thebasilband

Appearing Offline

2009-01-24T02:20:00.003+08:00

I have always found the "Appearing Offline" mode of online messengers amusing. Why log on via a chat program if you don't intend to chat with anyone?

Random thoughts aside, you may be wondering.... what happen to those fellas who sang when the spotlights caught fire at the Christmas Battle Of The Bands last December?

Well... I guess we've gone into another one of our hiatus modes... and we've all been busy doing different things...

Take the video below, for instance. And see if you can spot any familiar faces hehehehe :)

I Am Handsome :P

2008-12-14T18:17:00.004+08:00

Lol. The ad-hoc band pic we (tried) to submit for the Christmas Battle Of The Bands...

And by the way... the Christmas Battle Of The Bands was a fiery experience indeed... if you know what I'm saying... :P

And and and
We miss miss miss you
Joanne! :(

Oh Come All Ye Faithful...

2008-12-07T01:42:00.002+08:00

Practice, practice!
And there'll be more about this later.
For now, the hour is late.
Nitey nitesies :)

Christmas BOB

2008-12-01T16:10:00.006+08:00

Catch us there. Hohoho ;)

And... this blog needs a nicer template. If B man consents, I shall be on it soon hehe :P

Back At It

2008-11-11T19:04:00.003+08:00

Rawr.

Basil Band is soon to be back in action! HEHEHE. I am very glad.

*rubs hands in glee*

Basil's voice sounds nice + crisp + clear on those guide tracks that were fresh outta the studio! I await my turn on the hot seat.... with much... fear... and anxiety...

And the trouble with Never Good Enough is I keep feeling that my drumming is never good enough for it. Oh deeeeaarrr....

One last thing.

Basil, can I make this blog more... err... public? Pretty please?

jammed

2008-05-28T10:07:00.004+08:00

Hi.

I am very excited to be here, because since this is my inaugural post in thebasilbandblog (teh bbb!), I thought it would be swell to spam your eyes with pictures of possibly the most goodlooking and goodsounding people in town.

Or so I'd like to think.

The band from miss drummer's point of view.

Miss drummer, completely unaware of the objectifying lens.

Hi everyone. This is Susanna Khoo, our very beautiful drummer who, um, wishes not to be crossed.

Basil and Julian, with their very curvaceous instruments. Julian plays the cello, and occasionally the bass.

More Basil, Julian and curvaceous instruments. I love this photo, because I took it. Don't mock me okay.

"You hold her like this and she'll sound better."

Basil giving Jul some suggestions on a chord progression on the bass. What, my caption is suggestive? What you thinking la?

One of the many things I like about our bands is our mutual fascination over each other's instruments. When we get bored, we naturally wander around the studio, and hog each other's instruments.

And that's when real music comes about.

Sus on keys (she's pretty awesome at it too) and Jul on another curvaceous instrument.

Basil makin a lot of uncoordinated coordinated noise.

Let me tell you one more thing about the band.

While we're all masters of our own instruments, everyone has a secondary thing that he/she can contribute to the band. Basil writes our songs, sings and guitars; Sus guitars, keys and drums; Julian cells, er, plays the cello, the bass, and the guitar.

See, everyone can multitask. Except me.

So there I was, determined to give in to peer pressure and try to fit in.

Me trying my hand at one of the most beautiful instruments in the whole wide world. The sound I produced was akin to that of a cow trying to give birth on a hot summer's day under the blazing sun.

Result of attempt: fail.

Lesson to be learnt: when it comes to stringy and curvaceously bodied instruments, leave the music-making to the experts. ;)

out.

Glow In The Dark Boogers (Good Name For A Rock Band)

2008-05-14T03:38:00.004+08:00

Hi. It's the B man from the B band. Some sunny weather we've been having over here eh? Skins been peeling more than usual for a guitar player. It's like Christmas morning. Just a little grosser.

OK, bodily conditions aside, the cello fellow and I had quite a frenzy with the last two shows. Shout-out time before we continue! Hi Mel! Wassup Phillip and Rachel! Yo Xinch and Izmir!

And now for some highlights from the Monash Street Carnival 08 in slo-mo:

Ghost: "Grawr!"

B Man: "Aah!"

Jul: "Dude, how was it? Did you get grabbed from behind by that guy after you turned that corner?"

B Man: "Yeah, that was probably the best scare in the whole haunted house thing"

Jul: "Oh look he slimed you too."

B Man: "Aah! Get it off!"

Jul: "Can't. It appears they used some kinda quick-dry slime. You now have what looks like dried pink boogers on the back of your shirt."

B Man: "Great"

Jo: "Hey guys! Now that I'm here let's go watch a movie!"

B Man: "I can't be seen in this! Boogers are out of fashion!"

