Edëlhëid's Journey of Musical Exploration, The Spirit of The Melodramatics!

Edëlhëid [full lineup] & Mijan

Edëlhëid @ Rexona Bandkuest

Mat - Drums

A-powl - Bass

Jhaleel - Lead

Rafiq - Rythem

DrRude - Rythem/Vocals

Putra - Vocals

Early Years & The End of The Melodramatics

The story of The Melodramatics began in 1994 when Dzul joined Namong to play guitar at his house in Kuching, Sarawak. Here Namong taught Dzul how to play the guitar & after about a month, the two lads become more serious about forming their own band. Dzul began to write lyrics and Namong went to compose the music. Songs like "At the Playground, Too Much, Dinosaurs against Technology" and "Sick Machine" which was written by Dzul (better known as DrRude) mark beginning of their career. DrRude mentioned the plan to his classmate Putra (fomerly known as Cheese) and everything just fell into place, with Tate (Namongs brother) on drums and Doug on bass joining in, The Melodramatics were born.

After having a firm and steady grip as one of the best performing class band in 1996, the tides of time begin to change. In early 1997 The Melodramatics turned into a forgotten shadow of their former self, and only jammed with an incomplete band lineup. One of the main reasons for this downfall is the upcoming exam (SPM/STPM) in that year. But still the two classmates DrRude and Cheese went on writing lyrics, playing and making music. In the year 1998, the band was greatly shaken when the drummer Tate had to leave and then followed by Doug. The members who were still active are Namong on the lead guitar, DrRude on guitar/vocal, Willie (replacing Doug) on bass position and Cheese on occasional backing vocal duty.

Then luck seems to shine upon the band when DrRude picked up Punx Speedboat and his brother Terap to replace Tate and Doug, but the year has many more twists and turns for them to overcome. This was proven true for The Melodramatics when their singer/songwriter DrRude had to further his study at Johor Bahru, their lyrics man Cheese continued to UNITAR and one year later Namong packed his bags too and went to Kedah. For those who had followed the band progress this was like the final nail in their coffin, it signaled the end of The Melodramatics in 1999. With the main members leaving, Punx and Terap went to seclusion and lived their personal life as they did before their recruitment into the band.

A New Hope, The Sounds of The SkaMina

Unknown to his former band members, Dr Rude contacted Cheese and told him that he was still active and that he had started to compose music without Namong. To DrRude surprise Cheese told him that he had also kept on writing even though the band was inactive for over 2 years. From that day, a small spark of hope glowed in the darkness of the future for The Melodramatics. During their journey, they were greatly influenced by the sounds of Bob Marley, The Beatles, Green Day, The Smiths/Morrissey, The Shadows, and other 60s/70s bands at the beginning of their era. It's hard to define what genre of music that The Melodramatics played.

1999 was celebrated with the first raw demo for the band (by simple recordings made by DrRude and Cheese in a blank cassette) released with 10 tracks inside. In 2002, Punx Speedboat returned and with DrRude started the change of The Melodramatics music style into Ska. The song Ska of Love is the starting of their Ska beat. This transition of genre lead to the first change of the band name into The SkaMina. But truth be told, before that song (Ska of Love) DrRude already composed a number of Ska music for songs like Don't Go, Universe Come and Memory of The Heart (the three lyrics written by Cheese). In May, DrRude gave life to a catchy melody written by Punx Speedboat a voice with easy thinking lyric, DrRude just need 10 minutes to write what would be later named Linoleum Of Life song.

Late 2002, songs like Candle of Mine, Hell Knows, KFC, and Osama Bin Laden were added to the new list of the lovely Ska tunes played by the band. Early 2003, DrRude got a phone call from his band mate Cheese in Kuching about the future of their band, the revival of The SkaMina. By now there's only DrRude, Cheese and Punx have decided to stay. Even with the news of the active return to music by The Melodramatics, there was still no sign from Tate, Doug, Willie and Namong coming back to their previous posts. The vision of DrRude and Cheese for the new lineup is to produce a real EP/Album, with the huge collection of new and old songs that they have.

The SkaMina + The Acoustics = The Supreme Tomato Furries

Cheese discovered The Acoustics who were once active in the Kuching music scene by word of mouth of a mutual friend. He set up a first meeting with the band drummer Mat and then the lead guitarist Jhaleel, with the both of them showing interest to join the new SkaMina lineup and being active again. So on that fateful day in 2003 two members from The SkaMina (DrRude and Cheese himself, Punx left because of other priorities) and The Acoustics forged a friendship that would later become the basis for The Supreme Tomato Furries (TSTF). After adding Rafiq (also from The Acoustics) as the rhythm guitarist and A-powl on bass, TSTF has succeeded in reviving the spirit of The Melodramatics that DrRude and Cheese fought so hard to maintain.

The lineup for TSTF were Putra - Lyrics & Vocal, Mat - Drums, A-powl - Bass, Rafiq - Rhythm Guitar, Jaleel - Lead Guitar, Muttz - Second Rhythm Guitarist/Backing Vocals, Sam - Second Bassist, DrRude - Song & Lyric Writer. Having a strong band lineup, TSTF paved the way for the premiere debut of The Melodramatics music to eager listeners. First by joining Lord of the Bands 05 with a successful live PROMO performance at the Open Amphitheater. They were also given the chance to perform at another live show during UNIMAS Open Day Expo 2005 a few months later. The boys made such an impact that they were given the privilege to do another welcoming performance for the VIPs closing ceremony.

The Edëlhëid

2005 was a busy year for the boys (now calling themselves Edëlhëid) when Silas, the frontman of Evenstarr encouraged them to join Rexona BandKuest 2005. Eager to make up for their performance at LOTB 05 they all agreed to join. Bringing on an arsenal of original and cover songs (comprising of Fallen Angel, Sun, Misirlou and a Kings of Leon cover Molly's Chamber) they finally proved that they have something special in their music. Breezing through the auditions and semi-finals, the boys didn't even think that they would be in the finals after surprisingly being one of the top 10 bands for the audition and semi-final run. With a minor change in the band lineup (now including Toppoy replacing his brother A-powl on Bass) after being in the shadows for so long its time to celebrate the first Battle of the band trophy that they earned.

It has been a long road for the boys... with members coming & going and other priorities. 15 years have passed since The Melodramatics first debuted. Now with the support of the local indie scene, they will most definitely be around for years to come. Viva La Kuching Indie Rebel! Viva La Local Scene! They are now in the process of re-recording their previous raw demo and hopefully be able to release their full EP titled "The Melodramatics, Then & Now" by mid 2009.

Sun


Fallen Angel