KHOTTAL has been said to be a type of Chinese medicine, ‘jackfruit’ in Bengali, bullock cart and many other things of mythical proportions, but  it simply is a name of band hailing from Malacca, Malaysia.  Formed in mid-2008 by Hafidz and Uzir in the name of finding a new meaning of rock and roll, they were later joined by childhood friends and collegemates Chorie, Qairul, Farhan, Hayyan, Azfar, Nona and Suboh.  As with time, the band’s line-up has changed and right now, Khottal is a 13-piece band.

Malaysian music lovers were first introduced to Khottal by ‘Oceanic Panik,’ the first song Hafidz and Uzir  wrote together during their early days.  Influenced by Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, Arthur & Yu, and Chad VangaAlen, Khottal’s brand of lo-fi indie popintertwined sweet sounds of accordion, melodian, glockenspiel, mandolin, ukulele and even violin have landed them their first gig at Paul’s Place. Soon after, more gigs and press coverage followed. The release of the three-song single, ‘Woo Song’ in September 

2009 has further cemented Khottal’s place in the Malaysian music scene. 

Among the notable shows that the band has performed at are Klue Urbanscapes 2009-2011, Rock The World 2009 and Singapore’s Mosaic Music Festival 2010, Fred Perry’s 1st Anniversary Party Kuala Lumpur, and opened for French act Saycet and Indonesia’s White Shoes and The Couples Company’s show in Kuala Lumpur in 2011.

To date, Khottal has also won the second place at JUNK’s inaugural Lo-Fideo video 

competition and also was nominated for Best Breakthrought Act, Best Live Act and Song of the Year categories for JUNKsounds Award 2009. 

Khottal is currently recording their first album due to be released in 2012.