Malaysian band May to rock Brunei
By Rosli Abidin Yahya

Rock band May shortly after their arrival in Brunei.

One of Malaysia's greatest rock bands, May, walked into Brunei Darussalam for the first time yesterday morning. The group is set to perform as a special guest appearance at the Battle of the Bands competition tonight, July 30 at the JPCC Amphitheatre, Jerudong.

May's Man, Mus, Abu and Yus are following the footsteps of another famous Malaysian rock band, Wings, who have also performed as special guests at last year's competition. Moreover, Wings was also offered the opportunity to perform a full concert by a local organiser not long after their mesmerising appearance at the competition.

"We are hoping for a similar luck like Wings last year, where they were offered to perform a full concert after appearing as a special guest."

"It will be our greatest achievement after being in the music industry for 18 years. We were formed at the same time as Wings and Search, two of Malaysia's greatest bands," said Mus, who is the vocalist of the group.

Just like other rock bands, May also went through a lean period between 1997 and 2003. Mus who left the group in 1991 decided to return to the band in 2002. The band made an album 'Sinar' (Ray) in 2003, which won the Best Rock Album 2004 award at the Malaysian Industry Music Award AIM 2004.

"Currently we are negotiating with BMG for a new contract and we expect to produce a new album by the end of the year," Mus said.

Mus attributed their success to the loyal fans. "It is because of their loyalty and also because rock songs are freely created and need not follow a certain style such as disco. Therefore we always compose new songs,' he said.

When asked to comment about the popular entertainment programme Akademi Fantasia (AF), which has taken the fans in Brunei and Malaysia by storm, Mus said the students were just learners and many were not born with natural talents.

"Unlike artistes like us who broke into the entertainment scene, we need to possess enormous talents to be adored by the fans. The AF students were lucky to be thought as performers for several months," he said.

Meanwhile, The Battle of the Bands is set to feature eight local bands namely "D" Madley, Cryptic, Magician, Rampage, D-Hask, Guest-Apo, Pyogenesis and Black Pepper. They will be battling it out to be crowned as the undisputed top band of this year's competition.

This competition is organised by JPCC and La SutraZ Ent in conjunction with His Majesty's 58th Birthday. The eight bands will be trying to win the hearts of the judges to walk home with $10,000 worth of prizes.

Tickets are priced at $15 and can be purchased at the JPCC Amphitheatre. For any further enquiries call 2611894 (during office hours) and 2612290 (after office hours).

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin