• Home
    Home 

  • Articles
    Articles 

  • Happenings
    Happenings 

  • Eksentriks
    Eksentriks 

  • Community
    Community 
  • Home
  • Asian Arts Magazine  ▾
    • News
    • Arts
    • Culture
    • Films
    • Literature
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Photography
    • Poems
    • Stories
  • Artist Registry
  • Arts Community
  • Happenings

  • Sign In
  • Submit Stories & Poems
  • List Your Events
  • Be On Artist Registry

  • What Is Eksentrika?
  • Get In Touch With Us
  • FAQ
  • Join Our Monthly Newsletter
  • Eksentrika Facebook
  • Eksentrika Instagram
  • Eksentrika Twitter
  • Eksentrika Linkedin
  • Eksentrika Telegram
  • Start Writing
  • Asian Arts Magazine
  • Artist Registry
Arts & Culture Malaysia | Eksentrika
Eksentrika Login
From the Nadir Of Life Comes Rare Music
Sukhbir Cheema

Written by Sukhbir Cheema

From the Nadir Of Life Comes Rare Music

Share this article via


Hitting rock bottom would naturally make anyone shut down completely.

But not for this bunch of eight talented young musicians who conceived a band two-years-ago and named it “Nadir”.

“Nadir represents many things in different languages,” the band’s leader, Ashwin Gobinath tells Eksentrika.

Ashwin, who is also the band’s spokesperson said in Arabic, the word means “dearly loved” or “rare”.

nadir-band-no-wordings
A fusion of different cultures and backgrounds. Image credit Nadir

And truth be told, with Ashwin on the drums, veteran Zaim Zaidee on bass, Stephanie Tham on keys, Lor Phaik Sim manning the synths, Adil Johan on the saxophone, Santosh Logandran providing sounds via his Tabla and Carnatic vocals, metal head Farique Nadzir on guitar, and Rashdan Harith on vocals, Nadir’s music is pretty rare stuff!

Don’t believe us? Listen to this magnificent piece created following the death of Malaysia’s legendary filmmaker, Yasmin Ahmad.

Ashwin tells us that the band began after a few unsuccessful attempts at writing songs that were catered a little towards the commercial side of things.

“Rashdan, Zaim and I had a conversation about starting fresh and this idea of making this band a cultural melting pot for music came to us.

“The band is all about creating music that fuses cultural elements with modern sensitivities, and together with the technical capabilities and immensely unique ideas each member brings to the table, we managed to create this cool fusion of sounds,” he says.

Image credit Nadir
Image credit Nadir

Taking inspiration from metal to Nusantara funk right down to technical fusion to Celtic to Dave Matthews Band, Snarky Puppy, AR Rahman, John Butler Trio, Ashwin says it’s hard to pinpoint which musical icons inspired them.

“It really is difficult to pinpoint one artist or band that we feed off because it (Nadir) really is a fusion of style and culture and background,” he says adding that they plan on bringing more global diversity and musical influence in their band soon.

Leaving room to evolve and grow, the band tries to keep their songs as organic as possible during performances.

The only challenges we faced were probably arranging everyone’s time and schedule due to the size of the band but that’s just part and parcel of being in a band,” Ashwin reveals.

However, he says he finds it an honour to work with musicians who are truly professionals at what they do.

Plus, they apparently seem to get along well during their de-stressing sessions at the Mamak.

Nadir is gradually gaining prominence in the Malaysian indie music scene with artists such as Bihzhu and Hameer Zawawi collaborating with the eight.

But that is not all.

Ashwin reveals that Nadir aims to release their first album by December, this year.

“Music lovers can look forward to popping that Cd on and hearing something that they would not expect.

“Every song has a distinct personality and the flow of the songs in the album will reflect a story that some people may or may not get.”

The band is yet to unveil the title of its album and Ashwin is being tight lipped about it. However, Nadir can be followed on Facebook, Instagram and Soundcloud.

Are you a musician or a band? Wanna share something about the local music scene? Hit us an email at [email protected]

Ashwin Gobinath Nadir
  1. Ista says:
    October 11, 2016 at 7:02 pm

    5

Contribute to Us

We accept short stories, poems, opinion pieces, and essays on a complimentary basis.

SUBMIT

Other Stories You May Like

kuala lumpur sape collective klsc scaled

How Kuala Lumpur Sape’ Collective Celebrates Kenyah & Kayan People’s Traditional Lute

Jennifer Rodrigo

'Rewind' Gets You To Pick Rock Music From The 90's At klpac

Fun Unique Rock Concert Gets You To Pick Popular Songs From The 90’s

Vishallini

The klpac Symphonic Band Trains 50 Musicians For 'An Uncommon Journey'

The klpac Symphonic Band Trains 50 Young Musicians To Perform For The Big Stage

Vishallini

Cross Ratio Entertainment & Universal Records Collaborate

2 Record Labels Join Forces To Bring Musicians Closer To Southeast Asians

Sukhbir Cheema

Stefano Chen

Stefano Chen Shares How A Malaysian Boy Turned Opera Tenor in Asia

Jennifer Rodrigo

Brendan De Cruz Holds Concert To Celebrate 6 Years Of Music

Brendan De Cruz Is Holding A Concert To Celebrate 6 Years Of Music

Very Indie Events

About Eksentrika

Eksentrika is an arts community and an online Asian arts magazine with an artist registry. Join us to get inspired and find Asian artists here!

Quick Links

  • About Eksentrika
  • Contact Us
  • F.A.Q.

Join Our Newsletter

 


All Rights Reserved © 2021 Eksentrika | By eJeeban Web Design Company

  • Eksentrika Facebook
  • Eksentrika Instagram
  • Eksentrika Twitter
  • Eksentrika Linkedin
  • Eksentrika Telegram