Garaa Band - Lost Live @ KL Jam Asia

Dulu sebelum kesedaran tentang Illuminati, Freemason, Zionist dan sebagainya, kitorang selalu lepak Starbucks. Almost everyday you can find me at Starbucks with Fyzal. Alasan: ada wi-fi. Hoi, time dulu memang susah nak cari tempat ada wi-fi. Starbucks saja yang ada. Kena pulak kitorang memang suka layan surfing, baca manga online, blabla..

That afternoon, Fyzal and I took half-day off and went straight to Starbucks Wangsa Maju. We'd of course bring our casual clothes and change before hanging out, just like school days. Our favourite was Hazelnut Hot Coffee. Thanks to Elly who introduced to me that drink. She said while she was in the US, she sipped hazelnut coffee on a breezy chilly day and said "sedapnyeeeeee.... panas dan sungguh sedap...". Lepas tu aku pun cuba la. Tau je la, Starbucks tu sejuk betul. And of course it was really good for chilly days. Bliss!

Fyzal and I just loafed around, reading manga, watching youtube, just totally lazing like no other people's business, when later Apek, Nan and Arab arrived. We watched this really funny Japanese comedy: Cromartie High - the Movie. It was from a manga turned movie. Sumpah lawak cerita tu. Lawak bangang tahap tak masuk akal. (Tapi aku rasa Detroit Metal City lagi kelakar la). Kitorang boleh la duduk beramai-ramai tengok skrin laptop cerita bangang tu pastu gelak sampai menangis-nangis. I tell you, zaman remaja aku telah di"extend"kan sehingga lewat 20-an. It was one of my best times. Living like nobody cares. (Drinks ordered: 2 cups, Hours spent: approx. 8 hours).

After the "movie", I saw Arab went out for a smoke. I followed him and stood next to him while he lighted his cigarrette. I turned to him; "OoooOOooo... minat kat kawan I ye...?". Tersengih dia; "Hehehe... eh minat la...". "You nak kawan ngan dia ke?", I asked shamelessly. "Kalau boleh apa salahnye...".

So, one day I picked Elly from her house, while rambling about my problems to her, I drove to Keramat to pick Fyzal and Arab. It's not that they don't have cars, but it was part of my plan. So the boys sat behind us, Fyzal was behind Elly and Arab behind me. And one thing I will remember 'til I die, Arab all of a sudden became childish, happy, jumpy, grinning away... pastu cuit-cuit lengan aku dari belakang. Cuit cuit cuit cuit cuit... I turned quietly to him and signaled; "Shhh!!!!". Tak sangkanya dia sungguh happy. Aku rasa takde siapa yang happy sebegitu bila jumpa aku! Hahaha..

Tu la dia, dia memang minat kat Elly sejak pertemuan pertamanya di rumah kawan kami di Puchong itu. Fyzal la yang bagitau aku. Bukan main happy lagi dapat keluar bersama-sama. Elly of course didn't know about my plans. But after that it was all up to Arab to make his first move. I only opened the door for him, and he did the rest. And they are still a very loving couple until now. I'm so glad they look good with each other. I believe they compliment each other very well.

Remembering those days really make me smile. Like I said, felt like my crazy days were extended. Doing silly things, skipping work, adhoc plans, hanging out til late, falling in love, meeting new people... I wish I could go back and do it all over again, not changing anything, but going through it again.

So, here's our last song, I managed to finish it in one day, melody and lyrics. We rushed for this last piece because we were about to perform not long after that. I remember writing the lyrics in a foodcourt at Low Yat. Because Apek named the song "Lost", I tried to just hover over the title. It represents all my girlfriends who were going through tough times in their love life at the time. Tough times are gone now. Lagu ni sebenarnya tak siap, macam tajuk dia jugak la, lost. Hehe.. Hope you enjoy this last number.




Lost
Song: Apek, Dibitz, Fyzal, Arab, Nan
Lyrics: Dibitz

Touch my soul tonight
Help me heal this pain
In the rain
I don't wanna fight
I don't wanna sink myself
With this chain

Trapped in yearning
Free but I'm crying

Hold me close tonight
I wanna feel you close
And remain
Reach me hold me tight
Free me from this coldness
I am chained

Trapped in yearning
Free but I'm crying

Calling for your love
Lost in silence
I'm alone
Wasted, shattered dreams
So cold

Calling for your love
Lost in silence
I'm all alone
Wasted memories
They're all gone



Sayonara people!

