My Holiday Confession

Its been almost 2 years that I left my former group, but im still hearing things I that don’t like. ‘R’ aka Karen still posting status about me, tweeting and mocking me to all my friends. Yes I responded my way, tapi sampai bila I wanna go that low kan? Its best for me to come clean and just speak up my mind

If you must know, yes I hate him. This is my true confession. Everybody knows that. It doesn’t matter how many people hated me bcoz most of the people around me knows what type of person I am. Plus I don’t normally hate people easily. But I hate him so much that if I see him crossing my path, I might beat him to death

Let me tell you why?

Mentality. I just cant stand being around a non-productive people. He is a typical malay with low IQ. Back then in the group, I always had issues with him (and ‘D’). But ‘D’ is being himself, childish, and irresponsible of him. But Karen is a total crap, that’s why D and Karen can get along bcoz Karen manjakan dia sangat. Dahlah pemalas, he sings the way he sings years ago. No improvement. Nak buat group RnB tapi tak dengar RnB. For all you know, he doesn’t even listen to music that much

Lemme correct you guys, for those who don’t know, neither ‘D’ and Karen is the group leader. I was bombarded by a fan accusing how selfish I was to quit the group after all the effort they put. That’s when ur wrong. ‘D’ has never contributed nothing to the group except for his strong vocal and the name INF (which he created). Yes he is a fantastic singer, but it takes more than just singing to build and sustain a group. He doesn’t even know what to talk to the press, or what clothes to bring for our shows or as a matter of fact, iron his own clothes. So that’s D. He is just immatured. What about Karen? 2x5 je. FYI, I was the one who produced all Infinatez track, did the vocal arrangement, to even promoting the tracks, and servicing to radio stations and broadcast. Even ‘D’’s adlib was done by me. It was me who deal with all organizerz. It was me also who brought in a total of RM 48,000 for Infinatez’s appearance at a musical. And what does Karen do? Dia pergi keje, pegi pasar and do nothing. That explains why he doesn’t get a verse for our main tracks. Yang dia dapat nyanyi lagu ‘Sayang Kinabalu’. Why? Sebab aku buat bass

But I understand and try to accommodate as much as possible. Infinatez was the only reason why I stayed doing music. However things changed when each one of them wanted to quit (padahal tak quit pun) with their own reason. Ada yang quit bcoz of girlfriend, tapi yang paling tak boleh blah, Karen wants to quit bcoz he is not happy. I quote ‘Aku dulu nyanyi duit takde pun happy, skang dapat show duit beribu tapi tak happy’. That’s what he stated. Whilst I acknowledge the fact that he is not happy, I do think as an adult we should sit together and resolve things. Problems are meant to be resolved. Dulu lain skang lain. Dulu nyanyi underground, skang ni karier kita bersama. Satu stop, the whole unit is effected. Aku berhenti keje as an IT engineer and I don’t expect someone to say things like that. So it balls back to mentality. And the best part, out of almost 7 years, we never had the chance to sit down together and have a good heart to heart talk. I think that’s essential to make sure the group stay alive.

Then after istiqarah, and discussion with my family member, I quit the group on their birthday. It’s a slap to them. But don’t blame me. I have fought enough for them, which I never receive any thank, and I no longer see any potential working together as a unit in the future with them. However I wish them well

It was all good at the beginning. Me and Karen was able to chit chat, hangout at mamak, play cards and badminton together. For me, work is work, personal is different. Im the type who knows how to segregate between professional life and personal. However it was till I got hit by the stupid controversy that I stole the song SOLO that he acted differently. More stupid I guess

Lets first talk about the controversy. Its plainly stupid. Amylea said I stole the song when everybody knows the composition is by me, the lyrics is by Eenaz Mokhtar and Altimet. Then she changed her statement to saying that I copied her idea. Later, she came out at Melodi with Flava saying that I stole their money. They said that I cant be trusted and ran off wit their money. Look, I have to be honest, yes they paid me a deposit for a song. However don’t blame me if your group member cant proceed with recording session because most of them are studying in campus. If I cant be trusted, I wouldn’t have been so busy producing other artiste this whole year. Labels wont even come to me asking for my song if they really think Im the type who steal song. And it pisses me off knowing the fact that they turned to TV instead of asking me the money directly. Later I found out that a member of FLAVA is dating Amylea. Kantoi J

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD9as4QfyFw

So what has it got to do with Karen? Karen is close to FLAVA.

