By Aqil Syakir
For those who born in 90s or living as a teenager during 90s will know the most successful grunge band in Malaysia that is Butterfingers. Just say about Butterfingers, people automatically will recognize two members of this grunge band who are Emmett and Loque and both of them are very well-known in Malaysia. “The Nirvana Malaysia” is the name that Malaysians called them because they bringing a grunge genre which is same as Nirvana and also Malaysians called Emmett as “Kurt Cobain Malaysia” because of his vocal is same as Kurt Cobain.
The History of The Butterfingers
Starting with a group of students from Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) formed a band which name is Loque’s Tail, which included Loque, Kadak and Kalai and they influenced by Metallica. When the waves of grunge came to Malaysia which is from the Nirvana, they decided to change their genre from metal to grunge and punk. The school break came during 1993, the most popular jamming studio at Petaling Jaya that is Black Widow, the studio that Loque’s Tail always do the jamming session.
This is where the wonderful moment happened when Loque saw the Emmett’s cover of “Under The Bridge” by Red Hot Chili Peppers with his band that is Grunge Dayz. After the wonderful moment happened, Loque show his skills in cover the song of “I Could Have Lied” to Emmett. Starting from that wonderful moment, Loque approached Emmett to form a new band that is Butterfingers as their band name and in a short time, Butterfingers are the most popular band in the underground scene at Kuala Lumpur.
The Creation of The Earliest Demo Butterfingers
“Girl Friday” and “Nic o’Tynne” were the songs which provided by Butterfingers during first performance at the Cobra Club House in late 1994 and early 1995, they got a lot of positive feedback and support from the underground music lovers at the gig which made them to record more songs. The performing of live session during 10 January 1995 was the moment that Butterfingers created their first demo “12 Goats, 6 oranges and 2 angles”.
This moment also Emmett got a title as “Kurt Cobain Malaysia” from the underground music lovers because of Emmett’s vocal being presented in the same fashion as Kurt Cobain’s vocal. The majority from the underground music lovers classified their demo as an unreleased album of Nirvana. After they released many demos such as “Dragon” and Butter Couldn’t Melt”, Butterfingers became well-known in the underground scene during 90s same as OAG, A.C.A.B, and Nice Stupid Playground.
Leap Up To famous
The success of their demos brought them to record their debut album that is “1.2 Milligrams” (1996), they recorded the album after they signing under EMI Malaysia. “Royal Jelly” is the best song in this album, the song that contains the longest intro which is 3 minutes and 15 seconds and we can listen the best grunge vocal from Emmett. This album achieved success when 15 000 units were sold and it leads them to do the second album that is “Butter Worth Pushful” during 1997.
The vio-pipe is the song which people will recognize it with the Scotland Bag Pipe sound because in this song contains the bass guitar accompaniment in the intro and the wonderful music accompaniment from the bagpipe. Some of us will confuse whether they use a bagpipe or violin because the music is same and every Butterfingers concert, Emmett will perform this song by using a violin. The song which leaving back the memories for those who went their gig or concert and this song always used by many schools in our country that have a band club to practice or learn to play a bagpipe. This album earned the second achievement when around 18 000 units were sold and it gave them their debut “Anugerah Idustri Muzik” (AIM) nominations for “Best English Album”.
Rise to fame happened during 1999, when they made the third album which is the most stunning album, “Transcendence”, the most successful in Butterfingers’ work because this album sold over 60 000 units which is even more than “1.2 Milligrams” album and “Butter Worth Pushful” album. Malay traditional musical accompaniment to match the song included in the album is very spectacular as it combines the traditional Malay music and grunge music. Epitome is a song that incorporates traditional gong music. At the beginning of this song, the gong music will be played and then followed by the loud guitar accompaniment. Just by saying about this album, people will know the most well-known song in this album that is “The Chemistry (Between Us)”.
Following Transcendence's success and the release of Butter Late Than Never (2000), a compilation of old live tracks and outtakes with some previously unreleased songs from earlier demos, Butterfingers released Malayneum (2001) to critical acclaim, despite the mixed reaction of fans who still desired a more ' grunge-y ' sound for which the band was known. Following the release of the greatest hits album The Best is Yet to Come (2003), the band began working on their next album, which ultimately became their first album sung in the Malay Language, Selamat Tinggal Dunia (2005). Butterfingers' success is declining when Emmett had left to study in Canada, leaving the rest of the band without him to release and promote Selamat Tinggal Dunia. Later, in 2006, Loque left for Berklee Music College in Boston. Butterfingers ended their hiatus with another Malay album, Kembali (2008), which would also be their last album. Fans and critics received the album as well.
The Existence Beyond the Normal
2019 is a milestone year for all Butterfingers fans as the memory of the album "Transcendence" has been adapted into a concert attended by 8500 Butterfingers fans from young to old and this great concert was organized by the lead guitarist himself, Loque. When Butterfingers announced the "Transcendence" concert on social media, all the underground music fans were thrilled and shocked when the Butterfingers made one of their biggest concerts since they had been silent since their last show at Rockaway 2016.
November 2, 2019 is the most important date for all Butterfingers fans due to the concert. The concert brings all the fans back to the 1999 era where the album was released and won many awards, Butterfingers has also given a huge boost to all their fans and made everyone who attended the concert a wonderful memory for them. Even in the middle of the concert there was a problem where their bassist who is Kadak, had a severe shortness of breath and caused him to rest from performing. Butterfingers continue to create memories for fans in attendance despite their bassist being rushed to the hospital as BP readings increase and Although it may seem bland at the end of the concert, most fans still feel that the concert was a wonderful moment for them. After the concert ended, all the Butterfingers came back to do their own thing and they still can't forget what happened during the concert. Finally, Butterfingers has created an empire that has many followers from the 90s to the present.
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