Fractured @ CORE, Melaka. A great experience.

I wish somebody is wondering about Fractured's show in Melaka last Monday. Why? Because I'm gonna tell all about it right here now. Hah! So how was it? In a simple word, it's somewhat unbelievable. And to give more details, I'll need to write from the beginning.

I went to Seremban with Angah (the 2nd guitarist) on Sunday's evening. My Ibanez TR, was placed at Angah's house back in Seremban. I brought it back when we went to Seremban a few days earlier fer our practice session. We changed from trying to get a bus to getting a commuter instead because heck it was crowded like mad in KL. Well it was sort of a blessing because I remembered the last trip I had in a bus a few days earlier. Me and Angah got no other seat but the last row in the bus. It was hell. I can't barely move my legs because the seat in front of us is cramping our legs. My feet's got fried all the way to Seremban because we're kind of just above the bus's engine. Pffft!. So getting a commuter is a much better choice that day. Air-conditioned all the way!. Got no seat though until we're pretty much just a station left before arriving to Seremban. So it was about 1 hour of standing all the way to Seremban.

We arrived at Seremban that night, got together with a few of our friends and went out getting something to eat. Revising our track list fer the Melaka's gig, doing some adjustments and talking craps, laughing bla bla. It's good to be back. Seems that now I'm the only one left who's not yet memorised our newest song, not yet to be named because heck I didn't make any lyrics fer it yet. Hell it's a new song. Working on that now.

Our plan was to get moving around 9.00am that Monday. As the flyer's stated, the gig will start around 12 in the afternoon. Guess what happened? Yeah we all woke up late, around 10 something. Blame the late snack session. Fahmi (our drummer) woke me up, as I was staying at his house that night. Shower, packing the stuff and we went off to pick Udin (our 1st guitarist). Angah, Khalid, Faiz (our band manager), Ayam (yes it's his nick...) and 1 of our friends will meet us after the Seremban toll in another car. That was the other plan. Got screwed too. Me, Fahmi and Udin ended up being the ones who done all the waiting.

Traffic was smooth all the way to Melaka. There's virtually no traffic jam whatsoever as it's a holiday. We arrive around 11 in the morning or less. Can't remember fer sure. That's only the area of the gig's place, not the venue itself. Why? Because we got lost. It's not our fault. Blame the confusing road naming convention fer that. It was Jalan Melaka Raya 8 fer this lane, and the next one will be Jalan Melaka Raya 23! What the hell? The venue's address is on Jalan Melaka Raya 10, we found the Jalan Melaka Raya 8, we found Jalan Melaka Raya 9, we found Jalan Melaka Raya 11 but we circled around the Melaka Raya fer countless time and it feels like Jalan Melaka Raya 10 didn't exist! Me, Fahmi and Udin got seperated from the other guys, we all got hungry and the most sensible thing to do was getting something to eat. So we did just that. A few minutes later, the other guys caught us red handed munching our ways to the rice.

After lunch, we circled around the Melaka Raya's area again and finally got to the spot. There was no road sign fer that specific road. Bloody hell. I know it'll be easier to call the organiser but guess what? We can't reach him. When we arrived, the place; Vinyl Dance Culture is still close. Damn. Are we ripped? Still can't reach the organiser but there's a few people, most probably waiting to see the gig showed up so we sat near the vicinity, talking craps and hope that this is not an illusion.

A moment later, a chinese guy, dreadlocked, appears and starts to open the pub. Ah, it's either he's preparing fer the gig or he's opening his pub. So Khalid, Ayam and Faiz asked the guy about the gig and it's confirmed, there will be a gig that evening! Yeah! But wait.. What the hell the flyer state that the gig will start around 12 in the afternoon? I still didn't get it even today. There's even a joke that we, Fractured got a special flyer because the organiser wanted us to come to the place early. Bah.

Around 3pm, the place is ready. People started to gather around the entrance, bands getting ready to go fer a soundcheck. There's another problem fer us. I brought my bass. But the strings is all gone. I asked Faiz to buy a new set of strings but he took it easy. It was CNY and he learned it the hard way. Where can you find a shop that sell bass guitar's strings on CNY? Thankfully he asked the organiser to bring along a bass just fer me.

Later, it was our turn to go fer soundcheck. The organiser still haven't showed up. So is the bass guitar. Heck we did the soundcheck. With me just holding a microphone. Like some sort of a karaoke guy. Damn hate that. I feel empty without a bass guitar. We played 'Dimension Zero - Immaculate' cover fer the soundcheck because we won't be playing that during our show as we're told that we might just get a 5-track show. So we'll play 'The Bodybag', 'Let The World Burns' (new song, 1st time played in Gegaran Metal 2005), 'Once Stabbed', 'Death Zone' (This is one of the newest song, never been played live before) & 'Blinded By Fear' (At The Gates cover).

