Writings In The Sand

Rock. Rock. Hip Hop.

2011-10-24T17:21:00.001+11:00

Three nights back to back, three quite different mixing gigs. I went from mixing four rock bands in the smallest room of the three, to mixing an industrial rock band in the biggest room of the three, to finally mixing four hip hop acts in a mid sized room.

The four rock bands in the small room, no problem. Done that heaps of times, just that I haven't done that small room in a while, which was really refreshing. It's all about perspective. Never despise the humble roots.

The industrial rock band in the big room, no problem. Worked with the band before and also mixed in that room before. Only haven't mixed in the room in a while.

Four hip hop acts in the room that I know pretty well, now that was where things got interesting. I tell myself to never take things for granted and to never take it easy. Treat each job as if it is the first and last, as if my life depended on it. What more, stepping out of the rock scene which I am so familiar with, into a totally different genre? I couldn't help but feel that I was the only one not in baggy pants!

All in all, the three nights went down really well and I was stoked!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Temporary Forgetfulness.

2011-10-21T01:49:00.001+11:00

Something reminded me of a past memory tonight. I suddenly recalled the times when I was a kid where I would go on holidays for over a week to stay with my grandparents or other relatives and when I got home my house would seem strange, odd and a little bit out of place. It's like I suddenly forgot about my home while I was away on holidays and got used to the place I stayed at for the week or so. It's understandable if it were for prolonged stretches but one week and I forget my home?

It's a strange feeling. The older I got, the less it happened though. I suppose my memory developed as I grew older?

Did anyone ever feel that way?

Analogue. Acoustic.

2011-10-19T20:33:00.001+11:00

Over the past few years, although digital desks have become more readily available in gig venues, analogue desks still dominate the market. I mean, if the existing ones are still working, why change them?

New venues that get built will go for digital desks while they are at it but for these more established venues that have been around for a while, analogue was the way to go.

After all, these are great venues with well treated rooms and great analogue desks. There's nothing wrong with them. In fact, they're brilliant.

Welcome to The East Brunswick Club. Midas Verona desk. 40 channels of goodness.

I was still pretty sick when I was mixing this show but I must say, it was one of the best sounding shows I've mixed thanks to the high quality acts and extra effort to compensate for the sickness.

The PA in here is powerful and it made mixing really fulfiling. The best part is the staff here are so friendly. Had a blast. Can't wait to get back in there to mix Wakefield Festival.

Tonight Alive @ The Hifi

2011-10-17T16:26:00.001+11:00

I had the awesome privilege of hanging out with Stu Marks, Tonight Alive's FOH engineer at their recent show at The Hifi. It has been a long time since I've been able to hang out with a top engineer to watch him work and learn. And boy did I learn heaps!

Stu is one of the nicest dudes in the industry and he is not afraid of sharing his ideas and methods because he has so many tips and tricks, you won't be able to learn them all anyway.

As I was growing up, my dad kept telling me that there is no end to learning in life and he couldn't have been more accurate. I've been mixing bands for eight years now and I feel as though I still have so much to learn and apply in my mixing. The best is yet to come! Thanks heaps Stu!

Thank You!

2011-10-07T14:00:00.000+11:00

To those that still read my blog, thank YOU! Thanks Dan! Thanks for reading my random musings as I switch from sound engineer mode to musician mode and everything in between.

I was just telling Dan that lately I've been feeling that there are so many things that I want to say but they shouldn't be said in public. I wish I could though, so that I could get them all off my chest. It's also pretty scary how small the Internet is making the world too. Everyone seems to know everyone else and word goes around pretty quickly, so I've learnt. So, some things are just best unsaid.

On the flip side, I'm pretty happy to say that I have become more unafraid to say things when it comes to my songwriting. I've always worn my heart on my sleeve, but lately, I've begun to explore the simple things that I was so afraid to write about. Love. Believe it or not?

I hope to get all those songs recorded some time and share it with you guys. At this point, we're still in the very early stages of anything being conceptualised.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Outrageous Curry

2011-10-06T14:59:00.001+11:00

The wife and I had the most expensive curry ever last night. $33 for two meat, two veggies, two pieces of papadom, a bit of chutney, chilli flakes, a coconut side and rice.

We should have turned back when we saw that it was a table cloth kinda place but we thought it wouldn't be that bad seeing we've been to another branch of theirs in the city and it was cheap.

The service was good. One of the waiters was really nice and the food was definitely delicious. The price tag came with the location and real estate I suppose, something that I wasn't willing to pay for, seeing that I come from Malaysia where curries are abundant and dirt cheap.

Refreshing

2011-10-05T14:55:00.001+11:00

Before I logged in to blogger, I told myself that I was going to say, "not blogging for a while has been refreshing". Then I logged in and a little note popped up to ask if I wanted to try the new blogger interface. Curiously, I hit it and bang, everything changed! The entire blogger interface now looks completely foreign to me, but perhaps, that fresh look would inspire me to write more. We'll see.

Things over the past few months have been a whirlwind. I questioned the whole purpose of blogging and me being on social media. I don't think I am a good blogger because I don't blog everyday consistently plus it's not like I have a lot of clubbing photos to show you anyway. I don't have a set topic or theme and I blog randomly. Oh, and even if I had an audience, it would be too small. What, musos and audio engineer geeks like me? I mean, my blog won't even cut it as a music geek blog. I must admit, I sometimes wonder why some bloggers are as famous as they are, but that's quite rhetorical. See, even up until here, this post is completely useless, I must say. I don't think even I would read it after writing it.

The only reason I blogged before was to use it as an outlet but the outlet just ended up being a creativity leakage instead. I stopped writing in my journal. I mean, who here knows that when a songwriter stops writing ideas in his journal, that's not a good sign? So long story short, I decided to take a break from all these leakages, facebook and twitter updates included and I found myself writing again.

Now that quite a fair bit has happened, I felt like blogging about my live mixing adventures as a live mixing engineer working with live bands, but then again, it may end up like a whinge-fest. It's a fine line isn't it? So where do we go from here? A slow re-start perhaps. We'll see.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Welcome Winter

2011-06-02T22:19:00.003+10:00

This was how the first and second days of Winter looked like. It sure didn't look and feel like Winter but I wasn't complaining. The more sunshine, the better! Thank God for two very beautiful days in Melbourne.

1st June 2011. First day of Winter in Yarra Valley.

2nd June 2011. Second day of Winter in Frankston.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

The Week That Was

2011-02-12T01:53:00.021+11:00

9th February 2011
Mixed Engine Three Seven @ The Espy Gershwin Room

It was heaps fun mixing Engine Three Seven as they played a very rare acoustic set compared to their usual heavy rock set. But don't be fooled, the band delivered a high energy performance despite being an acoustic set. The stage was fully decked out with couches and they really got the vibe going. I didn't get a chance to take any photos as it was quite a fast paced night. The boys didn't get a sound check and during the line check before their set, I discovered that the two DI's provided were faulty and they needed four all up. I had my two, but we had to get two more off the front bar's. I did get off to quite a rough start, trying to get the show on the road but all in all, the set went on well and it sounded great, thanks to the awesome E37 crew and James "Audio Wizard" Anderson for being such great help. The Gershwin Room is such a sweet room to mix in. You can put an acoustic band or a metal band in there and they will still sound suitable for the room.

10th February 2011
Mixed Preston Perche and Aluka @ Paris Cat

The desk was tiny but it did the job for the night seeing that the venue was small. The only problem was it was placed in the most inconvenient location! Next to the stage, next to the drummer! The speakers weren't well placed either because they were behind the vocal mics. I suppose Paris Cat doesn't require loud levels and the crowd usually don't talk anyway because it is a jazz venue. I also reckon, jazz bands usually just balance themselves on stage, therefore having the desk right beside them would be the most convenient thing to do. The setup may work for jazz but it wasn't the best conditions for what we were doing tonight, but we got the job done anyway and everyone had a great time.

Aluka opened the night with their awesome A Capella performance and Preston Perche took on the stage next with a full bad this time, with Jonathan on bass and Steph on drums.

Although, I must admit, my neck was hurting by the end of the night because of the awkward position of the desk.

It was a sit down type show, as you can see. This was the view from where I was, if this would give you any indication where the desk was.

11th February 2011
Mixed The Violet Flames, The Happy Endings and The Run Run @ The Evelyn

Tonight was a night to remember. The Violet Flames played their last show ever as a band and they also launched their highly anticipated album. I must admit, I was truly sad that this was the last time that I would get to see them play live. It has been an awesome journey and privilege working with the boys. Loved every moment of it and I am glad I was a part of this night. Epic!

Going from the tiny desk at Paris Cat back to the Midas Verona at The Evelyn was a relief. This was back to "normal" rock band mixing conditions. Although, I would have loved the desk to be raised a little higher for comfort. Not complaining though.

The preamp knobs seem very sensitive tonight. I had to do a few more touches than usual to get them to the sweet spots, but it was okay. No big deal. Just an observation. All the gear was in good condition and I was a happy mixer.

My view from FOH

The boys rockin' out!

From L-R: Clinton Weaver, Yours Truly, Matt Crute, James Forest & Jackson Proud. Post gig photo. One for the road! Thanks for the memories boys! It was an epic night! What a way to end the week. RAWK!

Side notes: Having mixed on digital desks and analogue desks equally as much lately, I find that my DBX 266XL sounds more musical than the digital compressors/gates on a digital desk. I wonder if it is a preference thing. But I suppose having everything in one digital desk is more convenient than having to lug a stack of outboard gear.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Broken Scar's 2nd Gig for 2011

2011-02-05T23:54:00.000+11:00

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Minifigs

2011-02-02T13:00:00.002+11:00

I could not resist taking advantage of the 20% Lego sale at Target. Need I say more?

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Behind The Scenes

2011-01-31T18:32:00.009+11:00

I did some back-line work at the Chris Tomlin / Louie Giglio Indescribable tour a few days ago and I managed to snap some behind the scenes photos, for you behind the scenes junkies out there. I just love all things behind the scenes!

There were two main sets of back-line. One for Chris Tomlin's band and another for Parachute Band. We did a sound check for Parachute Band first, although they were playing first on the night.

Usually, sound checks go backwards. Headline band first, followed by the opening band. This wasn't too much of a problem because there were separate input boxes for each band anyway and we were running digital desks where all the settings were easily saved and recalled later on.

After Parachute were done, it was Chris' turn to sound check followed by Henry Seeley who had his sweet amp rig as well.

It's always good to have an AA pass to get around at a show like this.

The perks of working behind the scenes is that I got to meet Chris Tomlin himself! I never thought I'd get to meet him in the flesh. It was surreal! Dad, this one is for you!

How many DI's does a gig like this need? This is only a third of the DI's on stage. These were just for the keyboard player alone. Everything pretty much ran in stereo. There were a few more for acoustic guitars, click tracks, samplers and for Parachute's keyboard player.

The monitor desk.

Every decent gig needs a couple of fridges.

A sweet Hammond Organ running into a Leslie Cabinet.

This is what it would've felt like from the Travis' (Chris Tomlin's drummer) point of view.

Lots of inputs from the keys alone!

Parachute Band's Drums.

It was a great night working with a good friend of mine whom I regard as a great audio mentor. Good times!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Asian Desserts

2011-01-14T00:23:00.001+11:00

In my recent trip back to Malaysia, I was craving durian big time and I looked for them everywhere, even the famous "eat all you can" ones in SS2. It just wasn't the season for them so I had to look for an alternative. In my search, I discovered a few new food innovations.

This durian pancake was one of them. I bought some at Mid Valley and they blew me away. I wanted to go back to get some more but I just couldn't bring myself to go to Mid Valley as the traffic jam there was insane. So I found some at two other dessert restaurants in SS2 instead and they weren't too bad. These pancakes even resemble the fruit itself. The filling was made out of durian and cream while the "skin" really felt like the real durian skin. Looks like it's true after all, that you can get durian all year round in Malaysia, just that it might be in a little bit of a different form.

At the same restaurant, I discovered fried avocados. YUM!

This is quite a typical pancake you'd get a Chinese weddings and restaurants.

I think this dessert has been around for ages. It's just that I hardly ever had it until now. There were little mochi-like balls in it as well that had really cool fillings in them.

Looking back at these pictures, I'm not surprised why Westerners think we eat weird things. They do look pretty disgusting actually but they taste so amazing! Never judge a book by it's cover.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

First 2011 Broken Scar Show

2011-01-11T11:59:00.002+11:00

Broken Scar w/ Rhymada, Glass Empire, Gravity Gun
Saturday. 22nd January 2011. 830pm. $8 Pre-sale Tickets
The Evelyn Hotel. 351 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=177015075671486

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Aerial Over Alice

2011-01-10T16:34:00.001+11:00

I have to back track a little bit. There's been a backlog of events that happened at the end of 2010 that I haven't had the chance to blog about yet, simply because I was too busy, ermm, being in those events that took place.

Anyway, on my flight back from KL to Melbourne, I heard an announcement over the in-flight PA asking if there were any medical personnel on board. Seconds later, the flight crew came down the isles with their flashlights calling out, "any medical doctors on board?". It felt like the movies! Oh the suspense.

After a while, there was no news of this so we thought a doctor would have treated whoever that was unwell and everything had gone back to normal. A few hours later, I felt the plane beginning to descend. Then another announcement over the PA came on. "Due to a medical emergency, we will be landing in Alice Springs in 30 minutes".

It was amazing though. As we were approaching the landing strip, I could see a few ambulances, emergency vehicles and a large team of personnel already standing by on the tarmac. That's what I call being efficient. The crew came on board, wheeled the lady out through the isles on a specially made wheel chair that was narrow enough to wheel through the narrow airplane isles. Everything happened really fast but due to aviation protocols, we were on the ground for about an hour plus before we could take off and head back to Melbourne. Oh, the drama.

The usual 8 hour plane ride had taken over 12 hours this time round but I guess there's always an up side to everything. I got an aerial view of Alice Springs.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Toy Stories

2011-01-07T23:25:00.004+11:00

Looking back at all these Lego posts, I feel like I'm going a little nuts! It's just one of those things, you know, when you get time to kick back and unwind, somehow all these memories just come flooding back. I can't help but to feel nostalgic. I suppose I went a bit too far as most people will just think about it and move right along but I, on the other hand have gone to somewhat relive those times.

I just watched Toy Story 3 on DVD today. Now, for all of you who have watched it, what's the moral of the story? Never throw your toys away! I wish I had kept all my toys.

I really wonder why other people collect stuff, or toys in particular. Are people out there just like me, collecting for nostalgic reasons? I don't know, all I know is this makes me happy.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Lego Madness

2011-01-06T13:32:00.001+11:00

The pirates weren't the only part of my Lego childhood, the knights were too! Here's more to add to my Lego collecting frenzy!

I had a bit of a dilemma when I started collecting again. Do I keep them unopened or do I play with them?

Well, it looks like I gave in. Somehow the collector in me just won't stop. I feel like building an entire army of Lego now.

Check this out. I took these at the Lego exhibition in Bangsar Village.

Talk about building an army! This is mad! My question is, how much did these guys spend to build this?

The army led by the king.

All the king's horses and all the king's men.

Bloodshed.

...and as if the knights weren't enough to get me going...

The Imperial Flagship next to Brickbeard's Bounty

Some old skool ships!

I think this is really creative. They even made these minifigs swim in the water. Nice!

It's funny how there isn't that many Pirates sets here in Oz. Either that or they're all sold out. Oh well, there's always the 2011 series. Roar!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

The Imperial Flagship: Part Two

2011-01-05T13:17:00.003+11:00

Warning: Photo heavy post.

The scene's all set. After putting it all together, I realised that I placed the cannons on the wrong side of the ship. Oh well, too lazy to redo everything now.

Arrr! The treasure must be on the ship. Attack!

Oh no you don't!

You be a-showin us where the treasure is be kept!

I'll shoot you down from there!

Shiver me timbers! I got the map. Let's be goin!

Arr! Me be a-killin ye when me boys come get me!

Yeah, I know, funny hair. This felt exactly like when I was a kid. The first thing I'd do when I wake up was, Lego! No care in the world but getting myself enveloped into the pirate world. That was exactly what I did when I put together the Imperial Flagship. The ship is huge! It was almost as tall as my heater. Proud to be an owner of the ship. Stoked!

P/S: I forgot to mention that the Imperial Flagship only came with 9 minifigs. The rest of them were old ones from my childhood. I've lost all the instruction manuals for the sets so the only ones standing are the minifigs. Everything else is in pieces, stashed away in a huge box. Ah, the good ol' days.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

The Imperial Flagship: Part One

2011-01-04T13:50:00.001+11:00

There's always a story within every adventure and this time it was Myer's Boxing Day sale! It was my first time getting into the Boxing Day sale rush in Melbourne and it was a frenzy.

Being Lego crazy lately, I naturally wandered into the toys department and ended up in the Lego section. There was one last Kingdoms set that caught my attention so I hid it behind a larger box so that I could pick it up later. I should have just held on to it because when I went back for it, it was gone! However, there were close to ten sets of the Imperial Flagship, which I also loved but thought was way too expensive. There was a 30% discount for all toys and to my knowledge nobody offers a 30% discount on Lego. The most would be 10-15%. So this was the right time to make the purchase. I looked at the sign and it said that the discount was valid until 28th Dec, so I left to think about it a bit. If I wanted it, I could always come back for it the next day.

After jumping online to check it out some more when I got home and thinking about it a bit more, I decided to go back the next day to get it. I mean, this is one of the biggest ships Lego's ever made. 1664 pieces all up. Now's the time to get it.

To my horror, the 30% discount was no longer valid when I got to the counter to pay for it! Apparently there was a misprint on the signs. I thought that it wasn't my fault that they misprinted so I ended up asking the cashier whether he could honour the discount because if I had known that the discount was only valid for a day, I would have gotten the ship the day before. Guess what, without much hesitation, he said he could do it! Woohooo! So much drama for a toy.

So here it is, my Imperial Flagship!

Straight out of the box, all 1664 pieces.

It took me a few days to put it all together. I took my own sweet time, savoring every moment of it. Talk about reliving my childhood!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Maroondah Reservoir Park

2011-01-03T13:29:00.000+11:00

Hanging out at Maroondah Reservoir Park on New Year's Day with a couple of my best buddies over an amazing picnic spread (we were so hungry we devoured all the food without taking any photos at all) and a little bit of a walk to explore the park. There is so much the Yarra Valley has to offer!

The dam wall. Believe it or not, we tried running up the wall. It looked doable from afar but it sure was steep up close. I only managed to run up about half my height. The scariest part was turning around and realising how vertical I was. If I had tripped and fallen, I would have gone face first into the ground.

Looking down from the top of the dam wall.

There was a waterfall on the other end of the dam where the spillage was channeled to the other dams around the area. That's really smart, not wasting any water at all. It was great to see the dam full to the brim. Thank you God for the rain!

Just happy to listen to the sound of rushing water.

Serenity.

It was awesome spending New Year's Day in the great outdoors, enjoying God's creation. It would have been foolish if I had asked for more.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Balgownie Estate

2011-01-02T13:27:00.000+11:00

Adding one more winery restaurant to the Yarra Valley list. The drive to Balgownie Estate was a beauty! The photos are no where near doing the view justice. Balgownie is located in Yarra Glen, a route that I have not taken before this. It was such a refreshing change of scenery, not that I am bored of the usual routes that I take, of course. I never want to take all this for granted.

On the way to the restaurant.

The view from Rae's Restaurant @ Balgownie Estate. The resort was beautiful. I totally forgot to take some photos until we settled down at the restaurant.

The wife had the flounder. The scallops were super fresh too.

I had the duck with some lovely caramelised shallots. Had a glass of their Shiraz to match this dish. I must say, the Shiraz was delicious! I would have preferred a more generous pour though.

I know it doesn't look like much in the photo, but this chocolate pyramid mousse was amazing!

Despite the awesome view and delicious food, the attention was on catching up with our good friends who were visiting from Perth. Simply lovely!
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

First 2011 Dinner

2011-01-01T23:48:00.000+11:00

New things for the new year is definitely the way to go. I've never had this lobster noodles at Pacific House before tonight and it was definitely worth the wait. It shows that not only KFC is finger linkin' good! The lobster and noodles were cooked to perfection. Add great friends to the equation and it just made the entire experience priceless!

I always felt that lobster was a bit too meaty, a bit like the breast meat of crustaceans, but I was proven wrong. When it is fresh and cooked correctly, it tastes amazing! Yum!

Go ahead, do something new this new year, whatever it may be. You never know, there may be a good surprise just around the corner when you try that something new.

HAPPY 2011 PEOPLE!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

1/1/11

2011-01-01T01:55:00.003+11:00

Photo taken from www.theage.com.au

Happy New Year everyone! I had a wicked 2010 and I'm looking forward to an even bigger 2011! Rock on!
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Demo Recording: Day Two

2010-12-03T17:00:00.005+11:00

Day Two
Recorded vocals and guitars

Day 2 was pretty straight forward and less of a set up job. 2 mics on the guitar cab and 1 for the vocal. We spent a couple of hours getting the vocals down and then a couple more for additional guitars. This time I tracked another rhythm take with Danny's Gibson Les Paul and it was sounding HOT! We concentrated on only one song this time around so we could get the best out of the song.

Don't forget to check out www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar for updates. We'll be announcing some exciting news soon!

______________________________________________________
All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Demo Recording: Day One

2010-12-03T00:40:00.011+11:00

Day One
Recorded drums, bass and guitars for three demo songs.

Getting to the studio through the rush hour was madness but we all got there in one piece. We loaded our gear in and began setting up immediately. I must say, team work just works wonders. After we got everything set up and sound checked, we started recording. The drum kit was sounding amazing. People would usually use D112's or Beta 52's but we ended up using the Sennheiser e901 and Audix D6 and they worked wonders.

Here are some photos from Day 1.

Push to talk. Talking to Tjin who was on the other side of the glass in the main recording room while Esan, Danny and myself stayed in the control room.

I tracked the rhythm guitar for the songs with my trusty Strat through my Fender Deville 2x12. Before the session even began, I already blew the fuse. It must have been a power surge or an unstable power socket. I replaced the fuse and we were back in business! Turning the amp right up to get the natural tube saturation was awesome! Add a touch of Tube Screamer and the tone just screamed!

Danny just nailing the parts effortlessly, ever so relaxed.

