We at Hot Rock ZoneX would like to thank everyone who have helped us in creating this blog.
Thanks to: Ms Allison Poh,
who came up with this assignment, so we had the chance to delve and get involved as ethnographers in foreign cultures; it was fun exploring the exciting rock culture! And her advices on criteria we need to observe in a foreign culture, and common stereotypes which we bore in mind but eliminate after getting in touch with people of the rock culture! We learned that not all rockers are rude and loud as stereotyped, there are soft spoken and shy rockers too!
Thanks to: Cherry Bombs
for accepting our interview and letting us take pictures of them! We had fun getting to know about these upcoming band which would probably make it big in the future! Thanks to the guitarist for showing us her guitar as Jackie is a fan of electric guitars!
Thanks to: Mass Communication students
for organizing the "Log Out, Go Out" event and allowing us to photograph and interview the bands they invited!
This might or might not be the end of our blog, so stay tuned! Anyhow, the rock culture would never end and would continue to reign and rock in the hearts of die hard fans for many years to come!
To all the readers of our blog, we want to say a big 'Thank You' and....
Rock the Credits!
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Rock the Blister!
Rock and roll has over the years reflected the mode to express freedom within structured confines. Freedom, not many of us realize the weight of the word freedom, but to true rock and rollers, freedom is in them. In their thoughts, in their minds and the way they express this freedom can be seen in good rock music.
A way to lose control yet be free. 
Rock and roll relates to everybody at some point of their lives. Rock and roll may have even managed to help the cause of civil rights movement because it was a way out for everybody, regardless of color. It was their freedom of expression and they expressed their freedom through rock music.
A fantastic band that expresses this freedom here in Malaysia is Blister. One of Malaysia’s best hard rock band of present. These dudes know exactly how to rock and roll it. A Portuguese-Eurasion mix, these guys have it all. Talent, style, rock, roll, and age! These guys are all below 30 and they know their rock. 
These guys have come a long way as they even opened for Slash last year and it was incredible.
They have recently released their debut ‘I’m Not Your Slave’ and have stayed true to rock and roll. They have brought back what Malaysian rock needed, soul. They are in it for the love of the music, the best damn music in the world. Dressed accordingly without having to give a *ahem* about what people have to say as this is real, as real as it gets.
Rock and roll is all about enjoying what you do. The passion you have to do something. To not think twice. To be real. To be show it as it is. So long as u believe in it, keep rocking and rolling.
Rock and roll!
Rock the Interview!
An Interview with The Cherrybombs!
We had a great time getting to know this wicked band which took us all by surprise. Imagine- 4 girls and 1 guy. Not many of us have seen or heard about an all girl band but back in the day Joan Jett was an iconic female rocker who inspired many by telling the world that she indeed loves rock and roll. Here's a brief lineup of the band:
Erika - Singer
Akmar -Lead Guitarist
Nadiya -Bassist
Fitri - Drums
Pacita - Rhythm Guitarist
The lead guitarist of the band, Akmar has been playing the guitar for the last TEN years. True to her rocker ways, she showed the crowd her skills and drove them crazy! Erika, who is the band’s vocalist, killed it all with her crazy rock voice by singing songs from Paramore.
According to them, Paramore’s their idol ever since they got together as a band one year ago. They have Nadia on Bass, Fit on drums and Pacita on rhythm. All of them are between 20-23 years of age. And they all had a sense of style of their own. From the way they rocked to the way they rolled.
According to them, Paramore’s their idol ever since they got together as a band one year ago. They have Nadia on Bass, Fit on drums and Pacita on rhythm. All of them are between 20-23 years of age. And they all had a sense of style of their own. From the way they rocked to the way they rolled.
These girls showed us that rock is not only for the male gender but females do it equally as well if not even better.
When asked what music were they into them all agreed that alternative rock was their genre of music. Be it alternative, punk, or even classic, these girls had style of their own. They wish to continue spreading the love as their love for rock music will never die. Together as a group we personally wish to see these girls go places and show Malaysia how it’s truly done. That gender is not a factor. Rock lives on despite gender, age or color.
Thanks for letting us interview you!
- Rock sees no discrimination although in its loud ways, it is all love. -
Rock the Gig!
