sunday....a day in life (in megamall)

Went to Midvalley Megamall to accompany Wai, coz Dave deserted him for the Malacca trip. As soon as i reached there around 1pm, Dave was ready to go. He just lepaked around for 30 minutes, before we ushered him back to the nearest exit and shoo-ed him out from Midvalley.

We walked around Midvalley for like erm...8hours. Just walked around, while Wai went to almost every garment shop to look out for his new year t-shirts. I'll be just waiting for him outside each shop he stopped by. We shopped floor by floor till the top floor, and it was like damn tiring. Until one point, i was getting bored with my bag, coz it's quite heavy. So i decided to 'keep' it in Toy 'r Us counter. It's a 'trick' that i learned from Chyn. That guy is really like a wanderer, taking his battered sling bag around when he's in KL. Each time he's in KL (or Midvalley to be precise), he will do that. Hahah..and one more thing, Wai also getting some 'problem' with a bag that he borrowed from Dave. it's from Nescafe Kickstart. Some kind of souvenier from them. It's a red bag, with quite long handles. and it looked like a red hand bag. My god, damn 'sexy' man, for Wai... (when a guy hold that bag, everybody looked at him like a fag)

There are a few shops that i (we) stopped by, MPH, Tower Records and a few game shops. i think all of us in BandWidth share something in common (apart from music) was we all like playing games. dave, fei and wai were more to PC gaming, while me was more to PS2.

Had drinks at the food court. At the same time we were browsing through the paper. Coz we've been walking like for a damn long time. And it's hurting both our legs.

Went to Jusco. I bought some sushi (ohh..i like 'em) and a bottle of yogurt drink. Wai bought this really realy huge ice cream cone. It's only for RM2.30. Damn dirt cheap for a cone that's huge. Sat there and finish all the food that we bought.

Continued walking around. Now we went ahead to MPH. Been there quite for a long time. Just browsing the books. I did something that embaressed myself like hell while in MPH. I was reading a Beatles tabs/chords book, and i leaned on a book rack. Suddenly, all the books on the rack fell down to the floor. and..i was like..SHIT. What the hell am i doing man. Been there quite a long time. We can't take it anymore...So we decided to sit outside MPH at those stool around the pillar. Sat there quite long. Phone Fei, and asked him what time he'll be here... and he said he wont be here so soon...oppss..it's waiting time again. He asked us to take our dinner first. So wai suggest that we try KFC's Original Recipe burger. From the advertisement, it looked tasty. Unfortunately, when Wai brought the food on the table. I was damn dissapointed. The burger was damn small, man. It's so small that i can eat it in 2 bites man. My God!!!

Anyway, for my size, i think i can't be full eating a small burger like that (it's worst than those roadside stall burgers). i went to buy some bread ...haha. now it's enough for my stomach. bought a satay pizza, and 2 portuguese egg tarts. 1 for me, and one for wai... got a call from fei afterwards, he said that he will be here around 9pm++. But he won't be joining us here, instead he will come to Midvalley just to fetch us.

Post Midvalley:
Fei went to that place in PJ to have his dinner. We (Wai and me) didn't eat, we just had Chinese tea. While fei was eating, we chatted something interesting. wai was telling us that his dad listened to Pink Floyd and some other bands (his dad was also a guitar player, and Fei's dad too) ganas oo... and Wai's dad even knew who's Nirvana was after watching some show (maybe in Astro) on the 50 top selling albums/records of all time. He even asked wai whether they got it around the house. haha... i told them a situation that happened to me not long ago, i told them that my dad once asked me whether i got records/cd's from 'Westlife'. and i told them that i was like just looking at my dad without blinking.

During the dinner, they planned for another yamcha session with some of their friends from Ipoh. One of them was Menega, a housemate of Wai, Chyn and co. I still remembered her. She was quite a friendly gal...

Subang Jaya:
Went to Subang Jaya to meet up them. Reached Kayu Nasi Kandar. I spotted Menega with a Chinese guy. Fei told me bout the guy while we're on the way to Subang. He said me that this guy, Kian Ho (hopefully the spelling is correct) is quite a good drummer. Cool guy lah... Friendly too. Actually i felt quite deserted while having drinks with them. coz they were quite close. Luckily they layan me sometime also. We sat there listening to menega's story (office story). Quite a sad story. But still she's strong....haha..
It was like 2am++, and we can't stand anymore of this torturing. Really damn tired lah. Been out for like 14 hours straight. Went home....and ZZZZzzzzzZZZZZ...

the gozzip 'session'

I waited for fei to come and pick me up. he reached around 2:30pm. after that we went to pick dave and went directly to the bangsar putra LRT station. when we saw dave (at his place), i was damn surprised, he was like wearing his usual attire (u know lah, the 'microsoft-like' t-shirt, and his 'rockstar jeans'). and i said to fei, "i thought he (dave) told us to be presentable?" "why the hell he's wearing this?" and fei won't even let him in the car, unless he changed his clothes. at last it was just a pretty misunderstanding. hahah... he put his 'presentable' attire in the guitar bag.
went a head to the LRT station. bought a ticket, board the train, and after more than 8 stops, we were finally there. and there were lots of people inside the train. step ot of the train and we walk out from the station (we're in jalan ampang). ampang park (shopping complex) is just the opposite of us. walk about 20 minutes to holiday villa. dave was pointing at a building, and he told us it was that building. when we're getting nearer to the building, he sadi to us that it was not the building.."Dey...macam mana ni?" it was a building further down the road. we walk pass through a few embassy, the french, thai and british. we even walked pass the Land Rover's office, with an obstacle course outside. it was like....damn ganas. there was this slope that was like 45 degree high..

