Ronin was formed somewhere in 2002 or thereabout and I've always thought that if there was going to be a local band that would succeed, Ronin would be it. Not that they were the best band around or that I particularly liked them but their music just stood out from the rest. At a time where the Alternative Rock scene was slowly morphing itself into the oh-so-big (or maybe not-so-big) genre that we call 'Indie' today and Electrico was getting all the media attention, Ronin was quietly making their music behind the scenes. They finally released an album in 2005. How the sales turned out nobody really knows but it was good to hear a local band getting some airtime on local radio.
To people who know Ronin, they would probably tell you that the frontman, Levan Wee, was what drove their music forward. A wild looking albino who wores shades at any time of day (or night) was probably among the wildest singers you would ever see around here. Levan would rip his shirt off, he'd lie on the floor and gyrate in a way that I'd never seen before, even on videos. He would use vulgarities over the PA system after agreeing with the organizers simply because that was who he was. And then he'd innocently apologise to the disgruntled organizers after the show. That was what he showed his fans at the time.
I thought of Levan as a crazy guy. At some point I even found him an extremist, a posseur. I definitely saluted him as someone with intestinal fortitude because growing up in a society like ours, going against conformity is not as easy as we often think it is. But there was just something about Levan that never held well with me. Maybe it was the way he never made eye contact with the audience; maybe it was the way he spoke in a funny way (pls forgive me if he's got some kind of speech deficiency that I don't know about); maybe it was the way he gave me the impression that he didn't want to be approached. The list goes on.
Now with my weird mix of like and dislike for the guy, let's talk about the recent split. I am nobody to judge or even comment on his or his band's decision to part ways. Being in a band is a great commitment and there are many things that could happen. We don't know all that so it's not fair to say anything about it. But I would like to say something about is Levan's attitude at their final gig together.
Levan evaded the cameras from STOMP and while his former band were sporting enough to talk about the split, he wasn't. From the videos that are available on Stompcast, I would think that even the greatest fan of Ronin would have been utterly disgusted by their frontman. One would think that a last gig would invoke feelings of nostalgia, especially in a frontman. That certainly didn't happen for Levan. While talking to the audience between songs and thanking them for their support over the years in a totally insincere fashion, he let out sniggers and sounds that gave away his unhappiness. just before singing Black Maria, he said,"This song doesn't mean a thing.". Maybe he never realized that this was Ronin's no.1 track on the airwaves for some time. Or maybe he never realized that what he said could translate to Ronin's fans as "You suckers. Thanks for your support. We could have done without you. You thought that Ronin was so full of meaning? Well like I said you're suckers. Our songs don't mean a thing. It's bullshit. Thanks for subscribing to crap. Now we're done."
If that's what he meant, then he's wrong. Ronin did make some good music. In terms of style they were probably a classic rock/hard rock group, seething with an 80s aroma. Some songs had pretty applaudable lyrics as well. My particular favourite was 'Crazy Son', a slow ballad that every musician could relate to. Black Maria, in my opinion, betrayed Ronin's style a little, deviating from the feel of Crazy Son and Revoluion (which, incidentally, doesn't exactly suit Singapore's society but kudos to the good music).
Musicians would swear upon their mums that it isn't true and non-musicians probably wouldn't even care, but in the 5 years or so that Ronin were in the scene, they contributed a huge deal to local music. Who would have thought that a group of students would be able to pull the business a band off. Who would have thought that we'd be hearing songs by a local artist on the radio again (since Angel Of The Night by the Lovehunters abt 12yrs ago)? Ronin did it.
But who would have thought that one day Levan Wee would be living it up like a star and ending the life of Ronin with a rude whimper? Even I certainly didn't expect that.
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i was pretty shockied about the split too! i've quite liked ronin; would've never imagined levan was such an ass though.
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Hello there dude,
This is Levan. Apologies about the previous post, I was having browser difficulties argh.
Anyway I appreciate and respect your opinions on me.I'll freely admit that some of it is true, but many of them I could and will explain to you. I think it's really important that I do, so you don't have a misconception of me based on public image.
At the time that Ronin formed, in end 2002 I think somewhere thereabouts, it's true that the alternative 'indie' music scene was overwhelming. We never cared for trends or concerned ourselves with fad and played whatever we felt like playing, regardless of whether it was radio-friendly or not. I think that was what made us stand out initially. I DEFINITELY don't think we're the tightest band around, nor the best.