Esan. Recording/Pro Tools engineer.

Everyone wants to be a drummer. Esan, bashing the drums for Tjin to have a listen in the control room.

Esan's happy with how things are sounding.

One more time, from the top.

Tjin-man doing his thang!

Alvin Wong dropped by to shoot some photos. At one point, there were 5 of us in the control room. Esan, Danny, Alvin, Yih Hoong (who shot all these awesome photos) and myself. It did get a tad stuffy but we soldiered through.

The small arsenal.

All photos courtesy of the awesome Yih Hoong!

It was a very productive night of recording. We even managed to record a guide vocal at the end of the night before we had to pack up and call it a night. Great night all around!

Don't forget to check out www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar for updates. We'll be announcing some exciting news soon!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Art Work #2

2010-11-28T01:38:00.003+11:00

I had this vision on my mind all of last night and it was the first picture that entered my mind early this morning. I was dead tired but the drive to paint pushed me out of bed early this morning to paint this piece. It was a three part job. First, I did the colours which turned out quite disastrous at first. So, I gave it some time to let the first layer dry and work on it some more. It started to look really good and turning out the way I wanted. Lastly, I added some texture. I'm still working on textures and I hope to do more textural work in the very near future. I had run out of canvas so I need to go out and stock up!

The textures turned out exactly the way I wanted and I was extremely pleased with the results.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Because I Can't Draw

2010-11-26T17:09:00.004+11:00

I can't even remember the last time I painted something, unless you consider painting the house or gate as painting. Even so, it has been ages! I think the last painting I did was when I was in high school. I loved art class in school and I think it would be my second favourite subject, after English of course. I wonder what happened along the way. I don't know why I just stopped painting. Maybe music took over or simply because I never dared to take the risk with my painting. This was something I discovered today.

Armed with encouragement from the wife, I went out to buy some art supplies and attempted my first ever art on canvas! There was nothing to lose. The paint set came with oil, acrylic and water colour. I messed around with water colour first because that's something I'm familiar with as I've never used oil or acrylic before and this was the mess I made!

It went straight up on the wall. I must say, for the very first attempt, I'm pretty proud of what I did as it's been something that I really liked and something that I wanted to make for a very long time now. I am glad I made my first step today. I'm going to go buy more canvas and play with the other paints soon! RAWK!

You reckon anyone would buy it, if I sell this for $200? haha!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Silvan Reservoir Park

2010-11-11T21:58:00.000+11:00

This was another spot we stumbled upon during our Eastern adventures.

Welcome to Silvan Reservoir Park.

The view of the reservoir was just breathtaking.

I know, every picture like this looks the same. A whole lot of green. But I love it.

These ants were huge. Well, not humongous but definitely larger than the common Malaysian ant.

Isn't this sight postcard material?

The picnic spots at this park is awesome. Can't wait to come back for a picnic or a barbie.

Spotted a monkey in the forest.

The series of photos next were exactly how I saw it in real life.

First, I saw this sign that wasn't unusual at park exits.

Then, as I approached the exit gate, I saw this on the ground! This looks like one of those spike strips they use in the movies to puncture your tyres and as you are in distress, robbers jump out to rob you. So I made a u-turn and drove the other way.

Then this sign appeared! I thought to myself, hey, if I'm driving the wrong way towards the entrance, there may well be another spike strip there. So I made a u-turn again and headed to the exit gate before. I got out of the car and stepped onto the strip and it turns out, the spikes will depress when you drive over it, from the right direction. Phew!

Before we left, we took a picture of those short trees, assuming that they were newly planted so that when we come back next time, we can see how much they have grown.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Come Out And Play

2010-11-04T15:52:00.002+11:00

Over the weekend, we took a short drive out to Belgrave to have a look see. It turns out there was nothing much there so we drove on ahead to explore. We didn't feel like going up to Sassafras so I made a turn into a junction to make a u-turn and stumbled upon this bird feeding site! I was a happy boy.

As we drove in, we saw this cockatoo rolling the V can! If it were a Red Bull can, I would have titled this post "Red Bull gives you wings". It's clear that the birds here have gotten used to the idea of humans hanging out in their territory. Although it was quite amusing to see the cockatoo playing with the can, it was really disturbing as well because the can does not belong in this picture. Dear humans, please take your rubbish with you!

This photo just doesn't do these Crimson Rosellas justice. They were way more vibrant in real life.

This one here looks like a rainbow mutant. Can't quite put my finger on what species it is. I don't think it's a Rainbow Lorikeet. Might be a Rosella or Parrot of some kind.

I can't believe I have never done this before! It was great to feed these birds. I loved it when they landed and ate out of my hands!

Trying to pat its head but I was unsuccessful.

This King Parrot was so confident, flying onto my hand without hesitation. At the time, I didn't know it was a King Parrot and I said, "wow, this one is so confident it must be the king of this park or something".

Adoring the beauty of this King Parrot. As a kid, I've always liked the idea of holding a parrot in my hand, just like Captain Hook did and here I did it! The best part was these birds were all free to fly in wild and they were not kept in captivity. Awesome!

"Forget about feeding me. I'll help myself. Thank you very much."

Dig in!

Two is better than one.

The pattern on the feathers kinda look like fish scales or at least those I would draw for art class when I was a kid. I just love the vibrant colours!

I thought Cockatoos look amazing and it's cool that they can be easily spotted in the wild but it turns out these guys are now a pest because they're over-populated. These guys peck quite a fair bit too and apparently they carry a lot of diseases too, so be careful when you feed them.

It's fun to not have an agenda and to just enjoy the journey. You never know when these pleasant surprises may pop up and when they do, just embrace the moment.
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Creepshow @ The Espy

2010-11-03T17:37:00.006+11:00

I was mixing at Creepshow festival at The Espy in St. Kilda on Saturday and I took some photos before I started mixing.

Entrance of the Gershwin room.

It was pouring all day and this was how it looked like from the inside looking out. I can't say that I've seen St. Kilda so miserable before this. The rain definitely didn't deter people from coming though. The venue was packed!

Front Bar. Anna Salen's set up. These guys were on first and they were a treat to mix.

I could barely see the stage when the show actually started. It was a great night of mixing. Had a ball mixing Anna Salen, Engine Three Seven, The Committal and Contrive.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

River Dance

2010-10-27T22:15:00.000+11:00

What better way to spend a day off than having a picnic at the park and look at who decided to show up.

Kookaburra, up close and personal. Just when I thought this was a pretty good photo, I saw this other one HERE.

and a few cockatoos joined in to suss out the food we brought. After they realised they weren't getting anything from us, they all flew off. It's awesome to see these birds just in the open like this rather than in captivity. I am absolutely loving it!

I was quite baffled the first time I saw this sign. What do they mean? I understand the last one as it's clearly "no diving", but what about the third one? River dance allowed?

The Yarra River

What's a picnic without the food eh? Fresh avacado rocks!

Hommus, avacado and salmon sandwich.

Flavoured cheese. Yum!

The Coles Home Brand hommus was really tasty...

...and so was the bread. I'm happy to do Home Brand. So far so good.
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Warandyte Drive

2010-10-26T14:23:00.004+11:00

The weather was awesome on Sunday. The sun came out to play yet the breeze was still cool. Driving aimlessly without the guidance of a GPS unit or map was refreshing. It was pure exploration.

Stopped for strawberries and ice cream. The strawberries were really fresh, but the ones from Sunny Ridge still blows me away.

The outdoor stall opens on weekends.

Further long the drive, we stopped by a cafe to have some coffee and apple pie. Neither the coffee nor apple pie was great, but it wasn't terrible either. The cafe though, is located across the road from the river so after the coffee, we decided to take a stroll along the river. This is what we spotted just out in the wild! Oh, it's an echidna in case you were wondering what it is.

I've been living in Australia for over four years now and I've been hearing stories of people stumbling upon all kinds of animals packs of kangaroos, wombats and various others in the open and I've always wondered why I haven't spotted any. I had been really keen to see echidnas so I ended up catching a glimpse of them at the zoo. But now, this happens! Woohoo!

Come to think of it, I've seen some pretty cool things during my time here. I've seen kangaroos or wallabies in the middle of the road in Canberra and Tuggeranong, echidnas crossing the road, and now an echidna up close and personal! Can you feel my excitement? I'm beginning to wonder if I'm a country boy that ended up in the city. I suppose I'm a nature boy!

It's times like these I wish I had a wicked camera!

Echidnas eat ants and termites but they're only distantly related to anteaters and although they resemble the porcupine, they are not related at all. It's amazing what wikipedia can tell you these days.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Tokar Estate

2010-10-24T13:35:00.007+11:00

It wasn't the perfect day to take a drive out to the Yarra Valley as it was really cloudy in the photo below, but there's just something about the Valley that somehow manages to find a way to surprise you when you least expect it. Oh, this was a few weekends ago by the way. Delayed post.

Tokar Estate Winery & Restaurant was one of those pleasant surprises.

Come to think of it, the weather wasn't half as bad as I thought it would have been. There was still sunshine after all.

We were busy chatting away and didn't even realise that the food was taking a while to arrive but this platter of dips was sent to us on the house, for the wait, without even asking for it. Now this was impressive! Definitely appreciate the gesture.

My steak went really well with a glass Tokar Estate's Shiraz. Yum! I should have bought a bottle home. Next time perhaps.

The wife had grilled salmon on mash potatoes which was grilled to perfection.

and desserts to top off this excellent meal. I can't remember what this was that I had, but I know I loved it!

I'm can't wait to pay them another visit. Looking at the photos now just made my stomach growl.
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

An Autumn Gray Symphony

2010-10-21T15:49:00.005+11:00

On Sunday, 17th October, I mixed An Autumn Gray Symphony at BMW Edge, Federation Square which was one of the highlights of my mixing career as an audio engineer. The entire set up of over 30 plus inputs on the mixing desk was for Orchestra Nouveau (40 piece orchestra) and Autumn Gray (7 piece rock band). It was a challenge having so many inputs as well as a very reverberant room to manage but it was exhilarating! It was heaps of fun to work with the variety and sheer number of microphones available on the day.

It was a privilege and honour to work on such a huge project like this alongside an amazing production team! Everything ran like clockwork. Zach Tay, hats off to you brother!

The opening band, Sleep Decade were amazing and their music suited the night perfectly. When Autumn Gray and Orchestra Nouveau came on, let's just say that the rest was history and the night was permanently engraved into my skull. Amazing musical trip! You have to keep your ear and eye out for another one of these concerts in the future. I can't begin to tell you how much you missed out!

Here are some photos.

Sound checking the band and the orchestra.

Before we hit the lights.

After. Simply magic! Photo taken by Damien Weatherley.
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

We Came As Romans

2010-10-20T20:58:00.007+11:00

I was talking to Alvin the other day and he said that people don't really care about what you did last week. They want to know what you are doing now. I guess that's why twitter and tumblr work so well.

So here's what I'm doing now. Listening to this.

I am absolutely diggin' this album. I jumped on to the AP website earlier today to look for some new music and these guys were the first that caught my eye. So I hopped on to Grooveshark.com and previewed a few tracks. I was totally blown away. So blown away that I went out to the store to get the album! Blasted it in the car immediately!

This is We Came As Romans. Get into it!

