KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — Originally hailing from Voghera, Italy, Marco Ferrarese has made a name for himself as a Jack of, well... rather different trades. Besides wearing the various hats of a globe-trotting journalist and travel writer, the Italian is also a musician, specifically the lead guitarist of Malaysian “thrashcore” band, WEOT SKAM.

A chance decision to teach Italian in China in 2007 brought Ferrarese to Asia, and he has since travelled across 50 countries. Along the way, the intrepid traveller has lived in Italy, the United States, China, Australia and Malaysia.

Having written in both Italian and English about travelling, it’s his first book, the pulp novel Nazi Goreng, which explores the dark side of the local drug trade and displaced youth, that has caught the attention of the public. Ferrarese’s next book, Banana Punk Rawk Trails, which he calls a “metal punk memoir”, has just been published.

In his own words: