Jumero, playing like it is

BROTHERS Jared and Micheal Lim, together with their neighbour and friend Ryan David Gomes, make up the local indie band known as Jumero.
Formed in 2012, the band has played in countries like Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and China, as well as some of the biggest music festivals in Malaysia including Urbanscapes 2012 and 2014, Guinness Amplify 2014, Redang Island Music Festival, Indie Penang, and Good Vibes 2016.
We caught up with Jared and Micheal recently to talk about their musical journey thus far.
(Ryan, who plays the drums and percussion in the band, sadly, was unable to attend the interview.)
The lads from Puchong admitted they never took their passion for playing music seriously, until after graduating college.
Now they wish there was more support for the local music scene.
With audiences inundated by the latest top 100 global hits on the radio and online, it's no wonder the local music scene seems lacklustre in comparison.
Sharing their experiences performing in other countries, they revealed that the people of South Korea hold huge respect towards music in general, recognising it as a form of art.
The lads recounted the crowd in Korea as being one of their more livelier audiences.
"They're more enthusiastic and open to new music. It's just their culture," said 27-year-old lead singer Jared (far right), who writes the band's songs.
"When we were there, even [a busker] got massive crowds, even if he just sang this one track, very average, but like massive audience!"
Younger brother Michael added: "In Korea, a lot of them want to go out and listen to new music.
They don't care whether it's in a different language.
"If it's good music, then they would listen. If it's not good, then they leave.
It's as simple as that."
However, the brothers acknowledge that these days, more Malaysians are starting to pay attention to locally produced music.
To those wanting to show support for local bands, the brothers say that the best way to discover new acts is still through just attending gigs.
Michael explains that most people who attend their gigs are friends of the people in bands performing alongside them.
There are also fans who are there to watch one act, and end up staying around to watch other bands, that they eventually form an interest in.
"I have met, maybe, one out of 50 or 100 people who go there and have no idea about the band, and actually just want to listen to new music," said the 24-year-old bassist.
While local bands are still struggling against a preconceived notion that anything Malaysianmade is inferior in quality, there are signs that the situation is changing for the better.
For example, at the 2015 launch of Jumero's debut album Stepping Stones at a local watering hole, they had anticipated a turnout of 150, but ended up drawing a crowd of
500.
Now, they are hoping to replicate this success with the launch of their second album, which they are currently working on together with local music producer Ananth Kumar
from Sonic Soul.
Unsurprisingly, the band first met Ananth during a live music event in Kuala Lumpur in 2014, which featured several local bands and Canadian nu-reggae band Magic!.
"We met him [again] through other musicians after that, and then [at] a jam session that goes on at Waikiki [Bar in Petaling Jaya]," said Jared.
Together with Ananth, Jumero has already released the new album's first track, Love Bomb, on YouTube and Spotify.
Jared added: "We dug his input, and the song turned out.
The next song [we will release] is Dancing with the Stars, and we'll release another one, but haven't decided which yet.
"We're going to shoot a music video and everything [for Dancing with the Stars]."
Seeing all the hard work these talented young men are putting into making their dreams come true and to bring their music to the world, we wish them all the best in whatever the future holds for them.