My Apologies!

I would like to start by thanking everyone who had requested for my song "Taman Cinta" to be aired on radio up till now but to no avail. Iwould like to apologize because in the midst of my excitement of having my song approved for airplay, I wasn't au fait / well versed with the way radio airplay works. Technically my song had already been approved for airplay. Presently, I'm making arrangements for "Taman Cinta" to be aired during the 1st week of August. I will update you guys on the timeslot where my song will debut on Ria 89.7FM. Do hope everyone reading this will enjoy that moment with me!!

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A Day @ Mediacorp

I had arranged for this day for a meeting with Ria 89.7 FM boss, Hassan Salleh. The purpose was the submission of my single "Taman Cinta" for airplay. My first time meeting Abg Hassan was thru my participation in Akademi Radio in March 2007 and subsequently met him again at my Expo performance in April 2007. Since then , I stayed in touch with him and he had been kind enough to accord words of encouragement and support to me. So I was kind of relishing the meeting and probably having casual talk with the man. My meeting was scheduled at 4pm. Picked up my copies of CDs printed at Bt Merah and I kinda liked the final product. From Bt Merah to Mediacorp, I was experiencing mixed feelings. Was actually thinking how the guys @ Ria & Warna would perceive my product. Hoping for the best!! Upon my arrival @ Mediacorp, I immediately proceeded to Ria's office. A warm welcome from Hassan Salleh and the DJs at the office namely KC, Nity and Brader Bo, I then dished out my CDs personally to the guys. Then Abg Hassan, Brader Bo and myself converse on the subject of my upcoming plans and album. When Abg Hassan popped the CD into his player, I must say I was scared as hell. As much as I am proud of my product, I was expecting the worst possible scenario. But after playing the CD, I guess they were OK with it. After passing my CDs to some DJs at Warna, I then took my leave. On my way home, I kind of reflected on my paths and choices I have taken to that present moment. I'm still pinching myself because as much as I believed in myself, I could never believe it that I'm actually sending my songs for airplay on radio. What was once just a far-fetched dream was slowly manifesting in real-time. I felt really blessed to be able to do what I'm doing! Alhamdullillah

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Awesome!!!

Performance day once again! Always looking forward to every single one of them. This time, I'm performing as a guest artiste at a Dikir Barat competition entitled "Piala Raja Panggong 2007 Dikir Barat Competition". This showcae were jointly organised by MAEC Kg Chai Chee CC & Kumpulan Dikir Barat Cucu Datuk Merah/ Hulubalang. It featured Dikir Barat groups, established and new, to showcase themselves and see who comes out of it tops! So after the last group had performed, came my turn to showcase myself. With the backing of my music brothers: Guitars - Amin, Zool, Hernalis, Rafiz Box Drums - Hazan Djembe -Hernee we then proceed to take the stage. Then the emcees started with introducing me. Kinda funny when they were introducing me as someone who was somehow associated with the dikir barat scene years ago. Haha....to those who recently know me.....yes, i did participate way back in 2005....my very 1st time in dikir barat and i was 'tok juara' then.....tough work, man! Got involved with dikir barat fellas from hulubalang/cucu datuk merah albeit through soccer......hmmm....and that's about it, folks! Glad to be there performing there as I could meet and reminisce with some familiar faces. Once the stage curtain is up, I commence on the 1st of my 3-songs set. Sang "Keagungan Mu" for the start as I felt it was the song most suitable for a cultural showcase as this one, with its ethnic beats and 'joget' melody. I encouraged the audience to clap with me as the song begin. To my surprise, they readily obliged. And I could already felt at that time, it was going to be an awesome show after all! How right I was! By the end of the 1st song, I could feel myself slowly being comfortable on stage. Trying my best interacting with the crowd...fuhhh.......the crowd was superb......playful banter were exchanged and soon I was off singing the 2nd song, a cover of Lovehunters' "Ku Ukir Namamu". I could sense the crowd building up as I sang thru the verses. So as I approach the ever infectious chorus lines "Lautan api....Sudah pun ku renangi....".........I called on the crowd to sing with me and sang with me they did......Haha, for brief moment I understood and felt wat's it's like to be a rockstar...hahaha! And the crowd sang with me thru the rest of the song......."The show's getting better and better" , I remembered saying to myself. Momentum was me after the 2nd song ended and I proceeded with the last song "Taman Cinta". Before I started, I said my thanks to the organisers and the crowd as well. I did some self-promotion, informing the audience that this next song will be my 1st song on Ria 89.7FM and also told them to come for my impending album launch on 1st of September. Do hope they'll remember to come! Did my heartfelt rendition of "Taman Cinta" and as soon as the song ended....said my thanks again....and bid farewell to the crowd. But to my shock, sections in the crowd began calling for an encore. "Wow....this couldn't be happening" I said. So after seeking permission from the organisers and the green light accorded to me to continue, I was in a dilemma on which song to perform. I was pretty sure the crowd wanted a cover song which they can all sing along with. Unfortunately, I had not prepared any other cover songs so I decided to perform another original entitled "Destinasi Impian". Since it was a fast number, I hope the crowd enjoyed it as well! So when the time came for me to end my performance, I thanked the crowd again for making the occasion my best show so far!! So after the show's over, me and my brothers did a casual post mortem and I'm ecstatic that everyone enjoyed themselves too. Special thanks to Kg Chai Chee CC, kumpulan dikir barat Hulubalang & Cucu Datuk Merah for having organised this wonderful showcase! A million thanks to the Dikir Barat fellas at the showcase, the audience, the crowd for making my performance something to cherish forever. My heartfelt appreciation to my music brothers and their families, my family, Merbuk Platoon guys namely Niezza, Ays and Seema for being present for this great experience. Can't thank you guys enough for the support since Day One. Please continue to embark with me as I keep going on this unknown journey.

