Apologies if this post gets all philosophical on your arse when you may have been expecting a full PARTY recap, yeah we circle pitted, stage dived, skulled beers, partied, laughed, toured and had the time of our life. I would like to thanks everyone who helped us along the way (you know who you were, because we thanked you in person) and of course our travel brothers Atomgevitter, Family Man and Injakmati. But I came from this trip with more than just some great party memories.
The South East Asia DIY punk scene has given me much in the way of information, more than I could ever provide them in the form of new and exciting music. They have helped me understand fully the issues their nations face and why they must play and support punk music to entice change within their social current systems. This true meaning of punk is often lost and mostly a farce in much of Australia, who do not have as much reason to fight back against these norms (hence our songs about bongs and surfing).
I found this to be the greatest part of the tour, their friendlyness and willingness to share the information between each other to create a more informed punk scene on both sides. I now truly understand the importance of DIY. Although this was already strongly practiced by Michael Crafter, never the reasons why. If anyone wants to chat more about this when we get back to Australia please hit me up.
See all our new friends soon fingers crossed!
x
Matt
Monday, August 15, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Day 10 A.M
so today KL MC snuck onto Tapefest 2011, which is quite cool cos we've actually released everything we've put out on some form of a tape, probably the tapest band that played!
we played the same songs plus the addition of "the positive song", a crafter classic!
the first band actually played for 50 minutes. it was ridiculous. some post rock wank or something. they were really good, but if you know me, i like my music fast and obnoxious. so we play second for about 5 minutes and it was fucking hilarious as always. luke and jasmine are fitting in much better by now. very impressed with the both of them. and i had jasmine's vocals coming through my foldback super loud and they sounded awesome. i was also slightly elevated on a drum rise, and in the middle this time, instead of off to the side like friday night's show, so i truly felt like the BOSS. yelling orders at my crafter subordinates over luke's pedal noise earnt me this as my new nickname too...
fucking fun show. DAIGHILA were amazzzziinnggg. i think luke was drooling when they played. he even watched their all set instead of talking to chix outside! i was impressed with him yet again...
xCRIMESCENEx were fucking GREAT. slotted nicely amongst a bunch of real sXe bands, they were the drunkest power violence band i have ever seen. whilst still being ultra fast and intense (albeit a lil sloppy at times) Nobeat's vocals were just the way i like em, piercing to my ears. DL their demo here: http://altaraksara.blogspot.com/search/label/crimescene. hunt it down on tape format if ya can. Fuji's amps were actually taller than them and Comadre were so much better tonight. they brought the kit onto the floor and got nice and close with the crowd. nicely done
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Day 9 A.M.
Saturday
Saw COMADRE play at myevo studio tonight, the venue were we played our first show on the tour. there were still many whispers about their no-show on monday night. it was a pretty cool show though. INFINITE DELAY (amazing tech grind with drummer of Daighilia), MEMORIAL (trash talk worship with the drummer from Second Wombat), MR STERILE ASSEMBLY (from NZ, the THIRD time i saw them overseas, still cool as always) and OSMANTIKOS (old drummer from SMG playing raging d-beat) were highlights among the ten or so bands that played.
Got to see Glen and Cher again which was awesome. those two sure know how to crowdsurf! i think Cher actually went up more. she got knocked down pretty hard in the mosh a couple of times, which was pretty funny, and she showed me a zine that she did an interview for and dude putting it together had made the cover into a massive college of pics of her face lifted straight from facebook and myspace! it was so funny. CHER WORSHIP! too bad it was in malay. nearly bought it just for the cover though haha.
i think the soundguy was on a dinner break when Comadre were playing. they spent like 45 mins setting up. it was shocking. then when they played, nothing was coming through the PA except the vocals, which were waaay too loud to start with. so sounded rubbish but people were all up on the stage and crowdsurfing around the band trying to play, it was pretty cool. they all knew the lyrics too, which was cool. i had to laugh when they started doing handclaps though.
then I had dinner with like 15 ppl. it was just Sham and I at the end and i got to hear the legendary story about the "mosh walker".