Garaa Band - Neverends Live @ KL Jam Asia

I was on a stage. A big stage. At some lake, some event was going on. The stage was huge that I could see my bandmates as small as a penny from afar. I looked up, the lightings was as fancy as Toto's concert. Wow! I've made it this far. I turned around to see the crowd. Shit! There were about 20 people sitting on the field grass, with drinks in their hands. Some brought snacks, hotdogs and things like that.

I turned around, "hit it guys!". The sound was superb! I looked up to see the monitors were as huge as Kancil cars. "Ok, what the hell. No crowd but the show must go on. This is a stepping stone. They're not here; the crowd. But they'll be reading this stuff somewhere soon. We've got to prove ourselves", I thought.

As I started singing, I sounded like a frog, with sore throat. "Damn, what the hell is wrong with today?", I swore endlessly in my heart. And it started to drizzle. "Just what I need", I kept on singing as I watched the crowd talking and not paying attention. I turned around and looked at my mates. They were not communicating, no eye contact. I turned to Nan, he was concentrating on his riffs. Well, at least someone was trying hard.

My voice started to warm up, and I sounded better. I was beginning to have fun and I felt something wrong with the sound. Like some instruments were missing. "God, must I always check what's going on?", I turned around and I saw Apek was missing. I looked at the others and they were all sour as yogurts. I looked at Fyzal and sign-languaged why? He suddenly stopped and put his drumsticks down and went backstage. Thankfully it was our 5-minute break. I ran backstage and asked, "What the hell is wrong with everybody?". Fyzal lighted a cigarette and looked away. "Where's Apek?". No answer. I peeked at the stage and saw Nan just standing there, and Arab missing too. "What is going on?? Why are we not talking?? We can't go on like this!". As I said that, Nan and Arab left the stage. Fyzal followed them. I stood there looking at them go. I turned around and the crowd was gone.

"So much for my dreams.."



And I woke up. It really was a dream, thank goodness! It felt so real. I really thought I was going to perfom on a huge stage. That adrenalin rush before a show, was so real.

I grabbed my phone, and Nan messaged saying he just finished recording the guitar chords for Neverends. He said I was free to compose freely for the melody. I couldn't wait, so we planned to meet up for teh tarik and discuss on the song.

In composing songs (for moneyless people like us), we'd record guitar chords on our handphones, and pass it around via bluetooth, for me to compose the melody and for the rest to practice on their guitars, bass and drums. I'd normally have a headache composing, because I want it to sound nice, at least. I'd record my vocals and pass it back to Nan for approval.

If I could recall correctly, I remember him saying I could compose anyhow I liked for Neverends, ending up him composing half of it too! Hahaha... well it's his song. I'd honor it. And it sounds way better than my original melody.

Our recording session was hillarious. We had no money. So we'd find the cheapest there is in town. Or at least the cheapest way to record our demo. We took just approximately 3 hours to record 2 demos; Ganbatte! and Spastik Primat. All four of them would go in the studio and record together, leaving out the vocal part for me. I would then continue with the vocal. I think I took most of the recording hours, because I couldn't reach my own damn key! The engineer told me to change the melody. And so I did, with a hopeless face. But during our actual recording for our mini album, I told my mates to bring down one key, so I could sing the original melody. Yay!

The demo recording was a mess. That engineer really took our work lightly. I sounded like a rubber ducky. Too much sound delay and echoes. The studio is now no more in business. I heard some bad kids robbed the studio or something.

Ajeep of Kluk Kluk Adventure helped us a lot in making our mini album. He made us his lab rabbits for his new love for audio mixing, and didn't ask for anything in return. But we paid him though, a little. We were really broke at that time.

I recorded my vocals at Ameer's studio in Ukay Perdana. At that time, the studio wasn't even up yet. It was still under construction. We were, again, their lab rabbits. To test the sound and all. I recall recording my vocals without a studio door! Imagine me in a studio, with my earphones, mic and no door! It was funny. But, what the hell. We continued. For Spastik Primat, you can hear my voice like a compressed doll. Thanks to the new technology of vocal recording without a door. No need autotuner synthesizer whatsoever.

As for the guitars and bass, we did it in Ajeep's room.

We were all working at that time. So, right after work, we'd meet up somewhere for dinner and head to Ajeep's. Sometimes we just meet there. Sometimes we didn't even meet. Recorded separately. Some of us would stay until 4am to listen and do some changes, helped out with the mixing and all. Sometimes we became so grumpy if we didn't get what we wanted, due to lack of sleep. Go home at 4am and wake up the next day for work.

Ajeep was very, very helpful. He even added some strings into our songs. He dragged us along with any event he did. Played a few gigs all because of him. We even did an opening for KKA. He even trusted us to replace them at the Laundry Bar, which we couldn't make it. Well, he thought of us, at least. I guess this is what you call a friend. Damn, I think I miss his temper. Hahaha.. Seriously, he is one garang fella.

