It's been a hectic month so far, February. Particularly the Valentine thingamajig my class was handling. Classes was canceled (i hate that), lunch time were cut short (i really hate that) and heads were aching as we tried figuring out the best way to rack up astronomical profits by churning out the most can be churned out of a crew of six.

Me and Akak handled the singing telegram service quite well I must say. I was really very nervy at first since I've never ever played on acoustics all of the songs that was requested. Akak, well, she took it all as if we're running a 2-hour long arena concert and left everyone in awe.

All my life I've never bothered the vibe that Valentine's Day transcended. There's never a special day in my life since, every single day is always special on its own. But a week before, it took just a giggle, a face, and a smile. Ok, no butterflies-in-the-tummy thingie, but it was a sign for me pull another "what the heck?" job.

Her name's Nina, a Y2/S2 UEL student. All I did was spending RM5 on a pretty Selvam-made balloon and Akak acted as the messenger (she insisted). Wanna know what I said on the card?

Hey, I love the way you laugh.
Tea with me sometime?
019-2517394

Was it a bit too direct? Perhaps it was. But I'm not breathing down her neck, professing my love for her whatnot. I mean, it is the most sensible thing to do right? Having tea on the first date. I mean, first meet.

Despite all this Valentine hoopla, Ms. Mai still gives her news assignments and boy I'm kinda bored with it. Not writing, but the subject that we wrote about. I must learn the art of twisting boring stuff into something interesting. A good writer starts with that. I'm really looking forward to the court case write-up.

The family's off to Perth this Monday till Sunday. Sounds fun. But my fun factor dropped to an all-time low since most assignments are due right immediately after the holidays. Sad, I know.

Telephony Delivery is doing pretty well these days. Both our February shows are over and done with. The private party was our most decent show and Indie-Licious being a disaster of sorts. Initially we were suppose to take the stage after Project Ei8ht, but then IG Collective requested to play on our slot leaving us to play theirs. Out of courtesy, we agreed.  The Collective mesmerized the largely club-going crowd and for a moment there, I thought Jam Asia was Alexis Bar. Things started to fall out of place when the Collective were packing their gears, allowing us on stage. The whole crowd literally left the scene! We played to less than 20 people that night. Half of it were made up of friends and other bands. The bad mojo kept on flowing as by the 3rd song, my guitar string snapped. Whether having Adib's SG is a blessing or not, I'm still thinking over it. It was badly tuned, and when it was locked in tune, it slipped instantly as we struggled through our 4th song. Nightmare.

But that horrid experience was somewhat a revelation to me. I said to myself, "Now you've been down at your lowest point, time to rise up. Rise up!".

Ajil mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Phang's doing a review on the Bear With Me gig. Then some nights ago I was browsing through Kakiseni.com. It was up! Here's what he has to say about our set that night:

"Easily the best newcomer to the scene that night was Telephony Delivery. I saw them play at Giggers' Café a few weeks before -- and although their potential was obvious at that time, what I heard at Bear With Me was far beyond my expectations.

A crew of six, Telephony Delivery delivered a stellar post-rock experience. Armed with relatively complex equipment (an array of effects for both guitarists, a vintage synthesizer, and a DJ playing god-knows-what-the-hell-are-all-those-knobs-and-buttons) the band created vast, intoxicating soundscapes and meshed them perfectly with details, resulting in intricate musical designs. The band's rhythm section fuelled the pace, weaving the entire set into a tapestry that would have put magic carpets to shame. Telephony Delivery is now on my personal 'Most Underrated Bands in the Scene' list".

That man was too kind with his words. And a couple of errors too. Were not a crew of six (we're a quintet) and I am the only guitarist. We were so hyper that night and everything went blurry that he might get the impression of us having another member. Heh.

We have 2 new songs in the works. Hopefully it may be unveiled by next month (we've 3 shows so far). March will definitely be a busy one. Adib's planning on doing a 3-way split with Deepset and Teenage Glory For The Wasted. If this goes through, we might do a mini-tour around the state/country(?).