Finally reached there lah. went inside the building. went straight into the hallway. finally we came across a small lobby area. dave went inside the restaurant, then i heard all these screaming. i was the 2nd one to go in. fei was like nowhere to be seen. he was going to the toilet. then i was formally introduced to them (rebecca, ling and naz). Nice meeting them... becky was like the speedy one (she admit that she talked very fast). and i do agree with that. hahah... ling was like the outgoing one. and occasionally you would hear her scream... and naz was like the busy one helping out becky with the muffins, spring rolls and etc... later becky asked us to do her some favour. she needs to scrapped off those sticky tapes out from her main glass door. fei and dave would do that.
i got other things to do. i need to like 'design' a new logo typeface for her restaurant's name. it was supposed to be the Gossip, but she said it was taken or something, then she changed it to the Gozzip. and i would work out the logo on the computer at the counter. it was quite slow...but i can wait. we got time...hahah (since we were early to reach her place). we even got something to eat (some sandwiches), coz the drummer boy was hungry..hahai will be using adobe illustrator to do my task. tried a few typeface..finally got a few that i like. so i asked them for some sort of approval. finally we used this typeface called 'Freedom'... but my job was not finished yet. i need to print it out (if can enlarge the printed 'logo') and traced it on a piece of board (painted red). unfortunately, she was using this oil-based paint (and it will take quite a long time to dry up) so we need to wait for it to dry. and i need a pencil to trace out the outline of the typeface on the board (and was still wet.) i can't get a pencil to do the job. and i was like arghhh....... (but didnt show it lah) hahah...need to control before i turned into the ugly green beast (no point for you if you guess it right). and at the same time we (or shall i say me and dave) took turns to S.O (show off) ahh...before i forgot, we even met victor (becky's boyfriend) and he was the one that deliver the guitar amp (to the restaurant). And there was some complication regarding the gears. there were like no gears for that day, except dave's acoustic and a 'red-shadow' amp that victor borrowed from a friend. we (the band) were like..."Oppss...how can we get through this one?" Luckily we got a plan already. haha. it was S.O.S for dave. we just let him play all he wants. haha. around this time, ling's friends were here too. some college mate.

While waiting to for paint to dry, it was like erm...5pm++. and we got a message from wai that he reached ampang park already. and since the others (becky, ling and naz went back to change), dave got hold of the key and need to 'jaga' that place. woohoo..dave the pak guard.
And i had to leave my 'job' to go and meet up with wai and bring him to the gozzip. and it was nowhere finish. I still feel a bit bad coz i didn't complete my task. "So..so..so..SORRY, becky. I hope i can do something when i got back home." I try to think of something, maybe i do another board for her and pass it to dave, and ask him to pass it to her.

Walk to Ampang Park station with fei. met wai. and fei was a bit hungry. we were thinking of buying french fries from McD. unfortunately, we didn't buy the french fries, we bought the whole set of meal.. hahah. we phone dave, asking him whether he wanted someting to eat. he told us that cheryl samad was there already, and asked us when we're coming back.

Walk to holiday villa. as soon as we reaches becky's restaurant, there was hell lot of people. it was like 3 times the people that was here earlier on. and i even saw mr fingerpicker playing some chords (and it was those 'cool' chords~ E, B C# open chord, that had been long time abandoned by dave) to Karen (a superb vocalist from ling's college). at that time, we havent knew that she was quite good.
We went into the room that dave was in. lepaked there for a while. chatted for a while, play the axe, and do some kutuk session and stupid jokes. after a while, ling came into the room and 'halau' (shooo-ed) us out of the room, coz the opening will be held soon. we all proceed outside the building. that's where the official launch of the restaurant took place. everyone were seated, and the MC took charge, followed by an opening speech by becky, and every from the kickstart contestants will launch the restaurant by kissing a piece of cloth (with their lips laden with lipstick. and i shoot a pic of dave and finas. and dave certainly looked like a fag. sorry...ya. i'm just telling the truh) that was taped with double-sided taped earlier on by us.

Eating time!! fei finally got a taste of the spring rolls he had been preying for so long. haha...at last fei, u can eat them 'openly'. it will be served together with some sauce, if i'm not mistaken it was thousand island mixed with 'something'. but i don't know what lah. not long after that, dave will play guitar for a friend of ling, karen (probably because they can't use the minus one with the guitar amp). played a spanish song, from some kind of tv soap opera thingy. good singing. and i have to pity dave cause it has been a long time he 'played' those chords... those basic chords and some power chords.

