Estranged started out in the year 2001 when Rich and Din were students in the International College of Music (ICOM) wanting to play rock music, therefore, they gathered a bunch of guys who had similar interests, thus, Estranged is formed. The band started off with their first ever gig in year 2001 at TwelveSI and since then, the gigs kept on coming. The band has also gone through many changes in the line up, even to this day, original lead guitarist Adzrai had just departed with the band due to furthering his studies. New grunge-influenced guitarist Hanafi replaces him. Estranged participated in the “Yamaha Asian Beat Competition†for year 2001 and managed to finish 2 nd runners-up for the competition.
Right after Rock the World 4 (Malaysia’s annual rock festival) the band got inspired to cut an album. And after endless effort and all sorts of obstacles, they completed an 11 track album. The recording process took about 4 months (Oct – Dec 2004) to be completed. Thus, In Hating Memory is born. The debut album includes 10 English tracks and 1 Malay language track. The first single Velocity started receiving airplay since June 2005 followed by the second single Chocolate Syrup. Both singles were accompanied by music videos directed by “Motion Notion†and Tan Chee Meng respectively.
More on the album, the band was very fortunate as they had a chance to work with two dedicated engineers, Mr. Norman Rashid and Mr. Eduardo Garcia. Mr. Norman did the recording sessions and is very experienced as he has work with many pop Malay artists. Mr. Garcia however hails from Colombia, temporarily in Malaysia, finalized the mixing and mastering, and has exceptional talent and even a Latin Grammy nominee to his name.
A little more on the video Chocolate Syrup, the video received heavy airplay as the video had a different storyline to it, compared to other cliché rock videos. It was shot and directed by Tan Chee Meng, a local music producer/video director (the list goes on!). The band wanted a whole new concept for the video compared to the common rock videos.
These are just some of the newspaper reviews by Malay Mail and New Sunday Times. More on the website.
With a bit more diversity in the music arrangement, providing more variety between tracks, Estranged could well be an undiscovered Malaysian gem.
Terrina Hussein , THE MALAY MAIL, 15 th JUNE 2005
Estranged’s approach may seem middle ground, but there’s still plenty of anger, as evident with plenty songs on “In Hating Memory†being about tough times.
ADLIN ROSLI, NEW SUNDAY TIMES, 26 th JUNE 2005
Mid 2006, Rich controversially decides to participate in Malaysia’s most watched reality program Akademi Fantasia (12 contestants are taken into a house where the location is kept as a secret from the public and their lives would be broadcasted on satellite TV. Contestants will be judged based on their personality, singing capabilities and other skills. Week by week, one contestant will be eliminated). Rich happened to be the very first contestant to be in a band which was active in the local underground scene. However, Rich did not finish as the champion of the reality show but it later then came as a surprise to many as Rich had raked in a lot more supporters for the band.
In Sept 2006, the band got nominated for an Anugerah Era (an award ceremony organized by Malaysia’s most listened radio station) under the category “Favourite Local English Act†going against big acts such as Too Phat, Pop Shuvit, and Jaclyn Victor (Malaysian Idol winner) and to surprise, the band managed to win the award. This is followed by a double nomination on the Hitz.fm Malaysian English Top 10 Awards under the categories of Best Rock and Best Video. The band also managed to take home both awards for the respective categories.
The band kicked off year 2007 with the release of the repackaged album “In Hating Memory†by adding a Malay language track which turned out to be a nationwide major hit called “Itu Kamuâ€. The music video was shot by award winning director Jack Wung who hails from Sarawak, Malaysia.
Some of the band’s recognized shows.
Rock the World 4 – 2003
MTV’s Search for Linkin Park – 2003
Asian X-Games – 2004
AXN – 2003 & 2005
Numerous gigs for MusicCanteen.com
8TV’s late night talk show Latte@8 – 2004
Hitz.tv’s birthday bash – 2005 & 2006
Konsert Gemilang Anugerah Era – 2006
Rock the World 7 – 2006
Hot FM Big Jam Kuala Lumpur – 2007
Konsert Akademi Fantasia Season 5 Episode 5 – 2007
MTV LIVE with Good Charlotte – 2007
Muzik Muzik – 2007
Recognition
-Nominated for the “Favourite Local English Artiste†at the Anugerah Era 2006
-Won the “Favourite Local English Artiste†at the Anugerah Era 2006
-Nominated for two categories (Best Rock & Best Video) at the Hitz.fm Malaysian English Top 10 Awards 2006
- Won the “Best Rock†category at the Hitz.fm’s Malaysian English Top 10 Awards 2006
- Won the “Best Video†category at the Hitz.fm’s Malaysian English Top 10 Awards 2006
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