Mamak Magic

Published in Sunday People, New Sunday Times
26 July 2009

Mamak magic
MAX KOH


Drums Talk saw four percussionists (drums, tabla, Malay drums, Chinese drums) squaring off playfully against each other- Pic courtesy of www.maxtography.com 

CHECK out any mamak joint and you will be sure to find patrons of different races eating and enjoying a cup of teh tarik. Such is the appeal of the quintessential Malaysian establishment.

I admit that I did not know much about Let’s Go Mamak… Again! when invited to one of the evening shows. I didn’t really look up the brochure but boy, was I in for a good time!

Presented by Inner Voices and the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, Let’s Go Mamak… Again! combined the elements of the three traditional Malaysian music, fused into frames of western and contemporary music styles such as jazz, pop, traditional and world music.

Featuring music composed by Ken Hor and under the guidance of musical director Julian Chan (who also plays the saxophone), the group brought together 13 prominent local musicians for three nights of fun, music and excitement.

Each song presented was preceded by a video presentation where the band members explained what the musical pieces meant to them. Their candid elucidation made the performance more personal and endearing.

Each member of the ensemble is an accomplished player in his own right. They took turns to showcase their skills and talents on their respective instruments.

The ensemble included New York-based violinist Fung Chern Hwei, much sought-after pianist Tay Cher Siang, bassist Daniel Foong, and renowned percussionist Kamrulbahri Hussin.

A highlight was the Drums Talk piece which saw the four percussionists (drums, tabla, Malay drums, Chinese drums) squaring off playfully against one another in producing different types of rhythmic patterns. It was really amazing to see how the fluid tabla emulated the powerful sounds of the Chinese drums, and KamrulBahri playing on a really small drum the size of a fist.

KamrulBahri was the soul of the show, playing a myriad of interesting percussion instruments and even dancing on stage.

At another time, different musicians would square off against one another, much to our delight.

But when all the instruments got together and created a wall of sound that not only massaged the ears but uplifted the spirit — that sounded truly Malaysian.

Let’s Go Mamak... Again! is the second instalment after its impressionable debut last year, also at KLPac. The ensemble bagged four Boh Cameronian Awards under the Music Category for Best Group Performance, Best Music Direction, Best Composition & Kaki Seni Audience Choice Awards.

Inner Voices was founded with the objective to find a new Malaysian sound. I guess it is no wonder that I would find them at a nearby mamak stall after the performance. Judging from their wonderful performance that night, I hope that they will return for another bout of teh tarik next year.

A Cut Above

Published in Sunday People, New Sunday Times
19 July 2009

A cut above



Surecut Kids is a two-piece deejay act that hails from the Gold Coast in Australia. They recently rocked the house when they performed for the first time in Malaysia at Laundry Bar.

Comprising Boozy B (Benjamin Honey) and Junior Kid (Mike Perry), the act uses four turntables and a MPC (a type of drum machine) to layer songs, scratch and create live remixes at the fly.

What sets them apart from other acts is that they play different genres – from party hip-hop, funk, reggae, rock, nu-breaks, R&B, and swing to the odd 80s hits.

The two are not afraid to make fun of themselves, and would often don gorilla suits and draw fake moustaches on their face to hype the party up. It’s pretty cool, check their MySpace out.

They met in high school when they were in the same surfing class.

“We weren’t really good friends in school. I didn’t used to like Benjamin at first,” says Perry with a grin.

“But after school, we became really good friends,” adds Honey. “We got ourselves some turntables and started throwing parties for our friends on weekends. And before we knew it, we were playing club gigs and for big festivals.”

At the beginning, the duo also used to rock the mics with rhymes, thus coming up with the initial group name, ShureCut Kids.

“Well, we basically came up with the name because we were cutting two records together and used to make rhymes on our Shure microphones. Both of them add up, and you get Surecut Kids,” says Honey.

Oh, and they dropped the ‘h’ and added the Kids to make it sound cooler.