1st session settled. dave walked back to our table. we were served rice with curry chicken with some fried shallots. dave helped them to serve the guest too. after that he went to his S.O.S (Show Off Session), played the regular that he had been practising for these 2 years. Finger style. he played classical gas, blue moon and day tripper (with lady madonna). dave, you really lived up to your reputation in the S.O.S. 'neck bending', 10cent face, harmonics etc (next time maybe u can learn to play with your teeth or something. can add some deadly trick in your arsenal. he came back to join us for the main dish. occasionally, finas would come and chat with us.

2nd session. mr.fp went out to play again. well..it's finger style stuff again. hahah... you are predictable, funcheong... nyek2. so, when he's playing, finas joined us. we (me, fei and wai) chatted with her. just those regular topics, work, field of study, etc. i was asked bout my current situation, and finas gladly offered to help to find a job. thanks finas :) she will try to ask her sister, fiza. and i asked her bout her work in nestle. it was not quite a good working condition. kesian...just try to be a bit patient, ya...finas. and later she suddenly asked me whether i'm the drummer. Ermm..i said i'm not the drummer, i'm the guitarist. so...she requested me to play a song for her. i said OK... In my head, i was like...yikes...a solo performance. Alamak..what i'm gonna do?? so i try to keep my cool, although i'm damn nervous inside. So, i told finas that i'm gonna play the opening song, the bossa nova song for her.

Ohhh...i finally got a session of Show Off Session (thanks to finas, haha) if not i would sit there and enjoy the whole show. i went out there with a stool. sat down and announced that i would be playing a bossa nova tune. then i played lah....everything was ok, soon after i started playing. since i'm beginning to gain some confidence, i tried to change the key higher (a semitone / half step) then it struck me, i played the wrong chord. my fingering was wrong. ARGHHHH..........(anyway have to control myself a bit).

I went back to my sitting place, then dave went out again, now he asked me to play "bring on the good times". he will be on vocals and i'll be the guitarist. this time...i didn't kantoi. woohooo.....and i enjoyed it. hahah... (really felt sorry for the guys lah, fei and wai). next time, we'll gonna rock the house.

Becky brought us some mocktails. a pinkish colored beverages called 'the karma sutra'..Ooo...ganas. hahha...hmm..quite good. and actually it tasted like erm.....sugus. hahah... ohh..btw, we got some muffins with chocolate and sprinkled with castor sugar. good stuff!!! hahah...
becky said she felt quite bad coz she didn't the gears for us to play. maybe next time lah, where we can rock the house. and one more thing, we were planning to learn more cover stuff. and there's a simple solution, everyone would suggest a song to play (as covers). wai choose "interstate love song" (stone temple pilots), and i think i'll do a beatles cover "across the universe")

We bid farewell to all of them. we walked back to the ampang park station. becky offered to drive us there, but we said we can just walk there. so..goodbye. reached ampang park station, buy tickets (the usual procedure lah). reached bangsar after that. walk to fei's car, and suddenly something unexpectedly happened. one of the guys suddenly did a "tonite i stare at the blank sky' and actualy saw something. A NEW JAMMING STUDIO!!! the rest of the story...no need to tell lah. we go check it out, ask for the price, jammed for an hour, a bit of gear problem for me. why!why!why! cool gears and axe.. played a gibson epiphone, got problem. switch it to a washburn. still got problem. it was actually the jack's fault. learn to play with a new kind of set-up. quite different from BW's. there a footswitch where we ca n change channels (clean or dirty), and it (the behringer amp) got a bulit in efx precessor. erm..it was like 99 of them. cool place to hang around esp with it's large interior and comfortable sofa. and a tambourine too...

Send dave back, wai will be staying will him. then balik, and me and fei chatted for a while. erm..like for half and hour before he went back. He needs to work on saturday... i'm also damn tired...

awww..a good luck wish from a fellow blogger

thanks for the 'good luck' wish; anonymousthinker. i needed that... it does feel good to have someone to give some good word of encouragement before the gig....

countdown

arghh....it's like less than 5 hours to performance. arghh...now i'm feeling the heat. yikes!!!! we had been practicing like for 3 times in 2 weeks. last time, in our uni days we used to prac like everyday for a month before any performance (and it was like for only 1 song) hahah...and this time we are attempting like 8 songs in 3 session of practice. my stomach is like full of butterflies now, i wish i could drink lots of water to drown 'them'. "Die butterflies...DIE........" Blurpppp!!!! Arghhh...........i'm still nervous. cant type no more, my hands are like trembling...

owww..my eyes

went to a jam session with the guys. wai's not here at the session. he was still in ipoh. we planned to jam at 8pm. there are some problems, because fei was late, and he was too busy to inform us. so...dave kinda pissed. heheh.. relax man. at first i was too a bit pissed and tensed because i thought that dave was already playing in the studio. and we will be wasting lot's of time there. fortunately he didnt book the studio, first. he was still waiting at the bus stand. phewww... what a relief. as soon as i was inform that dave hasn't booked the studio, i felt more relaxed.

