wacken Festival is where all the bands and metalheads around the world make their “pilgrimage”.

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77 Let’s imagine, in an alternate universe, you guys are not in the band. What do you think you guys would be doing instead?

Ash:

I think I’d be a businessman and entrepreneur.

Sonny:

Astronaut. Yes, an astronaut!

Emy:

A national footballer... or rapper.

Or both.

Ax:

A finance or property manager, maybe a fitness trainer. I’d also be a professional gamer!

Godoy:

A skater. I did skate before joining MC16. Would love to be a national footballer too, like Emy. Daniel:

I’d be a writer and journalist.

Any last words the band would like to say?

We would like to thank everyone that has supported us since day one. Keep on supporting us and you won’t regret it! On behalf of the underground scene, we ask everyone to support any band you like by coming to their shows, buying their merchandise and showing them love, promoting them through your social media accounts, tagging them and sharing their music with your friends. Your support, even if it’s a little, means a lot to them and keeps them going. This is Malaysia! Support your local music scene and don’t let society look down on our talents here. #staymetal #sapotlokal

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Interview by Tunway Yeoh Photographs by Lim Jing Run

Where boy bands are concerned, a majority of people will relate to the pretty boys.

One Direction, as much as I hate to mention, is one pretty obvious example. Locally though, the image of our “boy bands” are quite different. Our boy bands are arguably not as lovable at face value, though that’s hardly due to a lack of talent. Underground local Chinese rock band, NAO, is an example of a “boy band” that may not be much in the way of looks, but certainly aren’t lacking in the talent department.

Their exceptional sense for music is developed based on design theories synchronized with math rock rhythm, mixing together delightful melodies and psychedelic notes to audibly deliver the listener to cloud nine.

It was definitely an honour meeting the band’s three abnormal members, guitarist Tatmo, bassist Teng and drummer Ian at their studio to talk a little about their band, music and the local scene from the perspective of relatively rare Chinese bands.

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In The Here and NAO

Irritably, the underground rock scene has been considered a den for the rebellious, the drug addled and the sampah masyarakat by those quite unfamiliar with the scene itself. If the Trump rallies in the States or the xenophobia exhibited throughout the Brexit saga are any indication, it's very easy for someone to hate and detest a culture or community if they are unable to relate with it.

Hoping that music acts as essential fertilizer to grow the seeds of understanding toward the underground music scene, NAO's lyrical content can be rebellious and arguably provocative... but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Malaysia's social and political conundrums form a quintessential component of NAO's music, with the band being highly critical of topics such as racial bias and oppression. You wouldn't know they were being critical if you don't understand Mandarin, though.

“Being critical, courageous and straightforward, we are bold enough to raise questions on topics society considers taboos. We think this is the main reason fans love us and look forward to our songs," the band says, chuckling to themselves.

Ironically, the band's name NAO (孬) is a combination of two words that mean 'not (不)' and 'good (好)'. The band claims their name is deliberately self-demeaning, an attempt to send the message that you can't judge a book by its cover... or title, I guess.

So is their music as bad as their name implies?

It boils down to personal taste. Throughout a musical career spanning 3 albums, they've done what they do best; criticizing the government and our questionable politics. When a punk band like them releases an album that comprises tracks titled “Goodbye Najib” and “The Refugee System”, you just know it’s going to be both ferocious and deliciously controversial.

Of course, anti-establishment lyrics aren't exactly new. However, while other genres likes hip-hop delve into political issues as often as indie punk does, not all politically-inclined songs are tolerable or noteworthy. It takes a lot of work to balance political critique with good lyrics and musical craftsmanship, says NAO. When composing a song, the band says it focuses on imparting a lasting impression and emotion to the listener, more so than simply being lyrically critical of the government.

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In typical rebellious punk style, the band’s creative process follows no set of rules. “Music is a creative puzzle, but there is no particular set of rules saying that you must start with lyrics when composing a song,” says Tatmo, the band’s guitarist.

The composing process tends to begin with Tatmo, who chooses to tell a song's story via chords first.

Interestingly, he never conveys the story to Teng and Ian when he passes his recording to them for further development.

“Teng and Ian will do the rest afterwards, put their own spin on it. I don't mind if they stir fry it with their own seasoning and ingredients as long as we produce a delicious Char Koay Tiow,” Tatmo says half-jokingly. His Chinese cuisine metaphor, funnily enough, speaks volumes about NAO's identity as a band. Instead of looking to the West for musical inspiration, the band is anchored strongly in its Asian roots.

“We love our own culture, specifically Eastern culture. However, the Western-obsessed music scene often view Chinese indie bands as not up to standard," Tatmo says with a sigh. Looking at their frowns and disappointed eyes, you can tell that NAO has a strained relationship with current mainstream music trends. The scene here is far too focused on Western-based music, the band claims.

