Interview with Budi (Wicked Aura's Leader)
Band History
Who started the band and what prompted you to do so?
The band started in a rather haphazard manner in july 2003. there was a
guy whos into brazilian percussion named firman (whos now in the UK). he got invited to play at zoukout 2003, the big outdoor dance festival in singapore. so he basically got together like-minded friends, including people like me who enjoy banging things! that gig was supposed to be a one-off. but as soon as firman went back to the UK we knew we wanted to keep going. and so we did. theres a bit of money in it. and theres always the chicks! the learning process has been long but fun nonetheless. so technically, firman started the band. cos he taught us some of the basic rhythms.
Who are the members and where do they come from?
theres 13 of us altogether. theres been some line-up changes over the years too. currently the line-up consists of me, hanafi, syed ahmad, eddy, sharan, hardy, syam, sarong, wan abang (youngest member), wan afro, salle, rizal and aidan, the only foreigner in the band. he's of english national. the rest of us are local boys. we all come from different backgrounds but with only music as the common ground.
What makes your band different from other local bands?
Well firstly we all play drums. its not your typical rock band setting with guitars, bass and drums. although we dont rule out anything. its basically 13 guys with drums. throw in a little bit of singing, a little bit of booty shakin and a lot of noise and thats pretty much it.
What genre do their music fall into?
Its called batucada. its an Afro-Brazilian music format. batucada also means something like a percussive jam. or din. which is basically noise. or just a racket! we try to mix the samba with a little bit of everything else.
Is there any message that you and the band want to put across to the public?
Positivity is definitely one of them. social consciousness. and the party spirit of course.
How do you hope your music can change or have an impact on people’s lives?
I'm sure the music is impactful but whether we change people's lives.. thats a bit far out.. im just hoping the message gets sent out to the people. and its the one ive mentioned in my last answer.
Have you encountered any setbacks while performing or collaborating with each other?
Oh yea sure. tripping over wires onstage. drum straps breaking. mics stopped working. or us forgetting our drum parts. as for collaborating or working with each other, theres always individual ego and ideals clashing you know.. but its all good. 13 heads are better than one.
What is your most memorable live gig or performance and why so?
I think for a lot of us its WOMAD Madrid. that was the 1st big overseas music festival we played at. after debuting in singapore's WOMAD festival in 2004 evrything just picked up. we've travelled before but it wasnt quite for music festivals. they were more corporate gigs. but madrid. well that one was a real eye-opener. we've never been further away from home. the very 1st performance we did in spain kicked off at 9.10pm at the siam tent with only a quarter of the space filled up and within the 2nd song that place was just overflowing and kicking ass! we ended that gig on such a high. everyone was congratulating each other and we were getting all these compliments from the other artists. i dont think we need more reasons why that was wicked aura's most memorable gig.
How would you rate Singaporean’s response towards local bands like yourself and what future plans do u have?
Singapore is slowly picking up as far as the music scene is concerned. people are still generally pretty reserved and the response towards local acts, though lukewarm is slowly heating up. i guess it also depends a lot on the artists themselves to just go out there and do it. and how convincing and good they are at doing their thing you know. we've been a bit lucky from the beginning cos of the slightly different setup. we can set up and play anywhere. no need for electricity or amplifiers. and yea, we've also worked very hard if i might add. future plans include the release of the full-length album and touring the world. thats what we REALLY wanna do for now.
The band started in a rather haphazard manner in july 2003. there was a
guy whos into brazilian percussion named firman (whos now in the UK). he got invited to play at zoukout 2003, the big outdoor dance festival in singapore. so he basically got together like-minded friends, including people like me who enjoy banging things! that gig was supposed to be a one-off. but as soon as firman went back to the UK we knew we wanted to keep going. and so we did. theres a bit of money in it. and theres always the chicks! the learning process has been long but fun nonetheless. so technically, firman started the band. cos he taught us some of the basic rhythms.
Who are the members and where do they come from?theres 13 of us altogether. theres been some line-up changes over the years too. currently the line-up consists of me, hanafi, syed ahmad, eddy, sharan, hardy, syam, sarong, wan abang (youngest member), wan afro, salle, rizal and aidan, the only foreigner in the band. he's of english national. the rest of us are local boys. we all come from different backgrounds but with only music as the common ground.
What makes your band different from other local bands?
Well firstly we all play drums. its not your typical rock band setting with guitars, bass and drums. although we dont rule out anything. its basically 13 guys with drums. throw in a little bit of singing, a little bit of booty shakin and a lot of noise and thats pretty much it.
Music
What genre do their music fall into?
Its called batucada. its an Afro-Brazilian music format. batucada also means something like a percussive jam. or din. which is basically noise. or just a racket! we try to mix the samba with a little bit of everything else.
Is there any message that you and the band want to put across to the public?
Positivity is definitely one of them. social consciousness. and the party spirit of course.
How do you hope your music can change or have an impact on people’s lives?
I'm sure the music is impactful but whether we change people's lives.. thats a bit far out.. im just hoping the message gets sent out to the people. and its the one ive mentioned in my last answer.
Band Activities
Have you encountered any setbacks while performing or collaborating with each other?
Oh yea sure. tripping over wires onstage. drum straps breaking. mics stopped working. or us forgetting our drum parts. as for collaborating or working with each other, theres always individual ego and ideals clashing you know.. but its all good. 13 heads are better than one.
What is your most memorable live gig or performance and why so?
I think for a lot of us its WOMAD Madrid. that was the 1st big overseas music festival we played at. after debuting in singapore's WOMAD festival in 2004 evrything just picked up. we've travelled before but it wasnt quite for music festivals. they were more corporate gigs. but madrid. well that one was a real eye-opener. we've never been further away from home. the very 1st performance we did in spain kicked off at 9.10pm at the siam tent with only a quarter of the space filled up and within the 2nd song that place was just overflowing and kicking ass! we ended that gig on such a high. everyone was congratulating each other and we were getting all these compliments from the other artists. i dont think we need more reasons why that was wicked aura's most memorable gig.
How would you rate Singaporean’s response towards local bands like yourself and what future plans do u have?
Singapore is slowly picking up as far as the music scene is concerned. people are still generally pretty reserved and the response towards local acts, though lukewarm is slowly heating up. i guess it also depends a lot on the artists themselves to just go out there and do it. and how convincing and good they are at doing their thing you know. we've been a bit lucky from the beginning cos of the slightly different setup. we can set up and play anywhere. no need for electricity or amplifiers. and yea, we've also worked very hard if i might add. future plans include the release of the full-length album and touring the world. thats what we REALLY wanna do for now.