The ‘Covered in Blood’ EP is a four-tracker that has already received excellent feedback. I feature on a track called ‘Like The Rain’ with vocals from myself and Herculez.

Very excited for Herculez and he’s an excellent musician, producer, singer, and songwriter.

thanks for the support

The post Herculez ft Rod Azlan – Like The Rain appeared first on Rod Azlan.

From a while back I’ve been writing and keeping flexible on the mic doing some demos. So when Jack Dub asked me to do a radio show with him, I was very happy. I like to practice and radio is always fun.

Got a tune coming July 3rd that I do a feature on Weed Haha – Barely Alive (w/ Bandlez feat. Rod Azlan)

Part of Barely Alive – Multiplayer EP via Disciple Records 

 PRE-SAVE HERE – https://bit.ly/multiplayerep 

• Arsonist (w/ PhaseOne feat. Virus Syndicate)
• Bloodshed (w/ MVRDA feat. Crichy Crich)
• Weed Haha (w/ Bandlez feat. Rod Azlan)
• Can’t Hold Back (w/ Samplifire)
• Crankin’ (w/ Eliminate)

Got a big rave up to host in Augst 3rd in Chatham, Kent

Outlook Festival Launch Party Medway

Tickets available here

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/emg-sounds-outlook-festival-medway-launch-party-tickets-60152278083 

Venue: 

Fort Amherst Heritage Trust

Khartoum Road

Chatham

ME4 4UB

Doing some other bits but will have to wait until later for those

In between all that I’m riding my motorbike

Keep Pushing The Good Vibes

The post 2019 tunes and beyond appeared first on Rod Azlan.

Here’s a video from the day

I started in Kent at 2:30am and cycled into London. The ride started from Clapham Common and made its way through some lovely roads, all the way to the south coast of England. Only some parts of the route were shut off to traffic but the organisers Skyline Events did a great job providing marshalls to guide us easily through the route. There was a couple of water stops and a great lunch provided along with some beautiful countryside sights.

I had a great time

Got a nice finishers medal from the day

It was a long day that finished in the early hours of the next morning. I had traveled over 120 miles by bike and walking when I arrive back home.

Thanks to the friends and family that supported me for the event and also made donations to Prostate Cancer UK

The post Kent to London to Brighton Charity Bike Ride 2017 appeared first on Rod Azlan.

Been having a lot more time for hobbies recently like cycling and enjoying movies. This has given me a rest from all the relentless politics and mind-numbing blandness around. I’ve also come to realise that music is still one of my greatest passions. It was a friend who helped me a lot to get back my love for music. Their deep love for music has been rubbing off on me slowly, even if we don’t see each other for a while.

Music is such a deep part of my life and I’ve been messing around with it in public since I was about 12 or so. Doing something for so long and seeing all the parts that make it up sometimes can get tedious. Numerous times I’ve walked away from projects that were just not fun anymore. Now we have social media which is like a Fan Club on steroids, able to keep things bubbling along.

Just like a relationship can get stale, so can the passion in music if not stimulated.

In short, I’ve been stimulated.

I’m taking it easy at first before getting full on as I don’t want to make the same mistakes that caused me to walk away before. Just baby steps, working with a close network of passionate individuals.

So keep an eye & ear open for new releases and projects coming over the next few months.

I’ve spoken about passion a lot in this blog post. I should add friendship

Thank you, for your friendship

Keep Pushing The Good Vibes

The post Music is Life appeared first on Rod Azlan.

This year marks a new chapter for me and it’s really been a strange journey but the growth that’s come from that journey has been useful.

I’ve learned a lot more about what makes me tick and gets me going.

That is why I’m so excited right now to get back to working on all my fun projects they are also my passions.

2018 is a year that I predict will be groundbreaking with new things we haven’t even thought about yet

I thank you for following my journey and I hope we continue to be friends

If you’ve joined my mailing list I’ll be sending out some exclusive treats soon

Keep Pushing The Good Vibes

Rod

The post Happy New Year 2018 – KPTGV appeared first on Rod Azlan.

27 miles round trip

With just 6 weeks till London to Brighton, I’m getting much more comfortable with slightly longer rides and pacing myself. Today I took a trip over to Maidstone and knew before starting out this one was gonna included some climbing at Maidstone is the other side of the South Downs.

Slightly prepared by checking out Google Maps and also Sustrans bike routes. Weather reports were all pointing out 20mph winds coming from South West which didn’t excite me at first because I’d not ridden in such high winds before. This trip would be straight into a headwind. Ouch!

