11th October 2012: Moonshine: A Homemade Music Show, over at Laundry Bar, The Curve. Here’s Remy J!

Backing him on percussion, Moe Joe.

He also brought his friend on stage, Jon Liddell.

All shots with the Sony Alpha 900, Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA and Opteka 85mm F1.4.

5-string Godin bass. Remy J used to bring his Godin up, looking exactly like this.

Reza Salleh, emcee and organizer, introduces the next band…

…Froya!

Like the name suggests, it is light and yet catchy singalong uh… matured pop.

The hot pickup on this makes this guitar look so good.

The sound engineer’s desk at its old location.

Melina William, talented multi-instrumentalist.

Sharon watches on.

Michelle, on keys and vocals.

Brainhead, Malay-language alternative rock.

This is a focus-stacked shot – combined from two shots with either one of them in focus.

It would seem that every bassist that played that night brought a 5-string bass.

Zalila looking badass as usual.

Jessica and her pizza.

Brainhead rocking out.

Springy cables never go out of fashion.

Bassment Syndicate, ever funky jazzy neo-soul outfit!

qSound on Trombone.

This guy got soul!

Hiran on super synthesized keys.

Omar on drums.

6th October 2012 brought me to DoPPeL Kafe, at the Central Market Annexe. The stage was particularly dolled up.

All shots from this event were from the Sony Alpha 77, Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG, Opteka 85mm F1.4, Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM and Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA.

This was the first time I’d be here in the day – what a different look compared to at night!

Beatlemania, with Az Samad and friends! Here is Cheryl Tan on vocals.

Yin on camera.

Az’s parents in the audience.

Az’s PR manager, Yin, also handles videos and photos!

Kevin Theseira on bass.

Fast forward to 20th October 2012, for Guitar + Spoken Word + Uke, with Az Samad and Davina Goh!

All shots from this event were taken with the same lenses as the earlier, but with the Sony Alpha 900 instead.

Little did I know, this would be the last time I’d step foot into DoPPeL Kafe in its current location – not that there is a new one, yet. 🙁

This place was once the famous Liquid nightclub, then the retro Oh Malaya Cafe (2010), then DoPPeL Kafe (2012).

Jacky Lau, from Hong Kong. (Thanks Az and Yin for the updates!)

He had a very cool foot stool that helped with his fingerstyle guitar work.

Az Samad on ukulele!

In scale to his guitar… well, kind of.

Can anybody tell me what’s next?

Davina The Entertainer!

She insists Az gets in the mood for some hip hop.

There’s also a kazoo.

I brought my Asus Padfone keyboard dock at that time so I was able to make a collage on-the-fly with shots from my Sony Alpha 77, by copying these pictures from the SD card. This then went on Instagram.

I also bumped into Sasha, who had these awesome John Lennon/Ozzy Osbourne shades.

Me too!

Davina, perpetual hippie, and spoken word artiste of the afternoon.

I’ll now make a conveniently big jump to 19th December 2012 – The Malaysian Music Project with Az Samad & Cheryl Tan at The Venue, Pavilion. I normally follow sequential order, but this time I’m grouping similiar events or people together to reduce repeated tagging. (Also, if I was to group sequential events, there would be too many pictures in the event that was supposed to follow.)

All shots from this event were from the Sony Alpha 99, Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM and Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA – debuting the A99 for my gig pictures, really!

Cheryl Tan makes her take on Malaysian classics like Manbai – Kau Ilhamku.

Az on guitar.

One of two baju kebayas Cheryl wore, I think.

Or are they baju kebahayas?

Bumped into Sasha again. Here’s that picture I took of you and friends that I apparently eventually somehow get, to you!

Camwhorhorhor!

Feedback Open Mic, at The Bee, Publika, 25th September 2012. Here’s the amazing satirist/writer Brian Gomez!

Kevin Theseira, emcee and the guy you’d run to, to sign up, for the night.

Devon Chew doing some modern day pop covers.

Shaneil Devaser has an awesome 90’s rock sound.

First featured act, Pitahati, with an awesome Pink Floyd-ish sound, befitting since I saw them at a Pink Floyd tribute gig.

Masha’s Berg.

Second featured act, Mordo Blasters. Yes, that looks a whole lot like Darren Ashley’s band once Darren Ashley fills in for Joe Loy in bass!

pieremiddle.

They do post hard-core.

Didn’t catch the name of this band.

All shots with the Sony Alpha 77 and Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA.

not sure if these guys are Bonesters.

The ever funky folksy Otam. He called on fellow musicians to come up and jam!

Darren Ashley came on.

So did Kevin.

His cousin and friend came on to spit some sick lines.

