I was browsing thru my old MP3s. And then I
happen to scroll some Malay songs which i use to love. Honestly speaking, I use
like the typical Mat Rock music. U know those bands with male singers that
scream with a high pitch. I think its really cool.

Yea… it sometimes gives you the feeling like you’re in Puduraya or Komtar. But hey… I
love it. I am a fan of the Malay band WINGS… when Awie was still there.

Mat Rock bands have this distinctive sound which separates them from the rest.
I notice that they have a tendency to use minor chords in their songs. The
malays call this lagu jiwang. A lot of their songs gives you the feeling like u
just putus cinta. And one thing that is a must is the lead guitars. These malay
bands must GORENG no matter what. And they like to tarik the lead guitar with a
high pitch. Lagunya ada kala penuh dengan "feel". Guitarist, Joe
Wings remain one of my favourite guitarist. Elegant and full of feel. A left
hander who plays the gibson les paul.

Awie remains one of my favourite Mat Rock singer. He has this manly voice. I
just love the way he screams. I got introduced to Awie when I saw his movie
"Sembilu" when I was a teenager. That show was aired during Hari
Raya. The theme song, "Di Ambang Wati" is still my favourite.

Fyi, Awie left Wings for a solo career. There was once when he returned to the
band to produce the album Wings - Naga Kramat. One of my malay friend kept
reminding me to buy that album.

"Eh… Jason lu jangan lupa beli itu Wings-Naga Kramat. Awie sudah balik
la… "

Keke… those were the days. Listening to the song "Di Ambang Wati"
certainly brought back some memories to me.

Malay bands also have a trademark of being "creative" with their
names. It may sound stupid… but i really think its cool man.

Take for example the band "Kamikaze". I like this band too. It was
introduced to me by my long time buddy abang Cornelius from

Sabah

,
the guy who introduce the guitars to me. The name of the band’s singer is
called "T-Rex". When I hear T-Rex singing, he was the typical Malay
Rocker singer with the distinctive high pitch voice. T-Rex has this long hair
which he ties. Hes quite dark. Guess what, it was later part that I found out
that he was actually CHINESE. Must have grown up with a bunch of malays.

The songs these Mat rock’s songwriting can be really creative at times. You
gotta check out their song names… "Bazooka Penaka"(Wings),
"Pontianak"(XPDC), "Intisari Taming Sari"(Kamikaze),
"Ranggi Metropolis", "Simbiosis cinta pada mu"(Ella),
"Suci dalam debu"(Iklim), "Akar dan Bumi"(Amuk)… and many
more.

HAHaha… I was playing one of the songs by Amuk, "Ingat ingat". Just
the introduction… even before the vocalist started singing… my brother
immediately recognized it and said… LAGU MELAYU?

A lot of us lived in

Malaysia

…
I wonder how many of us ever tried to explore other people’s culture?
Think about it again. Theres always a beauty in other peoples culture. All we
need to do is to be open and explore. And then appreciate it for their own
uniqueness. Maybe not everyone will agree with me… keke… so be it.