Influences: Labyrinth (the movie) - about goals and friendship

I watched this movie 'Labyrinth' when I was around 12-years old.

I remembered thinking how beautiful Jennifer Connelly was. She was so young then. She played the character Sarah. To me, she was just a typical spoilt girl who created this fantasy world for herself. The first scene was her, dressing up as a princess and reciting a script from a book. She was not happy that she had to look after her baby brother. Whilst baby sitting, as part of the script from the book, she called on the Goblin King to take her brother away and that's exactly what the Goblin King did.

The rest of the movie was about her trying to get her baby brother back. It was a self-discovery and character building. She had to sacrifice her comforts and go through dangers in order to save him.

The introduction

The Goblin King was of course, in love with her but as a 16 year old girl, she was not interested in him and was only focused on getting her baby brother back. He tried to enchant her with his 'magical' powers and to make her forget; watching this next scene (the ballroom) when I was 12 years old, I did wander like 'how the hell is she going to forget her baby brother, just because the Goblin King put her in a bubble, and got her all dressed up as a princess' but I supposed it was a metaphor because she was in a 'bubble', completely oblivious to everything else that was happening around her. 

I really like the way that she was just unfazed by him. I believed that is how women should be. That we should focus on whatever our mind is set upon, and not to be enticed by anyone or anything. 

The ball 'As the World Falls Down'

Along the way, she made friends. She met Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus who helped her overcome the Goblin King. 

This movie influenced me in two ways: 

1. To focus on whatever I put my mind into and not be distracted by other things. In my case, it was my studies. 

2. Friendship is more important than romance. I think that was the main reason why my husband and I finally got together after years of being apart. We got married after we were both single again and more than anything, it was because we were friends. 

When you are friends with someone, you never pretend to be anything else. All your reactions, your speech, your ideas are exactly who you are. My husband and I, we used to spend time together when we were young because we enjoyed each other's company. The things I loved and admired about him are still the same things I love and admire about him now, and the things that annoys me about him now, are still the same things that used to annoy me when we were young. We don't need to change, just because we got married. We evolve and be better because we want to stay together and marriage requires a lot of understanding and compromise. When you are 'seeing' someone, forget about romance. Just get to know that person. If they have annoying habits or character, it is never going away; find the things that make you admire them. If you can't find any, get out of the relationship. 

To me, being friends is about hanging out, sharing thoughts and ideas, expressing what crazy things that is in your mind, learning new things from one another and sometimes, just being in the same room without having to say or do anything, it is just that comfortable silence. Then, you know you can be with that person for the rest of your life because their presence is good enough. Sometimes when they are not there, it is like the light has disappeared. I used to feel like even though I was surrounded by so many people but, I felt something was missing and as soon as he appeared, it is like the he brought an entire crowd with him, even if he was alone. 

The final scene was her defeating the Goblin King. In this scene, she recited the words that would destroy him. To me, this is when she grew up because she put her brother before herself, she went through all the obstacles in order to get him back and she was finally successful in achieving what she had set her mind to do. This movie inspired me to be focus on the things that I wanted to achieve in my life, to be unfazed by anything or anyone who wanted to distract me from my goals. 

Influences: Faith No More (Mike Patton)

The first heavy metal band I listened to was actually Metallica. My friend, Syed Izul (who is now my husband), we used to hang-out at Subang Parade in 1992, whilst waiting for my SPM results. He took me to the music shop once, and got the guy to put on Metallica's 'Master of Puppets'. I listened to it until the end on the headphones. As I said in my blog post 'Influences: Classical Music', I had classical background, so to me it wasn't something totally new. The way I heard it, Metallica was technical and the rifts were similar to parts in classical. So, it felt familiar to me.

Then another friend of mine, One Z introduced me to Faith No More. When I listened to Mike Patton, I was blown away by his voice. He just had the most versatile voice. He also had an incredible character. You can say, he was eccentric. In some ways, he reminded me of my husband. Mike Patton was just a really interesting guy and really smart. What I liked about Mike Patton was he did not believe in the 'rock and roll' lifestyle. He was just interested in making music.

Falling to Pieces (Official Music Video)

This song 'falling to pieces' was one of my favorite songs of all times; and it represented me during my late teens and early 20s. I was sort of 'falling to pieces' and having issues within myself. I never really had issues with other people, but I was having deep turbulence. People used to say I looked pretty calm, but deep inside was a whirlpool that could have sucked everything that came its way. No one could help me, I needed to sort myself out. Listening to Mike Patton and his 'craziness' made me feel I wasn't alone. 

And who would have thought this guy (up there) would be singing opera? He was acknowledged as probably the best vocals of all time. It is said that he voice range is six octaves, with half notes. That is amazing. I am no vocals expert but hey, that is impressive. 

I really like this next interview of Mike Patton. He talks about the vocals as another instrument, which is completely true (if you think about it). Also, I feel I can really relate to the things he said. Being 40+ I feel like I am now calm and that I have achieved everything I set to achieve in life, Alhamdulillah. I am happy where I am (within myself). 

I think when you're young, you are full of energy and there is this beast that just wants to burst out of you. Everything just felt so close, and within reach and you just want to grab everything. Rock and Metal music fulfils that kind of beasty animal that wants to destroy everything. However, as you get older, things gradually move further away and you start to see from a perspective. You start to understand more things, you don't feel like you need to get everything now. That beast is tamed and perhaps even wise, and insightful, like the dragon in Merlin. 

