The Emo Band

I was Form 5 at that time. I was still immatured. And immatured boys usually commits themselves into making bands and music stuff. We were lazy to make music, I admit, but everyone of us have dreams to become a rockstar. Funny, I know.


I settled in as a bassist and a backup singer in a band which we named Perhaps Single? Yeah, notice the question mark on our band name. It's really cool. Not much band have this kind of names. It was a last minute decision to pick this name before we signed up to join the battle of the bands in Bukit Jelutong. Big pressure were on us. We were just a bunch of kiddies that dreamt to compete with those grown ups who might have picked up guitars before we even learn to spell.


There's a big name-calling wars among my school bands that time. Indie bands were at war with emo bands. And I was the outnumbered emo band. Everytime those people responsible passes by our class, name-calling will start. We call them the 'Skunks', as their original band name were 'Skinks', and they called us E.M.O.


Just about few days before the battle, we finally decide on which song to use. It was 'Famous Last Words' by MCR followed up by 'Starlight' by Muse.


After a few meetings in the jamming studio to discuss our choreographies and the vocal training, we're ready to go. It was then our drummer decided to join the indie band that were also competiting in the upcoming battle. You can feel the anger of us that moment. We were disappointed, angry, and frustrated because it's hard to even find a drummer those days.


On our desperate decision, we brought in KL drummer and a bonus guitarist that never seems to get tired with searing solos. One last jam, and we said our prayers. We can't lose, because our reputation is at stake. We were betrayed, and he won't get away with it that easy.





On that big day, everyone was sombre. We haven't had enough sleep the day before. It's not that we were too worried, but it's just that we played the PS2 till late at night. Our slogan: "Tomorrow we fight, tonight we party!" They were all appointing me as the sacrificial band leader. And so we stood up on the stage, I have even changed the bass twice. A bit of sound checking, and we're on. Started with the 'Famous Last words' and right on the second the song ends, we made the audiences surprised by jumping straight into 'Starlight' before they even blink an eye. It was like only one continous song, which makes it pretty cool to listen to.


The hellish 9 minutes ends. And we were happy with what we've done. We waited until the night comes when they started to announce the Top 5 winners. It started on Number 5. It was not our name. We have a bittersweet feeling because we may be on the higher rank, or maybe we weren't even listed.


The name for the number 4 winner startled us. I have to hear that again to make sure. It was us! The Perhaps Single! How happy am I that time. Those indie enemies looked at us as if they were hoping to end up in the higher rank. But no. They were one sad band on this night. I ran up to receive the prize. I don't care about the prize. All I care about is redeeming myself and my band. From their insults and discrimination.


Those indie bands then started to make progress with their first EP, named "The Judges Are Blind". I know what they mean. But those judges are not deaf, that I'm certain. And it seems that they became an emo band themselves. Revenge fulfilled.



And we said to each other, "We gave the performance we will never forget tonight".





24 March 2007. The day we will never forget.

Busy!

Sorry ya para pembaca! Saya mungkin tidak dapat post entry baru dalam masa beberapa minggu ni sebab saya sedang busy beraya. Hehe.

(Sibuk je ikut orang pergi raya.)

No One Bullies My Friends

Maybe you guys see me as a dude with reasons on his head. But back in the days, I'm not. I'm a monster. I don't really care about what people says.

I'm not a pleasant friend to my friends. They all hate me. Most of them become friends with me after a fight. It's funny to think about that now. A life without reason is sometimes the happiest life ever. Who says an intellectual person leads a happy life? No matter how much my friends dislike me, they will still come to me when they messed up. Because I'm the brute that would stand up for them.

I remember one time when one of my friends had problems with his crush, it is I that made the call to her. I gave her a prank call, mentioning that I'm the Along and she owed me RM 5000. I even said that if she doesn't settle the payment by today, I'll come to her house. After I hanged up the phone, I laughed like a maniac. My friend couldn't have been happier that time. The second crush that broke my another friend's heart, I pretended as Rudy from the HITZ.FM Morning Crew and pranked her. Another broken heart cured. I just hope that my former victims won't read this.

I even remember this one time when I personally came up to a guy who showed middle finger to me and my friends. I tracked him down and found him at the saloon, waiting for his haircut. I opened the door and shouted like hell to him. Everyone in that saloon were looking at me. I went out of the saloon and gave my friends a good grin.

And few months ago, I was celebrating my friend's birthday. I prepared a bag of flour as a 'birthday ritual' for him. It was 2 AM that time. It was when we made too much noise out of his surprise of swallowing my flour, a guy from another block shouted at us with harsh language and demanded us to shut up. I grabbed what's left of my flour and prepared to throw it into the dumb ass's window. My friend grabbed my hands and said no. "A life with reason, eh?", I said, and dropped the flour.

If you ask, "why take all the troubles for your friends?"

I'll answer, "no one bullies my friends, only I could do that."

While I pointed my thumb at my chest.



To Hafizuddin: Sorry dude, can't find your photos! lol

Pantun 'Sayangi Orang Arab'

Mereka berbudaya,
mereka berakhlak mulia,
memberi salam jika berjumpa,
tak kisah agama dan bangsa.

Minta secubit garam,
diberi satu paket,
Melaung azan dengan lantang,
memang sesuai menjadi imam.

Berkongsi makanan tidak kedekut,
berbakat bersenyum dan menyapa,
di kala kami bermain bola,
tackle mereka gua memang takut.

Bila tersenyum comel bagaikan arnab,
bila berkerja penuh tekun,
berikan saya satu sebab,
sebab untuk tidak menyayangi orang Arab.


P.S: Didedikasikan kepada warga Arab di restoran 'Hammalah' dalam Unisel.

Cuti Yang Memang Takde Life

Cuti semester ini memang mencabar dan tidak ber'hidup' untuk kali ini. Mula saja cuti dah start planning nak buat BBQ lah pula. Si Harith ni pula beli daging kambing banyak sangat, hinggakan sampai pukul 2 pagi pun tak terhabis lagi daging-daging tu. Habis lah diet 4 bulan saya! Pukul 3 pagi pula pegi cafe makan roti canai (tak kenyang lagi kot). Night life di Malaysia tak ubah macam Gotham City. Dengan araknya, dengan gelanggang perjudiannya. Masa nak pulang tu kita pegi ronda area Sunway melihat kebodohan 'makhluk-makhluk malam', memang satu lorong tu penuh dengan para pelacur yang jantinanya saya tak berapa sure sangat (make-up tebal sangat!).

Yang tak boleh belah nya, mereka ni ingat kita berminat nak melanggan, siap membuat pose lagi. Padahal dalam kereta tu kita tergelak-gelak. Si Aqmal the driver tu pula memandai pergi berhentikan kereta depan pelacur. Rasa nak bunuh diri saja! Masa tu keseronokannya kita saja yang tahu. Tak pernah sekali pun dalam hidup saya berjumpa dengan pelacur. Jumpa juga akhirnya, termakbul juga salah satu hasrat yang berada dalam wish list saya. Hahaha. Rasa sungguh adventurous, pernah ke kamu pernah berjumpa dengan pelacur? Kami pernah, tetapi kami tidak melanggan, hanya menggelak dekat mereka. Harap-harap mereka ni boleh bertaubat lah... Apa gunanya kaya kalau dah 'bertukar milik' ratusan kali?

Balik saja rumah semua berebut toilet, maklumlah, baru minum limau ais dengan teh tarik tadi. Ada pula orang yang tengah stoned hisap shisha. Hahaha, Faiq lah orangnya. Kalau bagitau mak dia, memang kena ground 3 tahun tambah 3 sebatan rotan. Hahaha. Untuk pengetahuan anda, shisha ni bukan dadah, cuma kepulan asap kosong yang masuk ikut mulut dan keluar ikut mulut. It's harmless. Jangan pula esok kena tangkap dengan polis pula. Masa tu dah pukul 4 pagi lebih dah, Harith pulak ada idea gila ajak main game. Semua dah mamai nak tido dah boleh pulak main game lagi. Mana tidaknya, ada penyokong kuat, si Aan pun nak main gak.

Gelak punya gelak, main punya main, dah pukul 6 lebih dah. Semua pergi solat subuh, saya jadi penjaga kasut. Lepas solat, tak jadi tidur, jadi kita pun beronline hingga petang. Fatimah mesti tahu punya, sebab saya boleh lagi berchatting dengan beliau masa pukul 7. Masa petang, huh, semua tumbang. Tidur tak ubah macam mayat. Bangun-bangun saja dah malam dah, pastu pegi McD masa pukul 12 lebih. Mungkin anda ingin mengetahui sehingga pukul berapa kami melepak di situ ya, sehingga 5 pagi. Selepas itu kami bergegas pulang solat subuh.

