Sunday, November 05, 2006

Hey Mom! I turned 1!



Yeap, you read it. After a year full of singer-songwriters, duos, bands, flyers, emails, open mics, music fans, clueless attendees, door bitches, hot mamas, bad sound, good sound, raw talent, applause, silence, passing the word, mailing lists, and late updates, we're finally old enough to...well...hmmm....ok so nothing really happens when you're 1. 8 shows have past (we missed out 3 months due to the transition from No Black Tie to Laundry) and there's still a long way to go.

I'm just really glad that the show is still alive and kicking and that the acts (and the audience) keep on coming.

A platform for local(and the occasional foreign) acts, the show was ultimately put together to widen the scope of listeners that actually tune-in to the talent that goes around in the local independent scene. The more people listen and participate, the higher the chance of closet musicians, songwriters and fans coming out, which leads to a bigger pool of musically inclined individuals, which leads to more music. A pretty simple concept.

I'd like to thank everyone that's been involved, whether directly or indirectly, in helping the show take all those lil' steps towards the simple concept mentioned above, a road we're still walking.

More specifically I'd like to thank:

Peter Hassan Brown & Markisa (Acoustic Jam), Joe Kidd (Unclogged), Pete Teo (Songwriters' Round), Jasmine & Beryl (Valhalla), and Shelley Leong (Songwriters' Avenue) for doing it first and for showing a kid like me that it can be done.

Evelyn and the staff at No Black Tie for hosting the first 3 Moonshines. Such generous support at such a crucial stage will be forever appreciated.

Trina and the staff at Laundry for being the current host and for having faith in homemade music.

The acts that have appeared on the show: Zalila Lee, Isaac Entry, Will Ng, Rhapsody, Tempered Mental, Kohl, Kluk Kluk Adventure, Aminah, Plush Velvet, Az Samad, Shelley Leong, Azmyl Yunor, The Sofa Sessions, Rizal Hefni, False Opus, Stonebay, Qings & Kueens, Mia Palencia, Couple, Broken Scar, Lied, Malokaigruv, Telebury, Deserters, Brainhead, Fathulistiwa Soundscapes, Pete Teo, One Buck Short, Stoned Revivals, Sei Hon, Lightcraft, and Tragicomedy, as well as all the open mic-ers. Without all of you there wouldn't be a show to begin with.

Gavin Lee and Irman Hilmi for taking turns to do such kickass flyers every month and for designing the first batch of Moonshine button badges (pictured below). On my wall they shall go.



Harun Wahab for taking pics during the show's time at NBT and Cris Chen for doing photography at Laundry.

Ishaq, Badak
and Bianca for manning the door at No Black Tie, whether it was for Moonshine or otherwise, and dD for helping me out with mailing lists at Laundry.

Joey at No Black Tie and Leonard at Laundry for doing sound, as well as Kevin for stage tech-ing

The Troubadours Azmyl, Jerome
and Sei Hon, as well as Jasmine the Doppelganger for sailing at the same time, the plugs and all the support.

KLue, Kakiseni, THINK, alldatjaz.com, JUNK, Project Bazooka, Bloggers
and anyone else I missed out who are kind enough to include the show in their listings, updates, entries, links and happenings.

Malaise, Jamtank, malaysianunderground and artisproactiv for the plugging space.

The press for the coverage.

The people who come to the shows, the people who email, the people who talk about it (be it good or bad), and most of all the people who listen.

Thank you. See you this Thursday.

MOONSHINE: a homemade acoustic show

featuring

Force Vomit (Sg)
Bittersweet
Reza Salleh
Solsta'


date: 9th November 2006
time: 10pm sharp
venue: Laundry, The Curve
admission: free
email: moonshinekl(at)gmail(dot)(com)



Solsta'
The wild card for the night, this 5 piece act is relatively new to the scene having been formed sometime last year. With sounds derived from British musicians, they cite Paul Weller (and many of his works), Ocean Color Scene and current independent acts as their influences. Consisting of Achmed Sodd, Ajx, Ekwan, Hamzah, One and Sally, this will be their first time on Moonshine. More info here.



Reza Salleh
Haven't played at Laundry in awhile. Will be backed by the band. Steph is in Melbourne so Jimmy from Tempered Mental will be filling in on drums. Can't wait =) More info here.



Bittersweet
A band with as much hype as the amount of pineapple tarts my grandma made for Raya (she made alot) these boys from Ipoh justify each ounce of it(the hype not the tarts) with their hand-clapping, foot-stomping, hand-waving brand of music. One of the more visually exciting bands in the scene today, they recently appeared at One Armed's Crossborders show (which was packed like a nasi impit) and they'll also be appearing at the mainstage of Rock the World 7. To listen to what they sound like, go here.




Force Vomit
I was playing a gig once at No Black Tie and I remember being done with my set and sitting in the crowd. This girl was on her handphone not too far away, got off and in a very excited manner said, "Ei! I wanna go to *can't remember*, Force Vomit's playing!" Now if band with a name as hard as Force Vomit can provoke such excitement in a young lass there must be something about them. Indeed they are considered (very much like the Stoned Revivals from the last show) scene veterans here as well as in their hometown of Singapore. Tapping into a sound overlooked by many local acts (no they don't sound as hard as their name suggests) you can check them out here. Definitely an interesting act to look out for.