Dewangga Sakti di dalam novel Armada Azur

Babak 1 – Istana al-Fateh

Selesai dengan nazam, bentara istana mengumumkan persembahan yang berikutnya. “Dipersilakan kumpulan muzik yang mengembara jauh dari Kota Jugra, Dewangga Sakti!”

Enam orang pemain muzik tampil dan mengambil tempat di bulatan kusyen yang disediakan. Dua gitar, darbuka, violin, gambus dan rebana menjadi peralatan pilihan mereka.

Si pemain violin membuka persembahan dengan gesekan merdunya. Dua pemain gitar kumpulan itu pula mencurahkan serbuk kristal di sekeliling mereka berenam. Serbuk kristal itu dicurah dalam satu garis melengkung sehingga membentuk satu bulatan.

Sebaik-baik sahaja bulatan serbuk kristal itu terbentuk, kerlipan mula memancar dengan ritma seiring gesekan biola. Para hadirin yang hadir bertepuk tangan melihat gabungan rentak bunyi dan cahaya.

Babak 2 – Istana al-Fateh, musuh datang menyerang

Dalam masa yang sama, kumpulan muzik Dewangga Sakti juga mengambil langkah menyelamatkan diri. Ketua kumpulan tersebut yang bernama Zul mengambil sarung tangan kristal dari dalam bagasinya dan menyarungkan pada tangan kanannya.

“Raof, Wahyun. Cepat, bawa seberapa ramai dalam lingkungan kita ini!”

Wahyun dan Raof segera menarik beberapa orang dayang istana ke dalam lingkungan mereka. Seorang bentara juga melompat masuk dalam lingkungan mereka tanpa diajak.

Wahyun menggesa, “Cepat, musuh sudah hampir!”

Zul mengangkat tangan kanannya tinggi-tinggi sebelum menghentakkannya ke atas lantai. Lingkaran kristal di sekeliling mereka menyala dan menghasilkan dinding cahaya yang menyilaukan pandangan. Apabila dinding cahaya itu berlalu, mereka semua sudah lenyap dari pandangan.

(Novel tulisan Firdaus Ariff -tajuk Armada Azur)

Majalah Alumni UIA

Terima kasih kepada Pejabat Alumni, UIAM di atas paparan di dalam majalah REACH ini.

Menggali khazanah muzik etnik

ARKIB : 22/02/2009 Mingguan Malaysia

Menggali khazanah muzik etnik

Oleh ABD. AZIZ ITAR

SEBAGAI negara berbilang kaum, terdapat banyak muzik tradisional mewakili etnik masing-masing yang belum diketengahkan secara meluas dalam industri muzik.

Di Sarawak dan Kelantan misalnya, ramai penyanyi lagu-lagu tradisional yang telah merakamkan album dengan mengetengahkan muzik serta dialek lagu mewakili etnik tertentu.

Jerry Kamit contohnya, merupakan pemain alat muzik tradisional sape suku kaum Iban terkenal di Sarawak pernah merakamkan album lagu-lagu berteraskan budaya masyarakatnya di sana.

Pemain sape itu bukan setakat popular di Bumi Kenyalang, malah nama beliau turut menjadi sebutan ramai hingga di peringkat antarabangsa sejak hampir 10 tahun yang lalu.

Keunikan muzik berteraskan budaya Iban yang dipersembahkan oleh Jerry sentiasa memukau para penonton, misalnya ketika beliau beraksi pada acara Rain Forest Music Festival di Santubong, Sarawak, dua tahun lalu.

Terbaru, kumpulan Dewangga Sakti tampil merakamkan album sulung mereka berjudul Mabuk Kepayang dengan menampilkan lagu-lagu hasil adunan elemen-elemen muzik ghazal dan asli.

Sayangnya, kemunculan album-album sebegitu kurang diketengahkan atau diberi perhatian oleh banyak pihak termasuklah stesen-stesen radio dan televisyen kerana menganggapnya sebagai tiada nilai komersial.

