Boikot radio itu !!!

Pertama sekali saya mengucapkan tahniah kepada radio Era fm kerana telah berjaya merampas takhta sebagai radio no 1 negara, dan tahniah juga kepada mereka yang telah melakukan renovasi terhadap radio mereka...Era, hanya memainkan lagu hit!!!.

Saya memulakan karier didalam bidang muzik secara profesional pada tahun 1997, itu adalah permulaan kepada perkembangan radio swasta di negara kita.Dari situ telah banyak saya melihat perubahan perubahan yang berlaku dalam industri muzik disebabkan faktor radio.Tidak dinafikan radio memainkan peranan yang penting dalam perkembangan muzik tempatan dan mereka juga , pada pandangan saya telah merosakkan industri hiburan muzik secara tak sengaja. Kesombangan dan keangkuhan radio dalam mengejar target pasaran telah menjebakkan karyawan muzik dalam kancah peperangan mereka, mengapa tidak, kerana mereka muzik kita telah diklasifikasikan dengan berbagai kelas, kelas 1, kelas 2, kelas 3.

Apa yang dikesalkan dengan sikap mereka inilah genre muzik kita tidak berkembang, lagu lagu Nasyid, traditional, dangdut rock kapak telah dianak tirikan, padahal genre muzik ini telah membuktikan mereka mendapat perhatian yang tidak kurang sedikit dari masyarakat, lihatlah bagaimana jualan album Amalina, Jualan Album jinbara, Jualan Album kumpulan Kristal , Jualan Album Raihan , sekadar beberapa nama telah mendapat jualan yang tidak sedikit. Sayangnya lagu lagu ini hanya mendapat perhatian hanya di radio radio regional(rtm).Hingga ke era digital download lagu Zakiah dari kumpulan Jinbara telah mendapat jutaan download tetapi tidak mendapat perhatian sewajarnya dari radio swasta.

Sedih sekali melihat perkembangan ini, kadang kadang karyawan muzik yang telah menghabiskan budget yang tidak sedikit,masa yang begitu lama, tetapi lagu mereka dipandang sepi oleh radio swasta dengan pelbagai alasan yang tidak munasabah, kadang kadang amat menjengkelkan alasan alasan yang diberikan.

Saya secara pribadi telah mengadakan pertemuan dengan pihak radio radio swasta ini, tetapi mereka dengan sombongnya hanya mempertahankan pendirian mereka, tanpa mempedulikan perasaan karyawan muzik dan juga syarikat rakaman.

Lihatlah lagu hit di Malaysia, kadang2 satu lagu hit ini bisa berada di carta selama 1 tahun, tidak masuk akal bukan?..kelihatanya kita tidak mempunyai artis2 dan lagu lagu yang berkaliber, maka atas sebab itu satu artist itu hanya dikenali dengan sebuah lagu hit, dan akibatnya apabila mereka mengadakan persembahan secara langsung, peminat peminat hanya boleh menikmati 1 lagu aja dari artis itu, sungguh kesian...kesian..kesian...

Lupakan isu lagu luar, terutama dari seberang, satu waktu dulu, kononnya mereka akan memberi support lagu tempatan, padahal itu adalah helah dan alasan semata mata, buktinya, lihat saja laporan MACP yang menjaga royalti penyiaran lagu di radio dan TV, Aliran royalti itu setiap tahun bertambah alirannya kepada pencipta lagu di luar negeri...

Maka Atas dasar ini kita wajar untuk jalan terbaik agar masalah ini selesai...apa kata rakan rakan sekali?

(keluhan dipetik oleh Mujahid Abdul Wahab)

Soul music is good music

I ve never felt wanting to blog so much in my life like tonight. This feeling i had right now has left me no option but to write. Its very late at night or perhaps i could say morning, tapi aku masih gagahkan diri juga utk menulis. Somehow rather i need to share it, eventhough at this ungodly hour nobody is awake except me.

I might not have shared you wit guys on the latest showcase I produced. Yes I produced one last week, and apparently i did another one yesterday. I didnt brag so much about it worried that it might be just an ordinary event. Mana taknya, event semalam lebih besar daripada showcase yg pernah aku buat selama ini. It involves some big name such as Sabhi Sadhi, Amirul Jafril and Fatin Syazanna. But unfortunately due to time constraint and my tight schedule producing the earlier event, it leaves me less time to really promote this event. If im not mistaken i only have around 5 days to execute everything. There are however a few press and media covered but still, with such name, complete 4 piece musician, backing vocals, design, studio time, there was too much pressure placed on me in term of the profit and crowd's acceptance.

Let me remind you that not just produce, i was the executive producer as well. Meaning to say niat yang mula-mula hanya ingin membantu para penggiat music utk berkarya, sudah menjadi lebih berat bebannya kerana semua kos ditanggung sendiri oleh aku. I forked out my own money to organise such show including the musicians and BV, the studio rehearsal, the crew and the designers, promotions and printing, and duit upah gaji utk sesiapa yang membantu. Yes im the performing producer. tapi itu belum cukup gila lagi. The most gila part was I did by myself.

It was a one man show. Everything was planned by me. This includes the idea, locking up artiste and scheduling, hooking up with the place, deals, providing musician, promotion from designing (courtesy of Eizani) to hanging the banner, ushering the crowd, monitoring front desk and sales and loads more. I was at the place for soundcheck and until almost half the show, i was still busy organizing it. For those who came, you would notice how menggelabah i was trying to accomodate to the event's need. But it was good at the end of the day. Why?

