Beat The Scene : Chasing Villains
Chasing Villains, hey? I first noticed this band’s name when one of my friends told me about and thought nothing much of them other than “how did these randoms land the support slot for a relatively high profile gig (at least in the indie/blogging sense).” But then this guy said I should check them, and so I actually went to all the effort to hit up their Myspace page.
And you know what? Turns out they’re pretty good. It shoots for the same kind of grandeur as Comeback Kid and early Above This Fire and actually reaches that level pretty well without falling back on the whole ‘let’s get lots of people to sing loud at once to sound epic’ kinda way. Yeah, they bring some of that in toward the end, but when it works it still works (and when it doesn’t work… well, see that latest Brand New Start single. WTF is that shit?). Largely, though, the vocals are restricted to a smooth baritone and the song relies on the actual instruments to create crescendos.
Above is ‘Brand New Start,’ the clear stand out amongst their tracks so far. I won’t go pronouncing these guys as an impending ‘big thing,’ but I can confirm that they have at least one pretty great song with a serving of ‘potential’ on the side. Hopefully they can turn it on tonight and win some more people over.
Check em out - Chasing Villains
Beat The Scene : Mad Monsters Attack
Emerging from Dungun, Terengganu, Mad Monsters Attack are young, energetic and a bit different, playing a dynamic mix of disco house melodies that blend hardcore with experimental, roots, trance and a good danceable beat. With seven versatile musicians and a worldly muse, this multitalented band keep it interesting.
With deep soulful vocals, energetic bass riffs, together with a raw diverse range of drumming and danceable beat, this captivating, very original sound is polished further with the disco house tinkling of keys.
Not conforming to a specific genre, this band has a unique style. Many songs would fit into a hardcore & experimental category, while others reflect a ‘dancy able-core’ sound. With three very different musical influences combined, the music is original, entertaining, with a sound that is timeless & suited to a wide demographic.
Mad Monsters Attacks adds a fun trance music, yet relaxed atmosphere to any venue, from intimate indoor settings to high energy outdoor events. They love to get people involved in their music.
Upcoming gigs -
Sat 10th July - MK Club , Melaka 1pm
Sat 31st July - Tanjung Gelap Beach Resort , Kuantan 2pm
To hear some of Mad Monsters Attack and for more info visit his official site Here
Beat the scene : Matematik
Matematik have been kicking about for a couple of years and I really liked a new self titled ep of theirs. Lately we have had a new of singles released in anticipation of their debut EP. I was curious how the sound would translate live and I am glad to say they did a good job. It was a fairly packed DDM and there was a good energy in the crowd, despite the set consisting mostly of new and unheard material.
Keep an eye on these guys here - Matematik
Greater Things Are Yet To Come.
June 4th.
Congratulations, Mr & Mrs Faizul. All the best in the new life.
sincerely yours,
your friends, your teams, your fans, your colleagues.
Beat The Scene : DHERYTA
Ipoh band DHERYTA, was formed like a dream and that ‘fantasy’ feeling, beamed throughout the show.
Joe on Vocals and glitter mayhem – he joked that he’ll probably have to clean up the place himself. Big Show on bass and Amy, the drummer, make up the core members.Afeeq played a key of instruments, swapping around Fariq lead guitar and Budin the driving guitar that seemed to tie the whole room together, not unlike Lebowski’s rug. These guys are all very bloody talented.
Look out for an album soon but check out their myspace now : DHERYTA
Later ALL
There was a time in in 2009 when it felt like I saw Later ALL play. And then they kind of disappeared off my radar (probably had something to do with me being busy for a while, but whatevs). Anyway, these guys just came back onto my radar with this song.
I’m not going to lie: every Later ALL recording I’ve heard so far has been inferior to their live show, which isn’t surprising. They often trade on that whole ‘wall of guitar crescendo’ that will probably always work better in concert than on record for any band. ‘INFLUENCE INSPIRATION’ isn’t a departure for the band, but it does suggest a growing confidence in their lyrics/vocal abilities.
‘INFLUENCE INSPIRATION' is taken from their forthcoming debut.
2010 Torture. Are You Ready?
Siksa Kubur just finished their recording session for their upcoming album which will be launched January next year. They also will be touring across Indonesia in February and maybe, just maybe, a few places in Malaysia as well.
Here's a few samples of their new tracks. Fresh from the oven of the death metal. Enjoy minions!
[audio:http://www.gegey.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/sk002.mp3]
[audio:http://www.gegey.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/sk001.mp3]
BEAT THE SCENE: DEFINITELY MAYBE.
This time, we've interviewed Definitely Maybe for our Beat The Scene column. They're kind enough to attach their newly recorded song (they're still in the recording process) with the Q&A. Here's the interview.
E/F: what’s the name of your band? What’s the origin of that name? Have you changed the band’s name before?