I don't wear shades at night. But as an albino, I wear them often in the day. Entirely due tot he fact that albinos have sensitive eyes in light; sunlight causes severe squinting. It's really like how a cat's eyes work. Night time is my best friend really :) Given a choice, I wouldn't be wearing shades, but I don't mind wearing them either. Particularly on stage, when the lights are exceptionally bright, they sting my eyes. Thus the shades, and thus the lack of eye contact. I would give a lot to be able to make eye contact with friends and fans from onstage, but I can't. Truly.
I have never torn my shirt off, because I have NO ABS and ZERO CHEST MUSCLE to show off heh :)
I cursed during our shows definitely, and have innocently acted oblivious to organizers. The reason why I did this is because I wanted to entertain the type of fans we wanted to appeal to ; which are people who are unafraid to challenge what is systematically fed to them without question. For me, I would rather play once FOR the audience, then to play nice to the organizers but leave the audience in a bore, or in a state of "I've seen it all before. Local music has no balls". It was always far more important for me to have the audience leave feeling that they can challenge what is forced down their throats rather than accepting things at face value. Oftentimes, the police would give me warnings during shows for this. I wouldn't have put myself into such a position had I not placed the audience on the highest respect ; giving them the choice of reaction.
I can't judge for sure if I'm a poseur or a fake, but I do know that towards my friends, family and people who I have spoken to, I have NEVER ignored them or given them cold and 'holier-than-thou' attitudes. Growing up, I had to face a lot of prejudice and discrmination because i was albino, because I was different. I would never want to inflict such hurt and pain onto others by doing the same to them. I am no better nor worse than them, and I would never show any disrespect to anyone who hasn't done anything directly against me. I'm not always nice, but I'm hardly ever nasty; unless that person is taking advantage of my friends or me. I'm a fierce loyaist when it comes to sticking to the ones you love around you.
I have a lisp, meaning I can't pronounce the letter 'S' accurately. I apologize if the way I speak pisses you off, but I've had it since childhood and it can't be corrected. I find it quite cute that the word 'lisp' has an 's' in it sometimes :) My friends tease me about it often but I don't mind. It's all in good fun :)
And most of all, the reason why I wasn't at the interview when my band mates were doing so. 1) I wanted to make the split clear, and definite, to the public. I didn't want to sell a false image to them and have them wonder if we were still together or not. 2) i was scheduled for a one on one interview with STOMP anyway, so I figured, it was only fair for the others to give their point of views without having me around to disrupt them. They could be more open, honest, and upfront about they had to say. If I was there at that time, it would be harder for them. I would rather they say their peace.
And at the last show, it WAS a feeling of nostalgia. Because when we formed in a garage back in the days, we were always laughing, and being totally ridiculous and NEVER taking ourselves too seriously. I apologize if the show bored you, but I feel that if we have entertained so many times over the many years, it isn't a selfish thing to make the last show like the very first one; chilled out silly fun. For me, it was nostalgia. It was our roots, our beginnings, BEFORE the media support and before the fans.
As for Black Maria, I meant it ltierally. Black Maria DOESN'T mean a thing. It means a lot to us as a successful song, and to our fans who dug it. What I meant was LYRICALLY, it doesn't refer to anything in particular. In the first two lines..
"I go walking, down a dead end street
Talking about things that don't mean a thing"
That's what I meant when I said 'It doesn't mean a thing!':) Literally.
Ronin was what changed my life the most. Without Ronin, I would be an awkward adult who never believed in myself. I love our fans and the friends we made along the way because these are the people, who in believing in us, allowed me to believe in myself.
Now the reason why I left was because I felt we had done the whole rebel thing, we had shared and shouted our message for years. And I wanted to move into a direction of writing music to insprie people directly; to create love not from animosity but from mutual respect. Ronin's music, while daring, was essentially about animosity and angst. As we mature and grow older, it's only natural to want to explore different avenues to get the message across. This was the difference in music creativity we had, though it wasn't animosity but mutual respect for each other's tastes (Don't believe the tabloids!). Also, the school tour we had organized was extremely draining; a total of 60 schools within the span of less than a year. I couldn't bring myself to go through that again. Another reason why I left was becasue I felt the drummer of Ronin, namely Bang, was not putting in his fullest effort to playing the best of his ability. Not that any of us are particularly talented, but I think it's VERY important to push ourselves to the best that we can for fans and friends alike watching us. Throwing drum sticks at your band mates during sets is not cool, and being a professional drummer who doesn't own his own drum kit isn't really showing your fans that you care enough to practice hard for them. But because Bang is steadfast friends with two other members, I didn't want a disruption in their friendship. At the same time, my best friend Sean, the guitarist, was comfortable with the music direction we were heading in. Thus, I felt it was best for me to leave and let them carry on their own ways. They have my FULLEST blessing, and I can only hope that Ronin fans will also support me in my new music undertaking.
Hope my explanation helps dude. I do hope that if we bump into each other on the streets, you say hi or wave and maybe we can share a smoke together or something. I would really love that. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your years of support, and for believing that local music CAN reach new levels. Without you guys, we would be NOWHERE. Though I have never met you in person, I truly respect your opinions of me.
Please know, though, that sometimes, a staged public image doesn't always represent who a person really is. I kept an image that made the music and band seem extremist, which consequently got us noticed which hopefully made people more aware of local music. Obviously I wouldn't want people to misunderstand my actions or words, but it is part of the occupational hazzard of wanting to make change.
So yup dude, say hi or drop a message or something. :) You can SMS me 94509294 or just email me at levan_wee@mediacorp.com.sg. :)
Take care, and nil sine labore (nothing without labour)
Love,
Levan Weeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!heeeheee
Yikes!
Sorry for posting again or if I'm flooding your blog!
Anyway,
I wanted to quit Ronin since last year, that's why I told some people early on. But I decided to give it a try a little longer because I knew it was important for Sean. He's been one of my best friends for 12 years, and I thought, hey, giving it a try for a little longer is definitely worth it if it helps my friend out.
Yup that's about it heh. Please help me spread the message to others who might feel the same way. it disturbs me greatly to think that Ronin fans might think we don't care. :S
Thanks again dude, sorry for flooding ur blog
Hi Levan
First of all I must say that I'm surprised you even got to reading my post. that being said, i really appreciate you leaving the comments that you did.
Firstly, about your lisp thing and wearing shades and all, it was just a passing comment and no it doesn't exactly piss me off so don't apoligise for it. It just somehow slipped into my little description of the frontman of Ronin and I do apologise if it was insensitive. =)
I cannot say how much I appreciate you coming out and 'explaining' stuff. To keep this post short, I'd just like to say that no matter how much I kept in my mind not to take an artist's public image at face value, I was guilty of that to a certain extent. Perhaps that's inevitable to people who don't know the band personally but what is sad is that most people don't.
The media doesn't exactly help much either. I'm sure you've viewd the stompcast videos and the way Levan Wee was portrayed just had 'ass' written all over it. And here's another sad thing: most people don't have much of a choice but to believe in the media wholeheartedly 'coz that's their only source.
I'm glad that you kinda made yourself clear out here. I wouldn't say that you've 'won me over' cause I was never a fan/non-fan in the first place. But you've defnitely balanced out the opinions in my head about you/the band; neutralized the pre-conceived notions brought about by the media as well as my personal feelings. So thanks. I can only hope that my blog and the comments that you left can reach as many people as possible.
Ronin was a band that I looked up to and I'm anxious to see what the rest of them will come up with. I must say I haven't really heard anything from your new band (missed the last tribute gig) so I'll be keeping my ears peeled.
Once again, thanks for your side of the story and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
Dom =)
Thanks a lot dude :)
If you're interested, some of Astroninja's new stuff is at www.myspace.com/astroninjaallstars . There's some completed stuff there but not much yet. I'm not sure what Ronin's been up to but I hope they're putting together something good!
I don't think everyone thinks that way, but for those who do, all it takes is to say a hi and talk some cock a bit. :)
The STOMP thing, well that can't be helped I guess. I did an interview with them lately and I think that it'll be posted up soon. Actually ah, I think I just talked rubbish during the whole interview. I didn't want everything to be so serious and uptight. Ronin was about the celebration of fighting for your freedom anyway. Hopefully you'll see it soon :)
Thanks for hearing out (or reading!) what I had to say. I shall go downstairs for lunch / dinner now haha! Feeling lazy today so I'm staying home to play XBOX360!
levan
From what I remembered, you said blogs were for people who had no lives. Welcome to the dark side. We have chocolate. ;)
HAHA! Yeah I DO remember saying that. I think I was referring to one of those hardcore blogger types that Xiexue or something. I have sold my soul to the dark side!
Anyway if you guys haven't done so already, watch TRANSFORMERS! It's a bit draggy but man, is Megatron kickass or what! He's like a Black Metal robot or something.
Man i never expected that I'd go and watch transformers, but since EVERYONE says its amazing.. looks like I'll have to grab someone to go along with me soon. =P
Haha yes the movie was inspired me to borrow my friend's VCDs of the classic Transformers cartoon 1-2; complete with bad animation but kickass voice acting! MEGATRON LIVES!!!! (but Galvatron was more kickass!)
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