Indie Band :Couple

THEIR STORY: When Rolling Stone magazine names you one of their Top 25 Best Bands on MySpace, you know those years of sneaking around behind your parents backs to go play your little gigs were all worth it. Such is the humble beginning of Couple, a band that has caught the hearts and attention of some of the biggest wigs in the international independent music arena. The four-piece, tapping into the whole new media online market, released their 2006 album, Top of the Pop, on MySpace. They hit it big, gaining a reputation that bordered on stardom – well, as far as net-based Malaysian independent bands go anyway. They attracted interest from Indonesia, US and Japan, and even scored some massive foreign deals with distribution possibilities in US, Indonesia and UK. Couple were invited to perform in the US in 2006, with a follow-up 22-date West Coast US and Canada tour in early 2007 but were unable to make it due to financial reasons. Top of the Pop marks Couple’s first official professional and ‘polished’ release, making the band regard it as their debut album. Their previous records were all recorded in lo-fi sound, which the band saw as too restricting. Their track, Now That I Can See, was chosen by Los Angeles-based female fashion label, Bitch Kitty in late 2006, to be part of the label’s promotional campaign. It seems their infectious brand of sugary-sweet power-pop indie-rock, which Amplifier magazine in the US calls “terrifically tuneful and wonderfully endearing”, continues to catch on, and their charismatic on-stage presence makes them a band that does not only has the musical talent to go far but the personality to do it in style.

DISCOGRAPHY:

1996 - In Love

2001 - Turning Melancholy To Magic

2002 - Telegrams From The Heart

2003 - Silver State Independent Compilation (Track featured: Forever)

2003 - Kopi Sechewen Vol. 3 Compilation (Track featured: In Case I Forgot)

2003 - Listening to the Pop

2004 - Punk Rock For Sissies

2005 - Radio Malaya Compilation (Track featured: Now That I Can See)

2006 - Top Of The Pop

2006 - International Pop Overthrow Vol. 9 Compilation (Track featured: Gotta Be My Gurl) 2006 - Peachy Little Secrets Compilation (Track featured: Tentang Kita)

2007 - Mesin Waktu (Tribute to Naif) Compilation (Track featured: Takkan Pernah Melupakanmu

MEMBERS:Aidil (vocals, guitar) Ariana (guitar)Ojoe (bass)Shahrin (drums)

BAND FORMED: 1995 (with few line-up changes over the years)

COUPLE NOW:

Couple’s 2007 started off on a great note when their track, Now That I Can See, the first single off Top of the Pop, was named by Rightround magazine US, as one of their choice tracks of the week from Jan 22 to 28. They launched their second single, Gurl Stop It Now, which they performed at the Rock Against Drugs Indie Fest in March this year at the MACP Theatre. It will reportedly be featured in their next studio album, which they are working on.Couple will have a track released on a compilation by Australian indie label, Smashed Records. The track will also be featured on Indonesia’s Trax magazine’s upcoming CD sampler.

The band is planning their Indonesian release of Top of the Pop soon.Their tracks are currently heating up airwaves on radio stations in Canada, Hawaii and California, US and they’ve recently had requests from more radio stations in the US, who want to spin their music to a larger audience. Now if only Malaysian radio would catch on.

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