Upfront and straight to the point, K-Town Clan are made up off three members who go by Roshan Jamrock, Big Bo and Dravid. They first came to fame after winning the national talent search competition BlastOff in 2005. Known for their energetic performances as their music style is perfect for massive parties and fiestas, these boys sure know how to get the crowd going.
Having been in the industry for more than eight years now, K-Town Clan are the only group that remained together and are still going strong after BlastOff. Throughout their musical career, K-Town Clan has shared the same stage with Mizz Nina, Joe Flizzow, Hujan and Pop Shovit. They’ve also shared the stage with international acts like Lil Jon, Fatman Scoop, Estelle, Demi Lovato, Backstreet Boys, 2NE1, Status Quo and many many more.
In the eight years of their career, the boys from Kajang have been nominated in 9 categories and won 5 awards — Best Hip Hop Group, Best Hip Hop Song, Best Rock Song, Best Genre Bender and Thank you for Existing Award (Highest Accolade) for the Voize Independent Music Awards 2012 (VIMA 2012). Roshan of K-Town Clan also won the Producer of the Year Award at VIMA 2013. In conjunction with Hype.My’s efforts of bringing people together through music and providing a platform for local talents, we talked to Roshan of K-Town Clan in an exclusive interview about the group and their journey thus far.
How did you guys first meet?
We all went to Kajang High together (Sek. Men. Tinggi Kajang). Vidya and I have been tight since form 1 and we got close to Ganesh when we were in from 3. It’s beautiful how music was what brought us together in the first place. Ganesh would stay back after school, he’d be studying in his class and Vidya and I would come by with my guitar. Many times his “study session” got disrupted and it was turned into a jamming session instead. Good times.
What has the journey been like since winning Blast Off ?
What else can we say? Its been amazing and if we could go back in time and change anything, we wouldn’t. All the highs and lows, at the end of the day we’re still together. Speaking of Blast Off, we’re the only group that came out of that competition who are still going strong. We believe that it’s because of the fact that we knew each other way before getting involved in the scene. We were not a test tube group who just got together for the sake of making music. We started off as brothers and then music came in the picture. We’ve been so blessed and have done things locally and internationally that some could only dream of and for that, we are truly grateful. We’ve always had this saying between the three of us, a mantra if you may, “Always stay humble”.
You describe your sound as Twisted Crunk. Tell us more about it and why K-Town Clan chose that genre?
We’re suckers for hard hitting 808’s and subs and before the EDM craze, there was crunk. It’s just pure hardcore energy. So we picked twisted crunk because we never limit ourselves when it comes to music. No formats. No rules. Check out “Give Em The Ughh!!!” on youtube.
If there is one thing K-Town Clan could change about the current local music industry, what would it be?
Peoples mindset. Not to take good Malaysian music for granted. We’ve got gems over here who can give a lot of “international” artists a run for their money.
What is the funniest/weirdest thing that has happened to K-Town Clan during an event?
There was this corporate event that we performed for. Halfway through the emcee of the event disappears and the organiser begged us to host the event and we were like “Hell No”. Then the CEO comes and pleads with us to save the event. After some hardcore negotiating, we did it. Funny thing is that Big Bo and Dravid actually had a hidden talent of emceeing an event. Totally not our ball game at all but we surprised ourselves in the process of doing it. Event went rather well when we took over. In other news, Big Bo once found a rabbit in a cage placed outside his home. It came with a rose and a letter. What was written shall always remain a secret. Creepy shit. Haha!
Tell us about your hit single Party Animal.
Once again, we’re blessed. It was #1 on the radio for some time and the icing on the cake is that it was #1 with songs from the likes of Pitbull, Maroon5, Flo Rida, Alicia Keys and more. Feels really good when something like that happens. Straight up K-town Clan type of song. Siempre Loco. If you haven’t already watched it, check out the official music video on youtube. We worked with 2 really talented gentlemen, Nicholas Mak and Akmal Subki who also go by 3minuteFlashback. Google them.
What is next for you guys?
We just kick started the recording for our 2nd album. As of now, we can only give you the initials, A.L.O.O.O. not the full title just yet. The first single from that album is called “Beautiful Life”. You should call up the radio and ask them to play it. Hehe.
If you could collaborate with a local artist, who would it be?
Too many to choose from, but if we had to pick one, it would be Malique.
Collectively as a trio, who would you guys say are the major influences to your sound and music?
Poetic Ammo, Kashmir Stones, Spider, The Keys, Cypress Hill, DMX, Wu Tang Clan, Limp Bizkit, House of Pain, Led Zeppelin, Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, Bob Marley, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, Young Bloodz, Nas, AR Rahman, Ray Charles and The Beatles.
What is the one thing that not a lot of people know about K-Town Clan?
We were originally called the Bigg Boolleez.
Thanks Roshan! We look forward to K-Town Clan’s new album!
Thank you!
Check out K-Town Clan on Facebook for more updates!
Here’s Beautiful Life by K-Town Clan!