Hahaha, memang gila. Kamu mungkin sedang berfikir yang kami ni bukan manusia biasa. Tapi inilah cara kami memakai masa cuti kami. Belajar payah-payah, kenalah bergembira, tapi jangan lupa tentang dosa pahala tau. Siapa mahu join kami membuat BBQ untuk cuti semester depan, kami memang alu-alukan, memang sure heboh punya lah kalau dengan kita. Hahaha. Balik kat rumah sendiri saja terus jatuh demam, sakit kepala satu minggu sebab kurang tidur. Adoi, memang sakit, tidakkah anda mengasihaniku? Setiap denyutan di kepala tu membawa seribu kesakitan. Adoi.

Membuka Topeng Besi

Selamat sejahtera kepada kawan-kawanku. Inilah pembukaan blog kedua saya selain daripada liveuptilldeath.blogspot.com. Ini kerana saya ingin berlembut hati setelah sekian lama berbahas dan 'membuat musuh' dengan para alim agama. Bukan membuat musuh sebenarnya, cuma ada sedikit perbezaan dari fikiran sahaja. Padahal, tujuan kami tetap sama. Saya meminta maaf kepada para orang alim yang telah tersinggung dengan kata-kata saya, ini sebenarnya bukan salah saya, kamu yang salah tafsir sahaja. Kali ini saya mahu bercerita tentang benda yang tidak berkaitan dengan agama. Saya ingin mengumpulkan kawan-kawan saya untuk sama-sama memikir dan menghayati apa yang ada di sekeliling kita.

Jika ada antara pembaca yang gatal tangan mahu membuka laman liveuptilldeath.blogspot.com, saya nasihatkan agar mereka tanggalkan dahulu perasaan prejudis dan pilih kasih sebelum membaca. Motif saya mewujudkan blog pertama itu adalah untuk menyedarkan penganut agama tertentu untuk lebih menyayangi agama mereka di samping membetulkan pandangan orang ramai terhadap agama tertentu. Itu sahaja. Jangan nak gelar saya pejuang suci, saya kurang minat mendengar perkataan 'suci' ni, kerana perkataan ini biasanya dipakai untuk iklan-iklan sabun dan kosmetik sahaja. (Akan saya huraikan dalam blog yang akan datang.) Mungkin anda akan lebih memahami saya dalam blog ini. Saya tahu saya ni akan jadi macam Sukarno bila bertopik tentang agama, tapi kawan-kawan yang telah lama berkawan dengan saya amat memahami sifat-sifat saya.

Saya mahu memulakan blog saya ini dengan berita gembira, saya mendapat 3.82 GPA dalam course TESL saya! Saya mahu mengucapkan terima kasih kepada kawan-kawan yang ajak saya buat study group (Fadhli , Shatish, Det, Danish, Fatimah, Shai, Anisah, Sarah, Sakinah), walaupun saya juga yang paling banyak membebel (mengajar) dalam study group itu. Walaupun tidak dapat four flat untuk mengalahkan lecturer saya, tapi saya boleh cuba lagi untuk semester depan. Ada seorang kawan baik saya juga pernah berkata, "apa-apa pun akan jadi susah tapi kalau kita sanggup berusaha dan merajinkan kita sendiri perkara itu akan jadi senang". Ish, saya memang ada banyak benda yang saya berkongsi setuju dengan Nuril ni. Memang benar, kalau makanan sudah terhidang depan muka tetapi kamu malas nak membuka mulut maka kamu akan kebuluran. Nuril ni memang ada bakat menjadi motivator.

Saya mendedikasikan blog ini kepada kawan-kawan saya yang masih mengingati saya dan kawan-kawan yang baru mengenali saya. Diharapkan agar hubungan kita dapat dipereratkan dan janganlah kita terlost contact pula. Ada orang sedang menanya saya sewaktu saya sedang menulis blog ini, "weyh, kata budak TESL, tulis dalam BM". Suka hati saya lah. Saya lebih selesa memakai BM. Tapi ada blog yang akan datang dalam Bahasa Inggeris nanti. Baiklah, selamat tinggal dan kalau boleh, follow lah blog ini ya! Sayang korang!