KUALA LUMPUR: Rock legend Datuk Suhaimi Abdul Rahman or Amy of Search has lashed out at his former band mates Noordin (Din) and Kid for "robbing" his bandmates of what is rightfully theirs.
There have been two rival Search lineups since 2021, the first comprising Amy, guitarists Hillary Ang and Man Kidal and bassist Nasir, and the second comprising Din and Kid.
In an interview with Harian Metro today, Amy expressed regret that Din and Kid failed to pay royalties to his team as well as the family of Search's late drummer Yazit who died in 2019.
He said that Din and Kid were supposed to pay royalties to Hillary, Man, Nasir, Yazit's family and himself from the sales of their album Rockology Search: Kid'Din Collection.
"This is our right according to the contract. Kid and Din conducted sales without getting our approval, when the songs in it were created by all of us when we were one team," said Amy, adding that the album sales did not have any royalty distribution agreement.
Amy also said that his team had a digital contract which was signed by all band members, which stated that "team Kid and Din" were entitled to royalties from the sale of albums conducted by "team Amy".
"Kid and Din don't respect us. Worst of all, they told a mutual friend that they decided to pay royalties to us out of sympathy!
"My ex-bandmates are robbing us of what is ours. We will soon be discussing this with our lawyers, so that further action can be taken against them."
Amy said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, Nasir channelled RM50,000 each to Kid and Din from the sales of Search-related merchandise, as the duo were having financial difficulties as a result of the Movement Control Order (MCO) aimed to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus nationwide.
"When we were together as one band, we fought music piracy together. Sad to say, my former bandmates are behaving like pirates towards us now!"
Sales of Rockology Search: Kid'Din Collection Series began on Nov 17, 2021. Besides being a compilation of Search's hit songs, the RM299 collection also came with special Search memorabilia.