When alternative folk singer Guba plays to Malaysian audiences, the locals stand and clap politely while the tourists get up and dance.
The Westerners âget the vibeâ of Gabriel Robert Rawantasâs songs, which will help in his performance in Oz Asia Festival in Adelaide next month.
The unusually named âGubaâ, was nicknamed by his brother-in-law and the singer âdecided to go with itâ when he signed with Laguna Music in Kuala Lumpur.
He says he is really excited about his Adelaide performance, which is first official Australian show, which will be with a full band in the Space Theatre.
Guba was discovered two years ago when he was 27, after looking for a studio to start recording the more than 60 songs heâs written. He says it was âkind of a dreamâ.
You might like
âI wrote my first song when I was 13, but I didnât complete it.
âI donât care about popularity, being an artist Iâm more into whatâs fulfilling me, and I love song writing⊠itâs not just a hobby; itâs something I am really passionate about.â
In 2011 he released his first song, âYou& Meâ and his first album Hilang last year and says while he tried not to always write about love he âcanât really get around itâ.
Subscribe for updates
There is a cultural difference in the appreciation of the Sabahanâs (a region of Malaysia) music.
Heâs performed in Australia before, even trying his hand busking in Melbourne, pocketing $90.
âIn Melbourne they were listening to my songs and I was just playing, maybe the second song, there were people dancing, there were teenagers standing, clapping, dancing while I was singing and performing.â
Guba originally wrote all of his songs in English, until his record company told him he needed to write a few Malaysian songs to appeal to his home country audience.
His influences were also English-based; growing up listening to UK music, like the Libertines, The Who, Oasis and Coldplay as well as being âa really big fan of Silverchairâ.
âGrowing up I remember when I was little my dad used to play vinyl records [like] Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and The Beatles and my sister would play Mariah Carey.â
Despite being his first language, he says it is more difficult to write songs in Malay than English.
âI spend a lot of time writing Malay poems, and experimenting with Malay because I donât want it to be just another Malay song.
âI try to keep similar approach with English songs, but I have to admit itâs a lot more difficult writing songs in Malay because the vocab is filled with specific words.â
Guba is playing September 13 and 14 at 7pm in the Space Theatre as part of the OzAsia Festival. Tickets here.
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
Free to share
This article may be shared online or in print under a Creative Commons licence