The family did a surprise BBQ for my dad since it's his 60th birthday this year. We had sirloins, lambs, fish, chickens, bubur kacang, bubur jagung, fruit salad, freeflow-homemade pizza, mushroom soup, sup tulang, sandwiches, and so many more I can't even remember. The house's side lot turned into street-side warong with all the tables and chairs.

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Where was I all this while?

Beats me, really. It's like staring at the mirror. You're looking at the bruise on your lips and do absolutely nothing about it.

This brand new year so far has brought a whole new meaning to the term 'brand new'. It's not an upside down, but more of an inside out. Never even once found my own comfort zone, I crawled out of a losing battlefield and immediately plunged into another raging war zone. So, for the second penultimate time, I was expelled from UiTM. With the amount of thinking I did, the dishearteningly painful upset I felt, I finally gathered myself to make my final stand. "I want to do Mass Comm".

DIPLOMA IN MEDIA & COMMUNICATION

So, yeah. Why Stamford you ask? Well the tuition fee is a lot cheaper, the syllabus is more writing-based as opposed to other colleges/govt. universities and the most calming factor is that, Akak's there as well. I really like the fact that the School Of Media Studies is a small, close-knit family. There's only 4 lecturers (all of them are already aces in my book) and I've only 5 other classmates in my batch. Somehow I finally have one of my childhood dreams realized: studying in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. And I got Pudu. Cool.


Surely there's more to that right? I mean I've been away from this space for almost a full month. Of course there's more. I'm not that boring, you know.


Before 2007 arrived, I took the night train to Singapore for an actual holiday. I thought spending a day or two basking in the air of the Lion City would seep in some sense in my head to cap off another turbulent year. Thank God for Tash. I never had so much fun hanging, walking (lenguh!) and yakking with someone for almost 12 straight hours. The only things I spent on was (other than food) 2 CDs from The Union Of A Man And A Woman and B-Quartet.KFC's Cheesy Fries are sex.

KFC Cheesy Fries

There's nothing much you can buy with SGD50. I even maxed out on my allowance for the trip. My hunt for a BOSS or 1Spot adapter came to no avail.

Spiral Kinetic Circus

Back at home, things were pretty hectic. School season's back and Abg. Aidil's wedding in JB was just around the bend. Not to mention Hari Raya Korban too.

Mohd. Aidil Mohd. Noor & Mazlinda Abu Bakar

Right. Prior to the wedding, the band played 2 shows in Jam Asia and Giggers Art Cafe. Well, I actually wrote about it in the band's blog:

hey there!

this is our first blog post, so feel special! heh.

well we're halfway through with this month's series of shows. and i must say it's a relief having been through it all so far without any major hicks. the MOEN showcase last week was a new experience for us, playing for a totally different set of crowd. we were the only "takda orang nyanyi ke?" band that night but nonetheless we enjoyed ourselves. hey, if the organizer's happy with what you did, you scored mumfucking "A"s la kan? heh.

last night's Weekender series was also another first for the band. Old Klang Road was a new turf for us, so we kinda took the experimental approach by not practicing for the show and  boy were we in for a backfire. we sucked wei! hahaha. kantoi sana sini and all. i don't know exactly why, but the post-show feedbacks that we got from the other bands were surprisingly positive. well, thank you guys!

great great thanks to the Guitar Store Hartamas for giving the chance to test drive the awesome budget stompboxes (i'm getting a MOEN Violent Metal soon, hopefully) and Myo for the word of mouth on us (we owe you a lot bro!). Also to Acap and The Fridays for letting us be a part of the Weekender family. it was inspiring to the bone. thanks to Phang of Citizens Of Ice Cream as well for seeing us in action, we were caught off guard! and to the bands we shared stages this month, here's to a prosperous life ahead!

btw, cool Mr. Stalin from RadioGravityLamePost did a short review on us at his website here. thanks man!

up next, the pivotal Bear With Me! see you cats there!

