Introducing Our Judges

Adil Bin Johan

Adil Johan is an emerging performer who is in constant transition. 6 years of musical study in Toronto, Canada, has provided him with a diverse background in performance and production, ranging styles from jazz to hip-hop to avant-garde improvisation.


As a producer and saxophonist, Adil co-founded the live experimental hip-hop collective, Analog Input for 2 years following his departure from Red Pill Theory; an instrumental mixed-genre dance quartet. In both projects, he has strived to push the sonic boundaries of his instrument by incorporating effects processors and textural sampling with his saxophone.
On the side, he was involved in many club gigs in Toronto, performing in funk-soul bands such as Full Serve and Temporary Membership.


As a sessionist, Adil has recorded and performed with Malaysian R&B artist and producer Reshmonu, Malaysian gambus player and jazz veteran, Farid Ali, jazz pianist and vocalist, David Gomes, Indonesian trumpeteer, Rio Sidik, singer-songwriters Rendra Zawawi and Wan Zawawi, as well local trumpeteer and band leader, Eddie Wen. During mid-2007 to mid 2008, he was the co-producer and Musical Director for Hunny Madu, a live funk-soul-hip-hop songwriter that has performed numerous venues in KL, such as Bangkok Jazz, Alexis Bistro, the Wineroom, and Barblonde.



Mario

Mario is the band leader, main composer and lead guitarist for Psycho Anthem, a pop rock instrumental band from Kampar Perak. Along with Kok Hoe on drums and Ocu on bass, they formed Psycho Anthem (which formerly known as One Nite Stand) in 2006 and were constantly invited for gigs and events.

Mario started learning keyboard and organ since tender age of 4. However, he stopped his music lessons when he obtained his grade 8 and started his journey of exploring music by self teaching and practicing. When he was 15 years old, he started taking classical guitar lessons but it only lasts for 1 year before he switched his attention towards band music, which Beyond was his main influence. Later his musical journey went on with more great influences such as ACDC, Sam Hui, Deep Purple, Skid Row, Loudness, Dixie Dregs and Marty Friedman.

Mario is now actively involved in local music scene and just recently directed and organized a gig in Titanium entitled "Rocking & Busking 2".