Rock music’s history on this side of the planet has been illustrious to say the least. Ever since the rock ‘n’ roll phenomenon breached our shores, countless bands have coalesced over the years, suffusing the local airwaves with their own definition of the popular genre.
Heavily influenced by blues, R&B and country music, rock finds itself best experienced on the live stage and assumes a particularly imposing position within the underground music scene in Malaysia. However, many think the rock scene has said its reluctant farewell to its golden age, with live shows on the decline and a bevy of prominent rock bands seemingly experiencing its twilight years. True or not, the current condensation of modern rockers aspiring to make it big indicates that the scene has yet to lose its beating heart.
Prominent figures within the rock community have much to say about how rock is true music and that the scene could mend itself should certain steps be taken. We pried into the mind of ROTTW’s founder, for instance, for a more insightful look at our countries rockers. Meanwhile, Kak Jenn shares, among other things, a little bit about why we should eradicate the ‘free mentality’ that is commonplace among Malaysians and how doing this will help the scene as a whole.
Jason Lo imparts a little bit of crazy into issue #8’s pages while dipping into the difficulties of managing Rock The World, arguably the biggest local rock showcase there is. We’ve also got Bunkface featured this time around, in which we managed to glean a little bit of info on the band’s upcoming all-English album.
Love Me Butch’s guitarist, Wing Meng was also kind enough to sit down with us to talk about his businessman persona and how music shaped his path into the retail sphere. Of course, in keeping with MASSES tradition, we start off with a brief history lesson on rock music itself before touching on the local bands that have made an impact on the rock culture here.
Please enjoy this rock-flavoured issue and never stop rocking hard!
