DjayPee's CD Launch Party

So much has happened since I last blogged.... Apart from having been terribly busy with the usual work, I've also been nominated in the Great Women of Our Time award by Malaysia Women's Weekly magazine for the Public Service & Education category last month. But the highlight of this period has got to be my first-ever pole performance in KL, at my very own restaurants with dream team, The Butterflies.As you all may have noticed by now, my obsession with pole dancing is palpable. Needless to say, it has taken center-stage in my life superceding everything else, everybody else. And when I love, I love with all my heart. That said, I train with all my heart.

DjayPee, who's a very dear friend, has decided to produce his own albums and launch them anyway. Passionate about his music, he needed to get out there. When you hear his compositions, you'll understand why his songs truly deserve to be heard.

A few months prior to this launch this night at our Il Tempio & Mandi-Mandi, I had texted Jean-Pierre (his real name) that perhaps he should do a song just for the pole performance I had in mind for his big day! 2 weeks of silence. Then a dinner invitation. 2 weeks of creative confinement apparently in the highlands, Smoke House Inn in Fraser's Hill this time. And OBSESSION was born. (click on link to listen to tune)

His musical style, which is ethnic-fusion, worked like a dream, like I had imagined it. That's familiar territory for me. Eastern tradition meet Western groove.... Nothing would've been more perfect than to choreograph and dance to OBSESSION which eventually became the opening of his launch party on the night of Aug 25.

The 'qi' was buzzing. Instincts were right. Beneath the forested canopy, the strong presense of close friends weathered any storms of doubt. And above the clouds, some divine intervention kept the rain out. Indeed a magical evening. Within the jungle enclave, we construed from all the elements nature has to offer and used them all to fully conceptualize the show. We sent DjayPee's 30ft up to make his appearance on a rock wall against the hill next to the waterfall; Wei Jun danced his lyrical piece on a little podium that a statue used to sit; Jovian used the raised alley with the jungle as the backdrop as the catwalk for his fashion show; The Butterflies (Linna, Jasmine & I) all pole-danced at elusive places in the trees, depicting the imaginery dance of mystical forest nymphs. I love that! We all love that.

The happening was typical DjayPee: an event that showed the eclecticism of his tastes and the creative partners around him, a series of performances and viewings that showed the range and talents of this unique European born artist who calls Asia his spiritual home.

Great friends with big names in their field like charismatic dancer/choregrapher Wei Jun, dynamic fashion designer Jovian Mandagie and sultry emcee Angie Ng, also contributed tirelessly, unconditionally. We were all there to celebrate DjayPee's 50th birthday too!!

Angie Ng + Wei Jun + The Butterflies horsing around

For those who wonder who my dear friend DjayPee is, here's some literature :
DjayPee, award-winning electronic musician and producer (his track I FEEL LOVE won the Grand Prize of the Vocal Downloads contest hosted on Broadjam, triggering Santana's Tony Lindsay to comment that the song had a very uplifting appeal ) has been buried deep in the jungle environs of his mind, slowly nurturing the songs that would declare his new artistic direction. DjayPee says with focussed intent,

"This was a beautiful project, representing the achievement of a journey that I started several years ago. I really feel that, as a debut, this sets my artistic agenda out there, lets people know how Asia and Europe sound when they begin a romance."

Like a master alchemist he combined bits of Bach; whisperings by none other than Pathana; Erhu (Chinese Violin) stylings by master Chan Kum Loong; violins; cello by virtuoso Corinne Morris; tropical drums and dozens of exotic instruments and of course the solid, smooth house beats that he's known for. Then, with his signature mischievous grin, DjayPee fused the ingredients under the mixing decks of studios in France and Malaysia, tapping the shoulder of famous Asian producer JD of Pop Shuvit fame to assist him in the endeavour. The result? A magical two CD set, one down-tempo called LOUNGE for evening refreshing, for idling the mind on the temples of Angkor Wat or the shadows of a Parisian night. The other disc, TEMPO, is for moving, for making magnetic energy glow; when you listen to it you feel that your legs are compelled to keep the beat. Tempo is an invitation to let it all go, to get the party started.

Both LOUNGE and TEMPO have extensive text explanations of the particular songs' inspiration so that listeners can visualise the aural landscape being presented. Picture yourself laying under palm trees in Cambodia, around a campfire on a great plain, surrounded by tradition desert violins and a Mongolian singer, imagine the sound of your body after a massage, as your muscles come back to place; these are just some of the musings that DjayPee presents as a backdrop to TEMPO and LOUNGE tracks.
Get a gist of DjayPee's music by clicking HERE.

These 2 cds are available for sale at TAMARIND SPRINGS.
So come and get them!