We first heard their name when their rendition of Kriss Kross Jump conquered the ..1 spot on the Malaysian Hitz Top 10 charts for three straight weeks in June 2001. Then, came high-profile shows such as X-Rage (their debut live performance), their headlining slots at the Asian X-Games from 2002 till 2004 and Malaysias premier Rock fest, Rock the World 3, 4 & 6. The streets have been buzzin, fans have been rushing to the Internet to download Skaters Anthem, their first single of their debut album. Who the heck is this band called Pop Shuvit? Moots! (Vocals), Rudy (Drums), AJ (Bass), JD (Guitars) and Uno (Turntables) make up Pop Shuvit, a cross-breed of social misfits brought together by their love of making music, boppin heads and a common passion for X-treme sports. Pop Shuvit was created by throwing together a bunch of friends with different musical backgrounds from various musical genres that is evident in their eclectic hybrid of Hip Hop and Metal creating a somewhat surreal but tasteful blend of a style they label as Hip Hop Rock.

Pop Shuvit is not your ordinary rock band, all five band members have been doing their rounds within the local music scene. Rudy, AJ and JD were part of progressive-Jazz-Funk band, Watered Down and Moots! was emceeing in the early underground years of the Kuala Lumpur hip hop scene under the monicker Oriental Assault. Both Watered Down and Moots! were raked in to session for Malaysian Hip Hop act Poetic Ammo during a couple of shows in 2000 and the subsequent jam sessions that ensued between the foursome turned into songwriting sessions. The band then raked in UNO from Playaz Universe to provide that much needed vibe to complete what exists today as Pop Shuvit. The band recorded a demo of jump with renowned producer Greg Henderson and it was subsequently released as a single in 2001 by indie label Positive Tone. Pop Shuvit later signed with EMI Malaysia that same year and subsequently released their debut album in November 2002. Point from Poetic Ammo joined the band in 2001 but subsequently parted ways with the boys in 2003 due to commitment issues.

TAKE IT & SHUVIT!

The album was recorded on and off from August 2001 to July 2002 with Greg Henderson at Sychrosound Studios. Was it worth the wait? Definitely, the second single off the album Skaters Anthem was uploaded on their official website, www.popshuvit.net weeks before it was officially released and has since become one of the most downloaded local songs in Malaysian music history. The bands first four singles off the album (Jump, Skaters anthem, Slip Away and Conversations) have all topped the Hitz Malaysian Top 10 charts at .. 1 and their vid clips for Skaters Anthem and Slip Away have reached ..1 and ..2 respectively on the MTV Asia Boom charts. The music video for Skaters Anthem also nabbed Silver at the 2003 Cyberjaya Digital Video Competition in the Music Video category. The MP3s of Skaters Anthem and Jump has allowed the band to reach out to a larger audience globally too. The band was featured as Best New Artist of 2003 and 2004 Artist/Band of the Year on US based music resource website www.hotbands.com. To top off a great start to 2005, the boys nabbed Best Rock Act at the inaugural Malaysian English Top Ten Awards in February 2005.

Pop Shuvit also rerecorded a bilingual version of slip away with Malaysian Rock Icon, Ramli Sarip. This new version of slip away was released in the limited edition repackaged album and is titled Masih ada Cahaya. The 15-track album also features contributions from Shorti Star and Filipino nu-metal superstars Slapshock. Also check out the bands collaboration with Emmett of Malaysian rock heavyweights Butterfingers on Kaleidoscope.

Listening to Take it and Shuvit, one cannot deny the fact that Pop Shuvit comes off as a genuine bunch of musicians with a fervent belief in their music. And as theyre apt to point out, surface-level judgements just dont do them justice. With the likes of the Yasutoko brothers from Japan and Bunyalo Jumruang from Thailand representing ASIA at the ESPN Summer X-games held on August 14- 17 2003, so did Pop Shuvit from Malaysia. Pop Shuvit may not have qualified to represent Asia in Skate Vert or Park, but their music did. The bands ode to the skating community, skaters anthem, caught the ears of ESPN and the network licensed the track for use in their Summer X-games broadcast which hit millions of households worldwide. To top it off, the vid clips for Slip Away and Skaters Anthem (which features local Malaysian skaters such as Joe Ipoh and Pa Din) was aired on the big screens at the stadium and tracks of their debut album Take it & Shuvit was on the DJ playlist throughout the competition. This is an honor for Pop Shuvit as the the X Games showcases more than 300 of the worlds best action sports athletes and is the definitive X-treme sporting event of the year. Pop Shuvit was also given the honor of headlining the music stages at the Asian X Games from 2002-2004.

SHUVIT JAPAN

The band released their debut album in Japan on 20 December 2003 which topped the Shibuya Tower Records top 10 in just 3 weeks and was one of the top selling albums for Tower Records Japan in early 2004. The overwhelming support from the Japanese youth was through no promo whatsoever but through word of mouth and street buzz. The success of their debut in Japan has also led to the label releasing a remix album aptly titled The Shuvit Remixes which was released on 7 August 2004. The remix album, features remixes by renowned global remixers DJ 19 (Japan), TDR (Belgium), MOLD (Japan), Shiloh (Canada) and even Pop Shuvits own JD and UNO.


HERE & NOW

Hot off their headlining slot on the music stage (which incidentally the band helped organise) at the Asian X Games 2004 and their much talked about opening slot for Incubus during the Malaysian stop on their Megalomaniac tour, the boys spent the rest of 2004 honing their song writing skills and hit the studios to record material for their sophomore set. The end result, titled Pop Shuvit:Here & Now, is a hard-hitting social commentary of urban culture. On tracks like Old Skool Rocka and L.I.E.S, Moots! Rants about the displacement of urban music in the local music industry and lack of guidance for urban youth today. This verbal fire power is complemented by JDs ferocious guitar riffs, AJ and Rudys grinding rhythm section and UNOs tasteful beat juggling, Not to worry though, the band has not gone all serious on us as moshpit anthems such as put em up and here & now show that the band still knows how to have fun. RapCore or RapRock as it is know by most, is essentially a hybrid of Hip Hop and Rock. On this album, Pop Shuvit showcases their hip hop side with club ready hits like I Got tha Flow and Journey. Incidentally, the only two collaborations on this album are on the hip hop heavy tracks with California based emcee, ZION (featured on Linkin Parks Reanimation album), and Canadian underground emcee, Vandal, dropping rhymes on I got tha Flow and Journey respectively. The latter track also features smooth vocal harmonies by Zain from local R&B favourites, Ruffedge.

Production of the album was once again helmed by renowned Australian producer Greg Henderson along with the Shuvits very own JD. Even band mate UNO had a hand in tweaking the knobs as he produced and arranged the interludes on the album. We have become a very different band. Its not just about the music this time around says skinman Rudy. The band has recently set up its very own partnership, SHUVIT MANAGEMENT that will handle music publishing, management, production and even a clothing line! Yes, the boys are making a move on the fashion industry too. The band set up its UNKNOWN APPAREL clothing line in December 2004 and the first batch of T-shirts are already available at Kiddult Streetwear and Fhobia klik Gallery at Sg Wang Plaza (3rd and 6th floor respectively). We want to turn Pop Shuvit into a brand name thats not only synonymous with music but also other facets of urban culture says frontman Moots!. This goes to show that the band is not merely your run-of-the-mill band but is slowly and surely evolving and building itself into a business empire.

Band Members:

Moots! (Vocalist)
Rudy (drums)
JD (Guitarist)
AJ (Bassist)
Uno (DJ/Turntablist)