Oh, and today's 20102010!
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Hail Friday

2010-10-19T08:06:00.000+11:00

I suppose this is the closest we get to snow in Melbourne. I was indoors almost the entire evening on Friday as I was mixing Empra and when I got out of the venue, I thought it had just rained pretty heavily. Then, when I drove to South Melbourne, I couldn't help but notice a row of cars covers in what I though was snow! I must say, my heart almost skipped a beat and I got excited. After all, I came from a warm climate country so it was only natural to be fascinated.

So I whipped out my camera and snapped a show shots

Look!

Later that night, it hailed some more and this time they were double the size of the ones in the photo. Fun times!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Next Broken Scar Show

2010-10-12T15:52:00.006+11:00

Hey boys and girls, it's been a crazy few weeks but we can't wait to rock out our new song at the Limelight in exactly a week's time! We're going old skool. Instead of releasing new songs on iTunes like most bands, we're gonna release new songs live, just like the good ol' days!

It's gonna be a huge night so come on down and rock out with us.

19th October. 7pm. $10 Entry.
The Limelight's 2nd Birthday Show @ Miss Libertine (34 Franklin Street)

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=149022358470770&ref=ts

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Broken Scar October Gigs

2010-10-06T17:34:00.004+11:00

Hey boys and girls, we're playing two acoustic gigs in October that you need to catch. We're gonna be playing an acoustic version of brand new song called The Sound too. Be sure to catch it. We're playing it early in the set so make sure you show up at the gigs early! It's gonna be rad!

7th October. 730pm. Free Entry.
80 Gigs In 80 Days @ Bertha Brown (562 Flinders Street)
Come and show some love as we play at the filming of the 80 Gigs In 80 Days documentary! Be a part of history!
http://80gigsin80days.com/

19th October. 7pm. $10 Entry.
The Limelight @ Miss Libertine (34 Franklin Street) 2nd Birthday Show
It's gonna be a huge night of awesome acoustic music! Come celebrate with us!
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=149022358470770&ref=ts

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Data War

2010-09-24T13:17:00.004+10:00

I was talking to Alvin Wong the other night about the recent data upgrade from my Internet service provider. It was quite an interesting turn of events really. This was what happened.

I rang my ISP up to check on my recent bill payment. It turns out the three invoices they sent me were wrong and after calculating in great detail, it still didn't make any sense. The only way to find out is to wait till the next invoice comes through, next month. My worry is though, that most of the time, I won't even look at the invoice in detail. I'd see the grand total and just pay it off. But now that I've gone into it in detail, I realise that if they make these small "mistakes" of overcharging a few dollars here and there, I wouldn't even know if I overpay each time!

Anyway, after sorting this out, I asked if I was eligible for an upgrade. It turns out I was eligible for a data quota increase! I would have preferred a discount on my monthly fee rather than a quota increase. These guys are pretty smart. At the end of the day, the increase does not affect their revenue and they know we won't use the extra quota anyway based on my usage that they've been tracking. The only way to make it worth it is to hit the quota every month. Now, how shall I do that?

I suppose this is their way to keep their existing customers happy while competing with other ISPs like Optus who is offering 120 GB for $50. My question is, would you really use 120 GB a month in a household?

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Super Woman

2010-09-23T17:32:00.003+10:00

Hayley Williams, lead singer of Paramore. That's what she's been known for, but wait, there's more.

Hayley on piano

Hayley on guitar

Hayley on bass

Hayley on drums.

What doesn't she play? Oh, and these are just the videos I found without spending too much time on. I can only imagine the many projects that she would have been involved in would be out there somewhere.
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

The Limelight @ Miss Libertine. September 2010

2010-09-22T00:32:00.021+10:00

Oh wow, what an awesome lineup last night at The Limelight @ Miss Libertine. It really helps when you are genuinely excited about something and if you believe in that special something, you just can't go wrong. That's me. I believe in The Limelight and all the artistes and that's why I am always so stoked about these acoustic shows. I get to see a myriad of performers from different backgrounds and musical styles strut their stuff on The Limelight stage on a monthly basis. It's always a big party!

Last night, we had The Take-Off to kick off the show. It was their first time stripping it down and playing an acoustic set as they are usually a full on energetic pop punk band. They closed their set with an awesome anthem, the F.R.I.E.N.D.S theme song! It was so refreshing to hear it performed as an acoustic version. Very cool, boys!

Next up was Just For Kicks which took the levels down a few notches, allowing them to bring the crowd on an intimate journey. These guys have become regulars at FVE shows and we're loving them!

I Heart Cusack, who are the masterminds behind the 80 Gigs In 80 Days documentary took on the stage next. This was day 19 of 80 for them and they still have it, rocking out amazing original tunes!

I have to say, although I love everyone who played last night, Matt Collyer And Company (it was just Matt and Jay, minus their drummer for this set) was my favourite. I'm such a big fan of their work. I mean, they are so tight and the harmonies they sing are perfect! Check out Matt's MySpace here: www.myspace.com/mattcollyer

Tomoko, who has recently become a Limelight/Back 2 Basics regular took on the stage and delivered her soulful originals. Her trusty keyboard and powerful voice was all she needed to wow the crowd.

Last but not least, Kak And The Kicks, brand new to The Limelight took the stage and blew everyone away. It was also their first time performing live, in this type of set up. I reckon they did really well. Check out this video of theirs!

Tuesdays just got better with FVE around!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Back 2 Basics @ Biero 14th Sept 2010

2010-09-16T17:00:00.003+10:00

Joshua Pui playing to a full house

Joshua is a man with a heart of gold. He donated all his earnings from the night to charity!

This was possibly Clara Rhoden's last pub gig as she heads on a brand new journey of motherhood! Rock on Clara!

Sarah De Haan was delightful as usual. If you've been to previous The Limelight or Back 2 Basics shows, you would recognise this awesome songbird as she's become quite a regular at these shows.

The wonderful Josh Sperring sang his heart out to his amazing original tunes.

Last but not least, Matt Collyer played the last slot for the night and took me on a great musical journey. Matt and Jay, you guys are legends!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Reggie Dabbs

2010-09-09T16:30:00.004+10:00

Yesterday, I caught up with my neighbour from my childhood in the city. She was like an elder sister to me, growing up. It was quite funny because when I rang her, I asked for Chi Chi (big sister in hokkien) but her daughter had picked up the phone and asked, "oh, is that Kevin Ko Ko (big brother)?". It's funny how there was two generations between the 3 of us.

Anyway, they asked me to show them around Melbourne city and all of a sudden, I drew to a blank. I suddenly realised that I've become so used to Melbourne, I don't know what would appeal to a visitor anymore. It's either that or my interests are just different. Checking out different cafes and gig venues alone would make me happy. Any suggestions? What appeals to you in the city? To me it's the hidden lane ways, the music and the art.

I had to cut the catch up short as I dashed off to mix at Bridge Church. Reggie Dabbs did his thing and the band did their thing. It was great to mix louder than usual. The younger audience can take it. It was heaps of fun, but by the end of it, I was knackered from running back and forth the mixing desk and the stage. It is after all, a huge venue.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

West Side Story

2010-09-06T22:53:00.004+10:00

I went to watch the matinee show of West Side Story last week at the Regent Theater in Melbourne and although I can't call myself a musical expert in any capacity, this was by far the worst production I've seen. From the get go, it felt like a cheap, low budget high school production. The set was unimpressive and the costumes screamed low budget. The actors weren't great either. It seemed like they couldn't lock in the accents for the roles and it felt really uneasy to watch. Worst of all was the chemistry between the actors. The lead actor and actress were playing lovers but it felt like they were playing brother and sister.

Like I said, I am no expert, but I couldn't help the way I felt about the production and that's what I got out of it, sheer disappointment. I felt like I was ripped off my $75 ticket. I mean, they were great seats, third row from the front. I wonder if the more expensive tickets received a better performance on other days. This really ruined my streak of great musical/theater productions that I've watched in Melbourne thus far.

I should have walked out and asked for a refund and use those good seats for a better production. Oh well, I suppose I was bound to see a bad one sooner or later. I just couldn't believe it was West Side Story though and the fact that I paid $75 to watch a crap production of a great musical. Such a shame.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Art For The Masses

2010-09-05T15:58:00.004+10:00

I was driving along Wellington Street when the wife noticed this when we pulled up at the lights. I just felt the need to whip out the phone to snap this. How cool is that?

On another note, if you're in Melbourne, you would have heard of the plans to change the rules and regulations for busking in the city. Here's a blurb I got from the "Don't Kill Melbourne Busking" Facebook page. Please have a read and comment on the website. Let's do our part to keep Melbourne's art scene alive!

Don't Kill Melbourne Busking

Melbourne's legendary busking scene is under serious threat.

At the moment, the permit system for buskers strikes a balance between the need for some regulation, and the obvious cultural and democratic importance of encouraging free artistic expression.

A new policy is being proposed however, which seriously restricts the rights of buskers and their ability to make any money from their artistic expression.

"Highlights" of the new policy include:

1. Forcing buskers to audition for a permit. City of Melbourne bureaucrats acting as cultural arbiters.

2. Hitting buskers with a $200.00 annual fee for the "privilege" of SELLING THEIR CD'S!

3. After 12 months, hitting buskers with ANOTHER fee of $50.00 just to audition again, and to have access to what is already public space...

4. Restricting set times to 30 mins and total performance time to 2 hours per day, irrespective of whether the busker has made enough in that time to eat or pay the gas bill...

5. Allowing only "professional buskers" to play in Bourke St. Mall. Presumably this would exclude local band Bonjah (who made their start busking) as well as clearly untalented and unsuccessful acts as Simon & Garfunkel (who also started their career busking), and indeed other "non-professional buskers" such as Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder etc.

This policy is a complete joke, but if it it is enacted, it will no longer be a very funny one. The last few years has seen a steady erosion of the Melbourne public's right to use public, common spaces for genuine, spontaneous expressions of street culture. It started by persecuting cyclists, and is now becoming a comprehensive attack.

The full war plan is available at:

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/enterprisemelbourne/industries/retail/streetactivity/Pages/Busking.aspx

and you can have your say at:

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/getinvolved/StreetActivity/Pages/StreetActivityComment.aspx

If you believe in the right of artists to make a living from what they do, if you believe in the right of the public to public space, if you believe in freedom of artistic and cultural expression, fight this ridiculous policy before Melbourne's vibrant busking scene becomes a collective memory... (read less)

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Choo Choo

2010-09-02T17:13:00.003+10:00

I'm sure all of us would have wanted a train set once upon a time in our childhood but this is beyond my imagination. According to the site, this four minute video wouldn't even begin to show off how great this exhibit is and even after spending an entire day there, people still come back the next day. I want to go! Things like these keep the kid in me alive! As you can see, I am postponing my growing up as much as possible.

Click HERE to read all about it.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

The Stripes!

2010-09-02T14:28:00.006+10:00

Celebrating Merdeka Day (Malaysian Independence Day) at Back 2 Basics @ Biero.

"ooo, what's that in the air?", gets distracted.

The latest Winter/Spring 2010 line by Kevin Broken Scar and Dianne Lim! Everybody do the red/white stripes! It turns out, having a Malaysian flag in Dianne's boot came in handy after six years after all!

Photos courtesy of Dianne.

We had a great time playing, as always but the best part was celebrating Merdeka with some of the most awesome people in Melbourne that night. I mean, we were sitting back stage and were blown away by Mia Palencia, during her awesome set. It was great night of amazing music and talent. Great to be surrounded by just that. So if you missed out, don't fret. Back 2 Basics @ Biero is now held every fortnightly on Tuesdays! Woot!

To everyone who came out to support Broken Scar, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Kev, Tjin & Danny

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Merdeka In Melbourne

2010-08-29T15:51:00.002+10:00

Back 2 Basics @ Biero Bar
31st August 2010. Tuesday. 6:30pm. $6 entry.
Biero Bar. 525 Little Lonsdale Street. Melbourne.
http://www.bierobar.com.au/
Performers: Just So You Know, Pittas, Loe, Mia Palencia, Charles J Tan and Broken Scar.

Do come early coz there's "pay by the time" meals. So if you arrive at 7pm, you only pay $7 for your meal. Perfect for dinner! Come hang out and celebrate Merdeka Day with some chilled out acoustic music! See you there!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Overtake

2010-08-27T11:23:00.006+10:00

I saw this on the back of a truck and I just couldn't resist taking a photo of the scribbles! Firstly, this truck is that dirty that it could be scribbled so clearly, it's just hilarious. I wonder if they ever wash the truck. Maybe not, seeing that we should save water. I think it's cool though, by not washing the truck, they save water and encourage art! I love it!

I thought using my camera phone would produce pathetic results, but it actually looks pretty decent.

Ah, the beauty of Melbourne city. There's art all over the place. I mean, this is good art, I reckon, because it's not just profanity. I think it's really creative and I love it!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

The Limelight @ Miss Libertine [August 2010]

2010-08-19T17:04:00.006+10:00

I kinda lost track of taking photos and I only managed to take some by the time Katrina hit the stage.

You just got to love Miss Libertine's vibe and crowd. Simply awesome.

Also, here's a short clip of Matt Collyer and company. I was blown away by their tightness. Such an awesome band. I believe that his music should be heard by everyone! Check out Matt's MySpace here: www.myspace.com/mattcollyer

It's amazing how many great performers I've seen come through our doors at The Limelight since it all started a year and a half ago. I'm having such a ball.

Right Of The Son, Eddie Shang, Andrew Lim and Have You Seen Nelson, here's a shout out to you guys! Awesome sets guys!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Asami's EP Launch

2010-08-17T12:48:00.012+10:00

Usually when you walk in to a gig, it would have already started and the band on stage would have been playing their second or third song by then. I had some free time after setting up and doing a sound check for Asami and Emily Trembath so I took some photos. It's times like these I wish I had a good camera to take some good shots. So here are some shots most people don't see because usually no one even knows these things happen before a gig.

The Workers Club had a really nice work space for me. A long bench to put all my gear and a mixing desk that can handle the night just fine. A bigger desk with more channels would have been ideal, but I made it all happen anyway.

The stage, after it was nicely set up, cables tidied up and the bands well sound checked, before the massive crowd arrived.

The "before" look at the room

I was trying to capture a photo to give you the feel of what it would be like if you were up there on stage.

Emily Trembath

The Vulpine

The photos aren't great I know but at least it will serve as good reminders of the awesome moments spent at Asami's EP launch. Plus, I took these shots while mixing.

Looking through my booth. Packed like sardines. Woot!

Asami and band playing to a full house at their sold out EP launch! Check out the number of people in the room? What an awesome sight! Drastically different from the "before" photo.

It was a treat to mix at Asami's EP launch especially because it was sold out and the room was packed to the brim.

Here's to Asami and band, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR EP LAUNCH!! You're a legend!
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Zack Kim's Debut Solo Album

2010-08-13T15:06:00.003+10:00

If you don't know who Zack Kim is, you must have been living under a technology baron rock all this while. It's not too late for you my friend because you can just YouTube his name and you'll be blown away by his awesome two-guitar touch style madness. You know that mammoth of a YouTube hit sensation Super Mario theme song played on guitar with 30,397,808 views and counting? Yeap, that's Zack Kim.

After all these years of waiting, he has finally released his debut solo album Raw Like Korean Sushi and it is FREE. Yes, you are reading correctly. It is FREE of charge and no, it is not an illegal download. The man himself has put the album up for free download and you can get it right now!

Click here to download

Also, make sure you visit his website at zackkim.com and spread the word!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Late Night Drive

2010-08-12T11:02:00.000+10:00

I've spent the last two days driving around Melbourne without GPS or the Melways and I haven't gotten hopelessly lost yet. I solely relied on Google Maps printouts. Not bad for a start. I even drove out to Tullamarine to pick my buddy up from the airport in the middle of the night. I love late night drives! The entire feel and atmosphere just changes.

On the way home, we got hungry so we headed to a McDonald's or Maccas as the Aussies so affectionately calls it to grab a bite. We ended up at the Smith Street one and 24 hours Maccas here are just not cool at all. Somehow that's when all the dodgies come out. A fight almost broke out at the counter and some kid was trying to hassle a free meal. Such is life eh? Seeing all that unfold before me just makes me realise that there's always two sides to a coin. The difference between day and night.
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Growing Up

2010-08-11T10:45:00.000+10:00

Over the last month or so, I found myself suddenly having to grow up real quick. I had to face a very steep learning curve and I was being thrown terms and lingo for the very first time which I had never heard before. It was pretty overwhelming at first to be thrown into the deep end but I thank God for sending me great friends for the support and help in every step I needed to take. Although things are really overwhelming, I am actually living exciting times and I should be thankful I get to live it in the first place.

On the flip side, it's as if I never really grew up. The Peter Pan in me is still kept alive despite all this growing up I had to do. Playing band hero and sing star all weekend, I mean, do adults really do that?

Balance is what this is.
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Freeway

2010-08-09T19:51:00.005+10:00

I took a drive out into the suburbs with perfect weather by my side. It was stressful though, driving in a land completely new to me. The geography for one was daunting enough. Add not fully knowing the traffic system to the equation and it was enough to drive a man to give up. But no sir, not me. I braved the mad city traffic and once I hit the freeway, I felt just as the way suggested, free.

Sometimes, getting into the car to drive for no other reason but to simply drive is freeing. Yes, I had a destination to end up at but there was no time line. I suppose the absence of a specified arrival time allowed me to relax and take in the scenery and the actual journey, one bit at a time.

I thank God for awesome weather today. We all know Melbourne needs it.
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Montage

2010-08-06T14:22:00.002+10:00

All the action captured and summarised all in one video thanks to Alvin Wong!
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Last Thursday

2010-08-03T17:00:00.002+10:00

This one is for those who missed our show at Miss Libertine last Thursday. Funny how I managed to upload only the slower songs so far. Will upload more when I get around to doing so. In the mean time, enjoy!

Shooting Star

The Alien Song

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Goodbye Saturday Afternoon

2010-08-01T18:00:00.006+10:00

Danny

Tjin

Kev
Photos courtesy of Yih Hoong

Emotions were flying all over the room at Miss Libertine on Thursday night. On one hand, Tjin, Danny and myself were pumped to play the gig but on the other, I felt sad that the whole reason we were doing this show was giving Fariz of Saturday Afternoon a farewell. I hate farewells.

On the up side, this gig was the first time I lugged my new Deville out and by the end of the night, I almost broke my back from lugging all my gear. If it weren't for Danny helping me, I would have definitely broken my back. It was so worth it though because the Deville sounded amazing and my board is close to being complete. All I need is a slightly better tap tempo switch, tidy up the wiring and Velcro all my pedals down permanently.

All in all, we had a great time rocking out that night and we couldn't have asked for more. Tee, Asami and Saturday Afternoon sounded played amazing solid sets. I had so much fun just hanging out and watching all the performers. It's one of those gigs where it's just all about friendship where you'd know almost everyone in the room. A million thanks to all our friends for coming out to support us. You guys are legends!

Fariz, all the best in all that you do back in KL. We'll miss you brother! Keep the awesome music coming. Geography should never get in the way. Cheers!
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Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Venus In September Music Video

2010-07-27T16:31:00.000+10:00

Broken Scar's first ever music video. Venus In September, shot by award winning film maker, John Cho.

There is such a huge story that goes with the making of this video I wish we had filmed the entire process.

Here's what the time-line looked like.

Saturday. I was back in KL at the time. John and I were catching up over breakfast just talking about very casual things in our lives. Then we started talking about music and films. That was when things started to happen. John was telling me about a film that he shot and went on to pitched me an idea of making a music video for one of my songs and I was stoked about the whole thing.

Sunday. We talked about it a little more but I was quite nervous about having enough time to shoot it because I was about to head back to Melbourne in a week. We planned ahead anyway because even if we didn't shoot it then, we could always do the actual shoot when I drop by KL again.

Monday. John had finished some storyboards and we were meant to meet up on Tuesday to discuss the storyboards and set a day and time for the actual shoot. We were on the phone when I suggested, "why don't we just shoot it tomorrow?"

Tuesday. So we did. We met up in the evening to discuss and plan some shots. Then we grabbed a quick dinner and headed out to begin shooting.

The shoot was such a cool experience in itself. We were in a car filled with lighting and camera equipment, you wouldn't believe it. Again, I should have gotten a picture of this. It was so indie that it was only the two of us. John hit record and started driving around in his car while I played to a CD player that wouldn't stop skipping. We shot in a few locations and when we finally finished in the wee hours of the morning, we were knackered. All in all, it was a fun experience!

The following Saturday, John had already put together a rough cut of the video. This dude works fast! John, YOU'RE A LEGEND!

So here it is, the music video for Venus In September. Enjoy!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Kings For A Day

2010-07-26T10:26:00.007+10:00

Photo taken from Alvin's iPhone.

So it was Sunday morning and we did our first ever studio photo shoot with the latest line-up, all thanks to the very talented Alvin Wong. We had a stack of fun just hanging out as a band, posing for the camera, doing heaps of fun things and not playing a single note of music. It was definitely refreshing and exciting. We took some shots with the throne and we felt like kings for a day. The hours just flew by and before we knew it, the shoot was all over. We got some really good shots and I can't wait to see the outcome and show them to you!

The studio was in Fitzroy. It's so arty and it's such an inspiring place to be in. We were starving by the end of the shoot so we headed over and had lunch at Bimbo's, another awesome venue that I can almost see myself using it for inspiration for writing. Oh, there was also 4 dollar pizzas. Bring it on!

What a great way to start a Sunday morning. Even the sun came out to greet us. It was such a treat. We definitely needed days like these and as if this wasn't enough, it was Super Sunday at Bridge Church followed by the finale of Masterchef Australia 2010! What an awesome Sunday!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

The Rock Show

2010-07-23T11:58:00.002+10:00

Saturday Afternoon's Farewell Show
29th July 2010. Thursday. 7pm. $10 Entry.
Miss Libertine. 34 Franklin Street. Melbourne.

Please note: "Saturday Afternoon" is the name of the band. The show is on THURSDAY NIGHT.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

When Everything Falls Away

2010-07-22T19:07:00.003+10:00

I was on the tram on Tuesday, heading to The Limelight. Yes, I tram it to gigs! Rock & roll! Anyway, I was lugging my acoustic guitar and a suitcase on the tram when a middle aged man commented to another random passenger saying, "so many stupid people nowadays, don't know how to sit on the tram". I was seated a bit awkwardly because of the awkward shapes of my gear, you see. You know what the funny thing was, I was actually going to get up and offer him my seat when I saw him but before I could, he already made this comment. What a jerk. So I ignored him and continued along.