"It's difficult to get funding to make another album, because people tend to think Chinese indie bands such as us are not up to par with the rest."

It’s this mindset that makes it difficult for local indie musicians to penetrate the collective consciousness of approximately 31 million Malaysians, says NAO,

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despite the social networking explosion over the last decade that made gaining exposure and prominence hypothetically easier.

scene certainly needs investment if we hope to end a vicious cycle that's been on loop for years.

Despite this, the band is adamant on holding on to its Eastern influences, believing that a bold and loud Asian underground music scene is a musical gem worth building. "The underground scene is undervalued, but not under-talented. We need to let the crowd know that the local scene here is worth supporting," Tatmo says.

"We are barely making enough money to get by. If bands were paid better for writing and recording, they would have a better playing field to make more diverse and creative music. We, including the listeners, would all benefit," NAO says.

Music is a form of art, and musicians should be rewarded for their craft in the same way medical practitioners, educators and entrepreneurs are rewarded and appreciated for theirs. Why is it so difficult to support a local band at a gig unless its for free? People will fork out cash for extra clothes, movie dates and whatnot but rarely for an album released by a local band?

Money makes the world go round and this old maxim certainly holds true for music as well. The music

Well, strapped for cash or not, the band have their song production in full swing following the release of their third album. One thing's for sure though: In the here and now, talent doesn't always sell.

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Interview by Khaliss Khair Photographs by Lim Jing Run

Often mistaken as a foreigner, Jenn L. Thompson or also known as Kak Jenn (she would much prefer we drop the ‘Kak’, though) is 100% born and bred in Malaysia.

Coming from a family that best signifies the colourful racial diversity of our country, Jenn’s mother was half Chinese-half Australian while her father was an Irish man who came to Malaya to help fight the communist insurgence in the 50’s with the British. Brought up to believe in Bangsa Malaysia and at the same time to love her country, it’s no real surprise Kak Jenn ended up loving and supporting our local music industry.

First stepping into the industry in 1983 as an Artist Manager and Production Coordinator, Kak Jenn has worked alongside big names such as Sudirman Arshad, Search, Khadijah Ibrahim, Jay-Jay and many other remarkable artists that are too many for us to list down. Now, even after three decades of being in our local entertainment industry, Kak Jenn is still showing no signs of slowing down as she progresses further, whether through giving talks about “The Business of Music” or juggling between multiple projects at her own company called – J TWO I Entertainment Sdn. Bhd.

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89 To that end, we recently caught up with the industry wunderkind to get some insight on how she does what she does and dig out her thoughts on the current local rock scene. First and foremost though, Kak Jenn shares her story on how her journey began and what got her hooked on the scene: I’ve always loved music. My parents listened to everything from classical, pop, jazz, to Malay classics such as Anneke Gronloh, Broery Marantika, P.Ramlee, Saloma and I in turn grew up with Black Dog Bone, Carefree, Alleycats, Sharifah Aini, DJ Dave, Hail Amir and Uji Rashid. The radio played everything and anything under the sun; you as the listener decided what you liked so I was pretty exposed to all types of music.

My parents knew I loved music and they diligently took me to piano class at the age of 7... I, however, didn’t have the discipline to excel. At 15 I wanted to play in a band and so picked up bass guitar. I carried my bass guitar for 2 miles to the closest bus stand to take a 45 minute bus ride for my bass lessons with italian bassist Tomasso, who was playing with the National Symphony Orchestra. But after a year I just did not feel that I was put on this earth to play music, unfortunately.

By this time I was already hanging out and watching club bands Revolvers, Windjammer, Explorers and Delta among many others. I made friends with all the musicians and they knew that I was serious about wanting to get into the music business. I diligently went out and watched all the performances and listened to all the problems the musicians were facing.

At the age of 20 I was spotted by the late & great Mike Bernie Chin, empressario and manager to Sudirman who offered me a job as artiste/production manager. It was then I knew what I was put on this earth to do. I loved my job, I worked 20-hour days, I travelled to places and did production people only dream of. We travelled to Indonesia, Singapore, Bangkok and around the region doing production shows with Sudirman, Khadijah Ibrahim and Noorkumalasari. I was involved in the historic

Sudirman Concert in Chow Kit Road, the launching of Proton Saga 1985… it was a dream start in the business. I never thought about the money; it was all about doing the best shows, about having people walk away moved by the music, moved by the show and we were witness to that and so much more.

My mother (my father died when I was 15 years old) was mortified. Her only daughter was hanging out with musicians and the belief of “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll”. But I was so seriously involved in the business that everyone who dealt with me knew that it was all about business… do NOT screw around with Jenn.

When I look back, it was the upbringing my parents gave me that ensured that the choices I made were always the right ones. I did NOT sleep around, I did NOT do drugs… but yes, life was ALWAYS rock ‘n’ roll and living it to the maximum. The music and the talent always fired my love for the business.

