Nadir

Musicians, Band

Malaysia

They say that sometimes it is in your lowest point in life, or your nadir, that you find clarity and strength to rise again from what once was, and manifest a greater tomorrow. Thus, in 2015, Nadir’s journey as a band began. Like its Malay translation (rare), the band strives to make music that is rare and unique, combining different life experiences and emotions together with explosive crowd-chanting energy on stage, manifested in the colourful plethora of sounds and languages from various cultures in Malaysia and around the world. Nadir embodies the idea of celebrating our differences and revering our roots, embracing the colourful ups and downs of our past while bravely exploring the unwritten future to create a meaningful now, worthy of a lasting legacy.

By fusing sounds that represent our different worldly experiences, culture, and the spirit of collaboration, the band moulds what is uniquely, Malaysian Music with limitless sonic & cultural boundaries. Where carnatic vocals duel with rock riffs, where sitar melodies permeate through explosive percussion and tabla cadences, where tin whistles sing with saxophone melodies, the music is most definitely not what many would expect.

This 8 piece band operates as a family with fluid lineup of regular featured musicians playing a wide variety of instruments such as Sitar, Violin, Gambus, Bagpipes, Erhu, Yangqin and many more. In 2017, Nadir went on tour in Cambodia and performed to 10000+ people at The Cambodian Water Festival in Phnom Penh and collaborated with Cambodian superstar Laura Mam, with a single due for release internationally in 2019. They’ve also collaborated with French artistic duo ‘IliaEb’ on an experimental visual art/dance/music showcase and are in the planning phase of bringing the show to Paris, France in 2020. Nadir have also headlined the Borneo International Jazz Fest 2018, aside from touring China alongside Kugiran Masdo, and featuring at Urbanscapes 2018. The band are in the midst of writing a new original song with Zainal Abidin and reworking his iconic tune ‘Hijau’ to be released on his upcoming new album.

Nadir are no strangers to entertaining, having performed across Asia and headlining festivals and stages: Urbanscapes (KL), Publika International Jazz Fest (KL), Unesco Youth Fest (Ipoh) Shantanand Festival of Arts (KL), Borneo International Jazz Fest (Kuching), SEAMEX, Diaoyucheng International Music Fest (China), Cambodian Water Fest; and showcase events and launches: No Black Tie (KL), The Bee (KL), Merdekarya (KL), BMW Shorties 2017 (KL), Cendana’s launch of the ‘KL As A Cultural & Creative City’ report, RIUH In The City, and many more to come. They were also interviewed on BFM’s Wavelength show talking about Malaysian Fusion.

Having released their first 13 track album ‘Synesthesia’ in 2017, and a new video & single out entitled ‘Nafas’ hitting the airwaves, the band is busy working on their second album and are ready to take you on a journey through the pathways of the world’s soul and mesmerise you.