I mean, I'm not complaining about lugging gear around but try lugging all this gear on a crowded tram to get to a gig on time and see how it feels like. We're all just trying to get from point A to B and go about our own business. Is it my fault I have a lot of gear? I paid a full ticket to ride the tram just the same as everybody else and no where in the rules do they say that you can't bring gear on the tram. Come on old man, keep your lousy comments to yourself.

On an up side, I've been taking trains a lot more lately and because the rides are so long, I just put on my mp3 player and listen to music all the way. The great thing is that when I listen to music, I get lost in my own world and everything around me just falls away. I don't care if other passengers look at me funny.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Two Gigs In Two Weeks Saga: Part One

2010-07-21T23:55:00.008+10:00

Photo taken by Alvin Wong

We had such a great time playing at The Limelight @ Miss Libertine last night! It was an honour to share the stage with the legendary post goblin-core face melting guitar maestro Tim McMillan, as well as a stellar line-up including Jess Wilson Band, Kimberley Aviso, Asami and Josh Sperring who also launched his EP at the show. I absolutely loved listening and watching all the other performers. It was such a privilege!

It was awesome to play to a full house made up of people who came out to see us play as well as a brand new crowd. Oh, and if you didn't know already, this was part one to our "two gigs, in two weeks" saga where it was a really chilled out and laid back set. We played a range of old and new Broken Scar songs and it was really fun revisiting all the old songs because they were new to this line-up as well as the crowd, although some of the Malaysians in the crowd would have recognised those songs as some of them have seen me play back in the circuit in Malaysia. Rad!

I really want to thank all of you who came out to see us play. We always appreciate your support and we couldn't have done it without you. Legends! All in all, part one was heaps of fun and I wish to see you guys at the sequel.

The sequel to this will be a rocking one next Thursday, 29th July at Miss Libertine. So make sure you come down to the show to get a very different Broken Scar live experience! I am absolutely looking forward to it!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

YouTube Baby!

2010-07-16T13:52:00.005+10:00

If you're wondering why I've been posting so many YouTube videos lately, it's because I haven't been able to sleep very well at night for more than a week now and instead of just tossing and turning, I figured, I may as well jump on YouTube and actually learn something. Initially, I thought I'd keep myself entertained, eventually tire my eyes out and be able to sleep but it turns out, I've been learning so much instead. For example, I just learnt that Nuno Bettencourt of the band Extreme plays for Rihanna too. I was just surfing and came across Rihanna's live show and spotted Nuno in the background. I googled it and confirmed that he does play for her. Check out the video below.

Anyway, watching YouTube is actually quite educational if you're not just watching pandas sneezing or Indonesian babies smoking. I know it sounds lame and geeky but I think my songwriting and guitar playing has gotten a little bit better in the last week by simply watching YouTube. I mean, my musical knowledge just expanded on a steep curve! Crazy!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

I Want Action Tonight

2010-07-15T23:33:00.000+10:00

Looks like Poison's still got it! Although this video was taken in 2003, this song is at least 12 years old and they still sound as good as ever! CC Deville is a gun!

I bought their greatest hits album when I was in high school and I got stuck on that album for the longest time. I think I was more into them than Bon Jovi at the time. Good ol' 80's rock!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Gigs

2010-07-13T23:26:00.005+10:00

Hey boys and girls, we've got two shows coming up in July. The Limelight where we play acoustic and the other one where we play a full on rock set. You don't want to miss them both! Here are the details:

The Limelight
20th July 2010. Tuesday. 7pm. $10 Entry.
Miss Libertine. 34 Franklin Street. Melbourne.

Saturday Afternoon's Farewell
29th July 2010. Thursday. 7pm. $10 Entry.
Miss Libertine. 34 Franklin Street. Melbourne.

Please note: "Saturday Afternoon" is the name of the band. The show is on THURSDAY NIGHT.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Champions

2010-07-11T23:55:00.000+10:00

I was doing my "research" on YouTube when I found this video. I think if you're Green Day, you'd be able to pull off this mammoth of a Queen anthem. When it comes to covers, do it well or not at all. Green Day definitely nailed it!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Gone With The Wind

2010-07-09T15:07:00.004+10:00

I wrote a song in the early part of yesterday and I was stoked that it turned out the way it did but guess what, I forgot to record it. Not to worry, all is not lost. See, my theory is if the song is truly good it will stick in my head or if it wanders off for a bit, it will come back to me in no time even if I don't record it. But if it doesn't come back, I won't try too hard to get it back because obviously it's not that memorable anyway. In the past, I would try to recall it but I've learnt to let things go and by doing so, making room for new and better things to come along.

So, it turns out, I did forget the main chorus of the song by the end of the day but it was okay because when I sat down to work on it some more, something even better came out of it. This time, I recorded it.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Gleek

2010-07-08T23:26:00.005+10:00

I was beginning to think that Glee was getting a bit boring until watching the finale earlier tonight. It turns out there was a big bang that made it good finale material after all. New Directions' performance was amazing! I thought Vocal Adrenalin's version of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody was pretty good at the start until Jesse started singing Freddie Mercury's solo parts. Oh man, what a train wreck! This is the danger of covering such a monumental song because if you don't do it right, you will wreck it for people like me.

*Side note. Most musos would know songs like Stairway To Heaven or Sweet Child O Mine inside out but not me. I decided not to go anywhere near those songs at all because if I do, I'll just end up wrecking such monumental anthems!

Back to Glee, I think you'd have to do something really different to make it original like Lady Gaga's Poker Face in the Theatricality episode. I really liked that version of the song. When I heard it the first time, it hit me immediately that although Lea Michelle sounds good, Idina Menzel clearly has more experience and you can hear it in her voice. The difference was like night and day.

I think the best episode for me was Vitamin D and I really liked the arrangement for the guys' mash-up of Bon Jovi's It's my life and Usher's Confessions Part II. Somehow, the newer songs seem to sound better than the classic ones. I guess the classics have just been around so long that they have made their mark so clear. The songs on this musical comedy are definitely hit and miss, but at the end of the day, the arrangers are the ones that deserve the credit as they are the highlight for me.

On the down side, there's been a lot of criticism about the overuse of auto-tune and I have to agree that it annoys the heck out of me. Don't get me wrong, I am not against auto-tune, I just hate it when it's overused. It doesn't need to be too perfect, I mean, no human being sings like that. Oh, and I really can't stand Corey Monteith's voice too. He sounds terrible, even the worst Backstreet Boy sounds better than him. Welcome to the pop world eh?

Before I write a thesis out of this, here's something which is auto-tune free and is sheer raw talent.

I also found an interesting cover of Bohemian Rhapsody. It's definitely different but I guess whether it is good or not is subjective eh?

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Back To Basics #2 In pictures

2010-07-07T17:11:00.000+10:00

Eddie Shang kicked off the night with some solid covers and originals.

A glimpse of the cosy venue and the crowd. I love how intimate this venue is and the crowd was definitely receptive and responsive!

Eddie in action.

Sarah De Haan blew us away with an awesome set despite being a little under the weather! Click on her name to check out her music on MySpace. She has an amazing voice and her songs are so catchy!

Shafro played an amazing set plus they had a violist too which made them stand out.

Tomoko Whyte took the stage next and she belted out some amazing covers giving them her own flavour as well as some awesome originals. She was celebrating her birthday too. Happy Birthday Tomoko!

Big smiles all around.

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to snap any pictures of Tee and Zach Tay. Sorry guys. They were amazing by the way. There were heaps of people coming up to me saying that they sounded awesome. High five guys! Oh and last but not least, yours truly jumped up and played a song! All in good fun. It was a night filled with top notch performers and I couldn't be happier to be a part of this! Tuesday nights just has just gotten better!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Back To Basics #2

2010-07-06T15:06:00.004+10:00

I know this is a little late, but Back To Basics @ Biero is on tonight! If you see this, you could still make your way down to Biero tonight at 7pm. Tuesday nights in Melbourne have just gotten better!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Smokin!

2010-07-05T17:02:00.008+10:00

Oh man, I cooked up a storm again last night and I must say, the steak was smokin! Quite literally. Somehow cooking the steaks just generated a lot of smoke in the apartment and it became so smoky that it triggered both my smoke alarms. It sounded like all hell broke lose and there was nothing we could do about it. I actually should have just removed the alarms before hand but I didn't think it would have been that bad. Oh well, at the end of the day, dinner was awesome and I ate everything up before I realised I forgot to take photos.

Fast forward to lunch today, I must say that I am a little bit over Indomie Mi Goreng. I've been eating this quite a fair bit lately as it's really fast to prepare and it actually tastes really good. I'd usually cook a packet, eat it, then cook another one and eat that one. I don't enjoy it as much if I were to cook two packets at once. I'd do the same at mamak stalls, I'd order one, eat it up, then order another. I remember I used to eat two portions before every recording session during the recording of the debut album. It was the fastest option!

But after today, I think I might be over it for a while. I might have had a wee bit too much that I no longer crave it. There goes the novelty, out the window.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

A Whole Lotta Curry

2010-07-04T23:08:00.007+10:00

If you're living in Melbourne and you're craving Indian food that'll blow your mind, you'll have to head down to Malabar Hut on Sydney Road. I went there last night with some of the most awesome friends in the world for an Indian feast. It was a humble looking restaurant, not the fine dining, pretentious and overpriced type but the type that was all about the food. We had roti, three different briyani rice (lamb, chicken, mutton), a chicken masala, butter prawn and a few other curries. The highlight for me was the generous raita, yogurt mixed with onions and vegetables that went together with the curries perfectly. To top the meal off, we had a roti bomb that was a little different from the ones in Malaysia but it was awesome, nonetheless.

After dinner, we headed to Tam's, also known as the party house, to play some Rockband and Singstar while we waited for the Germany vs Argentina match to start. This house has the works. Rockband guitar, drums, microphones, iPad, Xbox, super huge TV and not to forget a killer massage chair! Oh, and I was hooked to Pacman on Tam's new iPad. I just love old skool arcade games. When I can, I'd love to buy an arcade machine as I was told it costs $3000 to get one where you can load a stack of games on.

At midnight, we put the games aside for the World Cup. I must say, watching the match with friends was definitely fun, but despite the action, I must admit, I did fall asleep on the couch. I guess watching Germany thrash Argentina wasn't enough to keep me awake throughout the whole match. Haha! I'm such a non-soccer person. Well, at least I watched one match so far right?

Finally, as they say, all good things must come to an end. It meant more to me than just the end of a fun night out. A couple whom I love dearly and regard as family will be heading back to Malaysia real soon and dealing with that has been hard. People come and go as the seasons change and I guess it's all part and parcel of life but these guys are not just "any" people. They're extraordinary people and such great friends. Gonna miss them heaps! But in the mean time, while they're still here, we're definitely going to party it up!

And if you're interested, here's Google's tribute to Pacman. Click on the picture to play the game.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Broken Scar Live @ Muzika Musim Luruh 2010 Wrap Up

2010-07-03T10:01:00.003+10:00

I know this was forever ago, but here's a video, a stack of photos and highlights from the night we played at The Prince Bandroom in St. Kilda for Muzika Musim Luruh 2010.