When I got hit with it, dia plak yang menyebok announce kat FB yang I already quit the group so don’t relate to Infinatez. How do you think I felt that time? First and foremost, don’t talk as if I don’t do shits for the group. I contributed more than him. But I still respect and apologized. Tapi come on la, people know me as ex-Infinatez, so tak perlu untuk melatah. Dulu bila aku quit ko tak announce pun, tapi bila aku kena controversy, ko perli tak sudah2 sampai nak buat press conference menyatakan I was no more part of the group. To me its nonsense. The controversy revolves around me, why should other party get involved. Aku sendiri taknak panjangkan cerita, si Karen memandai nak publisiti murahan and menyelit jugak buat apa? It shows how immatured you are in handling gossips. Plus where are they now? ‘SH’ just quit the group recently. They don’t have any demands, show pun takde, plus they don’t even have any singles after I left. Ye Infinatez group bersahabat, tapi the group was formed not to bersahabat. Its to pursue music. Kalau nak bersahabat, takyah buat group

http://www.budiey.com/infinatez-kini-tinggal-berempat/

Tak perlu nak sindir2 aku composer hebat, ye betul im a good composer and producer that’s why people still demand for my songs. I give value to my clients. I take my work seriously and take pride of my craft. But whats important is im still in the industry and make a living out of music. Ur still there talking behind my back. What else yang dia tak puas hati? He keeps on saying I don’t pay my musicians well, please bare in mind im a good paymaster. Some of them I even paid before we work. So come tell me straight to my face with proof and evidence. However I do admit I didn’t pay one female group ‘S’. But I got my reason. Here goes :

http://www.drgreenhorn.blogspot.com/2011/02/d-i-v.html

I didn’t ask anyone to back me up when I got hit. I didn’t want anyone to side me. All I ever wanted was for people to seek truth and side the truth. But you got it wrong. Nuff said u talked bout me to all my circle of friends, but giving me a bad remarks to my fans are so inhuman. That’s when I know who you really are and what you're made off. Plus your attitude wont take you no where

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ME

Soulstar

Selamat Hari Raya AidilAdha

SOLO feat Altimet

Happy Deepavali

Id like to wish a blistful Deepavali to all Malaysians especially fellow Indian friends

I wish you well

Dearest,

Hope when you read this you would understand how I really feel. I'm not proud of what I did, but i knew one day I had to tell the truth. I'm full of guilt, and never once wanted to break your heart. NOT YOU!!!. But at the same time I cant lie to myself too and be with someone out of sympathy. The truth is I care, and I care a lot about you. You have been a person who stuck by me thru ups and downs. But I needed more than that to be in a relationship. I don't wanna settle with less. Therefore i opted to seek more to know what is less and what is more. What I want, and what I really need. Its your choice to leave me, because I never said that I wanted to leave. I wanted things to be just how it is. Nothing more nothing less. Maybe you left because you thought that you're the victim. But you're not. Truth is there are other girls before you, during your presence , and there will be girls after you as well. I'm not a player, neither am I a heartbraker. I just wanted the best for myself. And the fact that we have been so attached, that letting go seems so hard. I'm here, you know me very well, and after the things i went thru this couple of years, it made me into thinking bout life. I'm seeing things from other perspective. Nevertheless, I wish you well

Andi A. Merican

Dont you miss me?

Its been a while that i wrote something here. Had a conversation with a dear friend yesterday, that struck me when was my last time I pen down something here. Dah lama sangat kot. So I guess its better for me to just write whatever that crossed my mind.

Owh yeah. How ya'll doin? So how was Ramadhan and Raya. Sorry I didnt even had the time to even wish you guys. Guess, I got some other important priority to attend to. But for me, fasting month was great. I had a complete strike eventhough they were lotsa temptations, yelah knowing my music life and most of the time I was in the studio, lagilah terganggu iman. Dengan rokoknya, makan minum my non - muslim frens. But yeah, Im glad I survived :)

During Ramadhan, I stick to being productive. Bulan puasa memang kurang show unless suddenly I decided to sing lagu - lagu nasyid yang berbentuk kerohanian hehe. So bila kurang show tu most of my time I spend making music. I had a few ongoing projects that kept me busy sampai ramai jugak yang komplen, how anti-social I was. Bukak puasa pun ala kadar, and takdelah macam bukak puasa tahun2 lepas, spend bagai nak gila. Tahun nie, cukup sekadar makan, then sambung kerja di studio. Banyak jugaklah event berbuka puasa bersama press yang terlepas. But owh well, you know me. Im not the type who goes around and tayang muka just to get my face in the local newspapers and TV. Music aint fame for me. Its work. So deal with it. And i was so focused that i didnt realised besok dah raya. Hahaha. So few hours sebelum balik beraya pegi shopping at Jalan TAR. Sempatlah beli kasut samping and few more.

So bila dah kerja kaw-kaw, raya pun kaw-kaw lah. I think i didnt work for almost 2 weeks. Orang lain cuti a few days je kan, maksimum pun seminggu. I heard from my Singaporean mates, diorang lagilah cuti satu hari je. But i whacked 2 weeks. Itupun ader keje, kalau tak Ill probably spend a whole month resting. hehehe. My first day was at my dad's place, followed by my uncle and auntie's house. Banyak jugaklah duit terbang pada anak buah dan all my cousins. FYI, all my cousins are mostly 10 - 20 years younger than me. And i have around 50 cousin. So ya'll do the math berapa banyak duit raya i had to sacrifice. But again, I had fun. Then i went back to JB to visit my grandma. I miss my grandma cooking. She would know what I love and she would spend hours cooking for me. ( I would spend hours eating too). It was in JB that I had a total peace. Far away from all this hectic life. I eat, sleep, watch TV, eat, sleep, visit my family, eat sleep and maybe shit.

And then lepas habes cuti balik KL je terus kena keje................(non-stop)

'SOLO' music trailer

The 2 lessons I learned

Salaam. These few weeks have been very busy for me. I was so busy I never thought I could get any busier. But like I said busy is good. Busy keeps you on the ground and works fast. And during these few weeks I learned a few valuable lesson as a musician

A year ago while I was working with Acis with vocal parts, he actually taught me a lesson that I will cherish forever. Being the man that I am, i would try my very best to have colours on the harmony parts rather than unison or a plain octave. I would not stick to the parts that was given to me instead rearranging it to make it sound better. But what I failed to understand was its not about individual talents, but individuals coming together as a unit. It is about giving your best when you re needed and not over doing it. I was asked to stick to the normal lines or octave because the Music Director had asked me too. 'It is not how good you are, it is how good you work with others'.

Same goes to the show I had at Nerofico the other day (Friday to be precised). While performing that night I realised what Acis had told me earlier was right and understand completely what he was saying. Its like im completely in Acis shoes. I had the best musician in their own world. Led By Zailan Razak, Hiran Benton and Wan Gigi, I personally admit that they are one of the best I have ever worked with. They would do improvisations right at the spot and are truly amazing. But what so ironic that night is I think that it was practically the worst show I did. My worst night is when I performed with the best musicians. Why? Because I wasnt feeling their music and everyone was so good that they forgot to stay in one unit. Everyone was trying to have their own moment that they forget the show was all about me. Dont get me wrong im not dissing them neither am I blaming them. They are great musicians. Period. But have you ever heard 'less is more' ?

Secondly, practice practice practice. I remember reading this somewhere but as a musician and a performer our work is to practice. We only have fun during our show. If you re not happy practicing you should consider doing something else. So practice your heart out and have an ample time of rehearsal. When I performed with Joe Flizow, the Music Director asked everyone to go back to the studio at 2am in the morning to tighten things up eventhough we had a long and tiring day of full dress and the actual show was the following day. Alda (MD) knows what he is doing. There is no such thing as reading your chart or just adlib or just feel without practice. That s bullshit. Musicians and bv need to know their cue, chords and even the singer too. There is no such thing as loose and see what happens during the show. You need to establish rules before trying to break em. If there is no rules how on earth you know what and where to break?

Summary: 1) work in one unit 2) practice, practice, practice

SOLO music video

The first time i proposed the idea of the music video, most of the influential people in the industry was against it. Diorang cakap its a waste of money. Even lagu yang meletup pun some of em takde video clip. But i wanted it to be a brand for myself. A music video is not just a short clip, but it serves as your profile too. But they dont understand, some of em has the nerve to say 'ala andi ko buat cincai je sudah'. Janji ader video.

Thats not how i work la. Kalau nak buat, buat all out. Kalau tak jangan buat langsung. There is no such thing as buat halfheartedly. So it took me sometime jugak to decide the director and the storyline. Director memang banyak kat luar, but unless I was the son of Tan Sri Azman or Muhyiddin Yassin, i need to get the right director that doesnt charge me that expensive but yet produce good quality. So i met a few until one day a friend of mine suggested these students from ASWARA. They appear to be humble, and very hardworking, and most important is they work very sincere. So after loads of meeting here and there, we finally shoot the music video.

The process was interesting for me bcoz not only i funded the whole project, i had very less manpower at the same time im acting as the Production Manager. Gilerlah i ve never had experience doing that. But then again i cant afford to hire more people, bcoz the more i hire the more the cost is. So i had to make loads of calls, learn about image, props, and the headache was securing talent. My music video needs loads of talents from young kids to adults. And then, locking down the artiste to preparing the schedule. That was a total chaos for me. But given the chance, id do it again hehehe

And like i say, the production team was very sincere. A normal music video would take the maximum 2 days, but in my case, to get a proper shot, and since this is their first project too, we shot 4 days. Now thats crazy ass production. Sounded like a Grand Brilliance production plak kan. And to make it more interesting, i roped in a few other established name from the industry. Julia Ziegler was the heroin, Dira Abu Zahar helped directing it, Altimet was feature in it and i also had a special appearance by Fahmi 'Apek' our very own football goalkeeper. Talking about marketing kan :)

We also had support from a few organization. TQ to Downtown Coffea and Tea for sponsoring their premis and Polis Diraja Malaysia for their support, the lockup and also a few policeman who offered to be in this glamorous entertainment world hehehehe

To all that was involved in the production, the directors, the cameraman, the lighting man, the extras, the makeup artiste, the hair stylist, and to my family, from the bottom of my heart, i appreciate your presence and help, and thank you from me again.

Now lets wait for the trailer (huh? got trailer meh?)

I'm a 'PRODUCER'

Lama tak menulis, and tetiba rasa nak menulis update terkini on my career. Dimulakan dengan berita yang my album might not be released this year due to promotional purposes. After consulting the management, we have planned to release the full length album insyaALLAH next year. Dont get me wrong, kalau nak kira album memang besok jugak boleh release bukan saja satu, but dua album terus. Lagu - lagu kebanyakan memang dah siap record with the music and other collaborating artiste. Boleh je buat macam other artiste record terus keluar album, but we are aiming bigger. We want the brand of 'Andi Merican' goes parallel with the music. Yes I admit that my last single 'SOLO' was like 10 months back, and we need a proper follow up. Just to update you guys, there will be a follow up. We just finished shooting the music video that has Julia Ziegler, Altimet, Dira Abu Zahar and Fahmi Apek (Malaysia very own goalkeeper). And my upcoming single will be released after raya. So tunggu !!!

