My Music was played on the Radio
Making music is the only thing that I wanted to do and the only thing that I ever want to do. However, if you ever asked my parents, be sure to tell them that I said I wanted to be a Mechanical Engineer okay? With the amount of money they spent for my tuition here at UCSI University, it’s almost certain that I would likely put them in an early grave if they heard me saying I wanted to be a musician. I mean, there is nothing wrong with engineering. It’s just that music has always been my passion ever since I was a kid. My mum was a famous gospel singer all over Asia. Go ahead and name me any church from Indonesia, Philippines, or Malaysia, she has probably sung in any of them. though that will be a tale for another time.
Recently, my brother and I managed to get our music into a famous national radio station called hitz.fm. If you’re not Malaysian, you probably never heard of it. But yes, it is arguably one of the most famous radio stations here in Malaysia. They play all the hits from around the world. Hence the name, hitz.fm. Well, my brother and I actually have a band. Yes, a band. We are called Kings and Jesters. Don’t ask about the name, and please I beg of you, don’t ask who is the King and who is the Jester. We have been making music for about three years, and have been performing since we were in primary school. The music we have been making recently has been promoted to playlists all around Asia and also on the radio.
Last year, at around November. My brother and I made a song called “Not Another Love Song”. It has a kind of indie and low-fi vibe that my brother and I have usually infused within all our songs. The song has one true meaning, but we like to leave it to the listeners to interpret the song any way they like it. But to us, the song carries one important value of relationship which is communication. Communication comes in a variety of forms, but its most basic aspect is talking. In a relationship, every problem has a solution and that is by talking about it. How are you going to know about your significant other’s day if you don’t talk about it, right? So that’s what the song is essentially about. But, talking can also be a bad thing. Look at it this way, what if someone is just talking, talking, and talking. That person basically never closed their mouth. Doesn’t it get slightly annoying? This song also touches a little on talking too much and not listening. Who could be considered as a good partner if they never listen? It will probably feel like talking to a brick wall. Rather than talking to such a person, I would prefer to talk to my dogs. At least they won’t be as anger-inducing as that certain type of a person. And that’s basically what the song means.
To create this song, I used my wide array of chord knowledge (watch videos of John Fruciante) and the musings of my brother and his pen. Little did we know, that the song would get played on NATIONAL RADIO. So, after creating this song, as usual, we would show it to our father. He’s the one who gives us either the thumbs up or thumbs down for each of our songs. As he is kind of like our manager. He also used to be sort of a manager for my mum when she sung in churches but as said earlier, it is a story for another time. Let me continue, so after showing it to my dad, he then asks us to submit it to hitz.fm, knowing that this radio station has a segment showcasing local music. It is called the Malaysian English Top 10 playlist. Now, bear in mind that I was born in Malaysia, and I have heard of this segment on hitz.fm but it never occurred to me that I would send my music there. After all, who am I to have my song on Malaysian radio, right? But, ignoring the pessimistic side of me (I like to call Evil Ali) I listened to the advice of my dad and emailed them. Being a big radio station, I was not expecting a reply. But to my surprise, they replied me back. Asking me to contact their producer and handing me the producer’s number. You wouldn’t believe the amount of adrenaline that rushed throughout my body. I was ecstatic. I told my whole family about it. I mean they weren’t that shocked, with my mum being a renowned gospel singer and all, but, I didn’t let them take this moment from me. I felt like I was on top of the world. All of our hard work had finally come to fruition. It was played in front of the whole nation at somewhere between 4-5pm on Sunday on December 13, 2020.
We quickly jumped at this opportunity to promote our band everywhere. Through Instagram ads and Whatsapp blasts and many more that I’m too lazy to put into words. Then, when the day arrived, we decided to celebrate. We threw a small party (following Standard Operating Procedures for Covid-19, of course) in our house. We invited the people that had supported us throughout our journey to come and enjoy this celebration as a gratitude. When the moment finally came, hearing our song through a last minute amplifier-turned-radio, the feeling of euphoria came on to us. We felt like we were on top of the world, like nothing could stand in our way of making music that everyone like to listen to and probably enjoy. All of our friends were singing along to our song which made it even more special. It was trully like we have our own concert in our front porch.
Let me tell you, after that, no one was doubting our ability to make music anymore. You know the type of people (especially relatives) that say “Oh your music needs a little bit more this and that” as though they’re the greatest music producers in the world. Yes, those same people were the ones congratulating us and telling us “I knew you could do it. I have always believed in you.”. Like okay, Auntie Dorothy, you don’t have to be so fake, a simple congratulations would do considering all the negative energy you had put into our music careers.
Well anyway, it was a life-changing experience to get our music played nationwide. We were on that playlist for a good 4 weeks before new music eventually came and knocked us off our perch. For those 4 weeks, I would never forget the feeling of my passion that finally bears us fruit. Now, with a new song on the way on April 14th, we have already contacted hitz.fm and they said they wanted to interview us! Isn’t that amazing! An interview on live radio. So within the coming weeks, be sure to tune in to the Malaysian English Top 10 to hear a live interview featuring us! And of course, follow us on Instagram @kings_and_jesters, and most importantly, listen to our music! We also have done podcasts on ‘The Midnight Table Podcast’ which you can check on our Instagram!
