well, it isnt that bad actually… uglymen is a wonderful band (at least to me) and it is the place, the time, the act, which let me forget all of my problems, my work pressure, and also self-inflict death sentences. i am writing this post while my laptop this downloading over 70 songs, to be performed next week.
ok, to make things clearer, here’s the story, as i said, teaching music in alor star wont earn you a good living, yes, you could survive by it, but only just. many friends kept on asking me about when to jump the ship since last year when i said i was cutting down students intake. my total number of students standns at 48 at present, compared to 62 same time last year, and the number will decrease further starting from 16th march 2008. i simply have to look for other options, and those options come with a price…. uglymen
since February 2003, i have been travelling to penang weekly from alor star to jam with uglymen, from just a hobby, to a vision, with an objective, took part in competitions, winnning several important titles down the road, releasing ugly CD, touring, going overseas, meeting so many wonderful musicians aroud the world. my passion of music, the fire burning within with uglymen is always in my soul. however, as i moved on, my objectives has slightly changed. my reason of playing with uglymen was simple: entertain the crowd, share our music, release tension, and get helluva fun on gigs and tours. at later stage, i started to focus more on music criticizm, judging music competitions, a music forum article contributer and speaker in music seminars. then, my biggest aim in band scene changed: to help new-comers, contestants to succeed in music or competitions, forming new bands (both students and non-students), create their own music and perform infront of the general public, from itosii, storm, uglyboyz, x-malaysia, eclipse to many other great bands… i found satisfaction when i see they feel confident, happy, and believe in what they can do with music, helping them to achieve their little dreams in the process. although the time and effort spent in developing new bands is really tiring and not justified (from income point of view), i see it as a very important milestone in my music career. organising music festivals such as the ghost show festival last year, and chinese new year carnival were also important experienced printed in my musical adventures.
last year, a very good friend / student of mine, recommended me to a local university and i have started lecturing in local u since. it was another big step for me in my career, although it does not relate to the music lessons i teach. it is a very tough job but when it is done, you can breathe huge relief and look back at what you have achieved. wow, talking about all the tough preparations, credits must go to my good friend ah leow, silverisle, yuna for help, and most importantly, to the person who recommended me to the university ~ pro dr pn zahyah.
ok, get back to the story… after engaging in the lecturing job, i already started kiss-goodbye to some students, at this point, i am not afraid to write here that, i do not treat all my students the same. there is NOT one teacher in the world who treats ALL of his / her students the same. let’s face it, no matter how dedicated a teacher is (i consider myself one of the most dedicated, ok, you can say me si ai bin, but that’s my song any way), there will be super nice, nice, neutral, so-so, waste-time, better-dont-come students, and the effort you put into each individual student will be different, bcos some students you know they will strive, best is better than me one day; and the other category, you will know his / her parents are just too rich by dropping him by for baby-sitting… so, the first ones to go are those who are in the lower category. for those who are good but unfortunately i still have to drop, i will recommend a VERY good teacher too, which i will also announce here when the time is right.
in penning the contract of my new job, not only i will be sacrificing uglymen, but also playing guitar, as i wil not play guitar anymore for the time being. the new jobs are, playing 6-day a week shows in a local pub, plus, probably an early evening music show in a local hotel. i will be playing piano and keyboard in both places.. as ah leow says…. my guitar era might just halted and the keys taking over. i still prefer playing guitar A LOT compared to piano….sigh…
meanwhile, i am also planning to venture into some non-music related stuff later this year, if i can over come time and financial constraints…
i’ve talked to tai suan and metal and suggest uglymen to bring in a new vocalist and guitarist to replace me, though i doubt they can find some one ugly and fat in size as me, so probably the next time you see uglymen perform, it might not be so ugly anymore liao… i am still writing uglymen’s second album songs though….
the new jobs i will undertake also mean that i no longer can travel to penang weekly to teach one of my best friends in penang, ah meng, plus two really cool bros ah yu and ah pao, i wil miss them a lot.. sob sob… one thing for sure is good…to the folks at jelutong factory, finally they can stay-in-peace… hohoho, if you know what i mean.
to all friends, supporters, band scene co-warriors, musicians, everyone who likes uglymen, thank you very much for all these years’ endless support.
p/s: the show taisuan mentioned on 22nd june is in kampar, perak, not in penang. and my work is 7-day per week, not 6 day la, thursday night has to teach too.
Zzzzzzzzzz….. i hope most songs are done downloaded by now.
5.28am,
in air-cond-off studio with heavy running nose and sneezings
mike
29 responses so far ↓
SilverIsle // Mar 11, 2008 at 7:41 am
Have a sweet successful journey! =)
Soon Jan Jan // Mar 11, 2008 at 10:05 am
Michael, I’m very happy for you!! I’m sure that you won’t dump Uglymen aside, just maybe cut down on the gigs perhaps. I hope uum will upgrade your status eventually to be its permanent staff, then when i come back, we can be colleagues liao!! :p Then i can sit in your class…and ask you loads of questions!! :p i tell u, here there’s nobody to answer all my questions about music, so i can only look it up on the net
no one have a stimulating talk on music here!!
taisuan // Mar 11, 2008 at 10:27 am
i think overall u had the best time of your life with us. this band gave u a stepping stone to move further up and i’m happy that u are getting all the opportunities that u deserve.
