User:Ohsodoodle/AZUREFORJANNE (A4J)

AZUREFORJANNE (A4J) is a Malaysian post-hardcore/avant-garde/rock band hailing from Penang, Selangor & Kuala Lumpur. AZUREFORJANNE was founded and formed in 2009 by Meng Shiong (lead guitar) and SanJay (vocalist). The current line-up consists of SanJay, Meng Shiong, Bryan Chin (drums) and Jayson Yan (rhythm guitar).

Inception and early years (2005 - 2007)
Meng and SanJay are childhood friends from Penang. Meng moved to Kuala Lumpur in 2002 and SanJay was still in to high school in Penang. SanJay then moved to Kuala Lumpur in 2005 and formed a power pop/rock band called Every Fallen Thursday with friends where he played the drums, Meng on lead guitar, Christopher Lim (bass guitar) and Kim-Fatt (rhythm guitar/vocals). The band played a few shows and gigs in Malaysia, and in 2006 SanJay left the band and went back to Penang due to personal reasons and was replaced by Jason (drums). The band later disbanded in 2007.

Formation and Solitary Minds Of Fiction Demo CD (2007 - 2010)
Shortly after Every Fallen Thursday's disbandment, Meng (guitar), SanJay (drums), and Christopher (bass guitar) formed a new screamo/post-hardcore band started working on songs in Meng's living room with a acoustic guitar for almost 6 months. In between that period, a close of friend of theirs, Jayson, showed interest in playing the guitar with them and later he became the 4th member of the band. The band was later named AZUREFORJANNE as azure was the color of Meng's window curtains in his living room and JANNE was a combination of Jane and Zanne, both of them in concern to Meng and SanJay. It was a strive looking for a vocalist and at the earlier stages of the band. SanJay recorded to fill in for vocals and also played the drums during that period. Bernard Yap helped out on drums for a few months before leaving to Singapore to further his studies. Together they record 2 demo's songs at Standing Wave Studio in (Subang Jaya).

It was difficult for them to score shows/gigs as the band had no proper vocalist. After auditioning and trying out few potential vocalists, Shin joined the band as the vocalist and was booted out after 5 months for disciplinary problems and personal reasons. The band strive once again with no vocalist. The band persuaded SanJay to take the place as the vocalist and find a new drummer instead. SanJay stepped in to vocal and shortly after Bryan joined the band on drums. They started gigging in various venues and places in Kuala Lumpur on a fair pace.

Christopher left the band in late 2009 and migrated Virginia, USA with his family. The band was out to hunt for another member to fill in for the missing spot, and Tomas Tam joined in for bass guitar in December 2009 and the band started to work on proper solid songs to be recorded. The band had a slight direction change in sense of music, and grew more matured as now they had focus on the band. They then started pre-production with Keng Lee (Seven Collar T-Shirt) and Jeffrey Kumar (Army Of Three) and recorded 5-tracks with Keng and Jeffrey at Awakening Studio, KL. They later DIY re-recorded 2 tracks with Tomas and released a 2-track demo CD titled Solitary Minds Of Fiction in mid 2010. The CD was later up online on their Facebook and Myspace page for free download. Tomas left the band in late 2010 due to personal commitments.

A Common State Of Liberty and progress (2010 - present)
AZUREFORJANNE started working on and plan for their debut full-length album, A Common State Of Liberty in early 2011. As they had no permanent bassist in the mean time, a close friend of theirs Kevin Cottie (An Honest Mistake/Kevllama) is now sessioning and helping out to fill in as a bass guitar player for live shows and recording. They have recorded and released their first official single off the album, These Wolves Are Made Of Wools (recorded and mixed by Najmi (Incarnation) at Subhuman Productions, KL) online in early May 2011 and it has been received quite well so far. The single was released for free download online recently and a live music video (recorded and edited by Roy Ajong of UPFilms) and an official music video is being planned for it. The live music video will be released in early June 2011 online for promotional reasons.

The band is currently in the midst of going into the studio again to record their second single, Enemy As A Friend sometime in July 2011 and gigging constantly around Malaysia.

Musical Style
AZUREFORJANNE has been described as post-hardcore, emo, emocore, screamo, hardcore, metalcore, melodic with elements of post-rock, progressive rock and others. AZUREFORJANNE song structure usually follow a hardcore, post-hardcore, metalcore verse, followed by melodic pop-ish mellow and up-lifting choruses with intense breakdowns. The band also like to experiment with time signatures and progressive guitar riffs. The lyrics usually reflects upon current issues, faith, liberation and life.

Band Members

 * SanJay C D - lead vocals/keys
 * Meng Shiong - lead guitar
 * Jayson Yan - rhythm guitar
 * Bryan Chin - drums

Former


 * Bernard Yap (drums)
 * Shinji Kiro (vocals)
 * Tomas Tam (bass guitar)

Discography

 * Solitary Minds Of Fiction DEMO CD (2010)
 * A Common State Of Liberty (unreleased)

Singles

 * Hey Stacy, Myspace is THAT WAY! (2010)
 * Forever Is Not A Love Song (2010)
 * These Wolves Are Made Of Wools (2011)

Categories
Band (music) Musical group Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Selangor Penang music post-hardcore hardcore (music) screamo emo emocore metalcore 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011