The comeback! April 6, 2008
Posted by ashz in General, Rants.6 comments
Hello world!
I would like to apologize to my loyal readers of my blog for not updating this space for a long time. I have received a lot of random emails asking me to update my blog and most of you guys were wondering whether my blog is still online and what is the outcome of my “quest” to quit smoking. Thank You but I have very bad news.
I failed.
My efforts to quit smoking lasted for two months. I suffered a mental meltdown due to stress at work and hate emails that I received from “Industry insiders” wanting me to stop criticizing their work. Well, note to all you wankers: Thank you! Your words have made me stronger!
Oh, did I tell you that I’ve quit my job at Metadome? I got offered by Pervert Designs (Now Pervert Music Group) to oversee their Business Development department and to tap into the mobile music market. We have very ambitious and scary projects lined up for this year. I like!
The career transition proved to be a very huge step, besides the fact that I started my first day in Pervert Music the same day I quit from Metadome, but since the company is going for a JV with an international partner and regional expansion soon, I am really really drowning under heaps of proposals and stuff. My girlfriend thinks that I am a hopeless work-o-holic and my friends gave up calling me for regular Indian food sessions. Note to self: I must talk less about work and concentrate on life more. Breath more air.
I am still juggling between my work, life and my Law degree, My mother thinks that I have to focus more on my degree. I don’t know, sometimes I really wish I have 10 mini “me”s running around and doing all of the things for me.
Aaahhh well.
Downloading update patch for Ash2.0 now!
I am 168 hours Nicotine free and I am losing my mind!! November 19, 2007
Posted by ashz in General, Rants, Video content, web 2.0.1 comment so far
Hi! How are you guys doing? I have not been blogging for a long time as you can tell as I was recovering from very extreme side effects of trying to quit smoking ( I have stopped for 7 days now, and I still have the withdrawals) and loads of pending paperwork and media planning. Seriously. More things are piling up and I really think that I should chill for a moment to ease my brains…So to start things slow, I am just going to share some videos that I amused me over the past few days:
The Air Guitarist:
Check out the Hello Kitty breast plate and the pants, was he really tearing it up or was he scratching his…well you get the idea.
Now check out this one, a classic Indonesian Dangdut song:
The hair and the pants are mindblowing!
But the winner of my weekly brains blender video award goes to:
Please…Just check out the lyrics!
So now we know where Michael Jackson ripped the song from!
Must…Not…Think…of….Cigarettes….
Parkdrive and I- A very special trip to Jakarta November 2, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, Dj Gear, General, Music 2.0, Rants, music, web 2.0.3 comments
Remember Parkdrive that I blogged about awhile ago? No? Let me refresh your mind, I discovered this band a couple of months ago by accident. I was blown away with their production quality and sound that I decided to contact them via Myspace (Yeah I know, that was so cliche’ and pathetic…) and we remained in contact.
Lo and Behold! God works in very very mysterious ways. Juno, the main man behind the band and the Managing Director of Gowamusic, was somehow stranded in KL while he was on his way to Melbourne, so he called me and we hooked up. I was kinda nervous at first, knowing that we have never met before, but hey, it’s natural selection, we became buds in no time at all. He was in tears when I told him that I was going to bring him for a ‘Teh Tarik’ and ‘Nasi lemak’ session, ( Note for the clueless: Teh Tarik is frothy milk tea and Nasi lemak is rice cooked with coconut milk served with very hot anchovy chilli paste. Mindblowing!)
So we chat and he came to my office the next day before flying to Melbourne.
I was in Jakarta sooner that I knew it, I called him at the airport and we met up later that night at his office. He returned the local delicacy favour thing by bringing me to a ‘Nasi Padang’ restaurant ( Nasi padang is a local Indonesian delicacy. You cannot miss it if you are in Indonesia, it is rice served with various accompaniments, the thing that amuses me that you may have like 20 accompaniments on the table but you only pay for which dish you eat, cool stuff!)
Indulgence….
I hung out at his studio the next day and he was very passionate about his music and equipment. Something which I long for in musicians, no disrespect! so here you go, some snippets I took from our session:
And here is part 2:
Notice that he uses a software called ‘Ableton Live!’ religiously, I strongly think that Live! have changed the way musicians from around the world play, compose and perform, its stable as hell and very easy to use, I got some tips from him on how to play Live!, tweaking your kick drum and a whole lot of good advice.
So here are some of ‘Parkdrive’s’ video clips, just in case you want some action hah!:
Really really cool stuff!