It was a blast. I truly enjoyed performing last night. After singing all this year, I didnt remember how happy i was being on stage. My performance was top notch (puji diri sendiri, lantak akulah nie blog aku), and the energy that came from the BV and musicians are equally good otherwise perfect. I ve done so many stage performances, but last night was something that will always be remembered. The connection between me and the BV and musicians was unbelievalable. I couldnt express how secure i was singing with them. TQ korang !!!

I had good feedbacks from people who came. Some of them said it was really worth it, that RM 35 is too cheap for that outstanding performance. The musicians played well, tight and blend with the BV. And i can proudly say that there are no BV's like 'HARMONISME'. They got soul. So tq again for those who came. And tq to all the performers/musicians. You guys have been a terrific partner to work with. Looking forward to working with you guys in the future.

And for those who missed, is it early to say, there will be a second time? :)

Aku dan muzik

Dah lama sangat aku tak menulis. Takde rancangan pun nak menulis tapi memandangkan sekarang sudah hampir 8.30 pagi dan aku masih belum tidur, aku gagahkan diri juga. Bukan apa, kalau tidur pun dalam sejam dah kena bangun sebab ader urusan muzik yang perlu diselesaikan. Dan aku memang sentiasa ader masalah tidur, dan bila waktu nak tidur saja, mesti terpikir macam- macam benda kat kepala otak aku. Jadi daripada aku hanya berfikir, might as well i pen down what are the thoughts that are running in my head.

This few months has been a pretty much of a journey for me. I started to realise what i really want out of my life especially music. I discovered new habits of mine that i fail to discover throughout this 5 years. I love singing eversince i couldnt remember but it was 5 years back that i decided that i love RnB and would like to pursue that direction. Baru korang tau betapa lambatnya aku kan. Yes I learn music when i was a kid, and my parents sent me to a music school but it was 5 years back that I made up my mind to really focus on this. And eversince, i ve been singing mostly RnB songs and i ve been studying a loads of RnB stuff. Dan tahun lepas aku decide untuk berhenti kerja sepenuh masa untuk lebih mendalami ilmu muzik. But after producing a couple of live showcase i realised something more than singing. Something fulfilling to my soul.

I love music more than I love singing. I realised that i get more excited when it all comes to music than just a vocalbox. Kalau mak ayah aku pasang American Idol, i would pay more attention to the big band and orchestra rather than just the vocallist. Kalau musician tengah main, aku akan perhatikan diorang. Every single thing about music excites me, even a conversation will take nothing less than 3 hours. Kadang2 aku rasa menyesal kenapa aku tak betul2 belajar muzik di mana-mana institute pengajian. Menyesal belajar IT and buat pening kepala, at the end of the day its still music. Thats how passionate I am towards music.

I appreciate music so much. Sejauh mana aku pergi dan melangkah, aku tetap akan mendengar dan senantiasa belajar benda baru dari orang, walaupun orang tu sendiri sangat baru. Thats how i learn, lebih kepada informal learning. I do it the hard way, sbb tu orang tak boleh datang dekat aku cakap benda crap yang diorang sendiri pun taktau. Benda yang paling penting seperti appresiasi muzik pun tak reti. Inikan pula benda benda lain dalam music seperti music business.

Kadang2 aku malu kenapa artis kita tertutama sekali yang tiada pengetahuan pasal music boleh nak jadi penyanyi, apatah lagi kalau meletup. Pening aku pikir !!! Pastu record label pulak memilih, kalau ader rupa, ader body, boleh jual, apa lagi sign lah padahal bakat tak seberapa. Nak menyanyi belajar vocal dan belajar music. Ini taktau satu apa, ader hati nak jadi penyanyi. Well, bebel aku ni tidak bertujuan untuk menghentam kepada sesiapa. Aku sendiri masih belajar malah jauh dari sempurna. But its just a reminder to myself. Andi, if you wanna do it, learn and grow. This is what i wanna do. MUSIC !!! i cherish and protect it. Its something very dear and has great value in my heart.

P/S: akan terus mengisi dan memenuhkan gelas yang kosong ini

RnB night

It was in Singapore that I had the idea to produce this kinda event. After getting the experience producing a show, I thought to myself to help fellow RnB singers to organize such gig. It is my effort to try and put RnB where it belongs. It may look like just another showcase, but atleast I continue fighting for what I believe in, and I tried.



Id like to learn new things, and i learn new things everyday



Andi A. Merican

download SOLO legally

Guys, you can now download 'SOLO' feat Altimet. For me the idea of downloading is not merely for sales purposes, but everytime you're downloading it, ur doing me a favour promoting my songs. Help local artiste :)

Maxis user : Type *131*191077# and press call/send

Celcom User : Type *118*107482# and press call/send

Digi user : Type CT <0100765> and send to 2000

U-Mobile user: Type CT <247569> and send to 28118

the promo and PR

Salaam,
Agak lama jugak tak update blog ye. Yelah everybody was so busy, and raya was the busiest of em all. I had to squeez tons of work and then spend time wit my family. Tahun nie alhamdulilah instead of raya di JB, saya beraya di KL. I brought the whole family including my aunts to celebrate eid together. After the show I had in Singapore, i forced them to come back to KL wit me. And apart from that, I gained loads of weight if you havent noticed :D

Other than that, life is just the same revolving around work. Apart from shows, this couple of months have seen me busy and so caught up promoting my single 'SOLO'. I need to promote my song all by myself bcoz I dont have a real manager who is managing me. All this while these people have just been helping me and not really stepped into the role of a manager. Makanya, I had to do the part of 'turun padang' and have all this PR lunch and stuff to actually play my song.

Nak buat muzik bukan murah. Sebab itu record label labur ratusan ribu utk satu artis. Its not just about production and making the music. But they need to invest the same amount for the promotion as they invested on the music production itself. Every single thing counts from image to merchandize for branding purposes. Tak guna buat album bagus bagus tapi produk tak jalan. Point is, music and business relates to one another. And it aint cheap :)

For me, Im not signed to any label yet bcoz all the offer doesnt work towards my favour. But face the fact without them I'm not backed up by a good team and most importantly cash flow. Im planning to take a manager to help me to boost my career but i have to be honest I cant afford one right now. I need to analyze and be more realistic. For the timebeing, the money needs to go to proper music production. There is no point paying for a manager when the music is crap. Therefore, i have been doing all this planning and marketing by myself that takes up a loads of my studio time. I have been to all radio stations you name it. I have had good coverage for radio interviews, TV station and prints too.

Im not complaining, and i shall not quit :)

My first experience producing a live show

Cuci The Musical

The last time I was involved wit a big theater production was almost 3 years back. Itupun when i was in Infinatez. So when Hans called me up asking for me to join his team, i said why not? Mula-mula risau jugak sebab takut if I cant really commit since I pun busy dgn my single promo and what not. Tapi come to think of it, im just helping them out with backing vocals, so it wouldnt take much of my time:)

But this time around the experience is way different when I had during P Ramlee The Musical. I worked under Acis and rather than being on stage, I now involved mainly on the vocal and music side. The experienced was overwhelming. And the casts were great too. Jaclyn is so friendly. Kak Vee and me go way back since i was a kid dulu. And during break i would usually hangout kat bilik abg Afdlin and main game bola ngan dia hehehehe

I love what i do. I love vocals and i just wanna do things that makes me happy. But when i watched them being on stage acting, i just missed the moments I had wit my previous group. I think i might wanna go back doing theater after this :)

Ramadhan's personal thought

Marilah kita menyucikan hati kita pada bulan Ramadhan ni agar kita boleh rapat dan berpegangan tgn seperti dulu. Tak perlu ader busuk hati dan hasad dengki sesama kita.Tak perlu negatif melemparkan komen2 pada facebook tanpa memikirkan hati orang lain. Yes action speaks louder than words, but maturity in the other hand is judged by your action. Marilah kita lupakan semua kejayaan kita dan pimpin tgn duduk sama rendah berdiri sama tinggi. Put aside our differences and work on our similarities. By doing that, we would accept the imperfectionist amongst us and work towards better community.Yg tua jadi contoh dan yg muda jgn sombong utk belajar. Jgn segan minta maaf dan memaafkan kawan2. Saya mulakan dgn diri saya dulu. If in any way I hurt your feelings then I apologized and would love to justify all the things that I did wrong :)

Press statement against Amylea's accusation

Pernyataan Media Andi A Merican Terhadap Kenyataan Amylea Azizan didalam www.murai.com.my bertarikh 4 Ogos2010

Saya merujuk kepada kenyataan Amylea Azizan di dalam www.murai.com.my bertarikh 4 Ogos 2010, di mana saya menafikan sama sekali segala tuduhan yang telah dibuat terhadap diri saya.

Saya kesal dengan kenyataan yang dibuat oleh Amylea Azizan yang berunsur fitnah, antara lain, kononnya saya"naik angin", "panas baran", melakukan "cacian dan makian" dan telah memberikannya "warning" atau sebarang bentuk ugutan hingga menyebabkan beliau fobia, adalah exaggeration atau perihal menokok tambah oleh pihak Amylea Azizan. Saya menekankan bahawa tuduhan-tuduhan di dalam kenyataan Amylea Azizan tidak mempunyai asas dan tidak disandangkan kepada bukti-bukti yang benar dan kukuh.

Di sini saya juga jelaskan bahawa cebisan-cebisan SMS yang dipetik oleh beliau telah digunakan "out of context"atau di luar konteks dan oleh itu, tidak memaparkan situasi sebenar. Melalui perilaku tersebut, beliau telah mencampur adukkan perihal peribadi dan professional, yang mana tidak wajar sama sekali. Saya sarankan kepadanya supaya lebih bersikap professional dan bukan mengikut emosi semata-mata.

Mengenai tuduhan penciplakan lagu pula, ingin saya tekankan di sini bahawa lagu Solo saya adalah lagu ciptaan saya bersama-sama Altimet dan Eenaz Luscious, dan bukan hasil ciptaan Amylea Azizan. Jika dibandingkan secara professional dan terperinci, lagu Solo saya tiada persamaan langsung dari segi melodi dan lirik dengan lagu ciptaannya,seperti yang dituduh oleh beliau. Mesej dan jalan cerita kedua-dua lagu juga berbeza sama sekali. Malah, kenyataan Amylea mengenai pelancaran single saya atas tujuan mensabotaj beliau adalah rekaan semata mata. Saya sama sekali tidak pernah mengajurkan sebarang majlis pelancaran dan menganggap ini sebagai satu fitnah. Beliau perlu lebih professional dan terima hakikat bahawa beliau tidak boleh memonopoli sebarang perkataan dan mendakwa mana-mana idea adalah hakmiliknya sahaja.

Saya berharap agar beliau sedar bahawa tuduhan-tuduhan di dalam kenyataan beliau bukan hanya mencemar maruah saya, tetapi juga merupakan fitnah di bawah undang-undang Malaysia.Tabiat sebegini juga tidak lansung memberikan imej yang positif kepada industri seni Negara dan hanya merupakan sensationalism buat sementara waktu. Saya kesal dengan perbuatannya yang memburuk-burukkan saya, walhal saya anggapnya sebagai rakan seperjuangan di dalam industri ini.

