WITH a career spanning three decades and an ever evolving line-up, it is quite the surprise that Langsuir has never embarked on a full scale tour. Playing intermittent gigs was the only way fans got to experience Langsuir live. But this is about to change as belatedly, the band has announced it will be hitting the tour trail, beginning with a show in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 15.
With a new singer on board and a returning former drummer, the band is geared to bring its unique brand of occult mysticism tinged metal to an even wider audience.
In an exclusive interview, guitarist and chief lyricist Ibrisam Akbar tells theSun what fans can expect on this long awaited tour.
With everyone holding full time jobs, how do you go about scheduling a tour?
You could say we are at the stage of our careers that we are sort of stable. Same goes with family commitments whereby we are a bit more on a plateau, with kids having grown up. While we are not just going to abandon our duties and commitments, we found a way to juggle our schedules to make this work.
This tour is the band’s first and it has been a long time coming. We needed to make this happen to experience what it’s like to be professional, working musicians.
Is the trend to now release quick-fire EPs rather than full blown LPs that maybe take longer to complete? Explain the reasoning.
Typically, a full length album would take between three to five years to complete. It is a very time consuming process. Upon releasing an album, we would find that maybe two or three tracks are on playlists, when we have spent an equal amount of time on all the songs.
It thus made sense for us to concentrate on putting out an EP with four or five songs, which would take maybe a year to complete. Fans can fully absorb and enjoy the songs. The band will not have prolonged silence in between albums. Plus the ROI (return on investment) is better with EPs, so it’s a win-win situation for fans as well as Langsuir.
You once said, you are not going to get rich playing this form of music in Malaysia. So what drives you, especially as a live unit?
We want to experience being in a band that is measured to higher standards. This tour only has a handful of dates spread over a few months. Yet, we’re already feeling the stress. Compare this to other bands such as XPDC who have at least one gig per week throughout the year. International acts such as In Flames play many more gigs than that when they go on tour. We want to experience that and see what it is like to be working musicians.
You mention Absu as a major influence. Any new bands have had a similar influence?
Yes, Absu was a major influence in the early days. But as Langsuir has matured, I safely say we have developed our own unique sound and style. No one else sounds like Langsuir!
How's the recording going and when can we expect new Langsuir material?
We have actually completed the recording and we are now at the mixing stage. The new EP will probably be released middle of the year. This is to allow for proper promo and reviews to happen.
This is what I have learned from international acts’ modus operandi. For instance, Anthrax has announced that it will be releasing a new album in October this year. The announcement means they have already completed the recording. The delay in release date is to allow the necessary magazines and influential review sites to do the necessary promo.
I have found out that major platforms and publications will need to receive a new album at least three months in advance of release date, otherwise it will be ignored.
Langsuir is trying to work along those lines to reach a wider audience.
The band has been wrongly labelled as having nationalist leanings in the past. Would the title of this tour - Melayu Mistik - further fuel that misconception?
Ok. Let’s clear this up once and for all. The whole neo-Nazi misunderstanding came about with a former member who was seen wearing a Nazi Iron Cross. That was merely his way of expressing anger at the Palestine issue.
As for the tour title, all the members are Malay. We are proud of our heritage and wish it to be part of our musical identity. It is nothing to do with Malay supremacy or that we are in any way better than others.
This tour includes a date in Singapore – what are you expecting?
It is not easy to capture the attention of Singaporean fans as they are privy to loads of live shows by well-known international acts. The fact that the organiser invited us to do a show instills confidence in the band. It reflects the organiser’s belief in Langsuir to attract an audience, otherwise the gig will be a bust.
What about the support acts? Picked by you?
No. The bands were picked by the label – Goatlordth Records. Both Apocalyptic Carnage and Pendita Gila have new music out, so it will good for them to reach out to more fans. There will also be additional bands at each gig from each locality.
What can fans expect from Langsuir on this tour?
Previously, it was just a cycle of record album, release it and play intermittent gigs. For this tour, we will taking on different stage personas. For instance, I will be the bangsawan while the vocalist will be the bomoh. The bassist is the pendekar and so forth. This is to keep things fresh and exciting. We hope the fans will dig this new stage personas.