I went back to KL thinking about how you just can meet people, no, good friends in the weirdest of places and situations…
I’m missing jakarta already….
Don’t Panic! The pack that would save your sanity! September 21, 2007
Posted by ashz in General, Music 2.0, Rants, music business, startups.add a comment
As I was busting my brain looking for more marketing solutions for my band, I discovered a cool medium called Don’t panic!. I first heard about Don’t Panic from a good friend of mine a couple of months ago and according to her, these packs are very popular in the UK. Wait, you said packs? Yup, you heard me right, PACKS.
Basically a Don’t Panic pack is the new age advertising medium, an evolution from the hey days of photocopied flyers and uncool swag. A Don’t Panic pack is similar to what we lesser humans call a goodie bag, or swag bag. The packs are usually filled with flyers, posters, advertising paraphernalia and various product samples. If you are lucky, you might find underwear in those packs as well, and no, I’m not joking. The packs are always tastefully designed and each pack is an individual.
And so… I embarked on to meet the guys behind this project to dig their brains and get a clear picture of what the fuss was all about.
“Each pack is unique and has its own character, and we want to maintain the character of the packs by coming up with new designs and concept for each pack,” Says Yamin Shafie, The Head of Sales and Marketing for Don’t Panic!
“We started this project just recently in Malaysia and we acquired the rights for the brand to be marketed in Malaysia, we want something which is fresh to the Malaysian masses to experience and collect, it has been proven to be a very affective advertising and marketing tool for big and small brands alike,” He added
The graphical design of the packs features work from local artists and designers, a philosophy that according to Yamin, is a move to support local talent, and not only that, Indie bands get a discounted advertising/insertion rates if they were to promote themselves in the packs.
The packs are distributed to over 200 spots which includes clubs, bars, art galleries, universities and colleges, cafes, Fashion boutiques etc. The best part is that the list is constantly expanding and the take up rate is usually 98%. The packs are produced up to 20,000 per month and there are major plans to increase production…Phew! Not bad for a company that operates from a humble 2 storey house in Taman Tun.
Their client list ranges from Nike to Zouk and more companies are starting to jump on the bandwagon in promoting their products and events.
“I see this because Don’t Panic! hits the right demographics and target market for urban brands, they are starting to see the packs are becoming an urban lifestyle accessory”
The way I see it, Don’t Panic packs are becoming a life saver….
For more info, check out www.dontpaniconline.com
6ixth Sense Video Clip- Tak Bisa Memilihmu…Who said we cant do a cool Vid with a very low budget? August 21, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, General, Malaysian music scene, Music 2.0, Rants, music, music business, web 2.0.24 comments
The first single of the band’s second single entitled ‘Tak Bisa Memilihmu’. The video was shot in one day and the whole video was done in one shot, hence, the “floating effect”. No, I’m not kidding.
The models are As and Zizi, two upcoming models which were very close friends of Krol, the director of the video. When asked on what he feels of the outcome of the vid, he just ran and banged his head on the concrete wall. Again, I’m not kidding. He wanted to create a classy feel to the song which explains the piano and the black and white setting of the whole video.
Can you guys guess the budget of the whole production?
Why artists need education August 3, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, General, Malaysian music scene, Music 2.0, Rants, music, music business.add a comment
Here are my top reasons:
1- Education will prepare yourselves to understand things better- Did you fully understand that 150 pager contract you’ve just signed for that record deal?
2- Education will keep yourselves sharp thus, prepares your brain for real life input- Do you know the differences between ‘Mechanical right’ and ‘Publishing rights’?
3- Education will help you see things clearer- Did you fully understand the questions you’ve been asked by the cynical reporter last week?
4- Education will make you think outside of the box- Have you tried marketing your band via pocket tissue wrappers?
5- Education will give you confidence and charisma in facing the new world- What have you done to save the world lately?
6- Education will make you appear larger than life
7- With Education, your music appreciation and perception will increase, hence, hit records aren’t just minor keys and cheesy lyrics
8- Education will improve your grammatical structure
9- Education prepares you for the worst case scenario
10- If all Malaysian artists are educated, our music industry wont suck this bad!
So start going to school and please don’t say ‘Are you enjoys?!’ in front of 5000 people ever!
Major Labels pull out content from Maxis- The act of utter stupidity July 3, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, General, Malaysian music scene, Mobile content, Music 2.0, Rants, downloads, mp3, music, music business.add a comment
Current situation: As of 3oth June onwards, all music content from all major labels under Maxis is pulled down. Word has it that Sandy Monteiro sent an open letter as a representative from all major labels threatening to pull down all music content if Maxis were to refuse to share their existing user subscription. What a piece of work this guy. As a consequence, Maxis saw this as an unfair “offer” and refused to renegotiate any new terms with RIM.