Hui Yen, who did a cover of Adele – Someone Like You.

23rd September 2012: OMG live at The Actors Studio, a Malaysian Youtuber event supported by We Are Malaysian Made. This is Michael Chen from WAMM.

While waiting for the doors to be open one could buy merchandise…

…or watch a random impromptu yo-yo player.

Ming Han (left) and Joseph Germani emceed.

There was also Once Upon A Time There Was A Sausage Named Bob, singing the song to the music video playing in the background.

Dudes behind cameras.

A girl rushes on stage, in a reenactment of a popular video…

…revealed then to be Marianne!

(Also a reenactment.)

The stage is being set up for the next band.

Here’s Charis Ow!

The band is Skyward.

Dan Khoo pops on stage with fresh hair. Quite cool that you remember me from camera forums!

A random girl is called on stage for a game, I think.

And Talitha Tan proceeds to go full Derpina.

I didn’t catch their names, sadly.

Rizki and Jared of The GRIM FILM. I liked how among the current batch of Youtubers, these guys were probably the first to make videos about serious issues.

I really don’t remember what was going on here, but I think Talitha was asked to sing.

More people behind the scenes.

Swag to be given away!

Swag winner walks away with swag.

Swag is all in Shawn Lee’s mouth. He makes multiple layers of beatboxing sounds!

Jinnyboy, as he is now known, is a superstar. We’re both finding it funny how people swarmed for his autographs after that.

Reuben WJ Kang, the other half of Jinnyboy, who I knew initially through theater. Ironic that we’d meet at The Actors Studio, but without him going into a monologue.

Darren Ashley doing layers of vocal awesomeness with one Kaoss pad being a loop pedal and the other morphing his voice. He’s always a different act to catch, depending on what equipment he brings. Danny New plays violin in the background.

So yes, at the end, the crowd swarmed for autographs. Why wear sunglasses indoors, when you can wear a motorcycle helmet like Sam Insanity did?

Darren here’s a picture!

Charis and I.

Sam sans helmet and I.

All shots with the Sony Alpha 77 and Minolta 24-50mm F4.0 or Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA.

16th September 2012: Sticky Fingers presents Open Mic Sundays with Ray Cheong!

This is Jes Ibrahim.

Ruben Kelvin.

Hugo Yap, who loves his Fender Jaguar. I can see why!

Eddie Murphy is the sound guy.

Gregory Ramanado, extremely funky as the first featured act.

Hameer Zawawi, prince of melancholic dark music.

Cal who I think runs the place, gets Ray Cheong, the organizer, to back her on some songs.

She can sing! Also, her necklace reminds me of the Lego mural formerly in Johor…

Blu, I think.

Wawa Dzulkifli, one of the featured acts.

Bazli Zulkifli.

Ezya Bahra.

Christina How.

Backing vocalist.

Another band member.

Cassandra Wong. First time seeing her perform, after seeing her around all this time.

Jeremy.

Finally, Ray Cheong himself, also a featured act!

With dim light, the only thing I could do was use the Sony Alpha 77 at ISO3200 with the Opteka 85mm F1.4.

15th September 2012: Publika’s first anniversary was celebrated with the Publika Jazz Festival! As usual there would be an emcee asking questions and giving out prizes. This was the second evening; I didn’t go for the first evening.

Oh waitaminute it’s Davina Goh!

Questions so difficult, only kids dare answer!

I got there in time for Liyana Fizi. I remember her (or her music, or both) once described by others in a confectionery fashion as one of those that are really soft inside and melty and dreamy, almost wispy inside.

Izaad Amir, talented guitarist/songwriter. RIP.

Pito lays laid back bass.

Surprise, a violinist!

The front area of the stage, unlike that of the good ol’ Sunrise Jazz Fest over at Plaza Mont Kiara, wasn’t blocked from photographers.

All shots near and far from the Sony Alpha 77 and Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA.

Cute keyboardist for the next band!

Koujee Beatbox.

Duel with Dennis Lau, on a very cool violin!

A Flying V-styled violin with 24 frets! This is the Wood Violins Viper 6 fretted violin.

I didn’t catch her name.

September 3rd, 2012: Open Mic @ The Venue, Pavilion KL #1. This was the very first, hosted by Az Samad himself! Here he is with a ukulele.

Ariff also on ukulele.

Alloy is a beatboxer.

He then collaborates with Tasha, to form Alloy & Tasha. Alloy with an alloy!

Tharish and her striking white guitar.

Irena Taib of The Impatient Sisters, the first featured act.

Three sisters.

The odd one out, a violinist.