Participation in Rock Culture
Members: Jackie Loo, Mun Wen, Ravena Hundal
Venue: Extreme Park, Shah Alam
Date: 19th March 2011
Time: 12pm-6pm
Methodology: Observation and Participation in Rock Performances
So the three of us attended an event held by our very own SEGi University College, Mass Communication students on Saturday, March 19th. Titled "LOG OUT, GO OUT", this event took place in the Extreme Park in Shah Alam. The main objective of this event was to encourage people who are Facebook addicts to go out and have some fun.
In this event they had a few music bands to perform. Our very own SEGi students are talented as they rocked it out. Rock is not only music but in the 1960s when it was at its peak, Rock became a culture.
Members: Jackie Loo, Mun Wen, Ravena Hundal
Venue: Extreme Park, Shah Alam
Date: 19th March 2011
Time: 12pm-6pm
Methodology: Observation and Participation in Rock Performances
So the three of us attended an event held by our very own SEGi University College, Mass Communication students on Saturday, March 19th. Titled "LOG OUT, GO OUT", this event took place in the Extreme Park in Shah Alam. The main objective of this event was to encourage people who are Facebook addicts to go out and have some fun.
In this event they had a few music bands to perform. Our very own SEGi students are talented as they rocked it out. Rock is not only music but in the 1960s when it was at its peak, Rock became a culture.
A number of bands played to entertain the crowd, and damn, were they good! The event started at 12 pm all the way until 5 pm. Although it was a rainy Saturday the event went on without hesitation as that is what rock and roll is all about.
What's a little rain to good music?
We managed to catch a few bands that were really good. Back in the early days when rock music was first introduced, many people were taken aback as bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin were the few classic Rock bands to have lived on forever. Today, local bands are inspired by these great acts and go on to perform covers of their songs, "Bounce" and "Catastrophe".
What's a little rain to good music?
We managed to catch a few bands that were really good. Back in the early days when rock music was first introduced, many people were taken aback as bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin were the few classic Rock bands to have lived on forever. Today, local bands are inspired by these great acts and go on to perform covers of their songs, "Bounce" and "Catastrophe".
However, what took us by surprise was this band called The Cherrybombs. This band consists of 5 people, 4 girls and 1 guy. Personally, coming across a girl-dominant band is rare and to watch these girls perform songs by Paramore was indeed a good experience. Not only were the good but they were true rockers indeed.They were not exactly an all-girls band as they have a male member in their group.
Rhythm Nation was also part of the line up for the day’s event. This band did a number of their own songs and had exuded great stage charisma throughout their performance keeping the crowd on their feet and wanting more! 
We had a great day watching the enthusiastic band rocking out, entertaining the crowd, and the warm audience roaring and cheering for encores as we joined them amidst their delighted cheers.
We had a great day watching the enthusiastic band rocking out, entertaining the crowd, and the warm audience roaring and cheering for encores as we joined them amidst their delighted cheers.
Rock the Differences!
America and Japan is as different as it can get; from cuisine to culture, language to fashion and everything else. Even their rock culture, which originated from the same roots, has such a stark difference that it almost seems like Japanese rock, better known as j-rock, seems almost like a different music genre altogether.
It's not just the music, but their dressing style and the image presented by their respective bands or individual singers is just completely different!
Rock music in the western continents are mostly mainstream rock or pop rock music, but Japanese have an even bigger rock music industry; whether mainstream or indies. In fact, j-rock branches into different variations of music, such as oshare kei, visual kei, punk rock and many others.
The underground music scene in Japan is low-profiled, but being part of the crowd is acknowledged as cool in Japan. Various bands make it big by performing in gigs until record labels discover their potential and sign them up, either commercializing them or selling them as an indies band.
The differences of the western rock and j-rock is best described with pictures rather than words. First, let's take a look at popular western rock bands:
KISS was one of the most popular rock bands. Like typical rock bands, they have a similar dress code of black and white, complete with masks and unkempt, long hair.
The contemporary rock bands, however, are more decently and casually dressed, as can be seen in Paramore, a band consisting of all males and a female vocalist, Hayley Williams.
And probably one of the most controversial and bizarre Western rock bands, Marilyn Manson and his crew are not afraid to be loud and rude!
And now, for Japanese rockers:
Guess what's the similarity of the lady on the left, and the cap-wearing man on the right?
Highlight the below text for answer:
[Both are the same person! Miyavi, a rock vocalist-guitarist sometimes cross-dresses as a woman!]
