All’s Good For Aizat

SINGER songwriter Aizat Amdan is on a roll with a brand new album, music collaborations and a special performance in Osaka, Japan, this year.

It was in 2007 when this chubby teenager participated in popular TV reality show Akademi Fantasia (Season 5). Although he had potential, his AF journey was shortlived when he was voted out on Week 7.

After elimination, it was also the end of the road for some of the hopefuls.
But Aizat put his frustration of defeat behind him and began creating music.

He also was determined to shed some weight (to date, he has lost 30kg and continues to look svelte).

With patience and perseverance, he embarked on a solo career, proving that he has what it takes.

He released two singles, Sahabat and Hanya Kau Yang Mampu, in 2008 which became major hits. The latter was the most downloaded song in 2009, and it received an award at the 2009 Anugerah Planet Muzik.

His next single, Kau Aku released in 2009, became the theme song for TV drama series Merah Putih.

And what followed later was a string of industry accolades, cementing him as the new act to look out for.

Clinching the Best Performance award at the Anugerah Juara Lagu 2009 for Kau Aku, in 2010, he took home the Popular Male Singer award at the Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian and Best Male Vocal in a Song award at the 16th Anugerah Industri Muzik, making him the youngest artiste to win both of these coveted awards.

Aizat slowly built his mini music empire with the setting up of his own production label Kasi Gegar Entertainment (KGE), a company established by him and his family.

KGE not only organised several concerts throughout the country, it has taken in talented young acts Amir Jahari and Go Gerila (a band which Aizat is also a member) as its stable of artistes.

Now, at 24, Aizat, continues to wow his fans with his creative works. Easily one of AF’s more successful talents, his popularity and accomplishments seem to have surpassed all nine AF champions.

When Go Gerila started out, it elevated Aizat’s status further. The band came in second when it competed in TV9’s popular battle of the bands reality show Versus, which saw five local rock bands battle it out to become champion.

Besides Aizat who plays the keyboard, the band also comprises his elder brother Anas (on guitar), Amir Jahari (vocals), Mohamad Firdaus Zulkefle a.k.a. Pito (bass), Mohd Ashroff Mohd Shariff (guitar) and Ruviyamin Ruslan (drums).

Looking back at his early years as a new kid on-the-block he deserves a pat on his back for achieving so much in a short time.

THIRD STUDIO ALBUM IN THE WORKS

During this interview, Aizat is composed and relaxed. He insists that he is “still learning the ropes”.

His debut album Percubaan Pertama (2008) and sophomore album Urusan Aizat Amdan (2010) received positive response from fans.

Aizat has started work on his third studio effort. “I believe the timing is right. I wanted to do it last year but I had other commitments including projects for Go Gerila which included the band’s debut album, which I had to look into. It will be out soon.

“Now I am ready as I have my own recording studio, making it easy to go in and out whenever I please,” says Aizat, who recently completed his four-month Logic Pro Course at Garnish School Of Sound (SOS) in Hackney, London.

Yet-to-be-titled, his third 12-track album is expected to be released in September. (This also marks the first album to be recorded fully at his own recording studio).

Known for his ability to producecreative sounds with lyrical prose, Aizat describes his music as a mix of pop rock and alternative music influenced by Brit pop.

“I am looking at having Malay and English songs in this album. One thing for sure, this album definitely has more mature sounds and lyrics. I hope my fans will like it,” he adds.

BIG ON COLLABORATIONS

Music collaboration fascinates Aizat and inspires him to push his boundaries further as a musician and singer.

“I really enjoy collaborating with different artistes tackling different kinds of genres,” he says.

Following this, three singer-songwriters have been roped in for the project. They are Azlan (from Azlan & The Typewriter), Zee Avi and Yunalis Zarai (Yuna).

Plans for a collaboration with Yuna actually began in 2010 but due to her busy schedule, it was difficult to lock down a time.

The song, called Dwihati, is written by Noh Salleh (Hujan’s frontman). It has that old classic sound to it which makes it different. Recording of their vocals was done separately in March as Yuna was still in the US.

“The funny thing was, she recorded her vocals at her home in downtown Los Angeles and when we received the recording, besides her vocals, we could also hear all kinds of noise, from a moving bus to heavy rain. It was madness trying to remove these sounds, but we managed.

“We also faced some problems in terms of selecting the right arrangements for the song. Yuna is picky, and so am I. So, we tried to improve and fine tune it to the last detail. But all is good now,” says Aizat, who was picked to perform
Yuna’s song, Terukir Di Bintang, at the finals of the Anugerah Juara Lagu 27 (AJL27). The tune won Best Song at the awards show.

Collaborating with Zee Avi was a random decision, he says. “She came down to my studio one time when she was back from New York and we were listening to some demos.

She then picked this particular song I had composed and told me that she liked it.

Inspired by The Strokes’ You Only Live Once, it is called We’ll Be Happy. It is an English pop song and we recorded it here in the studio,” he says, praising Zee for her talent in playing a variety of musical instruments.

Touching on the collaboration with Azlan, Aizat says that he picked a modern electronic kind of song which is entitled Catwalk Ke Balai. It is edgy and infectious. “It gels well with his strong vocals.”

All three singles will be released one at a time and they will also be included in his new album. Aizat admits that he is rather selective on who he chooses to collaborate with.

“I look at the way they work first. I need to find that balance and the quality that both me and my duet partner can produce when we come together. When there is intention, working on it will be easy. It is what they say is ‘meant to be’,” he quips.

Besides that, Aizat, who also hopes to collaborate with music greats like Ramli Sarip and Datuk M. Nasir, came on board as well for Noh’s solo project.

In Love With You, recorded a couple of months ago, is currently enjoying airplay on various Malay radio stations.

It has a strong The Beatles’ rock and roll feel to it. The lyrics and arrangements are by Noh, while melody and vocals are by Aizat.

“This happened quite spontaneously. We were at a restaurant together and Noh asked me whether I wanted to do a duet and that was it. And I did it because it was Noh, whom
I greatly respect.

In Love With You is an infectious tune and the video clip was released on YouTube on June 6.

“It was fun and easy working on this single with Noh. He is very talented and we have been good friends since 2009. It is great to be working with someone who has the same musical direction. There’s definitely chemistry between us,” he says with a laugh.

CONNECTING WITH OSAKA

From Sept 20-23, Aizat and Go Gerila will be in Japan for the Osaka Kansai Music Conference. Aizat is down for a solo performance as well as performing with his Go Gerila brothers.

“We have been invited to perform for 30 minutes each, and I am excited to be performing in front of the Japanese. We have yet to decide on the song list but we are looking at performing new songs from my upcoming album.”

The icing on the cake for his performance would be a hit song which will be translated to Japanese, just for this purpose. “It is a toss between Sungai Lui and Susun Silangkata.”

Aizat cannot contain his excitement about his debut performance in the land of the rising sun,.

“I am bringing along my albums to be made available for purchase. Who knows, I may already have a following there,” he says jokingly.

Aizat also plans to absorb as much as he can while there.

“We can learn from the Japanese. I’d like to take a closer look and, hopefully, bring back their working culture here,” says Aizat, who will be performing a medley at the Astro’s Blockbuster Awards tomorrow night in Johor.

RELATIONSHIP RUMOUR

Lately, there have been talks that Aizat is seeing Zee Avi. “We are close… but not to the extent of being in a relationship. What we share is our love for music and we like to share our opinions on that subject,” he says with a smile.

Aizat says that he has always admired Zee Avi for her musical talent. When Zee Avi was back in Malaysia, they did hang out together.

“We became close last year,” says Aizat, who is still single.

- NST