No story of triumph is complete without some tragedy, controversy and stories that could possibly sit, stand or echo in the vaults of time… well… for a very long time. There are plenty of updates, video clips, pics and some fine reviews from our Malaysia Tour however Loud Island have made a special request that I shed my perspective and fill you guys in on how the Tour was through the eyes of a performer. Also devotees of my innocuous blog (HaartyHaarrHarrr) have been complaining that I need to update it with all what happened in Malaysia. So here’s to killing two Cold Play fans with 1 stone.
So this is how we carried the flag of our country (in spirit really) and branded Malaysia with our beautiful scars.
Part I
Prelude to the Tour
As usual a whole lotta things; professional, personal and social had clustered up in the weeks preceding to Southern Ultimate Explosion 2009 in Johor, Malaysia. Last minute complications, passports expiring, Visas needing sorting, rehearsals with our new skinsman Taraka, work, bills and a local gig called ‘Splitting the Paradigm’ - that was an incredible concert – later…
It’s the 9th of July and after the killer gig here we’ve been rehearsing like crazy; it being our first time in Malaysia and all, and the fact that we were privileged to perform with some pretty wicked bands. There was a case of limited practice time because of recent sound complaints made to the local authorities by an enforcer of the law who’s mother is ill & was finding it hard to not slip out of consciousness with us providing the soundtrack to the apocalypse… all bullshit if you ask me. We’ve lived in this area for over 2 years now and none of our immediate neighbors have uttered a complaint or depicted concern, this bloody trip breaker has moved in recently 4 or 5 houses down the road where one can only feel the vibrations & I guess a little bit of sound at most. His mother is a diabetic. What Heavy Metal has to do with it is lost to all of us.
Anyway.
We clock in as much rehearsals as we can, the concept behind the local gig was to give our local fans a taste of Stigmata before we left on tour and then it was also a good warm up for us, and taking many precautions into dire consideration we made sure the sounds were really under control but then again when you play scorchers like ‘Spiral Coma’, ‘Nothing’, ‘Swinemaker’ and crushing covers like ‘Scavenger of Human Sorrow’ and ‘Painkiller’ I guess it can make certain people’s heads pop open.
So if I am not mistaken the local gig was on the 4th, we were too hacked on the 5th and so on the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th (the day we were meant to leave) Stigmata rehearsed; praying silently and hoping that the uncool dude down the road would –
1)go on a trip somewhere and get lost
2)fall down the stairs and need a hip replacement in a hospital far away from here
3)drown in our apocalyptic lullabies
No, no, no. We wished him no harm. In any case you’ll begin to dislike this bitch-cake as much as we do very soon. So what we do is we rehearse stuff from our debut ‘Hollow Dreams’, our second record ‘Silent Chaos Serpentine’, material from our soon to be released Album and a few covers. We have a few tricks up our jungies and we are ready, excited, anxious and can’t wait to go perform them in Malaysia.
Its Taraka’s first time overseas too, so we had to gear him for the best and the worst. The finest way to deal with unpredictably horrific circumstances is to anticipate that in a REAL world shit goes wrong all the time and when you least expect it. We make sure all our luggage is sorted, packed (I couldn’t do this alone so my mom visited and stayed for a few days and did the whole “why are you taking so many colorless, black, old t-shirts? Why not take some nice shirts? Look at those jeans, why do they have holes in them?”), the equipment and instruments are all in order, air tickets and passports etc.
So our guys insist on taking the set one last time and that’s exactly what we do. We stop at 8 ‘o clock ‘cos that’s the time we’ve been permitted to play until and you can ask anyone whose around when we rehearse we stick to the timeline like pros! Then we hit the showers, we have some close buddies over for some last minute pre-gig wishes and rituals, we open a bottle of Chivas and whack it on the rocks (yes, yes all remedies for disaster – you guys know Stigmata and our appetites for such things no?), getting all psyched and ready to go to the airport when while having a final chat with our good friend the Shrimp a police jeep passes our premises, its passengers all staring at the Shrimp & me and goes down the road. I have this obscure feeling of a moth on fire in my tummy (an ode to my whiskey than my intuition) and then before long the jeep comes and parks outside our place and an officer of z law steps out and asks me if a ‘Band practices around here’. I acknowledge him (he probably got high just from my motorbreath) and then I have to inquire what all the fuss is about.
