Butterfingers (Malaysian band)
Encyclopedia
Butterfingers is a Malaysian grunge
/rock band formed in 1993. They have released 8 albums to date, their latest being KEMBALI in 2008.
(MCKK), including Loque and Kadak, formed a band called Loque's Tail.
They started producing their own material, with the hopes of making a name for themselves in the Malaysian music scene.
During this time, grunge
hit the shores of Malaysia with substantial force.
In 1993, while jamming at the Black Widow Studios in Kuala Lumpur
, they bumped into Emmett, who was there jamming (as a guitarist) with his band at the time, Grunge Dayz.
Impressed with what he saw, Loque challenged Emmett to a ‘jamming showdown', after which they mutually decided to join skills and creativity, and form their own band.
After drummer Kalai joined, Butterfingers was officially born by the end of 1993.
With the final line up of Loque (songwriter, guitarist), Emmett (vocals, guitar, strings and lyricist), Kadak (bass) and Kalai (drums), Butterfingers hit the underground gig scene with a vengeance that sold out most of their shows and is described today as ‘the stuff of underground legends'.
"1 goat, 2 apples and 16 oranges" was a demo cassette published by Butterfingers into the underground circuit. The demo introduced their raw energy in music, heavily influenced by grunge during that time, and Emmett's vocals which are a carbon-copy of Kurt Cobain. A lot of listeners thought that the demo was an unreleased Nirvana album, until Butterfingers made their first appearance at the superUnderground music gig at Piccadilly in February 1995. The gig and the circulation of their now very popular demo raised butterfingers into becoming one of the most recognizable underground bands at that time, along with other bands such as OAG, The Splatters and Spiral Kinetik Circus.
-esque tunes, much like Silverchair
's early albums.
The band was evidently very much influenced by the eattle scene],] which was dying away after the death of Kurt Cobain
, and the evolution of Pearl Jam
into a more melodic, diverse and less angst-ridden band, among other things.
The Malaysian youth however, were far from over with grunge and received 1.2 mg very well. The following year's release of their second album Butter Worth Pushful strengthened their following with more intricate, but still grungy, tunes.
It was however, the 1999 album Transcendence, which showcased massive songwriting potential, that brought Butterfingers to the peak of their popularity. With hit songs The Chemistry (Between Us) and Epitome, Transcendence sold over 50 000 units, a remarkable feat for an English-singing Malaysian band at a time when such bands were still by and large almost automatically considered inferior to American and British imports.
, perhaps realizing the commercial potential, switched to Malay. Rock music in Malaysia was also under significant challenge from the hiphop scene with the emergence of groups such as Too Phat
and Teh Tarik Crew who attained huge commercial success and popularity amongst the youth of the country. Some sections of the Butterfingers' fan base were slightly suspicious of the band's motives for recording a Malay album but once again they were defiant and demonstrated faith in their own visions of what they intended to produce.
Any concerns of Butterfingers 'selling out' were put to rest with its release. The album brought a new dimension to Malay rock with a mixture of madness and message (with lyrics that made you think), and was never meant to sell as well as the Malay or Indonesian bands that sang easy listening ballads, which some critics have claimed to be lacking in depth. Even the words Emmett used on the album were 'alien', borrowing many terms associated with Malaysian royalty. In interviews the band have said that this was a conscious move on their part to explore new grounds within Malay music which they felt was becoming all too predictable.
In 2003, Emmett left to further his education in Canada, leaving the rest of the band to release and promote Selamat Tinggal Dunia without him. There were rumors of Butterfingers breaking up or melting away (helped by the title of the record itself which can be directly translated as Goodbye World). One week after Emmett returned to Malaysia, in 2006, it was Loque's turn leave, this time for Berkley College in Boston, where he continued writing music for the band.
2008 saw the release of their sophomore Malay album, "KEMBALI", which means 'the comeback', coincidentally timed with the Loque's return during his Fall break. During those rare few weeks together, the band worked at full capacity to play and promote what would be their last album together.
During Loque's hiatus, the high demand for Butterfingers, plus the success of "KEMBALI", which was well received by fans and industry alike, insisted that Emmett, Loko and Kadak continue to play show. They added famed guitarist and music producer, Greg Henderson to their temporary line-up. This quartet played a variety of shows, including Butterfingers regular headlining spot for the biggest annual music festival, Rock The World.