The Major labels fail to see that new media is actually value added services and does not relate to user subscriptions. If they were to pull out, it would mean death to the labels, not the Telco. Hah!
Dont you think that if it werent for Maxis, music sales would definitely suffer anyway? Imagine the amount of losses…The major contributor for music revenue in Malaysia at the moment is from mobile content…And what were these guys from the labels were doing before that? Repackaging old releases and munching doughnuts in the office.
I totally see this as an opportunity for Indie labels to flourish and expand. Done are the days when major labels rule the market (by not doing anything). This scenario is a classic case of greed, and biting the hand that feeds you will not do any good!
Michael Bay! you are the MAN!! June 29, 2007
Posted by ashz in General, Rants.3 comments
I came back from the office feeling disoriented and lightheaded yesterday due to too much work. I received a call from my girlfriend wanting to print her thesis at my house, I told her to get everything ready and as soon as I get back I was bound to holla back. LO! I left my keys at my parents place and had to drive all the way from KL Sentral to Shah Alam to get the keys. I was to giddy that I felt like throwing up. Cigarettes were tastless and my throat was killing me. I had a short nap at my parents place only to wake at 9PM. Shiznit! I totally forgot about my girlfriend. As expected, she was already sulking. I could hear the chirp of birds in the background. The only thing that motivated me to live last night was Transformers at 12.30.
So after enduring my GF’s yapping, I took a shower and rolled out (!) at about 11.00
The scene was packed with transformers enthusiasts, there were like promo cars with dodgy autobots decals parked in front of the entrance, I think it was supposed to be some gimmick or something. I wasnt amused, let alone my girlfriend, whom was pulling a face longer than my digits. I wanted to measure (the face, not my digits), she wasnt up to it.
I met up with the rest of my gang at the entrance. We were still short of Farul, the street racer. I’m kinda amused by the fact that his souped up car didn’t help with his timing. O well, we marched on with courage and hope for all santients that Michael Bay wont screw this up.
Time stood still for 2 and a half hours…………………………………………………………………………
I came out of the cinema with a weird chill, my heart was racing really fast and I was speechless. My girlfriend, who was the most hardcore hater of anything robotic couldn’t speak. There was silence in the midst of all the crowd.
BBBOOOOMMMMM!!!!!
We exploded.
Thank You Michael, the human race loves you!
The End
p/s: Watch it then you shall know what I mean
p/p/s: I wanted to snatch the Megatron standy, but getting killed is not an option
Dont we just love Indons do we? June 28, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, General, Malaysian music scene, Music 2.0, Rants, music, music business.2 comments
Im sick and tired of the fact that we Malaysians diss our Indonesian brothers flooding our country, Im sick and tired of Malaysians abusing Indonesian maids, but Im really sick and tired of Indonesian music dominating our market now. Almost all major Indo bands have performed and launched their new album and sound over here on our shores. This is proof that we actually love these guys deep down. Lets see, we’ve got Agnes Monica recently, Peter pan, Nidji, and soon Dewa and a few others coming…Oh not to mention that Inul came by conquering hard with her signature moves!
Ok, so lets just see some facts on the death of our Malaysian music scene:
1- We welcome these guys as kings
2- We are trying sooo hard to break into Indonesia
3- They’re material are just so good and their performances are top-notched
4- The winner of a Malaysian reality TV show ala ‘make the band’ is Indonesian, they call themselves ‘The Lima’
5- Most of the Malaysian bands are trying to sound Indonesian
6- We dont have concerts for our local artists and bands anymore, we oly feature Indonesian artist
7- We suddenly feel that the Indonesian accent is sexy and commercial
8- Celcom ( A local Telco) endorsed Peter Pan as one of their Ambassadors
9- Indonesians think our music is crap, which I strongly agree
10- Telcos are starting to view Indonesian workers as a new market segment, so imagine how huge this potential market is
So whats next? commercials in Indonesian slang?
Transformers countdown MOFOS!!!!! June 26, 2007
Posted by ashz in General, Rants.1 comment so far
Transformers Movie launch -Malaysia
02 01 MORE DAYS TO GO!!
Itchy fingers, sweaty palms, red eyes, crusty socks, smelly armpits, stale pizza, twitchy eyes, cold sweat, hard boogers…
ah you get the picture…
