Things I Love

It's been a bit of a tradition that I do the things that I love on my birthday every year. This year I hung out with my family for the first half of the day then mixed FOH for Bridge Church's prayer night later. So incredibly blessed to get to do what I love and be in the house of God. Double win!

This time around it brought back some memories of the "doing what I love on my birthday" theme from ten years ago. A little blast from the past if you may indulge me.

It was a Friday on my birthday in 2005. My best friend Alda and I were recording what would be my first album, Midnight In St Kilda. We had a great session recording Alda's bass parts, some of my acoustic guitar parts and vocals. After that we went to the Chinese restaurant around the corner from the studio to grab some dinner.

Me: Dinner is on me tonight bro. Lets order as much as we want.
Alda: Eh, why lah?
Me: It's my birthday.
Alda: Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday bro?...
We ordered food for four people between the two of us. We polished everything, no surprise.

Great conversations and lots of laughs were had. So on my birthday ten years ago, I got to hang out with my best friend and record music! I guess that was where this whole tradition started.

Anyway, here's the second single off the record called Down that went to #1 on XFresh FM's Independent Chart in Malaysia. It features Alda on bass, Manshaan on drums and Zack Kim on lead guitar.



It was such a privilege to have Zack record on this track with me. He's the dude that played the Super Mario Theme on two guitars and had millions of hits on YouTube. I couldn't find the original upload of it, but here's one of the many re-uploads around.



These were some of the best times in my life and I can't believe that it's been ten years now.
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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Shooting Star. Rock The World 7. 16th December 2006.

Having conversations with Dallas Frasca while on tour has brought up some very sweet memories of my time spent rocking out with my band Broken Scar. Rock The World was one of the stories that came up and it is timely because on this day 8 years ago, a few of my best friends and I rocked out at Merdeka Stadium for Rock The World 7. Around this time, Shooting Star had just been released and it went to the #1 spot on Fly FM's Campur Chart. Enjoy this video that I was never posted until now. 
This is dedicated to the late Alda Tan. I love you bro!






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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

FS: Fender '62 Reissue Stratocaster (MIJ) Torino Red

This is a very regrettable sale. Love this guitar but I cannot afford to keep it any longer.

Up for sale is my Fender '62 Reissue Stratocaster (Made In Japan) 1995-1996 model in limited edition Torino Red finish. Vintage goodness! Looks and plays great. Best of all, it sounds amazing. Other than the ding shown in the photos, it is in immaculate condition. Comes with tremolo arm and a gig bag.

$950 and it is yours. Located in Melbourne.

Email at brokenscarmail@gmail.com


Thanks heaps!








[Creative Fridays]

Hey friends, check out a new mugshot of me taken by Alvin Wong and interview for an exciting new series called [Creative Fridays] by finger-style guitar virtuoso Az Samad.This was published yesterday but it's never too late to check it out.

http://www.azsamad.com/creative-fridays1

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Rock. Rock. Hip Hop.


Three nights back to back, three quite different mixing gigs. I went from mixing four rock bands in the smallest room of the three, to mixing an industrial rock band in the biggest room of the three, to finally mixing four hip hop acts in a mid sized room.

The four rock bands in the small room, no problem. Done that heaps of times, just that I haven't done that small room in a while, which was really refreshing. It's all about perspective. Never despise the humble roots.

The industrial rock band in the big room, no problem. Worked with the band before and also mixed in that room before. Only haven't mixed in the room in a while.




Four hip hop acts in the room that I know pretty well, now that was where things got interesting. I tell myself to never take things for granted and to never take it easy. Treat each job as if it is the first and last, as if my life depended on it. What more, stepping out of the rock scene which I am so familiar with, into a totally different genre? I couldn't help but feel that I was the only one not in baggy pants!

All in all, the three nights went down really well and I was stoked!

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Temporary Forgetfulness.

Something reminded me of a past memory tonight. I suddenly recalled the times when I was a kid where I would go on holidays for over a week to stay with my grandparents or other relatives and when I got home my house would seem strange, odd and a little bit out of place. It's like I suddenly forgot about my home while I was away on holidays and got used to the place I stayed at for the week or so. It's understandable if it were for prolonged stretches but one week and I forget my home?

It's a strange feeling. The older I got, the less it happened though. I suppose my memory developed as I grew older?

Did anyone ever feel that way?

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Analogue. Acoustic.

Over the past few years, although digital desks have become more readily available in gig venues, analogue desks still dominate the market. I mean, if the existing ones are still working, why change them?

New venues that get built will go for digital desks while they are at it but for these more established venues that have been around for a while, analogue was the way to go.

After all, these are great venues with well treated rooms and great analogue desks. There's nothing wrong with them. In fact, they're brilliant.

Welcome to The East Brunswick Club. Midas Verona desk. 40 channels of goodness.

I was still pretty sick when I was mixing this show but I must say, it was one of the best sounding shows I've mixed thanks to the high quality acts and extra effort to compensate for the sickness.

The PA in here is powerful and it made mixing really fulfiling. The best part is the staff here are so friendly. Had a blast. Can't wait to get back in there to mix Wakefield Festival.

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Tonight Alive @ The Hifi

I had the awesome privilege of hanging out with Stu Marks, Tonight Alive's FOH engineer at their recent show at The Hifi. It has been a long time since I've been able to hang out with a top engineer to watch him work and learn. And boy did I learn heaps!

Stu is one of the nicest dudes in the industry and he is not afraid of sharing his ideas and methods because he has so many tips and tricks, you won't be able to learn them all anyway.

As I was growing up, my dad kept telling me that there is no end to learning in life and he couldn't have been more accurate. I've been mixing bands for eight years now and I feel as though I still have so much to learn and apply in my mixing. The best is yet to come! Thanks heaps Stu!

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Thank You!


To those that still read my blog, thank YOU! Thanks Dan! Thanks for reading my random musings as I switch from sound engineer mode to musician mode and everything in between.


I was just telling Dan that lately I've been feeling that there are so many things that I want to say but they shouldn't be said in public. I wish I could though, so that I could get them all off my chest. It's also pretty scary how small the Internet is making the world too. Everyone seems to know everyone else and word goes around pretty quickly, so I've learnt. So, some things are just best unsaid.


On the flip side, I'm pretty happy to say that I have become more unafraid to say things when it comes to my songwriting. I've always worn my heart on my sleeve, but lately, I've begun to explore the simple things that I was so afraid to write about. Love. Believe it or not?


I hope to get all those songs recorded some time and share it with you guys. At this point, we're still in the very early stages of anything being conceptualised.

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All Broken Scar's music is available on www.reverbnation.com/brokenscar

Outrageous Curry

The wife and I had the most expensive curry ever last night. $33 for two meat, two veggies, two pieces of papadom, a bit of chutney, chilli flakes, a coconut side and rice.

We should have turned back when we saw that it was a table cloth kinda place but we thought it wouldn't be that bad seeing we've been to another branch of theirs in the city and it was cheap.

The service was good. One of the waiters was really nice and the food was definitely delicious. The price tag came with the location and real estate I suppose, something that I wasn't willing to pay for, seeing that I come from Malaysia where curries are abundant and dirt cheap.

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    Who Is Broken Scar:


    Loves Jesus. Singer. Guitarist. Songwriter. Audio Engineer. Producer. Wears band t-shirts. Wears red t-shirts. Based in Melbourne.



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