Surecut Kids has performed with international artistes including M.I.A, Justice, Chemical Brothers, Donovan Frankenrieter and Vanilla Ice. Yes, Vanilla Ice.

“Oh yeah. That was weird. We were initially pretty excited about it, as we expected some cool retro music. But Vanilla Ice has become some serious hardcore metal band now,” says Perry.

“We were watching from backstage and Ice was screaming into the microphone backed by some crazy-loud drums and guitars. It was deafening,” recalls Honey.

The two will play anywhere. “It doesn’t really matter for us, as long as the crowd is awesome and jives along to our music.”

Surecut Kids is cutting its own tracks in addition to spinning popular hits. “We hope to put out a record soon enough. We just want to become bigger and badder at what we do.”

Young touch to old tunes

Published in Sunday People, New Sunday Times
26 July 2009

Young touch to old tunes
MAX KOH


Davis and Peters

Can the young hear the music of the older generation? The musical Kaki Blue is the litmus test, writes MAX KOH

THE musical, Kaki Blue, pairs 21-year-old singer-songwriter Nick Davis as the musical director, for the first time, with veteran Mervyn Peters as the chorus master.

Peters has 40 years of experience in the industry, worked in numerous local and West End musicals, and won a BOH Cameronian award in May for his work in Ismail: The Last Days.

Davis, an exuberant self-taught musician, is known for his role in Shanon Shah’s Air Con.

Kaki Blue is about our youths and their National Service experiences. To be staged at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre next week, the musical features a predominantly young and new ensemble of talents.

The show is Mark Beau de Silva’s maiden attempt at writing a musical, which he hopes will capture the “spirit of post-millennial youth”. After this, de Silva leaves on a three-month residency at Hooyong Performing Arts Centre in Korea.

“I’m really honoured that Joe Hasham contacted me to do this as it is something different from the things that I’m used to do,” says Davis who also has a small role in Kaki Blue.

“For the first time, I don’t have to do much writing as we are playing covers of songs of the yesteryears.”

The musical will feature songs of yesteryears such as It’s My Party, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, If I Had A Hammer, Walk Like A Man, Rave On, Monday Monday, and Come Together among others. However, these have been given an indie-rock twist.

“It was really fun researching, as I am not familiar with most of the songs. Take, for example, The Animals’ Gotta Get Out Of This Place. It has a very basic bass groove with a 60s feel to it. I rearranged it by adding some distortion, palm muting and power chords to give a modern-alternative rock feel,” explains Davis.

The arrangement process was fun for Davis as he was able to draw influences from bands of his school years.



“I thought a lot about the punk bands that I listened to in school such as Blink 182 and Sum 41. I feel Kaki Blue is different from the usual orchestra concept, so there will be a different kind of live band that plays really grungy stuff,” adds Davis.

And how does Mervyn find the new arrangements?

“He is very open to ideas. Obviously, I learnt a lot from just watching him because he has years of experience behind him.”

Davis, who actively gigs with his trio, The Snow Symphony, initially found the task of being musical director a little intimidating.

Despite that, Davis took it up because he “likes to do things that are impossible” and learn new things.

“Because I am a self-taught musician, Peters has helped me to understand music further. In fact, he is encouraging me to go learn music after this,” adds Davis.

“Peters is a cool guy to work with. He has a very interesting sense of humour because he tends to keep a straight face when telling you a joke. If you look past the funny comments, you realise that he is in fact trying to tell you something.”

“Davis has a lot to learn,” says Peters, “but I don’t mean it in a condescending way. It’s just that this is something new for him but he is very focused and dedicated.

“He’s really a good guitarist and knows what he wants in his head,” adds Peters, who first appeared on stage in 1975 as part of a choral group.

“What he needs to do is to take it further by studying more about music.”

Peters himself was a self-taught musician in the 1970s and used to conduct church choirs. “I didn’t know how to read music but I had a really good ear for music.”

