Keeping Track with Hameer Zawawi: Of wayang kulit, epic songs and traveling the world

After touring in Europe and in the States for a lengthy few months, Hameer Zawawi returns to the local scene better than ever, with a full band under his wing and a new MV for his single “Deaf Ears“! So journey with us through the mystical world of this Malaysian singer-songwriter in the video below!

The music video for Deaf Ears pushes wayang kulit to another level with fanciful backdrops of moving sceneries. It is a video with a tale that adds even more depth to the already profound lyricism of the track. The video is directed and edited seamlessly by M-Don, and brought to life by the puppetry of Jes Ebrahim and Izyln Syahnaz. In the process of making the video they consulted Nasrul Nasir of Muzium Adat, and have gotten positive receptions from the wayang kulit community.

 

Hameer’s first work was his first album “National Fantasy” in 2016, consisting of 8 tracks which were all self-produced by himself. The debut album captures the acoustic origins of Hameer Zawawi within the Malaysian independent music circuit, and he had gone on on tour in 2017 to promote “National Fantasy” internationally in Germany (Cologne, Berlin, Leipzig), the UK (London, Brighton, Glasgow) and the USA (Los Angeles, Anaheim, New York City).

With Plug Out the Machines, Hameer Zawawi stumbles upon new found maturity in his production and songwriting with epic songs such as Deaf Ears. Ashwin Gobinath (from the band Nadir) played a huge role in inserting the dramatic layers of the album. Find out more about the album here.

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Deaf Ears and the journey so far!

Hameer talks to us about his religious upbringing, a family bonded to music by blood (Hameer’s siblings are Rendra Zawawi and Kaiyisha Zawawi aka KAI) and his transition from an acoustic performer to a full-fledged band. He also gets into detail about the concept behind the “Deaf Ears” MV- and it is not an ordinary love song.

As of today, Hameer has begun his Cambodian tour, from the 7th to the 12th of June 2018, making stops at Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Kampot! With “wayang kulit” being quite the Southeast-Asian form of traditional cinema, Cambodia is historically one of the major birthplaces of shadow puppetry too hence his week-long tour there!

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