Founder of Projek Rabak, Rabak Lit, Khizanat and one of the stars in the Malaysian independent music scene, Mohd Jayzuan doesn’t need much introduction. He started playing music since he was 16 and his passion in music continues to evolve with his new campaign, Ipoh: City of Love and a new wave school, Sekolah Kreative Ipoh (Ipoh Creative School).
Jayzuan, now 36, has been actively involved in the local underground and alternative music scene. One of his bands, Free Love even signed with Sizzleteen Records, a New York based indie label. Up till today, Jayzuan has released an EP and two full length albums and has been featured in several compilation albums.
His main areas of interest are music, film, literature and youth culture. While he is currently one of the panel advisors for Cendana (a government initiative to support arts and culture), Jayzuan came up with an idea to have a campaign to promote Ipoh. After nearly two years of working with his team, Jayzuan finally launched the Ipoh: City of Love (ICOL) campaign with the goal to promote Ipoh as the city of love, early this year.
“Here in ICOL, we want to showcase Ipoh to the world. We want to document every bit of Ipoh: the people, the culture, the place, the food and everything in between. Ipoh is still lacking media exposure on what the real deal of Ipoh is, so ICOL is the media alternative to represent Ipoh in a pop way.”
One of the videos of ICOL includes an interview they conducted with Abe Yu, a skater who skates despite having both legs amputated when he was young. The video has gained interest among locals and also in the social media network. ICOL also has a few other interesting videos available on their YouTube account. Recently, the team uploaded a video of a rising young poet, Jack Malik reciting a poem at Ipoh’s iconic spot, Loken Market. The video has garnered interest because Jack was reciting it while sitting on a neon-stair in the middle of Loken Market.
While ICOL is an on-going campaign, Jayzuan also opened Sekolah Kreative Ipoh (SKI) with the intention to guide and help those who want to venture into the independent scene.
“Despite not actively getting involved with the scene, I met a lot of youngsters who are interested to start a band and be part of the indie-scene. Most asked me for the tips, the tricks and to seek advice on how to begin their foray into the scene. Hence I decided to open this school where I will share my experience, in the hope that it will not only encourage those who want to be in the scene but also to let them know Malaysia’s indie history,” added Jayzuan.
The class, held every Wednesday since early April at PeaceBeUponYou Store at Jalan Sultan Idris has received positive response.
“I knew it was going to be a fun class. And yes, it is indeed the coolest class I’ve ever attended! I didn’t expect to get that much input, but the class is far from your typical learning class. I love the random topics and the tips on how to DIY (Do It Yourself). I can’t wait to attend the next class”, said Farisah Aqilah, one of the student who attended SKI.
With no signs of stopping, his love of the independent scene is still shining bright. With Ipoh: City of Love campaign, Sekolah Kreative Ipoh and few other upcoming projects in hand, Ipoh Echo wishes Jayzuan and his team all the success they need!
Readers who are interested to find out more about ICOL campaign can do so by following them on Instagram at www.instagram.com/ipohcityoflove or twitter at www.twitter.com/ipohcityoflove or follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ipohcityoflove. Those who are interested to register for SKI can contact Deena Erissa at 012 503 9020.
Ili Aqilah