With Loque returning in January 2009, and Emmett relocating to Canada in May 2009, it was finally time for the boys to admit the truth and plan the band's farewell tour de force. For this, they chose the most prestigious venue open to live performances, Istana Budaya, making Butterfingers the first independent band to play there. The four shows played over two days sold out long before the performances and were a huge success. It was an emotional send off for all: the people's band that played only for their love of music, and those who loved their music.
Loque continued to write songs, even while studying in Boston, under the moniker Monoloque. Upon his return to Malaysia, he released several tracks, which have been doing well, filling the void Butterfingers fans felt. Monoloque continues to push the Malaysian music boundaries to new heights.butterworld forever!
----
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
/rock band formed in 1993. They have released 8 albums to date, their latest being KEMBALI in 2008.
Current members
- Emmett - Emmett Roslan Ishak (Vocals, Guitar, Violin)
- Loque - Khairil Ridzwan bin Anuar (Guitar, Samples, Vocals)
- Kadak - Mohd Fakharudin Bin Mohd Bahar (Bass, Vocals)
- Loko - Mohamad Hafiz (Drums)
- Former member:- Kalai (Drums), on the 1.2 Milligrams album
History
In 1991, a group of students at Malay College Kuala KangsarMalay College Kuala Kangsar
The Malay College Kuala Kangsar is a residential school in Malaysia. It is an all-boys and all-Malay school located in the royal town of Kuala Kangsar, Perak...
(MCKK), including Loque and Kadak, formed a band called Loque's Tail.
They started producing their own material, with the hopes of making a name for themselves in the Malaysian music scene.
During this time, grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
hit the shores of Malaysia with substantial force.
In 1993, while jamming at the Black Widow Studios in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, they bumped into Emmett, who was there jamming (as a guitarist) with his band at the time, Grunge Dayz.
Impressed with what he saw, Loque challenged Emmett to a ‘jamming showdown', after which they mutually decided to join skills and creativity, and form their own band.
After drummer Kalai joined, Butterfingers was officially born by the end of 1993.
With the final line up of Loque (songwriter, guitarist), Emmett (vocals, guitar, strings and lyricist), Kadak (bass) and Kalai (drums), Butterfingers hit the underground gig scene with a vengeance that sold out most of their shows and is described today as ‘the stuff of underground legends'.
"1 goat, 2 apples and 16 oranges" was a demo cassette published by Butterfingers into the underground circuit. The demo introduced their raw energy in music, heavily influenced by grunge during that time, and Emmett's vocals which are a carbon-copy of Kurt Cobain. A lot of listeners thought that the demo was an unreleased Nirvana album, until Butterfingers made their first appearance at the superUnderground music gig at Piccadilly in February 1995. The gig and the circulation of their now very popular demo raised butterfingers into becoming one of the most recognizable underground bands at that time, along with other bands such as OAG, The Splatters and Spiral Kinetik Circus.
Rise To Fame (1996-1999)
1.2 mg was released in 1996 to a reasonably strong and rapidly growing fanbase, owing to the massive reputation the band had achieved during their years in the underground scene, with NirvanaNirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
-esque tunes, much like Silverchair
Silverchair
Silverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Merewether, Newcastle with the line-up of Ben Gillies on drums, Chris Joannou on bass guitar and Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars. The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo...
's early albums.
The band was evidently very much influenced by the eattle scene],] which was dying away after the death of Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
, and the evolution of Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
into a more melodic, diverse and less angst-ridden band, among other things.
The Malaysian youth however, were far from over with grunge and received 1.2 mg very well. The following year's release of their second album Butter Worth Pushful strengthened their following with more intricate, but still grungy, tunes.
It was however, the 1999 album Transcendence, which showcased massive songwriting potential, that brought Butterfingers to the peak of their popularity. With hit songs The Chemistry (Between Us) and Epitome, Transcendence sold over 50 000 units, a remarkable feat for an English-singing Malaysian band at a time when such bands were still by and large almost automatically considered inferior to American and British imports.
