SoundStruck: Live February 2016
Selangor, Malaysia –SoundStruck: Live, was organized and planned with a single objective; to provide a platform for uprising talents to showcase their talents. Spearheaded by Wanted Symphony and sponsored by Acoustic & Lighting System (A&L) the event began its February edition on the 26th February 2016. The line-up for this month’s edition were no child’s play as the crowd began forming at The Bee, Jaya One. With artists such as Armon, Psytrus, Jack and Rai, Son of A Policeman, Lux Spectra, Yuen Loong and Alex Termizi; one will not regret attending that night’s session.
No longer a foreigner to the Alto Live 1604, 16 channel mixer, Melinya also known as Mel handled the sound system that night with ease. Once again, the Sennheiser D1 Wireless revolution microphone made its appearance as the main vocal microphone for the event. In addition, A&L provided instrument microphones such as the E914 and E901. Aside from the microphones, 2 units of Alto TrueSonic 110A were used as the main speakers while 2 units of Alto SXM112A were used as the monitors. “It is amazing how the songs can be heard even I am sitting all the way out here,” compliment James, one of the guests who was sitting outside the café. “Definitely, clear and precise,” responded another when ask about the sound quality.
The event started off with Aalex Termizi, a singer who started playing the guitar since the age of 8. With major influence from Micheal Buble, Paramore and more, she started with a cover of “Who Says” by John Meyer. Aside from the list of songs that she performed that night, what caught the crowd’s attention was her original song, Dwi. An original song which compromised of two languages, English and Malay. “The song lyrics and concept is about unrequited love. The feeling of one sided love, the feeling you know you cannot have the person you love. The heart broken feeling. I wrote that song when I was myself in that situation, heartbroken. Initially, I was writing the song in English, but along the way I added Bahasa Malaysia here and there as I could not find the words in English,” commented Aalex. “I felt the equipments today was great, I could feel the difference when I’m using the microphone. My voice sounds a little cluttered sometimes, but this microphone help me, I felt it was much clearer,” commented Aalex when asked about that night’s equipments. Next up was a young man who began his musical interest at a very young age. It was in high school, Yuan Loong started to explore his talents. “I love music, before I thought of taking up engineering, I chose music because I enjoy getting involved with music,” commented Yuan Loong. That night Yuan Loong performed a couple of covers such as Bruno Mars – Just the Way You Are. Debuting his single that night was “I Always Be There for You”, a music piece dedicated to his love ones. Named by the bands drummer James; Lux Spectra, also known as spectrum of light in Latin. “I stopped playing music for a year, after I quit a band. But I had a passion to play rock, which got me into recruiting my friends who did not know each other. I recruited them because we had the same interest, an interest in alternative rock. That’s how the band was formed. As for the name Lux Spectra, it is a Latin word for spectrum of light. I believe each human being has their very own spectrum of emotions, and I visualize emotion as lights,” commented James on how the band was form. Lux Spectra band member were no other than James the drummer, Aiie the main vocalist, Kirin the bassist and Eli the guitarist. They played their original songs such as Valencia and Insan. Insan was a song inspired by Aiie’s nephew who had the determination to get up every time he falls.
Next up on stage, was a very special guest that came all the way from Singapore. They were none other than Jack and Rai, who had been in the music industry for more than a decade. The crowd cheered as they were smitten by Jack’s energetic performance and Rai’s charms as they performed that night. Jack and Rai who began as a solo artist singing in the same bar but different time slot decided to team up one day as they found their repertoire were the same. They sang covers for almost 6 years before deciding to jump on the song writing bandwagon. The first song that they wrote was for a charity Christmas album entitled “This Christmas” and subsequently to “Television Affair”. That night, they sang various originals including “Us”, a song written by Jack for his love one. “Practice, practice, practice and tune your guitar before going on stage,” were Jack and Rai advices for upcoming performers. “It’s always important to practice and have the confidence in performing in front of a crowd,” continued Rai. Aside from them we had performances from Daniel Wong (Wanted Symphony) who sang his originals such as “Disappear”. SOAP also known as Son of a Policeman, made a special appearance as well, bringing the heat as they sang their originals such as “Fire” and “Oh…Maria”.
Just as everyone began to settle down for the night, Psytrus and Armon brought the beat and tempo back. Psytrus, who had been active in the music industry started off with a background in sound engineering. He has been in the scene making contacts, forming relationships with bands and playing for them. “When we formed Pulse Soundworks in 2010, it was purely a recording studio. But as of 2015, we were officially a record label. We notice that many of musicians out there need help in marketing their piece and monetizing their works,” stated Psytrus. “The important part is that although we are a recording label, we are musicians as well and we understand what musicians need,” continued Psytrus regarding how Pulse Soundwork came about. That night, Psytrus performed his renowned piece “KL Streetlight”. “It started as when I wanted to come up with a song that everyone can relate to. That’s when I thought about Kuala Lumpur and the song relates about our country,” replied Psytrus. Additionally, Psytrus who is the producer for Armon collaborated together with Hard Candy who came up with songs like “Silence is a Mindset”, a rap centric and rap rock while the other one is “Get on the Floor”. While interviewing them, one thing we asked was their motivation in writing songs. “A form of release, we have ideas in our head and we need to release these ideas into something tangible. One thing, I believe in is musical talent is a gift. Not everyone has it, and some of us have it and it is our responsibility to share it with the world”, replied Psytrus. “For me its stories, stories of my past and stories, of my experience. My main reason for writing music is because I would like to touch everyone’s life in one way or another. Working with Psytrus, I felt we had great chemistry when I write my songs,” commented Armon. Armon sang covers for Macklemore – Thrift Shop and his originals that night.
As for advice for upcoming performers, Psytrus reminded to not take things half-heartedly and be serious, passionate for the music that one plays. “Never stop dreaming”, uttered Armon, who caught us off guard. “It is definitely hard work, but if you believe in that dream, you can achieve it,” continued Armon who recently performed in Video Game Live, one of his dreams. With so many talented performers that night, it was a splendid event definitely worth attending.