By CHRISTINE CHEAH
alltherage@thestar.com.my
ETHAN Curzon and Yeoh Wai Hong, both 23, are part of a new generation of deejays that have been making waves in the local and international party scenes.
Curzon and Yeoh, who go by the name of B.A.T.E, played earlier this year at Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) and the FMFA pre-parties in Seoul, South Korea and Singapore. When they are not away, they are at Zouk and Lust KL on weekends.
B.A.T.E (an acronym for their former band name, Brains and The Eye) started when Curzon and Yeoh decided to throw a party for their friends back in 2011. The surprisingly big turnout led to them hosting one party after another.
“Everything happened so fast. We started with two evenings in a small shop in Subang (Selangor), moved to Palette Palette (Kuala Lumpur) a couple of times and the next thing we knew, we were playing in Zouk,” said Curzon who is of British-Indian-Chinese heritage.
In just two years, B.A.T.E has become well-known to partygoers.
Though talented, their path to success and fame has not been easy.
“When we first started playing in Zouk, we were scolded by senior deejays for making mistakes. Initially, when we played in Lust, the turnout was so bad,” said Yeoh.
Curzon, who graduated from Murdoch University in Perth, Australia with a degree in Public Relations eventually convinced the club to give them a weekend slot, and from there things started to pick up.
Deejaying is similar to acquiring any other skill, Yeoh said, and they learned through their mistakes and improved with advice from senior deejays.
“I think what sets us apart is that we do a lot of online research, a habit we picked up when we first played in Zouk,” explained Curzon.
Both of them spend at least six to seven hours daily downloading and listening to music to prepare for their weekly shows.
Apart from hard work, the duo is a winning combination because they get along well with each other.
“We never get angry with each other; we just click,” said Curzon.
They are not childhood friends, but were brought together by a shared interest in deejaying.
A mutual friend introduced Yeoh and Curzon two years ago, and they began exchanging notes on deejaying online as they were both in different countries. At the time, Curzon was still studying in Australia, but they got together when he came back a few months later and paired up to deejay.
It’s a journey that is just beginning, and they are excited about building their career together. “We plan to release tracks in the future but there is no definite date yet,” added Yeoh.
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