That wonderful bloody bitch-cake down the road had called the cops on our sexy asses. Bloody hell. He had complained that we rehearse all the time, that we are never considerate 0f our neighbors and his indisposed mother, that we play till way late in the night and blah – fuckity – blah. I explain our side of the story; that we aren’t doing this for a hobby, this is what we love in life and it’s our profession and that I am aware of the sound restriction laws and that we are in our rights to rehearse till 8pm. I told the officers that we are just about to leave to the airport, that we did rehearse but stopped at 8pm that they can check with any of the other neighbors if they preferred to and that we’ve never had a SINGLE sound compliant in over 2 freakin’ years.
Please tell me… you see my point at just how annoying bitch-cakes is?
Much to the dear police ensemble’s shock Andrew reverses his Jeep at that moment; our Stig-mobile which is a monster of a vehicle and another friend or two were outside who walked over to see what was up. Andrew who had to go home, change and come back with a driver his dad had arranged to drop us at the airport, stopped the vehicle and asked if everything was ok, I also took the liberty of telling our landlord about the complaint and he came out to the street with another cool neighbor guns and words blazing who spoke to the officers and confirmed that no one in the road has an issue with us, our music and its just that 1 dickhead. Then another neighbor who is also an enforcer of the law (you guys must be really wondering where the hell we live no?) saw all of us outside with the men in green and stopped his vehicle and asked if everything was ok.
After what felt like an eon, the cops left, we wished our landlord and his wife and I treaded back inside and waited patiently with the others (who were so over the moon that none of them even knew what was going on outside) downing more whiskey, taking a bong or two waiting restlessly for Andrew & the Driver to come pick us up & to take us to z airport.
Andrew comes, we bid everyone farewell, lock and load all our stuff and head out to the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake. A hot long drive later we are checked at the Airport; an adorable sniffer dog and all, chit chat with the army dudes and we make it on time (we almost missed our flight to India in 2007 because we stopped to drink thambili and some guys needed a smoke) & checked in without too much trouble. Funny thing though they wanted us to remove our boots/shoes, belts and everything in the final check up counter and Stigmata were ready to fly Malaysian Airlines.
3 very special buddies Vimukthi, Lasith and Tharaka Jr., who were also flying with us on the Tour were hitting Malaysia a few hours after us via Sri Lankan Airlines – they found their way there and so more adventures with these 3 characters will continue…
They must have sensed or at least we must have reeked of intoxication ‘cos they didn’t serve us even a beer on the route to Kuala Lumpur. Food was good and we got coffee that tasted like bug shit though and watched some movie that made no sense ‘cos there were toddlers on the plane doing amazing renditions of Danni Filth type screeches and screams every few minutes.
What felt like over a good 3 hours later we land in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. And this my friends is where the REAL journey begins.
Day 1 in Malaysia – 10 July
KL International Airport is majestic. From its stoic & mesmerizing architecture to how quickly everything moves; like a little Tokyo with express trains roaring all around, chicks in Metal t-shirts and a custom’s official who after chatting with Tenny remarked ‘Stigmata from Sri Lanka huh? My favorite bands are Mayhem, Testament and Death’ shows the horns retains a serious expression and says ‘Don’t tell anyone!’
We were in a techno-wiz city with metalheads walking around and it felt good to be there. Like an invisible caress that felt like a magical, silent and satisfactory welcome. You know things are ok when you’re in a place where everyone knows you’re a Band, and a Metal Band of all things and there are no looks or stares of judgment or resentment and that’s always a nice feeling.
Hey try being a Metal Band in Sri Lanka for 9 long years; the first of our kind, a new breed that had to literally carve a place for Metal in Sri Lanka with a few other dedicated guys and girls. No clubs, no radio & TV support, internet wasn’t too hot back then, no press or mags that would cover a Hard Rock/Metal Band. It was crazy. From playing school auditorium gigs and 60 songs a night at clubs mercilessly for hours on end to build the scene up… it was an overwhelming feeling of Heavy Metal zen – not ego and not pomposity – but an inner sinister smile and a thought that says ‘You guys sure have come a long way since those days walking 3-4 kms with amps and equipment in school uniform to rehearse in a studio very far away. Wayta go you buggers.’ Even then the things running in my head were (in no particular order as such) –
1)Hope everyone back home is alright. Loved ones, ones to love, friends, family the works.
2)My doggies… hope Poofy, Corny and Michi don’t rip the neighborhood apart. Unless it’s bitch-cakes.
3)Will the sounds be alright over here? Hope we get a LONG ass soundcheck.
4)Hope Lasith, Vimukthi and Junior have landed safe and found their way to Johor.
