{"id":912999,"date":"2026-07-04T23:45:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T23:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/912999\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T23:45:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T23:45:24","slug":"inside-hujans-20-year-rise-how-a-malaysian-indie-rock-band-turned-enemies-into-insiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/912999\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Hujan\u2019s 20-year rise: How a Malaysian indie rock band turned \u2018enemies\u2019 into \u2018insiders\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 \u2014 Hujan\u2019s recent 20th anniversary concert drew 17,000 fans to the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil, but the milestone also reflected something less visible: a band that has evolved into a shifting social ecosystem where fans, critics and collaborators frequently swap roles over time.<\/p>\n

Consisting of frontman Noh Salleh, guitarist-composer AG Coco, drummer Azham Ahmad (Am) and bassist Izzat Uzaini, Hujan is widely regarded as a cornerstone of Malaysia\u2019s independent music scene.<\/p>\n

But its most unusual legacy may not be musical; it is social.<\/p>\n

When rejection becomes part of the story<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI would get annoyed whenever I saw Hujan\u2019s name on a lineup, up to a point where it got hard for me to catch my own favorite bands live,\u201d avid gig-goer Syawal Zainal told Malay Mail.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old freelance audio technician was once firmly outside the band\u2019s orbit, frustrated by the sheer scale of their early gig draw.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had a huge crowd, and these fans tended to come early and wait until Hujan showed up later in the evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got fed up because there were just too many people. Every time my friends asked me to go to a gig that had Hujan, I would just say, \u2018f**k Hujan\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Hujan XX: 20th Anniversary concert last weekend saw 17,000 fans flocking to the National Hockey Stadium. \u2014 Picture by Arif Zikri <\/p>\n

The Hujan XX: 20th Anniversary concert last weekend saw 17,000 fans flocking to the National Hockey Stadium. \u2014 Picture by Arif Zikri<\/p>\n

But the frustration was not isolated; it was part of a wider phenomenon shaping Malaysia\u2019s late-2000s indie scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember a show at MCPA Hall where I couldn\u2019t even get inside despite having a ticket because the place was packed. I only managed to reach the main door,\u201d Syawal recalled of the time he attended gigs during his high school years.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, it was normal for organisers to sell tickets well over venue capacity just to make money.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecurity and safety measures at local gigs weren\u2019t anywhere near as good as they are today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

What began as resistance would later become participation.<\/p>\n

The Myspace era<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Raingers<\/p>\n

Raingers opening up a surprise \u2018happy anniversary\u2019 tifo during Hujan XX: 20th Anniversary concert. \u2014 Picture by Arif Zikri <\/p>\n

Raingers opening up a surprise \u2018happy anniversary\u2019 tifo during Hujan XX: 20th Anniversary concert. \u2014 Picture by Arif Zikri<\/p>\n

Hujan\u2019s rise coincided with Myspace, where early indie bands built audiences without traditional industry structures.<\/p>\n

The band made full use of the platform \u2014 releasing demos, announcing gigs and building direct fan engagement that translated into packed venues nationwide.<\/p>\n

In that same digital environment, Syawal created a parody Myspace page featuring the words \u2018F**k Hujan\u2019 embedded into the band\u2019s iconic umbrella logo after a suggestion from a friend.<\/p>\n

A friend later suggested turning it into a page.<\/p>\n

What began as a joke quickly gained traction online, attracting attention, backlash and thousands of interactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just doing it for fun, without expecting anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t post any hate messages or anything like that,\u201d Syawal said.<\/p>\n

The backlash eventually spilled into real life, culminating in a 2008 Johor gig where chants of \u201cF**k Hujan\u201d forced the band off stage after one song.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like nobody likes Hujan songs here,\u201d frontman Noh Salleh was heard saying in that 18-year-old video clip that later went viral.<\/p>\n

When the system turns<\/strong><\/p>\n

Syawal eventually moved away from the page and, over time, his perception of the band shifted.<\/p>\n

Today, he works as part of the live music technical crew and eventually landed a job on Hujan\u2019s XX: 20th Anniversary concert in Bukit Jalil.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter knowing them for some time, I actually told Am about the Myspace page and my involvement, and surprisingly he was relaxed about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me that the domino effect from that era actually humbled them and taught them a lesson.<\/p>\n

\u201cReflecting back, it was just our childish intuition taking over. We weren\u2019t expecting it to blow up, but Hujan did well on their own. Twenty years later, look where they are now. A huge congratulations to them,\u201d Syawal said.<\/p>\n

The Raingers as infrastructure<\/strong><\/p>\n

If Syawal represents reversal, Hujan\u2019s hardcore followers \u2013 known as Raingers \u2013 represent continuity.<\/p>\n

The fanbase behaves less like an audience and more like an operating system.<\/p>\n

For Arif Fahmi Mesri, known as Cikai, that devotion began with a six-hour motorcycle ride from Melaka to Kuala Lumpur in 2007 just to catch a short set.<\/p>\n

\u201cAG was really kind enough to have me that day and he actually remembers me from our time in Melaka and gave me a place to crash,\u201d the now 38-year-old said.<\/p>\n

He later lived at AG Coco\u2019s studio for years and has since attended close to 100 shows.<\/p>\n

\"Poji<\/p>\n

Poji (second from left) posing with Hujan members. \u2014 Picture courtesy of Fauzy Ramly <\/p>\n

Poji (second from left) posing with Hujan members. \u2014 Picture courtesy of Fauzy Ramly<\/p>\n

Cikai\u2019s six-hour kapcai journey has also become a legendary tale at almost all Hujan shows; including the latest where Noh was heard giving him a shoutout on stage.<\/p>\n

For others, the bond took collective form.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am who I am today thanks to Hujan \u2013 from the course I took when I was still studying to my career in the creative industry now is all because of Hujan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I didn\u2019t know them back then, I think I would have become a mat rempit now,\u201d said another Rainger, 33-year-old Fauzy Ramly who goes by the nickname Poji.<\/p>\n

A community that protects itself<\/strong><\/p>\n

For fans like Sofea Leiyana, the experience was defined by care within the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were like a family. If anything happened during the gig, like if you fell down or anything like that, the senior members would pick you up and they would protect us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever the crowd would begin to mosh or surge, older Raingers would help escort us to the safety of the front barricades and they made sure the surroundings are safe for us at that time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Sofea<\/p>\n

Sofea Leiyana, 29, first knew Hujan through her elder sister. \u2014 Picture by Arif Zikri <\/p>\n

Sofea Leiyana, 29, first knew Hujan through her elder sister. \u2014 Picture by Arif Zikri<\/p>\n

A system that loops back<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Hadith Amreil, the entry point was unexpected \u2014 a Counter-Strike match during the Covid-19 lockdown with a player named \u201cagcoco7\u201d, later revealed to be AG Coco.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, I was a massive introvert but the constant interactions and conversations we had throughout the years really pushed me out of my shell.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shaped me into the person I am today and I\u2019m grateful for that,\u201d Hadith said.<\/p>\n

He eventually attended rehearsals, met the band in person and became part of their wider circle.<\/p>\n

\"Hadith<\/p>\n

Hadith Amreil, 22, couldn’t help but to feel a sense of pride seeing his \u2018gaming buddy\u2019 aka AG Coco channelling his rockstar aura at Hujan\u2019s 20th anniversary concert. \u2014 Picture by Arif Zikri <\/p>\n

Hadith Amreil, 22, couldn’t help but to feel a sense of pride seeing his \u2018gaming buddy\u2019 aka AG Coco channelling his rockstar aura at Hujan\u2019s 20th anniversary concert. \u2014 Picture by Arif Zikri<\/p>\n

Hujan\u2019s story is often told as a music career \u2014 but viewed through its fans, it becomes something more unusual: a system where roles never stay fixed.<\/p>\n

Critics become crew. Fans become collaborators. Outsiders become insiders.<\/p>\n

And at Bukit Jalil, two decades on, that system was still running \u2014 quietly, constantly reshaping itself inside the noise of a concert crowd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 \u2014 Hujan\u2019s recent 20th anniversary concert drew 17,000 fans to the National Hockey Stadium…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":913000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[29],"tags":[369078,369082,369081,369077,171,369075,975,39626,369079,369080,369076,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-912999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-20th-anniversary-concert","tag-ag-coco","tag-arif-zikri","tag-bukit-jalil","tag-entertainment","tag-hujan","tag-music","tag-myspace","tag-national-hockey-stadium","tag-noh-salleh","tag-syawal-zainal","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116864375217819935","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=912999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/913000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}