gotta pity fei. hehe...he was like got scolded because he helped one of his colleague. he sent her/him home after she/he missed the bus home. relax...dave. hahaha...

we jammed some songs that we planned for friday's performance. Started with a bossa nova song (untitled), and followed by an instrumental and a few more tunes, that i can't recall right now. what do you expect, it's 4am in the morning. my brain is basically in sleeping mode. hahah. played bass for a few tunes. erm like funk song, and a 'pretty woman' influenced song etc. basically it was alright, from what i heard from the session. a bit of problems here and there. but what do you expect from a band that only meet like once in 2 months. i think we're quite prepared for that. eventhough kinda nervous now. but need to overcome the fear. there is nothing with the audience, the most important aspect of it (performing live) is 'fighting with your ownself' when you are playing on stage.

dave told us that becky is offerring a place for us to play every friday. and it was like....WOW!!!! our song list is damn short (actually i got lots of unfinished/unpolished tunes). how to perform every friday?? hmm...we can't just play cover songs and ignore our own song-writing development. we started the band to play our own songs and skipped one of the steps playing in a band (that is playing cover songs). and as a band that started a few years ago, we didn't started out with cover songs (except don't let me down - the beatles).
went for supper at old klang road. discuss a bit about the songs development/arrangements etc. after that went back to my aunty's place. before that got a call from my bro. he just finished work, so he wanted to have a drink with me, nearby my aunt's place. chatted for quite some time. till 2pm. there are some serious topics which i cant reveal, it was totally top secret. and it's fucking huge...(it's like somebody will be in a hell lot of trouble in the near future, but i can't really help or reveal anything to help this person. i'm like standing in the middle of the road. may God bless that person in the future... coz that person will in hell lot of 'headache' soon. that person can only have himself to blame for all the shits he'll go through.....

really need some sleep now....ouch..my eyes..my eyes.... (i think i will be like stevie wonder / ray charles tomorrow ~ with glasses)

Oppps....problem with gigs

There are some problems with the up-coming gig this Friday. As it was a national holiday on that particular day, Dave's friend is getting some difficulty with the gears transportation. Those poeple won't tranport the gears to her place (from another state).

Alamak!!!! We are left with few options. 1st cancelled out our airtime (since it would be a hassle to get the gears) and if we rent the gears (guitars, bass, drums, guitar and bass amps, mics etc) it would cost hell lot of money (for a 20 minutes performance). just not worth it. even without our performance, the show can still go on.

Beck planned to borrow those gears from pubs. Well, we just have to wait till tomorrow...

phone call

I got a phone call today at 10:01 am precisely. It was from a lady (Malay lady-if i'm not mistaken), and she was calling an advertising agency in Bangsar. I sent a copy of my resume to the agency yesterday, so i got a call from them asking me for an interview. Next Monday, after lunch time. Don't wanna screw up this one... So i got a list of "things-to-do"

• Cut my hair (it was on my list since last year ~ heard a lot of complains by relatives. "What's wrong with long hair, people??)
• prepare my portfolio?? Nah..i prepared those already as soon as i quit working from THAT miserable company.
• Maybe i need someone to show me there way there (probably F.C). Can ah? I still remembered that place, maybe i just need to ask him bout the shuttle bus (how to get there)

I'm so damn bored here (stuck at my aunt's place). I need my PS2 and my 'beloved/battered' guitar. Need to get my fingers running, man. Or else it would get rusty.....

Quote

I used to think that the current music scene is kinda 'dead'. No one's doing something original (me included as well.) No matter how i try do write a heavy riff, a catchy hook or somekind of cool chord progression...almost all the stuff that i do can be traced back to it's source, or worst it's like a rip-off from somebody else. Sometimes i think i'm not original at all...Geeshh, i really wonder when can i do something that's ME?

There are 2 quotes i would like to share with you all (especially musicians or musician wannabe out there). It came from Billy Corgan. The first one suits me more, and the later one, suits Dave better (if he agrees with me)

" You can't be greater then Elvis, you can't change things like the Beatles, you can't be as original as Led Zepplin, all you can do is rip them off " ~ Billy Corgan.

" Don't judge yourself by other peoples standards. You'll always loose." ~ Billy Corgan.

Stairway To Heaven

Stairway to Heaven and Led Zeppelin. Any self professed rock fan should know this song and the band. The song is the A,B,C's of Rock Music Foundation 101. Anyone who said that the current crop of band is rock 'God' should cover their face in shame. They are not late to realise their mistakes, there are still time to make amend, drag yourself to the nearest record store and buy a copy of Led Zeppelin IV. Or if ur not rich/would not spend 40 bucks for a 'new' CD, then go download-lah (it's not a good move, but hey, anyone has the guts to confess that they never downloaded a song from the internet at any part of their life..me included).

I used to read from some magazine that the song "Stairway To Heaven" contains some satanic messages when it was played backward. I never tried to play the record backward. I'm lazy to do the process. Take a mp3/Wav file of that song, open the file in Soundforge and flipped backward/reverse the song. Well, as i was surfing the internet just now, i googled for the "Stairway to Heaven" and i stumbled upon the site (that posted 2 section of the song.) It showed that it was real. Wow..i think that's cool and creative. It's not that i would encourage the worship of Satan, i'm impress with Led Zep that they could do something like this. It's totally creative (in my point of view). Not sure whether they did it accidently or intentionally...but 1 thing for sure, they made my jaw dropped to my feet. WOW.......

