Israel Houghton (pronounced, hoh’-tin) (born May 19, 1971) is an American Christian singer and worship leader, mostly known for his cross-cultural style of Christian music that fuses elements from gospel, jazz and rock. Houghton is usually credited as Israel & New Breed and currently signed to Integrity Music. Houghton is a worship leader at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.
I went all the way to Jakarta to see him in concert but he came to KL finally after so many years. It was a tour together with Planetshakers team from Australia. Well here are some pics :
Sum 41 is a Canadian Punk Rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of members Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Tom Thacker (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason McCaslin (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Steve Jocz (drums).
In 1999, the band signed an international record deal with Island Records. The band released their debut album, All Killer, No Filler in 2001. The band achieved mainstream success with their first single from the album, “Fat Lip”, which reached number-one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and remains the band’s most successful single to date. All Killer No Filler’ was certified platinum in the United States, Canada and in the UK. The band has since released four more studio albums: Does This Look Infected? (2002), Chuck (2004) Underclass Hero (2007) and Screaming Bloody Murder (2011).
The band often performs more than 300 times each year and holds long global tours, most of which last more than a year. They have been nominated for seven Juno Awards and have won twice (Group of the Year in 2002 and Rock Album of the Year for Chuck in 2005). Sum 41 was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for the song Blood In My Eyes, however they lost to the Foo Fighters.
Their show in KL Live Centre was simply crazy and energetic. Not to forget the cussing all the way. Anyway here are some pics that I shot :
Well last week was Earth Hour, I was with some friends at PUblika KL. We went to have some drinks and as we were walking around we noticed that it was Earth Hour. They were some bands performing at the outdoor stage and also lanterns being released. I took some portraits and the lanterns that was released on that day. Here are some of the pics :
Last weekend, a bunch of friends decided to meet up and walk around KL streets to get some pictures. It has been a long while since the KL Flickr meet up has happened. A few of us came and we went for a short photo walk. Here are some pics from that day :
I will always love Kuala Lumpur, many say that there is nothing in the city to shoot but I always have new things to take pictures of when I am there. Kuala Lumpur is just perfect to me….
These past few months, KL has been privileged to have many talented people especially, YouTube sensations. Last year KL saw the appearance of AJ Rafael, Clara C and the Jayeselee twins.
Early this month, I was so happy to meet another person, she is one the earliest singer songwriters that I have been following on YouTube. It is non other, the amazing and talented Kina Grannis. According to Wiki :
“Kina Kasuya Grannis (born August 4, 1985) is a guitarist and singer-songwriter from California. She is half Japanese and half English, Irish, French, Scottish, Dutch and German. In 2006, Grannis recorded and self-released two more albums, One More in the Attic and In Memory of the Singing Bridge. In early 2007, she recorded “Ours to Keep” written by Rachael Lawrence and Deborah Ellen. This song would be featured regularly on General Hospitaland was in an episode of the ABC Family’s mini-series Samurai Girl in September 2008.
On November 14, 2007, she created her YouTube account and began posting videos of her songs online. Her first video, “Message From Your Heart,” was entered into Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest. The contest, which she won, landed her a contract with Interscope Records. Her YouTube videos have received more than 77 million views and have propelled her to become one of YouTube’s most popular personalities “
Some of her well known hits are “Valentine”, “In Your Arms”, “The Way You Are” and many amazing covers by artists. She was even featured on the Ellen show for her video that featured Jelly Beans.
Anyway here are some of the shots I took of her when she was performing live at Wisma Bentley auditorium.
I am also very thankful to Soulmanna Live for giving me the opportunity to be the official photographer for this concert.
Early this month I had the chance to visit China, not one of the main cities but Guangzhou which is the capital of Guangdong. it is also known historically as Canton or Kwangchow,is the capital and largest city of the GuangDong province. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about 120 km (75 mi) north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port. Guangzhou is the third largest city in China and southern China’s largest city. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 12.78 million.
The reason for me being here is due to my office advertising department had their team building seminar here. Since its a foreign land, I always never fail to explore the city and take pictures. Guangzhou is also bustling city that is constantly growing. The Pearl River is one main gateways for import and export trading happens between China and the world. One of the sights we visited was the Four Ram statue, shopping/ pedestrian street which are shopping havens. Anyway here are some shots I took there :
Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur, is an urban place where many old buildings exist in the midst new development. One such street is called Jalan Sultan ,which is home to some amazing colonial buildings and also many business. Recently the government has asked the people in this area to evacuate for the development of a MRT project. Hence there was an event to create awareness of sustaining an important area in Kuala Lumpur.
A bit bout the project from their official FACEBOOK page :
“Pre-war shoplots on Jalan Petaling & Jalan Sultan, some of which are more than a century old, are at risk of being demolished to make way for an underground MRT line. Acquisition notices were also served to business owners, which came as a shock because there was no prior consultation or correspondence from the government. As a result, a famous Malaysian tourist landmark known all over the world is now in danger of having its landscape changed forever.
