By KEVIN TAN
alltherage@thestar.com.my

SEEING how Justin Bieber, Yuna, Zee Avi, and even Rebecca Black have made their way to stardom through YouTube, it’s not a surprise that aspiring artistes are now following the same path to achieve their dreams.

Two months ago, Laundry Bar, a live music club at The Curve in Mutiara Damansara, Selangor launched the YouTube to YouLive Sing Off, a competition for aspiring singers and musicians to showcase their talents through YouTube.

The aim of the competition is to raise the profile of the Malaysian music scene with a new and fresh platform for local musicians.

“We were completely surprised and overwhelmed with the response we received, and this reinforces the amount of talent here in Malaysia,” said Darrin Lin, Chief Creative Officer of the Chaswood Resources Group of Restaurants, which owns Laundry Bar.

“In the beginning, we received around 150 YouTube video submissions from across the country. This really shows that there is a lot talent out there.”

The best talent however, was ska duo Epy and Ardiv, who emerged as champions at the live finals in Laundry Bar last week. The duo is made up of Rafsan Elfee “Epy” Iskandar and Ardiv Johari, both members of local reggae band The Lefties.

“We feel thrilled! We never expected to win because there were so many good challengers in the competition. But we’re really happy that the judges decided to pick us,” said Ardiv Johari, 23, excitedly.

The live performances on the night were judged by influential artistes from the local indie music scene – singer-songwriter Reza Salleh, Pesawat frontman Hudzaifei Hazmi, a.k.a. Jipie, and Darrin Lin.

A cover of Bruno Mars’ The Lazy Song was performed by the duo, along with a captivating original called Temanku.

“The expectations we had for tonight was originality. Epy and Ardiv obviously had talent and originality, that was why they deserved to win,” said Jipie.

The Bob Marley-influenced duo lost themselves so much in their performance that even technical glitch on stage couldn’t put them off.

“They were in a class of their own and they were at a state of musicianship where they were good enough to just have fun on stage, which was infectious,” said Reza. “Although there was a short power trip, they recovered like nothing happened. That’s a sign of a good band. There was no question about them being the winners. They were tops.”

The Grand Prize winner won a total of RM5,000 in cash, RM1,000 in Laundry Bar vouchers, an AXL Badwater SRO guitar, and a chance to perform a “Live Concert” at Laundry on July 12.

“We’ll be using the money to record Temanku in a studio with proper production,” said Epy, who works at his brother-in-law’s law firm as a clerk.

Having written around 10 songs now, Ardiv said he hasn’t decided if he will be working with his father, notable producer Johari Teh, who has worked with big names such as Awie, Amy from Search and Ziana Zain.

“I want to find my own way and do it differently,” said Ardiv. “We’ve been working on Temanku for months now and he just heard it tonight! I’m surprised he actually liked it!”