Jul: "The Jackie Chan-Jet Li movie starts at 11. Let's bounce"

And from most all accounts, let it be said that RockUp 08 in benefit of the Agathian's Shelter was a success and we are glad to be a part of it all.

Even if it's a small teeny part. A little afternoon set for little acoustic brothers.

Yup, Jul rocked the mall with his cello skillzorz and provided many a lady soothing background bass with which to try on clothes to.

"Mm, this trembly feeling I am getting feels like bass vibrations from somewhere outside this changing room. Or maybe I need to one up my jean size *ziiiip*"

And Juwita Suwito covered Umbrella. Ella. Ella.

And I lost a pick while playing. Enthusiasm is bad for holding on to guitar picks when strumming.

So Whomsoever shall findeth a white pick of a guitar in the Curve should knoweth this: thine newfound pick is glow in the dark-eth.

I kid you not. Bought it the day before. Glow in the freakin dark.

don't worry

2008-04-20T03:50:00.003+08:00

we were never gone. hm, a little too backstreet boys perhaps.

but we indeed are still here. just flying under the radar for awhile. going off the map and sailing into uncharted waters. here be monsters. facing down the faces of everything that brings us down.

the sessions have been sparse but new material keeps rolling in every time we come together so that adds to the repertoire. recorded a few acoustic demos too! you'll be hearing them in abit.

also have performances lined up for those of you who want to engage in a bout of collegiate merriment and making the lives of some kids just a little bit brighter!

monash street carnival
26th april 08
monash car park, bandar sunway
6pm (acoustic show) **time change**

rock up! 08
9th may 08
the curve, damansara
2pm (acoustic show)

so mark your calendars and notch your sticks of wood! and check back this page for timing changes.

much thanks for the patience,
basil.

and so we played

2007-10-12T08:20:00.000+08:00

sliding memories during the monash ball in front of say, 700+ people. the response? well, considering about half were taking pictures i could say we did pretty okay..

to the friends who came out that night (amanda, chun hoe, emilia, jason how) for some being their final year and all, and those who just happened to be there to wait upon their other halves (eric "GG" lim), also those who we've known, and yet, not really known: thanks.. you guys made it meaningful

with that, i'd like to thank yvonne, samia, and huiling for making sure we were up to snuff, and making the whole ball experience a little bit more hospitable for those of us who didn't purchase ball tickets.. hurrah to you!

i'd also like to thank joanna "steady hands" khoo for videoing our performance. to the uber pianist from calvary church who lent us his keyboard for the night, gracias amigo.. and thanks enrico of lightcraft for showing us how to use it without blowing the sound system :)

here are pics:

locked out of our free hotel room!

but that don't matter.. free food!

we've not seen pepper grinders or dates before!

the theme looks somewhat roller disco.. but it was more mafia inside

addressing the crowd

band pic! ow, flash

thanks again guys, for the help, the applause, and the memories

basil.

Wherever The Road Leads...

2007-09-26T22:47:00.000+08:00

*Edit: Listen to our first recorded track :)

happiness is the look when something just
happened and you realise
that the journey's worth as much as the prize

beautiful, her soul reflects a pool
of thirst unslakeable
for truth unmistakeable

oh i, i need someone to remind me
oh why, why i thought i felt happy
these sliding memories ain't lasting long

memories, life on play like a song
wondering where we went wrong
we'll never have the time because

life goes on, rambling without a pause
each fighting our own private wars
knowledge and wisdom divorced

how did we get to where we are
when we have yet to know why we are
never forget where you've come from
even when those that you've known have long gone

Left to right: Joanne, Julian, Basil, Susanna

Sometimes you never know just how things will turn out at the beginning.

My friend here, Basil, had been singing of a band for ages & we had talked of jamming sessions long before I graduated from Monash & he moved on to study at UTAR.

So when the same tune picked up again sometime earlier this year, in some ways I was wondering whether anything would really materialise from it all...

But something was different this time. We had a mini project to do: we were given a space on a compilation CD to record a song of ours. & due to shortness of time to put things together, we settled for the band name - The Basil Band - since it was Basil who had helped gather us all together for this one band purpose.

& that song, Sliding Memories, has become somewhat of our signature song. But of course, by now, we've a few others in line, waiting to be recorded, & also anticipating more gigs in future.

So here we are. & here we go.

To quote the words from the movie Drumline, it's...
"One band, one sound."

Eheh.

& yeah, since then there have been other little openings springing up. For the time being, we're like the prom/ball singers (or band-ers, if you like) but ah, there's more coming. & I must say I am ever so glad to be here & be part of this gang here.

Yaaaay!

ahem, ahem

2007-09-25T01:00:00.000+08:00

test one, two. check. yeah uh, hi everyone. this is our blog!