"Suresh and Friends" was formed early in 2004 and has already made its mark in Backyard, playing on Mondays and drawing a following by their laid-back style and blend of easy-listening pop, rock and R & B.

They comprise of Suresh, as manager and lead vocalist, Ramesh on lead guitar and backing vocals and Benji on keyboards and vocals.

This trio was formed in April 2004 and played most memorably at the Cosmo Lounge in Hilton KL Sentral. They will be returning to the Cosmo Lounge in November 2005 for a three month long stint.

Suresh & Friends have also made regular appearances in Waikiki (PJ), Finnegan's Pub (Bangsar) and occasionally the Backyard Pub.

PROFILE: SURESH KUMAR G.
Lead vocalist and manager
Hailing from Penang, Suresh experience in the entertainment field has spanned over two decades and he is well known in local music circles.

EARLY ACHIEVEMENTS: Among Suresh's notable achievements with his former band Artstream were the release of two Malay Albums in '88 and '89 respectively. The first was self-titled and the latter was entitled Laluan Rindu.

The band was also the runner-up at the Pesta Muzik Kingsway organised by RTM which was televised live and the winner of the Kuala Lumpur Song Competition where a total of 128 artistes and composers took part.

The band was also the opening act for Lea Salonga at the Greener World Campaign Concert organised by Carlsberg at the Putra World Trade Center.

JINGLES:Suresh produced a corporate jingle for EON Motoria that was widely used over the radio and also aired at all EON Motoria's sales premises. He sang both the English and Malay versions.

Other notable jingles by Suresh include The Shangri-La Hotel Jingle, Kurnia Insurans Jingle (the 16th Commonwealth Games Sponsor), The Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel Jingle, Pantene Shampoo Jingle, MOCCIS Insurance Jingle, Pampers Diaper "It's a Beautiful Morning" Jingle and most recently for the International fast food-franchise McDonald's extensive TV campaign.

EXPAT BALLS: Suresh and his Artstream Band was the first ever Malaysian band to perform at the Malaysian, Australian, New Zealand Association (MANZA) Annual Ball in May 1997. Artstream received such overwhelming response that they were deemed a permanent fixture for their evening's itinerary for five years running!

Following the success at the first MANZA Ball, Artstream secured two other major 'expat' events i.e. the highly successful Australian High Commission New Year Eve's Ball in 1997 and the "George Washington Ball" for the American Association of Malaysia (AAM) in February 1988.

Artstream also performed at the "Canadian Association Thanksgiving Ball" held at the Shangri-la Hotel in October 1999. Attendance at the events were between 600 - 1200 pax each.

PERFORMANCES:Suresh was also involved in the launch of the very first Malaysian Aids Awareness Campaign in October 1996, where he performed the Aids Awareness theme song Rayuan Insan 'Live' in the Bukit Rajah Parade foyer.

Suresh performed as back-up singer for the local recording artiste Lost Souls. They were the opening act for the internationally acclaimed rock group Bon Jovi at the Shah Alam Stadium some time ago.

Suresh also sang at the American International Assurance (AIA) 50th Anniversary celebration where AIA's new logo was unveiled in early 1999. The then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohammad was the guest of honour at the launch.

Recently, Suresh sang the patriotic song 'Timor Leste' marking the East Timor Independence day. Suresh sang all four versions of the song in:- English, Bahasa Indonesia, Tetun (mother tongue of the timorese) and in Portuguese. The songs were aired both on radio and TV in East Timor.

2002's Merdeka Day eve celebration was marked with the performance of Suresh singing with local diva Miss Ning Baizura at the Yacht Club in Putrajaya. The Ambang Merdeka performance was delivered on a floating platform on the lake, the first of its kind that won the organizers Carlson & White, International recognition as well as a prestigious Award!

The year 2002 came to a close and Suresh with his band members (Artstream) brought the curtains down at the Colmar Tropicale courtyard (Bukit Tinggi) with over 500 party revellers!

TV SUCCESS:Starting 4th of January 2003, Suresh was featured as a guest performer in the first of three segments in our local TV entertainment programme Hiburan Minggu Ini on RTM2. The 'Live' broadcast was hosted by the local songstress Miss Dayang Nurfaizah. Suresh and Dayang performed the ever classic song Seiring dan Sejalan as a duet.

Other than HMI, Suresh was also featured in RTM's Malam Pahlawan.

The year 2003 ended with a gala performance ushering in the year 2004 at the Grand Plaza Park Royal Hotel in Penang.

2004 began on an important note where Suresh was among the star-studded line-up of recording artistes featured at a farewell dinner honouring Malaysia's former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad and his wife YB Tun Dr Siti Hasmah held at the Merdeka Hall, PWTC. The entire Malaysian Cabinet was present. Suresh was featured singing A. Rahman's infamous Tamil song Uyirin Uyire from the blockbuster movie Khaake Khaake.

With the success of the previous year's HMI programme, RTM has continued Suresh's active participation on its programmes by featuring him on their Valentine's Day Special on February 14th 2004 and also on the annual Senandung Muhibbah (RTM & RTB) telecast live on Oct 10th 2004.

In 2005, Suresh was again chosen to perform at the MANZA Charity Ball 2005 held on May 14th at the Hilton KL and he performed with Suresh & Friends.

He also recently was invited to perform alongside renowned recording artiste Francissca Peter at the annual KIWANIS "Anugerah Ibu" event at Sheraton Subang. The event coincides with Mother's Day celebrations and honours outstanding mothers who have spent their whole life taking care of handicapped or the less fortunate children.

PROFILE: RAMESH KANDASAMY
Lead guitar and backing vocals
The latest addition to the trio, Ramesh embarked on his guitar playing career back in 1990 as a hobby by playing at weddings, parties and small outlets.

Eventually in 1993, he followed his fellow musician's footsteps and left his hometown Taiping, Perak, for KL.

Ramesh started playing the club scene with the band "Paint It Black" and within a two-year span, he eventually was hired by renowned sitar player Samuel J. Dass to perform on his Indian and Western fusion road-shows all over Malaysia over a two year period.

Ramesh moved on to join the quartet Flag whose other members were Vijay David, Phillip James and Maniam.

Aside from performing, Ramesh also is a qualified guitar tutor and has worked with CK Music (Jalan Imbi) and Chambers Music (Plaza Bukit Bintang) for three years, during which he also produced jingles as a studio musician.

In 1995, Ramesh joined Bala & The Blitz and performed at numerous clubs all over the Klang valley and was also featured on the band's debut album released in 1996.

Ramesh's credibility as a guitarist took a leap when he was propositioned to join the iconic band Alleycats in 1997. Ramesh's career with them lasted seven years before the opportunity to join Suresh & Friends came along in December 2004.

PROFILE: RASULL SOON BIN EBRAHIM SOON AKA BENJI
Vocal and keyboards
Benji is a versatile and talented musician/performer with many years of experience to his credit.

He was until recently an arranger and jingles composer for the reputable music productions studio Betarecs here in K.L.

Benji can claim credit as being one of the many sought after composers on the Internet with his works being included and sold by Industrial Sound Works Inc. based in California, USA.

He goes by the name Bluemonk and has his own website. He has also contributed music composition to local films and has worked with major companies in producing their corporate songs.

Benji never sets limitations to his work and has a broad preference in music styles that range from New Age, Electronic, Psychedelic, Pop, Experimental (just to name a few), topped with influences by the likes of Vangelis, Jan Hammer, Emerson, Lake& Palmer, Doobie Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Beatles, Deep Purple, Thompson Twins, Pet Shop Boys, Tangerine Dreams, Kitaro, Alphaville, Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons Project, and the exceptional Yes band.

(Updated: Sept 20, 2005)
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