The main way Google wanted to send me was long steady climb via Hempstead area and up through Boxley. In a car this barely feels like a hill but my legs knew exactly how steep things were. The wind wasn’t helping out at all with loads of small broken branches on the cycle path. I didn’t want to risk riding on the road where possible just in case.

Making it to the top parts of Boxley was good but the wind was so strong up there I was starting to have second thoughts. Should I carry on or turn back?

I knew that only a few small hills to climb and then it was downhill to Maidstone which is a very low lying town, it is always flooding in bad weather.  I pushed on sometimes in granny gear against the wind, then some lovely hedges shielded me from the wind all the way to Boxley Hill. At top of this winding hill, I took a quick water break.

Okay, let’s get going whoosh!!!!!!!

Wow, this was fast a bit too fast actually. Even cars were getting in my way with braking at turns as I hit over 40mph whoosh!!!

I’ve been down this hill hundreds of time in a car and knew there was a really tight turn coming up at the bottom so plenty of brakes were needed. Even with a conservative bit of braking the road is fast enough to keep the momentum going up to car speeds easily.

Following Boxley Hill all the way down you past some lovely house and a nice Pub. A quick bridge over the M20 reminds you that there is another way to travel but luckily this scary motorway is quickly forgotten as the steady climb back up into Maidstone starts.

Travelling by bicycle really does get you close the contours of the land. Previous tiny bumps now become Everest in proportions and gear selection is important. I manage to climb through the Penenden Heath area and onwards. As I was reaching the very final hill before an exciting roll into Maidstone I had to really dig deep. Not because I was tired but it was so bloody steep. Finally, on the Boxley Road, I could coast down into Maidstone.

I found my way to Maidstone Prison area where the Kent County Council is based at County Hall. I had a small break on the benches outside. There are some information plaques saying about how at one time it was the most expensive Prison in Britain. Wow, I never knew that!

After a bit of refuelling, I wandered down towards the river. This is actually The River Medway but feels like a different place indeed. There are miles of Towpaths along the River and I was hoping to follow one all the way to Teston but the weather was still bad. I didn’t want to get caught in the countryside without preparations. So I decided to take the opposite direction back towards Chatham.

Now I got a bit confused in the town centre as to which side of the river the Towpath was. I tried to ask directions in the local cycle shop but to be frank, they were clueless. Having a bicycle shop in the middle town right next to a nation Cycle Route and not knowing where it is, is a big fail in my opinion.

After asking a random cyclist I found that the council were working on the Cyclepath and some of it was closed. I had to follow the main road for a short distance before jumping onto the correct Cycle Path by the river. Once onto this NCN Route 17 I found that I could hug the river instead of taking cycle path directly. This was a good move as the Maidstone section of River Medway is beautiful. Just a stone’s throw from a noisy Dual carriageway was this idyllic village atmosphere. So peaceful I only cycled at about 5mph for most of the way.

Many lovely boats on the river and also HouseBoats. They were definitely living the good life down there. I got a bit worried that I’d strayed too far from the Cycle Route whilst hypnotised by the peaceful river. I stopped and asked some folks who said to carry on all the way as eventually, the path will end at Aylesford. Okay, I carried on past locks and more lovely boats.

On arriving at Aylesford I had a familiar problem. No decent signs for the cycle route. None at all. I was in a car park at the edge of town with no real clue where to go. Only pedestrians I saw had no clue of the cycle path, so I decided to follow my old car drivers knowledge and headed toward Aylesford Priory.

The road to the priory was nestled alongside the South Downs Bluebell Hill area, about halfway up. I knew it might go uphill but it wasn’t too bad. Once near to the priory, I followed road signs to Burnham and Eccles. Both would lead me eventually to the countryside part of Strood.

This part of the road is rolling hills and quite pleasant for a cyclist of reasonable fitness. The payback is fantastic views of the river valley below.

It’s comforting to see the river on your left hand side as every hill is traversed. As the huge M2 Motorway Bridge loomed closer I know I was nearly back at base. A few very fast descents into the back end of Rochester and I was cruising along side the river as it entered the City. Once back on familiar ground I picked up the usual NCN Route 1

Unfortunately didn’t take any photos on this first trip into Maidstone but I’ll try to do the same route again over the next few weeks and update this post.

The post Rod Azlan Charity Bike Ride Training – Chatham To Maidstone appeared first on Rod Azlan.

Explaining your creative process is boring

In my opinion, should be totally reserved for eager ears, never just naysayers

After one of my now fewer rants on social media, a small piece of gold settled to the bottom of the threads. A tiny lump barely visible to those naysayers. Those that would happily dose up and forget about the creative mind but to the keen eye, a process was in place.