Jared Lim Trio/Jumero. This is Jared, and they play more classic rock/funk/disco stuff, really well!

Alloy & Keana.

The amazing Shaneil Devaser. His DIY CD is well-produced!

Jia Ming does some fingerstyle.

Paolo Delfino, second featured act, has an older sound this time, after not seeing him around for some time. Also, that is one heck of a shiny Floyd Rose floating bridge!

I-don’t-remember-this-Eu-Jinn.

Faan, with legit Malay folk music. Solid stuff.

Markiza & Peter Hassan Brown are veterans – here’s Peter.

Master of the harp.

Markiza usually plays on her organ but is dwarfed here.

Sulyn Ooi then gets on the keys.

Her band.

Azfar Allias.

Joe Loy. Here you can get an idea of what the stage looks like.

A very smiley Melissa. (Who I’d later discover to be part of the awesome girl band Crinkle Cut.)

The melancholic Hameer Zawawi.

Pictures mostly by the Sony Alpha SLT-A77V and Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA, with some shots from the Sony Alpha 900 and Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM, and the Opteka 85mm F1.4 (judging on perspective – since its DIY chip fell out, perspective is the only way I can differentiate between that and my Samyang 35mm F1.4, as the EXIF data reports a focal length of 0mm.)

9th August 2012: Az Samad Trio @ The Venue, Pavilion KL. Herman Ramanado, one heck of a groovy cat, was on bass guitar this time!

Az basks in the smoke and lights.

Zalila Lee on percussion.

I always enjoyed The Venue’s lights – they don’t dance as much as others do, so I don’t get large variances in exposure and white balance.

Zalila on cajon.

Amirhooman, a guitar student of Az’s in the audience, has a damn cool moustache.

They did a cover of Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together. I’m not sure if this was the point where I got the song stuck in my head, because it bubbled up a year later.

During the intermission, Zyan performed a few songs.

And now we’re back!

The night ended with pianist, David Gomes.

Before the show, a bunch of us were sitting outside The Venue, when we realized that all our phones were running on different operating systems! How rare that would be – clockwise from top – iOS, Windows Phone, Android, BlackBerry OS, and Symbian.

Then, on the 27th of August 2012, I was down in Jalan Mesui for one of the longer-running establishments of the music scene – No Black Tie! The event was Az Samad – Solo Guitar Retrospective @ No Black Tie.

Az and his knock-on-wood harmonics.

His parents were in the crowd.

The William Jeffrey Jones Proteus Electric Guitar.

Some days I wish they had hair lights on the stage.

Az on ukulele!

The next day was the 28th of August 2012, where I found myself at Feedback Open Mic at The Bee, Publika. This was Lufti, with a smooth, manly voice and a backing track.

Imran.

Amilia.

The very adorable Bay!

First featured act, Halfway Kings.

I love how the band has blossomed – I really feel that Stevie Nicks rocker vibe from Adeline.

This is what happens when you shoot at too fast a shutter speed – it captures the flourescent lights exposing only part of the frame.

March The Angel/Gaga, I think.

Ariff AB.

Now with accompaniment!

Narmi, once known as Imran, drummer of One Buck Short.

Remy J, once known as Jeremy.

Darren Ashley, second featured act. He does a loop pedal vocal orchestra.

In his past life, he laid out some funky, jazzy tunes.

Fazz was a pleasant surprise. They played what would sound like cabaret jazz. This was the first time I’d ever seen them – what a first impression! Note that Raja Farouque was on guitar and not his usual double-bass role in the band.

Everybody looked and dressed different. This was their pre-hipster phase.

What a voice! Kevin Vong stuns the crowd.

Sheryl Goh said I had a nice T-shirt. It was An Honest Mistake’s first purple dinosaur shirt, and she was singing in the band. Thus we took a picture.

All shots with the Sony Alpha NEX-5, Opteka 85mm F1.4 through Sony LA-EA1 adapter and Sony E 16mm F2.8 pancake lens.

Feedback Open Mic at The Bee, Publika, 24th July 2012, saw Natasha Ejaz up on stage.

Genji, if I caught his name right, beatboxed.

Jared and Max.

Stanley Oh.

Rafael, with a most awesome solo jazz vocal performance.

Figure It Out had a sound like The Strokes.

Ray Cheong, the first featured act, in a pre-performance moment as opposed to his usual fretboard gymnastics.

Narmi, touted as king of jiwang.

Remy J, the second featured act. Why Remy J? I am guessing it is because Jeremy L. doesn’t roll off the tongue the same way.

Jon Liddell.

Bassment Syndicate, neo-funk-soul.

Why yes Davina does have… a B.R.F.!

