Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Saw this...found it amusing:

Estranged no more - Hard rock band enjoying new lease on life with Itu Kamu
by Chew Wan Ying
The local English music scene is, without a doubt, abundant with promising talents. 



As for its up-andcoming acts, it?s only a matter of time before they get the recognition and credit they deserve.

Five-piece band Estranged is one such act.

The little-known band (familiar, perhaps, only to local independent /fringe music buffs), has been getting increasingly wide Press coverage and exposure, thanks to their winning the Best Rock Song and Best Video awards at the HITZ.

FM Motorola Malaysian English Top 10 Awards 2006.

Most importantly, this new-found attention from the mainstream media can be attributed to the success of its latest single, Itu Kamu.

The group was founded in 2001 by college mates Richael L Gimbang and Solihuddin Hormat who named their band after a Guns N? Roses classic.

The duo was later joined by drummer Azwin Andy Malik, guitarist Nor HanafiNoor Hadi and bassist Chow Ken Chung.

After honing their skills in the underground scene, they released their debut album In Hating Memory in 2005.

The album generated a modest response among music listeners who nevertheless acknowledged the talent and potential of the new band.

?We had received phone calls and e-mails from people asking where they could get a copy of In Hating Memory,? said the 23-year-old drummer Andy.

A stream of similar requests from their newfound fan base led the band to produce a repackaged version of the album, complete with new sleeve design and the new song, Itu Kamu.

?The look and layout are totally different from the original album,? Andy explained.

?The cover design is, no doubt, more professionallooking.

Contentwise, it?s still the same songs, with an extra single.

Commenting on their decision to record and release a Malay song, the band said they wanted to explore new territories.

?We decided to try something new.

To us, the Malay segment is a brand new market,? Andy said.

?So far, from the response, we learn that people like Itu Kamu.

So we?ll continue to learn how to write Malay songs.?

With this first Malay attempt receiving rave reviews, Estranged promises to churn out more Malay compositions in future albums.

However, this does not mean they will ever stray from their English roots and launch an all-Malay album.

?We will maintain Estranged?s identity in every album.

After all, we started off as an English band and we will stay as one,? explained Solihuddin, adding that they had previously rejected an offer by a local label requiring them to come out with a full Malay album.

?We might include a number of Malay tracks in future albums.

We might have a mix of both languages, with Malay songs comprising 30 percent of the album.?

As for their style of music, die-hard fans can continue to expect hard rock from Estranged.

?Hard rock will always be our main focus.

As you know, there are so many genres in rock and we hope that we can properly explore them.?

As for their immediate future, the band revealed that they?re working on their second album, having penned close to eight to 10 songs, though have not commenced the recording and are still finetuning the compositions.

What?s in store for fans? Hard-rocking, explosive sounds, coupled with a handful of chill songs, the promised.

Fans can expect the sophomore late this year or early next year, with the quintet promising fans greater stuff than what showcased in In Hating Memory.

?Throughout these past two years, we have gained so much experience in everything, be it musically or in terms of performing styles.

Therefore, we will offer listeners something greater than In Hating Memory.

We can assure you that every single track in our next album will be great,? said Solihuddin.

And Richael?s participation in Akademi Fantasia 4 had helped the band in opening up new opportunities.

The experience, according to the frontman, was invaluable.

?It helped me to establish a connection with people who have been in the industry longer than we have, people who may be able to support us and give us musical advice.?

Most importantly, the quintet finally gets the recognition they deserve, with more and more people from different parts of the nation now familiar with their music.

On the state of the local music scene, Estranged, who grew up listening to Nirvana and Metallica, thinks that the industry is filled with great talents offering unique sounds.

They named a few favourites: Butterfingers and of course, Pop Shuvit, whose member Rudy, is Andy?s elder brother.

The band is even mulling the possibility of collaborating with Pop Shuvit on a future project.

The local English music scene is, without a doubt, abundant with promising talents.

As for its up-andcoming acts, it?s only a matter of time before they get the recognition and credit they deserve.

Five-piece band Estranged is one such act.

The little-known band (familiar, perhaps, only to local independent /fringe music buffs), has been getting increasingly wide Press coverage and exposure, thanks to their winning the Best Rock Song and Best Video awards at the HITZ.

FM Motorola Malaysian English Top 10 Awards 2006.

Most importantly, this new-found attention from the mainstream media can be attributed to the success of its latest single, Itu Kamu.

The group was founded in 2001 by college mates Richael L Gimbang and Solihuddin Hormat who named their band after a Guns N? Roses classic.

The duo was later joined by drummer Azwin Andy Malik, guitarist Nor HanafiNoor Hadi and bassist Chow Ken Chung.

After honing their skills in the underground scene, they released their debut album In Hating Memory in 2005.

The album generated a modest response among music listeners who nevertheless acknowledged the talent and potential of the new band.

?We had received phone calls and e-mails from people asking where they could get a copy of In Hating Memory,? said the 23-year-old drummer Andy.

A stream of similar requests from their newfound fan base led the band to produce a repackaged version of the album, complete with new sleeve design and the new song, Itu Kamu.

