Lads, we'd played the Scapes show earlier this year.
It was a quite memorable show after a year we'd not been played at Singapore, one finest country which support the Asian music and the rest of the world too.
So, here the interview between MTV Asia reporter with us.
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Bittersweet (Malaysia)
Formed in 2004, Herri, Firdaus, Hafiez, Pijie and Emai are the supercool lads from Bittersweet, the alternative rock outfit heavily influenced by British music. Their first single "A Perfect Match" was released in June 2006 and invaded the airwaves on leading Malaysian radio stations. By the end of 2006, the guys were hard at work and launched their first debut album
Perfect Match which won several accolades. Since then, they've embarked on a tour around Malaysia - rocking crowds in states such as Kuala Lumpur (KL), Johor Bahru, and Malacca, to name but a few.
MTV Asia speaks with the KL dudes who spent 10 hours on the train to Singapore for their Saturday gig and found out more about their image, aspirations, and the music scene back home.
MembersPijie - Lead vocals
Herri - Guitar
Hafiez - Guitar
Firdaus - Bass
Emai - Keys/Synthesizers
Hey guys, what's up with the cool leather jackets and tinted shades? Is that Bittersweet's signature look?Pijie: The bands that we listen to, such as Oasis, influenced our style. We're going for their concert and this is our way of paying homage to them! It's not an everyday thing, because if we want to wear this in the Asian heat, like in Malaysia, especially in the afternoon, it would be ridiculous!
Emai: We want to differentiate the band from the others out there, that's the main thing.
Do you guys write songs for yourself or for your fans?Pijie: If we were like a big band in the U.K. or U.S., or other countries besides Malaysia, we could probably write songs for our fans but not in Malaysia.
Emai: We don't write songs for fans, not particularly, but we just enjoy playing music. When we're onstage, we enjoy the feel of playing live to an appreciative crowd.
How's the music scene in Malaysia? Is there a lot of support for local bands?Hafiez: Yeah it's better now. In the 90s, it was very hard for people to get music and information on international bands even in the cities, but nowadays we have the Internet and YouTube, which makes things more accessible. During my time, I didn't have any Internet or YouTube, so I had to go to the shops to find copies of music albums from U.K. or U.S. artistes.
Pijie: It's easier for the band to reach their audience these days, but it's kind of overrated for Malaysia, everyone seems to want to have a band now.
Hafiez: They make a band just to be in a band, but when it comes to the quality of music, they don't have what it takes.
Pijie: We started a long time ago, we played gigs in 2004 and got paid like RM$50 for it, that's like S$25! If you want to get rich in Malaysia by making music, it's very hard, it's possible but it's hard.
Hafiez: But if you are in love with what you do, you've got to put in effort right?
Pijie: We believe that even a band as big as U2 also started out form the beginning, so it's not impossible.
Hafiez: We have to keep believing.
So, are you guys planning on branching out and taking your music to other countries? Pijie: Singapore is a good start, a platform for us to reach a bigger audience. You never know who is watching.
Hafiez: You can walk around in Singapore wearing leather on the street and people will ignore you, but in Malaysia, it's still kind of judgemental. They will look at you like, "Who's this guy?" Is he crazy? It's so hot."
Pijie: People in Malaysia may sometimes have bad perceptions of people who don't follow the norm, people with long hair, who dress differently, it's very hard.
What is the second album going to sound like?Hafiez: It'll be an enhancement from the first album.
Pijie: It's like our second chance to put in the best that we can give. We had to rush our first recording session, there wasn't enough time and money to complete the first album and we took 3 days to complete the recording process. For this second album, we're taking a longer time, a few months, so we expect it should be better. We've got bigger and better "arsenal", more specialised music instruments.
Find out more about Bittersweet and their music
here!