Mamak With Bunkface

By Ben Liew  •  in News
Thirsty for JUICE content? Quench your cravings on our Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp

Attention rock kaki! If you haven’t already heard, there’s going to be a huge outdoor rock concert tomorrow (Saturday) at CapSquare called Rockaway. Organised by One Buck Short and supported by Jack N Jill potato chips , the FREE concert will showcase homegrown acts such as Bittersweet, Pop Shuvit, Deng Deng Etc, Love Me Butch, Seven Collar T-Shirt, The Times, Pesawat, Couple and many more.

JUICE took the opportunity to catch up with Sam, Ahmad and Farouk of Bunkface (who are also performing tomorrow) over a quick mamak session. Unaffected by the recession and flush with cash, teh-o-ais and nasi kandar were on us.

You guys first tasted mainstream exposure during Blastoff! 3. What do you think of the competition?
Sam (vocalist/guitarist): I think it’s a good platform to start off … but they (Astro) should follow-up with the bands and make sure that they carrying on making good music after Blastoff.
Farouk (bassist): A lot of the bands don’t go anywhere after the competition and a lot of them just break up.

What do you think of Battle of the Bands? Is it right to judge music?
Sam: For Blastoff, we just tried it out. We never thought about winning. Our motive was just to let people know who Bunkface is. We did not vote for ourselves like some of the other bands. It’s all about the music. And that’s why we lost, kot. Haha!

Yeah, middle finger to SMS voting! So how old are you guys?
Sam: 21.
Ahmad (lead guitarist): Yeah, I’m 21 too.
Farouk: I’m 20.

So who are some of your favourite local bands?
Farouk: I like Komplot, Pesawat….
Ahmad: Pop shuvit!
Sam: Bittersweet.

What about Hujan?
Sam: Boleh la … but not too much. Haha!

Noh was fooling around with you guys at Sunburst…
Sam: Yeah, that’s just his attitude. We ARE friends, you know? We just take it as a joke. It’s never personal.

What do you think of local bands today?
Sam: I think all the bands are stuck with the “indie” flow. I don’t know what it means to them because to me it means independent, DIY, you know managing your own band. It’s not a sound. But to them it’s like a genre. Sort of like a Malay Brit pop. Like a new Malay genre, something like that. They need to be exposed to foreign bands as much as they need to be exposed by local ones.

What’s the greatest obstacle for a young person?
Sam: Politics. Politics affects everything. And money. As a teenager you need money to survive and politics affects the economics and makes everything suckics. Haha! That’s one part of the problem. I’m not saying it’s the biggest one. What’s the biggest problem, guys?
Ahmad: Maybe parents.
Farouk: And things like drugs are a problem.

Are you guys all Straight Edge?
Sam: Yeah, we’re clean. We only smoke cigarettes.

What do you think of junkie rock bands?
Sam: I can’t say anything, man. That’s their life. Maybe they don’t have the guts so they take drugs and alcohol to perform. But as long as they produce good music, I won’t say anything.

How have Bunkface changed since Blastoff!?
Sam: We have grown up! Dulu, it was all for fun. Music is still our passion but it’s business as well because that’s the only thing I have. I don’t study. So this is what I do and I intend to make it my life.

Well said! Keep it up!

Catch Bunkface tomorrow at Rockaway @ CapSquare!

Image taken from shamel.wordpress.com