The gig started not long after that. I was still waiting fer my bass. And just after the 1st band played, the main organiser came. So he overslept. Damn. But because he's our buddy, it's cool. Even better, he brought a bass guitar with him. Just fer me. But it was a Fender. A Squire model. Bah. Honestly I hate Fender basses. In fact I prayed that he won't bring a Fender fer me. I hate it because I can't play it comfortably. The frets it too wide, it's heavy and maybe I'm too dumb to play a Fender correctly. Can't ask fer more though, so I was left with no other choice than to play a Fender. Pffftt!

Izan (the main organiser) handed us our passes and stamped our arms with a word 'PRIORITY'. Cool. We are told that we'll be the 6th band performing. The scene was good. There's many people in the place and outside. Not bad. I can't remember all the band's name playing before us but I do remember that the other metal band didn't came so we're the only metal band that day. After the 5th band done their things, it's already near Maghrib so the show was paused until 8pm. That means we'll be the 1st to perform after the break.

Dilemma. We're the only metal band in a *something*core gig. We'll be the 1st to perform after the break. What does it tell us? Nobody will bother to see us perform. Not that we care that much because it's not our 1st time in that sort of situation. So we told ourselves, whatever happens, just play our heart's out. Like always. So while we're waiting fer our turn, we went fer another snack session in the nearby mamak restaurant.

Then, it was our turn. There's less people inside the pub, nothing to be surprise of because we know many are still having a drink or something outside. Some may even got lazy to bother at all. We went on stage, everyone taking his positions. Checking the tune just before our show.

The stage was a bit small. Reminded me of a place in KL where we played once. Something "grill" something, the name of the place. 4 amps at the back, drums set at the corner, 2 mic in front. After we're set, I turned to the crowd and guess what? All of the sudden there's a crowd! All eyes on us. The moment we hit our 1st track, the place was rocking. People banging their heads. Hands in the air. Cheering and stuff. It was amazing. Simply superb. Totally not expected. You must see the video to feel it.

That night, we played 6 songs with a cover from The Haunted - 'Trespass' as the closing song. Sure, the stage is small, I was shaking my thighs off all the time because I can only stand in a uncomfortable stance the whole show. Any other way would mean that I'll be stepping on Angah or Udin's shoe. The Fender wasn't helping either. It's heavy, I messed a few chords because of the wide frets. The female connector of the jack had a problem, I even used my own jack and still sometime, the bass will mute in the middle of a song if the jack moved. But that all means nothing compared to the environment that night. Fer sure, we played our hearts out. And from what we see, the crowd enjoyed it.

I could tell you more. But I'm out of words right now. I didn't even tell you about the 2 Japanese bands. I can't think of any more things to write. I can still remember the show like it was a few minutes ago. Even though I can honestly say it was not my best performance, it was fer sure our best show yet. I'll try and upload the video soon. Yeah I know I've been promising that fer ages.

Latest info, the next 2 gig has been confirmed. More details on that when I got it.

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Fractured would like to thanks Izan the main organiser, his crews, the dreadlock pub owner dude, the crowd and all the other bands that night. It was one hell of an experience fer us.

Nilai festival delayed & our track list.

The Nilai music festival which is supposed to be on 3rd of March has been delayed to a new date. The new date is 31st March 2007. So I was told. My info told me that this is a major fest with many big bands playin like Koffin Kanser, Love Me Butch (hey haven't seen this guys in person fer quite a long time since our last gig together) and many more (yeah I know I listed 2 names only but heck I don't remember what my buddy was mumbling back there). It's big dude...

Ok about the infos on the upcoming gig in Malacca. Visit Fractured's MySpace to see the details on this upcoming show and the others. Yeah the next 2 gigs is still sketchy in details but my buddy is still waiting fer the flyers.

Last night me and the guys had a practice session preparing fer the upcoming Malacca show. It's good, since the last time we jammed together was months ago. I'll write our tracklist here, a gift from me, something like a leak information or something (yeah right) fer our next gig.

Fractured's track list:
1. The Bodybag (Archgates of Insanity demo)
2. Let The World Burns (NEW SONG!! Played in Gegaran fer the 1st time.)
3. War of The Lords (Archgates of Insanity demo)
4. Death Zone (NEW SONG!! Never been played live before!!)
5. Once Stabbed (Archgates of Insanity demo)
6. Blinded By Fear (At The Gates cover)
7. Trespass (The Haunted cover)

Keep in mind that we might not be playing all the songs in the list though. Time might not permit us to do so. More or less, this is what you'll expect if you're coming to the show. I personally recommend you to hear out our 2 new songs and comment me on that. Later.

Fractured will play in 3 & secret video?

Ah. Confusing title huh? Ok Fractured will be playing in 3 upcoming gigs. Hopefully. With the 1st gig this coming 19th. Yeah I know it's Monday but it's also Chinese New Year's holiday. That gig will be in Melaka (Malacca). So tomorrow I'll be off to Seremban, after a long long while fer a practice session with the guys.

Speaking about tomorrow, my foster brother is having a wedding of his daughter. Ouch. I just remembered about that a few minutes ago. Well I guess I can go there in the afternoon and go back to Seremban with Angah in the evening. Hmm, I need to go to my foster brother's house to get my Ibanez.