Saw COMADRE play at myevo studio tonight, the venue were we played our first show on the tour. there were still many whispers about their no-show on monday night. it was a pretty cool show though. INFINITE DELAY (amazing tech grind with drummer of Daighilia), MEMORIAL (trash talk worship with the drummer from Second Wombat), MR STERILE ASSEMBLY (from NZ, the THIRD time i saw them overseas, still cool as always) and OSMANTIKOS (old drummer from SMG playing raging d-beat) were highlights among the ten or so bands that played.
Got to see Glen and Cher again which was awesome. those two sure know how to crowdsurf! i think Cher actually went up more. she got knocked down pretty hard in the mosh a couple of times, which was pretty funny, and she showed me a zine that she did an interview for and dude putting it together had made the cover into a massive college of pics of her face lifted straight from facebook and myspace! it was so funny. CHER WORSHIP! too bad it was in malay. nearly bought it just for the cover though haha.
i think the soundguy was on a dinner break when Comadre were playing. they spent like 45 mins setting up. it was shocking. then when they played, nothing was coming through the PA except the vocals, which were waaay too loud to start with. so sounded rubbish but people were all up on the stage and crowdsurfing around the band trying to play, it was pretty cool. they all knew the lyrics too, which was cool. i had to laugh when they started doing handclaps though.
then I had dinner with like 15 ppl. it was just Sham and I at the end and i got to hear the legendary story about the "mosh walker".
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Day 8 A.M.
Day 7 A.M.
thursday 21/07/11
jam at rumah apih, punch out ten songs including liar, bong water, get a job, doom song, EAD, you suffer (napalm death), grazed knob pt 2, no clit in the pit, eating shit kicking shit plus an untitled d-beat / thrash number that matt and i had been working on during the tour, adapted by luka with the intention of bringing the conation into the crafter. sounds fucking EMO! heaps good. looking forward to the big show tomorrow!
jam at rumah apih, punch out ten songs including liar, bong water, get a job, doom song, EAD, you suffer (napalm death), grazed knob pt 2, no clit in the pit, eating shit kicking shit plus an untitled d-beat / thrash number that matt and i had been working on during the tour, adapted by luka with the intention of bringing the conation into the crafter. sounds fucking EMO! heaps good. looking forward to the big show tomorrow!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Day 6 A.M.
wednesday 20/7/11
tuesday was so big that i stop drinking for a week from this point. ridiculous party had last night. today i have to say goodbye to the family man dudes for the second time. was quicker and less emotional as i had already prepared myself last time when we said goodbye in KK. although i am extremely grateful of my extra time spent with these fantastic dudes (these 'dudes' obviously also including the scots from atomgevitter who left early monday morning). i met up with luka and jasmine tonight, and a bunch of luka's pals, including eizzat who was organising a studio show for friday. somehow "michael crafter" sneaks onto the bill, with the lineup being luka on guitar, jasmine on lead vox and me on drums and some vox. jam at noisy scheduled for tomorrow night, thursday, then show friday!
tuesday was so big that i stop drinking for a week from this point. ridiculous party had last night. today i have to say goodbye to the family man dudes for the second time. was quicker and less emotional as i had already prepared myself last time when we said goodbye in KK. although i am extremely grateful of my extra time spent with these fantastic dudes (these 'dudes' obviously also including the scots from atomgevitter who left early monday morning). i met up with luka and jasmine tonight, and a bunch of luka's pals, including eizzat who was organising a studio show for friday. somehow "michael crafter" sneaks onto the bill, with the lineup being luka on guitar, jasmine on lead vox and me on drums and some vox. jam at noisy scheduled for tomorrow night, thursday, then show friday!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Day 5 A.M.
tuesday night
got really wasted with jasmine and harry while xLUKESKYWALKERx watched and laughed. we met some rich expats who were really nice. nice enough to get us loaded on cocktails and show me how to pull a bong through a semi-frozen apple at their CONDOMinium. Harry was amazed at that name "what de fuk is dis? KONDOMminium oh farkun schiza!!!" he tries to tune AJ's yukalale like a bass, and to everyone' surprise it actually sounds worse than before he touched it. stupid bassists, only thing worse are drummers...
next up jasmine, harry, luka and I hit up some karaoke. with 100plus and wodka mixers in our booth, we got pretty loaded (well harry and I did). songs that we raged through : avril, gaga, hotel california, final countdown, yuna, vengaboys, radio head, black sabbath, linkin park, natalia imbruglia, the veronikas and barbie girl. to harry's dismay, "under pressure" by queen and david bowie was not available...
