Oh Chentaku: Change In The House Of Rock

By Hanna Redzuan  •  in Interview
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Text + Image Livescape Asia

Oh Chentaku is a great example of music innovators. Their story began in ’07 in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Consisting of three friends, Myo, Amber, And Naem, Their sound is informed by their myriad of influences. These lads are total music enthusiasts who play rock tunes with a mixture of punk, pop, electro, post-hardcore, and a lot of other experimental elements as they like to showcase their versatility. Last year the band was crowned as champion of Battle Of The Indie Bands Competition organised by TV9 and from then on, they have been actively gigging – playing at big festivals like Rockaway. They’ve been actively chasing their dreams – in fact they’re recording an album as we speak – without securing any major record label deal. Oh Chentaku is set to show the public on what they’re really made of at this month’s first ever Future Music Festival Asia, and we heard they’ll be playing dubstep. Read what Myo and Amber told JUICE about their newfound music style and what their plans for 2012 are…

We heard that Oh Chentaku will be changing it up a bit for Future Music Festival Asia by dropping a dubstep set, is that true?
Myo Yup, we’re going the dubstep way for FMFA.

We’re very curious on how you guys will be doing that as a band.
M Well, basically our set will still be a live one but we’re going to incorporate a lot of dubstep and electronic sounds and elements into it at the same time.
Amber We want to show our versatility not just as a rock band but also as entertainers, that given any platform we can still rock the stage.

When did you start this new style?
A We started this after we formed the new line up for Oh Chentaku and we included a DJ into the band. This has given a new creative input into the band. With that we’ve taken an opportunity to branch out and improve ourselves as entertainers.

What made you guys want to change it up?
M We started it as an experiment.
A Music like anything else creative, progresses. We see ourselves as musicians and no matter what we do; we are still going to be produced by musicians like ourselves.  As entertainers, our job is to entertain our audience.
M …and ourselves as well of course.

Who inspired your new sound?
A We listen to a lot of Skrillex. We go through many phases, at this point dubstep excites us. We’ve had our drum and bass phase as well as our hardcore phase. We don’t just stick to one.

What have you guys released so far since getting together in 2007?
M As of now, we have three releases, two EP’s and an album. Our last album was released in 2009, right now we are writing new materials for our new album to be released hopefully end on this year.

So we’re guessing you’ll be rocking out your new sounds in the new release, how do you think your fans will deal with it?
A As musicians we naturally progress. We have fans that despite whatever happens listen to us, as they see us as musicians and we would like to cater for them more. Of course, we have lost some fans due to the new style we’re embracing but change is all part of music. I think that as long as we progress and do something different people who are in their comfort zone won’t like us as much but through that we also gather new fans. We’re not meant to stay in one place, that’s how we see our music.

What are your plans for 2012?
M We just want to rock up and travel.
A This is the year we want to do everything. We just thrive on the adrenaline
M We will be opening for an American band called We Are The In Crowd, who will be touring in South East Asia. The organiser from Singapore and Bandung called and invited us to be the supporting act for the tour in April.

How do you plan on educating the listeners into trying out new stuff?
M & A Listen to more music, try new things, and don’t just stick to your comfort zone. We would encourage people to download more songs from iTunes or buy original CDs. It’s all about sharing and supporting the music scene.

Where do you see yourselves in the next five years?
M We see ourselves collaborating more with Livescape Asia! It will be fun to come up with festivals that feature the best bands around the world. If that ever happens, we’re guessing that it will be a huge thing to look forward to.

Tell the readers why they should come for the festival.
M & A Make sure you guys come over to Future Music Festival Asia and check out The Chemical Brothers, Pendulum, us, of course, Tinie Tempah, They Will Kill Us All, Kyoto Protocol, Electrico, Project E.A.R and all the rest of the act. You guys have to come for FMFA because we’re going to take it up a notch to let the outsiders know that Malaysian bands are just as good. See you guys there!

Familiarise yourself with how these guys sound like before they go all dubstep at facebook.com/xohchentakux.

Future Music Festival Asia is happening this 17 March. Get tickets at airasiaredtix.com or check out www.futuremusicfestival.asia for more deets on the festival.