As Blood Runs Black in KK: Nuk Chee talks about July’s upcoming show

U.S. metal band As Blood Runs Black comes to Kota Kinabalu July 9th 2012, thanks to event manager Shockwave Entertainment and independent clothing label Afraid Clothing. The show is at the Razz Ma Tazz nightclub on Jalan Tuaran.

“It doesn’t happen every day that As Blood Runs Black comes to town! Although it’s a Monday night, I hope everyone will travel safely to the venue, and prepare for a good show,” said Nuk Chee, co-founder of Shockwave.

“We asked Afraid Clothing if he wanted to come in with us. He said ‘Yep, let’s do this’. So venue, permits, we’ve covered it. You don’t have to be afraid of the cops coming in, or that the show’s going to be cancelled because we didn’t get any permits for the artists. Everything is legit and in control. We do this so that people can come to the show, enjoy a real rock concert; a full-blown metal show!”

Independent clothing label Afraid Clothing.

Shockwave is all about spreading its message to the general public, and now it’s bringing a full-on metal concert right into the heart of Kota Kinabalu.

“Bringing in an event is always a risky business, especially when you talk about metal and hard core genres: a lot of people just don’t understand that this is music as well. We have already appointed security. We want people to know that – even though it’s metal or hard core – it’s okay! It’s okay to come and have a good time at a metal show!

“The band is young and based in L.A. They’re great instrumentalists. They’ve got two albums out, and they went on tour in Japan recently. This is going to be their first time in Malaysia.”

As Blood Runs Black hits Thailand, Jakarta, KL and KK, then back to California via KL.

Nuk said the band has a song called ‘Angel City Gamble’ which is about challenges and the struggles of L.A. city life.

“I advise people to go check out the lyrics, which mean a lot to us, like what we are going through at the moment. It’s actually really positive. We’re risking everything that we have [to make this event happen] so we’re really trying to make the best of this.”

Shockwave will bring a video crew in to capture how it really is.

“Dee Bee Studio – which is videographer Andy Chia from KK – will bring a 9 foot tall crane. Also he’s going to provide a camera called “Go Pro”, it’s for extreme sports; people stick the camera to their boards, their helmets, and they can film the whole thing while they’re bungy-jumping or sky-diving, or swimming with the dolphins or something like that.

Photograph from Go Pro’s website.

“We plan to use this camera on a stunt man during the show, where he goes jumping off the stage to the crowd to body surf! We want to capture the moment!”

Nuk explained that a good video will go viral, and he wants other metal bands around the world to witness our metal fans in Sabah. So when they plan their tours, they might add Sabah to their circuit.

“We want them to know that they’ve got fans down here! Those touring bands that go to KL – maybe they want to see something different and share the passion with a different crowd, then come to Sabah! We don’t have the best venues, and we can’t fill up stadiums with this kind of music yet, but for sure they would enjoy performing shows with us at our place.”

Nuk believes bands would enjoy a holiday here too. “After the show we’ve got a short vacation for the band, and their film crew will be following them around. We can show them the beauty we have here in Sabah. Hopefully they’ll put it up on their Facebook, say this is a nice place to come. That’s the point: to let the bands, and other people in the world who sees this video, know that Sabah exists!”

As Blood Runs Black will have their own crew filming their tour, so you can play your part.

“We want everyone to know that both sides are filming, the band has a film crew and so do we,” said Nuk. “So that everyone will give their best, dive off the stage, mosh even harder, do bigger mosh pits, make epic Walls of Death. We hope they will give their very best! It’s a gathering from Labuan, Brunei, Sarawak, and of course KK. I don’t know who else is flying over from KL. So we are really excited.”

Creative industries feed off each other, and this event has plenty of that.

“For anyone out there who’s into independent clothing lines, there’s a band from the Philippines opening for As Blood Runs Black in KL, and they’re coming to KK as well,” said Nuk.

Supporting band from the Philippines Maria Campell.

“The band is Maria Campbell, and this band’s drummer is actually Nicolo Nimor. He owns the clothing line Nick Automatic. He’s done work [album covers, T shirt designs] for bands like A Day To Remember, Whitechapel, The Word Alive, Vanna, We Came As Romans, just to name a few. Not to mention doing cross over works with other international established brands and graphic designers from all over the world.” Nuk paused for emphasis: “I mean, that’s big, man,” he said quietly.

In the States, the equivalent is Johnny Cupcakes. “I’ve seen his [Nick’s] tweets before, he said he couldn’t believe that this guy Johnny Cupcakes was like him – he started out with nothing, to become a huge company selling T-shirts. In the States it’s Johnny Cupcakes, in the Philippines it’s Nick Automatic. In Indonesia it’s Peter Says Denim.”

Shockwave was stoked. “It was a real surprise for us when we were told Nick Automatic has a band and he wants to play in our show! So we are really honoured about that. It’s like – seriously, it’s a big bonus. We had planned two opening bands, One from Sarawak and one from KK, and As Blood Runs Black. Then suddenly, Maria Campbell came up from nowhere and we were like – whoa!”

The other supporting bands on the bill are Search & Destroy (Sarawak) and Befalls The Argosy (Sabah).

Supporting band from Sarawak Search & Destroy.

Supporting band from Sabah Befalls The Argosy.

The founders of Shockwave – brothers Amos and Nuk Chee – have guts, vision and dreams. Nuk said he hoped, one day, his grandkids will be able to see a U.S. band from non-mainstream genres more frequently than we can now.

“Now, to see a [mainstream] band from the States, you got to wait for something like KK Jazz Fest. But when you talk about metal bands, it’s so rare! God willing, if I have grandchildren, I hope by that time they will be able to see a U.S. band easily. And if their friends say, ‘Do you know As Blood Runs Black came here about 30 years ago?’ they can say ‘Yeah, my grandfather was one of the ones behind it!’

“For me, it’s not about fame or respect. I want to be part of a movement which is positive for the scene here. That’s what I want.” Nuk Chee.

Other Shockwave related stories and videos

• Noize Coalition – the video. Do you dare to hear it?
• Destroy Shred Destroy [Sabah]: Shockwave is a serious event manager
• Thrashed Guitars, Slammed Bodies: Shockwave Entertainment Hits KK
• Meet Amos and Emmanuel “Nuk” Chee

Emmanuel ‘Nuk’ Chee, talking with me at Fook Yuen in Damai