I come from a generation where live music was a priority. You could go out on any given evening and see a wonderful band perform Headwind, Heavy Machine, Search, Lefthanded, Ella and The Boys. The weekends were filled with concerts and expos that allowed people of all races, creed, religions to come out and enjoy an evening with good entertainment. Those times were the best, the ‘zaman gemilang’ for Malaysian music. People paid to go to shows, loved their artistes, bought albums.

I am truly lucky to have been working in the industry during this time.

So I’ve spent two-and-a-half years working with a premiere artiste/production management company; 1 year in a premiere showclub working with top performing malaysian bands and Filipino showbands; 4 years with artiste/touring/show management; 6 years with a recording studio and then 15 years with the Persatuan Akademi Industri Muzik/ Anugerah Industri Muzik.

The experience in each of these establishments has given me an important insight to each and every part of our industry, the problems faced by both the music side AND the business side. Most importantly it has taught me to ALWAYS respect the talent. Most people never see the behind-the-scenes trials and tribulations… I have had the privilege of being there and understanding how much artiste/musicians give of themselves for their art.

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Interview by Khaliss Khair Photographs by Lim Jing Run

Many of us may have believed that Rock N’ Roll is almost reaching to the edge of its extinction, and there are also some who considers the art of high voltage guitar tunes as a thing of the past. Is it true that Rock is no longer relevant in the millennium era?

To get the answer of that question, we managed to get Kak Jenn to provide us with some advice and insights derived from the 32 years of her experience being in the industry.

91 What is the hardest part about your job?

I get asked this question all the time. There is no hardest part as it really isn’t a job. It’s my life, it was what I was born to do. It’s my love, my passion.

What defines rock to you?

Rock is freedom of expression.

It’s passion, truth, a way of life and is ever changing, evolving with the times and always a reflection of those that make it and listen to it.

In your many years of experience, you’ve seen so many bands come and go, though some are still around today. What are some of the main characteristics that separate successful bands from the ones that are not?

Many of the successful bands have successful leaders. It’s not an easy thing to do; a band is like being married to 4 or 5 people.

All of them have different ideas of what the band should be and differing sense of urgencies.

Everyone needs to understand those differences. The most important thing is they share musical direction and everyone must respect the decisions made and move forward together.

We live in a digital age and music is either streamed or downloaded. How do you think bands should tackle this?

We can never stop change but we need to understand it and how it can serve us. The advent

of social media has allowed the world to become your playing field but it also means more people on the playground. Some of these “players” are better equipped to handle the open competition. However, I am a strong believer that you cannot download a musical experience.

Although social media provides the hype and your music is downloadable, nothing replaces live performances. Music is meant to be experienced live therefore touring and performing for audiences is an integral part of winning hearts and building a loyal following.

It is that very loyal fanbase that falls in love with the artiste and will support and follow them to the ends of the earth, downloading original material and buying merchandise. The artiste becomes an emotional attachment. That 30-90 minutes of show will forever leave a lasting impression on lives, something that television or radio cannot do. So playing for audiences should be the most important thing a band can do.

We Malaysians love free shit.

Free CDs, free merchandise and free concerts. Has it always been that way? Or is that a more recent thing?

A more recent thing I would say.

I think Malaysians have been spoilt by freebies but giving away free shit needs to stop. You don’t pay Kancil prices for a Mercedes Benz. Or worse, pay the Kancil price and expect a Mercedes Benz. If we can understand this, then why can this not be converted to the music business?

You have the freedom of choice to like or not like but when you DO like, PLEASE show some appreciation by paying.

What are some of the steps we can take to shake off that “free” mentality?

Stop doing FREE. People need to understand that you need to support the thing you love, if you don’t, it can’t afford to exist. I think nowadays with more and more people having problems getting a job I see lots of people starting their own businesses.

The best part is they're all creative- clothing lines, food, art, magazines, etcetera- and when you have vested interest, where it’s a friend or a family member that’s involved in making a living, more people will hopefully understand the necessity of supporting our own kind. Malaysians need to learn to support our own because if we don’t, who else is going to help us?

You go around having clinics talking about the business of music; can you give us a quick crash course of what you teach in these talks?

I do this mostly for bands but also for other people in the business too. For those already in the business, I teach for free. Basically the class is an introduction to the music industry designed for working musicians who need to understand the business and how to manage and market their creative talent inclusive of artist development, touring, basic

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marketing/social media and some tips and tricks.

Everyone doesn’t want you when you’re nobody so it’s a basic lesson in how to treat yourself like a business because everyone else treats you like a business.

Understand that “exploitation” is a two-way street and learn how to choose the exploitation that also benefits you.

If you could choose anybody to form a perfect band who would the individuals be?

