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So your bio says you played at London's Plastic
People. How did you land that gig?
Well it was really a bunch of (my) friends who were organising
some parties there. They knew the bosses there and they
asked me to play. I was really just in dorms with them
and they were DJing and stuff. It was when I was in university
at UCL. This was at
Commonwealth Hall. There was a guy called DJ Harry, from
Subclub, he plays there every Friday night. But it's moved
now.
What did you study?
Civil Engineering.
Is that what you do now?
Right now I'm a salesman selling floorboards. Sort of running a small business. It's called Forma Decor.
How's that going?
It's OK, we just started it; it's picking up. Wood flooring, we do it for houses and offices, so if you guys need any wood flooring, please, come to
me!
When you were there from '95 to '98, did you ever think Plastic People would become
as well known as it is now?
No, I never expected it to be, I mean it was a very dingy small club. The dancefloor was the size of this place (Bar Savanh's patio) and there was a
small bar at the back where you squeeze in and everyone was basically off their faces, you know. It was a great time, people were really up for it.
You don't play out much. Why?
Number one is basically I got work and two, I used to play quite a bit last time, a lot of house and all that, but I found in KL in general there was a
lot of house coming in and I wanted to try something new. I've always liked a bit of jazz and a bit of rock and I just wanted to play some different
stuff. But you know there's not so many openings for that kind of stuff, so I'm just grateful Kenneth and Callen gave me this job (playing at the
Green Room Festival), you know.
What's a typical set like?
I kind of like to start it a bit slow, depending on the time, but generally pick it up. It depends on the kind of music I play. If it's house then I start slow,
keep it mellow, just build it up. It depends on the crowd, you know. If the crowd enjoys it I'll just keep it going, keep it pumping. At the tail-end, I'll
just play something that's quite a bit different but it's a very personal touch. It could be totally
different in feel from house. I could break it down to a bit of trip-hop breakbeats or even
a bit of just vocals. A very slow number, you know.
How did you get involved in DJing locally?
I came back (from studies in London) in '98 and I knew
some DJs around and I was asking for slots to play. A
friend of mine, Prakash, gave me
this slot; that was back in Heaven. It was in a building opposite Beach Club, I think. Callen was working there, so he caught on and struck a chord
and he gave me some further openings, you know. I hooked up with Tempo and after that I was basically freelance. But I used to play with Tempo
regularly at Echo and all that. This was before Movement. We had a night called The Usual Suspects every Wednesday, I remember.
How did you start your own business?
Basically my family is in property development, so I came about a business opportunity and I thought I wanted to start something on my own, you
know. Before that I was working with this consulting company, which I thought was OK but I wanted to start something on my own.
The essential question. What is
a Rokamawa?
Yea, I get that question a lot. Basically it used to be somethg I said when I was really young. I used to be called DJ Ken Tai you see, and I thought
that was a bit Ah Beng. [Goldfish interjects here: Ken Tai is cool man, Ken Tai is wicked!]. I think it came about from me looking at Japanese
cartoons a lot and I used to say "Rokamawa! Rokamawa!".
I don't know what cartoon it was, but it just came to
me one day. Ken Tai was an OK
name [ed: Kenny Tai is also his real name] but I like something sort of obscure and it just came to my mind.
It has no meaning, it's just something I thought sounded punchy and good, you know.
Anything else you'd like to add?
Not much, really... keep rockin' on!
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on this feature
-Words and imaging: Joon
Thanks to Rokamawa and Farrell!
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