Music was no longer driven by energy alone. It had various elements that require intellectual intervention. Everything had to be synergised like pieces of puzzles - chord arrangements, melody, genre, beat, lyrics, types of instrument and the most epitome ingredient, the "feel"
USIC
has always been a significant part of my life. Not because I grew up
with music, but because I made a conscious effort to have interest in
it. I grew up in a typical conventional traditional Malay family where
the ultimate focus was being put on education and religion. Music was
never part of that. It was all about tuitions for the core subjects like
maths, English and the like. Music class was unknown in my family. I
wanted to become a fine artist but responsibly pursuaded otherwise by my
father. I became an Accountant instead. Having said that, where did the
opportunity to love music came from? My father do listen to music but
it was not fresh enough for the liking of a kid like me (back then). We
are talking about names such as Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole
alongside the local counterparts such as Ahmad Nawab, Syed Agil and of
course, who cannot resist, P. Ramlee (Tan Sri). The radio scene was also
quite limited to Zainal Din Zainal or Nuramin from Radio Malaysia Ibu
Kota (popularly known as RMIK). 
So
what had opened my eyes (or rather my ears)? It was a few names as
listened from cassettes bought by my father - Alleycats (Kerana),
Kembara (Duit-Duit) and Sudirman (Chow Kit Road). This showcased music
as a point of interest to me. The point where I begin to request my
father to buy more cassettes of those artists. On the foreign influence
side, Michael Jackson was at that time winning all trophies possible via
Billy Jean, Beat It and of course, Thriller. The first foreign cassette
I'd ever listened to was the compilation of 1984 Grammy Award winners
simply because Michael Jackson was on it. This exposed me to more good
tunes such as Uptown Girl (Billy Joel), Telephone (Sheena Easton), All
Night Long (Lionel Ritchie) and many more. But soon, foreign influence
(on me) depleted as the popularity in school (primary) was
heavily fuelled by Search (Rozana), Lefthanded (Tiada Lagi Kidungmu)
and a few more Malay Rock'n'Roll bands.
Secondary
school was a bigger pool of musical experience. We were having super
bands from both local and foreign scenes assimilating into our hungry
sponge for entertainment. Search (Fenomena album) continued being the
No.1 band in Malaysia and Wings (Hukum Karma album) rouse up to be of
equal strength to Search. The guru behind Kembara (whom I was listening
to initially) now decided to expose himself as M. Nasir storming
Malaysia with his solo album featuring Mustika. On the English path,
along came Guns'n'Roses, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, Manowar, U2,
Helloween, Sepultura, Nirvana and many more. During that time I begin to
learn how to play the guitar. That opened the gate to a new realm of
music, the instrumentalists such as Yngwie Johann Malmsteen, Steve Vai
and Joe Satriani. As you can see, my musical inclination moved away from
the Pop genre that Grammy Awards was dominated by, to Rock'n'Roll and
Heavy Metal.
By
the time I left for Australia for my tertiary studies, I had made a
myopic decision to only accept "Rock" as my preferred genre and closed
the doors to any other genre. Being a rocker was cool and that accepting
other genre was pathetic, or at least, that was what I was thinking.
Metallica became my favourite band and I begin to do a retrospective
journey tracking the roots of "Rock". From contemporary (at that time)
Heavy Metal bands like Metallica, I managed to trace musical influences
to the grandfathers of Heavy Metal, namely Black Sabbath, Deep Purple
and Led Zeppelin. These bands had strong blues influence. That led to
the discovery of a softer "Rock" such as Pink Floyd, Dire Straits,
Double Trouble, the Police and of course, The Beatles. These bands
introduced me to great musicians such as Ozzy Osbourne, Ritchie
Blackmore, Jimmy Page, David Gilmore, Dr. Mark Knofler, Stevie Ray
Vaughan, Sting and Sir Paul Mcartney. Of course I knew Elvis Presley is
the king of rock but I never went that far. He did not fit in into my
appetite. What did fit in naturally was and still is, the modern Rock
King, inventor of freakish blues, Jimi Hendrix.
Occasionally
I do enjoy some pop songs but it was more because of the sexy girls
singing - Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Shakira, Spice Girls, Christina
Aguilera, Britney Spears and the list goes on. Hip Hop was not in my DNA
except for Will Smith. At that time the Rock influence was deeply
embeded especially when jamming sessions (I play the bass guitar) were
filled with Rock songs, or, if not, derivative of Rock, such as
Alternative or Grunge. That myopic dimension was soon broken when I met
Ahmad Izham Omar, a Malaysian song writer and producer (who produced
Innuendo's albums). We talked about music. We strategised genres to
capture audiences when he was the CEO of 8TV and radio stations such as
Hot FM, Fly FM and One FM. We had some jamming sessions, of which, some
of it involved stars such as Amy Search and Jacklyn Victor. He was well
balanced in his interest. He appreciated both "Rock" and "Non-Rock". He
simply appreciates music... full stop. 
He
(Izham) provided me with a new realm of discovery - music was no longer
driven by energy alone. It had various elements that require
intellectual intervention. Everything had to be synergised like pieces
of puzzles - chord arrangements, melody, genre, beat, lyrics, types of
instrument and the most epitome ingredient, the "feel". It is as if
music is supposed to give some transcending enlightenment. As a result, I
started listening to Chick Corea, Kenny Wayne Shepard, Jeff Buckley,
John Mayer, Mike Stern, Tracy Chapman, Living Colour and had intensified
my listening to Izham's favourite, The Beatles. I learnt a hell of a
lot about music from Izham. It gets interesting when he makes
fascinating observations on song structure. For example, most songs have
even bars in a verse (eight or four) but the song Yesterday, by the
Beatles, has seven. He also gave me insights on how my bass guitar
playing should fit in bridging the beats from the drums to the other
instruments and laying out the rhythms for the vocals and guitars to
ride on as well as providing the notes and melody that fences a song
together. This all sounds very philosophical but when comprehended, it
is the substance of that "intellectual" intervention that makes a song
really, really good to listen to.
In the end, I had embarked on a wonderful journey into the music world
retrospectively and prospectively; and jumping from one genre to
another. I accept all genres of music for a better understanding of
music universally. I also utilise, where possible, the various
techniques that the different genres can offer, and, in my mind,
appreciation of music cannot be guided by the musicians solely as it
must reciprocate the interest of the listeners. In other words,
musicians should not limit their musical creativity to what he or she
believes in but also to include what the listeners believe in. Despite
all that, when asked who or which band had the most influence in my
musical journey, I'd answer, Metallica!!!!! ..... and hail Burton.
METALLICA
(Original Lineup excluding Dave Mustaine)
L to R:
Kirk Hammet (Guitar), James Hetfield (Vocals/Guitars),
Lars Ulrich (Drums) and Cliff Burton RIP (Bass)
Johan Ishak
Chief Executive Officer
MyCreative Ventures Sdn Bhd