I’ve ranted loads of times but recently, at the time of writing, I’ve been living pretty healthy. Not just eating better but riding the bike loads with 100 mile weeks easy. So I’ve come to actually look forward to my little freedom time. Selfishly vented.

As all quality rants recounting painful memories is usual. On this occasion, though I talked about motivations and tried to be helpful. Ranting but encouraging. A running thread was the need to relax or CHILL. At some time I said Quest For Chill or at least thought it

Quest For Chill. Yeah, I liked it, could be a great title for a book or at least a chapter. Changed my Profile accordingly

If I’m going to have awesome adventures and write about it, make videos and blog then should have an awesome title. Amateur I know but that’s the beauty of the creative process. Do whatever you want, it’s only the internet.

Feels weird to be talking about ranting and having awesome ideas but it’s true. I’m not proud of it or want to promote this behaviour but it’s been a part of my life too much. Had plenty of chilled days but the boredom has got to me loads. I also know there are loads of others like me. We have a small unofficial group, mutually supportive of Mega Rants. Sometimes we totally have different opinions of stuff but really feels like there’s no judgment. Well, it does to me. LOL

Sorry for the LOL but it really needed it there.

Being a super fit Pro Cyclist was never on my Horizon. I just wanted to have fun and travel. Having a rant shouldn’t be a problem after a hard ride. The mega rants are down to one every few weeks atm. I’m looking forward to having only 1 a year.

This bit of writing might not even make it to the book as I just wanted to get quest for chill out and onto the internet. Did a Google search and nothing came up so this would be the only article about it? Might be scrappy and it’s very rushed but it’s published

The working title for this new motivational book. Quest For Chill

The post Quest For Chill appeared first on Rod Azlan.

I’d run out of coffee so took a little trip to the local shop. It was while strolling back in a real lackadaisical style that I had an epiphany.

I should write another book

Yes as I’ve been struggling with trying to shorten my blogs posts so people might actually read them, I thought that’s not freedom. The whole part of being free is doing what you want and being yourself. I thought about all the great blogs I read and how some of them are very wordy and not just packed with SEO clickbait.

This journey I’ve taken up is about a simple bike ride 54 miles from London to Brighton but I’ve not seen or read many in depth accounts of the daily struggle and joys of getting into shape. My own little story might actually help someone one day and that may be valuable.

When I’m cycling I don’t listen to music, mostly because I do a lot travelling on roads and want to hear all the traffic noise just in case. As I’m rolling along I’ve lots of thinking time and this gives me a real joy combined with the exhilaration of a great bike ride.

Currently, I’m really getting into the idea of a massive bike ride across USA and Canada. The really exciting part of cycling North America is the many different routes available. It looks like you could spend years crisscrossing the states and provinces without getting bored. That’s really interesting to me, maybe not for everyone but it is to me.

Getting back to the book thing. I’m already documenting my training for myself on this blog and my last book was developed using this method. After a bit of editing, a few blog posts became a whole book. This is a technique I learnt from Pat Flynn, the great internet marketer. Bit of a tip there

Being a Touring Cyclist and not a fitness fanatic is a lot more relaxed. I’ve seen guys zooming along in fancy race kits and I’m not impressed. Yes have your hobby but it’s not for me. I’m more interested in the beautiful corn fields or cheeky rabbits popping their heads out of a hedgerow.

My bike is a heavy steel frame and one of the heaviest Touring bikes but I know it’s super strong. For me, strength and reliability are important especially when I dreamed of loading up the bike with Camping gear. I’m used to backpacking and camping and have found equipment can get used and abused very quickly. So I’m happy with my bike.

If I’m going to do a massive bike ride it will probably be in October – December time mostly because that’s when the weather is most comfortable in the places I want to visit. This portion probably won’t make it to the blog post as I’m just rambling now.

I’ve been looking for an exciting adventure for a few years now after getting really inspired by a road trip around North America. I tried to take in as much of the sights as possible and a little spark was lit back then. Most of the people I was travelling with were not interested in the actual trip but I was enthralled with the open spaces.

A year or so later I was fortunate enough to spend some time on the west coast and hiked around. I had a nerve problem that kept flaring up so that took away the enjoyment sometimes but it was nice to be there. For a short time, I did have a bicycle but had to leave it in a town and get a bus. The freedom of a bicycle and relative comfort compared to walking was awesome.

Another year later again I had the opportunity to travel and this time I was little more prepared. I bought a bike from Walmart and got a 49cc engine attached, making a Motorised Bicycle. Wow, this was a game changer.

Motorised Bicycles are fully legal for adults in California and I had so much fun riding this bike. It was just how the original motorcycles were 100 years ago but more powerful with 49cc’s of raw power.