All-male bands usually dominate the j-rock scene with elaborate clothings and makeups, such as The Gazette:
A sample of Paramore's Misery Business:
A sample of Gazette's Cassis:
Rock the Artifacts!
The Electrical Guitar
Enhancers:
a) Amplifier- What would an electrical guitar sound like without amplifier? Little to no sound! Amplifiers or speakers are not only used to raise the music volume; it is also used for special sound effects like distorting music or overdrive (increasing the gain).
b) Effect pedal- Electrical guitars don't just sound like guitars, they can sound like a baby crying, or metal clinking, if you have the right effect pedals to spruce things up! There are various types of effect pedals, but one of the notable type is the filter pedal, the wah-wah pedal.
c) Tuner- Used to tune guitar's strings when they go out of tune (which is pretty often), guitarists typically do not have a tuner, because they are better off using their ears to listen to the right tune!Notable Guitarists:
Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Chuck Berry, Stevie Ray Vaughan
Notable Guitar Brands:
Fender, Ibanez, Gibson, TakamineThe Bass Guitar
An underrepresented but vital instrument, bass guitarist is the one who lay the beats and play the rhythmic role. Played by plucking, slapping or thumping the bass which closely resembles the electrical guitar, except for its four-string appearance; a preference by most bassist, they back the guitarist by building the tempo of the whole song.
Notable Bassist:
Jaco Pastorius, John Paul Jones, Cliff Burton
Notable Electrical Bass Brands:
Fender, Precision, Gibson
The Drums
The biggest set of instrument in a rock band, in terms of outlook and sounds, no rock band is a rock band without an enthusiastic drummer. Also called the drum kit, it is a collection of drums, cymbals, pedals and hi-hats arranged for the drummer's energetic and quick 'bashing'. Crash, crash, crash and the drummer would make you rock to their beats.
Notable Drummers:
Jimmy Sullivan, Yoshiki Hayashi
http://www.the-top-tens.com/lists/best-rock-drummers.asp
Notable Drum Brands:
Pearl, Tama, DW, Mapex, Yamaha
http://www.the-top-tens.com/lists/best-crum-brands.asp
Rock the Overview!
Rock music can be described as wild, unpredictable and loud music which is unlike its pop music counterpart. A disruptive nuisance to some, but authentic, undiluted pure music to others; rock music is as controversial as its musicians.
Tracing back its history to as early as 1940s, rock music is said to derive from rock 'n roll; the popular, good old music which evolved from a melting pot of jazz, blues and country music. Hard-edged, no-nonsense music usually performed by a band of guitarist, drummer, bassist, and accompanied with the lyrics sung by a vocalist, rock music has diversify and develop into various styles that there is no solid description that can define rock music completely.
With the creation of electrical guitars, rock music broke away from other genres of music in the conservative age as rock musicians sung their songs of sexual freedom. With big names like Chuck Berry and Rolling Stones, rock music dominated the music scene and resume branching into new genres such as heavy metal (darker, heavier tone), progressive rock fueled by psychedelic elements as well as punk music characterized by angst-filled lyrics, loud guitars and rude attitudes.
Today, rock bands are usually indie bands (bands signed to independent labels) or mainstream rock bands, which are less noisier than their indie counterparts. Rock music, in whichever form, would inevitably continue to hover as a major presence in the music industry, with its loyal fans being lower-profiles than pop music fans.
References:http://rock.about.com/od/rockmusic101/a/RockHistory.htm
Rock the History!
Music has been around since the early years dating all the way back to the early 1900s. Music has evolved in time to not only entertain people but to bring people close together.
Although rock initially began in 1950s, its music did no justice to the term ‘rock’ as 1950s rock is generally classified as ‘oldies’. But in 1960s, the era where true rock came alive and have lived on til the present day. The era which many of us now wish to have been born in. The era, which many of us would have killed to be a part of. To be able to turn around and tell somebody ‘I was there at Woodstock’.
Woodstock was the biggest and most successful outdoor event that was held in the 1960s where people just sat around and many bands performed and sang their souls. Amongst the few was Jimi Hendrix, one of rock’s craziest and most talented guitarists.
Although when rock music was initially introduced, many people were aghast at the loudness of the music. But if we remember correctly, it is these songs that are being played in all the new movies, these songs that show no hypocrisy as they were true to their words!
Rock music has and will live on forever. All it took was a few bands in the 1960s to tear it up a little and today, rock is all over the world.
Rock is not only music, but it is a culture.
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