There was definitely a whole lot of action from the moment we got on stage

Our mosh pit!

Rocking the stage at The Prince Bandroom was legendary. Can't wait to rock out that stage again, with the room filled to the brim. Muzika, you guys were absolutely amazing! Huge thanks to Aqmal for the awesome photos!

Hanging out with Noh from Hujan. This dude is a genius and so is the rest of Hujan and the gang!

The crowd was amazing. If you were there and you are reading this now, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

Lionel and Julian hanging out after our set

Jia Meei and Alda

Trio

Hujan rocking at Muzika 2010

It was an all around great night, but there's more to come in the very near future. Watch this space!
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Whites

2010-07-02T11:21:00.003+10:00

Alda and myself, hanging out at Mart 130 for breakfast. I absolutely love the corn fritters. It's the best I've had so far. YUM! This was when Alda and I argued about the pide. Is it pied or pee-day? Do you wanna play hee-day and seek? Hilarious!

Side note: How often do you see me in a white top? Threadless tees rule! I think I should wear this at a gig some time.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Train Conversations

2010-07-01T16:41:00.003+10:00

I was on the train earlier today and there were two girls sitting in front of me chatting away and a really funny comment caught my attention. One of them was saying that someone they knew looked ugly. I don't know why but I just looked up when I heard that and then looked away almost instantly. The funny thing is, this girl isn't a supermodel or anything and she's saying someone else is ugly? It's not nice to say that someone is ugly, but if the person saying it is drop dead gorgeous, although it's not forgivable, it makes sense. But in this case, it was somewhat, questionable. This girl making the comment wasn't all that.

Oh, the funny things you hear on the train.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Up, Up & Away

2010-06-29T12:27:00.007+10:00

Photo taken by Tam Tran

While we traveled along Great Ocean Road, we made a stop to visit The Otway Fly Tree Top Walk which is part of the Otway Ranges. I had visited a part of the Otway Ranges when I went to Great Ocean Road the first time and I remember the air was so fresh in the forest, it was almost like breathing oxygen straight out of a bottle.

The Tree Top Walk, reminded me of the FRIM canopy walk in Malaysia, just that it wasn't humid and there weren't any mosquitoes here. I guess the weather here is more comfortable for an activity like this, for me at least.

I knew I had a slight fear of heights but only in really tall concrete buildings. I remember going up to KL Tower and I freaked out. But on the other hand, when I went up to KLCC twin towers (the offices), I felt fine and based on my memory, FRIM wasn't too bad and this was pretty similar, according to the brochure. So I thought, what the heck. Let's just do this!

Guess what, this tower (in the photo) proved that I was indeed slightly afraid of heights. I felt light headed as a climbed up the stairs of this structure but the fear wasn't so bad that I couldn't do any of it at all. I made it all the way to the top and back down safely. There was also a part of the walk where the ramp was literally held up by two wires. It looked scary, but it was all a matter of the mind because it wasn't so bad when I got all the way out to the end of the ramp. I think it's a matter of having confidence that if it is all safe and nothing will happen to you, you'll be fine. So in the end, I looked my fear in the face and overcame it, although with that said, I'm not really sure I'd want to do the walk again. Haha!

P/S: In true Malaysia Boleh style, I tried to grab the link for the official FRIM website and as if it was a surprise, the website does not work. Classic.

Click HERE for Great Ocean Road Trip Day One
Click HERE for Great Ocean Road Trip Day Two

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Hit The Ground Running

2010-06-28T13:46:00.002+10:00

I feel like I've been on an epic race since Saturday and things have been moving so quickly that I feel as though I haven't stopped since then. Today has been a whirlwind so far and I'm only half way through it. It's great though because I ticked off a few major things on the list and I must say, I'm pretty proud of it.

Now, the interesting part is when I was caught up in all the tasks, I felt fine and I was looking calm and composed. I still am, but now that the tasks have subsided a bit, I feel as if the life out of me has been drained out. It's not time to slow down just yet. This is merely the beginning of it.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Ghost At The Terminal

2010-06-27T11:00:00.001+10:00

I saw this painted on a tram sometime at the beginning of this year and it wasn't till lately that I managed to transfer this photo from my mobile phone to the computer. This reminds me of the glow in the dark Lego ghost from the Legoland Castle System series.

Yes, I absolutely love old skool toys especially the ones that I actually played with during my childhood. I know it's uncanny how sentimental I am but I can't help draw the similarities between the two. It instantly zapped me back to my childhood as if it was yesterday. I just couldn't help it.

I had this particular set when I was a kid. It blows my mind that looking at this photo now, it doesn't seem dated at all. Lego was way ahead of its time in terms of production and quality! If only I kept my toys in mint condition.

Ages 6-12, it says on the box. Really? Then why am I still attracted to them even now? Why do I suddenly have the urge to look these toys up on ebay or amazon?

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Venus Bay

2010-06-26T11:41:00.000+10:00

The weather forecast over the Easter long weekend was looking good and we decided to take full advantage of the sunshine so we headed out to Venus Bay to gather pippies. Pippies are saltwater clams and can be found usually in marinara mixes or Italian cooking, also know as vongole. To me, they are like over sized lala.

Jia Meei

Alda was in town for this too.

This was the first sighting of the Pipi. We knew we were getting close.

We got too excited and went digging in the sand for pippies that I didn't get a chance to take photos of the actual process of gathering these pippies. This was our catch. You'd need a fishing license to gather pippies and each person is allowed to gather 2 litres worth. We didn't go overboard. In fact, we respected the land and sea, and gathered less than our allocation.

We headed off to a public BBQ area to cook our fresh pippies. Yum!

Jia Meei cooking up a storm

Alda for sale. Any takers?

In Malaysia, we always tell people to "go and fly kite". Well, I sure did! Flying kites is one of the best feelings.

This photo looks like it fits a postcard. Welcome to Venus Bay, Victoria.

I wanted to jump into the sea all day but I didn't want to get all wet and ruin the rest of the day, so when the day was winding up, I jumped in. The water was freezing I could barely go any further.

This was a few days before my birthday and the guys decided to celebrate my birthday and surprise me with a cake made of pippies and a hot cross bun. haha! I had heaps of fun and every trip tends to just keep topping the other. I thank God each day that I have amazing friends whom I regard as family.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

John Mayer Drops Guitar

2010-06-25T11:12:00.000+10:00

While he blew us away at Rod Laver in Melbourne, Brisbane got a show of a different kind, with added extras!

I wonder what went through his mind when this happened. Did he think it was funny or did it hurt to drop his precious guitar? Whether it's funny or not, that incident definitely hurt the guys with in-ear monitors. Notice how the drummer pulled out his in-ears?

Watch the video till the end. It's worth the wait. Here to a light-hearted Friday!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Deville Update

2010-06-24T17:21:00.006+10:00

I need to interrupt the road trip entries to tell this story. Click here for original Deville story.

I was in the mood to experiment with my new amp today to refine my tone further, so I got right into it, tweaking quite drastically to hear the drastic changes. However, all this while, I've been running my effects into the clean channel without really exploring the drive and more drive channels on the amp yet.

In my mind, most musos would buy an amp specifically for the overdrive/distortion sounds so I thought I'd give it a bash and see what I can come up with. After tweaking it a bit, I realised a few things.

1. It would have been nice if I had independent EQs for each channel, unlike the current where both channels share the EQ section. I thought about this before I bought the amp, and at the time, it didn't really bothered me.

2. I didn't really like the overdrive sounds when I set all the EQs to the 12 o'clock position. I tweaked it a bit more and found an okay sound. So I decided to turn the master volume up to get some tube saturation happening and all of a sudden, it started feeding back. So I rolled the master back down and gave it a few more tries but it was still feeding back. So, I started trouble shooting and tried different combinations. At last, I unplugged the input jack and footswitch to figure out whether the amp was feeding back by it self. It turns out, it was!

I jumped online and checked out the Fender forums and apparently this often happens to Fender Devilles. So I brought it down to the store and got a new one.

Now, getting a new one may seem like a cool idea but just by playing it for ten minutes, I already realised that it sounds different from the previous one I had. There were subtle differences, but obvious enough for me to detect them. Some reckon it's because Fender puts different tubes randomly into their amps depending on when they were produced. I guess I'll just have to keep playing it a bit more and bring it out on the road to be able to fully test it out.

To all my muso friends, I guess this is part and parcel of this journey isn't it?

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Great Ocean Road: Day Two

2010-06-23T11:22:00.000+10:00

This was day two of our two day Great Ocean Road trip.

The view from the holiday home we hired. I didn't even realise the sea was so near because we arrived late and it was dark the night before.

I can understand why some people would say that these are just a bunch of rocks and seem disinterested. After all, they are just a bunch of rocks. I guess it's all a matter of perspective. Too much of something may not always be good. But to me, I marvel at how they form over time as the elements carve them individually so unique.

Don't you think that rock formation in the middle looks a little bit like a face with the nose pointing out?

The vast green. Welcome to my backyard!

As a kid, Treasure Island was one of my favourite stories and I guess I loved the sense of adventure so when I saw this, I couldn't help but imagine the pirate ships docking out in the sea while they row in to the beach with small boats. Arr!

Tam, making a temporary sand tripod. A few moments after taking his shots, the waves actually came in and swept the tripod away. Good thing he was done with his shots and have removed his camera.

I felt like taking a picture here to remind me of the kid inside.

..and for lunch I had one of the best steak sandwiches ever! If I go out that way again, I wanna have this!

The famous ice cream from Timboon Fin Ice Cream. The dude inside wasn't the friendliest, but hey, I wasn't gonna let him spoil my trip.

What used to be London Bridge.

The boys. One for the road!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Great Ocean Road: Day One

2010-06-22T14:02:00.011+10:00

The first time I went out to Great Ocean Road in 2005, it was miserably cold and half way through the sightseeing tour, it rained buckets. This time round, although it was a little cold and cloudy at the start, the sun came out to greet us towards the middle of the day. Thank God for awesome weather!

The first pit stop. Toilet break at the unmissable public toilet painted with aboriginal art. I can't believe that I actually took a picture of a public toilet and actually talking about it here, but it does look pretty iconic, no?

Looking out into the open sea. The view was inconceivably beautiful, serene and ultimately surreal. I was blown away by God's awesome creation, right before my eyes. I mean, it wasn't just the scenery captivating my eye, but there's just emotions swirling all around that I can't seem to contain. It was the most peaceful feeling. If only I could describe more accurately what was going on in my mind as I stood there looking out into the vast sea.

This lighthouse along the way really stood out. It stands majestic and it felt pretty iconic to me. I asked myself, how in the world did they manage to paint the roof red? Getting all the way up there to paint must be pretty daunting. Daunting would be an understatement actually.

Great Ocean Road would probably be one of the most touristy destinations in Victoria and if you take a drive down this way, you have to take photos at this arch. I feel that this is another Great Ocean Road icon.

...and how can you not have the classic fish and chips on a seaside road trip? The last few times we had fish and chips, we overdosed on chips, so this time around, we went with just fish and prawns! Perfect!

I think I don't have to say much here. The photos will do the talking for themselves.

I just can't help but to be in awe of God's awesome splendor. It was so cool to watch the orange explode into the blue and then finally drop into the sea.