by the time we actually caught up with the rest of the gang: talib, kimi, freshly tatted germans, and others, i was so wasted that i threw peanuts shells at people at the table for 5 minutes then fell asleep headfirst between all their empties, hence ending my recollection of the nights happenings. apparently some of luka's friends turned up and were like what happened to him? and luka would answer in malay "he's broken". great night.
got really wasted with jasmine and harry while xLUKESKYWALKERx watched and laughed. we met some rich expats who were really nice. nice enough to get us loaded on cocktails and show me how to pull a bong through a semi-frozen apple at their CONDOMinium. Harry was amazed at that name "what de fuk is dis? KONDOMminium oh farkun schiza!!!" he tries to tune AJ's yukalale like a bass, and to everyone' surprise it actually sounds worse than before he touched it. stupid bassists, only thing worse are drummers...
next up jasmine, harry, luka and I hit up some karaoke. with 100plus and wodka mixers in our booth, we got pretty loaded (well harry and I did). songs that we raged through : avril, gaga, hotel california, final countdown, yuna, vengaboys, radio head, black sabbath, linkin park, natalia imbruglia, the veronikas and barbie girl. to harry's dismay, "under pressure" by queen and david bowie was not available...
by the time we actually caught up with the rest of the gang: talib, kimi, freshly tatted germans, and others, i was so wasted that i threw peanuts shells at people at the table for 5 minutes then fell asleep headfirst between all their empties, hence ending my recollection of the nights happenings. apparently some of luka's friends turned up and were like what happened to him? and luka would answer in malay "he's broken". great night.
Day 4 A.M.
Monday 18/7/
small studio room gig in KL city area. first band was xerpent, awesome new era grind. i liked em, but lofi grind purists would probs give them a thumbs down. saw them practise cos i thought the show had started and it was just me and machine, but we watched on awkwardly anyway, good thing i saw the soundcheck cos i actually missed their set on account of not realising they were playing cos i was busy drinking and smoking and also meeting comadre dudes for the first time, who are playing a "secret show" tonight.... so comadre say they are all tired from japan tour, something stupid like 9 dates with no break! they seem like top dudes nonetheless and we share tour stories (MC SEA being my story). i tell them that they are playing with my band in sydney and they were like thats cool man! but then they went upstairs, saw the size of the venue, which in all fairness was the size of an average australian kitchen, and decided that it wasnt worth playing because it was too small and they were too tired. super lame! the people at the show were far from impressed about this lack of balls, which totally conflicted with their reputation of being a hard working DIY band. guess they were really tired, but thats what tour is all about!.... but who fuckin cares cos MICHAEL CRAFTER ended up filling their spot anyway ;)
ALICE from Bandung were up next and fucking awesome... i was having too much fun talking to Sham from SMG and drinking kopi ice from a plastic bag on the street so i only saw the last 2 and a half songs. one which was an AC4 cover, completely punk compared to their usual technical metal. the t shirts and general fashion of the band turned me way off these guys, was expecting some white belt metalcore or something, but they were real good in the end. shame on me i guess...
DAIGHILA was next..... amazing. emotional. technical. passionate. talib crowd surfing. perfect musicianship. etc etc. pick up their tapes if you can. they have a split tape with CIRCUITS from melbourne! COOL!
FAMILY MAN up next. last show. like the 9th time ive seen them in 3 weeks? great fucking band. always fun. henry always tactifully addressing the religious issue with just the right amount of vigour, without the intention of offense. got a song dedicated to me, you didnt have to do that crudos, but it touched me none the less! they announced their hit "positive outlook family man style" with michael crafter subbed in the middle...very cute guys. A IS FOR ANIMAL!!! still my favourite song i thinks...will miss seeing this band every night, thats for sure...
next up MICHAEL CRAFTER'S CRAFTER. ie myself on drums handling majority of the vox, henry crudos on guitar and some vox. played these songs: eating shit kicking shit, the doom song, EAD, you suffer (napalm death), get a job, eating shit (yes, again lol) if your a mad sweater you will understand how this is a perfectly symmetrical setlist in terms of song length. anyways COOL SET. luke filmed it and it went for 90 seconds. THIS IS GRINDCORE KIDS. LEARN FROM YOUR SUPERIORS.