Oleh yang sedemikian, saya telah membuat laporan polis bertujuan untuk menjaga hak saya. Dengan ini, saya seru kepada Amylea Azizan supaya berhenti dengan tuduhan-tuduhannya, sebaliknya membaikpulihkan keadaan dengan berbincang dengan saya sebelum perkara ini bertukar menjadi di luar kawalan hingga membabitkan penguatkuasaan undang-undang terhadap dirinya atau mana-mana pihak yang terlibat di dalam menyebarkan kenyataan-kenyataan yang berunsur fitnah ini.

Sekian, terima kasih dan wassalam.

Andi sings 'Good To Me'

Come and support this guys..........

Majlis Amal Rumah Amal Kasih Bestari* Lokasi : Victorian Ballroom, Holiday Villa Hotel & Suites Subang Tarikh : 8 Ogos, 2010 Masa : 12tghari - 4ptg HARGA TIKET : RM88.00 NETT SEORANG. Untuk tempahan .Hubungi (Puan Myn) di talian : 012 3555 200 Antara Artis yg terlibat Rizu Sharifuddin,Amirul Jafril,Anne Farina,Andi A. Merican,Diddy,Ainul Aishah dan ramai lagi...

The email that touched my heart

This was written to me after i added someone in my Facebook friend's list...

hi
u might be adding me as a friend randomly ( coz i'm not sure why u did so). but it happened to be u're the composer of my favourite song(khabarkan)!

the song gave me this soothing feeling whenever i was down during my study years (oh maybe u shud give credit to sindarela drama series. :P). it made me smile with no significant reason. i guess, the song gives me this hope (dunno how to elaborate on that. i wud say, it's magic! hihi)

anyway, thank you for composing the song and had luscious as the singer! the song is the most played song in my playlist for the past 2 years. love the song to d death.

thanks and good luck to u.

Tq very much for your kind words. I will keep on making good music insyaALLAH and god bless you........

Solo (coming to town)

Assalamualaikum,
Setelah menyepi sekian lama tanpa sebarang produk, akhirnya single pertama saya yg berjudul 'SOLO' akan siap di print di kilang by this coming Friday. Idea asal adalah utk print beberapa copy sahaja utk kegunaan promosi dan radio DJ, tapi selepas diskusi dgn pihak kilang dan juga faktor harga, pihak pengurusan telah buat keputusan utk printout 1000 keping..

Oleh sebab itu, kami ingin mengambil pre-order awal utk menjual single saya yg berjudul 'SOLO'. Solo adalah sebuah lagu yg berkisar tentang perasaan 'breakfree' dan di dalam lagu tersebut, saya telah berkolaborasi dgn artis hip hop ternama Altimet dan juga penyanyi RnB underground Malaysia. You would also notice perbezaan bunyi yg saya hasilkan utk single saya kali ini. Direction yg saya hasilkan kali ini agak radikal dari direction yg terdahulu. Saya masukkan unsur music live yg lebih penuh, dan selain the rhythm section (drum bass keyboard guitar), saya juga telah masukkan horn section yg terdiri dari trumpet, sax,trombone dan harmonica untuk memberi bunyi yg lebih segar kepada music saya. Manakala vocal pula adalah sgt simple dan adlib yg sgt minima agar lebih mudah diterima.

Solo akan dijual dgn harga yg sgt murah RM 5. Ini kerana focus saya tetap pada album yg akan dilancarkan insyaALLAH sejurus selepas raya, jadi single pertama saya hanya bertujuan sebagai pengenalan kepada industri music. Untuk tempahan awal you may drop a msg at my personal fb or email at andi.a.merican@gmail.com. Untuk pembelian melalui pos, masukkan RM 7 ke akaun maybank saya 164481011394 (Mohd Andi Ariffin Merican) , msg me the time and date and your address too :)

Andi A. Merican

A note to inspire (FloorFever)

Salam guys,
I must say that i ve been checking you guys out quiet frequently. I know the stress that ya'll are up against and after reading a note from Nita, I think i need to write something so that you guys know there are people who appreciate you guys:)

I was reading Nita's article when suddenly i came across 'if u only judge it becoz we're a old! we're not tht pretty! not all together handsome... then thts fine...we will just stick to wat we believe is the best for all..' I know what and how you guys feel and i can sense it more right not. And one of the reason im writing is because ya'll need a friend who is outside the box and tell you what to do and give you strentgh. Me too i ve been in that situation before during 'Gangstarz' and it was so heartbreaking.

I must agree with you Nita that this is reality TV. You give what they want instead of what you re capable of giving. Same goes to us Infinatez. We had to sell our soul to the viewers, to get the votes, to please the production and all of the member had such a massive amount of pressure. We are not allowed to sing Boyz2Men, instead they gave us a pop track that made us look stupid. Im sure Luscious had the same issue too ...

We gave up and during the semifinal we wanted out so bad. We refused to be in the final, because to me reality TV is as filthy as being in the politics. Yes they kicked us out, and when they realised most of the money, sms and votes came from us, they put us back in the final against the bloody Indonesian. Then again, who else can fight them indo?