Ohh....by the way, there are a few more clips from Queen, Miss "Opps... I Did It Again" (with the horny message), The Beatles (ooo..my favourite band in the world), John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Eminem, and Pokemon (the worst of them all- that's why those kids were hooked by it. Pity them.) Yikes.. i think i should reverse all my songs to discover those hidden messages.

credit: Jeff Milner (for his site and effort)

ibands

Been surfing a lot today esp in the local indie/DIY website for bands/artiste: i-bands. Heard lot's of local stuff by local boys/girls and even a New york based band; Edison. Personally, i would suggest to the guys that we (Bandwidth) put some of our well recorded stuff inside too (soon after we registered to the site-lah). Some of those stuff are pretty cool, but many of the stuff there doesn't stand out and screamed at your face. Some were too predictable; with all the 'Greendayesque' sound-punk and it's family members aka hell lots of powerchords (5th chord). Anyway it's a good step towards a better music scene. Hopefully there will be better musicians with more originality. Influences are important to all musicians, i could say that even the most talented/well-known musicians around the world would have their own influences. Even those guitar heros well known to us mortals like Jimi Hendrix (were influenced by some great bluesmen like Muddy Waters etc), what more to us, mere mortal who tried to play/write a decent tune.

I had been 'WARNED' by our 'band-leader' that we musn't flop the performance on Friday, or else we could face the axe. We will 'kicked out' from the band and will be replaced with other musicians.

"Ok, boss. We will give our 10000K % to the performance this Friday. And please don't kick me out of the band...."

And the 'boss' said that the performance will important coz it will either make or break the image of the band. And as i mentioned before, some celebrity will attend the opening. I really need to pray on that day, coz i hope history (IK Nite) won't repeat itself again. IK Nite will forever strike fear into me and Dave, it will forever haunt us as long as we live and stand/sit in front of audiences to perform.

woohoo..friday is our gig day

Since Friday will be our gig in Ampang, i'm beginning to feel the heat. Probably not enough practice. Dave said that he have confidence in us. But the problem is, we don't have much confidence in ourselves. I met Fei in Yahoo Messenger, and he said he is also concerned about the gears. We really hope Becky can get those gears in time. We wanna do a good show for her restaurant's opening. Since she had faith with Dave and us, and giving us the opportunity to play. We just gotta repay her faith in us. Right, guys?

We already planned the song for her opening. Actually we wanted to start with some heavy stuff. Finally we scrapped it off, so we gonna play something....smooth, slow and relaxing. Not going to reveal too much lah. Lose all the fun and excitement on that day... we gonna keep the whole set list to ourselves. Hopefully we can start practicing with Becky's gears earlier, like Fei and Dave said, we need to familiarise ourselves with the gears and do some sound-checking on that day. It's difficult to play with new gears. From the last sessions, i think with some more practices (on performing day itself), we can pull this one off. The most important thing is: COMMUNICATION among us. Non-verbal communication will be vital, just let loose and enjoy urself. So you won't be bother making small mistakes when playing. Aghhh...what the hell, after the first Amaj7 chord in the opening, everything will be alright..... eh guys?

Yesterday's news:
Went out with my sis, bro and his gal. met them up at Kotaraya. Went for a drink in a restaurant nearby. After that went to bangkok bank and wait for a bus to Sg. Wang Plaza. The bus came, we board it and we go lepak. They wanted to go there and get haircuts (my sis and bro). i think of getting one too coz i really fell uncomfy sometimes with long hair esp when sleeping. i think i'll cut my hair after the gig. Walk around Sg. Wang, but still, they can't find the shop. So we cancelled it off. And they went to buy some clothes. I was just follwing them around. Went to the 6th floor. Look around for some action figures, saw the Optimus Prime 20th Anniversary figures. Argh..damn cool. And saw some Dragon Ball (DB) figures, but only a few of them.

Later went for lunch. Ate those economic rice, from the price we're paying, it's not economic at all. just like the restaurant outside of USM's campus, Shuang Shing. Damn xpensive. What a rip off.

After lunch: went to buy their clothes. Been to a lot of shops. Padini etc. I was just follwing them like a bodyguard. Damn kesian. Since i was too bored, i went to a shop that sells electronic items and gadgets. I finally saw the new PS2 (the thin edition and it only cost like RM650). Bastard..i really felt i had been ripped-off. I hated shops in Kuantan. Assholes........... guess what, i also saw the new Sony PSP (Playstation Portable). SInce the PSP had not been launched worldwide (and it was currently available in Japan, the thing will cost like arm and a leg. i asked my bro to enquire bout it, and the sales person told him that it was like Rm1400. Holy shit.... when it was officially launched worldwide, it will only cost less than 900 bucks. There's some problem, the console will use different kind of media to play the games. since it was small, a DVD-Rom is impossible. anyway...i bought metal gear solid 3 and need for speed underground2. But still can't play coz my console is at home.. Arghh.......

well, it's the end of another favourite band of mine.