small studio room gig in KL city area. first band was xerpent, awesome new era grind. i liked em, but lofi grind purists would probs give them a thumbs down. saw them practise cos i thought the show had started and it was just me and machine, but we watched on awkwardly anyway, good thing i saw the soundcheck cos i actually missed their set on account of not realising they were playing cos i was busy drinking and smoking and also meeting comadre dudes for the first time, who are playing a "secret show" tonight.... so comadre say they are all tired from japan tour, something stupid like 9 dates with no break! they seem like top dudes nonetheless and we share tour stories (MC SEA being my story). i tell them that they are playing with my band in sydney and they were like thats cool man! but then they went upstairs, saw the size of the venue, which in all fairness was the size of an average australian kitchen, and decided that it wasnt worth playing because it was too small and they were too tired. super lame! the people at the show were far from impressed about this lack of balls, which totally conflicted with their reputation of being a hard working DIY band. guess they were really tired, but thats what tour is all about!.... but who fuckin cares cos MICHAEL CRAFTER ended up filling their spot anyway ;)
ALICE from Bandung were up next and fucking awesome... i was having too much fun talking to Sham from SMG and drinking kopi ice from a plastic bag on the street so i only saw the last 2 and a half songs. one which was an AC4 cover, completely punk compared to their usual technical metal. the t shirts and general fashion of the band turned me way off these guys, was expecting some white belt metalcore or something, but they were real good in the end. shame on me i guess...
DAIGHILA was next..... amazing. emotional. technical. passionate. talib crowd surfing. perfect musicianship. etc etc. pick up their tapes if you can. they have a split tape with CIRCUITS from melbourne! COOL!
FAMILY MAN up next. last show. like the 9th time ive seen them in 3 weeks? great fucking band. always fun. henry always tactifully addressing the religious issue with just the right amount of vigour, without the intention of offense. got a song dedicated to me, you didnt have to do that crudos, but it touched me none the less! they announced their hit "positive outlook family man style" with michael crafter subbed in the middle...very cute guys. A IS FOR ANIMAL!!! still my favourite song i thinks...will miss seeing this band every night, thats for sure...
next up MICHAEL CRAFTER'S CRAFTER. ie myself on drums handling majority of the vox, henry crudos on guitar and some vox. played these songs: eating shit kicking shit, the doom song, EAD, you suffer (napalm death), get a job, eating shit (yes, again lol) if your a mad sweater you will understand how this is a perfectly symmetrical setlist in terms of song length. anyways COOL SET. luke filmed it and it went for 90 seconds. THIS IS GRINDCORE KIDS. LEARN FROM YOUR SUPERIORS.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Day 3 A.M.
Sunday 18/7/11
today was the last show of the tour (and apparently ever) for Atomgevitter at a hot sweaty dirty studio in temerloh. the location seemed pretty remote but the people there were awesome. unfortunately we missed Sarjan Hassan, who sounded really awesome when Talib played them to me later on.. the first band on was SMG, who snuck onto the bill in attempt to play a set with decent sound. it was considerably better than their set and sound at noisy on friday just gone, so i was very glad to see them again. for the third time this trip! i feel very lucky considering they have a reputation for rarely playing. also SMG had a new split tape out with damage digital since the first time i saw them, only about two weeks ago. Sham was telling me they have put out about 75 tapes, mostly splits, 17 7 inches, mostly splits and 20 plus CDs.. fucking amazing shit. ive only got like 5 of their tapes, 2 7s and 2 CDs. need to get more...
Family Man were fucking great today. the owner of the studio turned off the stage ceiling fan cos harry was too tall which he considered dangerous. pretty funny. so they were left to drown in their own sweat. although the kids were all up in their faces frothing at the mouth, so they got away with just standing there and playing anyway...there set was fucking awesome, and the relative apathy of yesterday's crowd was made up for by these crazy dudes ten fold.
