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. 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, 15th 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, 26th 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 Kamu”. The music video was shot by award winning director Jack Wung who hails from Sarawak, Malaysia. In mid 2007, Ken Chung (bass) departs the band due to professional reasons. The band is currently touring with a bass sessionist and at the same time is looking for a replacement. On the 27th of January 2008, Estranged got their name placed in the Malaysian history books as the picked up two major awards at the Anugerah Juara Lagu ke-22 (The 22nd Best Song Award ), winning the Pop/Rock category and also the Best Song Award (Malaysia’s most prestigious music award). The band has started the recording process for their sophomore album in Feb and March 2008. The album is expected to be released in May 2008. |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|Anugerah Planet Muzik 2007|Festival Muzik Borneo 2007|Hot FM’s Mini Jam Tours 2007|8TV’s Campus Tours 2007|Muzik Muzik Semifinals 2007|Anugerah Juara Lagu ke-22 2008 |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|- Nominated for the “Favourite Rock Band” category at the Anugerah Era 2007|- Nominated for the “Favourite Rock Hit” category at the Anugerah Era 2007|- Finalists for “Anugerah Juara Lagu ke-22” under the Pop/Rock category 2007|- Won the “Pop/Rock Category” at the Anugerah Juara Lagu ke-22 2008|- Won the “Best Song Award” at the Anugerah Juara Lagu ke-22 2008 Contact details are:| Vinder Singh|Artist Manager, EAD Entertainment|+6012-7697749 | [email protected] |[email protected] |For more information log on to:|www.estranged.info|www.reverbnation.com/estranged|amp.channelv.com/estranged|myspace.com/estrangedinfo| |
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