Soundblab

Kuala Lumpur-based post-rock duo Gespenst have just released new album Dogma, which mixes fierce, bludgeoning guitar with ambient, dramatic electronics. Soundblab caught up with Zuhair Rawi and Syahmi Rawi to talk about their influences and passions. 

First single you bought

Syahmi: I can't remember but one single that is worth mentioning is ‘Ghost’ by Matt Stevens from his Ghost EP. Matt is a brilliant prog-rock artist from UK. Check him out.

Zuhair: Blink 182's Up All Night. I was caught up with their reunion thing.

First album you bought

Syahmi: The first album I ever bought was Nirvana's Nevermind, on cassette tape.

Zuhair: Sum 41's Chuck is my first album.

Favourite artist of all time

Syahmi: Nine Inch Nails. I'm a huge fan of Trent Reznor's works. From his side-projects to movie scores. They are brilliant

Zuhair: I started following Sum 41 since high school and they influenced me in so many ways, from picking up the guitar to forming my first band. Yeah, I would say they're my favourite band.

Favourite current artist

Syahmi: There are a few artists that I follow their work and progress. Some of them are SONOIO (Alessandro Cortini), MONO, Boards of Canada, Dirgahayu, and Erased Tapes Records' artist (Nils Frahm, Kiasmos, A Winged Victory for the Sullen etc).

Zuhair: I've been listening to Godspeed You! Black Emperor a lot lately. And Olafur Arnalds. For Now I Am Winter is a masterpiece.

Favourite period in music history

Syahmi: The 90s. Back then everyone seemed to have a good taste in music and awesome music collections of some sort.

The time when you had to dig deeper (without the help of the internet) to find new interesting stuffs. And so many brilliant bands. Even pop music sounded good in the 90s.

Style icon

Syahmi: This is a tough one. I would say Takaakira Goto from Mono. He has this charismatic yet mysterious vibe when he's on stage.

Best gig you've ever attended

Zuhair: Godspeed You! Black Emperor live in KL. They came here, finally.

Favourite festival

Zuhair: For local festivals, we would pick Urbanscapes Festival, Rockaway and Rock the World. And for our wish list, we would love to attend Wacken Open Air, Australia's Falls and Meredith music festivals and Japan's Summer Sonic.

Favourite movie

Syahmi: I have a lot of favourite movies but the one that stands out from my list is Trainspotting.

Zuhair: It's hard to choose but 1408 is definitely on my list. John Cusack is the man.

Favourite TV show

Syahmi: Breaking Bad. Tread lightly.

Favourite book

Syahmi: Chuck Palahniuk's Damned and Doomed.

Zuhair: Stephen Davis' Hammer of the Gods.

http://gespenst.bandcamp.com/