When you are young, you are constantly looking forwards. Everything is about what you want to achieve, 'I want, I want, I want' but as you get older, you start looking backwards and reflect on all the things you had, the things you achieved. When I look back, I feel grateful for everything I ever did in my life, the good and even the bad, because I learned a lot from past mistakes. Most of all, I am glad I did those things when I was young. It would have been tragic to have a midlife crisis and to start jumping up and down, head-banging at 40 years old. Anyway, this is Mike Patton, at 44 years old. 

Influences: Depeche Mode

I think the first ever Depeche Mode song I listened to was 'Everything Counts' from 'Construction Time Again' album 1983. I used to sneak into my brother's room and took his cassette tapes and listen to them. He had some cool British music and I just fell in love with Depeche Mode.

I was already playing the piano and when I listened to these artists making all sorts of incredible sounds using the keyboard, I was amazed. I wanted to make those same sounds but I had no clue how to. Every time I listened to DM, I tried to isolate just one sound and then, another sound and another. There were so many blends of sounds from one instrument, and the keyboard had its own melody, independent of the vocals. I just couldn't understand how they could produce something like that, or write music like that. It was intriguing and a mystery.

From there, I listened to more songs like Shake the Disease, People are People, and I just couldn't get enough of them. In Malaysia, we didn't get a lot of British exposure. On terrestrial TV, it was mostly US influence, there was Solid Gold but no Top of the Pops. I used to listen to BBC World Service just to get a glimpse of British New Wave. When I was old enough to have my own pocket money and able to buy things, I bought every single Depeche Mode Album there was in the music shop. I got 'Black Celebration' (1986), 'Music for the Masses' (1988) and 'Violator' (1991) which was their latest album at the time. I also bought their 'Singles 81 - 85'.

You know, even if you listen to every single possible genre in the world, there is always one genre that just represents you. It is like, it represents your soul, and New Wave does that to me. No matter what I listen to, whether it is Rock, Metal, Blues, Rap, Soul, Pop or Country music; it never quite 'get me' the way New Wave does. When I put on 'Depeche Mode' it just feels like I am at home, almost like it beats the same as my heart.

Some people say DM songs are pretty dark, almost depressive. I don't feel so. Listening to it, doesn't make me depressed. To me, it is mysterious with many layers. Every time I listen to the same song, there is always another layer, another perspective. I feel like the music is rich with tiny sounds and it is captivating. Sometimes, you need to really concentrate on those little noises. The lyrics too are intelligent. Another attribute of the band that attracted me were the many difficult issues addressed within the lyrics such as 'Get the balance right' and 'Walking in my shoes'. I get bored of love songs, I mean it is okay if it is a love theme from a movie, but Pop songs are all about boy meets girl, and girl meets boy, falling in love, falling out of love. I wanted more from lyrics. I wanted songs that meant something, that talks about life or failure of the system, without just using a lot of swear words. I wanted intelligent lyrics.

Shake the Disease (Live 1988)

Influences: Classical Music

My life has been pretty musical. Growing up, my mom used to sing every morning in the kitchen whilst making breakfast. Thinking about it, it did felt like I was living in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, without the Dwarfs (of course). She had an amazing voice and would just burst into a song, while she was cutting onions. She was a hard core Elvis fan, (hence, I knew most of the Elvis's songs) until she met Al-Arqam and started listening to all their Nasyids instead. Then, I was introduced to Nadamurni and the Zikr.

When I was in my teens, I was introduced to Heavy Metal and Blues; and the Subang boys used to get amazed by how I would listen to Faith No More, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Sepultura and that genre of music. Not sure why though, perhaps because most girls at the time was into RnB and Soul music. I guess what they didn't know was before Metal, my first experience was Classical Music. 

My father loved Classical music. It was probably the only music he ever listened to, apart from Andy Williams. He had this collections of Vinyl records, of Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi and much more. Therefore, from as far back as I can remember, Classical music was always there imprinted in my brain cells. My father was a workaholic and he hardly ever bought anything for himself except for a turntable. When he was seconded to IIUM, he hardly had time to listen to those records anymore. So, I was the one who made full use of it and would listen to all of it. When I showed interest in playing the piano, he promised he would buy me one after he returned from Hajj. At the time, I was around 7 years old. As promised, he bought me a piano after he returned and I started playing classical music instead of just listening to them. Sometimes, he would lie down on the sofa while I was practicing. Perhaps, entertained by my classical music playing. 

Then, in the early 1980s, my brother introduced me to New Wave and I fell in love with Depeche Mode and in the 1990s, I was introduced to Heavy Metal. I suppose, to me it was just another genre. I still love Classical music to this day and share this passion with my own kids. 

To me, music opens up the mind because you are not confined to one particular genre. There are so many possibilities. You can improvise, you can mix different songs together. The same piece of music can be played in so many different ways, it can be allegro or adagio; it can be different genre such as Johnny Cash's country version of Depeche's Mode Personal Jesus. 

Classical music is pretty technical. You need to play the right notes, there is the fingering, the tempo, the dynamics and everything has to be perfect. It has shaped me into the person I am today. Nowadays, I have sort of turned out a workaholic (like my dad) and hardly have time to practice the piano but I still do play sometimes, and encourage my daughter to play. Sometimes, we play together or I play, and she sings. 

Here are some of my favorites: 

Vivaldi - Storm 

Rachmoninoff's theme from Paganini in A minor Op.43 - in the movie 'Somewhere in Time'