When i was still in primary school, like any other kid (who don't have big brother and sister who influence their music that they listened to, to their younger siblings), i'm just another kid that don't care music about the music scene, or who's who in the music scene. and there's one of my friend of mine (a year older), who like like them (Beyond). i was not into them at all at that time, in fact i found their melodies were quite weird (hey i was just like 10 or 11 years old, kids at that age can't accept weird stuff into the ears and head). when i was 13 or 14, i was into the 'post ka kui' era beyond, and the rest is history....i think they are the ones that gave me the 1st exposure to rock. thanks for the music, you will be remembered.


End of the road for Beyond: By MICHAEL CHEANG (The Star)

FOR the past 21 years, one name has stood out in Hong Kong’s short list of prominent rock bands – Beyond. Beyond has been the band that every aspiring Chinese rock musician looks up to, and is inspired by.
Well, not anymore. The band, comprising guitarist Paul Wong Kun Jong, bassist Wong Ka Keung and drummer Yip Sai Weng, has finally decided to call it a day. It will be holding a series of farewell concerts this year in Hong Kong and possibly around Asia.
The news is hardly surprising. Although they got back together last year for a series of concerts to commemorate their 20th anniversary, each member has been working on individual projects for the past few years, and their last major studio album was some years ago.
The fact that the band has managed to be successful over the years is actually a rarity in Hong Kong’s vastly commercial and Cantopop industry where looks precede talent.

Hong Kong rock band Beyond: (from left)bassist Wong Ka Keung, drummer Yip Sai Weng and guitarist Paul Wong Kun Jong.Over the course of their career, the band has faced numerous trials and obstacles, including having to self-fund and personally sell their first underground album, and even having to cope with the tragic death of their leader and lead vocalist/composer Wong Ka Kui (Ka Keung’s elder brother) in 1993.
According to the band, the break-up has been on the cards for quite some time now. “We originally wanted to hold our farewell concerts last year, but we could not get the dates at the venue we wanted,” said Ka Keung in Cantonese.
During the exclusive interview with the band in Genting Highlands recently, the trio explained that they were quitting the band because it was growing harder to divide their time between the band and their own projects.
“When we got back together to hold the 20th anniversary concerts last year, we realised that we just could not cope with the schedule. We did not have enough time to handle both Beyond and our own projects, so we all decided that we should just call it a day,” said Ka Keung, who did most of the talking during the interview.
“Each of us has our own dream and ambitions, and even if we’re not in a band together, we can still pursue those dreams.”
They also wanted to quit while they are ahead. As Paul said: “We just don’t want to keep using the name Beyond. We want our fans to be happy, and we wanted to quit while they were still happy with us.”
Although by Western rock band standards the band has been fairly clean-cut, it has not been all plain-sailing.
“I think that among Asian bands, we’ve had some of the biggest obstacles and toughest challenges. We’ve lost our most important member, and that accident was a huge tragedy for all of us,” Ka Keung said, referring to the Ka Kui’s death in 1993.
Ka Kui and Sai Weng started Beyond in 1983, with Paul and Ka Keung joining the band later. In 1993, while filming a TV show in Japan, Ka Kui suffered serious head injuries after a studio set gave way under him. After remaining in a coma for seven days, Ka Kui passed away at the age of 31.
Ka Kui’s death marked the end of an era for Beyond, and the beginning of a whole new Beyond. After his death, the remaining three members decided to carry on. Their first post-Ka Kui album, Second Floor, Back Block, featured a Beyond sound that was vastly different from what they used to come up with.
“The reason why our music was different at the time was simply because Ka Kui was not around anymore. Before he died, Ka Kui wrote almost all our songs,” said Ka Keung. “Frankly speaking, our own compositions could never compare to his. But what is most important is that we never gave up. As long as we continued making our own kind of music, we were happy.”
The thing that saddens them the most is that there have been no new bands following in their footsteps.
Ka Keung lamented: “We’ve been around for 20 years. Why hasn’t that encouraged or inspired new bands to come out and challenge us? We are very disappointed about that. It’s as if all our effort has been wasted. We are sure that somewhere, there are bands that are even better than us. Why don’t they work harder to achieve their dreams?”
“Many of our friends are very talented musicians but many have given up music altogether. We are always sad when that happens because it seems like such a waste,” said Sai Weng.
Since all they would talk about was their love for music, it would seem as though these three friends would not be able to live without it. As Ka Keung put it: “Without music, this world would be a very sad place.”
Well said. And a world without Beyond would be equally sad for their fans.

paint job 2

Still getting my hands dirty with the paint job. Called my mom, asked her bout the progress of home. She said she already finish painting the living room, and their own room. So i told her that i will personally do my room. Got some pretty wicked plans. Gonna do some graphic patterns in on the wall. Already discuss it with my brother. Hopefully he can help me out with it.

