I'm Moving to Tumblrtown

yeah, it's gettin' pretty dull in here.

it's just too many texts and dark colors. saya mau pindah. i found tumblr. sgt colorful and full of positive vibes. saya suka. im gonna upload soo many pictures and maybe some of my sketches & artworks :)

the posts will always be here for u to browse. i see u at tumblr! :)

http://nabilzamanhuri.tumblr.com

Anti Cinta

Semalam tgh syok2 tido di bawah selimut biru, sambil ditemani hujan, tibe terasa seolah-olah kepala diketuk-ketuk. Hatta, aku pun terbangun. I tgk around me, takde orang pun. Try tido balik, tetibe ada melodi aneh tapi agak menarik di telinga ditemani oleh ketukan di atas kepala mengikut rythm. I know its that time again. I just don't get it why bila dicari tak jumpa, but bile dah syok tido, pukul 4 pagi baru dia datang. oh well, i was excited to put this on paper, so i jumped from my toto grab my guitar and pen and start pre-record it on my handphone.

sambung tido, esok bile cek my notebook, ade bridge and a chorus line.

This song, i guess its called Anti-Cinta, sbb hook dia kat situ. It's about this person yang probably dah been thru a lot of pain during his past relationships, so he decided to take a break from "being in love" for awhile. But suddenly ade dis girl yang tetibe confess kat the guy, so he basically telling the girl that he's not interested on having any relationship for the time being, and hope she doesn't take it personally. Ntah pape la mamat tu.

I know the word "Anti-Cinta" mcm gile negative kan. But i think i wasnt talking about Love generally, cos love IS a good thing, and at some point love is the main reason we do what we do. So i guess im specifically telling a story about this paranoid character who's afraid to be in a relationship. So jgn fikir negatively la kot.

here's the song! Still rough raw mcm sandwich yang tak siap :)

Anti Cinta ROUGH - Nabil Zamanhuri

lyrics :

Kau pasti takkan percaya
Mendengar alasanku bila
Ku kata ku menghindar cinta

Namun perlu kau sedari
Bukannya aku membenci
Just please don't take it personally
It's not you..It's me.

Chorus
Dari pencinta-wanita, tapi kini diriku Anti Cinta
Kau ada hak untuk pilih yang lain kerna ku Anti Cinta
Tak perlulah kau membuang masa menungguku
Ku tak mungkin dapat memberikan cintaku
Dari pencinta-wanita, tapi kini diriku Anti Cinta

I dunno where to go from here. But I'll work something out :)

dare.to.dream
Nabil Zamanhuri


Anti Cinta by Nabil Zamanhuri is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Malaysia License.

How to write a song that breaks your heart.

Bapak lama tak update. haha. but seriously, im not a regular blogger. I just write when i feel like writing.

Oh, and finally, my first ballad "Dari Jauh" was launched on the 8th October. Here are some of the pictures during the event :

berjoget tak hingat punya

When i started writing this song, I knew i want it to be a break-up song. I want it to be anthemic, that listeners can relate to it, and say "Hey, this song is about me."

So, i don't wanna do something with minor chords, u know, the typical "begging for her to come back" kind of songs. Nor i don't want it to have a lot of those hi-pitch long notes with a lot of modulation right in the middle of the song.

The song is about "letting go". So im trying achieve the feeling of cold sadness - it's like whispering to someone's ear while she's sleeping, telling her that u're going somewhere, and we might not gonna see each other again. At the intro of the song, u can hear this tapping sound as thou rain falls on your window. And as it went to the 2nd verse, u can hear the timpani, represents the thunder.

I worked extra hard on this song, cos this song means a lot to me. I have to say it's quite personal, but i know everyone might have gone through this.

The song didn't really make it, comercially thou. The radio stations didn't really play it. I'm not sure why, but I don't really care. I just gonna focus with what im doing. I posted it on my facebook and myspace, and my fans ordered it from me...some of them even posted it on youtube and blogs..they sent comments and say something like "lagu ni sedih gila, macam cerita pasal saya dulu", and "lagu ni memang sesuai untuk aku, ex aku baru je kawin..*sobs*", they tell me how much the song has touched them..to me, i have achieved exactly what i want from the song. To move people.

Well, sorry membebel panjang. Thing is, during this PC, the reporters suma tanya about the song, and i told them each and every detail. Tapi, yang keluar "NABIL kuat merajuk". So, the main story was about me and my so-called love life, dekat 18 perenggan duk cerita pasal "berpunya tak berpunya", the only thing they wrote about the song was "Dari Jauh, mengisahkan percintaan 2 insan".... I lol'd.

