The singer-songwriter and musician is back with a new single and a band, writes Tahir Alhamzah
AFTER successfully experimenting with tracks Aduh (released in 2014) and Gara Diriku (2015), composer Ajai is ready to come out with his latest single Tersasar next month.
His last studio album, Serasi Bersama (with his former wife Nurul Wahab), was released a decade ago.
Tersasar, entirely composed by him, is a song he recorded with his new band, Empayar by Ajai.
“It’s been 10 years since I last performed with a band and I miss doing so. The yearning has been getting so strong that I know it’s high time I return as a band member. I feel I have strayed for far too long as a solo artiste,” explains the 41-year-old artiste.
Ajai, whose real name is Mohd Faizal Maas, entered the local music scene at 16, as keyboardist for the once popular teenage group Exist, which shot to stardom with its single Untukmu Ibu. After the group’s third album, Diammu Gunung Berapi, he left the group in 1997 to focus on song composition as well as become a music engineer.
He first became known as a composer when he penned three songs including Semua Orang Tahu for new singer Rem that same year. Ever since then, he has been a strong player in the local music scene, having composed and produced various hit tunes for top local singers like Saleem, Datuk Sheila Majid and Datuk Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin. He was also noted for re-branding the musical direction for singers such as Dayang Nurfaizah and Ning Baizura.
He even composed a number titled Hati Ini Telah Dilukai for Indonesian singer Kris Dayanti and performed with her. The song was part of Kris’ 1999 album Menghitung Hari, which Ajai produced.
After the success of the song Aku Cinta, Aku Rindu, which he composed and produced for Nurul, the two then went on to produce four albums
together — Sehati Sejiwa (2001), Ajai & Nurul (2002), Seiring Sejalan (2004) and Serasi Bersama (2006).
He also experimented as a solo singer, churning out singles Bisikan Asmara (2001) and Aku Milikmu (2002). At Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian 2012, he beat powerhouse veteran Datuk Jamal Abdillah and Anuar Zain to bag the Popular Male Singer award.
SIDE-TRACKED
With a string of accomplishments and accolades, Ajai set up his recording company, Wake The Baby, in 2002.
With everything falling in place, the time is opportune for Ajai to take a step back and retrace his roots and perform with his own band, just like how he first started.
Empayar by Ajai is a four-piece band comprising Ajai, Bard (on guitar), Alfa Booty (keyboard) and Rumie Booty (drums).
“The reason why I want a band, as opposed to sessionist musicians, is mainly because there is more focus and commitment,” he says.
“We plan to come out with a mini album, perhaps with five tracks. We already have three and we are waiting for another two to record, before we could come out with an EP.
“We hope to release the album in October. However, if we get another three songs, who knows, we may end up releasing a full album instead!”
The tracks in the album are generally progressive rock.
“No doubt it’s a departure from my previous work. I may have sidetracked in my musical journey, but here I am, with a new band and singles. I’m dedicating this single and its album to my fans,” he says.
“This is part of my efforts to bring back the glorious era when artistes enthusiastically recorded albums. There’s no denying the digital advancement has changed the local music scene somewhat, but it’d be fantastic if recording companies get back into producing albums for their artistes.”
Ajai agrees that the trend of buying albums has seen better days, but he says it can be turned around if people in the industry put extra efforts into wooing fans into buying music CDs by their favourite artistes.