But you know what I learned? Right after the final i realised that there were tons of people and supporters who backed us like mad because of the talent. At the end of the day, we performed for those who appreciate us. So now im sharing wit you guys the same thing. Dont worry about the vote, leave that to us. I told boojae bout that too. It doesnt matter if you lose or win. To em fans, you have already won :)

I look at this from an art point of view. Aku tertarik dgn penyampaian Nita yg inginkan lebih cabaran seperti salsa, zapin, kuda kepang. Kita orang seni kita buat ikhlas. I ve learned a loads this couple of months and studied what art is all about. Art is not an expression of who you are. Seni bukan luahan hati. Seni adalah problem solving. You solve your problem tapi buat dgn ikhlas...

Make them remember who FF really is !!! (god be wit you)

Facebook promo

Maaf

Titisan airmatamu, getarkan rasa sakitku,
bukan aku sengaja, pinta ini semua, tiada cara lebih sempurna
kerapkali kau soalkan, rasa hati, kesetiaan,
percayalah kasihku,
tiada setia tak perlu untuk cinta tiada kan bahagia

(C/O)
Tak sanggup untukku bayangkan, mencintaimu hanya menyakitkan,
senyumanmu kan ku simpan dalam ingatan,
hanya ini yang tertulis, untuk kita, maafkanku sayang

Tiada lain di hatiku, jangan kau fikirkan selalu,
bukan caraku, aku bukan begitu,
hanya haluan kita yang tak serupa,
teruskan berjalan...terus,
ku terpaksa membiarkan, namun ku kan berdiri,
memerhati di kau pergi, hingga bayanganmu tiada lagi

(C/O)
Tak sanggup untukku bayangkan, mencintaimu hanya menyakitkan,
senyumanmu kan ku simpan dalam ingatan,
hanya ini yang tertulis, untuk kita, maafkanku sayang

Composer : Andi A. Merican
Lyrics : Nadia Aqilah Bajuri

A humble request

Assalamualaikum,
Tq for checking out the link and what im about to write. This note is specially written to all the fans that has been supporting Luscious, supporting Nadia Aqilah Bajuri, supporting all the songs that i did for them from Khabarkan to the sad version, to Angan, to Jaguh Perkasa, Diriku Untukmu and till now..

What you guys dont know that by supporting and showing your love to them means that you have also indirectly supporting what i ve always believed in. Let me introduce myself, my name is Andi and for those who dont know, i was part of the group 'Infinatez' which was really close to Luscious during Gangstarz. I personally became really close to them and at one level i have loved them more than i love my own group. Adding up to that, i ve produced and worked closely wit them in and out of the studio over the years and see them grow tremendously.

I remember back then before it all started, no one actually believed in me especially when it comes to composition. But Luscious were there to gave me a chance to help produce them. 'Khabarkan' was very personal to me because it was in my song library for 4 years before i can really select who can actually sing this song the way i imagined it. And the song was my first song that was airplayed on the national radio and TV, even before Infinatez came out. Lets face it, the radio doesnt really believe that the song is a marketable song but when it came out in the series everybody started asking. And i always get this 'proud' feeling everytime they sing my song on stage, far better than being on stage itself. I thank you everytime you guys listen to it and say that its a beautiful song. I appreciate it and i believe its far better than getting a massive airplay without people appreciating my work. There's always a place for good and honest music. And i thank Luscious for giving justice to the song....

Working with Luscious has also been part of my learning process. Everytime i work with them, i found new things for me to adapt and im blessed to be given that chance. If you guys are not familiar with their sound, you guys should checkout more of their songs. 'Angan' is a dope RnB track that was written by Eenaz and Nadia. 'Bintang' is written by Nadia and eventhough its a short interlude, but the concept and idea was brilliant that i too have my own version of Bintang in my next coming album. And the latest track is 'Jaguh Perkasa' that has Mawar Berduri from Ahli Fiqir in it. 'Jaguh Perkasa' shows a different side and angle of Luscious that the mainstream market has yet to notice. And i really hope you guys will continue supporting our music and if you have the chance, please come to their show and checkout their performances. Im sure you guys will be amazed :)

While checking their FB, i realised that i have come such a long way to actually be where i am today. While writing this, im actually celebrating my 27th birthday and after producing a number of songs for Luscious (not to mention other artistes like Infinatez) Im proud to say that im ready to take this journey alone by myself as a solo artistes. I believed that every story should have their ending, or start a new chapter all over again, and this is my starting over. Some of you might not know that i have quit INF, so here i am clearing every speculations but alhamdulillah we remain good friends and i wish them all the best. And right now my mind is focus on completing my own album production which will be released after raya with god's will.

All im asking is for you to support me the way you have supported Luscious and my songs. I will continue making good music but i also need the love from ya'll that has been there for Luscious and Infinatez. I totally understand the obstacle that ill be facing, because people dont know me. All they know is im Infinatez and thats it!!! So thats the reason im writing this so that i can get personal to all of you guys. So that you guys understand that im not that kinda artiste you see in E channel. Im just another guy who loves doing music, and love inspiring people, and when people inspire me, i relate it and put in a song.

Ill keep you guys updated on the progress of my career but im starting all over again and all by myself. The album is mainly produced by me with the help from some friends. The promotion is handled by me. Even all the online medium is done by me (which im not good at) so it might take some time but ill keep on progressing, one at a time. For the time being you can checkout my Facebook music account and type 'Andi A. Merican' or you can just click to this link http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Andi-AMerican/120958274594267?ref=ts

Till then, thank again for reading this long note. I feel like im writing to a long lost girlfriend plak. All i wanted was to be honest and hope that one day, you ll find progress in me and my music..