This bike needed a bit of pedal power to get rolling, then the engine took the strain. It was truly an amazing machine. I did mostly 10 mile rides on it around town but one day I got excited and went further, much further.

I was staying at friends in the Bay Area of California and decided to take a trip to Monterey which was about 30 miles from my friend’s place. Using Google Maps to find the best route for a bicycle worked out okay but some of the routes were closed off for Motorised Bicycles. On these parts, I had to pedal the bike and shut down the engine. It was a fantastic trip rolling through these back roads past farms and tiny towns.

Arriving in Monterey bay was a great feeling. The natural beauty of that coastline is so spectacular looking out across the Pacific ocean.

I’d travelled 30 miles on this Walmart bike with a motor strapped to it. Luckily the bike was still in good shape but the brakes were finished. The cheap brake blocks were totally worn down from all the hills and I had to change those before thinking about a return journey.

I managed to get back to my friend’s place before dark and was full of inspiration for other journeys. Unfortunately, I had to come back home after an epic holiday and motorised bicycles are not legal in my home country so only could dream again.

Over the next winter, a feeling for travelling was coming over me and I’d researched many options like renting an RV or getting a Motorbike but these all had their problems. Mostly the high costs involved and hoop jumping for a non resident to get a registered vehicle.

Then, I’m not sure of exactly when I stumbled across a video about Bicycle Touring. It seemed that these guys really were living the dream. Travelling to far off places, camping under the stars, cooking in the wilderness. The main difference was they didn’t have huge costs or headaches from major mechanical stuff. Most towns in North America have a basic Bicycle shop and big box stores carry very cheap spares. I was really getting excited about this type of travelling.

Okay riding a heavy touring bike loaded with gear is slow, even compared to a motorised bicycle which tops out at 30mph (once got 36mph on mine) but it was nearly free travel. The engine is your body and fuel is your food. Also, a bike is legal in all parts of the world, not just California.

My main thing was being totally out of shape after a winter of mostly sitting on my arse. The first thing I did was borrow a proper bike. I’ve now got a Touring Bike made for the job. It took me a good 10 rides to figure out a comfortable riding position and set up. This was without any equipment loaded. (Probably should make a whole breakdown chapter about this somewhere later on.)

I’d been putting off getting started for some reason. I had just moved from one job that was sucking my soul and took me a while to bounce back from that.

My biggest motivation was hearing that a good friend had serious cancer and was undergoing massive treatment. I felt lucky to be alive for real. In my family, we’d had a passing recently and a close family member was also going through cancer treatment. I thought that getting a goal would shake me up and get on the bike. That’s when I figured riding for a cancer charity in a bike ride would be appropriate. So I looked up a classic UK ride, London to Brighton. It turned out to be just happening the next weekend I was researching. Obviously, that was too soon as the Bike ride was fully subscribed but another one was happening in three months time.

Hey sign me up, or that’s what I was thinking. Then it dawned on me that saying I was going to do a big bloody bike ride for charity was a serious commitment and could not be taken back. I really needed to get on the bike to see if I could even think about a long ride.

I won’t repeat myself on this as I started the posts in this series talking about those first days but the inspiration and dreams I’ve been having for a few years now really are becoming a reality.

After completing several bigger rides in training for the L2B ride I have passed my goal distance for a basic bike touring adventure. I’d mapped out stops of around 30 miles a day as a comfortable distance so I could spend some time being a proper tourist. My first dream trip would most likely be down the west coast of USA, something like San Francisco to Los Angeles. The Pacific coast route seems to be very popular with Cyclists and there’s a load of great camping spots. At around 500 miles it would take me over two weeks of very slow riding. I see blogs say it’s an 8 day trip, as some days can be 100 miles easy. Sounds a bit far to me but if I planned out 14-16 days I could take my time.

It’s all in the future but it’s worth noting as it’s my inspiration for getting out on the bike, getting fit and riding for charity. I don’t want this new found enthusiasm to stop after L2B. I want to keep riding on and finding new adventures.

This day off is really helping my training recovery and the timing is perfect as just heard some thunder rolling in. Yep, it’s raining pretty hard now.

Great time to do some more research on possible future adventures

Keep Pushing Good Vibes

The post Feeling super inspired – A new zest for life appeared first on Rod Azlan.

I’m training for a Charity Bike Ride.
I’m riding for Prostate Cancer UK

Continuing my training for a bike ride in September I’ve been following a training schedule trying to get out of comfort zone and increase my mileage. This trip to Gravesend, Kent is one I’ve wanted to do for ages since having a conversation about Pocahontas with an American friend. I told them that Pocahontas was buried in Kent, Gravesend to be exact. I said when I get a chance I’ll go to her burial place.