2000-2009
After the success of Transcendence and the release of Butter Late Than Never, a collection of old live tracks and outtakes with some previously unreleased songs, Butterfingers recorded Malayneum, an epic album showcasing some of the most impressive material in Malaysian music history that won rave reviews from critics. In many ways, it fulfilled the potential that was evident in Transcendence and acts as a testament of how mature the band had become at that point. The fans however, responded less favorably, evident by decreased sales of the album, hugely due the fact that they were still in desire for three-chord, angst-ridden, grungy material. This was something the band wasn't willing to continue producing for commercial success. The band once remarked how they felt that while they have grown past grunge strictly as a musical genre, the fans have not. Nonetheless Malayneum is a landmark album for the Malaysian music scene simply because of its originality. After a greatest hits album in early 2003, which was poorly promoted by the now defunct label, EMI Malaysia, the band started working on the Malay language album Selamat Tinggal Dunia which was released in 2004. By this time many Malaysian bands singing in Malay were selling very well, owing much to the popularity of Indonesian indie bands in the country. In fact some bands who previously sang in English, such as OAGOAG (band)
OAG, also spelled O@G, also known as Old Automatic Garbage or Orang Asia Genius, is a Malaysian pop and alternative rock band. The band, formed in 1992, was one of the first English language alternative rock bands in Malaysia to get huge attention from mainstream music listeners...
, perhaps realizing the commercial potential, switched to Malay. Rock music in Malaysia was also under significant challenge from the hiphop scene with the emergence of groups such as Too Phat
Too Phat
Too Phat is a Malaysian hip-hop duo, consisting of Joe Flizzow and Malique Ibrahim .-Career:...
and Teh Tarik Crew who attained huge commercial success and popularity amongst the youth of the country. Some sections of the Butterfingers' fan base were slightly suspicious of the band's motives for recording a Malay album but once again they were defiant and demonstrated faith in their own visions of what they intended to produce.
Any concerns of Butterfingers 'selling out' were put to rest with its release. The album brought a new dimension to Malay rock with a mixture of madness and message (with lyrics that made you think), and was never meant to sell as well as the Malay or Indonesian bands that sang easy listening ballads, which some critics have claimed to be lacking in depth. Even the words Emmett used on the album were 'alien', borrowing many terms associated with Malaysian royalty. In interviews the band have said that this was a conscious move on their part to explore new grounds within Malay music which they felt was becoming all too predictable.
In 2003, Emmett left to further his education in Canada, leaving the rest of the band to release and promote Selamat Tinggal Dunia without him. There were rumors of Butterfingers breaking up or melting away (helped by the title of the record itself which can be directly translated as Goodbye World). One week after Emmett returned to Malaysia, in 2006, it was Loque's turn leave, this time for Berkley College in Boston, where he continued writing music for the band.
2008 saw the release of their sophomore Malay album, "KEMBALI", which means 'the comeback', coincidentally timed with the Loque's return during his Fall break. During those rare few weeks together, the band worked at full capacity to play and promote what would be their last album together.
During Loque's hiatus, the high demand for Butterfingers, plus the success of "KEMBALI", which was well received by fans and industry alike, insisted that Emmett, Loko and Kadak continue to play show. They added famed guitarist and music producer, Greg Henderson to their temporary line-up. This quartet played a variety of shows, including Butterfingers regular headlining spot for the biggest annual music festival, Rock The World.
With Loque returning in January 2009, and Emmett relocating to Canada in May 2009, it was finally time for the boys to admit the truth and plan the band's farewell tour de force. For this, they chose the most prestigious venue open to live performances, Istana Budaya, making Butterfingers the first independent band to play there. The four shows played over two days sold out long before the performances and were a huge success. It was an emotional send off for all: the people's band that played only for their love of music, and those who loved their music.
What now?
The future of Butterfingers remains uncertain, though fans still long and hope for a reunion. No matter the outcome, they have ridden the unique challenges as artists in Malaysia and most definitely have stamped their mark as Malaysian music legends.Loque continued to write songs, even while studying in Boston, under the moniker Monoloque. Upon his return to Malaysia, he released several tracks, which have been doing well, filling the void Butterfingers fans felt. Monoloque continues to push the Malaysian music boundaries to new heights.butterworld forever!
