30 May 2006

Empire Garden ke, Gotik Malam Edan?!...

RETURN OF THE TITANS
By N. RAMA LOHAN (The Star, 30 May 2006)


The giant has woken from its slumber. If rock music has seemed lame and lacking the kind of passion we remember from the 1970s and 1980s, be warned, the furnace is about to be turned up. Yup, the mercury is rising with industry standard Search’s 10th and latest album, Gotik Malam Edan, expected for a June release.

What’s gotten the industry especially excited is the reforming of the original line-up, which now includes Amy on vocals, Hillary Ang on guitar, Nasir on bass and Yazid on drums. The wait was long, but judging from the vibe surrounding the band and the sound of the new material, it has been worth it.

Ang’s return to the band has generated much interest from fans since he’s been actively involved in his own pursuits for more than 15 years now. “It’s good to be in the band again. Initially it felt odd, but after a while, it felt like I had never left the band,” enthused the 44-year-old guitarist. ”I will be here for the long term, or until the band kicks me out,” he quipped.

During a recent recording session for the album, Amy revealed how the band arrived at the current crossroads.

“As opposed to how we’ve worked in the past, this time around, we wanted to do a concert first and then release an album. But since we completed our Revolusi tour two years ago, we’ve only finally gotten around to doing this album,” he said.

One burning issue that’s being hotly debated among Search fans is the departure of guitarist brothers Kidd and Din. Both men seemed to have unceremoniously left the fold but Amy says there is a perfectly logical explanation.

“We were experiencing internal differences. Kidd was just losing the passion to do this. Like with a big company, when there are problems, there is a need for reshuffling. It was a difficult decision and we laboured over it, but this is about the band, and not any single individual. We just couldn’t hang around to see Search’s legacy fall apart.”

Production duties this time around have fallen once again to M. Nasir, who produced a few songs, and the remainder by Edry Hashim.

“We have a good working relation with Edry and there is a certain chemistry between us and
him,” explained Amy.

Rock has always strived to be vicious and in your face, and Gotik Malam Edan sees no change in that paradigm. “We’ve always gone for a big sound. On this album though, we tried to meld some of the newer rock flavours with our signature sound,” he added.

Outside the upcoming Search album, Amy features on pop rock singer Saleem’s new album Epigoni (with the track Sesat Di Kuala Lumpur).

The atmosphere in the local rock circle is certainly charged with news of Search’s new album and fans are waiting to hear what this legendary band has to offer 25 years after its inception. Ying and Yang, the new single, is expected to be out sometime next month as well.

“The album is gonna blow their minds away. We’d like to look at this album as a piece of work that fans would proudly have on their shelves. We no longer need to prove ourselves, especially not to the fans because they’ve been there with us and this album is for them.”

The band looks set to pick up momentum with the album launch and an imminent tour. “It’ll be a nationwide tour and we definitely want to take the show to Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei.”

Originally, the band had targeted a large-scale show in celebration of its 25th anniversary sometime in late July, but Amy says a more realistic date looks forthcoming in August.

“This anniversary concert is so important. It has to be something bigger than our last major show. That’s the only way it’ll work. ”

Also in the pipeline is a pictorial book highlighting Search’s career through the years and a box set featuring the band’s music, concert footage and karaoke versions of chosen band nuggets.

Amy stresses that the importance of the Internet is not to be ignored. In fact, promotion for the new album will be heavily generated by the band’s official website (www.duniasearch.com). But are Search fans ready for this ascent into cyber space?

“When the word spreads, people should get into it. We want to be the first Malaysian act to be successful on this new platform,” he said.

The buzz within the band has been nothing short of positive and Amy is quick to concur: “Everything has been running smoothly. We’ve had no issues. The problems we had 20 years ago no longer exist.” It’s obvious that time has chiselled away some of the negative aspects of the band’s chemistry, assuring us that Search will be around for a long time to come.



15 comments:

Faizal R said...

Ehhh sudah tukar kaaa ... ari tu lam paper melayu mmg ckp Empire Garden ... he he tp mmg kompem la Hillary join balik ... cant wait the Album of the Year ...