?The look and layout are totally different from the original album,? Andy explained.

?The cover design is, no doubt, more professionallooking.

Contentwise, it?s still the same songs, with an extra single.

Commenting on their decision to record and release a Malay song, the band said they wanted to explore new territories.

?We decided to try something new.

To us, the Malay segment is a brand new market,? Andy said.

?So far, from the response, we learn that people like Itu Kamu.

So we?ll continue to learn how to write Malay songs.?

With this first Malay attempt receiving rave reviews, Estranged promises to churn out more Malay compositions in future albums.

However, this does not mean they will ever stray from their English roots and launch an all-Malay album.

?We will maintain Estranged?s identity in every album.

After all, we started off as an English band and we will stay as one,? explained Solihuddin, adding that they had previously rejected an offer by a local label requiring them to come out with a full Malay album.

?We might include a number of Malay tracks in future albums.

We might have a mix of both languages, with Malay songs comprising 30 percent of the album.?

As for their style of music, die-hard fans can continue to expect hard rock from Estranged.

?Hard rock will always be our main focus.

As you know, there are so many genres in rock and we hope that we can properly explore them.?

As for their immediate future, the band revealed that they?re working on their second album, having penned close to eight to 10 songs, though have not commenced the recording and are still finetuning the compositions.

What?s in store for fans? Hard-rocking, explosive sounds, coupled with a handful of chill songs, the promised.

Fans can expect the sophomore late this year or early next year, with the quintet promising fans greater stuff than what showcased in In Hating Memory.

?Throughout these past two years, we have gained so much experience in everything, be it musically or in terms of performing styles.

Therefore, we will offer listeners something greater than In Hating Memory.

We can assure you that every single track in our next album will be great,? said Solihuddin.

And Richael?s participation in Akademi Fantasia 4 had helped the band in opening up new opportunities.

The experience, according to the frontman, was invaluable.

?It helped me to establish a connection with people who have been in the industry longer than we have, people who may be able to support us and give us musical advice.?

Most importantly, the quintet finally gets the recognition they deserve, with more and more people from different parts of the nation now familiar with their music.

On the state of the local music scene, Estranged, who grew up listening to Nirvana and Metallica, thinks that the industry is filled with great talents offering unique sounds.

They named a few favourites: Butterfingers and of course, Pop Shuvit, whose member Rudy, is Andy?s elder brother.

The band is even mulling the possibility of collaborating with Pop Shuvit on a future project.

http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_News/mm/Weekend/WeekBuzz/20070310090052/Article/index_html

Awseome, I was expecting they would be named after a more famous song/album. Good to see Estranged getting some long overdue respect.

Estranged>November Rain  :yes: :peace:

Estranged > all   8) : ok:

'Perfect Crime' would be a good band name

there's also a band called crash diet

IIRC there's a GN'R tribute band with that name..

No!

It's a shit song, so it must be a shit band.

And so you must be...

A poster who dislikes Estranged?

Awesome name.  When my band was still around our name was "mindfuct".  It was based on Slash in one of the makin videos, something along the lines of "and I was just mindfucked" or something to that extent.

I'm indifferent about Estranged.  I love it and think it's a great song and that it's underrated because it never became a hit and even if you're a Gn'R fan, unless you have UYI2 you probably don't know it...

... but when people say things like "Estranged > all" it makes me realize the song is overrated by a lot of people too because it's not the best Gn'R song (IMHO of course).

It almost seems like it's the cool thing to do for a Gn'R fan to say that Estranged is their favorite song or the best Gn'R song... eh, it's a great song tho.

CRASHDIET, are one of the best bands of this decade to play rock.

they're ok, a bit too glam and 80's sounding...

thats whats great about them, hardly anyone has done it for years...

i thought they were just a gnr cover band? thats why i have never checked them out

I like hanoi rocks :P

They sound nothing like hanoi rocks lol!

nah they are an original material band.

www.crashdiet.org

Are you kidding me?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0re0NN81yrs

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xHLay0iTobo

Same heavy drums and bass, same guitar interplay, same kind of harmonies, both have not particularly amazing singers.

Hanoi Rocks did it 25 years ago, I'm not even commenting on how they dress, purely the music.  The only difference is the guitars are heavier, and the sound quality is infinitely better due to technological advancements in sound recording.

i disagree, hanoi always had a rolling stones crossed with punky glam feel.

this band have a motley crue, guns n roses, skid row feel to them, i can see influence from micheal on the hair styles obviously though.

You are aware  Motley Crue, Guns N' Roses and Skid Row were all heavily influenced by Hanoi Rocks and the Rolling Stones aren't you?

yes of course.

but they dont sound like hanoi, and neither do crashdiet.

especially if you listen to hanoi rocks third album self destruction blues and (my favourite) 4th album back to mystery city, they have all weird keyboards and mad noises etc, i just dont think crashdiet sound like a direct clone of them at all.

crashdiet to me sound like a band playing a much more modern and heavier sounding glam metal.