Andi A. Merican

Laundry Bar show

Vocal Meister, songwriter, singer and lover of R&B - brings a "Perfect Plan" to join him this coming Thursday 6th May 2010 at Laundry Bar, The Curve. Check out his new single "Perfect Plan" and other cool R&B tunes to whet your appetite for an evening of LOVE.

Accompanied by "The Cameo" with David Ling on keyboard this promises to be a soulful plan for a night out in the burbs!!

Andi A Merican
Laundry Bar
The Curve
Thu 6 May 2010
9.30pm
www.laundrybar.net

cerita lama MRSM

Mungkin ader yg taktau dulu waktu di sekolah menengah aku belajar di MRSM. Sekolah rendah tak payah cakap berapa banyak sekolah yg aku pegi. Waktu sekolah rendah saja 5 buah sekolah dah macam orang nomad jadinya. Sekolah kayu ara di Penang, Sekolah Jln Gurney di Semarak, Sekolah Majidee di Johor, Sekolah Kem Pakit di Kuching dan satu lagi aku tak ingat sekolah apa. Ayah aku dulu adalah seorang tentera jadi kami sekeluarga memang selalu berpindah ikut dia. Dan disebabkan dia adalah seorang tentera jugaklah selepas aku dapat keputusan yg cemerlang, aku dipaksa masuk MRSM Terendak Melaka sambung tingkatan 1....

Utk sesiapa yg taktau MRSM Terendak nie adalah salah satunya sekolah asrama di bawah MARA utk anak kakitangan tentera. Jadi faham2lah, anak tentera semuanya nakal waktu tu. I remember when I was 15, my parents had a massive headache sbb aku memang nakal sangat (tapi cerdik). Dalam setahun dua di situ, I lost count berapa banyak kali aku kena gantung sekolah sebab buat kes. Salah satu kes yg aku involved in membuatkan aku ditendang keluar dari sekolah tetapi sebab PMR aku yg cemerlang, aku dipanggil balik tapi di hantar di MRSM Balik Pulau Penang. Jauh tuuu !

Then bila aku belajar di MRSM Penang, i heard that all of my frens yg nakal2 belaka pun kena hantar ke MRSM ysng memang sangat jauh. Aku rasa memang zaman kecik kecik ni zaman nakal. Tapi nakal macam mana sekalipun, something I'm really proud is akademik kami memang bagus alhamdulillah. Nak nak lagi budak ragbi dan budak bola, semua nakal2 tapi kalau results exam keluar je semua dapat markah bagus bagus :)

Nakal memang nakal, tak cukup kena buang, kena buang lagi, masuk plak St John KL. Aku rasa kalau aku stay lagi lama di St John memang aku kena lagilah. Nakal ya ampun sampaikan last year i met my ex girlfriend's cousin who admitted that i was so freaking devil while i was in the boarding school huhu. Tapi if its one thing i learned during my secondary time in MRSM, adalah brotherhood and friendship. Sampai sekarang, aku tak dapat rasa apa yang aku rasa 14 tahun lepas. Zaman aku gig, zaman aku di UNITEN, zaman aku keje, atau zaman aku buat music, memang tak dapat lawan pengalaman aku di sana. I learned the importance of loyalty towards frens

And after 12 years, haritu we decided to meet up once again. Its wasnt planned pun. Sorang panggil sorang panggil sorang the next thing you know everybody is there. Semua dah berjaya. Ader yg ikut jejak langkah parents jadi pegawai tentera, ader yg engineer, ader buat investment and pakai kereta lawa2, ader bawa steady gf and ader jugak yg dah jadi ustaz. Seronok sangat dapat jumpa kawan2 lama yg dulu makan sepinggan dan tidur sekatil. Memang nampak perubahan dan kematangan semua individu, tapi yg paling aku suka, bila jumpa balik lepas sekian lama, perangai lama jadi balik, and the chemistry is still there :)

My journey takes me in a different path, but I'm grateful to have met such beautiful people in my life !!!

Anugerah Bintang Popular is a dissapointment

Pada kebiasaannya aku akan keluar malam utk melepakkan diri tapi sebab dah selalu sgt melepak so malam semalam i decided to stay in. Semua orang macam beriya2 nak tengok Anugerah Bintang Popular yang pada pendapat aku bukannya prestige pun. Its not an event yang recognize pengkarya atau achievement seseorang tetapi lebih berlandaskan populariti seseorang. Tapi sebab aku dalam keadaan yang sangap so aku layankan aje...

After wasting about 3 hours it finally came to an end and when i logged in to my facebook account my goodness there were tons of people posting about it. Apa yang akan ku tulis nie tidak ader kena mengena dengan orang lain. Aku hanya menulis daripada perspektif kacamata aku sendiri sebagai salah seorang penggiat seni tanahair. Walaupun aku rasa agak lawak jugak scha cakap Melbourne kat USA hehehe

Ill start wit the things I like. The host is a yes. Kakak dua orang tu memang best and ill be honest diorang yang buat aku stay depan tv sampai habis rancangan. Lawak diorang memang kelakar tak ingat. And I like the performers too (tapi bukan semua ye). I personally think that the bands, Bunkface, ATT, Wings, Jac, Black and Faizal Tahir was superb. And I love the performance by Alyah and Dayang. Bila Alyah bukak suara je, she gave this aura to all the singers ' ha this is how you should sound as a singer mangkuk hayun'. Nuff said full stop!!!

