Mat Roker..?

"Mat Roker" always hear this term but never really understood what it meant or how the term came about...

if you're curious too...the article below may offer some insight:

http://www.zexus.net/mat_rokers.html


Quoted from article:
"In Singapore, the government tried to stem the tide of "western decadence" by campaigning against long hair. Men with long hair were cautioned that they would be served last in government offices. Music, like the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's album, which was deemed to promote the hippie lifestyle and anti -establishment attitudes, was banned. Despite these attempts, the cult of heavy metal music still managed to penetrate certain quarters of Singapore society."

....didn't know the government had a "No-Long-Hair" campaign in the 70s......uniquely sillypore....

[#1] Jamming @ X-Jamming

Went jamming at X-Jamming today.. no make it yesterday since its already 12.13am..after a long layoff due to studies...

Anyway found out my usual studio, VelvetJoint is moving to another location so had to source for a temp substitute....decided to go to X-Jamming since its convenient for the rest...

X-Jamming is located near Chinese Garden MRT, its owner is X-Tech guitarist, Mr. Rizal

We booked the largest room, but when i got there i realised the largest room really isn't that big at all (maybe i'm too used to VelvetJoint's spacious studio..?)

The amps in there are pretty good Marshall & Fender Half-stack, i played through the Marshall, some valvestate model.. i actually like it more than the Laney at VelvetJoint...

Took some bad-quality pictures, if anyones interested....

the drums:


My drummer says that it sounds too "bright" (Hartke Bass amp in the background)

The Marshall Half-Stack i was playing through:

View from behind the drumset:

(picture edited to keep my vocalist mysterious....)

& there's a sofa beside the Drumset:

for better quality pictures of the studio equipment, head on down to X-Tech's multiply site: http://xtech.multiply.com/photos/album/25/New_Jamming_studio_in_town...._X-JamminStudio

Guitar Amps

Can't remember the name of my 1st amp but its the one that came with the Squire Strat Pak, it sounded just like any low-budget beginner amplifier...bloody awful..


My 2nd amp which i still own today is the Tech21 Trademark10, solid little amplifier....great versatile tones..good for late night practise..




i got my 3rd, a Marshall MS-4 mini-stack on a wimp, what can i say it looked cute :P





4th is Ibanez's budget tubeamp, The Valbee...the cleans of the Valbee are pretty decent, but i couldn't stand the sterile distorted sounds...

insides of the Valbee..

5th is a Vox AD30VT modelling amp, comes with several presets...some are ok.. others plain suck, again the cleans are decent but distorted sounds really "digital"....if you get what i mean...

My 6th is a Reverend HellHound 40/60 combo which has been discontinued, as Reverend boss, Joe Naylor decided not to make any more amps & also outsourced he's lower range guitar-line to Korea..


Only 1000 of these amps were produced...but i doubt these will become collectors' items...as they're are not that "famous"..

Electro-Harmonix tubes are used throughout:

-two 12AX7's in the pre-amp

-12AX7 reverb driver

-12AX7 phase inverter

-two 6L6 power tubes

There's also the Wattage switch that goes from 40 to 60 watts for extra headroom..

SHIZO switch, i mainly use the "US" (fender) setting..

Cowboy-cool, tooled-vinyl covering....very nice..

Joe Naylor designed 12" Reverend All-Tone 1250 speaker

Since its called the HellHound, i decided to make it look a bit more menacing! ;D

LameAss Questionaire....

1. What time did you get up this morning?

7.55am

2. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?

Indiana Jones Crystal Skull (give it a miss, if you're not a hardcore Indy fan....)

3. What is your favorite TV show?

Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, Californication...

4. What food do you dislike?

Green stuff.....

5. What is your favorite CD at the moment?

This is tough......maybe.. Alamaailman Vasarat's Maahan...but it'll probably change tomorrow...

6. What kind of car do you drive?

None, cars are too expensive in singapore..

7. Favorite sandwich?

Anything without veggies…

8. Favorite item of clothing?

erm..dunno, i can tell you what's my least favorite though....my army No.4 :P

9. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?

Europe

10. What color is your bathroom?

White.

11. Favorite brand of clothing?

No favorite brand

12. Where would you retire to?

New Zealand maybe..

13. Favorite sport to watch?

NBA

14. Favorite word?

Dumbass.....i just like the sound of that!

