One of the best places in Singapore to hang out at night is Wala Wala.
They’re one of the very few pubs that seems to get the formula right.
Hot pizzas freshly made – check.
Hoegaarden on tap – check.
Live rock music by the hottest local indie bands – check.
It’s no wonder their crampy 2nd floor gets filled up night after night.
Since then I’ve been trying to find a decent pub in my hometown that can match up to the same standards. Sadly, live music in Kuching is either crappy cover bands or dangdut pubs.
It left me wondering where all the creative juices in Kuching have flowed to. Surely Kuching-nites have more talent than just sitting in coffee shops complaining about the government.
I was told of a Songwriters’ Round held at Mojo one evening and decided to turn up with much skeptism, thinking it’s gonna be more torture than enjoyment.
Mojo is this small but cosy lounge bar located beside Denise the wine shop in Abell Road. They don’t serve Hoegaarden here. What they do have are fancy cocktails like IvannaHumpalot and Creamy Punani, which much to my dismay, is not served inside a real punani. 🙁
Tickets to the Songwriters’ Round cost RM20 and include one standard drink. The line-up was all local indie bands most of whom I’ve never heard of. Mojo was filled up when I got there. Not bad, considering the only promotion Gerald the owner did was by word of mouth.
Rock music wasn’t the only thing on the agenda that night.
Serini builds houses by day, builds dreams by night.
One band made a good effort shaking things up a little. Until this petite little girl came out with a red-feather boa, brought out her friend dressed like Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars then proceeded to recite an eerie poem that sent chills down everyone’s spines.
Man, I seriously hope he’s paid to do this.
Also on the card was KL band One Buck Short. Why ‘One Buck Short’ instead of ‘One Ringgit Not Enough’? It’s a cool name for a band, but made them look like they’re always in financial troubles liddat.
The idea for Songwriters’ Round was for patrons to enjoy casual, live, acoustic and unplugged local music in the comfortable setting of a typical lounge room. It’s a nice deviation from rock concerts where it’s often loud, sticky and noisy. Best part is, you can always interact with the performers and tell them how much you love their music after their performance.
How does a punk rock band sound on acoustic guitars and no drums? Pretty darn good, I must say. One Buck Short rocked the house.
But it was Kuching’s own Tempered Mental who stole the show that night.
Lead singer Melina worked the mic like a pro and the crowd loved it. Even I find myself rocking ermm… shaking to their songs. Now, THAT’S the kind of band I’d like to see playing regularly at a pub in Kuching.
Tempered Mental will be playing at gigs in major cities like KL and Singapore over the next few months. If you’re in the area, be sure to check out our Kuching’s finest export.
Just listen to the music. Don’t bother watching the video ‘cos it’s all black.
That was the first Songwriters Round I attended and unexpectedly, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This certainly won’t be my last. Gerald is still looking for performers for the next Songwriters Round, so if you have a passion for singing, performing or anything else, drop into Mojo and let him know.
One thing for sure, I’ll be at their next event.
I always thought people were just plain childish with this First, Second, Third thing…
but now that i am first……
FIRST!
number two! and what’s with the “hum sap” look in the 5th photo, kenny?
creamy punani.. mmmmmmm :}~~~~ . btw, an advant reader here. keep up d gr8 posts kenny dude . cheers
cool 4th…haha. bad number
the guy with the black robe is giving me an eerie feeling of deja vu…
together with the doll…seems abit sick ler…
surely i would go to dat place when im going to kch later..
I’m 7th!!!…david beckham!!!
i’m 8th la…dollah salleh
That dude with the black robe and doll seriously is wacked. Unless he’s getting paid, of course, that’s an exception. 🙂
GOOD live music certainly is hard to find in malaysia, glad you had fun at Mojo. 😀
I am 10th la then… Pele!
argh….acoustics…wish i were there…nothing beats a good song sung in acoustics….except if it was played by an orchestra…
damn..your friend serini looks like a Blythe doll i can take home!
Blythe comes complete with victorian lace dress, chandelier earrings and beautiful curls.
Kenny doll each sold separately.
brought to you by miattel.
woah.great songs.
I Love Hoegaarden… hehehe
Kuching is much more happening than Bintulu…. I think there’s only dangdut clubs and karaoke pubs there…. hmmm
You can get Hoegaarden in bottles at the ‘members lounge’ in Soho upstairs. Donno whether you can get it elsewhere in Kuching….
Hoegaarden still slightly too flowery for my liking. I more of a pilsener guy. Bet you miss Toohey’s.