5)Maara bloody chicks here no…
6)So if this IS KL I wonder what Johor is like…
7)Will my pipes hold for 2 consecutive days? I need to take it easy.
8)Wonder how the sound engineer will be? What if he can’t understand what we are telling him!?!
9)That coffee on the plane was awful, wonder how the other buggers are taking it…
10)Maara chicks here but…
11)Wonder where exactly we are staying?
12)I guess the other bands must have arrived by now. This is going to be fun.
13)OK where are we supposed to pick up our equipment from?
14)I can’t believe I am already starting to miss everyone back home. Those dogs are gonna be the death of me.
15)Hope this isn’t like our India experience and may the dude supposed to pick us up and drive us from KL to Johor be here on time.
16)Was that an Original Transformers Optimus Prime toy figure? I’ve always wanted one of those things. Whoa.
In order for us to pick up our equipment and check out we have to take an express train from one part of the airport to another. And trust me. These are the type of trains that one could easily utilize to make pancakes.
All excited, massively overwhelmed and with those same things spinning inside my head we get all our stuff and check out to find a dude called ‘Cowboy’. We thought it was very clever of them to give the guy a moniker that’s easily identifiable and I would love to give you a long story how we were stranded in the airport and stuff, but sorry to disappoint you guys. We saw a tall, well built guy wearing a cowboy hat waiting for us. We make all the introductions and discover that his real name is Cowboy and he likes cowboys and even wears cowboy hats. He was there with a buddy of his; a small made dude who also likes to wear hats named ‘Pit’.
So with Cowboy and Pit we go and get our Dollars converted to RM and we head out of the beautiful KLI Airport to a vehicle parked just outside. We load all our luggage and gear and looking around the magnificent structure and illuminative grandeur of the Airport itself, the surrounding area lush and green, clear blue skies were simply meant to be clawed by Sri Lankan talons. I wish we had a camera or had a usable tape for Andrew’s DVD Cam; we had neither so we had to rely on our photographic memory and the magic of the mind.
Cowboy and Pit are both remarkably nice guys which puts a big ass dent in the Indian guy in Delhi who picked us up in the airport who was the equivalent of a moronic Hitler meets a Snail. To tell you the truth Cowboy should be a racecar driver. We hit 110 on the speedometer and Stigmata all mesmerized by the evocative splendor of KL and the early morning sunshine burning our skin realize that 110 is the minimum speed they usually travel in. The highway is flawlessly maintained and created; spacious, wide and two carpeted tongues bleeding into the distant horizon.
This is when Cowboy drives fast and our jeep just eats up the miles like a hungry motor demon.
Without exaggeration I was seated near one of the doors and with the shutter down every second of the drive was quite exhilarating. Now if you know me I am not a dude sold on speed, fast cars – though I love bikes and jeeps – and the concept of danger and adventure to me are different things. I actually enjoyed this though, feeling my heart thumping and bursting inside my chest as we literally flew on the highway from KL to Johor City. Of course we had to make 2 stops for some chow and coffee. When we did stop I looked like Aretha Franklin. No jokes people… these guys drive like it’s their last day on earth. And Thank God for that ‘cos it’s a long, painful drive to Johor from KLI Airport and had Cowboy not tried to break the barrier of speed and light we would have reached our destination in twice the time.
It took us almost 5 hours to get to Johor by the way. Yes, at that speed. Imagine how long it would have taken if we traveled at the 40 – 50kmh speed people are compelled to drive at in Sri Lanka?!? And one would notice things if only one would bother to observe. Mother Nature sure has smiled down on Malaysia. And the effort of the respective governing bodies and the people as a whole who’ve worked in unity to keep the place so clean, so beautiful.
After a pretty long time we started ascending out of Johor City and towards Pasar Godang, at least this was my understanding. We finally approach a nice, cozy joint built with red bricks called – hold yourself for this one folks – The Rose Cottage Hotel. Like something out of a Stephen King novel right? I know. Place wasn’t creepy though. We enter into a nice warmly, reception and waiting area, with a comfortable couch and cable set up for people to chill, there’s a PC near one of the walls as well with a sign saying Free Internet. We thank Cowboy and Pit who confirm that we are to rest and be ready in the evening as we will be picked up, to head out to the venue to have a look at the sounds as well as to have our dinner. We were anxious to meet up with Lasith, Vimukthi and Junior as well who we’ve had no contact with since hours ago.