Difficult question with no answer.

We have so MANY talented

individuals but a perfect band is sometimes not about perfect individuals. It’s more about chemistry and playing as a team.

are all artistes making waves at the international level but it meant making a sacrifice by living abroad.

Why is it that so rarely our local bands make it on the international level?

How do you foresee the future of rock in Malaysia?

To make it at an international level requires a leap of faith and a level of commitment that is easier for a solo artiste. Making it abroad means packing your bag and living wherever you want to make it whether it be Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Europe or the United States. Malaysian artistes like Micheal and Victor, Fish Leong, Yuna, Shila Amzah

We definitely have talent. The only thing is the platform that is offered to that talent. When artistes can make money from what they love doing, you will see many excel. People need to recognize the talent we have. I love going to gigs and watching new talent, it shows me that the future of our business is in good hands.

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Best concert you have ever watched?

Anything you would like to say in closing?

Concerts are my business. It’s like asking me to go out to watch a concert for pleasure. I rather be at home watching TV. I actually get more pleasure from watching gigs and up and coming talent

I must say that although I fully support and work for the Malaysian music industry, I am not adverse to working with foreigners (performers, productions) and learning all I can from them. It’s always a good experience and it also is a good indication to see what our standards and abilities are in comparison to the rest of the world. Believe me we can do ANYTHING anyone else can do.

What is the best advice you have ever received?

Good advice never stops; you live, you learn. The latest advice that moved me is “Biar Mati Mencuba, Jangan Mati Kecewa.”

I’ll be the first one to die trying!

“Understand that ‘exploitation’ is a two-way street and learn how to choose the exploitation that also benefits you.”

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Words by Jeremy Tan Photographs by Aizat Ady Ikram

One might argue that stories a thousand words long can be condensed into a single, definitive moment; a moment immortalised through photography. In the adrenalinefilled spectrum of culture that is the rock music scene, there are many of these defining seconds that capture the sheer intensity and passion of both the bands and their adoring crowds. Even if you weren’t there yourself to experience, say, a particularly energetic live performance, pictures have the capacity of somehow evoking the movements and enjoyment of the moment despite the essential stillness of photography.

We got in touch with a certain local photographer that fervently believes this.

Harbouring a passion for capturing the intense energy that is commonplace in the rock scene, Aizat Ady Ikram is just as much a fan of rock as he is in love with his trusted partner, the camera.

Here, we take a look at some of the moments captured within the rock space, all through the lens of Aizat Ady Ikram.

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Rocking Out Through The Lens of Aizat Ady Ikram

A 24-year-old fresh graduate of creative photomedia at UiTM Puncak Alam, Aizat has been learning the art of shooting images since early 2010. Initially his interest toward photography was not prominent until he was called to take pictures of bands in 2011.

Now, it could be an understatement to say he is passionate about his calling to embrace life behind the lens.

“I know it sounds a bit cliché, but as a photographer, the moments I capture become the eyes of the people,” he says.

The rock scene naturally sees a lot of movements and face expressions, with Aizat noting that what he loves most of the scene are the interactions between the band and the crowd. “That shows how approachable the band is,” he says.

“I love watching live music, and at the same time, I love capturing the moments of it. Those are the reasons that attract me to take pictures of live music,” adds the photographer, who is a long time fan of local rock talents the likes of Hujan, ACAB and Oh Chentaku.

Always a believer that pictures do speak a thousand words, he focuses on capturing stage moments as he thinks “they are very valuable”.

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“To be honest, I think that without pictures, it would be hard for people to imagine the environment of the concert. They can’t feel the energy and surroundings of the moment. But with pictures, you can actually feel the environment of the concert like when the crowd cheers, the heat that is produced by the amount of people and of course, the performance of the band itself. Those pictures are witnesses of the concert; those pictures speak on behalf of me,” Aizat says.

That is the primary reason behind the formation of 3rd Party Project, he adds. As for future endeavours?

Making his pictures of Malaysian bands known the world over.

“Taking pictures of live music is not my hobby or interest, its my passion.”

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Bring Me The Horizon performs during Rockaway Festival 2013 at KL Live.

At the backstage during the final day of Alt+ HQ.

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Izzat playing for Kids On The Move at the band room during a gig in Ipoh.

Hujan 10th Anniversary concert.

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5 Daarchlea performing for Rock The World 14 at Bukit Jalil.

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6 Vocalist of Straight Answer delivers a speech on the final day of Alt+ HQ.

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Kids On The Move with energetic performance for Rock The World 15.

The crowd shot during Rock The World 15.

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10&11 Restraint and Tres Empre performs for Rock The World 15.

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11 Hujan 10th Anniversary concert.

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12 In Other Climes with energetic performance at Garage Studio KL.