GVTR were up next, even though no one knew it was their last ever show, the crowd still acted as if it was, as they knew it was probably the last time they would ever see them anyway. the whole room erupted into a massive circle pit of chaos when they started playing. i also watched a bit from the "tommy cam", a small viewing point in the wall directly behind the drumkit. his tom fills were tight as a fish's arse! i felt lucky to have seen this final show, at one point i imagined how jealous their hordes of fans back in scotland would have been of me! i love this band and will definately be egging them on to reform if Crafter can ever make our way to scotland..
we then drove back to KL and crashed at Duan's. big thanx to the boys for letting me jump in the van! and Duan for a roof to sleep under both nights! ruling weekend
today was the last show of the tour (and apparently ever) for Atomgevitter at a hot sweaty dirty studio in temerloh. the location seemed pretty remote but the people there were awesome. unfortunately we missed Sarjan Hassan, who sounded really awesome when Talib played them to me later on.. the first band on was SMG, who snuck onto the bill in attempt to play a set with decent sound. it was considerably better than their set and sound at noisy on friday just gone, so i was very glad to see them again. for the third time this trip! i feel very lucky considering they have a reputation for rarely playing. also SMG had a new split tape out with damage digital since the first time i saw them, only about two weeks ago. Sham was telling me they have put out about 75 tapes, mostly splits, 17 7 inches, mostly splits and 20 plus CDs.. fucking amazing shit. ive only got like 5 of their tapes, 2 7s and 2 CDs. need to get more...
Family Man were fucking great today. the owner of the studio turned off the stage ceiling fan cos harry was too tall which he considered dangerous. pretty funny. so they were left to drown in their own sweat. although the kids were all up in their faces frothing at the mouth, so they got away with just standing there and playing anyway...there set was fucking awesome, and the relative apathy of yesterday's crowd was made up for by these crazy dudes ten fold.
GVTR were up next, even though no one knew it was their last ever show, the crowd still acted as if it was, as they knew it was probably the last time they would ever see them anyway. the whole room erupted into a massive circle pit of chaos when they started playing. i also watched a bit from the "tommy cam", a small viewing point in the wall directly behind the drumkit. his tom fills were tight as a fish's arse! i felt lucky to have seen this final show, at one point i imagined how jealous their hordes of fans back in scotland would have been of me! i love this band and will definately be egging them on to reform if Crafter can ever make our way to scotland..
we then drove back to KL and crashed at Duan's. big thanx to the boys for letting me jump in the van! and Duan for a roof to sleep under both nights! ruling weekend
Day 2 A.M.
Saturday 17/7/11
today i jumped in the tour van with the FM GVTR crew. today's show was at a studio in Tempin,
in the middle of a weird shopping complex that featured op shops, karaoke rooms and a snooker hall. got to see MR STERILE ASSEMBLY play again, a similar set with a completely different crowd vibe. if last night was drunken party vibe, then today was sobre silent appreciation vibe. you could tell everyone was frothing hard on MSA, all standing on the stage and right up the front. was a longer set today, and i got a chance to notice more of kieran's fantastic drumming, in one song their was some kind of jazzy blast in between the funk, and another almost sounded a bit NOFX-esque in a particular section, which made me smile =)
this was probably my least favourite FM, GVTR show on the tour, there wasnt a great response from the crowd and i felt like shit from no sleep. although both the bands musical performances were still impeccable.
after the show we got some dinner at an open-air restoran round the corner. i got to try a traditional cigarette, which took about 20 minutes to roll, i gave up after about 5 minutes and settled for a coupla drags from Machine's one. tasted like cancer. nice.
next up was a late night run to the hot springs, which was friggen amazing and incredibly relaxing. We stayed at Duan's parents house which was really nice. we all had a read before going to bed, except harry who says "i dont read the book, i wait for the movie".....and i got bagged out for reading The Twits.
today i jumped in the tour van with the FM GVTR crew. today's show was at a studio in Tempin,
in the middle of a weird shopping complex that featured op shops, karaoke rooms and a snooker hall. got to see MR STERILE ASSEMBLY play again, a similar set with a completely different crowd vibe. if last night was drunken party vibe, then today was sobre silent appreciation vibe. you could tell everyone was frothing hard on MSA, all standing on the stage and right up the front. was a longer set today, and i got a chance to notice more of kieran's fantastic drumming, in one song their was some kind of jazzy blast in between the funk, and another almost sounded a bit NOFX-esque in a particular section, which made me smile =)
this was probably my least favourite FM, GVTR show on the tour, there wasnt a great response from the crowd and i felt like shit from no sleep. although both the bands musical performances were still impeccable.
after the show we got some dinner at an open-air restoran round the corner. i got to try a traditional cigarette, which took about 20 minutes to roll, i gave up after about 5 minutes and settled for a coupla drags from Machine's one. tasted like cancer. nice.
next up was a late night run to the hot springs, which was friggen amazing and incredibly relaxing. We stayed at Duan's parents house which was really nice. we all had a read before going to bed, except harry who says "i dont read the book, i wait for the movie".....and i got bagged out for reading The Twits.