Our mini album recording costed RM1k. Eat that people. You can't find a better deal than that! But don't expect him to charge this rate anymore. We were just test instruments. His mixing has improved tremendously immediately after our EP. Ours may sound off here and there. But it's better than nothing.

Neverends, is a more happy-tuned song, which I realised most girls like this track. The vocal layers I did was spontaneous, it was there and then I made it up. I thought it was boring at first during the initial recording because the key seemed a little bit low at the chorus. After the layers, it sounded better. I noticed during gigs, this song was not a hit, because people don't know that it has other colours to the song. Ajeep even added some keyboards. Another highlight of the song; instead of a guitar solo, I made Fyzal do a drum solo. I hope that made a difference. Well, that completed Neverends.

So, here's to my best friends! The people who are there when I need them. You know who you are. Heart and soul, I will grow old with all of you. Ameen...



Neverends
Song: Nan, Dibitz, Fyzal, Arab, Apek
Lyrics: Nan

Sekian lama telah kuredah
Dalam sejuta persoalan
Mencari jawapan dan pengertian

Apakah kepercayaan dan harapan
Perlu dilafazkan
Untuk membuktikan keikhlasan

Tapi kini kupasti
Tak perlu kucari lagi

**
Kini aku bersama
Mereka yang kupercaya
Untuk selamanya
Di sini akan aku
Hunuskan pedang perjuangan
Bersama mereka

Jauhkan diriku dari
Wajah penuh kepuraan
Jangan kau tambahkan kekusutan

Datanglah dengan hati
Yang berisikan keikhlasan
Aura pembawa kebahagiaan

Kini ku tak perlu lagi
Sembunyikan diri ini

Garaa Band - Ganbatte! Live @ KL Jam Asia

Ganbatte! Translate: Good Luck! Selamat Berjaya! Vannakum! (ok ni aku tipu)

Ganbatte was the 2nd original song that was given to me. This song was easier because it did not have any original vocals in it. Kira macam minus-1 la ni. Baru la lazat aku nak dengar, tak cam Spastik Primat, spastik aku nak kena kerah otak overlap suara vocal orang lama. Tapi Ganbatte... memang ganbatte la otak aku.

I listened to them practised a few times, to get to know the song better. And so, during the same time we went to Subang to compose Spastik Primat, dalam masa 0.0005 saat Ganbatte pun siap. Dulu, sebelum aku join dorang, dorang kata nak mintak kawan-kawan dorang rap-rap sikit dalam tu. Apa jadi aku tak tau la. Terputus di tengah jalan plan tu. Disebabkan tajuk lagu Jepun, ingatkan nak selit-selit bahasa Jepun pulak. Yang ni pun ke laut jugak. Maybe this version was enough. Anyway, Ganbatte always hypes the crowd. I think it's because the guitar riffs are catchy, and the drumming is the best. (Puji band sendiri).

If you listen to the original Ganbatte, it is more of a rapcore feel. Maybe that's why they thought of including some rapping or something. But as it goes, Ganbatte has softened a little to suit the melody.

Teringat masa ni, kitorang pun sibuk nak buat sesi penggambaran. Band pictures la, boleh upload kat Myspace (dulu takde Facebook lagi). Aku punya la excited sebab boleh shopping baju baru untuk merealisasikan watak la kononnya. Konsep masa tu ala-ala anime Jepun la. Nama pun Garaa la kan. Garaa as in the character Garaa in Naruto. Siap buat research tau macamana nak bergambar. Pandang arah matahari la. Sudut tepi la. Korang ni memang semangat la.

Pagi-pagi Sabtu aku dah message bandmate suruh jumpa kat Sg Wang, nak shopping sama-sama. Jumpa la Fyzal and Apek. Rajin betul dorang layan karenah aku beli baju. Kasut lagi. Aku rasa masa tu aku ni cam adik manja la, paling muda la katakan. Tak tau lagi tu perangai bossy aku belum sampai lagi. Heh heh. Satu-satu baju aku cuba. Shoes the worst la coz my feet can't seem to find a perfect fit.

When it was shooting time, we went to Ulu Yam. Ada satu tasik besar yang aku tak tau wujud sebelum ni. Ha masa ni la tau perangai masing-masing suka melawa jugak rupanya. Arab dengan topi koboi dia. Nan dengan sweater jepun dan AllStar dia. Apek pun beli sweater Adidas baru. Fyzal dengan kasut kesayangan Nike. OooOOooOo... more vain than me, okayyy... Tapi yang kelakarnya, sweater di tengah-tengah panas! Takpe, biarlah badan macam kena microwave and sauna, gaya tetap kena ada. Dalam gambar sumpah orang ingat kita kat luar negara, spring time! Okay I exagerated again. Nyettt..


