Masterpiece (band)


Masterpiece is an Iban rock band, which formed in 2003 as Masterjam in Sibu, Sarawak best known for its hit singles, "Sinu", "Kumang Seari" & "Ngarap Ka Nuan Nikal Pulai". The band comprises vocalist Depha Masterpiece, lead guitarist Willy Edwin, guitarist Kennedy Edwin, bassist Watt Marcus, drummer Harold Vincent, keyboardist Valentine Jimmy and Roslee Qadir. The group was renamed Masterpiece in 2005 after Depha was hired as the band's new vocalist. Drummer Roni, keyboardist Dellender Wilson and Timothy are former members of the band.
Since its inception, Masterpiece has released five studio albums and three songs for Gawai various artist album compilations. The band achieved commercial success in Sarawak with the release of their first album, Merindang Ke Bintang, in 2009. The album has won numerous awards including the best produced debut album of 2009–2010 during the 2010 Dayak Music Awards. Its full-length follow-ups, the second albums Rock & Roll, were also widely successful; which respectively debuted at number one on the local radio station for months.
Masterpiece's third album, Ngap Sayot, was a commercial success, although not to the degree of their previous two albums. The band's mainstream success continued with Ngarap Ka Nuan Nikal Pulai, which was critically praised, becoming their most nominated release to date. In December 2016, the lead single from the album, "Ngarap Ka Nuan Nikal Pulai" became the first Iban song to reach one million views on YouTube. The band fifth album, Ensera Paragon was released in August 2018 through their first major label, Warner Music Malaysia.
During the course of their career, Masterpiece has come to be regarded as one of the most influential and important Iban rock bands in Sarawak and has been recognised by several Sarawak Music Awards ceremonies; To date, the band has received fourteen awards from several nominations. Notable awards they have won include the Most Popular Group, voted by fans via SMS at the 2010 Dayak Music Awards and Best Rock Artist at the 2014 Dayak Music Awards.

History

2003–2008: Formation and early years

In 2003, Willy Edwin and his brother Kennedy Edwin formed a band named Masterjam in their hometown of Sibu, Sarawak, with Kennedy on vocals and guitar, Willy on lead guitar and Roni on drums. Since they were missing a bass player, Watt Marcus joined them as a sessional live member who soon becomes their permanent bassist. The band travelled around playing several gigs with this line-up for about a year. In 2005, Kennedy brought a new focus to his guitar playing and the band was set to search for another vocalist.
After spending a considerable time searching for vocalist, Willy and Kennedy recruited former Black Monkey vocalist, Depha who was recommended by Marcus; the newborn vocal chemistry between Depha and Kennedy helped revive the band, inciting them to work on new material. With the band having their two vocalists together, they finally settled on the name "Masterpiece". The four original members remained together along with Roni until late 2005, when he left the band. They soon invited friend and schoolmate Harold Vincent to play drums. The band's line-up was completed when Dellender Wilson joined to take up keyboard duties.
Though limited in resources, the band began recording and producing songs within Willy's makeshift bedroom studio in 2007, resulting in a six-track demo; "Malam-Malam", "Sinu", "Kumang Mimpi", "Bulat Ati Ku", "Misteri" and "Nadai Benci", entitled Merindang Ke Bintang. After recording demos, the band started playing small bars in their hometown of Sibu. For a brief time in 2008, the band entered the studio for the first time, recording its first CD titled Merindang Ke Bintang. Keyboardist Dellender Wilson moved to Kuching sometime before the EP's completion and the band replaced him briefly with Timothy at the end of 2008 prior to the release of Merindang Ke Bintang.