Anonymous said...

search memang best,one of the biggest name in local rock.bila hillary masuk kira ok lar.masa main ngan cromok pon ngam giler.just keep on doing what u guys doing all this years.gua support search sampai lu orang sumer dah berkubur.UNDERGROUNDburiedALIVE-MURDOC22

Anonymous said...

waa,gempak gila tajuk dia!Tapi bagusla jugak tukar tajuk,sbb setau aku asalnya empire garden ni EP je,dalam 5 lagu camtu,patut release time diorang buat konsert stadium merdeka dulu.sice hillary masuk balik,bawak nafas baru,eloklah tukar tajuk album baru.

Anonymous said...

baguss betoi Hillary dah confirm joint SEARCH. Masa aku tgok depa main kat stdum Merdeka,Backroom & Channel ari tu...KID & DIN memang boring. Lintang pukang muzik jadinya..
Hillary memang dah sangat bagus..
Moga SEARCH terus WOWWW!!!

Anonymous said...

ehm..tadi br balik pc mrk. confirm hillary join n dia kata: "good to b home after sekian lama. n ttg edrie dia yg diwar2kan jd anggota br search hanya jd sessionist jek.
amy pun ms minta komen psl din n kid refuse to ckp. n slps ni mmg din n kid tak akan ada bersama search.
mrk kini kembali kpd line up asal -amy, yazit, nasir n hillary.
psl album plk empire garden mmg tak mnjd langsung n diiktiraf sbgi lost album.
Gotik malam edan akan release lewat jun ini. kt nantikan hasil sentuhan mereka berempat dgn m.nasir, loloq n edrie hashim.
sekian, berita ringkasnya

Anonymous said...

KINDER GARDEN

N a d i a said...

thanks makcikpokpek! lu pegi tak wings ahad ni? kalo pegi, tulis la satu artikel & taruk sini. jgn lupe amik gambo cun2, esp gambo awie kite tu, k, bebeh?..hehehehhee..;-)

p/s: frustnye tak dpt pegi. xpdc pun ada konsert gak on the same nite. original line-up, main lagu darjah satu sampai brutal plak tu! arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!...

-nadia the rockin' mama-

Anonymous said...

ya lah jaded wa rasa, walaubagaimanapun gua harap kid dan din ada plan baru untuk mereka,miss jugak rasanya 2 orang ini tak de...keep on rockin...

Anonymous said...

confirm lineup terbaru search ialah AMY, YAZIT, NASIR & HILLARY. album terbaru berjudul GOTIK MALAM EDAN dah 90% siap. lagu2 dia mmg best brader.. gerenti punye :)

jaded, amacam yin & yang? gempak tak?

duniasearch bukan x update website, cuma kita nak kasi surprise aje..yin & yang pulak kita enable member utk download mulai dari 31/5, hari pelancaran anniversary search xxv. yg bukan member tu, preview je la dulu yek.. :)

Anonymous said...

wa rase la kan...hillary pon tak lama dgn search la...kid mesti masuk balik punyer la...wa takut ni semua diorang punyer strategi ajer....biasa la ni semua bisnes beb...boleh kaut untung banyak tu kalau buat kenyataan yg boleh peminat teruja. ko org ingat tak mase konsert diorng kat channel tu,kat paper citer nak nyanyi lagi ying&yang la..,tapi tak nyanyi pon..sajer jer tu kencing supaya peminat datang ramai ramai....sial la diaorang ni....

Anonymous said...

yin & yang sapa nyer guitar work? hillary ke din?

Anonymous said...

Wa rasa Yin & Yang hasil kerja Din punye guitar .... tapi solo macam bukan Kid yg main.

Tapi wa rasa lagu Yin & Yang tu dah mcm lagu Amy Solo pulak ... tak bulih nak feel dan merangsang macam lagu lagu yg dulu la.

Macam sound CREED pun ada guitar dia.

Jaded- wa pun dah jadik ahli duniasearch.

Anonymous said...

pembetulan ---> edrie hashim bukan edry hashim. dia tak suka nama di eja seperti itu. skian terima kasih.

N a d i a said...

anonymous,
harapnye N. RAMA LOHAN (reporter star) tu baca ko nye teguran tang ejaan nama edrie tu yek?..

...$weE+ 666... said...

berita terkini utk hiburan sensasi... amy masuk spital kena denggi! badan terkezut kot dpt 2 juta! ;p

aku doakan amy cepat sembuh! aku fobia sket dgn denggi ni...