Norman (Dyerbreed) // Mar 11, 2008 at 10:47 am
Oh man…. this is terrible. I guess this is what usually happens in Malaysia. There are many incredible musicians out there that are forced to get a more “conventional” job at the end of the day and many great bands come to a stop as a result. Sigh…. I just want to say that it was an honor to have shared the stage with you guys in the Sarawak Rock Party 2007. Thanks for the memories. Take care and all the best in ur future undertakings! I hope that this is not the last of us seeing Uglymen.
taisuan // Mar 11, 2008 at 11:21 am
SLaP! drummer leslie called me and asked what happened? i told him the band is still alive… just that mike needs to focus on his career first.
fleaman // Mar 11, 2008 at 11:43 am
i m so happy to hear Mikey moving on! he deserve it!
wen hen // Mar 11, 2008 at 12:27 pm
eh, i’ll go flamingo c u sometimes, invite me sing wif u lo wahahaha
michael // Mar 11, 2008 at 2:08 pm
silver,
yes, same same loh thanks again! the magic words right? that sure works for me too. having jam session till 1.30am nitely til next sunday, as the regular shows starts from next monday onwards..
jan,
i dont think uum wil make me permanent, perhaps, i cant commit myself as permanent too bcos of other committments. but i am definitely waiting you come back. Pei Qi had a good start, hope she will blossom in what she wants. this thursday xing ping is starting…
michael // Mar 11, 2008 at 2:14 pm
norman,
yeah, i can still feel the FIRE burning in kuching… that was one hell of a gig. agree on what u say, by the way, since the first day uglymen formed, we already knew that this is a hobby, a hobby which 3 of us will really indulge into, but never one time we consider this as a part part part time career. so, i guess its just back to basic now. there wont be shows as often probably only 1 or 2 shows in the ramining of 2008. but we still wanna release 2nd album, so, hang in there, hope we can get that done…, at the same time, how about Dyerbreed? how’s the band going on?
michael // Mar 11, 2008 at 2:18 pm
flea,
actually the story of working here is fake, the truth is kiedies called me to tour with them as fruciante is down with flu…
michael // Mar 11, 2008 at 2:19 pm
jason…
you practise feel songs la, then let me know ma… i will kesi kesi ask you come up stage, then u stand there think think, then finally come up, then sing like pro la… maybe you’ll get laid that night lo… wahahahahah….
whlai86 // Mar 11, 2008 at 3:22 pm
u will be teaching in uum? what will u teaching?
fleaman // Mar 11, 2008 at 4:02 pm
wtf? who’s pulling my leg now? Tai Suan?
kanneh.. i will kick his butt!
junnee // Mar 11, 2008 at 4:12 pm
huh!!! y all so suddenly keh!!! I’m having mix feeling Here, Happy to hear that Mike have some new plan and move on :D… but sad to hear Uglym3n will “freeze” for some time :’(…. Anyway, life goes on… All the best to you guys….
take care n Keep in touch ya!!!
taisuan // Mar 11, 2008 at 4:20 pm
fleaman, where got pull your leg? its true one… mike wont be having regular jamming with us anymore… probably jam once every few months time
wooimin // Mar 11, 2008 at 4:44 pm
good luck to you michael, happy and sad to hear that…
i am in kedah few days, wil back sg on fri.. wil call you if you are free, guess not huh… haha
`sHaOwEiz // Mar 11, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Good Luck Mike. haha. where’s Flamingo anyway?
michael // Mar 11, 2008 at 6:00 pm
its real flea… hehe…
junnee, thanks, i hope u r doing fine too, not seeing you since eh… happy saturday?
whlai… i am lecturing very minor subject only la…
wooimin… very surprise to see you here secret gal… i dont even hv ur number leh, u sms me la if u see this…
shaowei… its near AIA buidling, just turn into teluk wanjah market road and that’s it, its on your right, at the back of Lee motor…
Metal // Mar 11, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Ai yar…don’t worry lah…He will be back….PAS will say no more alkohol sold in pub in Kedah…..
SLaP! // Mar 12, 2008 at 9:33 am
MIKE……………. DONT GO ~~~~~!!!!!!
:_( = RAMBO
:_( = JACKSON
:_( = EDWIN
:____( = LESLIE
SilverIsle // Mar 12, 2008 at 9:39 am
How come Leslie’s one longer? LOLz.
gnap // Mar 12, 2008 at 11:22 am
Guys! Guys! i hope Uglymen will still keep this website running .. with updates of your views, thoughts, and adventures… for us, your friends and fans alike.
Okay? buahahahahaha..
michael // Mar 12, 2008 at 12:22 pm
bcos me and Leslie got road one…. hehehe
gnap… yeah the website is running, i want to put up a post on the Perak MB issue and how unfair is malaysian rules but ah hooi will delete my post in less than 1 second after i put up…. so.. 4get about it la…
taisuan // Mar 12, 2008 at 1:15 pm
kakaka… i just met gnap at queensbay mall. we spoke to a bit. i couldn’t recognize her at first.
she’s so cute!
gnap, please let me know the website of your friend. thanks ya.
taisuan // Mar 12, 2008 at 8:53 pm
the top photo showing our tight asses looked so sad
gnap // Mar 12, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Mike, u know, i know, everyone know.. like dat lor.. strange but biasa lah… (hmm i sound so contradictory! but that’s the situation..)
TaiSuan, you got Utube acct ar? i share some videos of this person with u. he got no website lar. (to the rest here - no i’m not sharing porn videos with TaiSuan!)
SilverIsle // Mar 12, 2008 at 11:48 pm
He knows, you know, everyone doesn’t know… Nyek nyek nyek. =P
taisuan // Mar 13, 2008 at 10:11 am
yes gnap, i have youtube account. my account name is taisuan.
gnap // Mar 13, 2008 at 4:51 pm
TaiSuan, done liao. fwded 3 videos to you. mild pop.
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