Wing Meng – Guitars
Kevin Kong – Bass
Jana Na… Read Full Bio ↴Syarul Reza – Vocals
Wing Meng – Guitars
Kevin Kong – Bass
Jana Nair – Drums
With a debut album, Enter Posthuman which was released on November 2001, under their belts, the band are riding on the achievement of their victory at the 2002 Anugerah Industri Muzik (Malaysian Music Awards) ceremony as Malaysia’s Best New English Artist, in hopes of better horizons to suit their ambition of taking their music to the international heights. The album was also nominated for the Best Engineered Album and Best Produced English Album categories.
Much can be said about this post-hardcore band from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia whose members include four talented, passionate 26-year olds from this country’s various ethnic backgrounds. The common factor of singer Syarul Reza, a traditional Malay, drummer Winder Singh, born into Malaysia’s Sikh community, and Wing Meng and Kevin Kong – the group’s Chinese-born guitarist and bassist respectively. The music of Love Me Butch explores themes as diverse as insecurity, rage, alienation, relationship to serious introspection on global issues such as rape, hatred and humanity.
Formed in 1998, two early demos crystallized, the six-track Psychedelic Relic, which featured the earliest known version of the band’s unsung moshpit anthem, “Headfirst (Take Me Down)”, and the split release …With Guns in Our Hands. With those tapes the band culled an early batch of shows around the Kuala Lumpur/Petaling Jaya area and along Malaysia’s west coast, the most important being their onstage debut in Penang, late February 1999. As the momentum picked up in 2000, more mainstream gig organisers began offering the largely underground band a string of bigger shows.
To date, they have played in more than 500 shows in various areas in the whole of Malaysia and Singapore from small clubs to festival size concerts. Some of the notable festivals are the Rock The World series, ESPN’s X-Games, Lucky Strike F1 Street Promos, The Rottwailers’ Convention, Asian Youth & Music Festival (Singapore), and Baybeats (Singapore).
During that intense period of gigging, the band’s sonic repertoire was becoming more and more refined everyday, each song taking shape into a potential album track. It took more than a year to realise songs such as “Six”, “It’s Over in Space” and “Not the One” onto a full-length album. The major pivotal point came in the middle of 2001, when the New Southern Records subsidiary label Posse Records – a street savvy imprint that had released the groundbreaking urban-English compilation Family Day in 2000 – signed them onto the roster to join Love Me Butch’s similarly-sounding peers, Prana. What entailed from that three-album deal was their debut LP, Enter Posthuman, packed with the band’s raw hard rock catalogue that reached all the way to their early days as a garage band juggling college assignments and band practice in 1997 and 1998. Guitarist Wing Meng had expressed the band’s goal to “make a record that would grow onto the listener with every listen”.
Although derivative to a certain extent, Love Me Butch bring colours that are all their own into their potent mix of unconventional hard rock music, sculpting a musical direction that is modern and cutting-edge in its own right. In 2003, the band started to write new materials, and pre production works took place for almost a year until October 2004 where the band recorded the follow up to its award winning debut album in 101 Studios, a home converted recording studio in Kelana Jaya. The album, “This is The New Pop” is produced by Love Me Butch and promises ten intense-heavy-melodic tunes, reminiscent of post hardcore bands such as Glassjaw and The Used. Some of the tracks include Reconcile, Stumble Upon A Glass, Barricade, Fortress of a Million and Pitcher of a Ghost.
According to guitarist Wing Meng, “This album is an extension of the previous album, taking heavy tunes and melodic lyrics to its extreme.” As to why the album took so long to complete, “We have written, changed, recycled and destroyed the songs over and over; we almost didn’t make it to the studio until we decided to stop writing and move on. We are more selective and detailed this time as we want to churn out the deeper side of us and at the same time, create more space for Syarul to sing and explore his melody lines, and that took us some time to find the right musical combination,” said the guitarist.
The mastering of the album was done by one of L.A.'s top mastering gurus Nancy Matter of Moonlight Mastering. Nancy has been awarded several gold and platinum records and is affiliated with the Recording Academy, the Audio Engineering Society, Society of Professional Audio Services (SPARS) and the Los Angeles Women in Music. Some of Nancy's more recent projects and artists she has worked with are Deftones, Yellowcard, Slash, Dead Kennedys, Paula Cole, and the Sailor Moon Soundtrack.
The first single from the album, “Reconcile” is currently on RedRottw 104.9 FM and XFresh FM rotation. The album was released independently under the band’s newly formed label, One Armed Productions.
In support of the album release, they opened for the band, Simple Plan when they played a concert here in Kuala Lumpur on March 29th as part of their Still Not Getting Any...Tour. Love Me Butch took this opportunity to promote songs from the album,and at the same time, sold CDs and merchandise to a crowd of 10,000 people. Apart from this, Love Me Butch will be touring the whole of Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand for the next 3 months.
Love Me Butch will be performing at the Pulp Summer Slam VII on April 28, 2007 at Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. plus performances by HILERA, ANGULO, SPOON, ROCKSTEDDY, SPACEFLOWER, STONEFREE, MOONSTAR 88, MARYZARK, PAROKYA NI EDGAR, URBANDUB, VALLEY OF CHROME, SPONGECOLA, HARDBOILEDEGGAZ, SWITCH, SALAMIN, BLOODSHEDD, FASPITCH, DEATH BY STEREO, PEDICAB, BAMBOO, 6CYCLEMIND, SANDWICH, ITCHYWORMS, CHICOSCI, COG, CALLALILY, SIN, PLANE DIVIDES THE SKY, KAMIKAZEE, LOKOMOTIV, ORANGE N LEMONS, TYPECAST
The Promise
Love Me Butch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't let it crash when it collides,
Even when you knew,
Ready for the break, absolve,
Keep it together in this panic room,
We resonate through the medium,
'Coz we are never too old to shine
Down to where we came from, far from the light,
When you are, I'll be ready for the moment,
When our turn arises...
We are all not afraid; it's time to let it be!
Don't take your life away,
Since they the righteous, beat it!
It's rise and fall!!!
So it's on, goodbye, curious eyes,
Tell me how am I a fool?
And I will now cement it,
When I suddenly move,
Till I turn my tide around,
We raced for the kill,
I'm bending the rules, if we slipped,
Then I'm a fool,
I've been here right from the start,
And I've learned to wait for you
We're so high up and ready to fall from grace,
Down to where we came from, far from the light,
When you are, I'll be ready for the moment,
When our turn arises...
What a night it could have been,
Coming out from what it seems,
It feels like it's starting to tell the truth,
Surely I'm all right hearing from you,
Their senseless words keep coming back
We need to stay away from fools,
We used to run or bail, say we're coming back
Guess we're such a burning wreck from home!
Their senseless words keep coming back
We need to stay away from fools,
We used to run or bail, say we're coming back
Guess we're such a burning wreck from home
We were real!!We're so high up and ready to fall from grace,
Down to where we came from, far from the light,
When you are, I'll be ready for the moment,
When our turn arises...
We are not; we aint saying goodnight for a while
The Promise by Love Me Butch is a song full of emotions and energy that encourage the listeners to push through tough times and keep holding on to hope. The lyrics suggest that sometimes life can be difficult and you may feel like disintegrating, but you should not let the struggles crush you. Instead, you need to be ready to face the break and keep your composure while holding on to your values. The line "Don't take your life away, Since they the righteous, beat it!" suggests that some people will try to bring you down and make you feel inadequate, but you should not let them win. The chorus "We're so high up and ready to fall from grace, Down to where we came from, far from the light, when you are, I'll be ready for the moment, when our turn arises..." suggests that the band is ready to face the tough times, but they will not be alone because there are always people who will be there to support them.
The song also highlights the importance of staying away from negative people and standing up against bullies. The lines "Their senseless words keep coming back, We need to stay away from fools, We used to run or bail, say we're coming back, Guess we're such a burning wreck from home!" indicate that the band has faced criticism, but they have learned to ignore them and focus on their goals. The song ends on a positive note, with the line "We are not; we aint saying goodnight for a while," suggesting that the band will keep fighting and living their lives to the fullest.
Line by Line Meaning
For sure you'll fall nowhere, disintegrate,
You will not lose your way and fall apart.
Don't let it crash when it collides,
Prevent the situation from turning into chaos.
Even when you knew,
Even when you were aware of the truth.
Ready for the break, absolve,
Being prepared for the end and letting go.
Keep it together in this panic room,
Hold it together during times of stress.
We resonate through the medium,
We relate to using music as a medium of expression.
'Coz we are never too old to shine
Age does not determine our ability to shine or succeed.
We're so high up and ready to fall from grace,
We are successful but fear losing everything.
Down to where we came from, far from the light,
Going back to our roots where success is not common.
When you are, I'll be ready for the moment,
I will be ready to support you when you need me.
When our turn arises...
When it's our time to shine.
We are all not afraid; it's time to let it be!
We should not be afraid and just let things happen.
Don't take your life away,
Do not end your own life.
Since they the righteous, beat it!
Ignore people who think they are morally superior.
It's rise and fall!!!
Everything has its moment of success then failure.
So it's on, goodbye, curious eyes,
We are going forward and leaving behind those who are curious about our journey.
Tell me how am I a fool?
Questioning their own actions and decisions.
And I will now cement it,
Committing to their decision.
When I suddenly move,
When they make a sudden decision or action.
Till I turn my tide around,
Until they change their situation or luck.
We raced for the kill,
We were in a competition to succeed.
I'm bending the rules, if we slipped,
Breaking the usual laws or norms to succeed.
Then I'm a fool,
Being foolish if things don't work out as planned.
I've been here right from the start,
Being there and involved from the beginning.
And I've learned to wait for you
Being patient and waiting for others.
What a night it could have been,
Reflecting on the missed opportunities.
Coming out from what it seems,
Emerging from a difficult situation.
It feels like it's starting to tell the truth,
Sensing that the situation is becoming clearer and more honest.
Surely I'm all right hearing from you,
Feeling reassured by hearing from someone.
Their senseless words keep coming back
Being haunted by negative comments or criticism.
We need to stay away from fools,
Avoiding people who are negative or unhelpful.
We used to run or bail, say we're coming back
Previously giving up or quitting but saying they will try again.
Guess we're such a burning wreck from home!
Feeling lost or out of place in a familiar environment.
We were real!!We're so high up and ready to fall from grace,
Acknowledging their authenticity even when success is at risk.
We are not; we aint saying goodnight for a while
We are not giving up or ending things anytime soon.
Contributed by Adeline B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.