Monday, June 22, 2009

First Jamming with the Abu Dhabi Gang

Last Thursday relived my memory of the busy life as a musician juggling between work and studio when I was in KL. But this time I experienced it in Dubai when I tried to finish my work at 6.30pm to be at the studio at 8.30pm. In between I must get back to my apartment to pick up my bass. I decided not to bring and keep my bass in the car since the temperature was hot and that could affect the guitar's wood.

To make matter interesting, I lost my way to the studio. The studio was oddly located inside a warehouse in an industrial area. But I like the studio's setting because it looked like a garage studio. It had the "homey" ambience and "discreet & underground" feeling to it. I memorised the route based on Google Earth map but in reality the routes were messed up with diversions and construction sites. At the end I arrived 1 hour late at the studio. (To Dewangga Sakti gang this all sounds too familiar huh..hehe)

The jam session was arranged by my friend Azli (the drummer). I got to know him in the Iron Maiden concert last February. Azli is actually a familiar face in the circle of performing art back in Kuala Lumpur. He has performed with acoustic bands like Siul Murba, Akar Gita Estetika and Swakarya etc. He is also a member of the Dubai Drums of the World, an 18 pax ensemble which performs every year during the Dubai Jazz Festival. He is the only Malaysian with a set of Gendang Sunda in Dubai ! He has been in Dubai for 4 years now. The other musicians were Zaidi (aka JD the pilot) on guitar, Mie on guitar, Ida (Zaidi's wife) on keyboard, Hanizan and Zaki (both sang that night). All of them hail from Abu Dhabi.

I had really a good time jamming with them. It was a sort of breaking the ice session with new friends but through our instruments. The songs "destroyed" by us that night were:

1) Green Tinted Sixties Mind - Mr Big
2) Hati Emas - M Nasir
3) Gerhana - M Nasir
4) Yellow - Coldplay
5) Clock - Coldplay
6) Californication - RHCP
7) Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
8) Larut - Dewa 19
9) I Will Survive - Cake (this was played impromptu when I was running the bass line to warm up my fingers and suddenly everybody followed...and I said jalan !)
10) Fade to Black - Metallica

It was an exciting introductory jam with new friends. I look forward to know all of them in person. That night we could not chat for long since the jam finished at 12.30am and they all had to rush back to Abu Dhabi. But I can tell they are very talented musicians. They also own several guitars each. I look forward to see their collection.

Azli


Mie


JD


I felt a little bit awkward heading back home after a jam session without any teh tarik session. Because to me the teh tarik sessions before and after the jam are integral and as important as the jam itself.

But it was a great fun and my first jam in Dubai with totally new friends. I really want to do it again !

yours truly


As good as I am, I am nothing without my band

Steven Tyler


18 comments:

Lab papa said...

I didn't know you are musician bro! Isn't it good to have a jamming session. From your pic, I can see you are sweating. Uhhh how I miss that kind of sweat. Until today, I have not hold a drum stick for about 7 years.

HH said...

yeah yoooh bro! Gua pun lama tara pegang bass. Teringat aku kat hostel dulu gua main bass line lagu Cake tu. Tetiba je hang datang.. Terus gua gerun!!!

cohong gym said...

Fuiyyyyoooo Along dah ada band kat Dubai. Tapi mula-mula aku ingatkan kau jamm ngan mamat ngarab.

Sekarang sudah bermula life kau sebagai musician di Dubai. Way to go Bro!!

Man,
Along punya aura bass dari jauh dah bole rasa

Syamsulfaiz said...

Lab papa
hahaha sometimes I'd rather call myself a musician than a lawyer. It is not too late for you to pick up your drum sticks again and hit that drum skins.

HH
rasanya aku belajar (cilok) line "I will survive" tu dari kau. Apahal ko gerun plak.

cohong
dah ada gang boleh jam, takdela rasa mati kutu sangat. Bermanfaatla gitar bass aku.

Mohsen Amdan said...

Waaa...
Caya la along...pasni tour middle east la band ko..
Dah ada nama ke band ni?

~PakKaramu~ said...

Terima kasih atas kunjungan, pentas kita karya kita akan mencungkil bakat kesedaran di antara kita, selamat datang

somebody said...

wow. and i like cake's version of i will survive. ;]

ariapertama said...

slm kenal jua..
geng2 black rupanya. Kim slm black ha. Tq krn melawat blog.

cohong gym said...

lepas ni kau bole la jadi popular kat Dubai. Awek ramai tu beb!!!

Ifila Saila said...

along, gendang sunda tu sama dgn gondang 9 ker?
bytheway, klu grup ngko tgh cari nama grup, aku ada cdgn nama utk aliran2 underground, bunyi brutal sket tapi masih lagi islamic..
Apa kata kau namakan grup kumpulan ngkau kat dubai ni sbg : QITMIR ! ok tak? bunyi dah gempak dah..! hehe..

Syamsulfaiz said...

Mohsen,
Aku tak tanya plak pasal nama band. Tak sempat sembang banyak lg.

Pak karamu
Kalau saya ada di malaysia memang teringin nak turun program pentas kita karya kita ni.

A sinner
I like all the Cake'songs.

Ariapertama,
What a small world. Kita ada common friend rupanya.

Cohong,
Macamana plak jamming bole dpt awek ni?

Aliflam
Itu gondang 9 ada sembilan, org mandailing punya. Gendang sunda ada 2, anak dan ibu je. Weii Qitmir tu bukan nama anjing ashabulkahfi ke??

Syamsulfaiz said...

Mohsen,
Aku tak tanya plak pasal nama band. Tak sempat sembang banyak lg.

Pak karamu
Kalau saya ada di malaysia memang teringin nak turun program pentas kita karya kita ni.

A sinner
I like all the Cake'songs.

Ariapertama,
What a small world. Kita ada common friend rupanya.

Cohong,
Macamana plak jamming bole dpt awek ni?

Aliflam
Itu gondang 9 ada sembilan, org mandailing punya. Gendang sunda ada 2, anak dan ibu je. Weii Qitmir tu bukan nama anjing ashabulkahfi ke??

Syamsulfaiz said...

Mohsen,
Aku tak tanya plak pasal nama band. Tak sempat sembang banyak lg.

Pak karamu
Kalau saya ada di malaysia memang teringin nak turun program pentas kita karya kita ni.

A sinner
I like all the Cake'songs.

Ariapertama,
What a small world. Kita ada common friend rupanya.

Cohong,
Macamana plak jamming bole dpt awek ni?

Aliflam
Itu gondang 9 ada sembilan, org mandailing punya. Gendang sunda ada 2, anak dan ibu je. Weii Qitmir tu bukan nama anjing ashabulkahfi ke??

cohong gym said...

Aku cakap, kalau kau glamer kat Dubai nanti, bole dapat ramai awek. Setakat jamming, lubang hidung awek pun tak dapat hahahahha

Pak Idrus said...

Music and Song is truly an international language. Enjoy whatever you are doing and live life.

Have a nice day.

Mama Huptihup said...

rindukan teh tarik ye? dorian tak rindu ke? :D...good luck dgn band u...nnt dah femes jgn lupa kengkawan ni u ni :D

doremon said...

aa betul tu long nama anjing ashabulkahfi... tapi anjing baik long... the only dog that goes to heaven he he he

ApOgEE said...

wahahaha... new band? kasi hantar la CD satu...

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