Fast forward a few years and now I’m actively training and riding my bike a lot, so a trip to Gravesend was an easy idea.

Getting out of Chatham can be the biggest challenge as there are some big hills to negotiate if you stray off the cycle routes. As I didn’t check the Sustrans route properly before and I went with my old Car Drivers knowledge and headed towards the Gravesend Road. Now that was a brutal start to a bike ride. Next time I’m definitely taking cycle route all the way. The positive side is on the way back I knew it was going to be a lovely cruise downhill.

Once on the Gravesend road going through Higham, the road becomes a lot more relaxed with steady rollers but generally a smooth ride. Also, there’s a decently sized bike path along the road.

Hey, I made it to Gravesend

Legs were okay so I decided to ask around for the Pocahontas burial site. Managed to find a Tourist Information stand at The Gravesend Indoor Market and a very helpful lady gave directions and some historical knowledge. She gave me a leaflet with some great information.

St. George’s’ Church – Pocahontas Burial Site  

This is a fantastic church not far from the River Thames and in its peaceful garden is a Statue to Pocahontas which also has an interactive voice message explaining a bit more about the site.

I moved around the town also checked out the Gravesend – Tilbury Ferry Terminal (for a forthcoming trip to Essex). Had a quick break at the Gravesham Town Hall and chilled for a bit.

Gravesend has so much more to see than I had time for but fun fact the Name Gravesend comes from the days of The Great Plague you can read more here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravesend#Toponymy

On my return journey, I picked up the cycle route again and came across a lovely riverside park called Riverside Leisure Area

and saw a huge gathering of Swans. There must have been 40 – 50 along the river bank. It was so impressive had to stop and take a photo.

Then I headed back to Gravesend road to retrace my route to Chatham. This way felt much easier I’m not sure if there was a tailwind but it wasn’t a struggle. A couple of creeper hills heading up towards Strood but soon I was whooshing down at top speed. If there wasn’t any traffic I could have been totally happy but as a safe cyclist obeying the rules of the road are important but it was still fun.

Gravesend is a fantastic town for history buffs and really could take a whole day to explore by bike. It also has numerous modern attractions so definitely worth anyone’s time. If you visit by car or train from London then you could easily combine it with a trip to Rochester, Kent. That trip would be packed.

As I’m a cycle tourist at heart and not a speed racer so I tend to take my time, sometimes stopping for directions or just to take a few photos.

Total trip clocked in around 28 miles and I had a really nice day.

I’m training for a Charity Bike Ride.
I’m riding for Prostate Cancer UK

If want to support me CLICK HERE
http://www.doitforcharity.com/RAzlan

Here’s my latest ride activity

The post Rod Azlan Charity Bike Training – Chatham to Gravesend appeared first on Rod Azlan.

I’ve been very excited to see a massive change in my own outlook and what I can achieve since starting this mission.

I’m training for a Charity Bike Ride.
I’m riding for Prostate Cancer UK

If want to support me CLICK HERE
http://www.doitforcharity.com/RAzlan

Here’s my latest ride activity

I did a benchmark ride a few ago to really test my fitness and overall well being. I rode 40 miles on the hottest day. I was totally unprepared, like really badly. Long Distance riding really does take a different mindset from short track racing. Being fit and fueled is an ongoing thing. So when I got back I had to rest for a few days and was badly dehydrated. Even though I took plenty of water my body sweated so much that I lost a lot of nutrients and fluids. So massive lesson learned

Update at the end of July – The ongoing rides have been going super good. I’ve managed a 25+, 60+ miles and find a local 6 mile trip can be a nice wind down after a big ride.

My food has massively changed too, with packing in plenty of fibre and long term energy foods, also learning how to eat while riding. The riding when eating thing for me is totally new and the power of a cheeky banana after 2 hours riding cannot be underestimated. I’ve also become very used to drinking before I get thirsty. I’ll take small sips about every 20 minutes and big drips at stops. Being dehydrated is one of the strangest pains I’ve felt as parts of your body will literally start shutting down to compensate.

I’m not a total fitness guy and really enjoy the rides for the sightseeing adventures. The biggest bonus of riding a bike on cycle routes are all the places you can’t see from a car or train. There are some beautiful areas just down the cycle route. I’ll post some up dates from adventures in the next few posts.

Hope your day is going great

Keep Pushing The Good Vibes

The post Rod Azlan Charity Bike Training – Update 2 appeared first on Rod Azlan.