Hakikatnya, kemunculan album-album muzik tradisional seperti dikir barat memang sudah terbukti mendapat sambutan ramai termasuklah kalangan muda-mudi di Kelantan.

Namun, tidak banyak inisiatif dilakukan bagi memperluas serta mengkomersialkan lagi irama itu supaya ia juga mampu untuk diminati bukan setakat di negeri-negeri Pantai Timur, tetapi juga peminat di seluruh negara.

Kalau dulu RTM contohnya, pernah menyediakan slot siaran lagu-lagu dikir barat tetapi sekarang ini lenyap begitu sahaja. Fenomena terbaru pula menyaksikan usaha mengetengahkan lagu-lagu etnik dan tradisional sekadar memenuhi trend semasa sahaja.

Buktinya, lihat sahaja kewujudan kategori tradisional dan etnik kreatif dalam Muzik-Muzik terbitan TV3 yang tidak konsisten dan semakin mengecil pencalonannya sejak kebelakangan ini.

Dalam hal ini, masih ramai karyawan muzik kita yang belum menyedari peri pentingnya unsur-unsur etnik dan tradisional tempatan yang mampu untuk mempelbagaikan lagi rencah pengkaryaan mereka.

Golongan ini sepatutnya memandang jauh terhadap apa yang telah dilakukan oleh ramai pemuzik di negara seperti Jepun yang telah mengangkat pemuzik seperti Kitaro.

Pemuzik lagu-lagu instrumental itu berjaya memukau segenap lapisan masyarakat dengan keunikan muzik bersemangatkan budaya bangsa Jepun hingga di peringkat antarabangsa.

Malah, buluh yang dijadikan alat muzik didgeridoo dan cukup popular di Australia pula amat sinonim bukan setakat buat kaum pribumi di sana, tetapi juga kalangan pemuzik moden di negara tersebut.

Pendekatan yang menggunakan muzik-muzik etnik dan tradisional sebagai persembahan hanya pada acara-acara rasmi semata-mata juga haruslah disingkirkan. Sebaliknya, semua pihak terutama karyawan muzik harus membuka minda. Mereka perlu kritis dan memerah idea bagi menggali segala khazanah seni muzik tempatan tersebut.

Justeru, pelbagai usaha haruslah dilakukan bagi memastikan agar muzik etnik tempatan tidak pupus, terus diminati serta mampu bersaing dengan muzik-muzik moden yang lain.

Galakan dan bantuan khusus daripada kerajaan, misalnya menerusi Kementerian Perpaduan, Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan sedikit sebanyak mampu untuk mengangkat martabat serta populariti konsep muzik tersebut.

Geran bantuan khas atau dana contohnya, bolehlah disalurkan kepada para penyanyi atau kumpulan yang bercadang mahu merakamkan lagu-lagu etnik atau tradisional pada masa depan.

Inisiatif seperti itu mampu untuk memberi galakkan serta mengangkat martabat muzik lagu-lagu etnik dan tradisional, atau sekurang-kurangnya genre tersebut tidak luput ditelan zaman begitu sahaja.

Ulasan Mabok Kepayang di majalah ROTTW

Sebuah ulasan yang menarik.Terima kasih kepada ROTTW.
Pengulas betul-betul menjiwai lagu dan menulisnya dengan baik. Malah membuat rujukan kepada kamus Dewan untuk mencari maksud Dewangga!

Penajaan daripada Husamwaksa juga ditulis.

Temubual di dalam majalah TELL

Temubual di dalam majalah TELL terbaru-bumper issue untuk Ogos - gambar Ida Nerina di depan.

Temubual yang menarik oleh Magdalene.
Beberapa kekeliruan terjadi di dalam rencana tersebut:-
i) Kami sebenarnya tidak mendengar dan menggemari boybands seperti N Sync,Boys to Men dll
ii) Cryptic Malediction adalah sebuah kumpulan death metal.

Yang lainnya adalah terbaik daripada TELL. Terima kasih kepada Magdalene yang mengendalikan temubual tersebut.

