Hello Battle Bloom! Tell us more about the band! How many members are in Battle Bloom?
We’re an indie quartet hailing from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We are Fariz Salleh (Guitar), Melissa Toh (Vocals), Dianne Lim (Keyboard and Vocals) and Ryan Lee Bhaskaran (Drums and Percussions).
What’s the meaning of the band name, Battle Bloom?
Battle Bloom comes from a combination of our musical styles and influences. The word ‘Battle’ is a representation of Fariz’s heavy rock and metal influences while ‘Bloom’ comes from Melissa and Dianne’s lush vocal harmonies.
Tell us more about the band’s musical journey! When did you first discover your passion for music?
We’ve actually been playing as a band for 10 years now. We started off early on in our college days as a two piece acoustic band with only Fariz on guitars and Melissa on vocals. Not long after, Dianne joined us while we were all studying in Melbourne, Australia for a handful of shows and we felt like we found a brand new layer to our sound with her vocal harmonies and crazy keyboard melodies. And then finally we have Ryan, our most recent addition to the band. He started out as our sessionist (to fill in for our previous drummer Deo Mareza who is now based in Jakarta). We always wanted him to be part of the band officially and now we finally have him (egggggcellent) and here we are today!
Tell us more about your latest single and album!
After writing songs for almost a decade, we released our debut album ‘Maps and Diagrams’ at Playspace Live on 12 April 2017.
The album consists of six-tracks produced by Angie Farr and Engineered by Melina Williams (of Tempered Mental fame).
It was a labor of love trying to compile a collection of our best songs written over the years and package them into this album.
It was really tough to pick the first single to share with the world but we decided that our song ‘Waiting’ best showcased the sound and style of the band.
You can watch the official video for ‘Waiting’ right here!
How is the creative process of a song like?
We like to keep things as organic as possible when it comes to songwriting. A song idea usually comes out when we have band practice and we’ll sneak in some jams in between songs. Someone might start off with a chord progression and slowly each member jumps in with their own flavour. Next thing you know we’ll have a song written from bouncing ideas off each other. There’s just this ‘magic’ that you can’t replicate when you’re in a room writing music together.
Any words of wisdom to budding musicians out there?
Just keep on playing music and don’t forget to have fun! 🙂
Any upcoming projects for you?
We’re actually in the midst of shooting a video for our next single. So you’ll wanna keep an eye out on our social media pages for updates!
What is a typical day in your life?
We’re quite a diverse band. If we’re not practicing for a show, everyone in the band is doing some form of art other than music from photography/videography to web designing and even baking granola.
Any life mottos?
You get back the same amount that you put in. So keep striving and you’ll eventually get where you need to be.
Who is your all time inspiration in life?
Fariz – Well that’s a really tough one. I have so many of them! But if I were to focus on my musical inspirations, I can narrow it down to 2 and that would be John Petrucci from Dream Theater and James Hetfield from Metallica. There’s just something about the guitar compositions that John Petrucci writes that always remind me why I love the guitar so much. I’m always inspired when I hear him play. And for James Hetfield, well Metallica was the reason I decided to pick up guitar in the first place. Without him, I don’t think I would be here playing music today.
Melissa – If I had to pick one person, it would unequivocally have to be my dad. He is the reason I strive to keep learning and be better, as a person, as a photographer, as a singer songwriter and everything else that I constantly jump into head first. He’s constantly inspiring me to be genuine and giving. He’s the most generous person I know, and he never expects anything in return. This is the kind of person I want to be when I grow up.
Dianne – I can’t think of a Who at the moment, but what inspires me are stories of perseverance. As in not success stories, but stories of people who have dreams, but haven’t achieved them yet and are still going through everyday struggles. Because to me it’s easy to share your dreams in hindsight once you’ve achieved them, but there’s courage in saying you aren’t there yet but you’re still trying.
Ryan – I assume the question is asking for an embodiment of some sort. i am as inspired by my parents who got me my first percussion instrument (the Dholak), as I am by The Beatles whose song Money (That’s What I Want) was one of the first few songs I ever got hooked on. I am inspired by Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf because it taught me that sounds can make the imagination go wild. I am inspired by most of my peers, while those that leave more to be desired also seem to inspire me through negative reinforcement. I am inspired by the views I see from the hills in Ampang, and the islands I spot from on a plane over the ocean, although these inspirations stimulate me emotionally more than mentally.
I suppose my all time inspiration in life is not a who, but Life itself.
Or my dog, Kati. She’s cool too.
Tell us what makes you smile the most?
There are so many things that would make us smile. But if you were talking about food, then we’d have to say coconut jelly. Yeah. Nothing beats a good coconut jelly in the evening!
Where do you see you the band in 2 years’ time?
Hopefully still writing music for future albums to come!
