#Showbiz: Marsha and Velvet's fourth single 'Aramaitiii' highlights Sabah's rainforests, culture

 By Olivia Miwil - April 14, 2022 @ 7:26pm

Velvet (left) and Marsha with some members of their production team

KOTA KINABALU: "Sumandak Sabah" singers Marsha Milan Londoh and Velvet Aduk are bringing their duets to another level, specially for fans to know more about the Land Below The Wind.

In their newly-released fourth single Aramaitiii, Akademi Fantasia 3 finalist Marsha and Akademi Fantasia 4 finalist Velvet have a lot more Sabahan cultural elements included in its colourful music video.

"We have chosen Tambunan for the music video as it is a beautiful place. It is a hidden gem and people often put Tambunan as one of the last places in their list to visit.

"Actually, we would like to have more places (in the district) to be showcased in the video, but our production team could only make it to two locations within the one-day shoot," said Velvet during the exclusive preview of Aramaitii last night.

Velvet added that they were thankful to Sabah Parks for the permits to film at Mahua Waterfall which is part of the Crocker Range National Park in the state.

Another location was Kampung Monsok in Tambunan where they engaged Kiawayan Dance Club to present traditional and contemporary dances against the backdrop of a flowing river.

Marsha, who directed the project, said that the clip portrayed the beauty of traditional costumes in a sense of high fashion.

She said it was made possible with the help of Saerah Ridzuan who won Best Costume Award at the International Music Video Awards in the United Kingdom.

"We wear black, which is synonymous with Sabah traditional costumes, plus other traditional items of clothing.

"Instead of using coins (himpogot, a belt with coins) as a belt, I used them on my hair," said Marsha.

In the video, singers and dancers are seen with beautiful jewellery such as the colourful pinakol (traditional beads) and brass bangles.

Traditional bamboo musical instruments such as bungkau (a type of jaw harp) and sompoton (a mouth organ made from a gourd with bamboo pipes) are also played.

Describing their fourth single as another "accidental and unplanned" song that was put on hold since 2018 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Marsha said that they hoped to submit it to international music festivals.

Marsha also revealed that they were discussing plans to have Aramaitiii included in a musical theatre performance.

Marsha and Velvet are thankful to Sabah investment company Qhazanah Sabah Berhad for sponsoring the song and video, and recognising their talents.

For the past four years, Marsha, 37, and Velvet, 35, have been consistently performing folk songs that paid tribute to Sabah's culture and heritage.

Their hit song Sumandak Sabah garnered more than 15 million views on YouTube. Two other songs Oi Gaman and Insan Tadau garnered more than 4.3 million and 258,000 views respectively.

The Aramaitiii video can be viewed at Marsha and Velvet's official Youtube channel.