Day 1 A.M. (after matt)
Friday 15/7/11
after matt got on his flight i got a lift to gudang noisy with jasmine and talib, just missing FAMILY MAN =( everyone flipped out when i arrived, from roddy's confused expression of WTF man?! to glen jumping on me like a big huggable koala to Kristoff being all like "oh this is so great, so good to have you back man, HEAPS PARTY" everyone wanted to know what was going on but i had to go inside to see SMG, so my boring passport story waited til after. the PA was failing pretty terribly during SMG's set. so all the noise was coming thru just the amps and the amplified noise of the drumkit. the result was way too much guitar, quiet drums, and sham screaming unamplified as loud as he could. sounded terrible but you could tell it made the band even more pissed off, resulting in some pretty pissed off grindcore action. the PA kicked in for the last few songs, so it ended on a high note. brutal.
back outside i had to fill in everyone about my unexpected return to KL. i wasn't bummed cos there was nothing i could do about, so i just focused on how good it was to see everyone again. the news of harry' condom-thru-the-nose-and-out-the-mouth trick had also spread, so everyone was egging harry on, and some how i got roped into doing it as well, some pretty rad pics on jasmine's facebook. she has 3300+ friends so chances are your one of them, go check em out!
MR STERILE ASSEMBLY (NZ) were up next, who were friggen awesome as usual. Harry, RAGING in fine form, got within 30CM of kieran's face while he was drumming and singing and pulled a condom through his nose again. haha fuckin germans! this didn't phase MR Sterile Assembly, who continued to power through a tight set full of funky noisy party tunes. the cops came, bringing the set to an abrupt stop, but the kiwis continued the entertainment with a mesmerising and hushed improv lullaby.
after the pigs fucked off, it was just ATOMGEVITTER to go. the scots ripped through 20 or so songs, resulting in much circle pitting, 'mimed' shout outs, crowd surfing and general chaos.
then it was time to follow round the locals again and have dinner at 3AM. FM, GVTR, sham from SMG and I all crash at talibs. cept i stay up all night trying to figure out how im getting home...
after matt got on his flight i got a lift to gudang noisy with jasmine and talib, just missing FAMILY MAN =( everyone flipped out when i arrived, from roddy's confused expression of WTF man?! to glen jumping on me like a big huggable koala to Kristoff being all like "oh this is so great, so good to have you back man, HEAPS PARTY" everyone wanted to know what was going on but i had to go inside to see SMG, so my boring passport story waited til after. the PA was failing pretty terribly during SMG's set. so all the noise was coming thru just the amps and the amplified noise of the drumkit. the result was way too much guitar, quiet drums, and sham screaming unamplified as loud as he could. sounded terrible but you could tell it made the band even more pissed off, resulting in some pretty pissed off grindcore action. the PA kicked in for the last few songs, so it ended on a high note. brutal.
back outside i had to fill in everyone about my unexpected return to KL. i wasn't bummed cos there was nothing i could do about, so i just focused on how good it was to see everyone again. the news of harry' condom-thru-the-nose-and-out-the-mouth trick had also spread, so everyone was egging harry on, and some how i got roped into doing it as well, some pretty rad pics on jasmine's facebook. she has 3300+ friends so chances are your one of them, go check em out!
MR STERILE ASSEMBLY (NZ) were up next, who were friggen awesome as usual. Harry, RAGING in fine form, got within 30CM of kieran's face while he was drumming and singing and pulled a condom through his nose again. haha fuckin germans! this didn't phase MR Sterile Assembly, who continued to power through a tight set full of funky noisy party tunes. the cops came, bringing the set to an abrupt stop, but the kiwis continued the entertainment with a mesmerising and hushed improv lullaby.
after the pigs fucked off, it was just ATOMGEVITTER to go. the scots ripped through 20 or so songs, resulting in much circle pitting, 'mimed' shout outs, crowd surfing and general chaos.
then it was time to follow round the locals again and have dinner at 3AM. FM, GVTR, sham from SMG and I all crash at talibs. cept i stay up all night trying to figure out how im getting home...
