Mobile Rocker

Oon Yeoh  

Jason Lo – better known simply as LO – is many things. He’s first and foremost a rock ‘n’ roller. But he’s also a concert promoter (Rock The World), music label owner (Fat Boys Records), music producer (Disagree and Singletrackmind), online music consultant (musiccanteen.com), radio DJ (Hitz FM) and TV show host (Latte@8). He’s always shuttling here and there, living the mobile lifestyle. Is it any surprise that he’s also the owner of what he calls the “ultimate mobile device”? Want to know more about this? Read on…

MW: What’s your mobile phone?
A:    Mine’s a Nokia 6600.

MW: Why did you choose this phone?
A:    I was given this phone by Nokia. It wasn’t really an endorsement deal or anything. They just gave this to me and asked for permission to use my image in their website. I needed a phone at the time, so I said, “Yeah, why not”. In retrospect, I should have asked them for some money!

MW: What do you like about the 6600?
A:    The best thing is that I can record stuff on it. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, after dreaming about a song, and I’d quickly grab my phone to sing into it. “Doom pah, doom pah, doom pah… dah…dah…dah…” That way, I won’t forget the melody when I wake up in the morning.
 
MW: What else do you do with the phone?
A:    I take pictures, especially of my baby. I must have something like 300 to 400 pictures of my daughter, Keia, who’s six months old now. I don’t own a PDA so the phone is also my organizer. I’m totally dependent on it. I wouldn’t be able to keep my appointments otherwise.





MW: Are you gonna change phones soon?
A:    Well, I’ve had this for nearly two years now. So, yeah, it’s probably time for a change, actually. Maybe Nokia should contact me… ha…ha…!

MW: Are you web-savvy?
A:    I’m about as web-savvy as the average Joe. I know how to find and download stuff on the Net. I’d say I’m more tech-savvy than web-savvy. You have to be in this business.

MW: What other gadget do you have with you all the time?
A:    The PSP is my best friend. I am playing Tiger Woods Golf at the moment. I’m also playing Major League Baseball. World Tour Soccer is also great. But don’t bother with Coded Arms.

MW: When do you have time to play games?
A:    When I’m DJ-ing. Once the music starts, I play my games.

MW: Can you tell us about your special headphones?
A:    I have a pair of Bose Noise Cancellation Headphones which are excellent. They use some kind of military technology that cancel out sounds by playing the opposite waves as the sound outside. So, when you wear them, it’s absolutely silent. I use it whenever I’m in an airplane, so I can sleep or read in peace.

MW: Do you own an MP3 player?
A:    Of course, an iPod Mini. I have tons of songs in there. Just don’t ask me where I got them from.

MW: What kind of music do you like?
A:    I’m a big fan of classic rock. Guns ‘N Roses, Counting Crows, Whitesnake, Poison.

MW: Whitesnake and Poison… err… isn’t that more like corny rock?
A:    It is, but it’s stuff I listened to when I was 13. Back then, they sounded cool.

MW: Which local bands do you like?
A:    I like Disagree for obvious reasons… I produce them! Other local bands I like are Butterfingers, Transcendance, Love Me Butch and Pop Shuvit. I really like Zainal Abidin. His “Hijau” album, to me, is the best local album ever made.

MW: Why do you call your production company Fat Boys?
A:    My former partner, Nick Blasband, and I both have a tendency to become fat. I’m not that fat now but I can be from time to time. I yo-yo diet quite a lot. In fact, I have a special five-point diet that works wonders for me: i) no sugar drinks ii) no chocolates iii) no fried food iv) no eating after 9 pm v) no snacks.

MW: Does that diet really work?
A:    Yeah, if you stick to it. In England, I once tipped the scales at 103 kg. I had pictures of those days but I’ve burnt them all. When I went on my diet, I managed to bring my weight down to 82 kg in just three months. I was losing like 2 or 3 kg per week.

MW: Why did you name your new album The Fall?
A:    It sounds negative but it really isn’t. Sometimes you have to fall in order to learn some important lessons. It’s not a gloomy album by any means. It’s good ol’ rock and roll. I’ve incorporated all the production tricks I’ve learnt over the years and I’m really pleased with the sound.

MW:  What’s your dream mobile device?
A:    I think Apple will be coming out with Mac PowerBook G5 soon. That’s what I want. It’ll be the ideal device for me to work on my music on the road. I travel a lot these days… oh, I gotta tell you about the ultimate mobile device. I’m the only one who has it in Malaysia!

MW: The only one in Malaysia! What is it?
A:    A mobile stage that’s mounted on a truck. It’s ideal for touring in Malaysia. We can set up the entire stage, with lightings, in one and a half hours. A traditional stage usually takes up to six hours to set up. So, we’re much faster and not to mention cheaper. We rent it out for RM38,000 per night. It usually costs twice as much.

MW: Wow, how’s that business coming along?
A:    Great. We’re out every weekend and we’ve been to every state in Malaysia, and even to Changloon… do you know where that is?

MW: No idea, is it somewhere in Thailand?
A:    Close enough… It’s a small town in Perlis, near the Thai border. Yeah, we’ve been everywhere with this thing.