Sexliesandradiohead » 2009 » March | The UnXpected thoughts and scribbles

Dear boys and girls,

It has been quite a journey for myself and the band. We’ve been in Wala Wala for a while and it’s our SEVENTH year. I have to say that this is the most kick-ass gig I’ve ever had, where the band gets full control over the kind of music we play. Many years in the entertainment business, I have played in other joints that simply just want us to play what the crowd wants, especially if it’s on top of the charts. We maintain our stand; if we don’t feel the song, we probably won’t play it. And yes, we also like to try to make our repertoire a little different from the other bands that play the same places we do, to give the crowd a choice. You can choose to go to a radio-friendlier gig, or you can choose to come to ours, open your minds up about music and let us feed you stuff you don’t get on radio anymore. If you come regularly enough, you’ll know that we DO slip in quite radio friendly stuff, just to keep the balance.

Where else can we play Killing in The Name of, Master of Puppets, and totally get away with it?

Thank you for being an awesome crowd, for bringing your energy to our gigs.

I made a simple announcement at Wala tonight, which got totally lost in the crowd as certain members of the audience were very rowdy and were kinda rude. Guys, I’m not a singing machine, I’d like to have a chat with you sometimes during the gig, just to get a good feel that you are WITH us during the gig.. but anyway..

So here it is. I will be taking a journey for 9 weeks (26th April to 28th June 2009) in Los Angeles, USA, to get certified as a Bikram Yoga Teacher. I often get asked this question, ‘What do you do during the day?’ I guess you guys are curious about whether I have a day job. I have been a full time musician almost all of my music journey, with the exception of a part-time waitressing job in between my last gig somewhere else and the beginning of The UnXpected.

My answer these days, when posed the question, is ‘I practise yoga.’

I have been practising Bikram Yoga for a year now, I have to say it has been the most amazing thing that I have committed myself to. Never has anything made me want to learn so much more, my main passion as far as I can remember has always been just MUSIC. I now have yoga, and it has helped me in so many ways I cannot begin to tell you. Beyond the physical benefits, I have learned to find a balance in my life. I started doing my research about teacher training since mid last year, committed myself to almost daily yoga practice and am still learning, everyday.

The Bikram Yoga teacher training will take place in LA for 9 weeks. Certification is required for anyone who wishes to teach Bikram Hot Yoga. It is an intensive course where we practice yoga twice a day (sweat bucket-loads) and the rest of the day is filled with lectures, tests and posture clinics. The only day of rest we get is Sunday. I am not, I repeat, not going on a holiday! I am going to do something that I know will help me spread the benefits of something that has moved me to take the leap into sharing this beautiful, lifetime practice with others. I want to come back a good yoga teacher, and I want to come back to do more music as well. I want to have that balance in my life.

Please be assured that I WILL be coming back to my gigs. During this 9 weeks, the band will be carrying on with the many replacement singers that we have lined up. Of course it will not be the same, but we seek your open-mindedness in checking out how The UnXpected can be a strong band backing up any singer we put on that stage. It is going to be a challenging time for them, and they will not be able to do it without your support.

The past 3 months have been quite a scary ride for me, juggling the gigs with the preparation for training. Some nights I get about 4 hours sleep before I wake up for yoga. I am trying my best at the gigs so that we will not disappoint you, we know you pay good money for your night out, we know you want to have a good time, as do we. There are some nights when I simply am losing it, but when I see you guys pumping your fists in the air during the crazy rock numbers, dancing along to the fast tracks and singing along with any song, I know it’s all worth it.

You may check out a little about Bikram Yoga at http://www.bikramyoga.com/

This is a full on thing I have committed myself to. You may compare it to like, well, me furthering my studies. The fees (some uni students will agree with me here) are killing me, in fact, I honestly have a bit of a financial difficulty regarding the fees, the daily expenses and my flight there. Some of you may ask, why do it when you don’t have the money? Because I believe now is my time, and I believe that if you might understand why this yoga is so important to me, you would be behind me in any way you can. Most importantly, I would appreciate your well wishes

If you feel that you might be able to help me along, in any way you can think of, or have any creative suggestions, please email me at info.shirlyntan(at)gmail.com

There has been a suggestion about holding a one time ticketed gig to help me along, but we’ve been so busy I am struggling to find time to sort out a date before I leave.

I will be booking a flight for 25th April, which makes our last gig before I leave 24th April at Timbre (Substation).

Thank you for reading, it’s kind long, I know. I could go on longer about Bikram Yoga, but I shall stop for now. More updates will come along.

I am grateful for The UnXpected for saying yes to my decision to take this 9 weeks off to go to Teacher Training. On behalf of the band, I’d like to thank each and everyone of you who come to our gigs, sharing your wicked energy with us, night after night.