Ulasan Mabok Kepayang di Utusan Malaysia

Ulasan CD di Utusan Malaysia pada 1 September iaitu hari pertama berpuasa.
Album tradisional yang futuristik? :) Nantikan kisah selanjutnya di dalam Angkasawan turun ke bumi.

Dipetik daripada Berita Harian 28 Julai 2008

Gema muzik Islami

Oleh Nurulhisham Abdul Latiff
nurul@bharian.com.my

ADA KELAINAN: Dewangga Sakti menampilkan persembahan menarik menerusi permainan muzik tradisional dan moden.

Masmi disulami alunan lagu berunsur nasihat, gabung persembahan muzik tradisional, moden

PADA acara Malam Aspirasi Seni Muzik Islami (Masmi) anjuran Institut Kefahaman Islam (Ikim) sempena sambutan ulang tahun ketujuh stesen radio Ikim FM, bukan saja irama nasyid yang kedengaran. Sebaliknya, Dewan Besar institut terbabit turut bergema dengan alunan lagu berunsur nasihat, permainan muzik bertali, serta saksofon.
Ia seperti menandakan, betapa skop muzik keagamaan di negara ini tidak lagi hanya berpusat kepada kompang atau gendang. Malah, selagi mana alat muzik dan irama yang dimainkan tidak melalaikan, sebaliknya mendorong pendengarnya mengagumi ciptaan serta keagungan Tuhan, maka selagi itulah muzik terbabit ‘dibenarkan’.

Tokoh falsafah Islam, Al-Farabi (lahir 870M) juga pada dasarnya seorang pemuzik yang hebat. Lagu yang dihasilkan tokoh ini meninggalkan kesan mendalam pada pendengarnya. Selain mempunyai keupayaan bermain muzik dengan cukup baik, dia juga mencipta sejenis alat muzik dikenali sebagai gambus.

Mungkin berpandukan kepada keterbukaan tokoh terbabit, maka malam persembahan anjuran Ikim turut tidak mengetepikan elemen muzik lain seperti gitar dan saksofon. Kumpulan Dewangga Sakti, umpamanya, cukup menghiburkan apabila enam anak muda berkenaan tampil di pentas memperdengarkan karya bermutu mereka, Selembar Kasih dan Tertinggal Kapal Angkasa, dengan menggabungkan permainan muzik tradisional seperti gendang, gambus dengan biola serta gitar.

Hasilnya, sebuah persembahan yang dikira amat menarik, apatah lagi apabila vokalis utamanya, Mohsen Amdan, mengalunkan lagu yang berunsur nasihat. Dewangga Sakti sendiri bukanlah kumpulan yang baru, walaupun album pertama yang memuatkan lima lagu, baru saja dilancarkan Jun lalu.

Kumpulan yang berpangkalan di Pulau Pinang dan ditubuhkan sejak 2000 itu nyata tidak salah gelanggang apabila diundang sama menjayakan majlis berkenaan.

Begitu juga kehadiran peniup saksofon, Alif Nasir yang menghiburkan penonton dengan tiga lagu - Badarsila, Nurul Ain dan Jangan Tinggal Daku. Persembahan anak muda itu turut mendapat sambutan hebat hadirin yang memenuhi dewan. Di luar bangunan pula, ratusan lagi penonton yang mengikuti persembahan menerusi layar besar di laman. Namun begitu, Masmi sudah tentunya tidak mengetepikan irama nasyid apabila beberapa nama besar dalam genre muzik berkenaan turut mengambil tempat di pentas utama, menyampaikan lagu terbaik mereka untuk santapan telinga penonton yang ada.

Lalu, berkumandang irama indah Hanzalah dan Mentari Merah Di Ufuk Timur nyanyian Asri Ibrahim bersama rakan Rabbani yang lain, sebagai pembuka tirai acara yang turut disiarkan secara langsung oleh radio terbabit. Persembahan kemudian diteruskan kumpulan Saujana yang mengalunkan lagu Lakaran Minda serta Jalan Sehala.