He then made a conscious decision to study music further and developed from there. “I felt it was one of the best decisions I made because it opened so many doors for me. I wouldn’t be where I am today if not for the decision that I made then.”

Peters brought in some of the West End musicals in the 1980s but went backstage and focused on technical work such as lighting design in the 1990s.

He then returned to the “musical side” when he was roped as choral director for Broken Bridges in 2007.

He has since worked on award-winning musicals with the KLPac such as Tunku The Musical and Ismail: The Last Days. He is currently the personnel manager for the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

“Davis is easy to work with because he can adjust easily to changes. He is really open to suggestions and a nice fellow overall, not to mention talented,” adds Peters. With the whopping 42-year difference between Davis and Peters, was communication a barrier at all?

“The age difference is not an issue at all because it really depends if the person is easy to work with. The difference between Davis and I is that I have experience while he’s at the beginning of the journey.”

Peters adds that he has still new things to learn.

“You know, I’ve never stopped learning. It is important to remember that no matter how successful a show may be, you have to do a personal postmortem and identify things that you can improve on.

“For Kaki Blue, it was a new experience working in a different style where music sheets are not prepared for the ensemble! It was challenging because there was no notations to determine how long you should hold a note for. Instead, everything is committed to memory only,” adds Peters who feels that notations would have made practice more productive and easier.

“But it was really refreshing to work with the ensemble. This group is particularly lively in the way they work. Sure, at times I found them unfocused and not used to the regimented practices and it took time to get used to singing as a unit.”

Seventy per cent of the cast are newcomers and most of the cast are still in school.

“But I suppose that is what makes them interesting. I know that some of them visited YouTube to listen to the original songs because they complained during practice, ‘But that’s not the way the original song goes!,’” says Peters.

“That’s the whole idea! We are not trying to be produce carbon-copy covers of the original. We are trying to bring a sense of originality to the songs,” he adds with a laugh.

Kaki Blue features 18 songs from the yesteryears with lyrics changed to suit the storyline. It is directed by Joe Hasham and features the choreography of Laskhman Balakhrisnan and set design by Yusman Mokhtar.

• Catch Kaki Blue at KLpac from July 30-Aug 16. Tickets: RM100, RM80, RM60, RM40, and RM30 (students, senior citizens, disabled and ex-NS trainees). Weekday (Tues-Thurs) tickets at RM30. Call 03-40479000 or visit www.klpac.org.

The Two Sides of Shuenda

Published in Sunday People, New Sunday People
5th July 2009

Two sides of Wong Shuenda
MAX KOH



WONG Shuenda. Roll the consonants around. Sounds like a film star from Japan, doesn’t he? He’s an upcoming classical piano player, just back from London, for a performance in Kuala Lumpur.

I first encountered Shuenda when he performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.1 in E Minor at the HSBC Classics Piano Competition last year.

I remember the crowd gave him a thunderous ovation after his heartfelt performance.

He beat 32 others to grab the first HSBC Classics Bursary Award. As his prize, Shuenda, now 23, will perform a solo recital at the HSBC Classics Festival Of Rising Stars on July 15.

Shuenda has studied under some of the best local teachers such as Lai Mei Kuen, Ng Chong Lim, and Loo Bang Hean, and has won numerous awards including the Arthur Lepthien International Piano Competition 2005 in Germany, the Malaysian Youth Music Festival 2007 and Royal Overseas League Music Piano Competition 2009 in London.

After the HSBC competition, Shuenda pursued his Master’s Degree in Guildhall School of Drama & Music in London supported by the Kobler Trust, the HSBC Bursary and the Malaysian Youth Orchestra Foundation.

His solo recital for the upcoming festival will include intense pieces from Bach, Chopin as well as flowery ones like Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody and four preludes by Debussy.

“I chose these pieces for the programme as I felt it would bring out the two sides of my personality — the outgoing side, and the melancholic and introvert part,” says a soft-spoken Shuenda in a recent Skype interview.

