KYOTO PROTOCOL

THE POWER OF ROCK

OVER THE PAST NINE YEARS, Kyoto Protocol has easily become a household name for Malaysian rock music. Comprising of band members Fuad, Gael, Hairi, Shaq and Shan, Kyoto Protocol is no stranger to headlining music events that take place throughout the nation - not to mention touring the likes of Japan and Singapore.

The band released their third album titled The Pen Is Mightier at this year’s Good Vibes Festival, with singles like

'Delta Wing' and 'Guilty Plea' leading the way. “It’s making the music that we really want to make,” singer Fuad shares with us, adding that the band has come out stronger than before, following a journey that had plenty of ups and downs.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR LATEST ALBUM THE PEN IS MIGHTIER.

FUAD: I think it was almost a way to get over hardship. So it was about finding writing as the outlet, and therefore the pen is my guild. But also in our personal lives, I feel that words can also make or break us. So that’s why it’s a true power that sometimes we should use responsibly. So that’s what I felt about this album - it was nice to get out of a songwriting dark, which was maybe three years plus.

And then what was also really cool was that I felt we have learnt a lot of lessons in our journey so far as musicians. And this is the album where we get to showcase all of those tricks and our newfound prowess. Not from the point of view, like, I can play how many notes per minute, but more of, the songs feel more balanced and convey emotions be er, with a good mix of tension and release. I feel like it really feels more complete than anything that we’ve done before.

WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE BEING A PRIMARILY ENGLISH-LANGUAGE BAND IN MALAYSIA?

HAIRI: I feel like, talking about media perspective, English radio is focusing more solely on international a ists. And we’re kind of stuck in the middle, we can’t really go to the English radio stations and we can’t really go to the Malay radio stations where they focus more on local a ists. I think that’s the biggest challenge anyone has ever faced, being an English band in Malaysia.

FUAD: I do feel it is challenging but at the same time it makes us unique - different slices of cake, that’s how we look at it. If we wanted to be like somebody else we would just be another chocolate cake. Whereas we get to be strawberry cheesecake. So that’s nice.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE CURRENT STATE OF ROCK MUSIC IN MALAYSIA?

FUAD: I like to focus on the fact people are sad because they miss it. It means that people actually do care about rock. And just with every form of music: rap today is not what rap was 10 years ago, and neither will rock today be what rock was 10 years ago. People change and people try to evolve and find a new path. I really like the music landscape of today. I feel it’s very democratic. People can choose what they want to listen to, and people can choose who they want to be in terms of an a ist. I think I look forward to the new era of rock.

DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELVES LUCKY TO HAVE FOUND EACH OTHER AS BANDMATES?

SHAQ: I guess you could say we’re lucky to have found one another in the sense that we all have the same level of passion and interest and commitment that we want to put into our music to see it through as far as we can.

But at the same time it’s not something that we can take for granted or be complacent about. We need to work hard to maintain that relationship. Because it’s not a relationship between two people, it’s a relationship with four people who you see on a regular basis. This is your family, and there’s