Yesterday was hell. Been painting the whole place for like 12 hours. Started in the morning bout 10pm++, and finished around 11pm. And we are not getting much help from 'some people' in the house, esp the 'owner'. Really damn pissed with it. Her childrens (the 2nd and 3rd one) 'helped' a bit (more to giving us headache actually, haha) but the eldest one don't give much a damn to us. She was those who only care bout her self and her looks. And seldom help out around the house. Sigh...... she always think think that she's beautiful and cute, and don't care to get her hands dirty to help out around the house. besides, she's too occupy with her looks.

The gig is coming soon. Shit!! Damn nervous. Not like dave, now he gained confidence in performing (coz of the kickstart exposure), and i 'hate' you. Ciss!!! Really need to do more show/whatever to gain lots of confidence. I think fei was a bit like me, nervous break down. and always scared to 'kantoi' (flopped). i really hope i can stand at the far corner and concerntrate on my playing/ wear a mask/ quit the band. hahah...

painting job

Need to help out my aunt to paint her house, although kinda lazy, but need to force myself to do it. I'm now staying at her place at the moment, what am i supposed to do. Say i lazy?? Before i came down to KL on last Saturday, i was already doing some painting job at my place. And there's still a lot left to be done at my home in Kuantan. My dad is waiting for me to come back and finish it up. Now i got 2 paint jobs in my hand. Should go back and help out my dad, coz it's my home. Would anyone crazy enough to ignore his own place and help out others to paint house??

So in these few days will go back and finish up the job. But i got a new set of problem. How about my job-seeking thingy? Why those problems would come at the same time. Bugger!!!! Why they can't just leave me alone for a while?? The same ol fucking problem had been with me since last year. MY JOB. Each time i wanna find a new job, there will sure a new set of problem came knocking on my door. Hmmmm...i think i should change my 'address', so that they (the problems) can't find me. Hahaha

There will be no prac/jamming session this week. These sessions is the only place where i can lose myself from all the troubles for a few hours. Glad to be in the band wiht those guys. And making music is one of the way to channel all my anger/frustration/sadness/views/confessions etc. Without it, i would smash all the damn thing that's in my way or i will a permanent resident of Taman Bahagia.

Chyn got a new job in Damansara. Salary was ok, i think. He can survive lah, if he can can keep track of his spending. We used to spend a lot in out Uni days. Without thinking for the future. Now, we're in deep shit...very DEEP SHIT!!!

another tiring day....

Went out to KLCC yesterday to meet up with Marni (Mar) again. i already met her last week when she was in Kuantan. She was traveliing from Cameron Highland-Penang-Kuantan-Temerloh-Jerantut-KL. ANd she told me it only cost her like 300 bucks (minus somethings that she bought, books etc). and i got the opportunity to meet up with another former coursemate of mine, Raslah (Ras). i was quite surprise when i saw Ras there. i thought Mar was going out with one of the workers from her mom's craft shop in Cameron Highland. It was like more than a year and a half since i met both of them. the last meeting was during our convocation in Penang. and it was like way back in August 2003. We still had a lot to catch up to. Ras is doing her post graduate studies in UiTM, Shah Alam in Graphic (i think....)

We walk around KLCC. Loafing around. and went to check some book at Kinokuniya. As usual, i went to the music section first, check what new stuff available. i saw lot's of books on musician like The Beatles, Dob Dylan, Metallica, Nirvana and some other artistes that i don't wanna mention ( from former member of a boyband and some cheesy pop tart bitch.) i was hoping to find a new autobigraphy on the Pumpkins. Unfortunately, i can't. Even i can find it, i also didn't have the money to buy it. Later went up Page One to check books on graphic design and arts. There's one thing bad in Graphic Design that u will have to update yourself with the current trend, skills, or design skills. when your stuck in at a certain 'timeline', you'll be considered outdated. really need to improve my skills. really feels lousy certain times. Arghhhh!!!!!!

Sometimes i think i sould study some other conventional course instead and be like every one else. No music, guitars and creativity. And just do some paperworks and get paid. And sometimes, i asked myself "DO i have to dressed/potray myself a bit geeky or nerdy (in a polite manner it's called clean cut and well dressed) during an interview?" Well, during an interview i would always wear the proper attire like long sleeve and the usual stuff anyone sane would wear to an interview. But there's some problem with my hair. i kept my hair long, so i think generally people do have problems employing long haired employee (and i kept my hair tied all the time). Majority of them (the interviewer don't have any problems hiring female with blonde hair that would have blinded you for 10 seconds like a flash bang) and they have problem accepting a male with long hair (minus the coloring/dying). And people had problems accepting people that are a bit 'DIFFERENT' from the norm. Now i think i need to crop my hair short just to secure a job. Not every person (male) that kept his hair long is a criminal who had just escaped from some maximum security prison or somekind of head of a gang. and i'm think of having a tattoo. better forget that, before those people think that i'm some descendant from those black triad in from the history text book. It's the 21st century, but people were still thinking like they were in 1900's.

Well that's some of the things that i talked bout with Mar. and Ras did agree that some people can't accept long hair male. Mar did not agree with that maybe because she was working with her mom all the time (upon graduation) and didn't have much exposure to the "real working world" where stereotypes, discrimination, bitching, back-stabbing are common practices.

After an hour in the bookstore, we head out to the food court to have some things to fill in our stomach. Well, finally i tried out some laksa sarawak. Imagine that, eating Laksa Sarawak in KLCC. Maybe next time (if i had the opportunity) i should try out the sarawak laksa from Sarawak. Quite nice, but it will make you feel full probably because of the gravy (it's added with coconut milk) and it's a bit thick. after the meal, Ras went back home to Subang. and it's only me and Mar walking around. went to Tower Records. and the price stuff there were selling higher than usual. the ususal Spider-Man DVD was only cost about RM12o++. but in Tower Records it cost like Rm 140. Gosh..... some Beatles record in CD format, it was not available in CD format previously (it was in vinyl format). Arghh..now i wish i had a million bucks.

Later went out to the park. Had some heart to heart talk with Mar bout our career, life in the future. for me, it's not quite good. still have to find a job. been hearing a lot of stories bout me lately because i quit my job last year. it's not a good year for me though...

It was almost six, i got a call from Wai Kuan saying that she had already reached KLCC. She will waiting at the entrance of I-Setan (but she didn't mention which floor.) When we actually got there, i can't see a trace of Wai Kuan coz she was on the upper floor entrance. So...i went up the the 1st floor and i saw her sitting there. it's been a long time since i meet up with her. Well, she was still herself. but Mar told me that she was not feeling good when she met her a few months ago. well, everybody got their own sets of problem. Sigh...Welcome to Reality!!! Chatted for a while, before went on ahead to our dinner at another food court. i just ordered a drink, Mar too. We are just too full for another meal down the stomach.

8pm: Good Bye time. Accompany Mar to the carpark to take her stuff inside the locker. Took a train ride home. Not a pleasant journey. When i reached the Taman Jaya station, i was waiting for a feeder bus for almost half an hour. After the same bus came to pick up passengers i suspected something amiss. So i walk to the bus and asked the driver bout the bus to sri sentosa. He told me that the bus stopped it's round at 7pm. Shit!! Wasted my time. Since i'm in PJ, i decided to walk home, just to see what's in PJ. It took me around an hour for me to walk from Taman Jaya to Sri Sentosa. And i feel like dying after the walk home.... and i will only do it once.

our new band name, BandWidth

It was jamming/practicing time again this weekends. Saturday and Sunday were cool, coz at last, we finally sounded like a band and we are actually communicating (non-verbally) and in the same 'wave-length'. Something like when somebody started to play one part of a song, then the rest would automatically follow suits, and start to play together. We sounded a bit tight compared to our previous jamming/practicing sessions these 2 years. Finally we are linking together and function as a band. Every one was playing tight, even though there are some minor glitches here and there. Overall, i never felt so connected when we're playing (but i'm not sure with the other guys). Woohoo..and that's good news for the band.

Ok, on Saturday night Fei popped up the questions again, "Are we going to introduce ourselves as Bedroom Jam on the performing night?" So....i guess it's name changing time again for us again. So we came up with lots of censored, horny, ganas and silly/stupid names for ourselves. The guys even came up with The Casket (cool name but unfortnately it did not suit the band's sound and style). When we were having our dinner, i dished one of my book "The Art of Rock and Roll", and we go through some sections with some technical terms on sounds and effects. After finalising a few terms like Attenuation, Octave Divider, and Bandwidth, we finally choose "Bandwidth". So from now on, we are officially known as Bandwidth (even though not many knew bout us). What a new start for the band on a new year. Woohoo....and after changing the name, we finally sounded like a proper band. hell yearghhhh!!! This is what we're waiting for. But i guess, we only can starting to be more serious on the band only in 2006 coz uwai (our groove guy, the bassist) will have other important matters to attend to. so it's kinda difficult for him to concerntrate in the band. Well, we all discuss bout it via email, and we got no problem with it. we'll wait for him. we're a band, we are suppose to support each other and function as a unit. It's difficult to find another bassist for the band (coz all of my bandmates are damn versatile. We can play jingles type of song and next jump to hard rock stuff with ease. All of us are equally important in the band. Fei is a damn talented drummer (and he knew what to play, how to use certain drumming beat and pattern to suit our song eg. R.O.O.) and Mr Fingerpicker (Dave) who also damn good lead guitarist (although in the band, we (Dave and me) don't have a fix role in the guitar position). We both handle rhythm and lead guitar role. Although he's more of a fingerpicker now, he can equally rock the house. What more can i ask from these talented guys any more??

Since on the 21st will be our first 'official' gig/performance as Bandwidth, i would really want some friends to watch us perform, but i think i better forget it coz, i don't have the authority to invite people. it was more than a private function by dave's friend, rebecca's restaurant opening. i hope everything will be smooth that day coz there will be some public figure attending the function, erm.... like Cheryl Samad, Najip Ali, RED.fm's Djs Tim and Shareena, and the medias too. Thinking of that really gives me the creeps. Pheeeww.............. I hope the up coming 'gig' can really give us more exposure and experience as a band.