BIO
Estranged started out in the year 2001 when
Rich and
Din were students in the
International College of Music (ICOM) wanting to play rock music, therefore, they gathered a bunch of guys who had similar interests, thus,
Estranged is formed. The band started off with their first ever gig in year 2001 at
TwelveSI and since then, the gigs kept on coming. The band has also gone through many changes in the line up, even to this day, original lead guitarist
Adzrai had just departed with the band due to furthering his studies. New grunge-influenced guitarist
Hanafi replaces him.
Estranged participated in the “
Yamaha Asian Beat Competition” for year 2001 and managed to finish 2nd runners-up for the competition.
Right after
Rock the World 4 (Malaysia’s annual rock festival) the band got inspired to cut an album. And after endless effort and all sorts of obstacles, they completed an 11 track album. The recording process took about 4 months (Oct – Dec 2004) to be completed. Thus,
In Hating Memory is born. The debut album includes 10 English tracks and 1 Malay language track. The first single
Velocity started receiving airplay since June 2005 followed by the second single Chocolate Syrup. Both singles were accompanied by music videos directed by “
Motion Notion” and
Tan Chee Meng respectively.
More on the album, the band was very fortunate as they had a chance to work with two dedicated engineers, Mr.
Norman Rashid and Mr.
Eduardo Garcia. Mr.
Norman did the recording sessions and is very experienced as he has work with many pop Malay artists. Mr.
Garcia however hails from
Colombia, temporarily in Malaysia, finalized the mixing and mastering, and has exceptional talent and even a
Latin Grammy nominee to his name.
A little more on the video Chocolate Syrup, the video received heavy airplay as the video had a different storyline to it, compared to other cliché rock videos. It was shot and directed by
Tan Chee Meng, a local music producer/video director (the list goes on!). The band wanted a whole new concept for the video compared to the common rock videos.
These are just some of the newspaper reviews by
Malay Mail and
New Sunday Times.
More on the website.
"With a bit more diversity in the music arrangement, providing more variety between tracks, Estranged could well be an undiscovered Malaysian gem."
Terrina Hussein, THE MALAY MAIL, 15th JUNE 2005
Estranged’s approach may seem middle ground, but there’s still plenty of anger, as evident with plenty songs on “In Hating Memory” being about tough times"
ADLIN ROSLI, NEW SUNDAY TIMES, 26th JUNE 2005
Mid 2006,
Rich controversially decides to participate in Malaysia’s most watched reality program
Akademi Fantasia (12 contestants are taken into a house where the location is kept as a secret from the public and their lives would be broadcasted on satellite TV. Contestants will be judged based on their personality, singing capabilities and other skills. Week by week, one contestant will be eliminated).
Rich happened to be the very first contestant to be in a band which was active in the local underground scene. However,
Rich did not finish as the champion of the reality show but it later then came as a surprise to many as
Rich had raked in a lot more supporters for the band.
In Sept 2006, the band got nominated for an
Anugerah Era (an award ceremony organized by Malaysia’s most listened radio station) under the category “
Favourite Local English Act” going against big acts such as
Too Phat, Pop Shuvit, and
Jaclyn Victor (
Malaysian Idol winner) and to surprise, the band managed to win the award. This is followed by a double nomination on the
Hitz.fm Malaysian English Top 10 Awards under the categories of
Best Rock and
Best Video. The band also managed to take home both awards for the respective categories.
The band kicked off year 2007 with the release of the
repackaged album “In Hating Memory” by adding a Malay language track which turned out to be a nationwide major hit called “
Itu Kamu”. The music video was shot by award winning director
Jack Wung who hails from
Sarawak, Malaysia.
Information source: Band's Official Website
● Richael or Rich (Click to view all Post on Rich (Estranged)) - Estranged's Frontman (Click to view all Post on Estranged) ● From Album: Recorded Live on Akademi Fantasia Season 4, Concert #9 Performed 2006 ● Label: None ● Track: None ● Genre: Post Grunge, Power Ballad ●
● Estranged (Click to view all Post on This Band) ● From Album: In Hating Memory Released 2005 ● Label: EAD Entertainment ● Track: 04 ● Genre: Alternative Rock ●
BIO
● Estranged ● From Album: In Hating Memory Released 2005, The ablum re-released in 2007 "<The Repackaged In Hating Memory" ● Label: EAD Entertainment ● Track: 05 (03 - 2007) ● Genre: Alternative Rock ●
● Estranged
● Album: The Repackaged In Hating Memory Released 2007 ●
Label: EAD Entertainment ●
Track: 12 (Bonus Track) ●
Genre: Alternative Rock ●