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Words by Jiman Casablancas

Time is the currency we pay to find out who we are. As it happens, this is also true when it comes to our sense of fashion. Figuring out you can identify with 90s fashion trends over contemporary ones, or that you could never have a close-knit bond with skinny jeans, or a wardrobe consisting exclusively of black and white garments is truly ‘you’ can sometimes mean years of trial and error.

For Jiman Casablancas, finding his own sense of style began with singer Zainal Abidin. Flip on over to the following pages for a personal account on how Jiman fell in love with skinny jeans, leather jackets and boots over the years.

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international pizzazz. Malaysian music fans were out in full force to be entertained by these seasoned performers, each unique in their own way. When Zainal Abidin took centre stage, the energy of the moment shot through the roof as the crowd went wild.

At 16 years old I was struggling to find my own sense of style, what with the lack of reference during the pre-Internet explosion era. But the sight of Zainal Abidin in folded blue jeans, white T-shirt, red flannel and boots caught my attention and sparked an interest deep within me to copy the look. Part of the appeal was that while it looked cool, it also seemed easy enough to imitate the style. I later learned that this image was created by our very own trendsetter and style maker extraordinaire, Magie Abang Saufi, who together with Raja Malek and Yaacob Taha were the brains behind the brilliant image making of the legendary Sheila Majid.

The Ikhlas Concert 1992

The year was 1992 with Stadium Merdeka as its witness. The Ikhlas Concert that featured some of the best Malaysian artist at the time under Roslan

Sheila Majid

The Ikhlas Concert 1992

Aziz Productions (RAP), namely Sheila Majid, Zainal Abidin, Afdlin Shauki, Zubir Ali, Amir Yusoff, Prema and Azman Warren was probably one of my earliest memories of a local production done with

As it turned out, the look sported by Zainal Abidin had a lot of similarities to BROS, a pop twin duo from the UK who could often be seen wearing the brand BOY London on the pages of the then entertainment bible, Smash Hits. With my very limited resources and some help from my mother, who never questioned my phase of experimenting, I purchased my first 501s and Dr Martens. Left to my own devices, it was never about whether the clothes fit or even if they looked good on me, it was all about getting the “look” right. Furthermore, in the 90s, where MC Hammer’s harem pants and Kriss Kross’ back to front loose fit denim wearing were all the rage, one could easily be confused on what’s cool and what’s not.

113 Despite all that, the mid 80s and early 90s also witnessed the revival of rock ’n’ roll and Anna Wintour’s most hated trend, grunge, also known as the anti-Christ of all things fashion. Long before Yeezus released its homeless inspired collection, the cockroach infested cardigan on Kurt Cobain was already a hot staple. One need only watch ‘Reality Bites’, the ultimate slacker movie, to see how Ethan Hawke effortlessly carried the look throughout the film. On the local front, ‘rock kapak’ ruled the charts and the country’s airwaves. Led by the legendary Search, Wi ngs and Lefthanded came bands like XPDC, Olan, Rusty Blade, Bloodshed, Iklim, Handy Black and many more. For those not in the know, this is a very important part of the Malaysian pop culture and I do feel that the Malaysian history books should do itself a favour and dedicate a whole chapter to this under the heading “Zaman Kegemilangan Rock Malaysia”.

The word ‘kapak’ or the medieval ‘axe’ here could probably refer to the Malay proverb ‘ambil kapak belahlah dada’ which means ‘if you want to know what’s in my heart, take an axe and cut it into two’.

This phrase refers to rock music’s most melancholy and tearjerker lyrics or in Malay slang ‘tangkap jiwang’ (or ‘tangkap leleh’ depending on preference but this whole ‘rock kapak’ term subject is another article in itself).

‘Rock kapak’ came with an unmistakable image and style. Although grotesque to some, one must admit that the impact it created serves to further pique the curiosity it arouses. The jeans were tighter, the hair was bigger and teased to voluminous height, silver accessories piled up like there’s no tomorrow and for the more daring, a subtle touch of make-up.

It was a period of fashion maximalism and true allegiance to PVCs, animal prints and T-shirts with fringes. I seriously recommend you to watch Mamat Khalid’s film Rock trilogy to get an idea of how it was like. Just like that, I took my baggy 501s to Pertama Complex for my first jeans alteration exorcism exercise and never looked back. I was a boy obsessed on altering everything to fit, and they had to be of a certain ‘Wa Caya Sama Lu’ standard.

There are times I would later have them altered too tight that it would be impossible to squeeze into them with the slightest bit of weight gain. ‘Fit’ was an important element in my everyday dressing that then became vital as skinny jeans entered my life before the term was even coined.

Ella

Not one to be outdone by the boys, Ella bursts onto the Malaysian music scene during the ‘rock kapak’ golden era as a fresh faced Malay girl blessed with the most husky and sexy voice ever heard. Her imperfectly perfect rendition of ‘Dua Insan Bercinta’, a tale of unrequited love told from a strong female point of view, became an anthem and had Mat and Minah Rocks everywhere eating from the palms of her hands. She wasn’t just a vocal powerhouse; she had the looks to match too. Her Cher-esque centre-parted long black hair was the only thing that she needed to complement her exotic face. There was very little or no make-up involved. Ella, like Zainal Abidin, reinterpreted the blue distressed jeans with white T-shirt look, this time showing how it’s supposed to be done by the girls.

In 2010 I toured with Search, Malaysia’s legendary rock ’n’ roll band. The tour began in Penang where the monsoon rain of December almost wrecked the stage, making the stage screw terrified that the weather could result in the potential electrocution of the opening act, glam rock band Sofea, or Search themselves. They looked anxious but their spirits were high.

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Search

Sofea

Search

Sofea

“There are only three things that I love; time off, being in the studio and going on tour,” said Amy, the charismatic frontman. “And I love looking good in all three of them.”

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Kid Search

These bonafide rock stars took their rock and fashion synthesis to stadium tour conclusions, fueled even further by diehard fans who looked every bit the part. I have never seen a more dedicated group of fans who came to see their favourite rock band in action dressed like how they would back in the glory days of ‘rock kapak’. When Kid, who plays the lead guitar, wearing a sleeveless black vest paired with skin tight jeans showing off his lanky frame, lit a cigarette on stage while skillfully showing off his musical prowess, it stood as an iconic image that has never escaped my mind to this day. I became the boy who wanted to grow up to be Kid. It has been said that the very best inventions are those that transforms an ordinary task into something memorable, poetic or simply delightful.

To me, nothing meets that description better than skinny jeans. Skinny jeans, with its slimming effect and worn with a fit so perfect, will bring to every curve a lack of obstruction between fabric and skin that turns denim into something far more special than wearing just ‘normal pants’. One’s prime option of designed artefacts should be a reflection of one’s state of mind, one’s imagination, one’s sense of fun and purpose. The skinny jeans, my leather jacket and boots are by default my most treasured weapons of choice. It’s my everyday uniform, and every time I listen to my favourite ‘rock kapak’ tunes wearing these vestments, I am immediately reminded of my younger days. What can I say, I am a sucker for nostalgia. But I am also a walking homage to the decade that transcended the shoulder pads. I have drink tickets and an all access pass.

Who wants to be my plus one?

Words by Jeremy Tan Photographs by Lim Jing Run

Love Me Butch may be enjoying its hibernation at the time of writing, but it’s members certainly aren’t idling around. It’ll be a while before auditions for a new vocalist commence and the band goes full throttle once again, so in the meantime Wing Meng is keeping busy in other ways. The band’s talented guitarist is a master of juggling between work and more work while composing music occasionally in preparation for the band’s resurgence.

We sat down with the musical veteran to unmask the businessman behind the rock star persona and how music is still the beating heart of all he does, even in Love Me Butch’s quiet time.

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Love Me Business

The office within the warehouse, its dullness amplified by clean white walls and fluorescent lighting, is nothing if not cramped. The miscellany of items cluttering the room doesn't help. At a corner, the room's primary inhabitant sits staring at his desktop PC, scanning the spreadsheet occupying the screen.

"Let's see, how did we do last month...," the man mutters. "...Sales were okay. This month?" He pauses. "Like this we're f*cked lah," he says in a tone of mock concern, before bursting into laughter as our photographer snaps multiple shots of Wing Meng pretending to work.

Wing Meng, who many recognise as the guitar strumming component of beloved Malaysian posthardcore outfit Love Me Butch, is a very unassuming man. First impressions paint him as reserved, even quiet, which does wonders at blanketing the multitude of talents he has, not least of which is his prowess at navigating the retail environment. I can't be the only one surprised to find the guy, who I consider a bonafide rock star, being completely in his element in a humble office warehouse poring

over numbers and inventory. In any case, he's quite content staring at spreadsheets on a screen.

"I like looking at spreadsheets," he notes. "It's actually quite calming.� It's weird seeing him like this. Soon, though, he picks up an electric guitar and begins strumming a barely audible tune for another photograph, and all feels right with the world again.

More than a guitarist for a famed local band, the man's a businessman. For one, he runs an event coordination entity under the name Jupiter Projects where he houses all his passion projects.

"It (works on) whatever projects that I get on the side," Wing Meng says. That's a modest way of putting it; these side projects are spadefuls cooler than his explanation implies, considering Jupiter Projects is the one to thank for bringing a trail of great underground bands from America over to our shores.

"The first band that I brought over was Switchfoot, got them here twice," he says. Other acts that have made their way here due to his initiative include

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Underoath, Saosin and Comeback Kid. Beyond that, he also dabbles in some Facebook programming. "I build apps for corporate companies and stuff," he adds.

