Zoul (2)

Born 17th November 1961, Zulkipli Mohamed, Zoul, as he is known widely in Singapore, began his career as a musician in 1982 performing gigs with bands in clubs and pubs all around downtown Singapore. He joined legendary group Kembara where his brother M. Nasir fronted the band and went on to record and produce with them 3 albums, Hijrah 1404 (1984), Duit (1985), Kembara Seniman Jalanan (1986). Zoul then moved on to another famous band at that time, Sweet Charity, as the guitarist/vocalist in 1986, performing concerts in Singapore and toured Australia the same year. He later formed a duo called Tenggara with his childhood friend and came up with the album Spektra in 1993 before embarking as a solo recording artiste with his self-titled debut Malay album in 2000. His solo debut album gained good reviews in both Singapore and Malaysia as one of the promising act. The song "Kau Yang Bernama" (Insan mulia) was nominated for best song in the Anugerah Planet Musik 2001 (a regional music award) and "Mula Di Antara Kita" (co-written with Ab Rauf) was awarded for best lyric in 2001 by Majlis Persuratan Singapura. In 2004, Zoul came back with his highly charged second solo album "Di Celah Gigi", featuring "rock" as the album concept with singles Di Celah Gigi and Tiada Lagi Dusta. In Di Celah Gigi, the fusion of rock and nusantara elements in songs such as "Belerang Merah", " Jiwa Yang Tenang" and "Seri Mahkota Hati Nurani" are highly distinctive and dominating. Strong, powerful and mysterious lyrics can also be found in Layar and Belerang Merah, both written by Kuci Kuci, another talented Singaporean singer/songwriter. Other songs in the album include "Esok Tak Bertemu", "Malam Nanti", "Dia", "Seri Mahkota Hati Nurani" and "Siapakah Aku". This album went on to receive award nominations for best album in Anugerah Planet Musik 2005 and the Anugerah Industri Musik 2006 ( Malaysia ). Between 2006 to 2011, Zoul spent most of his time writing, recording and producing albums for various artistes and bands such as Zynal, Raven, Ito Blues Gang, Jaffar Haron and Sound Salvation. The highly anticipated Zoul’s 3rd solo album titled "Salam Cinta" was released in 2012. Considered to be a celebration album, he featured and collaborated with Singapore’s finest, new and established artistes, bands and musicians such as Art Fazil, Hanafie Warren, Man Toyak, Olynn Saleh, Aryan Band, Sound Salvation, OrkeStar Trio, Hamid BDB, Talib, Malek Malex, Rony ( Tribe ), Qamar Baba (Gendum ), Razak Mamat , Khuzairi Supari, Mansoor Mohamed, Al Hafiz Jamat, Ibrahim Paul, Al Jawaher and Riduan Jalani. Songs such as Salam Cinta ( featuring Olynn Saleh ), Seberang Sana and Selekoh ( featuring Art Fazil ) made their way as singles releases prior to the album’s full launch. Other songs such as Hidup Segan Mati Tak Mahu ( featuring Man Toyak, Talib & Malek Malex ), Aku Masih Di Sini ( featuring Aryan Band ), Di Sebalik Tabir Cinta ( featuring Olynn Saleh ), Damai ( featuring Sound Salvation ) and Magrib di Khatulistiwa ( instrumental featuring OrkeStar Trio ) underlined his intentions and profound interest in collaborating with other artistes. Two new versions of tracks taken from Tenggara’s Spektra album, Siti Payung ( featuring Hanafie Warren ) and Selinga Bicara 6 Tali Besi ( acoustic version ) summed up the whole album . Konsert Belerang Merah “ZOUL” in Febuary 2013 solo concert highlighted his works that spanned almost 3 decades followed by the Kembara Reunion Consert in March 2013.