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Day 15: Home time... or is it!
Hugs and handshakes it was time to leave our friends in KK to head to our show in Melbourne. I wrote this giant post about the whole trip but I'll save that for another day because I don't think the Michael Crafter South East Asia trip has finished. I'm in Melbourne... but I left Dave at the airport in KL. He is making the most of his schoolboy error of misplacing his passport and meeting up with the Family Man and Atomgevitter as they tour the Malaysian Peninsular. So possibly more news soon... he is waving the Crafter flag solo in SE Asia for the time being.
No Crafter show in Melbourne tonight sorry dudes and not looking good for our Sydney show on Friday at the Townie with Night Hag! xo Matt
No Crafter show in Melbourne tonight sorry dudes and not looking good for our Sydney show on Friday at the Townie with Night Hag! xo Matt
Day 14: Sandakan
Instead of the planned bus trip we rent a car instead with Nor, Sofrie, Dave and myself for the long haul so we could stop at waterfalls, hot springs and get heaps of food (rice based meals breakfastlunchanddinner). I grab the wheel of this tiny car and somehow managing to bust a tire halfway, sweating hard we make it to get fixed no worries, (tube replacement and labour cost $7 AU!!) nice one. Arrive at Sandakan to some nervous looking locals but they seemed very keen on seeing some whiteys play any form of music. Even though the scene there was incredibly small we had a cool two piece grind band open for us called "Agonizer" covering Inhale/Exhale by Nasum and donnig brutal truth and warsore t-shirts! Cool to see for such a tiny scene. The venue was a tiny shop front about the third the size of blackwire. The nervous studio owner wouldn't allow people inside for "security" reasons so the 40 or so locals had to mosh on the street. Even if they weren't allowed in the same room we were playing, their happy faces squished against the shopfront glass was a relieving sight. After the show, every camera and mobile phone got at least 3 photos of us and our cheeky smiles and faux-metal nice faces with the locals. We Are Rockstars there now. After trying to convince the grind locals to start a healthy grind scene so we come back I crash out early for the trip back. (Dave actually continues to socialise though)
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Day 12 - 13 : Kota Kinabalu
First day ALONE :( Recovered hard
More beach and beers and skimboarding. Hanging out with awesome dudes, chilling on the beach and finally getting our feet wet but still no surf. We used our white skin to get into a couple private beaches to chill and make this tour feel like more of a holiday. Sitting around dinner on the beach with all the old mates, Dave gets his tour tat within 30 minutes of deciding to get one, heaps party. Matt and Dave pull torpedos, snort condoms up our noses and win at pool to impress the locals. Preparing for our last show over the other side of Sabah, at Sandakan. We will be the first international band EVER to play Sandakan, winning.
More beach and beers and skimboarding. Hanging out with awesome dudes, chilling on the beach and finally getting our feet wet but still no surf. We used our white skin to get into a couple private beaches to chill and make this tour feel like more of a holiday. Sitting around dinner on the beach with all the old mates, Dave gets his tour tat within 30 minutes of deciding to get one, heaps party. Matt and Dave pull torpedos, snort condoms up our noses and win at pool to impress the locals. Preparing for our last show over the other side of Sabah, at Sandakan. We will be the first international band EVER to play Sandakan, winning.
Day 11: Kota Kinabalu - Day Off
Said goodbye to tour mates Family Man and Atomgevitter today, don't tell them but i think i cried at one point. Partied hard last night as a team at Adit's, that freaking champ. Coconut Harry taught us how to really party hard. Went to the museum today and learnt more about KK DIY culture, their history and their current political issues. Appreciate everything we have in Aussie dudes, because we have it fucking easy, just imagine being arrested for going to a hotel with your girlfriend who you are not married to and you've only hit the tip of the iceberg.