Alright then. Here is Dari Jauh,

Dari Jauh - Nabil Zamanhuri

here's the performance :)





dare.to.dream
NABIL ZAMANHURI

Uh 'ohh

Practice.

Practice.

Practice.

Too much practice.

Now i have sore throat. And "Dari Jauh" showcase is in 2 days. The band is awesome but the singer sakit tekak. oh shi---

they say too much of a good thing can turn into something bad. demm.

doctor.

Use Somebody

One random day. Bukak Youtube. See this :













Everytime i see his videos i feel so depress. How much practices do i need to do everyday, to have his voice? Daaaayyym u youtube singers. haha. This is my favourite Youtube singer of all time. Airto.

Showing Some Skin

Haha, just messing around with some pre-made skins or blog templates. Don't worry, my blog will be back the way it is...just as soon after i try that emo-ish chick robot image for my background....

Otak Kering (again) - New Song!


Sememangnya otakku ini takdelah basah sangat. Especially bile time2 nak cari idea, time tu la dia kering. Memang salah aku jugak kot. Expecting art to pop up. I think. I THINK. When u think too much of it, work by the rules, expecting too much from it, in the end sampai ke satu tahap they call it "writer's block". Instead, I patut ikut what Damian duk cakap "let the song grow la bro". I somehow jadi restless sebab nak siap cepat kot. haha. Teringat satu quote (yang juga merupakan quote favourite arwah Yasmin Ahmad):

"Artists today think of everything they do as a work of art. It is important to forget about what you are doing - then a work of art may happen." - Andrew Wyeth, an early 20th century American painter

So i thot, "u know wat, chill dulu." So i stopped working on the hook of the song that im working with Damian for awhile and starts listening to music. Diana Danielle pun ada mintak lagu jugak ni. Suprisingly, she's a good singer! So i start grabbing my guitar and see what i can come up for her. In the end i came up with a chorus. It sounds a bit different than what I've done before :

if u were mine.mp3 - Nabil Zamanhuri

possibly my first english number that i wrote. here's the lyrics:

If u were mine

When i see u cry,
Baby I'd die inside,
He was never really true to u,
I can see it in ur eyes..

Please tell me why
did u ever go for such ride,
Babygirl i would die for u
if only u were mine..

if only u were mine..

tak sure lagi if this song gonna make it for Diana Danielle's album or not. I just gonna submit this anyway. If not, I'mma do it for my album, cos i love it :D

HILANG

Tahun ni memang ramai legends yang telah meninggalkan kita. Legend2 yang memang banyak bagi inspirasi kat aku, the reason Im doing what Im doing now.

Michael Jackon (atau Mikael? hanya Allah yang tahu)
Yasmin Ahmad
Ustaz Asri..

Mungkin ini petanda bahawa dunia hiburan akan dilanda rombakan atau evolusi (improvement atau downgrading, terpulanglah). Aku tak sure reaction dunia masa, John Lennon mati dulu, atau Elvis cos I wasn't born yet. Termasuk Allahyarham Tan Sri P.Ramlee dan Allahyarham Sudirman dulu.. But that's how the world works, i guess.. Pemergian bukan bererti kemusnahan, atau kehilangan. Delete and cancel is not the keyword here. Evolution, hopefully into something (if not better) post-legends. (sorry for the lack of a better word). From Elvis to Michael. From Tan Sri P.Ramlee to Sudirman. From Sudirman to Siti Nurhaliza.

But these legends will live through the future generations. They will always be references and inspirations for us, as u can see it through their works are mostly inspired by legends before them.

and Yasmin Ahmad will always be my inspiration in our local New Wave movies :




this one's my favourite..

IT'S BEEN AWHILE..

yeah. the title says it all. It HAS been awhile since i updated my blog. And for today's post...is about the man who inspired me, who i grew up with, and the man that made me believe the sky is the limit... yeah. you guessed it right.

Michael Jackson.

this is when i like him the best. his "Thriller" era.

see, i'm not gonna say all the nice things about him, about what he did to the world, because everyone all over the world have done that, beautifully.

it's about how i remember him.

1993, i think it was around 8pm, or 9pm, a 6 year old boy was hanging out with her kakak at her neighbor's place.

The three of us, Kakak, me and Aliza (kot if i'm not mistaken her name was. Lepak in her parents room. Bukak TV, and I saw this man in a fully white suit, white tie and blue shiny shirt. He was in this big house, surrounded by guys in black suits and women in their cabaret dresses.

"Cite ape ni? Sape ni?"

"Maikel Jeksyen"

"Ohh. Kenape dia nyanyi-nyanyi?"