Okay enjoy the song. Lirik sebenarnya laaagi panjang, aku dah potong-potong banyak hasil nukilan Nan. Sorry hehe. Tersasul-sasul gak la nyanyi lagu ni masa awal-awal jamming. Sendiri gubah, sendiri tanggung laa..

Ganbatte!
Song: Arab, Dibitz, Nanzo, Fyzal, Apek
Lyrics: Nanzo

Jauh sudah kumelangkah
Segala dah kuredah
Biar pun kuparah
Tetap kuteguhkan langkah

Jatuhku bukanlah bermakna
Tamatnya perjalanan
Setiap kejayaan
Bermula dengan kegagalan

***
Kan kuusaha
Mengejar segala
Impian lama
Yang terkubur di dada
Realisasikan semua khayalan
Jadikan kenyataan

*
Oohh setiap kota tak dibina sekelip mata
Oohh kejayaan itu satu kebahagiaan

**
Biar apapun ribut yang datang
Akan kurempuh semua halangan
Biarpun kau kata itu sia-sia
Akan kupaksa kau telan segala kata

Terkubur di dada
Realisasikan semua khayalan
Jadikan kenyataan

Garaa Band - Spastik Primat Live @ KL JAM ASIA

Haish… Spastik Primat. This song really gives me the creeps every time I sing. Tu la, pandai sangat buat melodi, sendiri takleh sampai key. Ni masa nyanyi kat gig aku dah tukar melodi chorus dia. Sepatutnya lain, tapi sebab tak sampai key terpaksa la ubah. Nak dengar original, silalah ke www.myspace.com/garaaband

Anyway, this was the very first song that was passed to me to compose the melody. Yeap, I was the last to join the band. Before me was a male singer. Kawan-kawan jugak. Tapi mamat tu ada hal lain, jadi dorang cari vokalis lain, seorang gadis yang comel iaitu aku.

Masa aku dengar lagu ni dalam bentuk mp3 jamming low kualiti, ada bekas vokalis punya suara. Aku tak berkenan sangat melodi dia. Dengan persetujuan ramai, maka kitorang berkumpul di rumah kawan kitorang di Subang dan bermulalah penciptaan lagu yang sangat ‘best’ ni. Aku ingat lagi, nak pergi ke Subang dari Gombak and Cheras bukan main ‘dekat’ lagi. Dengan Fyzal yang bawak kereta cam kura-kura kiut, ada gak la sejam nak sampai. Rasa macam dah sampai PD je masa tu, sampai-sampai rasa malas tu pun ada gak la datang-datang. Tapi kena kental masa tu. Dah la budak-budak tu aku baru kenal. Yang paling aku kenal pun Fyzal masa tu, yang tak pernah cakap dengan aku sejak dia bergeng-geng ngan adik aku and kawan-kawan aku yang lain 10 tahun sebelum tu. Kitorang tak pernah bercakap depan-depan. YM dan SMS je. Kalau bertemu macam takde mulut dua-dua. Pandang pun taknak. Terima kasihlah kepada teknologi internet. Buat orang tak reti bergaul. Yang lain-lain tu, aku baru kenal masa tu, tapi berborak macam dah kenal lama. Bagus la, takde la aku rasa kekok. Fyzal sorang je buat aku kekok.

Me: Arab, kawan kau tu memang bawak keta cam siput ke?
Arab: A ah dia tu memang. Sangat sopan. Lemah lembut orangnya.

Hotak kau la Arab.

Back to the story, so we started composing. Arab tukang strumming, aku tukang buat melodi, Nan tukang menangkap melodi yang nak tersasar keluar dari jalan, Fyzal kitorang punya Quality Control…. Hehehe… Apek, serius aku lupa dia buat apa masa tu. Tapi aku ingat dia gelak kuat la. Terus mata sepet. Pasal tu nama dia Apek.

I used to compose songs on my own, but went unreleased and unheard. You can listen to it if you come to my house, I can play it on my piano. Tapi dah karat la jari-jariku. Lama betul tak tekan kekunci piano itu. So, after a long pause in composing, Garaa Band gave me a chance to prove that I do have some shitty talent inside of me. And because I was so eager to prove myself, I gave all I had in creating Spastik Primat. I thank Nan for the beautiful lyrics. I can’t write any better than that. Something all of us who are driven by this fake system can relate to.