Our rooms are cool; Andrew, Tenny and Taraka take Room 103 and Javin and I take Room 106. Two large beds, AC, Hotwater and Cable… that sounds about right. So we hit the showers, check each others rooms out, I get online make an update or two and then as dusk starts to creep and crawl soundlessly I get more and more psyched because I need to go check Rookies Steak House out. There’s this inconceivable urge every single time we play that drives me to near insanity to ensure that all’s going according to plan and that out of all the things that could go wrong that only a few would go wrong if we are accurately prepared, while we triumphantly tackle as many obstacles as possible without compromising our standards. That is something that’s very important to us; not just in Sri Lanka but wherever else we perform.
Its part of being Professional to endure anything that comes our way; good or bad or just plain-out horrible. It’s known therefore that all emotions and concerns must be tucked away in a tiny little box, in a dark cold room that can be opened and dissected only after the performance. Its one of those things. We have the knowledge, the experience, the diligence and insight to face anything that’s stacked against us. Its part of being a Heavy Metal musician in Sri Lanka, you simply learn that to survive in this business and this world you have to bite as ferociously as you bark. So in short we were expecting the worst so when shit hit the fan we’d be ready for it.
We are picked up by Cowboy and driven through a series of short cuts and in no less than 10 minutes we arrive at Rookies. Awesome joint. Its got a splendid candor that just screams ‘Rock ‘n Roll’ and so we go inside and meet our 3 buddies who’ve made it straight to Rookies after they landed in KL. The main organizer is a guy named Jack who we meet and after some chit chat shows us around the place.
You feel at ease; all tension and anxiety slipping and slithering away as your eyes sweep the pillars wrapped in many flags, walls adorned with Metal t-shirts, visuals and artwork all over the place, cabinets filled with Metal paraphernalia and memorabilia. If ever there was a place that could beckon a like minded stranger to dub it a ‘Home’ this is it. We noticed a tiny band stand laid out and by the nature of it figured out that certain mellower live acts must perform on this band stand on some days of the week. As foolish as it was I actually wondered if that was where we would perform when Jack (Rookies owner & organizer of SUE 2009) asks us if we would like to see the venue.
‘Hell Yeah.’
A large warehouse; enormous in length but limited in width stood right next to Rookies also owned and recently developed by the owner and co. The place is shrouded and coated in black and one could distinguish an array of fans on the walls as the heat begins to coil around our skin. The place is a furnace almost and at the back on an in-built stage and elevated platform we can see the sound guys setting up the equipment for the gigs. We scrutinize the equipment; the amps, the drum-kit, the bass amp and find it’s more than satisfactory.
To our chagrin and terror we notice that there is 1 on stage monitor for the guitarists and the vocalist and another monitor for the drummer. Now I am no genius when it comes to sound engineering and balancing but I am certainly no layman either. The P.A system didn’t look like it was sufficient and so I had a chat with the engineer; a sweet, soft spoken – to the point of never being heard – petite little dude who explained that they’ve provided sounds based on the budget and the requirement. I smiled at myself thinking that wherever in the world one goes something’s will never change. Sound guys won’t either! We insist that the bands will need a bigger P.A System and more monitors to hear ourselves on stage. Till the other bands have a look and voice their concerns we felt perhaps we should wait and see how everything is once it’s all set up.
So our first day in Malaysia was about getting to know people, some of the band guys, the staff at Rookies, about Rookies itself, about Jack and his family and after a hearty dinner it was determined that the sound check will be on the next day before the concert starts and so we retired to the Rose Cottage Hotel bid each other goodnight and for a fitting anti-climax Javeen and I discover we are unable to fall asleep; jet lag, pre-gig lag whatever you wanna call it… so we watch Die Hard 4.0 till either of us doze off. We would find out later that Tenny and Taraka were also watching Die Hard 4.0 while Andrew was asleep.
By the time I get through the list of movies and TV series you’ll begin to understand why Die Hard 4.0 was one of the better options.
Where the action and the shit both hit the fan is when the next day dawns. The day of the gig…
Till then hold on to your assets.
To be continued…
(Next – Southern Ultimate Explosion, a Crazy Time with some Crazy Bands, A sudden Third Gig that popped out of no-where, escaping the jaws of the Death Penalty and more)
, we were busy with recording album number 3 – that’s going steady but slow, then rehearsals for our Splitting the Paradigm gig in SL which was on the 4th of July and the Malaysian Tour, I had my second stage Marketing exams, my aunt and uncle were pretty sick, we have a new skinsman so we had to get him ready with tracks off our debut ‘Hollow Dreams’, our second record ‘Silent Chaos Serpentine’ and the new album. 
