I would like to personally thank Yaniz, Pop Shuvit’s manager for letting me crash in for the night – beats than having me to find another resort else where The next day we and the rest of the Pesawat crew left hotel some time around 2pm, drove up to Kemaman to have delicious Satar before making our way back to KL. Wish we had stayed longer, I would have loved to snapped some shots of the sunrise/sunset and play at the beach. Next time? Hopefully.

Enjoy the pictures. I especially love Stonebay’s set.. the lighting and the smoke was just perfect!

Oh by the way, my business cards are ready – yay! They’re rather tiny… just something I’m experimenting with. Maybe I should get one of my talented graphics designer friends to design it next time. Hehe

Of course it also helps that the vocalist is an eye-candy. Oh my, I didn’t just type that did I? Gonna get whacked by the boys for this.

What I will post are photos from the Homegrown Space showcase last Friday at Bentley music, The Curve. This is their second round and they had bands Stonebay, Couple and pure-wholesome-goodness voiced Yuna. I’ve met Stonebay through a photoshoot which I assisted Azwaa about 2 months back but never really had the chance to listen to their music. So I thought, why not check it out? On top of that, I’ve missed listening to Yuna since I last saw her at Urbanscapes.

So what is Homegrown Space? This is a direct extract from their website,

The Homegrown Space is part of an on-going project to encourage undiscovered and budding talents to join the Homegrown movement to promote and grow the local art scene. It is a dedicated “space” for artists from all walks to nurture and showcase their art.

It is a way for the company, Homegrown, to give back to the community by providing a positive and conducive environment for performances and giving artists a platform to showcase what they can do and what they are about.

The setting of the performance was intimate; organizers placed a few bean bags around the tiny stage, a few chairs and one large sofa. The crowd was small too…well till it was Yuna’s turn to perform – that was kind of expected. That girl is MAJOR talent!

P/S: Waa makes an appearance too!

(God knows why the pics are bunched up together despite me placing a break line after each image.  -.- Will figured it out later)

I just had a quick recollection when I first met Anita back in June 2007. It was the very same night which I met Hunny again after so many years. *laughs* I remembered Anita & Hunny were having donuts from Big Apple at the Curve as I was showing them my business cards; or better known as Moo cards. (It’s a unique business card but I ran out of it ) Anyhow, just random thoughts there.

I had no idea Anita could sing till I saw some of her pictures from Adil’s facebook. And boy this girl can sing! I’m just going to share a few pictures here because honestly, I took over 600 photos that night. I’ve manage to shortlisted it to 300++ but most of it are repetitive. Adil’s going to have a hard time choosing his favorite shots later on because I’ll be giving him ALL the photos

Ah yes, if you guys were wondering, yes, the attire for the night was sponsored by Ed Hardy. Check their store out in KLCC if you like anything that you see here.

Well, I’m still exhausted and the heat in KL is getting unbearable. But if I don’t blog now, I’ll have a backlog of things to write about because I have a lot to shoot in the upcoming days. Even by today, I’m already set back since I had a shoot with a band just a few hours ago. Sigh, time waits for no man indeed!

Let’s get on with the story shall we! Just a bit of background to begin with. I first met Ms Hunny Madu way back when were kids – our dads used to be in this Superbike gangs where they often organize trips around Malaysia during the holidays. I couldn’t remember much about the childhood days and we pretty much grew up not knowing about each other till a fateful evening sometime in mid 2007. I was reintroduced back again to Hunny through her brother whom I somehow bumped into while in the States. Hunny mentioned that she needed a photographer for her first ever gig at Bangkok Jazz. In short, Bangkok Jazz was a success – I took some (still is) of the best shots of Hunny and about one and half years later, I still am what Hunny say as her Official Photographer.

18 February 2009 was the date Hunny picked as her official EP Launch date. The CDfeatures 4 songs, all written by Hunny herself. And I’m not saying this because I’m her friend, but if you want to hear a combination of hip hop and jazz, GET THE CD! (Just between you and I, I’m one of her biggest fan. Seriously!).

The evening started out with the arrival of the guests consisting of the media, family and close(est) friends. While the guest lingered around waiting to be ushered in, I surveyed the stage and the location. It was my first time at No Black Tie despite being a Jazz enthusiast – so I was pretty much in awe by the wooden walls that covered the entire interior. Hunny’s managers, Hibat and Suraya (who run Beaming Stars) did a great job of preparing and co-ordinating the entire event. There were the posters and banners of Hunny, there were those press packs and there were also those cute honey packets. Let me just talk about the posters a bit. Suraya did an amazing amazing job – not only it had a nice big picture of Hunny, but it also had a cute section to credit the ‘sponsors’. And guess what, ena photography is one of them! I was so excited about it! I did not have a logo (and I still don’t) but Su manage to create a simple yet effective one. Thanks Su!

Ok ok.. I think I need to cut this short, but in all, here’s what happen:

Hunny performs 2 songs. Media listens to a playback of her CD. Hunny performs 1 song. Q&A session with Hunny.

The evening was brought livelier by her own brother/Fly FM DJ/2008 Most Eligible Bachelor nominee, Mr Hafiz. Poor abe (as what he’s referred to by his family and friends) had to rush back in the afternoon traffic jam after the PC ended since he was scheduled to go on air.

All in all, I think the event was a success. My gratitude goes to Hunny for having me around through out her journey as a hip hop jazz performer. If I’m not her OP, I’m not sure where I would be at this point of time. Honestly, many of photo assignments that I’ve taken up are initiated through Hunny’s friends and family.

If you’re interested in purchasing the CD and watching Hunny perform live, the following is the schedule for the EP Launch tour set to kickoff end of this month at Laundry, The Curve:

27 Feb 2009 – EP Tour Launch @Laundry Bar, The Curve

13 March 2009 – An Acoustic Jam @ The Apartment, KLCC

3 April 2009 – EP Gig @ Bangkok Jazz

1 May 2009 – Tour Finale @ No Black Tie

Now on to the pictures!

And my favorite shot of the day: