Jeslinah Mojinol, the sweet and petite singer from Kampung Tandahawon, Kota Marudu, is at the happiest time of her life right now even amidst her busy schedule as a full time employee and singer/songwriter. Her songs Nobungou Morobuat, Nosiou Ku Si Gasi and Kaparaat Ko Nopo Doho managed to make their ways into the hearts of local songs fans. In fact the songs became so popular that Jeslinah was pretty astounded at first. This has spurred her into more song writing. We probed further into her life…
The unmistaken resemblance between father and son is so strong that people’s yearnings for the presence of John Gaisah are somewhat filled and healed by a look at Aldro John Gaisah, 27, the only son of the legendary late singer. Aldro stays true to his singing root, and today Aldro is a household name in Sabah. His first solo album was a huge success and his vcd mtv-karaoke based on the same album that followed shared the same plateau of achievement.
Everywhere he goes people warms up quickly to his friendly and humble mannerism. Jounar Motuya, a famous name among the Dusun music followers, is a rare breed of individual. No one seems to say a bad thing about him except praises and what a fun-loving man he is. Jounar is easy to work with and he is an expert at the keyboard that he could easily accompany a singer who sings a song that he has not heard of but his fingers catches up very quickly. “Ya, no problem, I can do it,” is his typical response when someone comes up with a never-heard-of song to him. His laughter and jovialness certainly eases up one’s tension and that helps a lot when a singer seems all nerves and jittery.
Speaking in a raspy voice due to over-singing (he gets invited a lot to perform), Jounar lets out what has been in his heart and mind all these while, that is, to talk a bit of what he has accomplished in the past. He’s not one to talk much about himself, but he looks at this time as a way to take stock of what has happened and recap some things for future endeavours.
Julia Moduli entered the world of Sabah’s entertainment as a bopping teenager a good fifteen years ago. Powered by a burning ambition and a strong, energetic vocal, she burst into the scene ready to take the world by storm. Her Dusun single “Langadku Sogigisom” became an instant hit and some still remember her today because of that one song. She stayed on the scene a few more years while spinning more hits from her two compilation albums, Mega Dusun and Mega Sumazau, and then she faded away…
Elvis Saladan, an up-and-coming singer from Kg. Talantang, Kota Marudu, continues to nurture his dream of becoming the owner of a Dusun album someday and hopes that that day would not be too far off. Elvis has been brushing his talents in public notably during festivals, weddings and various stage shows organised locally. On a private scale, he finds time to practice with other more established singers from the State. Blessed with a high vocal range, Elvis tackles the tricky high parts with little discomfort. But Elvis admits humbly that he is far from being excellent and says that competition is stiff. “There are a great numbers of fellow Sabahans who are great singers so there would always be someone better than you, for sure,” he said.
Kudat – at the northern most part of Sabah – has given birth to this raw, undiscovered talent whose singing flair was spotted through a one-on-one audition with Greenland Entertainment Studio way back in 2006. Jeff’s sound exudes a soothing effect but at the same time holds enough power to engage the listeners. Smooth and strong, to describe it in a nutshell. These features were unique enough to path the emergence of his first solo album entitled “Jeff Maridala – Isai Koh Id Koposionnu” in July 2006.
Jeff has, over the years, been secretly keeping a wish to someday come up with his own Dusun album but had no idea how to approach a studio until a friend introduced him to Greenland Entertainment without him knowing what the meeting was all about. There were signs of promise in his singing ability as he received one too many bookings as the entertainer in his workplace during staff functions and colleagues had been commenting how good he sounded. An avid songwriter, Jeff composed most of the songs in his album with a bit of rearrangement done by the Studio. The results pleased Jeff and most importantly, the larger audience at a later stage.