I saw u Kenny…heh heh heh… anyways good stuff with the posts. Keep it up.
Wooo..I like Hoegaarden and kilkenny..LOL! Kenny,your friend serini abit too old for you, man!
no 18
one buck short and tempered mental are already established bands =)
Dammit! You didn’t bring me along 🙁
The feel of Dashboard Confessional..
where is the place actually?kch?
And I wonder why they like to use Peavey amps..
Hehe, Hoegaarden I read there, Belgian beer you know! One of the best!
Try it with a piece of lemon!!
Hey coolness, one of the guys from One Buck Short is an old family friend.
Tempered Mental acoustic is GOLD.
Ew I have seen this serini girl around Soho and TUn Jugah. She’s such a bitch, and acts cool all the time. None of my friends can stand her.
……nice!! 🙂
Great to hear a real acoustic guitar and true song. Reminds me of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan days. Peace.
video sounds great .. pretty cool music ..
thanx for the heads up! 😉 Kuching has hope after all …
wow. sounds like my kinda place. good music, creamy punanies…. mmmmm
Blogads, suspiciously..
look like u force that pretty girl to take photo with u .U memang colour wolf……….
Keeennnyy siiiiaaa!!!
i looooveee uuuu!!!!
Kenny, just MHO. Why not start your own preferred style, kind of pub in kuching? Don’t just be a bystander watching mah, be the man in charge. I know you have the capability. 😉
Maybe u can come out with something unique that represent sarawakian style. (e.g. Dangdut House of Plug N’ Play, Live band with dangdut dancer beside, in a cage maybe, or whatever). Pretty soon, then u may own a road named after u liao. (Jalan Tun Dr. Kenny Sia)
You have my courage, dude! ;@
Hey Kenny,
Just to help promote the local indie music scene a bit… I hope it helps the local bands, it’s such a shame of the many comments none mentioned local gigs. There are a few places in KL that has these kind of gigs.
If you know who PEte Teo is, you’d most probably heard of Songwriters’ Round KL held in Alexis Bistro(Great Eastern Mall). Pls check his blog [peteteo.com/weblog] for updates. It’s not to be missed.
Then there’s Troubadours & Doppelganger [troubadourskl.blogspot.com] in La Bodega KL (the street inside KFC of Jln Bkt Bintang) every fortnightly.
Moonshine [moonshinekl.blogspot.com] in No Black Tie (behind Istana Hotel), by REza Salleh. This guy is so good you should not miss it (tahan your kencing) when he sings.
These gigs are superb. But KEnny is only interested in gigs in Kiasu-land. Hope KEnny can help promote budding talents like MEi Chern, WIll Ng, JErome Kugan, REza Salleh, RHapsody…
I’m sure with your many readers, these singers can get some people to notice their talents, or at least listen to their music.
Pls go to those gigs. Support our local music. And you can buy their songs in musiccanteen.com.
kenny, what days do MOJO host these events? is this a regular affair or, say, a one-off sometimes lah one type of affair? would gladly appreciate your response.
great weblog, keep it up.
cheers :-).
mia, I hope the Kenny doll from miatell is “better equipped” than the Ken doll from Mattel.
stephen, do you actually KNOW her or have you only just SEEN her? What gives you the right to call her a biatch when you don’t even know her?
wenjun, you’ll know a blog ad when you see one. When something uncommercialised is really good, you don’t need to pay money for people to promote.
sy, i loooovveeee youuuuu toooooooo!
YUanWu, oi! Kuching is not kiasu-land ok. 😉
smilin_ninja, I wish I wish. 🙂 Truth is, my hands are really too darn full as it is already.
nepasavaler, it’s a bi-monthly affair. The date for the next event isn’t yet confirmed though.
stephen, my my.. aren’t YOU the bitch for making that nasty comment. and btw, sereni doesnt need to ACT cool, she IS cool, ok dude?
LoL. I must say… Gerald did a gREAT Job
Kenny, I’m glad you enjoyed the songwriters’ round. Gerald and I first organised it mid-last year sometime. It really has grown so much in popularity. We will be putting another one together when i return to Kuching in June.Hopefully you will be able to make it then too. The local music scene needs as much support as it can get. cheers!
http://www.myspace.com/owennicholas
A bit of promo on my part. check out my myspace for decent(hopefully) helping of Kuching-brewed acoustic stew.
all the best
owen
The Rolling Stones cancel a gig in Hawaii and postpone other tour dates as Mick Jagger suffers throat troubles…
One of my close relative owns these two places.. Denis & MOjo.. Keep it up..