Dogs seem to be attracted to me on road trips. I can't complain. I get to play with really cool dogs but I don't need to take care of em! Last but not least, after a whole day of soaking up the breathtaking scenery and sun, it was time for a feast, classic road trip style!

At the end of the day, although the sights were amazing, it was the company that made this trip memorable.

Click HERE for day two of the trip.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Divine

2010-06-20T10:26:00.015+10:00

Lunch at Vines Restaurant @ Helen's Hill, Yarra Valley. The food, wine and service at Vines were amazing and I am looking forward to visiting again for another meal. The best part about this lunch was the company I had, eating, drinking and laughing away while we enjoyed the breathtaking scenery.

Vines Yarra Valley Platter for starters

Zucchini Flowers and Hapuka Fish. I've been wanting to try stuffed Zucchini flowers every since I saw them appear on Masterchef and I must say, I love em!

The platter close up. The platter was out of the ordinary. It's definitely a must. I was expecting some antipasto-like platter but this came as a pleasant surprise and a great start to the meal.

Oven Roasted Chicken

I had the Wagyu Steak. It was really tasty, but I would have preferred it a little more rare. I asked for a medium rare but what was laid in front of me was more medium than medium rare.

Chocolate Pudding. I'm definitely having this the next time I go back there.

I can't remember what this dessert was called. It might have been an apple tart. I've got a pretty sweet tooth, but this was a little too sweet for my liking.

The vines

The view from the restaurant. I really liked how green the grass was. It rained a bit in the morning so I guess the water helped bring out the colour.

If I had a dog, it'll be this one (the one I am patting in the photo). Absolutely lovable. There were two of them, both of them equally cool!

One for the road. Till the next visit to Vines!

*All photos taken by Tam Tran. Thanks for the awesome photos Tam!
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Show Me The Funny!

2010-06-18T15:44:00.004+10:00

Watch these videos in order. Everyone needs to watch them. Zach is hilarious!

Vote for Zach here!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Deville'd

2010-06-18T11:00:00.002+10:00

I got a new toy. I was meant to get it a few months back but I finally got down to it two Mondays ago. It's a joy to finally own a tube amp and to be able to tweak it to my liking, in my own time. This amp has so much tone and I'm just stoked playing around with it. It's been two weeks now and I'm still tweaking it to perfection.

I can't wait to bring this baby out to a gig and crank it up to get the tubes screaming a bit.

Oh, on a side note, the cool thing about having a tube amp in the room is that it also acts as a heater in Winter.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

The Limelight Rocked!

2010-06-17T17:41:00.004+10:00

We had such a great time playing at The Limelight @ Miss Libertine on Tuesday night and I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came out to support us! There would be no show without you! You guys are awesome!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Sweet Little Surprises

2010-06-10T01:08:00.001+10:00

Winter came early this year as it started to get cold at the end of April but I forgot how cold it actually gets during the coldest point of winter. It's just like how, in this cold, I have forgotten how hot it gets in Summer. Anyway, I'm really enjoying the 10-12 degree cold weather and it sure beats the Summer heat. It gets a little difficult when it rains though if you have to be out and about. You just want to jump under the covers and not have to go out.

The weekend was a little bit like that. It rained in the mornings but slowly cleared out later in the day. All that really prepared me for tonight though as it was freezing out in St. Kilda. I was mixing Preston Perche at The Espy front bar and the girls were amazing as always. Had a great time mixing them! After the mixing was over, I headed out to wait for the tram and it was drizzling a bit. It was really cold, but somehow, there was something very surreal about it. It brought me back to the first time I ever visited St. Kilda. Now it seems like almost a second home to me. Ah, life and its sweet little surprises.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Broken Scar Live @ The Limelight [June 2010]

2010-06-09T10:00:00.001+10:00

The Limelight
15th June. Tuesday. 7pm. $10
Miss Libertine. 34 Franklin Street. Melbourne

I guess the flyer and the info above say it all. Come hang out with us as we play an acoustic set for you! See you at the show in a weeks' time.
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Toys

2010-06-04T15:16:00.004+10:00

I'm not really a huge Star Wars fan but I love Lego. I bought these guys when I was on holiday back in KL. I walked passed the Lego shop at Gardens and I couldn't resist buying these key chains. I don't think I'll actually end up using them as key chains. I just like collecting things!

Imperial Guard

R2-D2

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Apple Pie

2010-06-03T23:34:00.001+10:00

The iPad was recently launched in Australia and there were reports of fans lining up for 29 hours or more to be one of the firsts to get their hands on one.

"...and the first iPad owners behaved like they've won the lottery", Brisbane Times

I don't understand the need to be the first to get one. I mean, what's the difference between getting one on the day it is launched or a few months later? It's not like the stocks are going to run out? Apple is a money making machine and the only reason the stocks would run out is probably going to be a publicity stunt to generate more hype anyway. So why bother? I still haven't bothered to check out the iPad.

I mean come on, iPad owners behaving like they've won the lottery? What do you get for being the first to own an iPad? Bragging rights? Think about it, Apple is the real winner here. They've hit the jackpot, big time.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Back To Basics #1

2010-06-02T11:47:00.011+10:00

Some of you might know that I organise shows in Melbourne and last night, we launched a new acoustic show called Back To Basics @ Biero. As the name of the show suggests, it was back to basics, focusing on the music, stripped down! This is a new platform where we can host more up-coming acoustic acts and singer-songwriters which are not genre specific.

Christina Peng kicked off the night with a blend of originals and covers. Then Tim McMillan made a surprise guest appearance, shredding everyone's faces off.

Tim McMillan

Next Dimension took center stage with their Seattle grunge style acoustic tunes followed by Have You Seen Nelson, with an awesome mix of covers and originals.

Have You Seen Nelson?

Saturday Afternoon was up next and last night was possibly their last show together as Fariz will be heading back to Malaysia soon. Special shout out to SA for covering The City & The Lights by yours truly! Loved the harmonies guys! Mel, writing down all the lyrics on your arms was epic! High fives all around! You guys are always amazing!

Saturday Afternoon

Sharon Bullecer accompanied by Andrei were up next playing some pretty awesome covers while Andrei played two of his originals. Sharon has such an amazing voice!

Last but not least, just for fun, I got up on stage to do a song and so did Lionel. Everyone played their hearts out and it was great fun being a part of it all. All in all, it was an awesome night out!

Special mention to Iqbal and the rest of the Biero crew. You guys are amazing! Thanks heaps for partnering with us to get this show off the ground! Woot!

The ever awesome Vivien at the door! Awesome work as always Viv!
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Jason News

2010-05-30T13:35:00.004+10:00

This is quite an interesting read. Some entertainment news which, well, isn't as fresh anymore when you read this, but it's still worth a read if you haven't read it yet. It's about Jason Newsted, ex-Metallica bassist.

READ HERE

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

What a Saturday!

2010-05-29T23:03:00.000+10:00

What a day it has been. I can't believe I actually got out of bed by 8:30 am on a Saturday! It was awesome though because it makes my day seem extended. The wife and I spent the first half of the day inspecting two houses via public transport. I feel so grown up all of a sudden, going on this house hunt which is not an easy task. It's quite surreal that this is all happening especially because I still feel as though I'm a teenager, in the mind and at heart I guess.

By the time the inspections ended, I was ready for a food refill and we ended up in Box Hill. Once lunch was over, I was ready to just hide under the covers and sleep but we had a train ride back into the city just in time for a catch up with a friend and then off to church we went. Service was awesome and Pastor Jesse was on fire!

The dinner that followed was the highlight of the day. It didn't matter where we ate but it was the awesome company that topped it.

By the end of the day, we had maxed out our weekend saver card by jumping on three trains, four buses and a tram all through zones 1 and 2! What a Saturday!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Cobus - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down (Drums Cover)

2010-05-28T10:10:00.002+10:00

How about we get back to some music eh?

I found this guy on YouTube randomly. It was one of those related videos on the sidebar that popped up and I clicked on it just for fun and bang, I was blown away by this awesome drummer. This song is one of my favourites and it really reminds me of the time I was working as the in-house sound engineer at Next and Bang alternative nightclubs because after the bands finished, the DJs usually crank this song.

Anyway, watching Cobus' videos gave me insight into the drum parts of the songs he covered and this one especially stood out. I never realised how busy the drum parts were until now. It definitely gave me fresh ideas to write my music and to incorporate new drum ideas and opening up space for Tjin to play busy appropriately.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Melbourne Is Clean

2010-05-27T11:47:00.000+10:00

"Testing has shown four out of five sushi samples bought in certain areas are crawling with bacteria which can cause serious illness." Today Tonight

Funny how I was just talking about sushi and sashimi then this turned up. I actually saw it on TV two days ago over dinner. What a coincidence.

"Sushi outlets in Melbourne recorded a clean bill of health but overall more than one in 10 sushi outlets around the country failed tests."

How good is it to be living in Melbourne? When Sushi outlets everywhere else in Australia failed the health tests, Melbourne stands strong! I feel like getting some sushi rolls for lunch soon!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

There's A Part Three

2010-05-26T13:06:00.000+10:00

Yes, it turns out there's a part three to the fishing at Buxton series. We caught quite a lot of fish so each of us brought some home to cook on another day. I took one trout home. Knowing where the fish came from and the fact that it was caught with our own hands gave me the confidence that the fish was still going to be fresh despite freezing it and keeping it for a few days.

So, this was a few days after the fishing trip.

I don't even know why I had the knife and chopping board out seeing that the fish was already nicely cleaned and that we were going to cook the fish whole.

Made up a simple salad to go with the fish. I had a thing for walnuts at the time so there were walnuts, cherry tomatoes, spinach, rocket and cucumber in there. I squeezed some lemon juice and added a dash of salt and pepper. Easy as!

Bang on the lemon and herbs, wrap in foil then chuck it into the oven. One of our best home-cooked meals to date plus it was so easy to make. Eating fish that you caught with your own hands is one of the best feelings ever!

P/S: I've been using "we" a lot in my posts lately and if it seems like it's not referring directly to anyone in the post, it is more than likely referring to me and the wife. :)
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Catch Of The Day: Part Two

2010-05-25T17:17:00.006+10:00

After posting the first part and getting comments from Dan on Facebook, I realised that I forgot to talk about what happened after we caught all that salmon and trout! Got too excited with the fishing part, I guess.

At first, we were tempted to make sashimi out of the salmon but we weren't sure if they were the same grade as those used for sashimi. The ones we caught looked really pale while the sashimi ones are usually more orange and vibrant. I should probably look it up to find out why there was a difference eh?

So, we ended up bbq-ing the trout and salmon with some lemon and herbs as planned. We kept it as simple as possible because the fish was so fresh we didn't wanna ruin them. We had a feast that day and the reason why there weren't many pictures of the food was because we were just too busy eating it all up! There were sausages, salad, noodles and a whole lot of salmon and trout!

I haven't had whole fish for a while as most fish here are huge and by the time we buy them, they are in fillets. So this was a very refreshing change.

We had a freezing start but it was great because I got to warm up in front of the fireplace! I love fireplaces! But the sun came out later and it was such a beautiful day.

This is one of those sights that you just need to be there for yourself to take in and enjoy. I could have stared at that tree for the longest time. It's like an explosion of colour!
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar