Noh Salleh of gigantic homegrown band Hujan is considering hanging up his guitar and microphone, after 10 years in the Malaysian music industry, a string of hit singles and albums, and a bevy of awards and critical acclaim.
He revealed his ruminations on retiring from music, ironically enough, at the media preview party for his latest single, ‘Angin Kencang’. This seems to follow the recent decision by his wife, urban pop songstress Mizz Nina, to don the Islamic hijab and to scale back her own musical endeavours, culminating in her deciding to only perform in front of female audiences.
“I’ve been giving some thought to retiring,” Noh said. “Nina’s been subtly hinting that I should, too. But she understands my situation, and I know where she’s coming from.”
The rock star understandably has a lot to leave behind, with almost a decade in the music industry and a major band (and a side project, Da Vagabonds) to lead.
He added, “I’ve been doing this for so long, this really become my craft and passion. So, maybe what I can do for now is to scale back on music.”
Noh denied that Nina is pressuring him to quit against his own wishes. “Nina’s never forced me to quit. As far as her own decision to quit music, I fully support her. Anything she decides on will get my support. She’s shown signs of not wanting to be involved in the industry so much anymore, and I totally respect that.”
After eight years helming Hujan to massive commercial and critical success, Noh will be releasing his solo project, a mini album containing five songs, most of which were inspired by his loving wife.
“Nina is my inspiration. Besides her, my journey with Hujan also influenced the direction and sound of my solo project. Nina’s heard all the songs that are going into my album. She likes them. She’s been by my side every step of the production process.”
Photo: Azhar J / Flickr
Story: GUA.com.my