Things I dont like? Yeah I'm sure mesti kebarangkalian untuk orang tau apa aku tak suka sangat tinggi. Off course the KRU tribute. Everything about it membuatkan aku macam nak bunuh diri but dont worry I'll spend some time to elaborate one by one. First the fact I dont understand why they covered all KRU's songs. Not that I'm against them (i love KRU when i was a kid), tapi apa kena mengena dengan show pun bukannya KRU won anything. And then lets not go to their singing. This bunch of kiddos were making a fool of themselves. OMG they sounded extremely horrible that while they were singing one of the girls mic stopped functioning. Mungkin implikasi sebab tak sedap sungguh sampai the mic and soundman rejected it at the first place. Look, they were no dynamics in singing, and the pitch was all over the place. Performance wise lagi tak payah cakaplah. Nyanyi semput tak sampai separuh jalan, but whats wit the choreography macam konsert AF plak? Bila diorang joget macam tu, then jalan ke hujung stage aku teringat kisah 4 tahun lepas waktu aku dalam Gangstarz. Commonlah nie bukan konsert AF bang, nie award, kalau ko perform macam tu, baik aku panggil komuniti RnB 18 tiang lebih bagus dari kalian...

Tapi yang paling aku tak boleh blah bila diorang meletakkan barisan pelakon sebaris dengan barisan penyanyi di atas stage. Meletakkan penyanyi yg tak boleh nyanyi pun dah buat aku sakit hati sangat, tapi pelakon di pentas yang sama menyanyi adalah sangat tak logik.IM TOTALLY AGAINST IT!!! Aku tidak kata yang benda itu salah tapi pendapat aku, kenapa letak pelakon walhal kita ader banyak lagi penyanyi yg hebat hebat2 belaka. By doing that, it gave the impression that ya'll are being unfair. We have a loads of struggling talented musicians and singers, but yet the organizer took a bunch of actress who cant sing and takes music just like a hobby? Goddamn, dari hari ke hari aku rasa industri nie makin plastik dan pintu masuk untuk seseorang itu menjadi penyanyi lebih mudah...

I think I should act too what chu think about that? That way i can perform during and award night

Artiste management and shows

While completing my single, I'm currently in d midst of looking for an artiste management. Bagi aku independent artis boleh buat album sendiri dgn keluar poket sendiri je, tapi kalau nak promote you still need to have your marketing team jugak. Unlesslah kalau artis tu adalah Mawi yg baru saja keluar dari any reality TV, itu pun belum tentu dapat show yg bayarannya mahal. Kalau yg reality show kecik-kecik anak ni lagilah, silap silap banyak show charity je huhuhu...

I ve had a couple of meeting for the past 3 weeks and met a lot of representative of an artiste management company. All of them have different method of promotion and takes cut differently. So dalam masa seminggu dua ni I will decide to pick which one. At the same time, after such a long hiatus, I have been taking shows lately. The last one I did was last week at One Utama for a Malaysian Book of Records recycle event. Go green ya'll :)

My next gig will be this Friday 26th March at Laman Budaya Shah Alam. Be there and support local talent, dan akhir sekali dari saya, CINTAI MUZIK MALAYSIA !!!

Volume 1

Dalam masa sebulan dari sekarang, single pertama saya yg berjudul 'VOL 1' akan siap dan akan diedarkan. Kenapa tajuknya 'VOL 1' adalah kerana ini adalah langkah pertama saya sebelum saya melengkapkan album sulung saya. Di dalam single tersebut memuatkan 3 lagu, makanya bila VOL 2 dan VOL 3 keluar nanti saya akan ada hampir 9 buah lagu yg telah siap dirakam. Album sulung saya akan ada lebih banyak bonus track utk kepuasan pendengar. Sebelum nie saya masih aktif dgn music dan banyak berkarya utk artis lain tapi now I think its about time utk saya keluar dgn produk saya sendiri

I can say skang nie vocal dan music production sudah hampir 80% siap. Hujung minggu nie kesemua lagu saya akan diadun dan insyaALLAH dalam minggu depan akan dihantar utk proses mastering. Saya banyak membuat study sendiri dan banyak masa diluang untuk brainstorming agar music yg saya hasilkan mempunyai sound yg fresh dan tidak ada kena mengena dgn Infinatez.

Ramai yg tau saya start of my career with Infinatez. Jadi dalam masa 5 tahun nie saya byk study lagu yg berentak slow jam RnB seperti BoyzIIMen or Innuendo. Jadi bila saya keluar dgn produk saya sendiri, walaupun saya suka rentak tersebut, I need to come out with something else. Sebagai contoh Damien, bila dia keluar dgn singlenya sendiri, beats dgn bunyi memang orang masih boleh relate dgn VE. Tak boleh salahkan Damien jugak sbb kebanyakan lagu VE juga diterbitkan oleh Damien. Tapi dalam kes saya, saya perlu lari dari bunyi Infinatez, dan cuba mencari identiti sendiri.

So this few months i ve been studying more solo acts and how they brand themselves. Antara reference yg saya cuba ikutkan utk VOL 1 adalah Robin Thicke, Neyo, Justin dan Eric Benet. Jadi kalau anda dgr lagu saya nanti, you' ll notice that melody adalah sgt simple. Takde adlib yg terlampau dan penggunaan harmoni yg sgt minima. Dan elemen RnB yg saya cuba tonjolkan adalah lebih kepada music bukan vocal sgt. Saya cuba fusekan RnB dgn irama genre lain seperti Hip Hop, Funk, Blues dan juga Ballad.

I really hope apa yg cuba saya sampaikan dalam music kali nie akan lebih diterima khususnya mass market insyaALLAH. But anyway ll keep you guys updated on the progress of my single.

Till then !!!

