Life Petal wants to broaden their fan base throughout Asia

A SYMPHONIC rock group from Singapore, Life Petal, is slowly building a strong fan base among Malaysian music listeners. Their next aim is to penetrate the Indonesian market.

Formed in late 2013, to date, the group has produced five Malay singles. Recently they have released their latest and sixth single, Pilu.

There is always a touch of gothic in their songs which is especially noticable in Pilu. In fact, Pilu is currently rocking the airwaves in Riau, Indonesia.

Currently, the group comprises Zax Ramli (lead singer) Farah (second lead singer), Yusuf (first guitarist), Iskandar Jeff (second guitarist), Azim (bassist), Luqman (keyboardist) and Lee (drummer)

In this interview, members of the band talk about the inspiration behind Pilu and the challenges they faced.

Describe your latest song Pilu.

Zax: “The song tells the story about the reality and the pain a couple goes through when their marriage fails.

“For the arrangement of the song, we chose to put in various sound elements of goth, opera, orchestra and even a bit of Rammstein style.”

There are so many music bands out there, and what makes your band unique from others?

Iskandar Jeff: “A 7-member band is already pretty unique. Having two vocalists, a male and a female who compliment each other’s vocal strengths adds on to the uniqueness of Life Petal.

“The genre ‘Symphonic Rockestra’ is one that not many bands these days would opt for.

“Mixing [elements of] symphony, strings, classical, hard rock and a haunting melody defines the uniqueness of our band.”

What is the best compliment you have received regarding your band?

Luqman: “Some have mentioned the sound of our band [is comparable to] the likes of English bands Nightwish, Evanescence and also Stratovarius.

“Malay bands very seldom get [to be mentioned with] this type of genre.”

What are your future plans?

Farah: “We would like to promote our band in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia. We want to have a larger audience. The opportunities there are endless, and are not limited, like in Singapore.

“Being popular has never been our goal at all. We just want to share our music with people who still believe, love and support local bands.

“And also, to spread love anywhere we go. That is our one and only true achievement. We just want appreciation and love for our music.”

What are some of the challenges you have faced in the music industry?

Luqman: “In the past, the artiste depends on radio, newspapers and magazines to promote their songs. But these days we really have to work hard to promote our songs on various social media, from Youtube to iTunes, to reach to our audience.

“Depending on traditional media is not enough. The worst thing is where we find some guy who just picked up a guitar and started singing in front of the camera, becoming an instant celebrity.

“The competition is getting much more intense.”