Malaysia. This was sometime in... 2006, maybe? At the time the brand wasn't huge, so we helped boost their business from Singapore to the Philippines and then to Malaysia," Wing Meng says.

His primary endeavour, however, is a distribution & retail company called All Access Distribution Sdn Bhd that focuses on wholesaling iconic independent clothing brands. These brands include Macbeth, Obey, Famous Stars and Straps, Loser Machine Company, Dark Seas and most recently, C1rca.

Street fashion is his 'game' of choice, so to speak.

Toe dipping into retail waters transitioned to a full plunge, head first, after some time endorsing Macbeth paraphernalia. "What started off as an endorsement relationship ended with me running the business here and hooking them up with business partners across different countries," he says. This wasn't a planned turn of events; people don't exactly envision a career in retail when they traverse the rock ‘n' roll pathway, do they? But when the retail industry stared at Wing Meng, he stared right back.

It was love at first... endorsement.

Though officially established sometime during 2012, his first venture into retail predates his spearheading of the distribution & retail entity, when he was more actively involved with Love Me Butch. "I was actually in the business on a freelance basis before 2012," he says, before telling us his journey into retail was a byproduct of him living and breathing music.

"I initially started endorsing Macbeth footwear, so we (the band) were friends with the South East Asian distributor. He gave us, One Buck Shot and Pop Shuvit shoes to help them promote the brand in

Importantly, this transition meant the guitarist had to learn the inner workings of the business from the ground up. Getting his feet wet with zero knowledge of the retail space wasn't going to be as simple as him playing Guitar Hero on any difficulty setting, but the man had a great mentor and the street smarts to compensate.

"I learnt it all from Tim, a guy from Indonesia who

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is very experienced at this, who taught me all about retail, how to do a wholesale business, building it all up. I just picked it up from there and the rest was just through trial and error," he says.

The experience was similar to being a new boy at school, he says, complete with school bullies just wanting to have a go at you. "Obviously, as a new guy in the retail scene, you won't know a lot things, won't know a lot of people. So a lot of the time some people will treat you like you're nobody, like you don't know anything.� It's part of the initiation process, Wing Meng implies.

"At the end of the day if you show integrity, perseverance and the willingness to learn, along the way the knowledge will just come naturally."

Fast forward to the present and it seems he has come into his own as a business person managing multiple endeavours at once. It's worth noting that all his jobs (are they really jobs if what pays the bills are the things he loves?) are so well integrated into his daily routine, the lines between his personal and professional life become slightly blurred. From the sound of things, a meet-up with friends during leisure could also be a business opportunity in disguise.

"Everything I do is very closely related to one another," he says. "Macbeth and Obey are very music and arts driven, for example, so of course the people that I hang out with are basically the people who are either in the music or arts scene."

Music has done far more for Wing Meng than simply leapfrog him into his businesses and passion projects. With him seeded into the core of the independent music space in Malaysia, getting bands to endorse a product or something similar is, in his words, a "no-brainer".

121 "It's easy as we're all friends here. I don't have to force my time out to do that part of the business.

Hanging out with musicians and artists is just part of what I do," he says when asked how a business can be a beneficiary of close ties to music. Following the brief photoshoot at his workplace, we make our way to the mamak just across the road. There, he tells us yet another valuable skill he picked up while shoulder deep in the music industry: people management.

"If you can manage musicians, you can manage anyone in the world," he says with a small laugh.

Musicians are very unpredictable, he says, which calls for a lot of patience and the use of reserve psychology. Maybe business management courses should include liaison with musicians as mandatory practical training...

"You cannot scold (the musician), otherwise his ego will terguris. You have to say things in a certain way, boost their ego first," he says, before speaking more seriously. "I come from the school of thoughts; I don't believe in scolding the staff, demanding they do this and that. My staff are all like my friends, we chill and hangout together but when comes to work, it's work. They understand that. There needs to be a balance to build a good working relationship with the staff."

Most of his staff at All Access Distribution are musicians themselves, and like Wing Meng, they weren't familiar with the nuances of retail when they first started out. "What I look for in people is their willingness to learn. I don't care about DEGREES (qualifications)," he says. He embodies the do-ityourself ethic, insisting that a lack of know-how will be circumvented by an appetite for learning and a hardworking attitude. He's right to believe that; after all, the D.I.Y spirit has also played no small part in Love Me Butch's success.

"We've always been a D.I.Y band since day one. Our music is heavy stuff, we were not accepted in the mainstream back in the day so our only outlet before the explosion of the whole indie scene was to go underground. There was no radio support for us, nothing, so we literally had to go to every dangdut joint in every town and just play to get fans. The D.I.Y attitude got instilled into me, because nobody is going to help you," he says. With that kind of

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123 attitude, it's no wonder he's weathered both the retail and music industries rather well. "I taught myself the guitar, tone, amp, how to find proper sound. These things are all learnt through experience. So with the retail business, I make sure to impart the same attitude to the guys here," he says. We're still at the mamak, and some light conversation transpires.

Soon however, the focus falls on Wing Meng's opinion on the state of today's music scene and the rock community in particular. As someone who has almost gone full circle in the music industry, his perspective is hardly myopic.

"I think over the years, there had been an oversaturation of shows and most of them didn't do well because of the primary mentality that Malaysians all want free stuff. From a promoter's point of view, they need to be able to cover the minimum guarantee of, say, an international band coming here, fund the entire production, the licensing and so on. All these things added together costs a lot," he explains. Simply trying to break even is an ordeal for promoters as they need to sell a certain quantity of tickets in a situation where most of the bands coming to perform here aren't prominent enough to cater to stadium-sized crowds. How many of us would pay to attend a mid-sized concert and watch a semi-famous band play? Apparently, the answer is not encouraging.

"The appreciation of music, the willingness to pay for it... it's not quite there anymore," he says,"Right now, there's a lack of local gigs. The generation after us never really picked up the business side of music to continue producing shows and such, so there's a lack of people trying to build up the scene again. Even I have stopped organising rock gigs because it's a lossmaker."

Wing Meng suggests the scene could be kept afloat by embracing the modus operandi of 90s underground shows. Big shows are the crowd catchers, sure, but the veteran musician says that it's best to start small, just like the old days. "Even if the gigs attracts only 100 people it doesn't matter so long as there's a show every weekend, keep's the scene alive. Organisers could charge RM15 per entry and a complimentary drink, it's a price point people wouldn't mind and it educates them to pay," he says.

Of course, a lot of musicians are partners in crime in aggravating Malaysia's malnourished rock music scene. Wing Meng doesn't deny that bands shoulder some of the blame too, noting that many musicians "are lazy".

"They don't want to work for it. If there are no shows or people don't like their band, they complain, but what are they doing about it? If people don't ask your band to play at a show, that's fine, but are you teaming up with other bands to produce your own shows? Back in the day no one invited us to play at shows either, so we did our own gigs. If you are malas and don't do your own thing, people won't hear about your band so don't go complaining," he says.

Music doesn't start and end at the studio; you can't ignore the business of making music. Wing Meng notes that rockers in particular have this tendency to dismiss the more mundane aspects of working in the music industry. "By comparison, hip-hoppers are the opposite. They're very smart, they know how to hustle and plan their game. It's all very calculated.

Joe Flizzow is a good example of this as he's got his hip hop, his barber shop, other businesses, merchandising and what not. Rockers need to think the same way," he says.

Over the course of the conversation over teh ais, the alternate image of him as a businessman and lover of spreadsheets became far less strange.

He's nothing short of a walking D.I.Y signboard. I walk away from the chat regarding him as a living personification of one specific maxim: if you want anything done, you just have to do it yourself.

D IR ECTO R Y

Kuala Lumpur

Selangor

DC Shoes, KLCC

Cover By Crossover, Sunway Pyramid

DEPOT By Devise, TTDI

Crossover Concept Store, Sunway Pyramid

Heavy Weight, Fahrenheit 88

Dc Shoes, Sunway Pyramid

Hoops Station, Lot 10

Dc Shoes, Paradigm Mall

Hundred%, Lot 10

Dc Shoes, Setia City Mall

Krookz 651, Bangsar

Grafa Cafe, Subang

Macbeth Footwear, Robinsons @ The Gardens

Heavy Weight, Sunway Pyramid

Pestle & Mortar, Bangsar

Heavy Weight, One Utama

SHOWROOM, Times Square

Major Drop, Sunway Pyramid

SHOWROOM KL, Pudu

OBEY Clothing, Tangs @ One Utama

Sole What Pop-Up, Midvalley Megamall

OBEY Clothing, Tangs @ Empire Shopping Gallery

Sole What, The Gardens

Rare Distr0, Bangi

Stussy KL, Pudu

Sole What, One Utama

Snackfood, Bangsar

Tea Code Coffee, Balakong

The Super Sunday Store, Bukit Bintang

The Cap City, Subang The Yard, Subang

Melaka

Wheel Love, Subang

Kickstart Cafe, Alor Gajah

17 Gallery, Subang

Corm Kafe & Distro, Jasin Aku Design Store, Melaka

Johor Crossover Concept Store, Johor Bahru

Kedah

Crossover Concept Store, AEON @ Tebrau City

Conquer Store, Alor Setar

Gent Utopia, Johor Bahru

Pahang Amity Concept Store, Kuantan Terbang Headquarters, Kuantan KRASS, Kuantan

Penang Bricklin Bar, Georgetown Pik Nik, Georgetown The Alley, Georgetown

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