15. When is your birthday?

6th August 19**

16. What is your shoe size?

10.5

17. Pets?

None, would like to have a cat someday...

18. What was the last thing you ate?

Pizza

19. Hair color?

Black

20. Siblings?

Sister

21. Favorite day of the year?

Christmas

22. Chocolate or Vanilla?

Vanilla…

23. When was the last time you cried?

When i was in the bloody smoke chamber!

24. What is under your bed?

Jackson RR5 & a Gibson LP HSC filled with guitar junk....

25. What are you afraid of?

losing hope...

26. Plain, buttered, or salted Popcorn?

Buttered…

27. How many keys on your key ring?

4 & a Thumbdrive

28. How many years at your current job?

5-months

29. Favorite day of the week?

Saturday

30. Do you make friends easily?

No.

Randy Rhoads's Tomb

Pictures of Rhoads's Tomb in San Bernardino, California.






Randy Rhoads (Guitarist)


Born: Dec 06, 1956 in Santa Monica, California
Died: Mar 19, 1982 in Leesburg, Florida


Best known as the original guitarist of Ozzy Osbourne's band, Rhoads only released a couple of major albums in he's short-lived music career but remains one of the most respected guitarists...


1980's Blizzard of Ozz, i believe is one of Hard Rock's greatest releases of all-time, songs like "Crazy Train", "Suicide Solution" and "Mr. Crowley" are considered the classics of hard rock/heavy metal...


Rhoads was killed in a freak airplane accident while on tour in Florida on the morning of March 19, 1982.


He was well known for playin' Les Paul & Flying V guitars..


notably a Cream Gibson Les Paul Custom...

Karl Sandoval "Polka Dot" Custom Flying V

& Jackson RR Signature Model

i own a Jackson RR5 too! :D

Anugerah Band 2008 Episode #5

i know there's some Putra fans waiting for this so here y'go!

Episode #05:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/n9fhfk

1. Trabo - Jikalau Berkasih
2. Knightwings - Aku Dan Duniaku
3. Rancour - Melissa
4. Putra - Si Gadis Ayu
5. Silksutra - Pawana


As far as i'm concerned Trabo performed the best in this episode, solid performance.

Knightwings vocals abit off, maybe cuz he dancing abit too much..?

Rancour, to be honest there's nothing too outstanding 'bout this band..but because of that they also don't make too many mistakes....

I feel Putra's guitarist is one of, if not the best in this competition, but i don't really like the song they played...

Silksutra were quite experimental in their arrangement here (they actually kinda reminded me of Mercyful Fate & King Diamond....) although i'm a fan of experimental music, their performance didn't really do it for me...plus i think the guitars were slightly out of tune...

My PE teacher goes to Jail...

Ms Chee Siok Chin & Dr Chee Soon Juan were charged and found guilty of contempt of court some days back....

The judge felt that their behavior in the cross-examination of PM Lee Hsien Loong and MM Lee Kuan Yew obstructed the delivery of justice...

They've decided not to appeal against the decision...

"Their lawyer, M Ravi, said the Chee siblings have decided to surrender to the High Court as they have not been able to raise S$1,000 each for the appeal before the deadline on Thursday.
Dr Chee was sentenced to 12 days' jail on Tuesday for contempt of court, while his sister received 10 days. These are believed to be the longest jail terms for contempt in recent years.
The sentences came in the wake of the Chees' conduct during last week's three-day hearing to assess damages to be paid by the siblings for defaming Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. "

[More here: http://www.channelnewsasia.com]

What has this got to do with my PE teacher..?

Ms Chee used to teach in a secondary school i was goin' to....she was my PE teacher for awhile...i believe she also taught english & math...

Exam results out!

Did pretty well this sem... anyway onward to 2nd year! yeah!!

Bass Guitars

My 1st bass guitar was a Hamer Cruise 5-string, got it just to try out bass playin'...but found out i couldn't really find time to play both guitar & bass....

2nd was a Fender Jazz 5-string, got it cause i was playin' bass in a friend's band at that time...sold it after i left the band....

3rd, current & very likely the last bass guitar i'd acquire, is the OLP stingray copy MM2...
used primaryly for recording...after gettin' this i realised i preferred the feel of the Jazz bass...