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Work In Progress

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I dedicate this song.....

Finally, got the final mix of my 1st single "Taman Cinta" in my hands. With regards to my limited experience in music, I believed I've done well thus far. However, I'll be looking to constantly improve....every aspects.....yeah!! Doing the mastering down at Greendoor Studio very soon. Once done, I'll be submitting my cd to RIA for consideration for airplay, latest by end of next week. Hope the guys @ RIA will love it....keeping my fingers crossed!! I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's been supporting, encouraging, criticising.......learnt a lot from each and every single one of you! Thanks to the guys who put work in for the completion of "Taman Cinta"......the musicians: Hernalis, Mahadir, Izam, Rafiz, Herman......Azlan for design and concept.......Sham for the beautiful photos.....I won't be able to complete this without you guys' help. Also to everyone....a long list to mention.....thanks for listening to "Taman Cinta" from the time it was just a raw mix till its completion as my 1st single. Your comments and feedbacks were priceless!! This song is dedicated to all of you........my sincere gift to the people I love!!

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My 2 Songs' Worth!!

Did my vocal recordings for 2 songs today. I must say I'm pleasantly surprised by my performances today......did enjoy myself thru the process. Upon reaching home, listened again and again to the rough studio mixes and I must say it's a job well done. Happy with the recordings! I would love to relate to everyone about the stories and messages in my songs. Finding it hard though. But I'll try my best to describe and summarise them to you ppl. The first song is entitled "Mawar Merah" (Red Roses). A song about unrequited love. How someone goes thru the pain and suffering to acquire a gift (in this case, a red rose as a metaphor) for his love....only to find out soon enough .....that the woman he crave was not meant to be his. And all he had left was the red rose as a companion. He was faced with a dilemma....Should he hold on to the rose and keep it as a memento of his unrequited love......or should he throw it away and forget about the whole thing... The second song "Destinasi Impian" (Dream Destination) meant a whole lot to me. It's the song I first penned down as a 'war' anthem....the sort of song which I could always refer to for motivation in embarking on my music journey. The words in the song reflects accurately what I think and how I felt in trying to achieve my dreams. A song of hope and dreams....hope you could use the song as your source of motivation as well to reach the destination that you dream of!!

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Blood & Sweat

It's been a chaotic last few days. Dedicated my time and efforts on my album production. Finally, completed my vocal recording for 3 songs : - "Taman Cinta", "Pesona Rindu" & "Keagunganmu". I'm satisfied with the way things have gone by. Been listening to the studio rough mixes and I must say I am pleasantly surprised by the results. Been doing my recordings at Focal Pro Studios since February. Thoroughy enjoyed my sessions wif Gavin (recording engineer). He's been such a bro! But alas, exhausted my recording package already. So I took the decision to record my new songs at Greendoor Studios, home of Singapore's own talent, Sound Salvation. Enjoyed my discussions with Andry Kamsani , frontman of Sound Salvation. Hoping to learn more from him and the band as time goes by. I thoroughly enjoyed the vocal recording process. Even though I must admit that I'm pretty tense most times. Now and then...while listening to the rough mixes, I can't help but contemplate whether I could have done better with a certain phrase or a part of the song. But a decision to record always meant I had to accept that whatever I had done for the day, was the best I could possibly had done. Furthermore, taking into account that studio time is not cheap and I am not a rich man ....... I had to enforce restraint and limitation on how far I could develop each song. So after doing a couple of calculations and some simple maths, I realised that I could never possibly release my album in neither August or September. Guess I've overestimated myself as cashflow is a major problem for me at this point in time. Unless I strike it lucky at Toto or 4D the next few weeks (hahaha) , I might have to postpone the album launch to early next year perhaps. Rest assured, I'm gonna bleed and sweat for this album...just for all u guys who had been supporting me thus far.

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