Bahagian pertama persembahan turut menampilkan kumpulan Far East yang memukau suasana dengan laungan qasidah serta sebuah lagu Arab. Dewangga Sakti muncul kumpulan terakhir mengadakan persembahan pada bahagian berkenaan.

Apabila tirai sekali lagi disingkap, Nazrey Johani yang kini bergerak sendirian memilih lagu Secerah Pawana dan Antara Dua Cinta untuk hiburan penonton serta pendengar Ikim FM, manakala Nowseeheart pula hadir bersama lagu Inspirasi dan Selawat Murah Rezeki. Selepas Alif Nasir turun pentas, akhirnya Akil Hayy yang mendapat tepukan paling gemuruh penonton, tampil bersama dua buah tangan, lagu Berita Kepada Kawan dan Sesungguhnya.

INFO: Ikim FM

RADIO Ikim FM dilancarkan pada 6 Julai 2001 oleh Perdana Menteri ketika itu, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Ikim FM ke udara 24 jam sehari menerusi 12 pemancar di seluruh negara. Rancangannya disampaikan dalam tiga bahasa - Melayu, Inggeris dan Arab.

IKIM FM yang mempunyai visi menjadi stesen radio terkemuka bagi memenuhi kehendak pendengar, bermatlamat menerbit dan menyiarkan 75 peratus rancangan bercorak pendidikan, 20 peratus rancangan berbentuk hiburan dan lima peratus rancangan yang menyampaikan maklumat.

MASMI yang berlangsung pada 13 Julai lalu dirasmikan oleh Pengerusi Ikim, Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid.

Daripada Berita Harian 28 Julai 2008
Beberapa kesilapan fakta rencana ulasan ini
-Al Farabi tidak mencipta gambus.Beliau mencipta qanoon dan rabab.

Dewangga Sakti

-berpengkalan di Kuala Lumpur, bukannya Pulau Pinang.Hanya ahli bersekutu,Irwan yang sekarang menetap di sana atas urusan kerja

-anggota seramai tujuh(7) orang,bukannya enam orang (sila lihat gambar)
Apa-apa pun,jutaan terima kasih kepada Berita Harian yang meletakkan gambar kami yang besar di rencana tersebut. :)

Photoshoot!

"Ha! abg yang depan tu kepala depan sikit. Yg P Ramlee tu violin ke depan",arah jurukamera.

"Ha ! Satu lagi.Tabla tu ke depan sikit!"

Ops! ini bukan adegan penggambaran filem. P Ramlee tidak wujud di sini.Tabla juga tidak dimainkan.
Ini sebahagian daripada adegan kami menjalani sesi penggambaran (photoshoot) untuk majalah TELL yang akan keluar untuk isu bulan Ogos nanti.Inilah panggilan pertama daripada media setelah beberapa siri promo dihantar kepada media terpilih.Ini juga bukan majalah berbahasa Melayu.TELL sebuah majalah berbahasa Inggeris yang berkualiti tinggi menampilkan isu-isu semasa,politik,sosial,budaya dll.Kupasan isu di dalam majalah ini juga amat menarik.Ini ditambah dengan foto-foto yang menarik.Misalnya di dalam isu bulan lepas menampilkan Raja Zarith Sofia sebagai muka depan dan cerita utama di samping cerita tentang Rainforest World Music Festival dan beberapa isu lain seperti MP lompat parti dll.
Hampir dua jam kami menjalani photoshoot tersebut malam tadi.Sudah kejang otot-otot muka kami kerana perlu tersenyum dan juga membuat aksi-aksi yang menarik. Beratus-ratus keping gambar diambil. Hasilnya kita akan dapat tengok di dalam isu TELL pada bulan depan. Temubual secara santai juga dilakukan.
Oh ya! En Syam remaja gemilang Klang Gate yang datang paling awal. Baru sahaja kami ingin memberikan hadiah kerana datang awal dia berkata," Woi! Aku lupa bawa butang baju Melayu da!",Itulah Sudin di dalam cerita ini.Telah kami katakan sebelum ini bahawa En Syam yang banyak menceriakan kumpulan dengan aksi lawak spontan beliau.Situasi telah memerangkap beliau menjadi 'joker' kumpulan.Tidak dapat kami bayangkan jika En Syam tiada di dalam sesi ini.

Dewangga Sakti interview- New Straits Times Merdeka pullout

Taken from Merdeka Supplement

Ethnic tunes with a modern feel

DEWANGGA SAKTI

Local underground folk band

DEWANGGA Sakti’s music is perhaps best described as traditional Malay meets the 21st century. Originally, it revolved centred around the gamelan. But that was when they were still university students and had access to these RM30,000 instruments (cheapest).

Now, the music has shifted into a thrilling blend of gambus, darbuka and rebana communing with the violin and electric guitar.

Their contemporary rendition of traditional Malay tunes like zapin, nasyid, joget and inang call to mind a flurry of strange and confusing but exciting images: Butterfly lovers meeting in a Chinese teahouse, Anakin Skywalker and Amidala caught in a Bollywood moment on gentle grassy slopes, Turkish dervishes whirling madly to pulsing trance beats in a New York square. Adversity has served to fan their passion in producing music that speaks of their Malay legacy and identity.

“We don’t want to be entertainment workers. We want to be artistes. To sing not because of the money,” said Mohsen Amdan, founder, composer, guitarist and lead vocalist of this emerging local underground folk band.

The rest are: Abdul Raof Salhudin and Noor Azmi Mohd Shariff (percussion/ back-up vocals), Muhammad Syamsul Faiz Zainuddin (bass guitar), Norman Soo (violin), Wan Yaser Wan Salim (guitar) and Mohd Zulkifli Ramli on the gambus. All but two are under the age of 30.

As the proverb goes: Easier said than done. The experimental artiste is only appreciated at home when he spreads his wings and flies away. The energetic techno-rap Tokyo Drift (Fast & Furious) by Teriyaki Boyz flavoured with beautiful strains of gamelan has got everybody talking. All of a sudden, people are asking: “What’s that sound? It’s amazing, it’s cool”. In Japan, they are clamouring for such compositions. Here, we don’t give a d___. Or do we?

The reality, says Mohsen, is simply that our young generation today “are not aware. There is a lack of exposure, a lack of local bands out there (producing ethnic music)”. And that was why Dewangga Sakti was born: “To conserve our heritage, to protect and promote our legacy, culture and identity. We saw a vacancy in the local music industry,” said Mohsen, 28.

When they first started performing during their university days, they were impeded time and again by a sort-sighted university administration. Luckily they had their own grassroots support; equipment was borrowed from fellow underground musicians. Their first-ever concert in 2001 was financed by a neighbourhood burger stall owner to the tune of RM400.

Currently, the band is in the midst of putting together their self-produced debut album, tentatively titled Mabok Kepayong (Lovesick). They hope to release it by year end. Finally, their music will be heard by the masses.

It has taken them six long years. All of them have day jobs (except Norman who is still studying music at the National Arts Academy in KL); Mohsen has a year-old daughter while Syamsul and Zulkifli are expecting their own soon.

Many of their original compositions were lost during this chaotic period. Only one survived, Jalan Kembali (Road to Return), which they have renamed Kembali Mencari (Returning to Find) for the album in memory of the band’s early days.

Next on the cards are setting up their own studio, expanding their repertoire of folk music (Syamsul plans on taking up the accordion) and expanding their band into a bigger ethnic ensemble.

They are very serious about becoming full-time musicians and to one day join the ranks of internationally acclaimed ethnic artistes at the Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak. Earlier this year, they performed to an appreciative crowd at the annual Fête de la Musique, held at the Alliance Francaise in Kuala Lumpur.

Right now, Mohsen, Norman, Noor Azmi and Zulkifli are in Taipei as part of the Government’s initiatives to promote Malaysian culture and heritage. It is their first time performing as Dewangga Sakti abroad. Next month, from Sept 25 to October 5, the latter three will perform at the Asean Tourism Fair in Sapporo, Japan. Their participation in the two concerts are sponsored by our the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism.

