Spotlight: Introduction to Tropical Hornbills

Written by Amal Murni

Tropical Hornbills is a Bruneian indie-psychedelic-experimental-”too punk to care, too indie to make an effort, and too cool for school”-band that was formed in 2015 in which started as a duo with Matt on vocals and guitar, and Andy on bass.

Kaleidoscope Gig - Instagram: @tropicalhornbills

The phrase “humble beginnings” is more or less relevant to how they began as they started out with just two guys jamming in an apartment and recorded some songs on the phone, which Matt had written and played. Along the way, they hired Theo, the drummer from Perfect Scums to help with some recording and mixing. Andy, the band’s bassist pointed out that the first song they recorded was a Drake’s “Hold on, We’re Going Home” cover which sadly, did not see the light of day (here’s hoping that they have the mp3 somewhere so we can listen to it).

In between 2015 to 2016, the duo kick-started their ever growing gig performances by signing up to random ones in which one of them was hosted by Kaleidoscope Studios. During one of their gigs, they performed at an event in iCenter for Kaleidoscope’s reopening with a secessionist on the drums who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of Perfect Scums and Matt who was playing a loop for a cover of Tame Impala “Yes, I’m Changing.” On the same event, a local shoegaze and dream pop band, Surf Vampires were playing that afternoon and that was the time they met their now drummer and lead guitarist, Akram and Limin. Afterwards, they got in contact with each other and decided to jam together in a studio to prep for their first gig as a four-piece at Rizqun Hotel.

Rizqun Hotel gig - Instagram: @tropicalhornbills

With the inspirations of Tame Impala, The Strokes, Hujan, Mac DeMarco and Arctic Monkeys, there is no wonder that their sound from their first EP ‘For Amber’ was sonically familiar and yet, new for the Brunei music scene. Last year, they have released their single ‘Masa’ which is a breath of fresh air and a fun track to sing along to as well.

Tropical Hornbills has been on the radar and quite active since late 2017 with the Big Jam, Hang and Hooked, Progresif's Locals Only and various collaborations with The Collective Arts Event. However, 2018 was their monumental year as it was the birth year of ‘Where’s The Gig?’ in which the band created. ‘Where’s The Gig?’ or WTG has a similar concept to Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist ‘Where’s Fluffy?’ endeavours that hosts indie bands or artists, even DJs to perform their crafts at a specific location that can only be found through coordinates or other whimsical ways that they have proposed. Though these, along with performing in Kuching, a Night of Awesome Music in Batu Bersurat as well as Miri, Sarawak in which Small Fish was recruited on synth were radical and fulfilling, there was one particular gig that was the cherry on top of their too-indie-to-care ice cream sundae; Borneo x Semenanjung gig in IntunNation, TTDI, Malaysia.

Borneo x Semenanjung Gig - Photo by Zaim

Tropical Hornbills’ bassist, Andy stated that in his opinion, the Borneo x Semenanjung gig was one of the most memorable gigs they played. It was the first time they played in West Malaysia and it was really eye-opening because the energy there was on another level. The other representatives of Borneo were Brunei’s Empty Wallet and Perfect Scums. They also shared the stage with the likes of Spooky Wet Dreams, The Filters, Jaggfuzzbeats and many more (shoutout to our team member, Zaim for putting the show together and Ze from Spooky Wet Dreams).

Another milestone for Tropical Hornbills was Indie Coco, an event organised by the frontman, Matt which was held in Miri, Sarawak. Bands from Brunei such as Hurricane Honey and Perfect Scums performed to start the joyous night, even Kuching’s very own math rock band, South China Sea came through with their face melting, gut wrenching performance. Tropical Hornbills who has become a five piece band was the second last to play and as a closing, Brunei’s solo musician, Aziz Harun took the stage and serenaded the audience for the night.