December 23, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Two members of Pop Shuvit were spotted at the Mystical Eve Countdown Party press conference recently. AJ and JD were kind enough to answer the questions we lined up for them. Enjoy!
M.com: How does it feel to be invited to perform at the Mystical Eve Countdown Party?
JD: Definitely excited. I am really excited because we have never played here before in a new environment. Usually, New Year’s eve parties are always held at the usual places, so this year it is going to be different and better!
AJ: It is also going to be our 11th year playing together as a group. I’m happy that we are still being invited to play for New Year’s eve after so long!
Pop Shuvit, the great Malaysian indie band is set to perform during Mystical Eve at ENCORP Strand
M.com: What are your New Year’s resolutions?
JD: The million dollar question…
AJ: For Pop Shuvit, it would probably to get a Grammy, as we have always been aiming for one. We aim big, so every year we try to get closer and closer to that.
JD: So we probably set one huge and unrealistic goal, but along the way we probably set smaller goals. So every year we set those little goals which brings us closer to our big goal of winning a Grammy.
M.com: Do you have any personal goals or any personal resolutions?
JD: *Jokes* I want to be a solo singer-writer like Reza Salleh! Or maybe I want to do a K-Pop album and sell millions! *laughs at his comment*
M.com: Or maybe you do not believe in resolutions?
AJ: Personally I don’t, but it is good to have something like that. Like in my case, me and my wife are expecting our baby in 3 months’ time, so I want to be a good daddy and provide for him as much as I can.
M.com: Based on your experience, has any of your New Year’s resolutions came true in the past?
JD: Hmm… normally by January 31st I will be like, ‘What did I put as my resolutions this year?’. *laughs*
M.com: Any plans in store for the coming year? As the group Pop Shuvit?
JD: Despite all personal stuff, for the group we plan to take our music and expand it internationally. Our brand new album is out, it’s called Cherry Blossom Love Affair, so we will try to promote and get it distributed by some of the regional factories in Indonesia and the Philippines. We also hope to secure a lot more tours in United States and Europe as well.
M.com: If Pop Shuvit fans in Malaysia would like to get their hands on your latest album, where can they go to get it?
JD: The album is currently being sold in any major record stores like Rock Corner or Speedy Video. It is retailing for RM29 at the moment and there are 12 songs in the album.
M.com: Before your Pop Shuvit days, how did you spend your New Year’s eve? And are you guys usually busy performing during New Year’s eve?
JD: For the past 10 years at least, we have been busy doing a show almost every New Year’s eve. That is basically our memory of New Year’s eve, performing on stage and doing the countdown with the band mates, who are like our family.
AJ: At least they become our ‘brothers’ on the 31st of December every year… *laughs*
M.com: You mentioned that you did a lot of performances during the New Year’s eve. What would be your most memorable New Year’s eve performance?
AJ: Our first performance actually…
JD: Where was it? Was that the first New Year’s eve performance? I don’t remember…
M.com: Tell us about the one that you remember the most…
AJ: I remember one time, during one of our earlier performances and it was held at Bukit Bintang. There was this HUGE crowd from the front of Starhill where we were playing right up to the end of Jalan Alor! It felt so cool to finally play for such a big crowd, for all our Malaysian fans.
M.com: Was that the biggest turnout that you guys have played to so far?
AJ: There were bigger crowds after that, but that was the one that left the biggest impression. We stopped Bukit Bintang from operating their normal business hours.
M.com: How has the year been for Pop Shuvit?
JD: This year has been really really good. We had a wonderful first half of the year because we started recording our album since middle of last year and we managed to finish it in the first quarter of 2011. The album was released in middle of this year. Running up to that, we also had a very big show this year which was the MTV World Stage that was held at I-City in Shah Alam. That was a massive show where we got a full on set and played with big names like Thirty Seconds to Mars, Neon Trees and Beast. The biggest thing was that the performance was that it was broadcast to about 60 million households. It was really huge publicity for the group. So that made 2011 a good year for us.
AJ: And that also kind of put Malaysian music on the world map.
M.com: We agree. Pop Shuvit has contributed a lot to the Malaysian indie music scene over the years…
JD: We are probably one of the first independent groups to made it.
AJ: We took it and did it ourselves and made our name.
JD: Before there was an Indie explosion in the Malaysia music industry…
AJ: Yeah, before Indie music became cool!
Tags: Band Performances, Countdown New Year’s Party, ENCORP Strand, Kuala Lumpur, Mystical Eve 2012, New Year’s Eve, Party, Pop Shuvit
