IT IS only one of the biggest gigs it has ever had, but local rock band Estranged are still relaxed a week ahead of the MTV World Stage “Live in Malaysia” concert.

The idea behind World Stage is to have the same concert or music festival beamed to every MTV channel around the world every Friday night, meaning millions of people, from different continents and speaking different languages, will all get to enjoy the same concert and world-class performers from the comfort of their sofas.

So far, World Stage has featured some of the greatest, most popular acts of our generation, including Coldplay, Metallica, Amy Winehouse, Franz Ferdinand, The Kooks, Snow Patrol, Kaiser Chiefs, Korn, REM, Duffy and more.

But come Aug 15, Malaysia’s very own Estranged will add its names to that list, and the band members didn’t seem fazed at all during an interview with R.AGE recently.

That is because for the four laid-back band members – Andy, Rich, Din and Hanafi – there’s really no point worrying when you can just chill and have a laugh about something.

“When I see Doug Robb (Hoobastank lead singer), I’m gonna tell him he looks like Deco, the Chelsea footballer!” said drummer Andy, laughing away with his bandmates.

“Don’t you think he looks exactly like Deco? I don’t care if he doesn’t know anything about football, or ‘soccer’... I’m gonna tell him.”

Lead vocalist Rich, on the other hand, was almost comically clueless, especially with his innocent comments on how the concert will be taking place tomorrow at Sunway Lagoon’s Surf Beach pool. He had no idea the water at the Surf Beach would be drained out for the concert, and R.AGE had to politely break it to him.

“Oh.. I thought there was going to be water! I was watching the earlier concerts on TV and there were these massive crowds, so I was wondering, ‘how’re we gonna get that kinda crowd if there’s water?’,” he said, while his bandmates took the mickey out of him.

Local band Estranged will be performing at the MTV World Stage in Malaysia.

But of course, that doesn’t mean the guys aren’t serious about the gig. Having started out like any other local indie band, Estranged had to work its way up from playing bad gigs and getting lousy pay to be where they are now, so no one is taking things for granted.

Back in the day, the guys would play clubs and bars where their only audience were the other bands playing the same night, or worse still, the bartender.

But even through all that, the band stuck to its dreams and the guys kept playing their punchy, powerful rock tunes to whoever that would listen.

“We’ve been there, done that. Ups and downs are normal for a band like us. The way we see it, you need the experience, and you have to start somewhere,” said guitarist Din. Lead guitarist Hanafi added: “It was always one of our targets to play to an international audience. We dreamt about it, but we know we have to put in some hard work to make these things happen.”

And if you need proof of that, just a week before appearing on the same stage as Kasabian, Hoobastank and the All-American Rejects, Estranged was playing a gig in Batu Pahat, Johor.

No offence to the folks down south, but World Stage is, after all, a worldwide event.

“Even until today, playing gigs like Rock the World (local rock festival) feels like a big achievement for us. But World Stage is on another level, so we don’t even know what to say. We’re just really excited,” said Rich.

Nevertheless, the guys are keeping their expectations simple. “We just hope the crowd will be jumping to our music, and to make Malaysia proud,” said Andy.

He added that the people’s words of encouragement haven’t gone unnoticed.

“It’s just great to see stuff on the Internet saying ‘Estranged, do us proud!’, you know? And I think some of them might not even be our fans! They might just be proud Malaysians hoping to show the rest of the world our local music scene. Five to 10 years ago, I think people would probably be like, ‘Malaysian band? They’re a waste of time!’,” Andy noted.

Being one of the biggest acts on the local music scene comes with a burden of responsibility to represent the music scene as well, especially with the current mainstream vs indie music debate going on.

“The debate is not important to us. We know a lot of people are talking about it, but music is music. Whether it’s indie or mainstream, people should just do the right thing – which is promote the whole industry,” said Din.

Rich added: “We shouldn’t see our responsibilities being a well-known band as a burden. We should be proud. We’ve waited for chances like this all our lives. It should be an honour.”