Right now we are running off the high from constant party, Michael Crafter team felt we had to keep it going, swimming, DB tour tats, beer and all that goes with that combination until... 5am? we will see. Made too many friends in Borneo, the locals frothing on Jess Locke videos and DIY grindcore, well versed in all things Australian grind related. Fuck you all I'm not coming home, I'm staying here and getting a job as the only person in KK that can grow a full beard. x MV
Right now we are running off the high from constant party, Michael Crafter team felt we had to keep it going, swimming, DB tour tats, beer and all that goes with that combination until... 5am? we will see. Made too many friends in Borneo, the locals frothing on Jess Locke videos and DIY grindcore, well versed in all things Australian grind related. Fuck you all I'm not coming home, I'm staying here and getting a job as the only person in KK that can grow a full beard. x MV
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Day 10: Kota Kinabalu
The refreshing smell of Borneo wakes me after a good 2 hours sleep for more party heaps times. Yup another big night. Apparently its Sunday so the show was a 2pm arvo show and probably the first show ever played to run early, which made everyone nice and happy. The dudes here are AWESOME, cicle pit, stage dives and croud surfing to every song from every band. The venue reminded us much of Scene Around Sound Sunday Sessions at Brooky. Drenched in sweat we rocked out to every song taking in our last show with the 3 bands. Props to guest vocalist, Akhden for fucking tearing up some improv grindcore with us. Tour nostalgia, in jokes and party times were had. Ended up at the beach for a swim and jellyfish bytes, luckily Monkey had a full tank to help put out the sting with his juice. Back at Adits for heaps of beer, we will see what pans out with our last party night. xo
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Day 9: Travel Day
9 days dudes! It was basically a travel day, find our way to the airport from wherever the fuck we were to wherever the fuck that was, Chef the boss took the reins for that one. Taxi, Train, Bus and Plane. Now we are in Borney Kota Kinbalu, hanging in an empty house with the locals, and learning about the Sabah way of life, so far I'm enjoying this 31 times more than Jakarta. We find out we are the 3rd Aussie band rock this island (Not OK and Pisschrist beat us to it), but we will be the first foreigners ever to play Sandakan!!!! Frothing.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Day 8: Jakarta
Jakarta is crazy, one of the most intense experiences possible, an 18 band bill onslaught all day meant many (300?) chaos punks binge drinking, passing out and then those still moving stealing from those less able to defend their wallets. 10 year olds smoking, crowd surfing and selling us much Yum Yum. BYO baby and soccer Hooligans. Everyone had an obsession with a photo with the Boule (Whiteys), the first time we have been the only white people in the venue, and possibly the entire city. Sadly not enough time for Injakmati to play last, which made the whole crew real sad as that would have been their last show for the tour. Tour guide-less for the first time, we make it back to the hotel in one piece to finally let our guard down, drink and listen to Raised Fist and Psychobilly. 3am Coconut Harry breaks into the karaoke bar fridge to bring us back icy cold ANKER longnecks! Why they have a padlock attached around the fridge with a piece of string and thought it would outsmart the beer hungry Germans I dont know. I definitely recommend playing Jakarta but not for the faint hearted.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Day 7: No sleep till Bandung
The locals pull a sneaky and our 2 buses rented are now 3 cars but we finally get on the road for the 12 hour car ride to Bandung. Luka wasn't in my car talking my ear off so I got all the required sleep for grindpal grindparty tonight. (ESHAYS BRA!!! hahaha fuck yeah Luke!). The gig wasn't exactly registered with the local enforcement but went off nice and smoothly regardless. Michael Crafter played first after prayer break to much critical acclaim. A big "what up" to locals The Majestic for putting us up for the night and Jaritengah for having a drummer that wore 2 jackets and jeans whilst blasting in extreme temperatures with Dave in his blasting silky uniform. Luka got his first crowd surf, and more raging d-beats. I wish we had more time to check out the place and meet more locals because our stay was over as fast as it came. :(
Friday, July 8, 2011
Day 6: Yogyakarta - A day off the job
Woke up baked in sweat with Dave farting in my face, the reverse spoon definitely has its pluses and minuses. Hit up a Hindu temple, the same one as Mortal Combat I reckon. Dodon our pirate themed tour manager has his work set out for him today. I'm on my second pair of sunnies and flip flops (WTF). Currently just sitting at the Pondok Kilir house and hanging with Kampretto watching the Atomgevitter Scots get tour tats, where are ZE GERMANS?? NO SLEEP 'TIL BANDUNG!!!
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