ARTICLE: Faces Magazine by Lisa Zahran
If you haven’t already heard it on the airwaves, then we conclude you don’t own a radio. We’re talking about the chart-topping debut single “A Day Before Tomorrow” that reached #1 on the XFresh and Hitz.fm MET charts for several weeks and also gained much airplay on Fly FM. Blasting even more recently on the airwaves is the second single “Crazy”, which reached even greater heights and became a massive hit on Hitz, Mix, Fly Fm and XFresh.
This, my friends, is the new sound of Ash Nair. Blending modern rock sensibilities, dynamic arrangements and memorable melodies, Ash Nair’s blend of pop rock seeps through the release of his debut album, Chameleon. Other than the album being a celebration of rock and roll, Ash has also covered as much ground as possible through the songs to represent who he is as an artist.
Chameleon consists of eight self-penned original English tracks as well as two Malay originals. Driven by the search for that great melody and great stories when writing his album, this friendly and fun bloke has also roped in a couple of mates to collaborate with him, including local heavy weights Jamie Wilson, Rudy, JD and Moots! from Pop Shuvit, who have contributed on several tracks. There are also guest spots from Canadian rap star, Vandal, which can be heard on the track “Crazy”, whilst classically trained singer Arvinder Raina from Bombay sings together on the Malay track “Jangan Tinggal Ku”. As the final icing on the cake, Chameleon is mastered by Arnie Arcosta, a legend in the business that went along to master multiple Grammy award winning albums including U2’s Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and Pink Floyd’s seminal Dark Side of the Moon.
Releasing his debut album just last month in November hasn’t stopped this highly driven artist from continuing to push himself. Though Chameleon has taken four years from concept to release, the actualisation of this dream is by far the end of the road for Ash. He has also ventured into acting with roles in the locally produced film noir-musical, Red Street Diner. He also recently performed alongside Harith Iskander, Elaine Daily, Vince Chong and Michael Veerapan in the heart-warming feel good musical, Frogway the Musical. And like he couldn’t make himself any busier, word has it that he’s dabbling in some directing courses too, so perhaps there’s even a movie in the pipeline.
Continuously driven by vision and with a self written and self produced album already under his belt, one thing is for sure - this guy likes to be in control. A frickin’ perfectionist, you could say, who when he knows what he wants makes decisions without an ounce of hesitation. And we wouldn’t have it any other way, really, cause we’re quite certain that it is because of Ash’s trait to give and produce his best that has given our television screens the groundbreaking music video “A Day After Tomorrow”. Looking more like an excerpt from a blockbuster sci-fi animation flick, the video of stunning animation and breathtaking visuals has gained a reputation of being one of the best produced music videos in local history. Well, it’s almost like we have already caught a glimpse of what his movie is gonna be like...
Oh, we digress too much. So, like yeah, getting back on track. If you haven’t already heard it on the airwaves, we suggest you get out right now and buy one (the album, and yes, if you’d like, go ahead and buy yourself a radio too).
“Writing music has always been an integral part of my being.”
Chameleon is available in all good record stores nationwide.
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