1996 - 1.2 Milligrams (Butterworld)
- 1. Naive Sick Chasm
- 2. Chrome
- 3. Nicc o'Tynne
- 4. Me
- 5. Wet Blanket
- 6. Fo
- 7. Royal Jelly
- 8. Ugly
- 9. In the Calm
- 10. Sober
- 11. 10db
- 12. Royal Jelly (Remix)
1997 - Butter Worth Pushful (Butterworld/EMI)
- 1. Fire is a Curse?
- 2. Girl Friday
- 3. E
- 4. Stolen
- 5. Vio-pipe
- 6. Apple Tree
- 7. Skew
- 8. Love
- 9. Ruin by the Selling Out
- 10. Delirium
- 11. Garden City of Lights
- 12. Still River
1999 - Transcendence (Butterworld/EMI)
- 1. The Chemistry (Between Us)
- 2. Epitome
- 3. Meltdown
- 4. Mermaids (Fair-God & Stone Faces)
- 5. Doomsday Out
- 6. Faculties of the Mind
- 7. Floating in a Vacuum
- 8. Weird
- 9. RnR (Rock & Radical)
- 10. Mokhsha
- 11. Mystery
- 12. Words vs Wisdom
2001 - Malayneum (Butterworld/EMI)
- 1. Malayneum
- 2. Antidotes
- 3. Pretty Rain
- 4. State of Abyssmal
- 5. Ginseng
- 6. Am I Phoney?
- 7. Mating Season
- 8. Pacific
- 9. No One Else
- 10. Suddenly
2005 - Selamat Tinggal Dunia (Butterworld/EMI)
- 1. Ngilu(Hidup makan tidur mati muzik)
- 2. Daulat Tuanku
- 3. Cuai
- 4. Urusan Seri Paduka Baginda
- 5. Selamat Tinggal Dunia
- 6. Kabus Ribut
- 7. Merpati Sejoli
- 8. Hanyut
- 9. Taman Tasik Perdana
- 10. Tentang Tentang
2008 - Kembali (Butterworld)
- 1. Joget Global
- 2. Bebas
- 3. Maharani
- 4. Terus Terang
- 5. Air Liur di Kuala Lumpur
- 6. Lengkap Semula
- 7. Merdeka
- 8. 1000 Tahun (mahu hidup)
- 9. Gelombang Cinta
- 10. Mendaki Menara Condong
- 11. Mati Hidup Kembali
VCD
- Peristiwa Batu Keras, Live @ Hard Rock Cafe
- Rock the World III - "Tentang-tentang"
- Rock the World IV - "Merpati Sejoli"
Compilation albums
- Butter Late Than Never 2000 Butterworld/EMI
- The Best Is Yet To Come 2003 Butterworld/EMI
- The Butterfingers' Made For JAPAN Release 2004 Butterworld/EMI
- "Peristiwa Batu Keras" Live CD/VCD 2006 Butterworld/EMI
Music videos
- "Mati Hidup Kembali" - 2009
- "Bebas" - 2009
- "Maharani" - 2008
- "Kembali" - 2008 (Single)
- "Cuai - Live" - 2004 (Unreleased Video - only through fan site)
- "Vio-Pipe" - 2004 (Unreleased Video - only through fan site)
- "Ngilu" - 2004
- "Kabus Ribut" - 2004
- "Malayneum" - 2001
- "Girl Friday" - 1997
- "Chrome" - 1996
Hit Songs
- Chrome from the album 1.2 Milligrams
- Royal Jelly from the album 1.2 Milligrams
- Nicc O'Tynne from the album 1.2 Milligrams
- Me from the album 1.2 Milligrams
- Stolen from the album Butter Worth Pushful
- Ruin By The Selling Out from the album Butter Worth Pushful
- Girl Friday from the album Butter Worth Pushful
- Delirium from the album Butter Worth Pushful
- Vio-pipe from the album Butter Worth Pushful
- The Chemistry(between us)from the album Transcendence
- Faculties Of The Mind from the album Transcendence
- Epitome from the album Transcendence
- Malayneum from the album Malayneum
- Pacific from the album Malayneum
- Cuai from the album Selamat Tinggal Dunia
- Kabus Ribut from the album Selamat Tinggal Dunia
- 1000 tahun (mahu hidup)from the album Kembali
- Terus Terang from the album Kembali
- Bebas from the album Kembali
External links
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