My sister ignored my last question. But my curiosity semakin membuak2. Cos i swear i saw his legs were barely touching the ground. He's floating in the air. With those striking socks in those shiny black shoes. And then he did this :



How the hell did he do dat. I keep on asking myself. i watched the movie till end. There were number of times when he walked in reverse (again, i ternganga tengok), he turned into a robot, jadi flying jet, beat the bad guys and fly into the sky. The kids seem to love him. And right after it ends, I'm starting to copy his moves, even thou tak berapa ingat sangat. I have to watch this again. I want to see him dance. Must ask Umi to buy the video tape for me.

"Umi, boleh tak belikan tape cerita orang nari2 semalam?"

"yang mana?"

"ala, yang pakai topi pastu nari2"

"Cuba tunjuk umi macamana dia buat?"

*spins around and kicks the air*

"Hahaha. Ok2, esok umi beli"

Next morning, my mum gave me the tape. Strange the cover of the tape shows that he was wearing a yellow spandex, with black pants. Apsal lain?

"Ni concert dia."

Oh. ok. I can't really complain. But I know it was the same guy. Put on the tape. The crowds were cheering. But there are still no signs of my new superhero. Waited. Waited. And then Bam! Fireworks, saw the man magically appeared from out of the fire. There he is. In his best form. Standing in proudly looking straight at the audiences that already went crazy. I was standing in front of the 14" Sanyo Color TV, striking the same pose as he was.

*drums*

I know this song, I heard it on the radio before. Jam! His legs moved so fast. My legs tried to move accordingly. He kicked with his right leg, i kicked with my left. He glided to his right, I glided to my left. He shouted. I shouted. He cried, i crouched and covered my eyes..

And here I am, 16 years later. Still dancing, making music, maybe not as big as Michael, but he inspired me to believe in my dreams, to never give up and to be DIFFERENT. Thank you, King Michael. Rest in peace.

(im looking for the video of me 6 year old dancing to michael jackson. nanti i upload)

ARNAB TURNS 3D!!

Recently i ada assignment for my Computer Modelling and Animation class, to model and animate a character. And I've been developing this one character "Arnabill the Rabbit" since i was form 4. So i thot i wana see how would it look like if i turn it into 3D. haha.

This is what i did dulu masa form 4 :

Tolong jangan layan kejiwanganess dia please. Ni my very very very old work. haha


This is the one that i modeled :

Modeled and Rendered in 3Ds max. Buruk, i know. Masih amateur ok. haha

LIVING IN MY HIGH-SCHOOL DREAM.

First of all, sorry lama gila bapak tak update the blog. Becos i seryesly tak expect people would actually found and read it. Sebab gua tak promote kot. But to those who bertandang n pay a visit, mekasihh. This blog obviously takde purpose. Just some mindless babbles about my life, hopefully progressing into something better.

About the title of this post, don't worry, it has nothing to do with girls, wet dreams, or anything involving teenage dreams during a period of hitting puberty. haha.

Ok, so currently, I'm working on a new single with Lah Ahmad, a former member of Voices of Euphonious (aka VE). So let me tell u this people, I've been following VE since R&B Hip Hop era baru nak start in our country. I think it was during Too Phat punya era kot, in 1999 to 2002. I was blown away when i heard their album with Ruffedge in Extreme Pleasure. The impact, to me, was as big as the time when Innuendo first came out. They are probably the reason why i want to sing.

So Lah Ahmad is definitely someone that i look up to.
I remembered, when i was form 1 to form 3, i was a (and still am) big fan of local urban scene. Too Phat, VE, Ruffedge, Innuendo, Teh Tarik Crew, Poetic Ammo, M.O.B, Phlowtron... u name it. I remembered, reading the booklets of Too Phat's "plan b" cd, VE Ruffedge's "Extreme Pleasure", Too Phat's project "Phat family"..and try to remember all the names that were involve in the production.

"izham omar"
"illegal - Sound engineer/arranger/producer/composer"
"eka shereen"
"positive tone"
"playtime studios"

POSITIVE TONE. thats where they start.
I remember looking at those two words, wishing i could be there one day, at least see how they work, meet all these brilliant people, and get inspired. These people made great music. AWESOME music. Masa tu baru aku sedar, that's what i want to do. Make music. Be one of them. Inspire people.

So there i was, about 3 days ago, working with the man that i look up to, Lah Ahmad, in Platinum Studios (formerly known as Playtime studios). Not only that, I met another man that inspires me musically (and ideologically) Malique Ibrahim, from Too Phat. You have no idea, NO IDEA at all, how that feels to finally meet all these great people and talk to them in the same night. At first macam segan jugak to tegur, knowing that he's the most respected person in Hip Hop, takut kena sound balik plak. haha. but woah, he is sangat baik wo. beliau adalah seorang yang sgt jujur and sgt stern dengan pendapatnya sendiri. He told me to be confident. "You've got talent bro, don't waste it.". I respect him a lot. And his latest album OK is brilliant. Seriously, its by far his best work. We manage to take few pictures right before i get back to work on the song. And yep, Illegal was there too! (will post the pictures later)


By the way, here's the song that I'm working on. This one is the rough version, recorded at Effy's studio, not the one in Platinum.



Follow your dreams :)

Magazine cover. hahaha

Create Fake Magazine Covers with your own picture at MagMyPic.com

COME WHAT MAY.

biar apa sahaja yang menghalang.
biar kudung tanganku dipotong mesin ABC.
biar panas membakar bak dalam hostel hari jumaat lepas balik masjid.
gua tetap berdiri di sini.

ok apa aku ngarut ni.
haha. dramatiknya intro.

Just got back from Sri Pentas. Tadi ade meeting dengan Michael D'Oliveiro (sambil melihat kad yang dia baru kasi tadi), Exec Producer of Gua.com.my.
About their plan to use ME as part of their future project. No, nothing dirty dun worry. So Khamis ni shooting. From pagi till malam. yay.

Wait. Khamis? KHAMIS?

shayt. Hari Jumaat gua ada FA punya CRIT kot. And ada assignment walk-cycle. Walk-Cycle tu apa? haaa..tak tak. bukan berjalan sambil berbasikal. Sebb that doesnt make any sense. Camne nak jalan atas basikal? hello. anybody there?

Walk-cycle assignment, adalah di mana, lecturer saya, Jijoe and frens, bagi satu karekter dan anda kene buat kerekter tu berjalan.
wow. Senangnya. Senang kepala atok hang.

On the same day, ade Crit. CRIT ya kawan2. bukan CIRIT.
Di mana mereka mahu melihat progress VFX saya. aduih. Lagi banyak lah sleepless nights ku ini. Dan esok kene antar Essay berdasarkan movie "Casablanca" itam putih yang saya masih belum tgk lagi, sebab haritu tak gi klas.


rumah atok ku sungguh techno. konsep Vfx saya. menggunakan 3Ds Max.

Isnin nexxt week, gua ada meeting ngan Caprice, antara rapper Malaysia yang sgt2 talented (sorry for the lack of a better word, he's brilliant). InsyaAllah, kami akan bercollabr8 dalam sebuah lagu. Tak sabar sungguh saya. By the way, do check out his music : http://amp.channelv.com/caprice



Dengan erti kata lain, gua sangat busy. sangat. bile nak cuti ni.

I need a girlfriend.

I WROTE A NEW SONG.

I just made new song today. When im suppose to be working on my FA assignment.
Ah. F that. I love making music. Here's the song btw.




It's still work in progress. Supposed to be an old school soul thingy.
Something that Joss Stone or Musiq would do. kot la.
Melody for the verse main freestyle je. haha.
Planning to produce this for my vocal group Flowidduz.
No lyrics. Write for me :D


Selamanya (working title) by Nabil Zamanhuri is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Malaysia License.

UNREALISTIC

To be. Or not to be.

I dont feel like going home tonite.
I hate it when i dream big,
then people came up to me and give me a slap of reality to my freakin face.

"be realistic," she said.

"u cant do that. u cant do this. not yet. not in 10 years from now."

then when?
if i dont start now, i dont think it will happen at all, even in the next 10 years.

judge me from my past.
afraid that i might do the same mistakes.
heh. More like "paranoid".

there's always a way.
Always.

if not,
Elvis wont be Elvis.

JUST SOMETHING THAT I HAVE TO GO THROUGH EVERYDAY



im pathetic.

KU LIHAT LAYU DALAM MELAYU..



by : Malique Ibrahim (taken from album "Malique...OK")

Sesungguhnya,
tidak ada yang lebih menyayat,
dari melihat bangsaku dijajah.
tidak ada yang lebih menyedihkan,
dari membiarkan bangsa semakin hilang...

Aku lihat layu dalam melayu,
aku pasti bukan aku seorang sahaja yang nampak.
ada juga bercadang bertanya tuan punya,
tapi bercampur risau dengan tak tergamak,
nanti dikata tak bersyukur,
dikata tak sedar diri,
jadi aku menyendiri..memerhati..
dan akhirnya mengakui..yang kita sendiri,
membiarkan bunga raya melayu kekanan
dan dibiar bunga tak cantik mekar di kiri.

Aku lihat layu dalam melayu,
tanah air kita yang punya
kita siram, kita baja,
tapi angin api kita lupa.

Mereka merancang masa menjilat bangsa,
13 harimau bertukar menjadi mangsa,
kita lupa...nenek moyang kaya raya,
jangan sekali-kali digadai harta bendanya.

Ku lihat layu dalam melayu...

Takkan melayu hilang di dunia..
Iya...tapi apa guna tak hilang di dunia,
kalau kewujudan tidak dirasa..
petah berbahasa, kudrat tak berjasa..
orang berbudi, kita hanya tau merasa..

Selalu lari bila dirapat,
selalu malu bila soalan diaju;
Selalu segan memberi pendapat,
rela mengikut dari meneraju..

Belum nyanyi sudah bersorak,
suka berjanji dalam borak..
Bukan kata tak ada otak,
cuma tak berfikir di luar kotak..

Ku lihat layu dalam melayu...

Aku jadi sayu.
Bunga menangis, dia mendayu,
mahu jadi cantik tetapi ragu,
aku merayu..

Bangunlah semula hidup kembali
jangan tunggu matahari mati
cepatlah mekar sebelum terlerai
perjuangan kita belum selesai...

perjuangan kita belum selesai,
kerana hanya yang cekal dan tabah,
dapat membina mercu tanda bangsanya
yang berjaya....

Just one of those unfinished songs that i wrote:
1) Dari Jauh

Tiada malam lena tidurku,
Hanya igauan mimpi yang pilu,
kerna setiap kali kupejamkan mata
ku hanya terlihat...dirimu.

Mengapa aku masih menanti,
harapan yang kian tidak pasti,
walau kusedar hakikatnya kau
takkan kembali..ke sisi.

Walau kau tidak perlukanku
Ku tetap mendoakan kebahagiaanmu
Tapi hanya satu yang kupinta
Izinkan ku menyintaimu dari jauh..

P/S: Corny. i know.

practise praktis PRACTISE!!

AT LEAST :

One hour of singing a day.
One choreography a day. Learn a new one weekly.
One composed tune (verse or chorus) a day.
Learn One song on guitar a week.
Learn One song on piano a week.
One beats composition a day (Fruity Loops or Reason, or just human-beatbox)
Lyrics macamana?

One 3d object a day.
One drawing a day.
One photo a day.

One hour of jogging twice a week.
Gym sessions everyday.
Wait a minute, i don't have time for gyms.
OK tukar. Home-workout sessions, daily basis.

but u know as they say,
all that, the more the better.

and of course

5 times of prayers a day.

And one hell of a life im having.

Gua dah bosan perform cara sama. Everytime naik stage nyanyi lagu sama. The same set of Hati Ini, Pria Terhebat (with tengah ade dance break), Pada Senyummu and kadang2 ade la selit lagu Bukan Untukku or Dipersimpangan Kenangan.

If im lucky, dapat la jugak perform lagu "like i love u" with dancers Floor Fever crew. Tapi nak bayar dancers tu haduihh....not complaining, but with the hasil that i get from shows, bayar dancers, tersangat lah sikitnya portion yang gua dapat. See, i dun care about the money, u know, as long as i can have great show, im happy. But how can we get a great show with a very low budget, pakai minus one and nyanyi sengsorang on stage?

Audience bosan kot. Im sure. They'll go like, "ohh man, another guy singer from another reality tv show". Camne diorang nak take me seriously if i keep on doing the same thing over and over again? Naik nyanyi turun. apakah??? Everyone can do that. EVRYONE.

Some singers can whale their voice for a whole day long, bile tarik tinggi sket, "wuishhh dahsyat nye ini worang"...but im not one of those singers. Im a performer. I cant just sing on stage pastu diri jer, that wont work.

I have to be different.

Ade few shows i did, i sang Pada Senyummu while lukis a caricature of a little girl that picked from the audience, and also when i sing Pria Terhebat, there's a break where i masukkan a part of Rock Your Body punye beatbox break and i dance to it. And then ade this one show at JB and Kulai, i bawak white rose and kasi an audience when i sing the part "mawarku...tahukah kau.." of the song "Kau Pergi Jua".

But itu suma tak cukup. Cliche. I want more.

I wish i can do something like Futuresex/Loveshow, where i own the stage, the band, the dancers, the lights, the audiences, and the whole goddamn show. Sing all my own songs. No covers. Im sick of singing covers. Now that's, a great show.

Maybe one day people will see what i can do and what im capable of. Maybe one day people will appreciate my efforts to give a great show, and respect me for it.