RnB resurrection

On the 20th of February haritu berlangsungnya RnB gig. After almost 5 years of hiatus, the organizer mainly Zhariff and Wan decided to bring back the soul to the stage. At first, there were a loads of people who were sceptical about it, especially me i hafta admit. Yelah bukan apa, sebelum ni ramai yg bersuara 'nak buat balik' nak itu nak ini tapi hanya citer kosong je. Tapi these guys made it happened.

The gig was promising. Eventhough we knew there was a management problem during the show tapi semua talent faham what actually happened. But I truly salute Zhariff and Wan. RESPECT dowh !!! Diorang bekerja bagai nak gila and they were also the talent who performed. Bayangkan. Yang penting the message is delivered, which is its not the gig, its not just another gig, its more than that. Its the movement. The comeback of RnB

Haritu jugak sgt seronok sbb dapat jumpa balik kawan2 lama dalam scene. We manage to gather all the people and frens for the love of RnB. As for me personally, its a day where i convey the message that I'm own my own now. It's aint just another performance for me. When everybody is doing their own style, i was doing my own thang, jamming with some piano riff telling everybody that I'm no more with Infinatez...

Budaya dan bahasa kita sbg orang melayu

Kejadian nie berlaku semalam. Aku taktau kenapa tapi aku betul2 rasa nak berkongsi. Waktu tu aku berada di KLCC, and setibanya aku di sana tetiba perut aku memulas macam tak pernah berak setahun so aku bergegas pegi ke toilet diorang. Entah kenapa aku memilih toilet yg RM2 walhal boleh je aku pergi toilet free. Mungkin ader beza kot dari segi service. Tapi tak mungkinlah ader orang tolong basuhkan kan? ye tak?

Sampai kat depan pintu, aku check wallet aku and aku takde duit kecik. Pada waktu tu aku hanya ader sekeping RM1 dan enam keping RM50 note. Masalahnya pulak akak tua (kemungkinan 40-an) tak benarkan aku masuk atas sebab pihak pengurusan tak kasi guna duit besar. What? apa akak nie cakap pun aku taktau? RM50 aku bayar bagi jelah aku masuk, kalau tak amek jelah duit tu aku boleh bayar 25 kali lagi aku pegi toilet. Semua tu dah tak penting sbb kalau dia membebel lama lagi mau je aku berak kat dalam mulut dia

Sebelum masa kritikal, tetiba ader abang yg mendengar perbulaan kami and offer aku duit tu. Dia kasi aku RM2 free, tapi aku menolak dan aku hanya amek RM1 saja. Aku terus bergegas masuk and sedang aku qadak hajat, aku terpikir sejenak apa yg aku belajar dari kejadian tadi. Abang tu sgt prihatinn dgn keadaan aku, manakala kakak tadi terselamat dari perkara yg mungkin memalukan dia sampai dia resign keje

Aku tak sempat jumpa abg tu balik. Bila aku keluar dia dah takde. Untung2 kalau sempat boleh aku belanja dia makan. hehe:)

Oh ye apa beza RM2? Tisu basah yg wangi macam yg selalu kita dapat dekat kedai seafood cina. Cikalak !!!

Innate Publishing

I would like to share this good news. From now onwards, all songs that are composed, written or produced by me will be published under INNATE PUBLISHING. Innate is owned by Pot of Innuendo and under the wings are Azan Ruffedge, Lah VE, Mode, Zain to name a few. I might even invite Luscious to join as well:)

Publishing company helps protect intellectual property or else known as songs written by the composer and lyricist. Alhamdulillah I signed a 3 year deal with them and I couldnt trust anyone else except abg pot to handle my matters regarding MACP and royalties. Those Who Believe will only do music production for radio and tv purposes

A good step of the year I suppose. So lets make some good music :)

Expanding in Kuching

I took a big step for my business when I decided to go to Kuching to expand. I landed a couple of days back and currently is staying in my friend's auntie's house. The feeling is so overwhelming. Took a flight by myself and now starting to see the prospects and potentials over here. I even contacted some musicians and performers see if they could hook me up with something. And now that I have my own laptop, its really easy to communicate and hopefully Sarawak will treat me good :)

God be with me !!!

The things that i miss

Life is so simple right now. When I'm pretty much don't have anything else to do, I would turn to music. Everyday when I'm done working I would hit the studio and try to do something productive. I would record my vocals, arrange some of the music, and even remix my songs again and again. So far I've managed to record 4 tracks all together but not in a rush to release it. However, despite keeping my schedule tight, I cant compare the feeling working wit my four of my brothers

I miss Infinatez. I miss singing wit them so bad. They have been part of me for 5 years and was one of the reason I kept on working hard. I miss working with them and I miss the feeling of being on stage together. I finally realised that I have all the rooms to decide what to do now, but working alone is nothing compared to working wit frens. Back then we would brainstorm together just to get a blendfull 20 secs of harmonize. Now I do it all by myself, and eventhough I make loads more progress than before, I lack the fun part which I gained during Infinatez time. INF was more like my 2nd girlfriend

I quote someone dear to me saying 'Mungkin apa yg kita nak itu bukan semestinya utk kita. dah tertulis dlm Quran juga'

ARTrage Lab part II

ARTrage Lab part I

Happy new year 2010

Last year i was singing in a group, now I'm heading solo
Last year i was working, now i'm jobless
Last year i had a good business, now business pretty slow
Last year i had family, now staying by myself
Last year i had a gf, now i'm alone

But I must say 'damn I look forward to 2010'

Happy new year guys !!!