As one of the line-up for Good Vibes this year, we got up close and personal with uprising rock duo, Jaggfuzzbeats!
Hello Jaggfuzzbeats! Tell us more about the band! Describe your sound.
A: Hello! We’re from Shah Alam. Formed in 2014, the band is composed of myself on vocals and guitar and Omar on drums. I guess I would say our sound is pretty straightforward rock with sounds leaning towards garage and alternative.
What’s the meaning of the band name, Jaggfuzzbeats?
A: Jagg, fuzz and beats are actually inspired by three elements that we use in our songs. Jagg is referring to my Fender Jaguar. Fuzz is the guitar effect pedal often used and they are all accompanied by Omar’s beats. Hence, the name. We thought it was funny at first and decided to use it temporarily but then it just kinda stuck.
Tell us your journey as a rock duo! When did you first discover your passion for music?
A: We kinda just got together and decided we wanted to start a band. I guess we always had that passion even back when we had a band in high-school and it was something we always wanted to pursue. We started out posting songs on SoundCloud for fun. Nothing planned out really. We have a song, we post it up. From there, they kinda got people’s attention and before we knew it, we had people listening to our songs. We did a lot of open mics back then and people got to know us from there too. After quite some time, we decided to work on an album which consist of reworks of the songs we’ve released on our SoundCloud along with three new songs. That album is the album that is out today: “Rest Now”.
O: Yeah, Azrul basically explained everything already.
Share with us the creative process of a song.
A: I would usually start a song with either the words or melody first and it’ll be roughly arranged and recorded. Then I’d share it with Omar and we just bounce off ideas off of each other and usually more changes would be made from there until we’re pretty much happy with the whole song. Other than that, we would just make songs out of the blue when we’re just jamming together.
O: Yeah Azrul is the chief writer in this band. He would pass me ideas and I’ll see what I can contribute. Sometimes, the rough ideas Azrul sends over are good enough to me, and we would proceed on releasing it without having to add anything.
You are performing for Good Vibes this year – how do you feel about the good news? ?
A: We’re really excited! We were pretty much jumping up and down when we got the news. We’re especially stoked to see the acts performing this year so we’re really looking forward to it.
O: It feels great to be given the opportunity! Especially with the line-up this year, where there’s a lot of acts I’m personally looking forward to see.
Any local artists you look up to?
A: Wow, there’s so many. But to name a few; LUST, Killeur Calculateur, The Fridays, Orang, Love Me Butch, Pitahati, Ramayan, Dirgahayu, Orang Malaya, Alextbh and still too many haha
O: Orang Malaya, Alleycats, Pitahati, Orang, Sphere, Dirgahayu, Ramayan, I-sky, Alextbh and many other acts that I can’t think of right now 🙁
Any words of wisdom to budding musicians out there?
A: Always stay true to your art and be honest when you do it. Don’t care too much about what others will perceive it because there will always be people out there who will truly appreciate what you do. Also, keep writing. You’ll improve and learn a lot.
O: Get yourself out there, and just keep on pushing. And like what Azrul said, you gotta stay true to your art, I think that’s an important element every musician should observe.
Any life mottos?
A: Hustle demi hasil -Aman RA
O: A little goes a long way
Who is your all time inspiration in life?
A: I would say my dad. He taught me a lot from appreciating art and about being persistent in facing obstacles in life.
O: The people around me (Family friends etc) inspire me to be the best version of myself and shaped who I am today.
Photo credit to Kamil Haziq
Where do you see yourself in 2 years’ time?
A: Hopefully, still rocking out, doing shows and just making a lot of music.
O: In the next 2 years, I’m hoping that we’re able to release more albums and play more shows outside of KL, and if possible, outside of Malaysia as well.
