The Times



MembersNAZA - Vocal, Guitar
AZEEZUL - Drum
ANWAR - Guitars
MONO - Bass, back up voc

FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW YET, WHO ARE THE TIMES? 
Well there are four of us.We started in 2004 after we moved on from OAG.The original line-up from the first album was me and my Brother Mono on bass. In 2009 we recruited Azeezul on drums who was another of my old mates from OAG. I’m Nazar on lead guitar and vocals, and we have a new guitarist recently from SINOPSIS, Anuar. We’ve all been making music since we were kids. 


SO WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO MOVE AWAY FROM OAG AND FORM SOMETHING NEW? 
I think it was just different music boundaries and really just different directions. I wanted to form my own band. I created The Times because I was into something different.I wanted satisfaction in my music. 
WHO ARE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES? 
I’d say The Kinks, The Small Faces, and some Seventies brits-punk. We love Stiff Little Fingers, The Buzzcocks – stuff like that, in the ‘80s it was more like The Smiths so really we’re a mix of ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and early mid 90’s really. We really like British bands music & attitudes. 


WHERE WOULD YOUR LIFE BE WITHOUT MUSIC?
I can’t breath without music. I love music. I love Punk Rock.I come from Kuching, West Malaysia. I came up through the skateboard scene with Thrashpunk and stuff and started to pick up cassettes of The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, and man I hated school, I always knew music was my life. 


HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FANS?
The Times is a band with a natural working class attitude!! There are no boundaries between us and the fans. You must be humble and appreciate them because they’re the ones who buy the albums. To survive a long time in music you need the right mentality. 


AND YOU DO APPEAR TO HAVE AN ARMY OF LOYAL FANS.DO YOU THINK ITS AN ADVANTAGE THAT YOU SING IN MALAY?
When we started in 2003 with OAG we were one of the pioneers of singing in Malay but The Times, well, when others were copying American styles, we adopted the British style and also we sung in Malay which people can relate to. Before that, maybe kids thought it was not cool to sing in your mother tongue but we’ve done it in our own language for three albums and it works well. 


YOU HAVE A NEW EP OUT SOON? HOW DOES IT SOUND?
I think it’s more raw & dirty mellow stuff. Something like the early stuff by The Police, The Jam. Some of it is quite fast. Something more like The Buzzcocks singing in Malay, and some of it is a bit like Frank Sinatra singing in Razorlight.


AND FINALLY, WHERE DO YOU GUYS SEE YOURSELVES IN FIVE YEARS TIME?
I think we’ll be doing very well.In Malaysia it’s hard to achieve longevity. You can come up very fast and go very far on one single but to stay ten or fifteen years it’s very hard to maintain the momentum. The crowd always knows all our songs and sings along with us. A couple of us we’re in our early thirties now, but, I think even when I’m 50 you’re still gonna see me rocking on a stage like Mick Jagger!



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