KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — For musician Kevin Tan, getting into the barbershop business was quite literally a dive into the unknown, seeing as he had no past experience or skills in cutting or styling anyone’s hair besides his own.
But when an offer to do so came from an old friend and seasoned hairstylist Lex Low, Tan felt that it probably wouldn’t hurt to pick up or learn how to cut men’s hair for a fee — as he’s always been passionate about the need for proper hair grooming.
It was at the beginning of this year that Lex, his brother Bryan and Tan approached another friend — Jon Lim, who owns a music store called Amplitude — and pitched a business proposition that sounded alien at the time: a barbershop inside a music store.
“My interest in grooming hair was one of the reasons why I wanted to do this (cutting hair) full time. I believe it is not difficult to create something on your own and set yourself apart in the market,” Tan told Malay Mail Online in a recent interview.
“I mean, I never ever thought I would end up cutting people’s hair. Then Lex came and nudged me about learning how to cut hair, and I agreed at the time because it was more about picking up a new skill for me,” Tan said.
Lex, a professional hairstylist whose past experience included working with Tony & Guy, said that he loved the idea of having a spot where musicians could just get together and play music — and get a haircut in the process.
“I wanted this because I wanted something fresh, something new yet something old school like giving classic haircuts. Besides musicians or people who wanted to check out musical instruments, others can just come here, get a nice haircut and listen to good music,” he said.
For the past three months since the barbershop-cum-music store came into being, the response has been encouraging, said Amplitude music store owner Lim.
“My main concern was having hair all over the store (laughs). But it’s a fresh idea, a lot of businesses stick with same thing, I agreed to this because I wanted to create this environment… where people who come for haircuts can also just chill to music or look at equipment or gear to buy,” Lim said.
Both Lex and Lim have big plans for Amplitude — including possibly having “live” shows or sessions in the store to promote the barbershop business.
In their own words:
Lex: The idea of having a barbershop with a music store or cafe is quite common overseas, and I wanted to bring to the market here a concept like this, which people can accept and embrace. Some barbershops in other countries serve beer and have a bar!
Tan: The people who come here to play music and also get a haircut… it’s a connecting feeling, people feel more relaxed here in our barbershop especially when there is “live” music. To introduce this idea or concept, it has opened new possibilities — quite literally a “man cave” where guys come by and hang out.
Lex: It definitely took us time to get the awareness about the barbershop across. We started out small by offering free haircuts for the first month, which doubled as training for Kevin (Tan) and my brother Bryan.
Tan: I actually developed my own hair product called Mentega pomade, since I loved styling even before I became a barber. It took me two years to perfect the product. Making it was almost like baking. Almost all hair products are made of the same ingredients but what sets them apart are the tweaks in the recipe.
Tan: When Lex started training me we gave free haircuts, and it was crazy! Nerve-wrecking cutting hair non-stop to perfect our skill. There was this one time where a customer wanted a number one fade at the sides, but I ended up cutting a chunk off instead... but we fixed his hair and gave him a new hairstyle which he liked!
Lex: We don’t just stick to one hairstyle, and we emphasise on individuality. When a customer comes in, we don’t talk about the hair first — we will ask him about himself and how he found out about Amplitude. This allows us to understand the person’s history, his profession and whether they have had a previous bad experience getting a haircut. From there we can gauge on the best haircut/ hairstyle to give the customer.
Lim: I would say the barbershop with the music store both help each other, in the sense that our customers become their customers. I am open to new ideas, people have even suggested we open a tattoo parlour inside the music store!
Lex: We will probably come to a day where we will be saturated with barbershops. In recent years there is a growing trend of barbershops. But I believe the key to sustain the business is by focusing on our relationship with our customers and the service we provide. It is not about competing with other barbershops. First strangers become clients, then they become friends and eventually they become family.
Lim: I was bored with a 9 to 5 job. I did not want to live my life like that. I want to live it doing something I am passionate about.
Lim: We stand out because we carry a culture that helps others. We give out guitars to orphanages and also train the underprivileged to acquire a skill like cutting hair.
Amplitude Barbershop is located at 31-1 Jalan USJ 9/5P, Subang Jaya 47620 Selangor, Malaysia.
Open from Tuesday to Saturday (11am-9pm) and Sunday (2pm-7pm).
For more enquiries or bookings, call 03-8081 5030/012-607 6468 or email at [email protected]. Visit their official website at www.amplitude.com.my.
