Of Impian and Lindungi Aku

First of, credits to LTR crew for carrying the momentum torch until this day.

I would like to start my week here with an insight of how the music industry has progressed, particularly the players that were in it for so long. I am more of an armchair critic than a celebrity writer as I only write songs and have little capacity to carry them well. I will not talk about the many bands of today, especially the ones in the metal and english genres as I will talk about those in the future. Today I want to blog about a few Indon inspired bands that have truly impressed and deserve some credit for as far as what they have done.

Back in the days of 1999, there were not that many Indon-inspired bands. As far as I remembered it was 3belas and 5:10am, which I believe is a precessor to Hambutit Crew. 3belas took into the Indon scene because there were not that many people in Brunei who listened to Indonesian modern rock. In fact, back then it was still to do with Malaysian bands. 3belas got to perform around this timie in a few public gigs such as the closed down Teh tarik Cafe in Stadium singing numbers from Dewa and Gigi and self-penned songs. Not that many people were into it back then as no one knew what the hell was being sung :) Then we got news of another band overseas by the name of 5:10am and we listened to their recordings, quite like Sheila on 7 I would say. So we were not alone, but because of that same loneliness we preferred the much more raunchy underground scene and that's where 13th Project made its week by week funland.

So coming back to a few years onwards, not sure when it was, but it was an act supposedly to open for an artist, I believe Hans Anwar in Pusat Belia. That was the first time I saw D'Hask perform live. They were quite young, when they first came up on stage and played they resembled what we were back in 1998 when we just started. Kerol, whom I think is now called Seven, has quite an appetite for energy but back then it was not as strong. We brought our amps and they brought their drums and we played alongside. At that time we were already 13thProject and I was on the drums. I was never good at it though. Still, it was interesting to note that D'hask back then looked quite raw and 'starting-up' ish, as what most startup bands would look like. Well, that show got cancelled and we didn't hear anything from that band since.

That is until 3belas resurfaced in around 2004 or 2005. There was this Orange Room gig that our then management team dealt for us. We met the bands Starlite, Maria and the Destynes and D'Hask and others, but I was personally impressed with the 3 mentioned. And for the first time we got a listen to D'Hask's own song. It still had that Malaysian aura to it to be honest but the boys from D'Hask grew up very well. I vividly remembered that Kerol had the same ability to create half octaves and 3/4 octaves backing vocals on the spot once listening to a song. Something that I do alot by nature and in training my choirs. So I now very well that the frontman of DHask had a latent ability for music, and perhaps other band members.

Unfortunately, 3belas again didn't last long. We lasted for less than a year as an internal scuffle between a member and I led to the band's demise. However, we came out knowing that Starlite was a force to be reckoned with, whats with their tight ass music arrangement for the song Impian. It was so good that it became the first song that I liked from a fellow local band. I wished it was me who had written it. Okay, so the recording was not as clean as today's recording. But people should remember that the clean recordings of today didn't start until late 2005 or early 2006. So most songs recorded prior to these year really had terrible recording. Nonetheless, I was carrying the banner for Starlite here and there but to no avail the band just withered away.

The same cannot be said for D'Hask though. My perception of them from the first song made me think that they have an ample amount of work to steer away from that Malaysian music cliche. I never thought that they would honestly. Not until I watched their videos in youtube. Usang 12. The video was ok. Nothing MTVish but let's face it no band has produced an MTVish worthy video for now anyways. So having them make a video is already commitment. What impressed me was the improvements in arrangements. The song was tight. That got me to listen to their materials in Purevolume and I was outright impressed.

I also noted the sudden wardrobe and image change in these guys in their photos. With that, they finally became a band. And to admit that Impian is my first pick for the best Malay song a fellow Bruneian has ever written, I can say that Lindungi Aku is my second pick for the best Malay song a fellow Bruneian has ever written. It has tight arrangements and is a happening song. I say congratulations to D'Hask/3AT for producing songs worthy of a fanbase.

D'Hask really has come a long way and perhaps is the most senior of the Indon-inspired bands that is still as active as today. They've worked uber hard to stay together and be a great sounding band so they are quite worthy to be a band that needs support and gain exposure. My observation does tell me they have become the real deal. The garage band that were made from friends, jamming their way from their youths to rock in their prime.

Having said that, 3belas is coming back from a hiatus and in an industry where the bands like Posesif 79, A Band Once, D'Hask and such has shown capacities to make better songs now, it will be a tougher industry for 3belas to break into. While we are the veterans of the lots, we are the lesser established of them all. So in theory, we are the start-ups.

Still, it's a good challenge to do so and even then, the good bands now are making the industry a more happening scene than before.

Support the local scene and god bless. My next future blog will be about the underground scene, such as the many gigs and how 'Wan Long Kok Sucks', became Super Wan Long Kok. And a homage for the bands that died.