Ducky is on Facebook. You should be his fan. Because you are.

Another month is almost gone and perhaps it’s a bit too early for a”state of the month” post, but given the number of times I posted this month, maybe not.

My current problem is an attack of the blahs - that state where you get overwhelmed by everything and don’t want to do anything, short of surviving the day. My life this month had been a series of these, strung together by distractions like a good friend’s wedding, a work trip to KL and a couple of other personal distractions that I won’t discuss here.

Nanowrimo is at a halt at some 7000+ words, and given the amount of work I need to clear this week, I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere with it. At least I got a backburner story started?

As for the personal clutter? The wardrobe clutter is under control. I’ve been good about hanging stuff up and making sure I have enough hangers so there’s no excuse not to hang things up. I haven’t gotten around getting rid of the knick-knacks that I don’t want anymore; they’re lying around in a box in my room. Meanwhile, another box is getting piled higher and higher with stuff. I don’t know where it’s all coming from, but it’s gotta go as soon as I get my shit together.

I started and finished rereading Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” today because I needed a pick-me-up and this book is both genius and hilarious. Which means I’m back to the book that I originally started - “Warlock” by Wilbur Smith. It’s the third in Smith’s series on Egypt. The first book is “River God” which I own and periodically reread. One more book (”The Quest”) and my collection will be complete.

On that note, I spent more money than I should… but Desiderius Erasmus (whoever that is) once said:

“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes.”

The above photo is of Rambo Chai of Slap!, a band that I’ve heard of but never actually heard till last night’s event - Kuching Entertainers’ Night - at Happy Valley Cafe. A lot of good stuff. I particularly enjoy the variety; we had rock bands, hip hop, breakdancing, bellydancing and classical music. Most of them are from the more Chinese-influenced set, which means those of us from the English paper are seeing a lot of stuff for the first time.

What I didn’t enjoy were the various show of egos and the typical “I play awesome rock music, you provide token singing” syndrome. I really don’t see the point in getting your voice teacher to sing if you’re only going to bury her in fancy drumming and guitar riffs. One of the bands in the earliest set did right by being purely instrumental, but they overstayed their welcome by far and ignored all of the organiser’s subtle and obvious hints to wrap up. I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Our entertainment for the coming Saturday is the Unplugged Showcase @ MOJO, organised by Sidewalk Syndicate. See you there.

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The State of November

I’m away on a work trip from 25 Aug - 1 Sept. This is a scheduled post.

When hanging out with the 5 bloggers during the DiGi Fu-yoh event and reading their posts after, I realised one thing: a lot of locals are still going “Who’s this? Who’s that? Never heard of them.”

Alamak.

Without further ado, here’s a list of local musicians that you really should check out. This is strictly a personal take. There are a lot of of other bands and singers out there but I’m limiting my list to groups that I like and listen to.

Jason Lo
Lo is likely the most recognisable of Malaysian musicians because more people listen to the radio and watch TV than pay any attention to the scene itself. His songs include “Evening News”, “So Julie” and the more recent “Operator, the line is dead”. He recently played in Kuching for the DiGi Fu-yoh Street Blast. Lo is from Kuching. Listen to more of his music here.

OAG
I love these guys. They are the pioneer alternative rock band in Malaysia, with 15 years of experience in the industry. Lead singer Radhi was, in his own words, “born in Sibu, raised in Kuching and spoilt in KL”. The energy and ease in which Radhi engages the audience, coupled with the polished deliver from the band makes watching them live a great experience. Hear them out here.

Tempered Mental
Tempered Mental is another one of my favourite local alternative rock group. I blogged a little about them here, and I still remember how pleasantly surprised I was to find that they are actually very, very good. The song arrangements are impeccable and vocalist/bassist Melina has a strong, smooth voice. She’s from Kuching. Her band members are from other parts of Sarawak but they’re all based in KL. Samples here!

SingleTrackMind
STM is Alex Wong, who is also the founder of Music Canteen and is the Malaysian band who opened for the new INXS’s concert last year. He launched his new album [hey.] earlier this year and I like it a lot. Another thing I like about STM is that he uses his resources to help the local talent along (i.e. Music Canteen). Hear him out.

Evenstarr
Funny story. Some years ago, some friends and I were walking past The Joint (now gone) in town when we were accosted by Evenstarr’s then-manager Bryan Nicholas. He lured us in for a show and that was my introduction to local bands. I didn’t really like their music at the time, but when I heard them again a few years later, they have gotten much better. Now I’m a big fan. Still waiting for that new album! Listen to them here.

Owen Nicholas
I was introduced to Owen’s music during one of our local gigs and fell in love with the whole singer-songwriter deal from then on. His music is the kind that makes you ache for someone you lost or will never have. I do like torturing myself. Hear his stuff!

Other Malaysian (although non-Kuching) musicians you should check out include Juwita Suwito, Reza Salleh, Rhapsody (what d’ya mean, you broke up!) and Mei Chern. I’m sure that there are some I missed but if I were to try getting them all, this post will be sitting in my drafts for a few more months!

How can you find out more about local bands?

1. Bookmark Kaki Kuching. That’s where I post news about music events, including Songwriters’ Round.
2. Attend music events. DiGi and Hotlink organise concerts for their subscribers. Senso and MOJO also host music events and album launches. Tru Events organises things like BandKuest. Keep an eye on the news. Or see 1.

Good sources to learn more about local and regional music:

• JUNK Magazine
• Music Canteen
• AMP

Related Posts:

• One last hurdle for Sarawakian bands
• Welcome, JUNK readers?

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Malaysian Indie Music 101

Details here.

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Songwriters Round 8

Three of the five Kuching bloggers who scored a pass are bloggers I’ve met before - Ben, Irene and Jimmy. The two I’ve neither heard of or stumbled across before are Adrian and Alysha.

In case Advertlet or anyone else is wondering how they fared, they behaved like responsible rookie reporters - armed with a pass that will let them go ANYWHERE, yet not taking full advantage of it. Not necessarily a bad thing though. I’m sure they got the photos/videos they needed while trying to cause as little inconvenience as possible.

Anyway, since I know exactly who they are and why they’re there, I decided to document their assignment. Enjoy.

Adrian mock-slides down the half-pipe while his comrades immortalise the moment.

Irene and Alysha shows how to shoot without being in anyone’s way.

Irene, Ben, Jimmy and Adrian paying close attention to the action on stage.

My “almost, but no cookie” photo. Oh Irene, why do you hide from me?

Adrian gets his turn with Jason Lo.

The group at the end of the night. Hope you guys enjoyed that taste of event coverage.

I think Advertlet did right by teaming with a major advertiser like DiGi, who can offer this kind of opportunity to bloggers in East Malaysia. If there’s one thing that annoys us, it’s the fact that everything happens in KL. It’s good to know that one company is looking a bit further (ahead).

So if you’re on this side of the country and haven’t checked out Advertlet yet, you should so you’ll get a shot of making your blog cough up some form of reward for your all your hard work on it. Maybe there’s another event to cover… but next time, you might have to fight me for it.

Ducky wants you all to know that he adores Lo.

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Advertlet Bloggers @ DiGi Fu-yoh! Street Blast

• Bel Canto - As Time Goes By
• Bel Canto - Into The West
• Bel Canto - Les Miserables - Video 1 / Video 2
• Wong Wye Yi - Video 1 / Video 2

I should add that my camera’s video settings are wonky. The image and sound isn’t in synch. Hope your synapses don’t backfire on you.

If you have not heard of Kaki Kuching, this is probably a good time for me to plug it again since I just updated the layout.

Kaki Kuching is an event blog for the arts & entertainment scene in Kuching, fuelled by people who are more or less “in the know”.

We like classical concerts, independent films, art exhibitions and performance poetry. We support acts and shows in most shapes and forms (unless it’s shaped like a reality TV show and formed like an over-rated pop star).

We support local talent now, instead of waiting until they’ve made their fame elsewhere and pretending we’ve always been behind them.

You like culture? Come and get it. Better yet, get out there and make it happen.

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Bel Canto video clips