Most of us here have been here for decades, some close to a century even. Generation after generation, we have toiled, worked and preserved this place and made it into what it is today. Soon, Yook Woo Hin where KL residents will fondly remember stopping by for a ‘pau’ or Chinese steamed bun on the way to school, Kwong Fook Wing the tailor who made coats for many notable dignitaries and the quaint and rustic Lok Ann Hotel which has been in business since 1957 will be no more.
We are not against development, in fact the MRT line will make it even easier for foreign tourists and Malaysians alike to visit Jalan Petaling & Jalan Sultan. We are however against the arbitrary acquisition of the property where we’ve been operating our businesses in for years. The line runs underground anyway so we do not see why the acquisition exercise is even required in the first place. We just want to make a living here in this place we quite literally call home.
Please help support our cause to raise awareness about our plight! “
Anyway here are some pictures that I took during that night :
Well, I hope that the country will know the importance of sustaining old building to ensure peace and harmony among the people in the area.
Yup its been ages once again. I need to update more stuff since I have my own domain now…Anyway to cut things short and straight to the point, another YouTube sensation was in KL two months ago. He is none other than, the talented AJ Rafael . AJ started posting on YouTube in 2006, and has since gotten over 300,000 subscribers and over 73,000,000 hits. His well known hits include I just Want You, Emma Watson, Red Roses and many more. This concert in KL was part of his Red Roses tour. Here are some of the pictures I took :
Well that is all for now and I have more posts coming up.
I have always been a big fan of musicians. Be it local or international, I look forward to meeting good and talented musicians. One of my first concert was when I traveled to Singapore by myself, just to watch a Norah Jones concert. Since then I have been to Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia to watch concerts. Jakarta especially as I always go for the Java Jazz shows.
Besides concerts, the YouTube artists are the ones I am so crazy nowadays. For the past four years or so, I have been watching various people on YouTube making amazing music (not forgetting cute pandas sneezing, two small girls singing Nikki Minaj, etc) has been part of my YouTube watching regiment. There are a few amazing artists that I would not miss, people like AJ Rafeal, David Choi, Dallas Green, WongFu Productions, Kina Grannis, and my FAVORITES are people such as Jayesslee, Clara C, Cathy Nguyen and also the amazing Andy Garcia.
Well thanks to our a good friend from a local radio station, I had the amazing privilege of meeting two of my favorite acts. Namely Jayesslee and Clara C. I am gonna feature some pictures and videos that were done when they were in town during their concert and also at the studios performing. Firstly Jayesslee, the twins are from Australia, they rose to fame after singing on YouTube. The song that made well known was “Officially Missing You by Tamia”. You can find them HERE
These is a short excerpt of their biodata from a FAN PAGE :
Hi! We’re Janice and Sonia, yes we really are twins. Same hair, same face, we’re similar in many ways yet once you get to know us, you’ll find that we’re different at the same time 🙂 We are 24 years old, born and raised in Sydney Australia. Both our parents are Korean, so we are able to read, write and speak the language. We have always shared a passion for singing and now, we are both pretty set on pursuing music. Just want to say a ma-HASSIVE thank you to all our subscribers and supporters. We don’t sing to be rated, but every comment, message, rating and subscriber has made this journey for us all the more rewarding!
This is their first video they posted :
This are pictures I took of their performances in the studio and during their live concert :
Also this was the video shot by me and Reuben, edited by Jin of hitz.fm :
Well, that was for the twins, and yesterday was another wish came true for me as Clara C was in town as well. I was so happy to meet her, not only she is talented but this girl is super down to earth. Here is something about Clara taken from her website:
Having been a closet musician most of her life, Clara has only recently revealed her talent to the world. In a short period of time, she has won prestigious competitions such as Kollaboration 10, ISA 09: Los Angeles and the KAC Media Creative Juice Night. Clara has just begun to capture the hearts and minds of the music community worldwide. Her quirky charm, creative ideas, unlimited instrumental and vocal talent has allowed people to see Clara as the next big singer/songwriter. Clara’s music can best be described as a synergy of folk/pop/rock sound that when blended together creates a unique experience.
She has performed at renowned venues such as The White House Dept. of Education, Hollywood Bowl, Shrine Auditorium and more where she performed for crowds of up to 18,000 people. Clara’s debut album was released on September 24th, 2010 to a sold out crowd at the Hotel Cafe venue. Look for Clara as she tours throughout the year promoting her debut album, The Art in My Heart.
Well here some the shots and also a video done by the same crew. She sang one of her new singles called, “FISH” :
Here is the video :
Well one thing I have learnt from meeting this artist is, they are so down to earth, that really makes me want to keep on doing what I love doing and be passionate about it. They are so well known and yet you can talk to them like they are your friends. I think a rise in the YouTube artist is very eminent in these coming years. So look out for that upcoming artist that you knew from your high school, or even your neighbour.
Prakash Daniel Photography 