D.M: “Definitely Maybe" original name was actually “BOUYAKA” which carry the meaning S.O.S taken from the African language. After a few problems happen to the band follows by a little change to the line up, we decided to choose "Definitely Maybe" as our new name because we think that it is quite unique & attractive words when it is combined together in a sentence. Actually there are several reasons why we choose “Definitely Maybe” as our new name such as:
1) We are quite unsure about the perfect band name at that time. So, we hope that by putting “Definitely Maybe” it will help explains the “unsure” situation.
2) All of us love the movie “Definitely Maybe”, a romantic comedy movie that was released in 2008 which is the same year the band was formed.
3) We actually have many songs that the lyrics, themes & topics are related with the movie.
E/F: Please list the name, age, school, and respective instrument of each band member.
D.M: Definitely Maybe official band members for 2009 is:
1) Yaya as the vocalist (19 years old, studying in KLIUC)
2) Bazz as the 1st guitar (19 years old, studying in KLIUC)
3) Reezal as the 2nd guitar (19 years old, studying in KLIUC)
4) Daniel as the bassist (19 years old, studying in KLIUC)
5) Shakir as the drummer (19 years old, studying in KLIUC)
E/F: What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
D.M: Our genre of music would be pop punk, alternative, & rock. Nevertheless, we always try to catch our listener’s ear by making our music sounds catchy, funky & a bit happy so that listeners from any age can listen to us & have fun. Our strong influences is Hey Monday & Paramore, but we try to mix the sound from A Day To Remember, New Found Glory, Bunkface, Dichi Michi, Hello, Is This The Band, Arsonist, VersaEmerge, MXPX, Set Your Goals, All Time Low, You Me at 6, The Get Up Kids, Renfue, Pee Wee Gaskins, Forever The Sickest Kids, NeverMeansMaybe & all other local & international bands. We listen to all types of songs from punk rock, to hardcore to old school, deathcore & also metal to get our ears used to the music, maybe it might help us in making out interesting tunes for our own songs.
E/F: How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?
D.M: We have known each other for almost 1 year. We all meet up in KLIUC because at that time, all of us are new students from new intake in KLIUC.
E/F: When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
D.M: We formed this band during our 1st year of studying in KLIUC because we feel very bored studying without any entertainments. So we set up this band at the college & start jamming together. Another reason why we set up this band is because, during our 1st year studying in KLIUC, the student’s society organized a BOTB. So, we try to participate & see how far we can go with the BOTB. Successfully, we did qualify to the finals grand event but we didn't win the BOTB, instead we just received the consolation prize. Actually, each of the band members inspired each other to make music together because we feels that we can do something outstanding with the bands & maybe we can share our individual experience in making our music better. We exchange ideas with each other in making the music sounds great & unique.
E/F: Do you have a record label? Are you a member of any music organizations?
D.M: We do not have any record label yet & we didn't sign any official deals with any music organization.
E/F: where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?
D.M: we have performed at Dataran Remaja Bukit Jalil, Studio Cafe Wangsa Maju, Lepaq Cafe, Wisma Bentley Music Mutiara Damansara, & Rainforest LG One Utama. For us, the venue is not a big deal. We accept any shows at different venues if we feel confident with the organizers. Different venues give us different experience as we will be challenge by many aspects especially sounds. So, it gives us opportunity to improve our ability & skill in getting good sounds no matter where we play. But of course, we would like to play at big venues such as One Cafe, KL Live, MCPA & others. Our latest upcoming shows will be at Legend Hotel for the Seri Bintang Selatan prom night.
E/F: which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any
covers? Do you have a set play list?
D.M: We usually play 3 of our own songs during performance as we are still new & we are in the stage to promote our own tunes to the publics. We still play cover song as a strategy to attract people that still don’t know about Definitely Maybe. Our usual set list of songs during show is as follows:
1) A boy, A girl, Their World (Own Song)
2) Say Hey! Darling, (Own Song)
3) Pressure cover by Paramore
4) Curahkan Sekali Lagi (Own Song)
5) How You Love Me Now cover by Hey Monday (additional song)
E/F: who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?
D.M: We write our songs together. The main themes or topics for most of our songs are not fixed. We sometimes write song about love story, life journey, local scene, true experience, & many more. To make it simple, we write songs about everything that we like & what is inside our mind. So, our song topics always differ from one song to the other song. The most important thing is, we will make sure that we didn’t insert or mention any negative elements in our songs.
E/F: Could you briefly describe the music-making process?
D.M: We gather at least once a week playing the guitars, finding the right melody, matching the melody with the right chords, arranging the vocal parts & after that, the final process is to walk into the jamming studio & give the new song a try.
E/F: What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
D.M: our practice or rehearsals session is more spontaneous. we didn’t set any specific date or time to practice but we always try to make sure that we practice or rehearse at least once or twice a week. If we have show or gig during the weekend, then only we will try to practice more during the whole week.
E/F: How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
D.M: yeah. You guys can visit our Myspace profile at www.myspace.com/definitely. We have our sample songs in our Myspace profile. We are currently in the process of recording our new EP titled, A Boy, A Girl, & Their World. So we hope that you guys can wait patiently for the CD to come out hopefully in December 2009.
E/F: Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?