I don’t know what happened but Sharon Chong was suddenly on bass (with Fook shifting over to drums).

The Boon Band covered Stevie Wonder – Isn’t She Lovely.

As always when I bump into Gregory Ramanado we take a picture like we were spotted in a club by a bored photographer looking to look busy.

And here’s Davinaaargh. I don’t remember how we got to camwhoring like Elmos.

8th August 2012, saw me at The Bee, Publika again, for The Songwriters’ Showcase Series #5. Here’s Jasemaine Gan, host and emcee!

Reza Salleh was up, and I think I remember him singing a Chinese song for the Chinese crowd.

Zin Chin.

Ray Cheong, again. He has a load of funk in his guitar slapping.

Angie Lym.

14th August 2012, was Feedback Open Mic at The Bee, Jaya One. Here’s Van Carlson the band, with a most shiny guitar!

I really don’t come here often because it’s in Petaling Jaya, next to Section 17, home to many mosquitoes. I grew up there and fed many generations.

The vocalist looks a lot like Jacob of Twilight.

George Wong of Two Storey Heart, meanwhile, has a better love story.

Jason Kon.

Sulyn Ooi.

Eu Gene does her basslines.

Josiah Ng.

Natasha Ejaz from Pakistan, the first featured act, does a killer trumpet vocal solo.

A 5-string fretless bass! This was the lined, inlayed variety. 24 frets, interestingly.

Nicky and Aliff do an interesting take on Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Nicky also beatboxed over a loop pedal.

Ariff AB has that ever clear voice that cuts across the crowd.

Ryota Katayama, the second featured act, has a melancholic emo voice.

Narmi at close range.

Remy J again, closer.

David Ling does a fascinating clarinet solo, backed by Fook on bass. How do I know this is a clarinet? I made a wild guess and Googled it, to find the exact same clarinet at the top of the search results.

All shots with the Sony Alpha NEX-5 and Opteka 85mm F1.4 on a Sony LA-EA1 adapter (with the wide shots on the Sony E 16mm F2.8 pancake lens.)

7th July 2012: Mull; Debauch To Kuala Lumpor (Component Two) at The Actor’s Studio, Lot 10.

Starting the show was experimental rock band Space Gambus Experiment.

There was plenty of screaming…

…but no actual vocals. Here’s to expression.

Reset To Zilch was next. Note the stage deco, with a skeleton in front of the drumset.

They played what I’d call modern space rock.

The Psalms, with a screamer vocalist, reminding me of Mike Patton. That is always a compliment. They had this effect much like a dubstep ring modulator, if I remember. Made me want to replicate this.

Then came the band a lot of people came for, myself included – the seminal Damn Dirty Apes! Here’s Pedram.

I remember seeing them in what I thought was their original iteration, with Ian Cheah on bass, Paul Metcalfe (the Shaggy of Scooby Doo lookalike) on guitar, Sina on drums and Pedram.

They come down to KL once in a while to blow our minds and show us how to build a slow brooding intro into a hard, heavily distorted fuzzy chorus, while feeling a windy chill when the room is closed.

I love how Damn Dirty Apes played their set in chronological order, somewhat:

From the Valve State Dreams EP:
1) Death Of Optimus Prime
2) Naninong
3) Charlie

From the Ape Kill Ape album:
4) Allied Run (1 minute only)
5) Rebel Scum
6) In Tents

Unreleased:
7) Empire (as named here)
8) Kilometrico (according to Rishi Majimbo)

This is Kilometrico.

This is how I recorded this video – with an Asus Padfone sitting in its station on a TF101 dock – look ma, no tripod!

Love/Comes, modern sound.

This shot was on my Instagram the same day, by putting the SD card from my Sony Alpha 77 in the TF101 dock’s SD card slot, and uploading it right away.

By then, Mr. Skeleton had a hat and was now a hipster.

This Is Atlantis.

Akta Angkasa.

Angkasa is the Malay word for space, and it is obvious what they play.

Ned, on bass, with a very cool-looking bass.

Thanks sir for liking my Instagram pictures! I have liked yours too.

A lot of the crowd was already sitting on stage; a very intimate setting for shoe-gazing and noise.

Zul, exhilirated.

Muck.

This was not a space rock band, but we all knew the lyrics to their classic Orange School.

The crowd calls for more!

A funny moment ensues when somebody brings a band member’s kid up on stage and the kid cries.

Then came the well-coiffeured members of Killer Calculateur.

The songs were short but full of riffage…

…and intensity. Here’s Smek not holding still for the camera.

All shots with the Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA and Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM.

What an awesome gig! There was this buzz after the gig that filled up the Facebook event page, even.