Something relevant with marriage. Fahmi, our drummer is getting engage this coming 18th March. Yeah I'll never know why he's getting engage the day before his gig. Maybe it's something thrilling or whatever. I'm wishing him all the best in his love life. Hmmm. I wonder how he'll be after getting engaged. If his fiance is cool with all the jamming and gig stuff, it's ok but how if she somehow, doesn't approve? *thunder strikes..*. Now that can, uhm, sucks.

Something fer you guys. Somehow I stumbled onto a video of us performing in the last gig, Gegaran Metal 2005. This video is hosted at MetalTerus.com.my and in the MetalTerus TV section, scroll down the video list a little bit until you see "VIDEO: Fractured". After seeing the video, it amazes me how many camera are actually taking our video. Nice editing, I prefer Udin's style of video editing but heck it's ok. The sound on the other hand, is nearly hard to hear. You might need to turn your speaker's volume up and heck, the sound ain't that good either. It's ok fer a live show recording. But wait till you see the video taken from Fahmi's camcorder. Now that sound is, a big WHOA.

I'm posting the video here, fer you guys to enjoy. Hopefully you'll like it. As this is a video from outside source, I'm not sure how long they'll host the video. So watch it when you still got the time. In fact, save the file on your local hard disk if you want to. Remember to get Apple Quicktime to view this video. Ohh I missed my long hair so much...



Video courtesy of MetalTerus TV.

Some info about this song. This is "The Bodybag". Used to be "Inside The Bodybag" in the demo album. As weird as it'll sound, I AM singing with a lyrics. If you want to know what's the lyrics? Here it is:

Song: The Bodybag
Music: Fahmi / Fractured
Lyrics: Karl

[verse 1]
I hunt
Instinct more than animal
You'll fall
Your blood will taint this scene

[pre-chorus]
A killing spree
I'll set you free

[chorus]
I'll watch you die
Another body's falling
Tonight

[verse 2]
No guilt
Motiveless killing frenzy
Hollow
Prepare to leave your body

[repeat pre-chorus]

[repeat chorus]

[Udin solo]

[repeat verse 1]

[repeat pre-chorus]

[repeat chorus]

Yeah I know I messed up during the 2nd verse. Kinda replaced the 'hollow' word with something else haha! Ah. Looking at this video brings the memories back. Pure fun. hey Momoe was there and I hope she'll remember this when she sees it.

If you're interested in seeing us perform again, wait till the next update on our upcoming gigs then COME AND HAVE SOME FUN!!!!! Warrrgh!! *sore throat*. Later.

p/s: Yeah I know I now type the trailing 'G' in every needed sentences. You can thanks Blogger's english grammar's correction proggy fer that..

Temp job & I'll play in the next gigs!

The outcome of long transition between projects. This is what will happen to a total project-based company. Been months since I last do any official jobs in the company. Still workin though, but without any project. Currently. The next main project still have many hiccups. Still movin but slow. Very slow. In fact it's too slow fer me likin. One day it's busy, then the other day, the project is finished and we'll be waitin fer a new one.

It was supposed to be a fast transition. In fact, the the company has prepared all the nescessary things fer the new project more than 6 months ago, while we're still on our last project. But heck, the new client got somethin, somewhere that kept the progress nearly grindin to a halt. Damn. We're totally ready on our side, but client side is makin all the slow improvement. A no-no bits here, a no-no bits there. Beaurocratic things.

Thankfully we're not without any backup plans though. Another short-term project is underway, yet still 2 to 3 weeks ahead. Some of my office mates have gone doin some other temporary works somewhere. Some who have bunch of savings from the last project do nothin. As fer me, it's time to raise money fer the upcomin gigs. Can't totally rely on the savings. Since the main project is still far ahead in the unforeseeable future, I have to make a move. Not that I'm quittin or somethin. A temp thingy. At least until the side (backup) project started.

Got the whole set of Kayser strings to dress my TR with. All the old strings has rusted in peace. With the next gig in less than 2 weeks, this calls fer desperate measure. The guys has already memorised all the new songs. I'm still lagged behind with 1 and 1/2 more songs to go. Yeah 1/2 fer havin a song partially memorised :D. We'll play one of our new song in the next gig. If you're comin, be sure not to miss the new number.

Oh yeah now I'm sure about goin to the upcomin gigs. You see, the recent post was about this things. And now that I'm VERY sure I can participate in the next gigs, hell I feel great! Even my boss approved. Hah!

I'm still waitin fer the infos on the upcomin gigs. Bah it's takin a hell of a long time fer my buddy to respond and update me on that. I'm still wonderin about the real date of the gig. The last info I heard is questionable. Ah well I'll update you on that the moment I heard a latest news whatsoever. Promise.

Now to start a temp job and raise money fer a new set of strings. Bah. Poor bands are like this I guess. Later.

Change this layout too :P

Oh yeah. I changed this one's layout too. So here I am, writin the only blog fer February just to tell you all I changed the blog's layout. Hah! I love it! Later.