D.M: kepada sesiapa yg berminat dgn hasil karya kami dan rasa nak sponsor ape2 material kepada kami, kami sentiasa alu-alukan. Kami tak kesah la ape2 jenis material sekali pun. Atau ade ape2 cadangan ke untuk kami improve just bgtau kami. Boleh contact kami kat www.myspace.com/definitely or email kat dm.definitelymaybe@yahoo.com. Apa2 cadangan yang bernas ke x bernas ke akan kami serap sebagai penggerak band kami.
E/F: Any last words?
D.M: thank you to Gegey Music for having a review about us & thank u guys for supporting us from the beginning until now. Keep on supporting us & help us spread the words about Definitely Maybe to your friends. Don’t stop supporting our local scene because we need all your support guys ! thank you so much !
Check them out at
http://www.myspace.com/definitely
here's a little preview of their upcoming song "Say Hey! Darling"
[audio:http://www.gegey.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/definitely-maybe-say-hey-darling.mp3]
BEAT THE SCENE: AVALON’S WHISPER.
Post-Hardcore quintet from Kajang who just love to put great sounds together-ranging Pop-punk to Metalcore into a nice piece of music arrangement was interviewed by Joe The Boss; and they shared a few interesting things about them with us. Cccccheck it out.
Joe: For those who have yet to check you guys out tell us about yourself and Avalon's Whisper.
AW: We are a post-hardcore quintet which was founded in Kajang back in
2005 by a bunch of so-called 'baju-ketat-rambut-pacak-belakang-emo-looking-kids' who wanted to play some music with aggresive movements and showmanship as the additional expression. so far we have done 2 releases, and now we're working on our debut album which was scheduled to be released by next year, but there will be a single taken from the upcoming album to be released by December or earlier than that. and now we are also looking for a good record label to help us out in keeping this band managed better than how it does today.
AW:That would be "My Confessions and The Truth" for sure. the song was pretty much a great success to us. we only released 2 songs in 2007 and one of it had strongly given a wide oppurtunity for us to get ourselves more involve in the music scene. the good responds went rapidly better and better with more show invitations until early 2009.
Joe: What us the best advice you can give someone about making it in a band?
AW: A good question! We'd love to tell everyone out there who's planning to start a band, there are a few matters you need to clearly know and realize; your aim and goal-either you're doing it for fun as a hobby or getting serious with it because later on there'll be so much stuffs you need to take care of, your MONEY, your commitment and stuffs like that. and one more thing, keep the passion alive and always enjoy and have fun with what you're doing no matter how much it costs! if not you'll find what you've done after all the money and time you have spent turn out to be boring hahah!
Joe: What are some things you have with you at all times when gigging?
AW: plain water! it keeps us in high amount of energy so that we can entertain the kids to the maximum level haha. what else.. towels, combs and deodorants!-yeah another thingy that helps us maintain our chick magnet level!-naah just kidding:) we're not that hot hahahah.. Well yea those are pretty necessary to us.and just to let you know, we don't bring our girlfriends to our shows because it's the time for us to hang out with friends! some of us did brought our girlfriend but it turned out to be bad! you know most girls cant stand with loud sounds and sweaty guys hahahah..too bad!
Joe: What show stands out to you as your best show and what show do you think was your worst so far?
AW: To us, United Front record's Bridging Oceans 3 which was held back in 2007 would be the best show for us. Well it's not about how big the show was, or how many crowd attended to the show. but the main thing that made it best in our eyes is that, the show was a big step for us as a band, and the show itself represented the acceptance by the Kuala Lumpur music scene to our existence. by that show we started to play more hardcore shows. hahah well to us there are always disadvantages to a show, wether it's a good or bad one. we try our best to treat every single show equal and we appreciate every single invitation that we had. and the most important thing is, we had reached so much great experiences from
every single show we went through. but there was a show where i (mimin) broke my left knee and that sucked the most to me! hahahahah!!
Joe: Who came up with the band name and what does it mean to you guys?
AW: It's our ex-guitarist, Ridt who's now playing for The Padangs- the person who came out with the name. well to be honest we don't even know or remember anything to do with the name! but maybe someday we should give ridt a call and ask himself how did he get the name what inspired him the most in getting it hahahahahh! but the current definition of the name to us is the shelter where we put our hope on; the friendship force that we belive in; and the reason we are here, the floor where we're standing up on.
Joe: What can we expect to see from you guys in the near future?
AW: a new album with a bit of pretty new sounds, more mature songs arrangements, new kids by some line-up changes! - with enhanced showmanship. that's what we promise you guys!
Joe: Any last words for the people reading this?
AW: to all the people who has been supporting us, or who has just started to get to know us.. get yourself ready for our new single and upcoming album.. we won't dissapoint you! And thanks a lot for the faith you guys put on us! and for those who haven't heard about us, go check us out on MySpace. We also would love to thank Mr.Joe for offering us this sweet interview. And Minal Aidin wal- Faizin Salam Lebaran to all muslims who's reading this! take care of yourself!
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