Oh and, we released our first EP last Saturday (interested parties, contact me to get your hands on it)

Living In Vivified Enclosures EP

The Bear With Me gig was really, really an important moment for us. Playing alongside our heroes (TWKUA) was kinda nervewrecking, and being the 4th band on the bill that night somehow did wonders to our esteem. I must admit that it was our best set ever. The crowd were all pumped up, the equipments ran well, the sound was awesome (thanks Wadi!) and we clicked with the songs like clockwork.

Bear With Me @ KL Jam Asia

Bear With Me @ KL Jam Asia

Bear With Me @ KL Jam Asia

We brought along 20 copies (but Azhar by mistake brought all 27) of our EP that night. All I had in mind was, if we could at least sell half of it we're already happy. At the end of the night, Na told me that we sold 22 copies! Crazy.

We have another two shows for February. Then another two in March. It'll be a busy year for us. And hopefully something awesome'll happen in June. Heh.



My college's Mass Comm Club held a field trip to Sri Pentas last Tuesday. Nothing much can be said about that, though. It's just normal.

Sri Pentas Field Trip

Sri Pentas Trip

Sri Pentas Trip

Well, that's about it I guess. Be back soon.

Hopefully.

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What's on your holiday wish list?

I know I just went on a spending splurge, but this is a scheduled buy for another 6 months

Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb

I've seen this around at gigs. Never gave that much thought to it. But Syamil's suggestion became the turning point. It's simple yet lush, clean yet sultry. Saw a Youtube demo and fell in love with it. Could money-growing trees be a reality?

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Yeah, I spent RM1400++ on a single day for these babies.

Ritter Classic Guitar Bag

Boss TR2 Tremolo

Ibanez ToneLok DE7 Delay/Echo

KimJaw Rutt Distortion

Well actually, those only costed me approximately RM1100++. So what was the extra RM300 for?


This:

Hartke Bass Attack

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I have been neglecting this space for a long while now. Well, I have been neglecting a lOt of things lately.

So December's finally here. It's been a wonderful November. So where was I ever since the fated car crash? Allow me to regale...

(Click photos for further descriptions)

The moment I came home from Sg. Buloh, the only thought that ran in my head was, "could we pull this job?". Oh, for those who's just tuning in, Hafeez requested a song from us to be used in his short film entry for RTM's Anugerah Filem Pendek. He gave us the assignment way more than a month before the deadline but given my previous state (exams!) we were forced to put works on hold for a while longer. What made me ponder even more is that what we're asked to do is something the band isn't used to; "short, brooding and magical".

So the following day after my 'unscheduled' crash we had a practice session at my place. I somehow came up with a riff suitable for a piano rhythm section back in campus so that was pretty much the starting ground. And not forgetting the faux percussive riff I stumbled upon when playing around with Azhar's Triton somewhere during Ramadhan. Safe to say that  we can basically picture the song from start to finish. Typically, I already have the song title in my head prior to practice. Simply, Mubarak. I was told that the short is about a defunct father - son relationship with the son having a monologue wondering what went wrong and how he wished that they're on speaking terms again. I read the script, tried consuming the whole theme but I guess what made the process easier is Hafeez himself. I've known him long enough to get the point he's trying to get across. I think.

Day 1 of Mubarak went pretty breezy. It took Azhar a little over 5 minutes to translate the whole tablature onto the keyboard. Yeah, the riff is that simple. We did discussed a while back about the gears we used. Like how the KAOSS Pad is becoming a monotonous staple to our sound, the limitations we imposed on the EMX and how the microKORG is clearly untouched. I personally was kinda bored with guitars so this soundtrack is a perfect test run for both EMX and microKORG, and a good window to throw the guitar away out of the picture.

We spent the day literally looking for the right beats to suit the mood. This is where Shah's EMX unleashed its wrath. Rummaging the many patterns it has to offer might take more than a year if it falls in uncapable hands. We settled for desert-ish whooshesh and cymbal chimings which we thought back then, was minimal enough. Ended the session with the customary drinks at Pelita.

Mubarak Day 2 @ Azhar's

Mubarak Day 2 @ Azhar's

Adib's been busy with his job at the design firm so he was left out from practice sessions. Day 3 of Mubarak saw us hitting the studio for the first time with hope that somehow his drumming will whip up something inspiring. But fate has it that a day before, Shah's home was struck by lightning and all his gears was electrocuted so yeah, we hit the wall pretty hard that night. We spent the studio time locking thedrums for the faux percussive part -another frustrating episode- and left with yet another dissapointment in our minds. We braced for the worst as the electrocution might cause the whole project to cease.

We took a brief break from the whole process. Some perspective outlook was needed. Day 4 of Mubarak started on a high note. Shah's rig was done in a day since the lightning only caused damage to the power supplies. But that alone costed him RM400. Ouch. But everyone was relieved nonetheless. As we were taking a breather from figuring out the song's arrangement, I accidently played something. Something sensible.

Mubarak Day 4 @ Pa'an's

Mubarak Day 4 @ Pa'an's

As I plugged my iPod to my room's mock up sound system, listening to the raw recording caused a wave of ecstasy to gush in my veins. The then potential song was by far, the most engaging piece of music we've ever conjured in the shortest amount of time.

Mubarak Day 4 @ Pa'an's

Day 5 of Mubarak was our 2nd studio practice. We were the last patrons to use the space so we pretty much have all the time in the world. But that seemed too much as it only took us an hour to finish up the song. We switched off most of the lights in the studio so the atmosphere was kinda serene with flickering LEDs from our instruments guiding the night away. We were so uplifted that night that we even played a new rocky tune (tentatively titled Instant-Teriyaki Romance) to wrap up our session. Had a blast at Mango afterwards. My banana shake was surprisingly Slushee-ish. Yummy.


As the deadline for submisson was dawning upon us, we decided that the song's ready to be recorded. After a few phone calls, Meng's studio (officially known as StandingWave Productions) was the place to get it done since Mokh's filled to the brim with metal noiseniks. Another session at Azhar's was no more than just finalizing details. But it went pretty dready with the weather and all.

Mubarak Day 6 @ Azhar's

Mubarak Day 6 @ Azhar's

Then came Thursday.

Mubarak: Documenting Waveforms @ StandingWave Productions

We initially booked a 10:30 p.m slot but since Meng was somewhat late, and Lied's Adlin and Wan were still laying down drum tracks, we loafed at the lounge talking crap and making fun of Shah and his neverending quest for the perfect body. Bono decided to tag along since her band didn't record that night. Meng summoned us when the watch flashed 12:30 a.m.

Mubarak: Documenting Waveforms @ StandingWave Productions

Despite being awfully wasted (I had monstrous of chores that day) everyone was pretty up for it. I was told that Meng's the silent type who doesn't get in anybody's way and allow you to flow the way you wanted but that doesn't stop us from being slightly panicky around him.

Mubarak: Documenting Waveforms @ StandingWave Productions

When we unpacked our gears, he suddenly stopped moving and said, "Are you guys endorsed by KORG or something? Did you guys robbed CK???" Haha. That very much broke the ice and we had a good laugh about it. But seriously, that's a flack we need to bear from our peers. They think we're KORG ambassadors. 

-_-"

Adib was in a rush since he had to session for ElmKids gig the next day so we had to make it quick without rushing it. The one-all approach suggested by Meng complimented the whole process greatly as it saved us a lot of time (and money). But that wasn't such a smooth sail. We were kinda lost with the proposed tempo that it took us almost 5 minutes to get back on track. Come recording time, Adib majestically took just one take and it was good for keeps.

Mubarak: Documenting Waveforms @ StandingWave Productions

The rest of us took turns in fine tuning our respective parts. It felt like paying a visit to the local clinic. It was a "Next!" kinda feeling to it.

Mubarak: Documenting Waveforms @ StandingWave Productions

By the time we were done it was already 3 in the a.m. Took a final listen, asked Meng a few vital questions then me, Azhar and Bono headed for Pelita. The rest had a long day ahead so home they went.

Mubarak: Documenting Waveforms @ StandingWave Productions

Mubarak: Documenting Waveforms @ StandingWave Productions

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