So what am I busy with now? Well currently my schedules are tight up with music work and producing in the studio. Alhamdulilah, semenjak 2-3 bulan nie, there are more artiste, manager, record label enquiring about my songs and production. Ader jugak yang dah sangkut. It took me some time to realize that 'producing' is my kinda thing and my direction. Thanks to Abg Roslan Aziz yang dok paksa focus on that, so right now i will be focusing on making good music and producing other artiste. So there goes. Singing comes second. So nanti kalau nak keluar album, keluar je lah but the brand as a producer is already there. Syukur :)

Other than that, me and my partner is now planning for something big. We are looking things from a higher perspective. Pray for me. Kalau jadi, it would be something good for the music industry and talents out there. Amin !!!

Dari meja 'Andi'

D. I. V. A

Ingin menjadi seorang diva, ikutilah langkah - langkah berikut:

• Tubuhkan group vokal berkumpulan. Tetapi jangan tumpukan pada vokal
• Fokus kepada pemakaian dan cara menari sahaja.
• Menari hendaklah dalam keadaan tidak teratur
• Jangan belajar music. Tapi kalau nak belajar jangan bayar. Mintak secara percuma sudah mencukupi!!!
• Jadi seorang diktator yang bukan sahaja membuat keputusan tanpa persetujuan ahli lain, malah menolak idea ahli2 lain
• Buang ahli tersebut jika berlaku sebarang percanggahan idea.
• Hanya dengar music hebat dari Britney Spears dan Pussycat Dollz
• Jangan rendah diri, seorang DIVA perlukan attitude
• Bila bekerja dengan orang, wajib menjadi sombong terutama kepada Producer dan Music Director. Tak perlu bersalaman dengan ahli music dan penyanyi latar
• Buat - buat tak kenal pada kawan2 yang sudah banyak membantu
• Tidak boleh berurusan secara terus, tetapi melalui pengurus. 'talk to my manager please'
• Patahkan microphone sewaktu persembahan, dan tak perlu minta maaf dan rasa bersalah
• Ulang lagu kalau sekiranya tidak berpuas hati dengan persembahan sebelumnya
• Teruskan mencari ahli ketiga, dan buang, dan cari balik !!!
• Bila tiada pengganti, bergerak sebagai DUO

Song Development Chart

I saw this written by Roger Wang, the guru in fingerstyling guitar. I guess this is a very basic method on making a song. You cant go wrong if you follow these basic simple rules :)

First, start with the basic idea. Choose any topics you wanna talk about, or come out wit your own melody, or if you re a writer, you may start scratching down your basic lyrics and then humm to your tune

Once the idea is there, work on the music arrangement. Some musicians work on their arrangement together during the brainstorming of the idea of the song. I guess whatever works with you and however you're comfortable with.

Then do a complete demo and take time to review it. Dont rush. Try to get as many people to listen to it and get their honest feedback !!!

If it doesnt feel right, you might wanna go back to square one and fix the problem :)

But if you feel right, and you believe it would work, start practicing, have a few jam session, and then start recording. A good musician would know whats a good record.

All the best :D

Happy New Year 2011

Sedar tak sedar 2010 dah pun melabuhkan tirainya. Im all excited to work harder and see what 2011 has to offer. Here are my target for the whole year with god's will insyaALLAH

PERSONAL

• Spend more time with family
• hantar tok pergi umrah
• Jaga solat
• more stable financially
• new car the end of the year
• lead a good life (spend more time at the gym, i suppose)

MUSIC

• Create atleast 20 songs for 20 different clients
• Launch my album by third quarter of this year
• setup my own record label and publishing house
• master music instrument such as keyboard and guitar

Korang pun perlu ader azam korang. So sebelum terlambat, selamat tahun baru pada semua ye. Semoga tahun nie kita mendapat keberkatannya dan mencapai segala yang kita impikan