It was refreshing to meet a relatively young musician with such an old school vibe. Hazama would not be out of place in the Malaysian music industry if he travelled back a couple of decades in time. And I think that vibe gives him the edge and the staying power that is lacking in the local entertainment in general.

We talked about a lot of things during the phone interview. Too many things to mention in the story. Like the importance of a good producer, how important it is for a piece of music to fit the performer, and why a lot of music and musicians today have little staying power. We even lamented on the declining number of national laureates, master wielders of our own national language.

Of course, the story has also been mangled a bit. And that is why I almost always send a draft copy to the subjects I write about. To let them see for themselves the difference between the story that came from our conversation and what the editorial imagined.

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