Having an album titled “Not all who wander are lost” seems to be an ironic title for the band Paint The Sky Red. Paint The Sky Red made up by four Malay guys Azman, Hakim, Yasser and Fahmi, talked a lot of revisiting their roots in their music and having their families with the journey with them.

Recounting the genesis of the band, Paint the Sky Red tells the story of why the lack of a lead vocalist and how a band in Malaysia and one from Indonesia have helped them along the way. Selflessness seems to be the one thing that bind all of them together as everyone seems to be really excited with everyone’s progress in the band, telling the story how they innovate with one another.

The call for the tour is unexpected. The culture is different, there is no marketing done. Paint the Sky Red shares their adventure and misadventure in their China tour. From feeling like a rock star to comically scolding the idea of hard case their guitar and going to a football match in China.

They made an impossible decision with their music career. Giggling like a bunch of primary school kids. The band shares the joys of having their partners with them. How they have supported them throughout the journey, from having an obsession to be better and even them involved. Time being spent with their family as priority and how the band has evolved in making the career decision in their life.

Quote: 

 I, I'm still freaking out. It's something I struggle with every day, actually. So for me, the band is something, I feel like a superhero, actually. Because I don't talk about my band to any of my friends, workplace people.  I like the idea that I'm someone More, that nobody knows. It helps me with my confidence. Because sometimes when we try to live up to others’ expectations, and we struggle with that, and we might feel down and feel worthless.

It takes someone special to be in the cage and start fighting. “Kobra” Kai Xiong will be one such guy. Started at a young age, he talks about the life of MMA Fighter and why he had made that decision so early in his life. We nerd out on the evolution of old school MMA vs new age MMA.

Kai Xiong shared the secrets of being a good MMA fighter and getting a good coach. He shares the university major to improve your Ju Jitsu game. We guys have the romantic dream about chasing one dream as a MMA fighter. He shares the horror stories in chasing a dream of being a pro-MMA Fighter

Quote: 

 A good coach is just somebody who cares for you. Because if they care for you on a personal level with respect, like personal in the sense, like your individual progression rather than like the gym as a whole, then they will be able to, uh, see the things that you need specifically. Not just like a cookie cutter process to let everybody go through Because if somebody cares for you individually and they're able to identify your mistakes, your strengths, your weak points, right, then they can cater the way they coach or their instructions and whatever they want to teach or show you specifically to what will make you the best version of you.

Being dubbed as a Singapore’s best boxer, Velvan Tan has sure been through some of the greatest challenge and forged his own path. Now reside as the head coach of Spartans Boxing Club, he reviews about the time when he first got started.

The first time he talks about his dreams, the first interviews and now his first podcast. From being the head coach, he talks about his pet peeves as a gym coach and convincing people his capabilities as a coach while being in the youngest in the room.

Martial artist and people who practiced combat sports always talk about the lessons learnt, the rise and the falls. When we talked about disappointments, I think Velvan is a good person to talk to about have his dream crushed and coming back. Having his expectations not going the way he intended and yet coming out and being the best at his craft and later his life.

Velvan ended being very candid about his personal life. How he got to where he is today? The important lessons that he has learnt from his father and working to deal with the death of his mother.

The important lesson here is Family.

Being named after another politician, it seems to be no surprise that our guest, Walid Jumblatt has started a podcast like Teh Tarik With Walid. Current based in one of the top university in Singapore, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Assistant Professor. Walid Jumblatt has always been interested in politics specifically politics in the South East Asian region.

He explains the essence of Singapore modern politics and the pitfalls of not accepting the results of a democratic process when you don’t agree with it. He recalls the time when having a chat with various prolific people on his podcast, the guests’ response and how it has changed his world view. The fun part of being a podcaster is to be a “journalist”. We talked about difficult questions, the job of being part of the media scene and the outsiders of the mainstream media and not getting swooned with politicians

Although the ideological differences, the thing that we can totally agree with is the power of freedom of speech.  Walid dissects the importance Freedom of Speech and Expression in the modern democratic society and explained the nuance of fairness on how the Government view fairness in society. What happens if people are offended by the idea of criticism of their own faith? Is criticism and questioning the prophet wrong according to Quran? Walid has explains his confidence in his Islamic faith.  

One of his many hats, is to nurture the new generation. We discuss the difficulties and especially being the shaper of minds in a topic that can be divisive and what are the tools that he has tackling the issue.

Teh Tark With Walid: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Q6mrga7xtAAFAeoMuzkAo?si=c12dc4231fad4e87

It is always fun to see her recollect her time when The Great Spy Experiment came together. From the time when she started frantic to the time playing with a consistent fan base on one of the biggest stages in the world.

Although loving, life is not easy for her. She talks about the philosophy guiding her life and the excitement and jumping to the deep end. She discuss about knowing that one is loved no matter what happened. She tells the story of how she is leading with her life now working with conflict, the road stories and the dynamic of the band.

Recalling some of the toughest times of her life: Magdalene opens up about being diagnosed with cancer, having to balance the chemotherapy and their gigs and the realities of being a caregiver to  medically complicated child and how that has led her to finding  new connections and passion over the years.

Oh yeah she is the keyboardist not the singer.

See them on Baybeats 2023: https://www.esplanade.com/whats-on/festivals-and-series/festivals/2023/baybeats/line-up/the-great-spy-experiment

Body Building is a lonely sport according to Abdillah Shah as he reveals on what body building means in this day and age as we went to a deep dive on what body building has become, going to the gym and how exercise should be seen as the top priority on being the solution of mental health problem

Body Positivity is an ideology that always seems to pitted against the fitness industry and Abdillah explains why that wasn’t the case. He explains on how body building competition works and how it has also evolved thoughout the years. He explains how inclusivity works in body building

Nerds are going to be nerds. Abdillah Shah explains the diet of a body builder and how to know what food is good for you. He explains how the different muscle group works for the different sports and the science of doping.

I am very lucky to bee able to reach out to him and have a chat. He is very nice and I have always wanted to do follow up with him. I have tried to set up one when he fly back but things doesn't work out. 

I am very lucky to be able too have the chat wth one of Singapore Greatest Bad ass and loveiest person, Jimmy Appudurai Chua

Rest in Peace and Rock on Jimmy Appudurai Chua

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Hey guys, this week I have an exciting time capsule of an episode with one of Singapore’s Pioneer Blues Musicians, Jimmy Appudurai-Chua. He is the guitarist for many blues band like the Meltones, Motifs and notably Singapore’s first blues band, the Stray Dogs. 

In this episode, Jimmy shares his journey as a musician and the bands he has played in prior to the Stray Dogs, he recalls how the band got started and how he was involved and tells me was it was like being infamous for their popular single, ‘Freedom’ that was banned in the country.

He talks about lifestreams, the importance of sound in music and getting a sound man in the band. He explains the music industry and how performing for the different venues in Singapore and how bands find it difficult to find a stage for musicians.

He recalls going to Newcastle, UK and meeting his music heroes, giving up the music and joining the photography scene. He tells me how he was broke in London and how he got a job in a photography factory, he shares his story of being promoted to head of a lab in two years before coming back to Singapore and gaining the confidence to go back to music.

“Tenacity” has to be the only perfect word to describe our guest, Rizal Van Geyzel.  Not just being funny and one of the important faces of the Malaysia’s comedy scene, Rizal still counts his blessings even though he faces his biggest challenges yet.

Once the proud owner of the first comedy club in Malaysia, Crackhouse Comedy Club KL, Rizal talked about his dreams of what Crackhouse Comedy Club in KL may be like. He talks about the origins and the problems that he had faced running the club. He was surprised in how the dreams had finally turned out for a little while before it got destroyed publicly under the reports of many blogs.

Rizal found the answer to the philosophical “what is a comedian” after the case that le ad to the closure of Crackhouse. We discussed what will be the perfect end goal being an English-speaking stand-up comic.

We talked about the secrets of going viral, the idea of being bitter and just being angry at success. He shares about finding your own voices and what his definition of success. How does one find being authentic to his truth self for a long business

Malaysia Invasion Ticket Link: https://ticketmaster.sg/activity/detail/23_myinvasion

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, from Malaysia, Rizal Van Geyzel.

Culinary world is not an easy world to be in. A lot of hard work and a lot of scepticism from the people that you feed. However, Damian D’Silvia who has been the face of the most misunderstood cuisine In Singapore, still insist cooking from the heart. Being more than just the celebrity chef who is the judge for Masterchef Singapore, Damian D’Silvia explains the historical context of his work, leading us in to the journey of peranakan culture.

Looking back his previous lives, Damian shares his world and tells us how he stepped into it. What he means by at peace in this chaotic world. He fondly talks about his upbringing and the lesson on how to grow to be a better man.

Part of the appeal for Hip Hop is about proving street cred and being the greatest. No doubt Sheik Haikel is able to do that. Wearing many hats from being an actor to a radio jockey, the father of Rap music in South East Asia is candid and sincere this time round.

Starting from the time of Army Daze, we break down what it meant to be woke. How a movie that was made in 1996 seems to made strides and prove to be timeless. Though jokes were crude, words were offensive in the current context, being woke is more than just censoring words but also giving stories for a character to flourish.

Part of being the funny guy, being the guy who offends in the room of strangers seems to be inevitable. One of the biggest controversies that had happened to him. One of the things that made him who he is right now, has thought him an important lesson. The lesson of acknowledgement and the being responsible in what coming out of the mouth.

We talked about the going through therapy. We talked about being the better version of oneself. Accepting compliments and what makes a good relationship. One’s responsibility to one self before getting into a romantic relationship. He shares the secret on how he maintains a long marriage, the green flag in a relationship with everyone’s doubt of him being the guy with the badass public persona. Dropping the persona and character is one that he always has trouble with, lessons he learnt in dropping the persona seems to be valuable.

We are talking to Sheik Haikel, we have to talk about his rap music. He shares the reason of how it is a borrowed culture in South East Asia. He shares how it all started and the love of music. The mistaken identity of Gladys Knight & the Pips which also leads to his one of the biggest endorsement in his career, thus coming to full circle. The love of rap music got him to meet the guy who made Run DMC and the important lesson of being loyal to his people.