Watered Down (from left), Nazrin aka AJ (bass), me (sax), Kheng Teik (guitar), Rudy (drums), and AJ's friend Rizal
Some history....
I met my band and jammed with then for the first time in early 1998, in mid-February to be precise. Prior to that my search for band members was a rather rocky road, as not a lot of guys my age play stuff like jazz, or even contemporary jazz, for that matter. So I found myself looking in rather unusual places, namely through IRC chatrooms. After endless advertising in that chatroom, I finally got my response I was looking for. It came from my drummer's brother, who informed me that his brother, Rudy, played drums and was into more contemporary stuff. So I decided to check them out. It was in mid-February, that we finally got the chance to meet up and jam. I was rather apprehensive at first, but when I got to the studio with them, my doubts vanished. We clicked almost instantly! It was that time I met Rudy, Kheng Teik, and another guitarist and close friend of Rudy's, Luke. Among the four of us, Luke was perhaps the most talented, or rather, more experienced. During that time, he took the bass rather than the guitar, as we had no permanent bassist then. Although his primary instrument was his guitar, he took the bass quite adequately, although not fully. Unfortunately, at this present time, he's not really in the band anymore, due to time factors, and studies. He does jam with us occasionally, when he's free.
We met Nazrin a.k.a AJ somewhere
in the middle of 1998, as we were looking desperately for a bassist.
To our luck, he turned out to be a good bassist! Another hitch was
that he, too, was into more complex genres such as jazz. As Luke
once said to us, "..this guy got groove and the ideas - lah!". With
that, 'nuff said. He's still with us to this day.
Right now, we're into a
blend of jazz, fusion, rock, blues, funk and stuff like that.
We're still trying hard to try to get our own sound. It's not an
easy task, due to time constraints and factors such as myself studying
overseas. Another problem is that we don't have a keyboardist to
work with and this makes it a little hard for us. But nevertheless,
we're definitely trying out as best as we can.
We named ourselves Watered Down, because the first song that we wrote as a group sounds like a watered down indian-classical song, fused with jazz improvisational licks and rockish drum beats.
Now, to introduce the band ....
A drummer of 5 to 6 years of experience, Rudy's probably one of the more talented young drummers I've seen in Malaysia. For a drummer with limited years of experience, he has shown amazing stability of tempo and rhythm, and as well as giving out ideas which can blow the brains out of your typical rock drummer. He claims to have got most of his experience from Luke, who taught him how to be a better drummer by giving him tips on rhythm and drum-playing in general. Needless to say, Rudy is an asset to the band. After all, I don't get to meet or even see many drummers like him, you know! And in person, he's one heck of a cool and fun guy, and very nice fella in general! Too bad for you gals...he's taken (LOL!).
Rudy uses a 5 piece Tama Swingstar kit, a 20" Paiste ride cymbal, two Sabian crash cymbals each measuring 13" and 16" respectively, the Hi hat a Paiste and measures 14", and a Yamaha single pedal.
You can check him out at his homepage, Rudedrumming.
Kheng Teik (KT) is a guitarist of about 5 - 6 years of experience, and he's threading a path to become a jazz guitarist.. and I'm not kidding! KT has a really wierd music history, almost. He started out on the guitar playing heavy metal music, such as Megadeth, Metallica, and such. Then he moved on the more instrumental rockers such as Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai. And right now, after playing with the band, he's totally phased into listening to jazz guitarists and jazz players in general, such as Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Lee Ritenour, and other players such as Chick Corea, Bill Evans and more. Guitar-wise, he is still learning the basics of jazz improvisation on guitar (as we all are). Nevertheless, he can deliver cool lines when called for. Give him a song, and he'll learn the song within a couple of days. In person, he's a real FUNNY fella! He can crack jokes and make you laugh for hours and hours, and he can be a joke HIMSELF, just by being a blur-case!
AJ is by far the BEST bass player of our age, that I've seen and come across so far. Being a former student of famous Malaysian bass players such as Casey and Andy Petersen, AJ can groove to any beat you throw at him, and come out with fantastic bass lines that will put other bass players his age to shame. He plays the bass so naturally, that it might seem that his bass is a natural extension of himself. To add to the spice, we recently found out that he is the cousin of one of Malaysia's best bass players, Zailan Razak. It just runs in the genes! He's played with various local bands, and with different music genres, such as blues, funk, fusion, rock, and of course, jazz. In person, AJ is a pretty cool and fun guy. Gals.. get your skirts up, he's still single (LOL!)!!
AJ employs an Ibanez Sound Gear 6 string bass, with Trace Elliot Bass Amps.
I've basically told about myself, but here's a little summary anyway. I've been playing the sax for almost 7 years this August. My primary instrument is the soprano saxophone ('cos that's the only sax that I have). I am also into jazz music, mainstream and contemporary (including fusion). My favourite sax icons include Eric Marienthal and Dave Koz, whose music has influenced me tremendously. Other players that I am listening to include Kenny G, Charlie Parker, Joshua Redman, Kenny Garrett, and more. As of now, I'm beginning to pick up the flute as my secondary instrument.
I currently play an LASax
intermediate soprano sax equipped with a BARI rubber mouthpiece and Vandoren
Traditional Reeds.
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