And so, here it is. Our very first song. It’s more about the song, not my voice, people. (eceh)

Spastik Primat
Song: Arab, Dibitz, Nanzo, Fyzal, Apek
Lyrics: Nanzo

Langkah megah meludah
Segala di depannya
Membesarkan pingat
Yang sementara

Segala ingin kau miliki
Yang lemah kau tak peduli
Hitam hati

Kau rasa kau tinggi
Kau megah berdiri
Apakah kau pasti
Dirimu akan kekal abadi

**
Mengapa membezakan antara kita semua
Kita manusia asalnya (daripada) cahaya sama
Diperdayakan dunia

Kita dijadikan bukan untuk dibezakan
Mengertilah

Garaa Band - Timurlistiwa @ KL Jam Asia

This call song sing song sall cong... enjoys.



Aku ingat lagi, lagu ni paling susah nak buat sebab aku tak dapat nak feel chording dia. Susah ke apa aku tak tau la. Mungkin tak dapat rokok gulung perisa vanilla kot masa tu. Anyway, we did this song at our friend's friend's house. Serious aku tak kenal sangat mamat tu, tapi dia cukup baik hati bagi kunci rumah supaya kitorang boleh siapkan lagu ni. Sorry, tiada maksiat berlaku. Aku macam nak mati bina melodi dengan Arab men'strumming'kan melodi indah itu, dah hampir terbalikkan meja dah aku masa tu, akhirnya Nanzo datang setelah berejam kitorang tunggu dengan jajan-jajan diorang tu, maka kita berjaya bergabung tenaga menghasilkan melodi yang pelik ini.

Timurlistiwa, one of my fav during jamming. I would love to make it my blog theme... huhuuu...


Timurlistwa
Song: Arab, Dibitz, Nanzo, Fyzal, Apek
Lyrics: Nanzo

Apa yang ada di sana?
Syurga dunia kepalsuan semata
Segala media tercipta
Bagi mereka yang mudah terlupa

*
Jangan kau ikutkan hatimu yang buta
Jiwa tercalar
Jangan kau biarkan dirimu diperdaya
Harapan dusta

**
Walau mana jauh kau mengembara
Kau sedarlah
Sinaran dan kebenaran kau cari
Ada di sini

Selamilah diri sendiri
Asia asalmu yang paling sejati
Tetapkan tapakmu berdiri
Ribut barat pasti 'kan kita takluki


Nota: Kitorang ada EP ye... nak order aku bleh sign. hahahaaaaaa...

Thank you to all of our supporters. Especially yang jerit paling kuat dalam gig ni. hahaha...

Angan-angan Deebo...

I spoke too soon. Of course it'll never happen; my band...
Sigh... a dream diminished once again.

My friends and I are planning a charity thing. I really hope it works!

---

So Nan invited us for a jam session with the original line-ups of our band. I wonder whether it would ever happen... (eyes sparkling.. tingtingting...)
If it does, I'm gonna scream my lungs out... lepas geram. Dah la karaoke takleh, jamming pun dah bertahun takde... (tingtingting)


Sighhhh, ennnnnnnntahhhhhhhhhhhhhlahhhhhhh........................

"Momma, I wanna be a ROCKSTAR!"

Yesterday I received a call from an old friend asking if I would be interested in joining his band as a frontperson (vocalist) for the Battle of the Bands... I said thanks but no thanks.

I would have said yes, just for the fun of it! hahaha... but I have commitments now. Anyway, I can't even get my band to hold on together, or even get back together. I must say one of my fantasies is to be a rockstar! Tell me who doesn't want to have a taste of it? I'm not a great singer though, but I love the craziness! Creating songs, practicing, recordings, late nights, no sleep, wasting time and most of all the shows! Not to mention dressing up for a reason! hahaha.. Yea, I love working hard for nothing.

I once had my hopes up high with Garaa Band, but then it just got flushed down the toilet, like any other amateur bands. It must have been the most devastating thing that could ever happen to me. Worse than breaking up with a boyfriend (yea I'm over-reacting). We were on the right track. We even had an EP! We sold out all of them! (Excuse me, it wasn't even 100 copies.. hahahaha). I had numerous calls for shows that I had to lie to them saying the boys were out of town. What a liar. I was hoping the breakup was temporary, but it wasn't. Sigh.. God always does this to me. The adrenaline always lasts such short time. In every case of my life! Damn it.

And so I told my friend, I have a kid now and I bet my hubby won't allow it. I told him I was flattered that he asked me, at least I'm still a rockstar to some people. hehehe.. well, at least all my efforts left some markings somewhere or to someone out there.





Give me hope.. and take it all away. It has always been that way. RIP.