2009–2011: ''Merindang Ke Bintang'' and mainstream breakthrough

In April 2009, the band released Merindang Ke Bintang in CD format, which they circulated across Sibu city with the help of close friends and hoping to get signed to a record label. After facing numerous rejections from several record labels in Sarawak, Masterpiece turned to Embat Lala for additional help. Embat Lala the owner of Panggau Buluh Pengerindu Records helped the band to reissue the album with unsigned deal with the company before the end of 2009. The songs on Merindang Ke Bintang was re-mastered by Norman Ading at Norman Home Studio, formerly known as Fish Farm Records in Kuching. In an early promotional interview with The Borneo Post on 13 November 2009, the band said they produced a complete set of music videos for each song on the album and to market them on DVD format. The band released its breakthrough album Merindang Ke Bintang in CD & DVD format, the following year through Panggau Buluh Pengerindu Records in Sarawak.
The songs on the album had been circulating across the music industry for a while. Two songs from the released, "Sinu" and "Bulat Ati Ku" has received increasing airplay and brought them to the top of the hit charts in Sarawak. On 8 November 2010, the band made their debut appearance at the Dayak Music Awards, during which the band performed "Sinu" and "Bulat Ati Ku" at Borneo Convention Centre, in Kuching, Sarawak. The album, Merindang Ke Bintang earned the band multiple awards—winning the Most Popular Group award, Best Music Video award for "Bulat Ati Ku", Best New Artist, Best Album Cover and the Album of the Year award. In an interview after the ceremony with The Borneo Post, Kennedy Edwin said "The most important thing is that the community accepts our music and continues to support the industry. All the nominees are great artists, some experienced and we are grateful to have won the awards".
In early 2011, the band continue on the street playing club shows as well as playing at Travillion carpark in Kuching, Sarawak, as part of the Dakar Rally auto show along with Choo Hao Ren, Claudia Geres and Hafiz Suib in March 2011. On 29 April 2011, in news released by The Borneo Post, it was announced that Masterpiece would be part of the album collaboration with Man Kidal and Ramli Sarip, which won some critical praise as the album sales would be donated for the purpose of building a music school in Kuching. However, the plan didn't work and the record deal ended up silent.
Keyboardist Timothy left the group later in the year and was replaced by a temporary touring member, Valentine Jimmy who made his debut performance with the group at the AJARR Music Awards on 21 May 2011 in Kuching, Sarawak. The same night the band performed "Sinu" and winning the 2010 'Song of the Year award'. On 1 June 2011, Masterpiece released a song titled "Mansau Leka Padi" as part of a compilation for 2011 Gawai festival. It was the first time Masterpiece had issued a collaboration record with another artist from Panggau Buluh Pengerindu Records. The success of Merindang Ke Bintang led to numerous touring for the band, including a slot opening for Aizat Amdan in Kuching, Sarawak, on his Urusan Aizat Amdan-Borneo Tour in July 2011, and headlining the TM Net Festival in Sarawak, starting with Miri, Kuching and ending with Sibu In October 2011.

2011–2013: Major exposure and ''Rock and Roll''

For a brief time in 2011, Masterpiece returned to the recording studio to work on new material. Later that year, the band recruited keyboardist Roslee Qadir, an old school friend of Willy's and Kennedy's who had played with Willy in a band during their teens and started recording their second studio album. Roslee Qadir was eventually chosen as a permanent keyboardist and joined the band in time to take part in the tour that followed the release of "Badu". The song was released on 30 November 2011 which originally set as the lead single of their second studio album but was included instead in Gawai compilation album.
On 9 December 2011, Masterpiece were invited to perform at Stadium Perpaduan Kuching as part of the Konsert Rock Borneo Terbilang 2011 in direct support for Amy, on his solo Kuching show. Supporting performers on the concert included Stevenson, Ricky Andrewson and Winnie Albert. The same night Masterpiece and Amy shared the stage together for the first time. They played several of Search songs including "Isabella", "Pawana" and "Tiada Lagi". Shortly after, Masterpiece was selected to be the opening act for the Malaysian legendary rock band, Search, during their 30th anniversary Fenomena concert in Stadium Negeri Kuching, Sarawak in December 2011. It was the band debut on a high-profile concert, performed in front of 25,000 people. The following year, the band appeared at the Dayak Music Awards at DeTAR Putra theatre in Kuching. "Badu" received the Dayak Music Awards nomination for 'Best Music Arrangement'. The award went to Ethnic Transmission's song "Pulai Pengujung".
Masterpiece continue working on a second album, titled Rock & Roll, in 2013, which included features touring keyboardist Valentine Jimmy who also had appeared to a lesser extent on Merindang Ke Bintang. Despite the recording happening when he were only tour members, it is the first Masterpiece release to Valentine Jimmy, and to have him credited as band member in the second album. While Depha once again wrote all the songs, the rest of the band collaborated on the arrangements. On 9 August 2013, the band released a new song entitled "Kumang Seari", as the official lead single of their second studio album. To accompany the song's release, a lyric video for "Kumang Seari" was released on Depha's YouTube channel.
On 22 September 2013, Masterpiece released its second album, Rock & Roll, through Panggau Buluh Pengerindu Records in Sarawak. The album consists of ten songs including closing track "Badu" which was re-mastered to a more accessible radio-friendly sound, with accompanying music videos directed by Cosmas Moses Alexander. The songs on the album was recorded at Masterjam Studio in Sibu, Sarawak, and featured guest musicians such as Jerry Kamit on sapeh instrument and Romy Majestica outro guitar solo on "Nyaga Negeri". Like the band's debut, it was engineered, mixed, and mastered by Norman Ading at Norman Home Studio in Kuching, Sarawak. The album also saw the band write some of their most challenging lyrics to date, the ninth track on the album, "Sembilan Bulan", meaning "Ninth Month" was written about child abandonment. While "Nyaga Negeri" was written as a tribute to the troops. Rock & Roll was also the first album to feature the band's logo on its cover, which was designed by Cosmas Moses Alexander.
The lead single from the album, "Kumang Seari" earned the band its first VIMA Music Awards nomination in December 2013 for 'Best Rock Song',
and winning their first 'Best Stage Performance' awards at the ACSJ Music Awards the following year.