Yes, this is abit overdue, but ...hehehe, here it goes..


The crowd for April’s Troubadours / Open Doors was way better than last month despite the rain. Though we had a really good performances by The Rhapsody, Jerome kugan and others, as well the really cool short films by Tan Hui Koon, Nasim Esa, Liew Seng Tat etc, we didnt get enough audiences (mainly due to the heavy downpour). For that we do apologise to the film makers and performers.
 
This time around, the show got off bit late as we had to wait for (more) people to slowly trickle in! So remember peeps,, please come in on time as a sign of courtesy to the performers and film makers as well as to the other audiences who were punctual.
We started with an open mic session (a first for TOD), with Kevin a.k.a Broken Scar kicking things off. Kevin even managed to slip in a simple contest giving out three copies of his recently released debut album titled “Midnight in St. Kilda”. As usual Kevin delivered an energetic set, though we were abit disappointed he didnt sang material from the new album. For those who missed his set, do catch Broken scar at Troubaganger next month ok? He might even give away some cds!!
 
Imam, a young singer songwriter from Indonesia who is currently studying here is the second act for the open mic session. A mixture of Indo pop and British alternative rock (?), this newcomer is an act to look out for. Don't believe us? Catch him at the next Troubaganger show at La Bodega!
 
In this series, 4 short films by Jimmy Choong, Nik Haslinda, Jeffrey Loh and Chawirat Tan titled “Ada Bola”, “Cermin”, “3 Months Later” and “Burning Sensation” respectively were featured. This time round, all the 4 filmmakers were present at the event to give short commentaries on their film and answered questions that were fielded by the audience. Some of the questiones revolves around the creative aspects behind the films, others were more about logistics. whatever it is, there's seems to be no stopping them from making the kind of films that are intelligent, witty, cheeky and wholly entertaining!!!
 
As for the featured singer songwriters, first up was Ferns, a 5 piece pop band, who brought the audience into a dreamy mood with their mind haunting music arrangement and unique vocal style which incorporates a lot of falsetto. For fans of Travis, etc good news!! they'll be releasing their debut album soon. Watch this space!
 
Next was Pak Pandir, a veteran performer singing a mixture of favourite old and new tunes. Most of the audiences, even the younger generation, seem to recall Pak Pandir’s award winning hit back in the 90s, “Yang Remeh-Temeh” when he sang it. Being a veteran, Pak Pandir definitely knows how to woo the crowd and got the audience singing along and laughing at his witty lyrics.

Paul Lau, one of the founders and spokesperson for Tugu, went on stage to explained the collective's philosophy and history .A jamming session by Tugu Drum Circle at the main lobby area brought the gig to a grand finale. The whole building reverberated with the sometimes frenzied and catchy beats of the percussions. The session also involved members of the audience playing various percussion instruments, which lasted for about an hour.The dedication and passion for drumming is visible from the not so young to the youngest member (7 year old!!) as they relentlessly attack the skins. Paul and another prominent young singersongwriter Reza even went around enticing the audience with the universal language of the rhythm to get everyone into the groove. WHOA!!! was that a cool ending to a great show or what?!!

Kudos and thanks to all who came made it a success. Special thanks to Norman Teh and ChanWAn@ Tendouji for designing those really extra cool poster/ flyers, To Albert and friends for past photos, To Yue May for the latest pics (coming soon!!) and to the audiences, thank you very much, hope to see y'all soon!!


Ian Chow, SH, AY and JK

Troubadours / Open Doors is a monthly series of live performances and short-film screenings. Launched in February, it is jointly organised by KLPac and Troubadours Enterprise and takes place on the third Sunday of each month at KLPac's IndiCine.

The core objective of this series is to feature talented Malaysians who have written or produced 100% original material. It is also driven towards introducing new musicians or filmmakers to the local scene and serves as a much-need platform for such talents to showcase their work.

In April, we have lined up an eclectic mix of talented musicians including Pak Pandir, Tugu Drum Circle and Ferns. There will also be short-film screenings between the music performances by indie filmmakers - Jeffrey Loh, Jimmy Choong, Chawirat Tan Paisarn (presented by MioMii) and Nik Haslinda.
Those interested to showcase their music or short-films, please e-mail: biodata, song lyrics (musicians), synopsis (filmmakers) and photo to ian@klpac.com or troubadourskl@gmail.com:

About the Musicians

Pak Pandir aka Azmi Ali is a veteran local singer songwriter whose career has spanned more than 2 decades. A champion of Malay folk genre, he is an entertaining yet critical voice whose songs touch on social concerns.

Tugu Drum Circle consists of people who all share the love of playing drums and percussions. The aim of the group is to promote the playing of drums and percussion to society at large. They meet every Sunday at Lake Gardens.

Ferns used to be a loud emo rock outfit known as This Body Broken. It has since been renamed Fern and is now known as a lean, mean, green pop song machine. The band is in the midst of recording a full-length album.

About the Filmmakers

3 Months Later
Jeffrey Loh is a freelance filmmaker who grew up watching a lot of Chinese operas and Shaw Brother's sword-fighting movies. He was inspired by films like Yellow Earth, Awakenings, The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Silence of the Lamb to be a filmmaker.

Ada Bola?
Jimmy Choong is a storyboard artist, clay animator, editor, art director and videographer.

Burning Sensation
Chawirat Tan is an inspired advertising student. She will be showcasing her very first short-film at Troubadours/Open Doors. Woohoo!!

Cermin
Nik Haslinda is a freelance director, producer and editor. She has been volunteering for arts events and workshops since she was 8 years old.

For more Info, please do visit www.Klpac.com

Hope to see y'll this sunday!! AND, for those who like jam with percussions, do bring any instrument/ or sound making objects so that we can jam with Tugu Drum Circle ITS GONNA BE A HECK OF A SHOW!!!!

Here's our flyer for Wayang Kata!