“We will be playing traditional Malay folk songs and maybe a couple of our originals. In Japan, we plan to play their folk numbers and maybe songs like Sukiyaki or the Doraemon theme song,” quipped Zulkifli. — By DEBRA CHONG (NST)

Dewangga Sakti featured in New Sunday Times-8 May 2005

Taken from NST ,May 8 2005
THE NEXT BIG THING:
Magic of an underground folk band FAZLI IBRAHIM

IT’S never easy getting anyone to wake up early on a Saturday morning, whatever the reason.However, the members of Dewangga Sakti were unfazed by their early morning date and showed up on the dot at the Islamic Arts Museum, in time for photographer Choo Choy May to snap a few shots in front of the magnificent, blue-tiled entrance.Dressed in denims and armed with guitars, they look more like a rock group than what they really are — young guys with a penchant for old-fashioned music. Among the leather guitar cases, one espies a pair of traditional rebana of pale yellow nangka wood and taut goat skin, and a mahogany-coloured Turkish style gambus.

After having heard Dewangga Sakti perform “live” at a poetry reading a few months ago, I am totally intrigued by the attempt to marry these traditional instruments with contemporary arrangements and scales. I wanted to hear more but unfortunately there’s no CD in the shops, at least not yet.

Dewangga Sakti is still something of an underground folk band but give them a little time and they’ll certainly give some of the “live” acts out there a run for their money.The group, made up of Zulkifli Ramli (gambus), Mohsen Amdan (vocals), Syamsulfaiz Zainuddin (bass), Wan Aznuwar Wan Azhar (acoustic guitar) and Noor Azmi Mohd. Shariff (percussions), was originally founded in 2000.

After the photo shoot, we drove to a makan place near Bukit Aman where we had for company batik-clad civil servants and traffic policemen in their white kit, taking a well-deserved teh tarik break.Recalling those early days, Zul, then in his final year at the International Islamic University Malaysia, says he was approached by Mohsen, a few years his junior, to write and perform new music with a touch of gamelan.They couldn’t have been a more mismatched pair. Mohsen was a full-fledged member of the university’s gamelan group, while Zul played for an underground outfit called Cryptic Malediction.

Being an avid fan of historical works and old, obscure Malay words, Zul came up with the band’s moniker after reading Sejarah Melayu, a chronicle of the rise and fall of the Malacca Sultanate.“Dewangga means a silken cloth, a valuable commodity and the stuff worn by high-ranking people in those days. Sakti is magical, I just loved the word since I was a kid so I suggested putting them together as the name,” recalls Zul.

Back then, the group’s aim was to participate in an inter-varsity acoustic band competition at Universiti Putra Malaysia. Coming from a university only known for its crop of male nasyid groups, they were clearly the underdogs.They didn’t win any prizes, but the competition was the nucleus of what proved to be a long-term commitment.

Back in the IIUM campus, where performing venues are few and hard to come by, the group started organising concerts interspersed with a bit of acting and comedy skits at the Humanities faculty parking lot at night!“We used gamelan instruments such as the saron and bonang with electric guitars, flutes and other things,” says Mohsen.Even after graduation and settling into the routine of work and, for some, family life, Zul, Mohsen and a few others of the initial group continued to jam together from time to time.“The music back then was experimental and sometimes directionless,” says Mohsen, newly the proud father of a baby girl.

Later, the group chanced upon Samba Sunda, an Indonesian act that combined elements of Sundanese gamelan with other popular music styles such as salsa and jaipong. It was enough to get Zul to start an e-mail correspondence with the group and to meet them at last year’s Rainforest World Music Festival.Their fascination with this ground-breaking music form injected a new spirit into their own. They began to seriously explore the possibilities of marrying elements of acoustic guitars with other traditional instruments such as the gambus and rebana.