“I will begin with Bach’s Prelude And Fugue In F sharp Minor. It’s a tragic and extremely religious piece. Then comes Schubert’s 2 Impromptus from D. 935. It’s filled with such sadness and regret.

“I chose to do Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantasie In A flat Op.61 as it is a difficult, tense piece which was written during a dark moment in his life. I think it’s a beautiful piece.”

After the intermission, Shuenda will showcase his gregarious side by performing the joyous flourishes of Debussy’s preludes, and Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody which allow him to exercise his “flashy, virtuosic moves”.

“I think it’ll really be an exciting night for the audience,” Shuenda adds.

His love for music began by chance, he says. He was four when he heard his sister playing the piano.

“After one of her lessons, I went up to the piano and started playing with the keys. Her teacher (who soon became his teacher), Lai, recognised my talent and told my father about it. I was promptly enrolled at a music school.

“Growing up, I also learnt to play the violin and cello. I played some jazz and pop too and composed some pop songs when I was younger,” he says with a laugh.

“However, classical music resonates well with me. I’m able to really identify with the composers and what they felt even though they’ve been dead for centuries.

“The piano remains my main instrument as I feel such ease and fluidity when expressing myself with the instrument,” says Shuenda who was recently nominated for Most Outstanding Solo Performance at the 2009 BOH Cameronian Arts Awards.

“Classical music speaks to my soul in such a direct and powerful way.”

Shuenda decided that he wanted to become a professional classical pianist and practiced hard at it. He entered many piano competitions — national and international — and took home many awards.

He then proceeded to do his music degree in Staatliche Musikhochschule Freiburg, Germany where he studied with Elza Kolodin and participated in master classes with V. Margulis, J. Rouvier, and I. Dumitrescu, among others.

He eventually graduated with high distinction in 2006.

Shuenda has given concerts in Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, Holland and the UK. Some of his notable performances were at the Opening of the British Commonwealth Games, concerts at Bunkamura hall in Japan, Kasteel Terworm in Holland, and the Philippines Centennial Independence in Manila.

“Growing up, I didn’t really click well with my peers. I was hypersensitive and would always over-think the motives behind people’s comments,” says Sheunda. “I found that music was the most honest way I could express myself.”

So what else inspires Shuenda besides music in his career?

“I would love to say that I am inspired by visual arts and literature but I believe I am most inspired by music itself.

“Music is, in fact, the most direct form of art which connects directly with the heart. When you look at visual arts, you need to use the mind in order to compute its meaning and what the artiste is trying to say, but music goes straight to the heart.”

He counts Chopin and Ravel as some of his favourite composers.

“Everything that Chopin writes is beautiful and refined without being too sentimental. There is strength behind his music, where his harmony is amazing and the modulation is simply moving,” says Shuenda.

“Ravel has such a pull on me as there is such an amazing world of sounds and colours in his compositions. Beethoven remains a mountain for me to overcome as he is a different person from who I am. He has a strong and definite way of expressing himself, as opposed to my more fluid and fluent style.”

Shuenda says he loves compositions by young Malaysian authors and modern compositions which push the boundaries.

Shuenda has been busy performing and studying in Guildhall and he loves the opportunities present there.

“Apart from completing my Master’s here, I have no definite plans yet. I am relishing the opportunities to perform in various places, from halls to churches, and attaining wisdom and honing my skills, thanks to the tutelage of Professor Joan Havill.

“But I do plan to return to Malaysia as I hope to share my experiences and skills with the younger ones. I believe it is important to share what you have learnt with others.”

Wong Shuenda will perform his solo piano recital at the HSBC Classics Festival Of The Rising Stars at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre on July 15 at 8.30pm. Other highlights in the festival include a chamber concert by the popular Malaysian Piano Trio comprising Loo Bang Hean, Yap Ling and Jonathan Oh. Visit www.klpac.org.

Booked For Success

Published in Sunday People, New Sunday Times
5 July 2009



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