At the same time, some of the members dabbled with full-fledged traditional music of some sort or the other.Zul, for instance, went on a musical sabbatical of sorts — he participated in a month-long Gamelan Gong Kebyar training under the tutelage of I Wayan Rajeg at Rimbun Dahan and later studied zapin and ghazal songs with gambus maestro Fadhil Ahmad.
With a new direction, the band followed the time-tested route pioneered by other aspiring musicians in this country — playing at weddings. The going was good, until one particular wedding in Shah Alam nearly put them off playing for good.“We were scolded in front of the guests because of the bad sound system, though it’s more the fault of the organisers than anyone else’s. That show really jinxed us. For almost a year, we met a few times to jam but nothing good came out of it,” says Mohsen, grinning.

Then one of the original members, Raof, left for work in the UK, robbing Dewangga Sakti of an accomplished percussionist. Work commitments got in the way for some and others drifted away. Of the original 15 who participated in the initial show at UPM, only a handful were left.And since one of the earlier aims of Dewangga Sakti was to fuse gamelan sounds with that of other traditional and contemporary instruments, they also suffered from the lack of a gamelan set of their own. Graduation meant they had to sever ties with the gamelan set owned by the IIUM.

However, slowly since late last year, the band stirred again from its temporary slumber.It took some long, teh tarik-fuelled nights but finally Zul rounded up the old gang for a tsunami benefit concert at the Akademi Seni Kebangsaan. Dewangga Sakti was back in business. But the band comprised of only three original members — Zul, Mohsen and Syamsulfaiz a.k.a Along.Dewangga Sakti look for and found new people to fill the gaps, restoring it back to full strength.Now, there’s Wan Aznuwar or Wan Klasik, a quiet chap with deft fingers at the acoustic guitar and Noor Azmi or Mie, percussionist .

With the new line-up, the group is also flirting with a number of diverging musical styles. In a recent performance, all the self-composed songs bear the imprint of blues and folk, with a touch of keroncong thrown in.The lyrics have also gone through an evolution. From a band of minstrel balladeers singing songs inspired by old epics and ancient history, their lyrics today reflect an inclination to respond to current events — the plight of the tsunami survivors, environmental issues and the like.

“I think what best describes our music is folk Melayu. We’re bringing a bit of contemporary music into our repertoire but of course, we shouldn’t lose sight of our traditional genres such as inang, joget and asli. You can travel thousands of miles and still come back to the songs you know. Maybe we’ll work more in that direction in our coming projects,” explains Zul.
So, this is another fusion band then?“We don’t like to call it fusion music — fusion leads to confusion. I mean, the wrong kind of fusion causes problems, which elements would you emphasise on and which are the ones that you tone down? It doesn’t have to be like Citrawarna where you put together all the elements of the local ethnic groups just to show that we’re united,” counters Zul.

Where do they scour for ideas for their songs and lyrics?“Sometimes, when you’re stressed out, you just need to reach for your guitar and strum out some melodies, that’s how we get some of the songs,” says Wan.The band plans to start recording in a month or so. However, cutting a record with a major label has never been a priority. “It’s hard doing it this way but I don’t think we should go to a commercial label. We don’t want people to impose conditions on us and change the way we work. We want total creative freedom, which is why it’s best for us to remain DIY,” says Zul.“Most importantly, we want to enjoy what we’re doing,” adds Mohsen.

More than anything else, the planned recording sessions were to make up for some of the lapses of their younger days. Our music makers were never big on record keeping when they started Dewangga Sakti, hence some of the earlier creative output was lost for good.“We’ve played for almost five years but if you ask us about some of the songs we wrote in the early days, none of us will be able to recall much,” says Zul.

What the future holds is still anyone’s guess. But if there’s one thing they’re yearning to create, it’s that old-time magic you get in the music and musicians of yesteryears. “We’d like to follow in the footsteps of those ghazal and asli groups who are still making music well into their old age. We want to leave some sort of legacy to show our kids,” says Zul.Let’s hope they get some of that sakti music recorded soon.