#PROJEKBUKU
COLLECTED WRITINGS FROM MALAYSIANS IN MUSIC. Curated by Adly Syairi Ramly
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(Almost) Everything That You Need To Know About #ProjekBuku What is it? By nature it’s a book When was it initiated? November 3, 2011 What is it about? It’s a book that compiles writings/experiences/opinions/rants by individual who are directly or indirectly involved with Malaysian music. And the point is? Essentially the main idea behind #ProjekBuku was to document the development and progress of the Malaysian music scene, from its movers and shakers’ point of views and first-hand experiences. Along the way, I realised that the knowledge/experiences/opinions/stories shared by the contributors can also be a guidelines of sorts to many. So take your pick. Speaking of contributors, what were the criteria for one to be part of this project? To give the book some weight, contributors needs to be actively, directly or indirectly contributing to Malaysian music for the last 3 years. Isn’t that a bit too elitist? Well, I’m not going to stop you from thinking so. Just keep in mind that the main purpose of this book is to document the development and progress of the Malaysian music scene, hence experiences are essential. So what topics do it covers? Anything and everything that falls under Malaysian music, from forming a band, writing songs, arranging songs, producing songs, recording, marketing, videos, organising shows, getting radio airplay, giving out interviews, merchandising, running a fanzine/e-zine, social media etc. To preserve its authenticity, all the texts are kept as how it was submitted by the contributors with only formatting and little or no editing was done. Now, is this a mainstream of underground kind of book? Does it matter? It’s a book that that casually documents Malaysian music from 2
various perspectives. If you noticed, I didn’t use the word “Malaysian music industry?” simply because I’m not really interested in “industry” effort. I’m communal. Where and when can I buy/steal/photocopy this book? The book was supposed to be released back in Dec 2011/Jan 2012 but due to a lot of internal and external issues, mainly procrastination, it saw the light of the day on Dec 31, 2013. For now the book is available to downloaded for free exclusively at www.thewknd.com starting from Dec 31, 2013 onwards. Many thanks to Fikri and his team at The Wknd for wanting to host the release of the book. Why no physical copies? I fear money. There will be monetary transaction if the book is to be printed and then sold, and the moment there’s a monetary transaction; best of buddies can become enemies. Having said that, you might see a physical copy of ProjekBuku, if someone is crazy enough to invest in printing it and then give it away for free. Wait this sound fishy. Tell me, who is behind this? Which multinationals? Which corporate organisation? I don’t know where did the fishy part came from, but to set the records clear, there are four people who are directly involved with this initiative. Ili Farhana helped me to proofread the Bahasa Malaysia submissions, while my ex-colleague at TONE Magazine, Abby DeVries helped out with the English ones. Irman Hilmi was kind enough to lay out the pages. Me, I procrastinate. All four of us, does not represent any organisations nor are we an organisation. We’re just a part of the Malaysian music community with Utopian dreams. Text are as originally prepared by the contributors. Only formatting and little or no editing was done to preserve authenticity. First published in PDF format in December 2013. All rights reserved © of the respective writers. Layout by Irman Hilmi of The Offday Design
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#projekbuku list of contributors pg 7 pg 11 pg 25 pg 38 pg 46 pg 40 pg 57 pg 61 pg 66 pg 74 pg 86 pg 99 pg 100 pg 106 pg 115 pg 117 pg 121 pg 127 pg 137 pg 148 pg 151 pg 159 pg 163 pg 168 pg 171 pg 175 pg 192 pg 200 pg 204 pg 208 pg 215 pg 219 pg 231 pg 240 pg 252
Aidil Rusli AG Coco Ahmad Izham Omar Alak Idle Amir Shazlan Anas Amdan Azmyl Yunor Chris Pereira Danial Radzmi David Buri DJ Fuzz DJ Uno Edwin Raj Efry Arwis Emmet Roslan Epain Ahmad Fahmi Ismail Fairuz Rahman Faris Rafie Ismail Filsuf Ham Abdullah Haniff Hamzah HQA Ili Farhana Imran Fadzil Ishak Irman Hilmi Izal Azlee Jake Abdullah Jason Schadt JD Wong Jennifer Thompson Jeremy Little Jipie Joe Lee Kartini Ariffin
pg 256 pg 259 pg 266 pg 270 pg 273 pg 283 pg 286 pg 298 pg 306 pg 311 pg 315 pg 318 pg 325 pg 328 pg 335 pg 340 pg 345 pg 349 pg 354 pg 362 pg 365 pg 371 pg 377 pg 384 pg 388 pg 390 pg 395 pg 401 pg 404 pg 409 pg 413 pg 416 pg 421 pg 430
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Kevin Yeoh Khalil Makata Liyana Fizi Loy Ekzan Mak Wai Hoo Malique Ibrahim Monoloque Mohd Jayzuan M Zulkifli Najihah Sani Nini Yusof Nizang OJ Law Piesay Radhi-O RDZ Reza Salleh Rina Omar Rithan Vijay Ronnie Khoo Shimy Latif Sultan Muzaffar Syafeeq Rahim Syatirah Safran Terrina Hussein Uzair Sawal Victor Tan Warren Chan Wing Meng Wordsmanifest Yaniz Merican Yuna Youk Jaafar Zack Yusof
Foreword
Alhamdulillah. After so many false starts and unnecessary delays, #ProjekBuku is finally out, slightly over two years since it was first mooted. There was a point where I was very sure that #ProjekBuku will join The Necromonicon, The Emerald Tablet or Book of Thoth—books and manuscripts that many would like to believe have existed. It could have been, but thanks to an old friend, Irman Hilmi of The Off-Day Design, who was kind enough to offer his expertise in laying out the pages, #ProjekBuku can now join the likes of The Satanic Bible, The Skinhead Bible, Proof of Conspiracy, Occult Theocrasy, cult books that only those with an acquired taste can appreciate. What you are holding, well, since its an e-book of sort, reading would be more appropriate I guess, is a collection of writings, musings and recollections by 69 individuals who are and were actively involved with the Malaysian music scene from as early as the mid-80s. Big or small, in front or behind the scene, these people have contributed, and 5
it is hoped that what being shared here will give everyone a little something of something. This book will never ever be possible without them wanting to take some time off to write. My sincerest thank you and apologies to them for the two-year delay. Bear in mind that the writings featured here are two-years old. Some of the perspective may have changed, some information may no longer be relevant, some issues may have been resolved and so forth. However, there is one thing that I can assure you remained the same—the facts. All the facts in this book represent bit and pieces of history, which, if was not put down on paper, will soon be forgotten. People with opinions, and I know they are a lot of them, will question the absence of influential people who have played bigger role and contributed a whole lot more to the scene in this book. Well, since the get-go, #ProjekBuku have opened its door, to anyone and everyone who felt that they have contributed something to the scene, to be a part of it. So was invited by me personally, but they politely declined for various valid reasons. Who knows, they might have a change of mind and will be part of #ProjekBuku#2? Wrapping up this foreword of sorts, I’d like to bring to your attention that #ProjekBuku is without a doubt the first book that documented the story, the progress, the struggle and the beauty of this thing many of us know as Malaysian music. Again, thank you for your time and patience. Welcome to the world of Malaysian music. Adly Syairi Ramly Thursday, December 26, 2013
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#projekbuku
The Art of Not Taking Yourself Too Seriously by Aidil Rusli
Aidil Rusli fronts power pop band Couple. 7
There are many different reasons why people choose to make music and form a band. With me and Couple, it’s simply to do something fun during weekends. We were in college, in a sleepy and faraway little town called Banting (it was at least 2 hours away from Kuala Lumpur), and the only thing you could do in town back then was either watch laserdiscs (yes, it was that long ago—1995) or make some glorious noise with your mates in a watch shop-cum-jamming studio that was aptly called “Kedai Jam”. Some people ‘grow up’ and start to get serious about their music, which is fine by me. But since my most favourite musical genre in the world is power pop, growing up and getting all serious with my music is simply not going to be an option. Why? Because power pop is always going to be unavoidably and perpetually adolescent. It needs to be fun and dumb and immature and innocently cheeky for it to have the magic that it needs. It’s in the genes, as they say. I love it because it’s fun to listen and sing along to, and it is of course, a whole lot of fun to play. And since we started the band to have fun in the first place, why not just keep on having fun… forever? Now even though we’re all about fun, making it very easy for lots of ‘serious’ music people to dismiss what we do, I think it’s also very easy to overlook the fact that maintaining that fun is never easy. And since this book is all Aidil Rusli
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about sharing some ‘secrets of the trade’ with all you readers out there, I guess if there’s one tiny advice that I am sort of qualified to give, then it’ll have to be that whatever your reasons may be for making music, always chill, dude. It’s only rock n roll. The sooner you realise that you’re just a simple human being trying to kick out the jams with some friends, with very little chance to change the world, the better off you will be. I doubt any of the rock n roll greats out there started out convinced that they were some sort of musical gods who would change the world and blow everyone’s minds with their music. The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, put in whatever name you like, chances are that all they wanted when they started out was to make some music, tear shit up live, travel, sell a few records and hopefully make some new lady friends in the process. Creating ‘new’ sounds, inspiring millions and becoming ‘important’ rock stars or generational spokespersons? It’s all a mere bonus, if you ask me. People always say that it’s the journey that’s important, not the destination, and it couldn’t be truer than when you’re in a rock n roll band. The best journeys are the ones where you’re not rushing and you have all the time in the world, and you get to make stops at whatever places you want, eat or drink wherever you feel like it, take as many toilet breaks as you feel like, and maybe even have a little shuteye at a rest stop if need be. When you get all serious, planning the hell out things and rushing to get to your destination, you’ll only get one thing more than if you take it easy and leisurely reach your destination – tiredness. Same thing applies when you’re in a band. But most importantly, never make excuses for not wanting to do something. I know some people might think that even our studio albums are kind of lofi in sound quality, but sometimes in life you just have to go ahead and do things. Otherwise you might just end up waiting and waiting for everything to be perfect that you may end up never getting around to doing it after all. Not enough money to use a fancy studio or hire a ‘proper’ mixing engineer? No problem—just go to whichever studio you can afford and do things as cheaply as possible, maybe even mix the thing yourself with the aid of the recording engineer, as fast as possible too so you can save money. Or better still, just record the whole damn thing at home using whatever computers or laptops you can get your hands on. Sure, the results are likely to be not very ‘professional’, but these are things that you worry about only if you’re Aidil Rusli
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one ‘serious’ geezer. A recorded song is still a recorded song, no matter how bad the sound quality is. The difference is that people can now listen to and appreciate that badly recorded song, which is already more than I can say for an unrecorded song, waiting to be recorded ‘perfectly’ (if it gets recorded at all). If people like the song, they’ll still like it and remember it, despite how badly recorded it was. Just look at Robert Pollard and Guided By Voices for making a legendary career out of ‘bad’ recordings. It’s almost like not wanting to take your first few baby steps because you don’t want to fall down and hurt yourself, and you secretly feel that it’s better to run. So what if you made a bad song, or a bad EP, or a bad album? Just try to make a better one next time. Couple made four official demo/ EPs, one unreleased demo tape, and one aborted attempt at a debut album which came out as a limited edition EP, most averaging around nine to ten songs per release, before we finally came out with our debut studio album. Then came a further two studio albums, with a fourth studio album hopefully coming soon in 2012. That’s a whole lot of recording for a silly little band that not many people know or probably even care about. If we took ourselves as seriously as most bands do, I think we would’ve quit by demo/EP number two or three, because you can only go on for so long without being ‘successful’. But since success has never really been on our minds, it’s precisely because we’re not taking ourselves so seriously that we’ve managed to survive this far down the road. Passion and love too, of course. 16 years and counting, and it’s all still as much fun, if not more fun than the day we first started. So thank you for reading, and see you in the mosh pit!
Aidil Rusli
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#projekbuku
Perihal Muzik: Satu AG-Pretasi oleh AG Coco
AG Coco is an arranger, composer, songwriter and the owner of Kamar Seni Studios who plays the guitar for rock band Hujan. 11
CHAPTER 1; SEDIKIT INTRODUKSI AG COCO Namaku Mohd Hezry Bin Mohd Hafidz, dari kecil punyai nama timangan AG diberi oleh nenek aku sehingga sekarang, diserikan COCO di belakang kerana itu adalah nama kugiran yang menjadi alasan yang membawa perjalanan aku berada di’sini’ sekarang. Aku dilahirkan di Hospital Besar Alor Setar pada tanggal 7 Julai, diberi pendidikan awal di Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Iskandar, seterusnya ke Maktab Mahmud Alor Star, dan dilanjutkan ke Akademi Seni Kebangsaan yang kini dikenali sebagai ASWARA. Hampir 2 dekad aku membesar di Alor Setar, Kedah, dan aku berhijrah ke Kuala Lumpur sebaik sahaja aku tamatkan pengajian peringkat SPM aku. Setibanya aku di Kuala Lumpur, dengan niat untuk lebih serius belajar muzik, aku tinggal di rumah abang saudara ipar aku, seorang musical director/arranger yang sangat disegani, abang Belle namanya, yang juga merupakan adik kepada S.Atan & bapa saudara Dato Ramli MS. Dari situ lah bermulanya minat aku untuk lebih cenderung dalam selok belok belakang tabir pembikinan muzik sehinggalah aku mendapat peluang melanjutkan pelajaran aku ke peringkat Diploma di Akademi Seni Kebangsaan. Antara tenaga pengajar yang banyak mempengaruhi aku adalah Rosdan AG Coco
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Abbas, Isyam Suwardi, Khair Latiff, Chobib, Ruslan Imam, Zahid Ahmad, Allahyarham Zubir Ali dan Cikgu Hamdan. Aku mengambil major Teknologi Muzik kerana aku percaya aku lebih berkemampuan di situ, bukan pada persembahan dan sebagainya. Aku tidak langsung mengambil kelas arranging, sebab aku mencabar diri aku untuk explore, expand, and express music arrangement aku dengan sendiri. Dari situlah pelbagai pengalaman aku timba baik di dalam kampus dan di luar kampus, di antaranya menjadi crew band, menjadi assistant live/ recording engineer, sessionist, programming minus one untuk karaoke dan banyak lagi. Sehinggalah aku jumpa pelbagai ragam penyanyi, pemuzik dan juga penulis lirik/lagu dan penggubah lagu yang membentuk environment routine seorang pemuzik, jadi aku telah membiasakan diri aku sibuk, hectic setiap hari since zaman aku belajar. Bermulanya selangkah ke depan karier aku sebagai seorang music arranger dulu selepas aku berkenalan/ bekerja bersama Aidit Alfian & Alfa Booty. Aku lebih banyak membuka mata dan belajar daripada kedua gengster muzik ini apa sebenarnya itu menulis lagu dan menggubah lagu sehinggalah aku disoal sebenarnya apa jalan paling major untuk aku buat pilihan, adakah menjadi composer atau arranger? Aku pilih menjadi arranger sebab aku percaya dengan apa yang aku lebih mampu buat. Bukan bermaksud aku tak mampu untuk menjadi composer. Aku masih menulis lagu seperti biasa cuma aku lebih minat untuk menggubah lagu, dan seterusnya sehinggalah aku menjadi produser muzik. Ramai mungkin lihat aku seorang guitarist, tapi sebenarnya aku lebih suka dikenali sebagai seorang produser muzik dan sebagai music arranger. Aku tak hebat menjadi guitarist yang bermain gitar seperti sebuah muzik box tapi aku ada IDEAS, dan mungkin ada pelbagai perkara muzik dan agenda untuk kita kongsi bersama.
CHAPTER 2; PENGGUBAH MUZIK Apakah kerja sebagai seorang penggubah muzik? Tugas utama music arranger adalah untuk menggubah sesebuah lagu/ muzik asal dengan memenuhi kehendak dan keperluan persembahan, rakaman, performer, sebuah ensemble muzik, konduktor muzik, producer, & music director. Tugas kami adalah untuk memastikan seluruh aspek muzik yang ditulis berada dalam harmoni yang baik, instrumentation berada pada tempo yang baik, dan melengkap formasi sesebuah lagu/muzik itu. Muzik dan lagu yang menjadi kerja kami untuk digubah selalunya adalah sebuah lagu baru/original atau juga lagu yang telah sedia ada. Penggubah muzik biasanya akan dapat demo lagu dalam pelbagai bentuk baik dari AG Coco
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melodi sahaja sehinggalah ada juga yang telah ditulis/rakam form lagu tersebut. Contohnya apabila kami memperolehi muzik verse & chorus sahaja, maka kerja seorang arranger adalah untuk mewarnakan lagi formasi verse chorus tadi menjadi Intro; verse; pre chorus; chorus; middle8(bridge), solo, 2nd verse, & chorus ke outro. Apakah ciri-ciri sebagai penggubah muzik yang bagus? Perlu kreatif, tahu mengadaptasi muzik yang ingin digubah dan mempunyai originaliti. Ciri-ciri sebagai music arranger yang bagus adalah generally tahu untuk bermain pelbagai instruments, secara asasnya guitar, piano, drum, percussion, dan bass. Tak lupa juga antara perkara yang paling penting adalah tahu membaca nota muzik, menulis nota muzik, berkeupayaan untuk transpose & transcribe muzik, dan mempunyai latar belakang kuat di dalam pengetahuan harmony, composition sehinggalah ke orchestration. Akhir sekali, tahu atau pandai membuat signature/trademark sendiri di dalam setiap lagu digubah. Sebagai music arranger yang baik pasti dapat bekerjasama dengan baik bersama pihak lain dengan cara berkolaboratif, sebab music arranger akan sentiasa bersama artis, produser, dan pengarah muzik untuk menetapkan garis panduan tertentu di mana dan bagaimana komposisi lagu perlu dijaga. Dan sebagai penggubah muzik juga perlu bijak dalam menyesuaikan diri mendengar, mencuba, & mengekspresi kerja-kerja di dalam garis panduan asal (direction) muzik yang diinginkan producer, pengarah muzik dan penyanyi itu. Ini akan menjadikan karya itu lebih berkesan! Kadang-kadang dengan mendengar radio, mendengar pelbagai muzik terkini di radio juga adalah sebahagian faktor yang membantu untuk seorang penggubah muzik itu tahu apakah bentuk/nilai komersil di radio terkini instead of menggubah lagu semata-mata untuk ‘syok sendiri’. Ini adalah terpulang kepada situasi yang dihadapi dengan hidup sebagai seorang penggubah lagu. Secara peribadi, saya tahu penggubah muzik selalunya menjalankan studio mereka sendiri dan memperolehi pendapatan dengan baik. Selain dari kemungkinan menjadi kerjaya yang menguntungkan, ia juga bonus lebih-lebih lagi jika tahu bekerja dengan orang dan membawa muzik untuk hidup. Selalunya, peluang menggubah lagu adalah panggilan dari mulut ke mulut, jadi pastikan ikhlas bekerja dengan semua orang penuh hormat dan bersama profesionalisme dari projek demo sehinggalah untuk AG Coco
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skor filem. Apakah equipments yang perlu ada pada setiap penggubah lagu? Boleh dikatakan kesemua music arranger hari ini mempunyai workstation mereka sendiri yang dilengkapi pelbagai instrumen muzik, synthesizers, microphones, mixers, monitor speakers, computers, plug-ins, softwares dan sebagainya. Biasanya peralatan yang digunakan adalah bergantung kepada client dan music arranger itu sendiri. Secara asas—komputer, interface audio dan midi, controller midi dan monitor bunyi sudah cukup untuk berkarya, malah masih ada arranger yang hanya menggubah lagu dengan hanya menulis menggunakan pen atau pensel di atas kertas skor muzik, jadi terpulang.
CHAPTER 3 ; PENGARAH MUZIK/PRODUSER ; AG & CO Saya juga aktif bergerak sebagai pengarah muzik bersama band saya; iaitu AG & CO, tugas sebagai pengarah muzik pula adalah menerajui sesebuah ensemble muzik kecil sehingga ensemble besar seperti orchestra. Tapi watak saya di sini adalah lebih kepada mengiringi penyanyi solo atau berkumpulan yang terlibat dalam sesebuah program muzik secara langsung dan rakaman untuk TV dan juga persembahan konsert pelbagai skala. Secara ringkas, pengarah muzik persembahan bertanggungjawab memastikan semua musicians di bawah kendaliannya menyampaikan permainan instruments masing-masing mengikut apa ditulis di skor muzik yang telah mengikut gubahan asal lagu tersebut. Kadang-kadang juga saya bertanggungjawab untuk menggubah kembali muzik asal sesebuah lagu itu mengikut kehendak penerbit dan penyanyi itu. Situasi sebegini boleh terjadi secara langsung dan juga tidak langsung. Itulah di antara cabaran menjadi pengarah muzik dan pengiring muzik. Sebagai produser/pengarah muzik untuk rakaman lagu di studio pula, tidak banyak bezanya seperti role seorang pengarah muzik persembahan secara langsung. Juga ditugaskan untuk memastikan setiap permainan dari pemuzik yang ditugaskan merakam instrument masing-masing mengikut apa yang ditulis atau secara spontan dengan apa yang dikehendaki oleh pengarah muzik itu. Seperti juga penggubah lagu, perlu memastikan key/ nada penyanyi itu selesa untuk menyanyi dan menentukan tempo/rentak sesebuah lagu itu bersesuaian. Memilih pemuzik untuk menjadi sessionist juga adalah kuasa pengarah/ AG Coco
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produser muzik. Dan setiap pemuzik yang telah dipilih tentunya masingmasing mempunyai signature dan kekuatan tersendiri. Dan paling utama dan penting adalah kewujudan chemistry sesama ahli band kerana ia akan mempengaruhi permainan, semangat, dan suasana yang selesa untuk membuat persembahan dan juga rakaman. Begitulah sedikit sebanyak secara ringkas tugas seorang pengarah/produser muzik persembahan secara langsung dan rakaman di studio. Terdapat juga pengarah muzik untuk filem, theatre, broadcast, dan orchestra, tetapi biarlah saya cuma berkongsi beberapa pengalaman saya ada sebagai penggubah/pengarah/& produser muzik di dalam beberapa projek.
CHAPTER 4; INDIEPRETASI P.RAMLEE MUKADIMAH INDIEPRETASI P.RAMLEE Pada sekitar November 2010 aku terlibat dengan sebuah projek #tributepramlee , kalau hampa noticed hashtag tu kat Twitter suatu masa dulu. Ia adalah sebuah projek yang agak spontan asalnya hanya untuk menyokong kempen P.Ramlee anjuran Astro. Tapi disebabkan magic yang menular dan merangsang ramai pihak maka terkumpul banyak participants yang nak join projek ni, dari 5 bands ke 10 bands hinggalah ke 19! Ada pelbagai genre, pelbagai style bands, menarik kan? Aku happy, enjoy gila experience ni. Luar biasa tau? Ya serious luar biasa. OK jom kita renung sejenak 2010, ala takyah 2010, let’s say since social network punya culture mula develop ni, semua orang dapat reference senang kan? Contoh: “OK la aku nak buat band la.” “OK aku nak style macam Circa Survive! Jom buat?” See? 4shared, Youtube, Torrents, ha apa lagi? Pastu jamming dengan band sampai muntah, nasib baik tak baik kemudian hari. Aku tak cakap semua bands tapi segelintir/kebanyakkan ada yang macam ni. Why not kalau cuba fikir nak invent something, revolution ka apa ka kan? Secara ringkasnya aku cuba nak terangkan hari ini semua orang mudah nak buat muzik sebenarnya dengan hidangan rujukan yang tiada batasan, melainkan seorang music arranger tu tidak banyak dengar lagu, kot? Macam aku kot, aku tak ada mp3 player, aku tak dengar lagu melainkan kerja-kerja aku sahaja DAN aku dengar radio bila aku drive. Aku naik kereta pun bila aku keluar studio. Bila aku keluar studio? Itu yang jarang sekali aku buat unless aku ada show and kerja di luar. OK, jom kita patah balik 50’s-60’s. Allahyarham P.Ramlee’s punya era. Fuh! AG Coco
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Guess what? Apa yg terlintas dalam otak aku? Ya! “ORIGINAL.” Bukanla aku cakap zaman sekarang ni semua tak original, it’s not totally semua. Harap semua faham maksud aku ya. Original. Aku rasa semua bands yang involved dalam project ni share experience yang sama! tentu sekali! iaitu perasaan KAGUM. Sebab apa? Sebab apabila kita nak interpretasi sesebuah muzik asal kita akan dig lagu/ muzik itu dari banyak sudut. Seperti chords progression, form arrangement asal, nyanyian asal, instrumentasi asal, orchestration asal hingga ke harmoni semua, malah sampai ke latar belakang penulis karya asal juga boleh mempengaruhi kajian kita untuk menafaskan kembali lagu itu. Rasanya aku makin mengarut berbahas kat sini but I got my points there, hope semua faham the points, InsyaAllah. So dalam projek ni, aku rearranged/produced 5 buah lagu. Lagu-lagu tersebut adalah ‘Jeritan Batinku,’ ‘Gelora Jiwa,’ ‘Malam Bulan Dipagar Bintang,’ ‘Tunggu Sekejab’ dan ‘Itulah Sayang.’ Ya, aku tak tau macam mana aku nak explain secara lebih dalam dari sudut general progress aku untuk transcribe semua chords, progression, dan arrangement muzik asal. GILA, boleh dikatakan setiap waktu aku hit the notes yang dicari dalam muzik asal semuanya adalah “WOW!” Kenapa perginya macam ni? Kenapa jadinya mcm tu? Dan sentap juga aku bila terfikir macam mana mereka boleh fikir nak buat macam ni dan macam tu? (aku mengeluh kagum). Cuba bayangkan zaman dulu, zaman yang tak ada Youtube, pendek cerita takda Internet lah. Dan apatah lagi DVD, kan? Fuh, dari mana rujukan secara major untuk penggubah lagu pada zaman tu selain mendengar muzik dari piring hitam dan radio? Semuanya adalah original, asli, tulus ikhlas lahir dari sudut pandangan kehendak mereka sendiri. Itulah yang aku cuba praktikkan di dalam hasil karya gubahan muzik aku sekarang. Dengan mengurangkan mendengar lagu orang lain, dan memperbanyakkan mendengar hasil kerja sendiri sambil bereksperimentasi dari masa ke semasa. Mungkin cara aku salah? Tapi itu adalah style aku bekarya. Mendengar karya muzik asal P.Ramlee sedikit sebanyak menyuntik aku rasa most of ideas dulu macam banyak elemen Jazz dan traditional? Chords progression yang kurang ajar, jahat dan menyusahkan hidup aku (ketawa). Muzik arrangements lagi lah. Agak kurang pasti aku siapakah music arranger asal sebenar pada masa itu? Ada beberapa sumber menyatakan bahawa music arranger pada masa itu merupakan Filipino punya musician, but still, harmoni dan orchestration asal dari composer still magical buat aku. Jadi tak perlu lagi untuk memanjangkan cerita mengenai P.Ramlee kerana AG Coco
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semua orang boleh mengenali Allahyarham lebih lanjut dengan mengkaji latar belakang beliau sendiri. Apa yang ingin aku kongsi disini adalah pengalaman pada setiap lagu yang aku produce untuk projek #tributepramlee ini.
5 BUAH LAGU MAGIKAL #TRIBUTEPRAMLEE 2010 1. HUJAN - TUNGGU SEKEJAB. Jadi aku telah pilih lagu ni 1st sekali sesudah mendapat peluang nak rearrange lagu-lagu P.Ramlee, sebab dulu masa aku kat kampus, ada satu minggu khas ni, iaitu minggu P.Ramlee dan semua students masa itu kena perform lagu-lagu P.Ramlee, dan lagu ‘Tunggu Sekejab’ merupakan sebuah lagu yang jadi rebutan semua orang untuk perform, dan aku tak berpeluang untuk buat. Jadi aku teringat dan terbawa-bawa untuk merealisasikan kehendak aku untuk menggubah kembali lagu ini sehingga mendapat peluang ini. Kenapa lagu ‘Tunggu Sekejab?’ Terang-terangan aku rasa lagu ini adalah sebuah lagu yang paling sesuai sekali untuk vocal Noh dan Hujan. Secara ironinya dalam lirik lagu ini mempunyai rangkap lirik berkaitan kejadian Hujan. Untuk gubahan muzik di dalam lagu ni, aku lebih menerapkan modern jazz, pop yang penuh dengan nuansa easy-listening untuk pendengar, sedikit choir, akustik guitar, piano, hollow-guitar, bass dan drum berpandukan guide-lines tipikal ballad songs Hujan yang sedia ada tapi sedikit lebih jazz-nya. Artist : Hujan Song : Tunggu Sekejab ( OST Sarjan Hassan 1955 ) Recording Engineer : Ully, AG & Ceri. ( Kamar Seni Studio ) Drums : Azham Ahmad Acoustic Guitars : Ammar Habir Guitars : AG Piano : AG & Ammar Habir Bass : AG Backup Vocals : Faris Awanband Vocals : Noh Hujan 2. AWANBAND - MALAM BULAN DI PAGAR BINTANG. Pada mulanya aku memilih lagu ni untuk Yuna, dan aku telah buat pilihan untuk Awanband re-do lagu ‘Nak Dara Rindu.’ Tapi setelah mendapat kata putus Yuna memilih lagu lain jadi aku pindakan lagu ‘Malam Bulan’ ini untuk Awanband, ironik lagi kan? Aku suka lagu ni, sangat sesuai untuk vokal Faris, dan melodi, progression lagu ni nampak menarik untuk AG Coco
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digubah. Idea duet Awanband dengan Che Mat tu datangnya dari Ully. Dia ada mention, “Kalau lah bapak aku nyanyi lagu ni mesti best kan?” Jadi aku pun apa lagi, idea yang bagus jangan disia-siakan. Lagipun muzik asal lagu ini memang ia sebuah lagu duet, lagipun maksud lagu ini menceritakan tentang kasih ibu bapa dan anaknya. Dan seterusnya ke progress music arrangement session, untuk direction lagu ini aku cuba untuk melarikan diri dari norma biasa Awanband yang aku dengar. Jadi aku buatkan ia lebih kompleks pada chords progressionnya dari versi asal. Ada beberapa sebab dan tujuan, antaranya adalah untuk Awanband sendiri merasakan pengalaman bermain dan merakamkan arrangement muzik yang lebih sukar. Kebaikannya adalah untuk mereka belajar sesuatu serta merasakan sebuah fasa permainan baru. Alhamdulillah kerjasama kami merupakan sebuah kombinasi yang mantap. ‘Malam Bulan’ menjadi sebuah gubahan muzik segar. Artist : Awanband Song : Malam Bulan Dipagar Bintang ( Pendekar Bujang Lapok 1959 ) Recording Engineer : Ully ( Kamar Seni Studio ) Drums : Azim Jenk Ali Acoustic Guitars : AG Guitars : AG & Ully Awanband Piano : AG Bass : Hasnur Awanband Vocals : Faris Awanband & Che Mat 3. YUNA - GELORA JIWA. Al-kisahnya pada mulanya Yuna cakap dia nak re-do lagu yang bertajuk ‘Gelora Jiwa,’ aku confident terus assumed lagu itu adalah lagu GELORA di dalam OST Pendekar Bujang Lapok. Bayangkan aku terus dah start study, figure out muzik arrangement aku nak ke mana semua dah, tinggal nak tulis. Tiba-tiba Yuna post link lagu ‘Gelora Jiwa’ yang sebenarnya. Okay, aku dah salah lagu, dugaan sungguh. Masa tak banyak ada untuk projek tribute ini. Sebenarnya ‘Gelora Jiwa’ ini adalah lagu filem ‘Anjuran Nasib.’ Filem tersebut merupakan filem awal P.Ramlee pada tahun 1950’an. Ia merupakan sebuah lagu Arwah Tan Sri P.Ramlee yang paling rare rasanya, dan juga sebuah lagu yang paling lama untuk #tributepramlee. Jadi direction yang aku buat untuk arrangement muzik Yuna kali ini tak susah tapi tricky yet simple. Lagu yang hebat as it is sahaja dah hebat, dinyanyikan pula oleh Yuna. Yuna adalah magik seterusnya sebab suara asli beliau adalah pemenang untuk melengkap keindahan ‘Gelora Jiwa’ ini. Terima kasih, syukur pada Tuhan di atas bakat dan keistimewaan pada Yuna. AG Coco
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Artist : Yuna Song : Gelora Jiwa ( OST Anjuran Nasib 1952 ) Recording Engineer : AG & Ceri. ( Kamar Seni Studio ) Drums : Azim Jenk Ali Acoustic Guitars : Ammar Habir Guitars : AG Piano : AG & Ammar Habir Bass : Efry Arwis Vocals : Yuna 4. AZLAN TYPEWRITER - JERITAN BATINKU Asalnya Azlan & Typewriter telah menarik diri untuk projek ini separuh jalan disebabkan Lan tidak berani untuk memberi sepenuh komitmen dengan band sebab terlalu sibuk dengan jemputan persembahan dan sebagainya. Maklumlah projek ini telah ditetapkan timeline yang agak terhad masanya untuk disiapkan. Tapi aku merasa rugi jikalau Lan tidak turut serta kerana beliau adalah antara vokalis yang juga mempunya potensi besar, berattitude tersendiri dan original. Jadi jodoh pertemuan kami adalah di belakang pentas JomHeboh di Kuching. Ketika itu, Alhamdulillah, selepas dia explain kat aku tentang kenapa dia tak dapat turut serta, aku dengan penuh semangat meng’offer’ diri aku untuk produce/arrange muzik untuk dia dalam projek ini. Langsung dia bersetuju dan menyatakan ‘Jeritan Batinku’ adalah pilihan. Dan terus dalam otak aku pun berkata “YEESS!! AKU DAH TAU NAK BUAT APA!!!”. Sepanjang hari aku di Kuching aku membayangkan direction muzik untuk Lan, dan aku decide untuk melarikan diri dari kebiasaan persembahan vokal Lan yang biasa kita dengar. Aku langsung tak cakap macam mana muzik arrangement yang akan aku buat sebaliknya aku convincekan dia yang aku akan buat sound macam Typewriter TAPI sebenarnya tidak! Aku menipu. Kami dah bincang bersama asalnya Lan lebih memilih ke arah muzik brit-rock, Radiohead & Keane-ish tapi aku pekakkan telinga aku. Dan apabila aku memulakan gubahan semula ‘Jeritan Batinku,’ aku terlintas memikirkan why not aku buat sebuah music arrangement lebih berat? Barulah ada warna dan variasi dalam kompilasi Indiepretasi ini. That’s why aku go for Metal! Sound guitar yang berat, chords progression yang seram, dan riffing asas metalisma, unison lines yang teknikal dan choir. Akhirnya selepas siap form lagu itu, aku panggil Lan datang ke studio untuk merakamkan guide vocals. Ya Allah, hebatnya Lan, dia baru buat guide sahaja dah gila babi vokal dia, AG Coco
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meremang aku! Selepas rakaman itu, Lan menegur aku kenapa buat music terlalu metal? Dia dah mula nak tukar itu tukar ini. Aku tersenyum dan hanya berkata “OK” sahaja. Akan tetapi aku tetap pendirian aku dengan apa aku dah buat sebab aku percaya kesudahannya dia mesti best! And finally we did it! FACT; pada mula aku bermain band ketika sekolah dulu, aku memang bermula dengan bermain muzik metal, sehingga saat projek ini, inilah peluang yang aku ada untuk produce sebuah lagu metal untuk didengarkan di kancah perdana. Takkan dilepaskan! Alhamdulillah lagu ini telah tercalon untuk Gubahan Muzik Terbaik AIM18 lepas. Artist : Azlan Typewriter featuring AG Coco Song : Jeritan Batinku ( OST Ibu Mertuaku 1962 ) Recording Engineer : AG & Ceri. ( Kamar Seni Studio ) Drums : Azim Jenk Ali Guitars : AG Piano : AG & Ammar Habir Bass : AG Choir : Faris Awanband Vocals : Azlan Typewriter THE RAMLEES - ITULAH SAYANG. Aku boleh katakan ini adalah projek kolaborasi yang agak spontan di saat genting (sungguhpun lagu-lagu lain juga dikerjakan dalam waktu yang sangat terhad). Ke-spontan-an plan ini adalah selepas Bunkface & The Times tarik diri dalam projek ini, untuk mencukupkan quota, Adly Syairi lah merupakan dalang sebenarnya yang bagi idea gila ini kat aku. Dia bercadang untuk aku produce sebuah lagu yang dinyanyikan secara kolaborasi. Namun hakikatnya banyak lagu lain lagi, akan tetapi pada masa yang sangat terhad itu, aku mencabar diri aku untuk menerimanya. Pada asalnya, pilihan kolaboratif The Ramlees adalah Yuna, Liyana Fizi, Aizat dan Noh, dan lagu pilihan pertama asalnya adalah ‘IBU.’ Tetapi Adly telah mencadang beberapa buah lagu lain. Selepas beberapa kali aku berulang mendengar, tiba-tiba aku merasakan lagu ‘Itulah Sayang’ ini seolah penuh epik, langsung menyedari lagu tersebut mempunyai 4 parts vocals aku nak bahagikan senang kemudian hari. Jadi aku decided untuk memilih ‘Itulah Sayang’. Aku menghadapi beberapa masalah pada peringkat merakamkan vokal Noh, dan beberapa perkara tidak jelas agreement projek ini dengan AG Coco
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Aizat Amdan. Jadi secara tanpa ragu-ragu, aku terfikir, why not semua perempuan yang nyanyi, sebab arrangement muzik bersama melodi lagu ini seolah-olah comel. Jadi kebetulan Amirah Asraf (vokalis Tilu) singgah ke studio terus dipaksa untuk menyanyikan lagu itu, walaupun kami tiada perjanjian hitam putih bersama Tilu pada awalnya, just gamble! Jadi atau tidak, itu adalah kemudian. Nak dijadikan jodoh dipertemukan lagi, projek #tributepramlee mendapat tarikan Najwa Mahiaddin untuk turut bersama. Alhamdulillah! Maka lengkaplah line-up The Ramlees! Amirah, Yuna, Liyana Fizi & Najwa. Music arrangement lagu ’Itulah Sayang’ digubah bervariasi di mana aku cuba menampilkan signature setiap penyanyi di dalam verse mereka masing-masing. Mungkin itu membuatkan gabungan elemen baru dan lama menjadi lebih efektif dan menarik perhatian. Juga aku selitkan brass section menggantikan orchestration muzik asal yang menggunakan strings. Dan tidak lupa eksperimen aku menyuntik garis muzik motif Dondang Sayang pada akhir lagu,ia memang disengajakan supaya kita selalu ingat bahawa muzik tradisional takkan ditelan zaman. Artist :T he Ramlees Song : Itulah Sayang ( OST Anakku Sazali 1956 ) Recording Engineer : AG & Ceri. ( Kamar Seni Studio ) Drums : Azim Jenk Ali Acoustic Guitars : Ammar Habir Guitars : AG & Ammar Habir Piano : Azim Jenk Ali Bass : Azim Jenk Ali Brass Section : Fareed Aziz Tilu Vocals : Amirah Tilu , Yuna , Najwa & Liyana Fizi
CHAPTER 5; MY MUSIC 1 INDIEPRETASI 2011 Tahun 2011, projek gubahan kembali sekali lagi, dan kali ini tanggungjawab aku lebih besar kerana aku ditugaskan untuk produce hampir kesemua lagu-lagu yang terlibat untuk projek ini. MyMusic 1 Indiepretasi ini adalah sebuah extension of Astro MyMusic campaign di mana rakyat Malaysia diberi peluang untuk turut serta bersama terlibat dalam proses pemilihan lagu, dan menyiarkan video di channel khas MyMusic 318 di Astro. Pemilihan lagu bagi projek ini adalah berdasarkan undian di laman web khas MyMusic. Semua orang boleh memilih lagu patriotik asal sedia ada dan artis kegemaran mereka untuk memberi nafas baru kepada lagu-lagu diundi. Projek ini adalah sempena mengingati kemerdekaan negara Malaysia AG Coco
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& juga menyambut Hari Malaysia. Lagu tema projek ini adalah ‘Saya Anak Malaysia’ (Anak Merdeka) hasil komposisi asal Dr.Sam dan lirik oleh kumpulan Suaramu. Lagu ini dipilih kerana ia melambangkan kemerdekaan yang bertunjang teguh serta yang rapat bersatu kembali. Ia merupakan intipati perkataan “Merdeka” itu sendiri. ‘Saya Anak Malaysia’ juga merupakan sebuah lagu yang merentasi semua kaum, agama, dan lokasi dan juga sebuah uplifting song yang relevan setiap waktu, bukan hanya pada bulan Merdeka. Tatkala sibuk dengan studio, produce pelbagai lagu & sebagainya..ini adalah di antara projek MAJOR yang aku paling sibuk, kerana ia adalah projek muzik khas di mana aku perlu produce/rearrange balik lagu patriotik Malaysia yang lama dan diberi nafas baru (tidak jauh beza dengan projek P.Ramlee Indiepretasi tahun lepas). Rasanya kali ini aku tak perlu untuk mengulas lanjut setiap lagu projek ini seperti chapter P.Ramlee. Anda semua boleh mendapatkan album MyMusic ini atau mendengar hasil karya interpretasinya di radio, internet sebagainya.
CHAPTER 6: AKHIR KATA Menggubah dan mendalami lagu-lagu asal, baik lagu baru dan lagu lama akan membawa kita melalui arus zaman muzik itu sendiri, ada kontra pada setiap gubahan asal dan gubahan baru sesebuah lagu itu. Jadi, kesemua tulisan aku ini mungkin agak spontan. Rasanya banyak perkara yang aku tak dapat recall.Alhamdulillah apapun semuanya berlalu dengan lancar dan selamat, dan apa yang utamanya untuk aku berkongsi disini adalah pengalaman aku dalam masa terhad untuk produce beberapa buah lagu dan juga kekaguman aku terhadap karya-karya lama penulis/penggubah lagu-lagu lama terdahulu. Sebagai penggubah lagu, kami boleh dikatakan sebagai service provider; begitu juga beberapa role yang lain sebagai produser, musical director sebagainya. Matlamat utama adalah menghasilkan muzik yang sebaikbaiknya mengikut pelbagai kehendak, di antaranya adalah jadi kehendak komersil, di atas tujuan mendidik, untuk menarik perhatian, juga mengganggu fikiran, untuk syok sendiri, ada juga untuk mencabar kewibawaan berkarya, untuk bersaing kemampuan skills gubahan secara sihat dan sebagainya. Jadi tak perlu jadi seorang penggubah yang punyai pegangan tertentu dengan sesetengah pendapat dan pendirian. Muzik tidak perlu ada apa jua batasan dan sempadan, biarkan ia mengalir pada AG Coco
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setiap sudut rongga, dan udara kita.
AG Coco
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#projekbuku
Positive Tone—How It All Began by Ahmad Izham Omar
Together with Paul Moss, Kenny Tay and Jeff Siah, Izham Omar made Positive Tone the most exciting record label to have ever existed in Malaysian music history. Today, he’s a CEO and a COO in Media Prima Berhad. 25
Many stories have been told about how Positive Tone made its mark in the Malaysian music scene. How Positive Tone wasn’t just a record label but a symbol of independence, innovation and a music that was at once original, new and exciting. How Positive Tone produced music that not only introduced new musical styles to the overly mass-market-rock Malaysian public but also captured the imagination of a generation just waiting to erupt in musical and social freedom from the onslaught of manufactured music that pandered for mass market consumption. All these sound extremely romantic. Maybe to many it was and always will be. But to me, the start of Positive Tone’s journey in the underbelly of the Malaysian music industry and turning inside out for all to see was more than that. Our journey was filled with a lot of amazing talent, amazing people, amazing coincidences and mostly, very much mostly, amazing passion. Yes Positive Tone did become this beacon of independent success, a fairytale story of a record label that did good and changed the rules of the game. But the real story never started out so straightforward. Coming back from studying abroad, I was a majorly confused though optimistic young man. It was approaching the summer of 1994 and I just received my Ahmad Izham Omar
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MBA. I also had a Music degree from Berklee College Of Music majoring in Music Production & Engineering, whatever the hell that means (actually it means I learn formally how to produce and engineer albums but I like saying “whatever the hell that means”). I was also fresh from working for a record label in Boston called Taang! Records which was an extremely well-known label in the punk culture. I did not know that going into the job. I just knew that I wanted to get some US work experience and I wanted to work in a record label and there was an opening in Taang! Which was placed in Harvard Square, not that far from where I was staying. It was only when I started work there that I found out the label was a global shrine to punk, ska and other sorts of indie derivatives. Working at Taang! Records wasn’t glamorous at all. Yes, this was the original home of The Lemonheads and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones but no, I never met any of the artists. I was given menial tasks, appropriate for any budding young record executive. In fact, my first assignment was manning the shop floor including putting up lights, checking the stock, attending to customers and the like. I didn’t complain. The shop floor experience was invaluable, giving me insights on how customers think and how they decided on their purchases. I made my way up to handling international shipping, which basically meant putting CDs and posters in a box and sending them off to some country somewhere. My last task was to ‘analyse international revenues’ as the Head of Finance called it, which actually meant counting how much money the company was making overseas from the invoices they sent out. To make things more surreal, when I started working in Taang! Records I just came off an intensive 4-year study of jazz music. So I wasn’t that well-versed in punk. In fact, I was schooled in music principles that was totally opposite to the punk-favoured no-rules principles. But I found the music in Taang! fresh and the punk ethic of NOT adhering to formal music principles and theories refreshing (I think most of my Berklee lecturers would have rather killed themselves then be subjected to the dissonant notes of The Lemonheads and Teenage Fanclub). To top it all off, I was an MBA student at the same time. I decided not to tell the guys at work that I was a business student with jazz knowledge, as I don’t think they would understand what I was doing there. Usually snot-faced kids with pimples and other types of white-trash persona would be the ones working in punk labels. Not a jazz-educated MBA-wannabe brownish Malaysian. That combination would have been suspicious to my then-employers. They all thought I was just some foreign student wanting to be an intern. That was fine by me. Ahmad Izham Omar
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It was with all these experiences in jazz, punk, business studies, studios, performing in Vietnamese weddings, that I came back to Malaysia, full of hope and energy, but not quite sure what I was going to do. I knew I wanted to be involved in producing music. I knew I wanted to be in the music business. But I didn’t know how. And so it was then in that summer of 1994 that I met up with my mentor, Helen Yap. Helen was responsible for me studying music. This may not seem an important fact. But the truth was that I was offered a JPA scholarship to study law, economics, or international relations. But Helen, dear Helen, in my very first jazz piano class with her in 1987 (I took jazz piano as a ‘thing to do’ after SPM) persuaded me that Berklee was the way. And in my youthful foolishness, I decided to take her advice and applied. That’s how I got to Berklee. I remember the look of the JPA scholarship dude when I asked if there was a scholarship for music. He had a condescending snigger and such an oh-mygod-you-can’t-be-seriously-thinking-of-studying-music look on his face that it helped me carve a permanent disdain for the establishment until today. It took my parents by surprise too as they didn’t expect me to turn down the JPA scholarships. I still remember the worried look they had: Would music give my son a proper career? How do we pay for all this? As the legend went, after my mother recovered from nearly fainting when I told her I turned down the scholarships, she said these immortal words, “Izham, if you want to be a tukang sapu sampah pun, be the best tukang sapu sampah in the world.” Those inspirational words drove me all the way from my Music degree and into my MBA. My parents worked extremely hard to give me the best education in the world as the powers-that-be then obviously never wanted to recognize music as a viable career option and weren’t any help. There is no way I can repay how hard my parents worked to give me the best. (Thanks Mak and Ayah). In that fateful 1994 meeting with Helen I told her I saw a job opening in the classifieds a PR executive at BMG Music. I was thinking that maybe I should try that as a way into the music business. She quickly changed my mind when she said that it probably meant I had to go around sticking up Whitney Houston posters and coo to radio DJs how much I loved “Didn’t We Almost Have It All” and how her new record will top that “amazing classic”. She then said these immortal words (again). “Why don’t you go see Kenny? Ahmad Izham Omar
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You know, Kenny, the guy who used to be in Kenny, Remy & Martin. He’s got Positive Tone. He’s got that record label”. I actually thought she said, “He’s got a positive tone.” I was wondering how strange it was that Helen would say that someone has a positive tone. Maybe she meant that he was a very optimistic person? I went over to see Kenny at Kenny Music, a jingle house at the shoplots at PJ’s section 16 roundabout (Now no longer a roundabout but a traffic light 4-way stop). He told me about this record label he had called Positive Tone and how it was a company that him and Jeff Siah, a friend from the construction industry, started to release a record by Leonard Tan in 1993 called “Bintang Bukannya Satu”. (The name Positive Tone wasn’t new, it was a dormant shelf company that they bought. I’m glad they didn’t chose “Six Happiness” or “Usaha Jaya Trading” or any of these typical shelf-company names. We would have a very different story, I’d think). Kenny told me that Positive Tone’s only employee at that time was some white guy called Paul who was then working in the studios upstairs on an album by an unknown group. He took me upstairs. Kenny opened the door to one of the smallest studios I’ve ever seen (I’ve seen bigger toilets) and there was Paul. Paul Moss. Paul was crouched over the computer, looking stern and annoyed. (I don’t think he has any other look. Someone once said that Paul has perfected the “anguished” look when he saw him as a judge on Malaysian Idol. I thought it was a perfect description). Paul took one look at me after Kenny’s introductions and said “Hi. I’m working on this group. Still a lot of work to do. I think this is the best song they have.” Then he reluctantly played me what he was working on. I still remember the moment when the music came out of the speakers. It was fresh, different than anything I’ve ever heard in Malaysia and extremely catchy and original. It was just three or four chords but it had a soul to it. It was brave. It was clever. It was just….alive. Most of all, it reminded me of Taang! Records.
Ahmad Izham Omar
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I was listening to OAG’s ‘60’s TV’. Paul still had this annoyed look on his face. I thought he was upset at something, maybe me coming in and barging on his musical workmanship. I knew all artists and creative types hate it when they have to show their work unfinished. So I excused myself and went back downstairs excitedly. I took one look at Kenny and said “I’m in”. I didn’t even ask how much was the salary or what benefits there were. I didn’t care. I just wanted to do something that felt like a new beginning of something, whatever it was. I had a feeling this was going to be…fun. The next Monday I reported to duty. Kenny put aside a big creaky and old wooden table and chair in his filing room at the back of Kenny Music and armed it with a 286-processor IBM-compatible computer and a dot-matrix printer. I sat at the table, not caring that I was in some old filing room in some old part of PJ looking at some really old piece of machinery. I was just excited at the possibilities of the road ahead. I asked Kenny what I should do. He just said something along the lines of, “You decide”. Then he went off. I stopped in my tracks. I decide? I decide? Wait a minute, I decide? It was like a blank sheet of paper. And I get to write on it. I didn’t stop to question his sanity. From then on it was all systems go. After much contemplating, and listening to OAG’s music, and hanging out at the underground gigs and talking to the kids there, I realized that Positive Tone could really have its own niche in the music business. The best thing was this niche was something Paul and I really loved. And so I worked out a business plan around a mission – to continually produce something new and exciting. That was our niche. That was our mission. Heck, that was our calling. Armed with that mission, we not only produced OAG’s landmark debut album, but also a single by Poetic Ammo. At the same time, I heard a demo in my car by a group called Innuendo. It was so stunning that I immediately forgot where I was going and made a few calls and headed straight to say hello to the group. And so the basic foundation of Positive Tone laid upon the mission of doing something new and exciting for the urban audiences: and now we had three different musical styles from three amazing acts to show for it. With OAG, Ahmad Izham Omar
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Poetic Ammo and Innuendo, we launched Indie, Hip-Hop and R&B to the unsuspecting Malaysian public. None of these three styles ever made it across the mainstream in Malaysia before and it was nuts that we were planning to release all three within a space of a year of each other (For the purists, yes we also released a pop album by Liza Aziz around that time but I considered that a necessary piece of production needed to lay the groundwork to pull off an Innuendo and also a necessary piece of education in that we are totally SO not set-up to handle a mass-market artist, no matter how progressive we made the music). It was the four of us, Paul, me, Kenny and Jeff, wide-eyed wanderers trying to create something new in the music industry. Kenny was a music veteran, having been a top Malaysian artist and then a top Malaysian jingle writer. Jeff Siah was from the Siah Brothers corporation, a huge construction company. He had amazing passion in music and constantly threw ideas at us. The two of them, the original founders of Positive Tone, always gave me the freedom and support needed to make the dream a success. I bought into the company within a few months of working there, immediately showing my interest in the long-term. In hindsight, that was a good move. It meant I couldn’t just treat my Positive Tone job as just another job. It meant that this was going to be my life. It meant I had no back door to escape, no back-up plan. There was only one plan and I had to make it work. I knew if I started down this route, I would not only be going against the more established work options and corresponding salaries of more traditional careers, I would also be going against the more established way of charting success for a music label. And I knew I needed a few years to make it work, if it would work at all. If it all went to hell in a handbasket, I would be set back a few years. It wasn’t a hard decision to make. OAG, Poetic Ammo and Innuendo gave me hope and belief that we were on to something. Whatever that something was. And whatever it was, it felt exciting and sort of revolutionary-like. In many ways, Paul and I was a great complement to each other. We had different musical production styles. He worked on OAG and Poetic Ammo and I really worked hard with Innuendo. But that didn’t mean we didn’t get involved in each other’s productions. What I liked most about working with Paul is that I learnt so much from the way he approached music, which was the totally opposite way of my schooled approach. Paul taught me so much more than school ever did, I once said in some awards show. And those words ring true all Ahmad Izham Omar
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the time. He taught me to respect the melody and not get too tied up with the ‘right chords’ as most Berklee grads would inevitably do. I repaid the favour by playing keyboards for his productions and getting involved in arrangements and co-writing a little with him but that was nothing compared to what I learnt from him. We both knew we had to work really hard to make sure the music sounded fresh and different and unlike anything anyone has heard before. That would be our unique selling proposition, as business-types would like to say. So Paul never questioned why I spent a year in Reymee’s basement working with Innuendo, carving a direction and sound with them. Normal music industry folk would have thought that was a waste of time. But I thought it was necessary if we wanted to hit Malaysia with a sound that was miles above what anybody else was doing. I, in turn, never questioned why he spent months perfecting the sound of Chi’s drums (Yes, before Chi made it big as a TV celebrity with the new moniker Qi, he was just Chi, short for Qushairi) and making sure OAG sounded perfect. You see, we were not in it just as a business. We were in it because we wanted to bring something new from all of these great young talents that we were hearing in the scene. We just had to find a way to make it work and to balance it all, combining financial returns with spending what was considered excessive times on perfecting the product. But I knew this was the right way. We all knew. When you combine business discipline and marketing creativity with a passionate respect to music sincerity and production quality, you could have a real chance of not just making a real hit, but making a real difference. And for us, that meant everything. The early years were tough. No one really understood what we were trying to do. No one…….except the fans. The fans gave us strength and belief to try something new all the time. We knew the industry wouldn’t support us in the beginning but we knew we were on the right track as the fans were very supportive. We couldn’t use the music industry infrastructure then to get our music out. Radios wouldn’t support us. The press didn’t know what to write about us. The TV stations only showcased huge mainstream acts. Even the music shops didn’t know where to put us on their Malay, Chinese and International racks. It was frustrating that the industry just didn’t see, or maybe the industry didn’t Ahmad Izham Omar
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WANT to see, that there was something moving in the underground that was out of their safe little process and infrastructure. But we weren’t disheartened for long. We didn’t give up, though at times we nearly did, especially when time and time again, we came upon roadblocks when we tried to get support from the music industry and its infrastructure. In the end, we thought, screw the infrastructure, let’s go direct to these screaming fans we saw in gigs. From sticking flyers on toilet walls to being chased by mall security guards for giving out flyers to shoppers to organizing gigs we did all we could to get the music out directly to the fans. I still remember the pained look on my dad’s office staff when I kinda borrowed his photocopy machine to make flyers without paying. Even with all the hardship we kept on going. I remember the times when I didn’t know when the next salary was going to come from. I remember looking at the hopeful faces of the artists for their future and how we all just kept it all going even though we had no idea when the next batch of funds will come. For a while I even didn’t pay myself anything, as every cent was needed for us to keep on going. And boy did we keep on going. We didn’t have much money to promote OAG. We just made a great video, directed by the genius Brad Hogarth, we took a single black and white bus advertisement and we just spent days and nights voting for OAG in the Metro Chart Show on the now-defunct Metrovision (It’s some kind of karma that Metrovision’s license was sold to Media Prima who turned it into 8TV which I then launched with some Positive Tone staff). We did all we could, fueled by passion and little else, with no expectations on sales and no idea what the future would be for our tiny little label. And suddenly, OAG’s debut album began moving. The orders suddenly started coming in. It was just me and Paul and with Paul always in the studio, I had to figure out how to do invoices, purchase orders, work with the printers, get the products out to our independent distributor and then do it all over again when the next order arrived. I took on Yogi B from Poetic Ammo to help me. I also took in another guy called Azmi Abdul Rahman to help. It was a motley crue of sorts. When OAG hit platinum, it was as if we had hit on something. We never knew what the market was like for something like OAG, because Ahmad Izham Omar
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there had been no precedent. And once it hit platinum, we knew we had hit on some nerve. It was as if we were riding on the crest of some tipping-point of the Malaysian independent music scene. The music fans wanted something new, something exciting, something different, and only due to our love for doing something new and exciting that we gave them exactly what they wanted. When the orders kept coming from our indie distributor, I remember leaning back in my chair in that dusty old filing room and thinking, “Man, I’m glad we listened to the fans.” If we had listened to the major distributors, we would have turned OAG into a mass market Malay album and Radhi would have been forced to sing a Saari Amri classic. Fresh from the breakaway success of OAG, we quickly released Poetic Ammo’s album which also met with success. And then Innuendo’s stunning debut album launched us into the mainstream. Innuendo won a record 6 AIM awards which was a major feat considering that English albums were not allowed to compete on many AIM categories. I could tell you the major behind-the-scenes fight to get English albums recognized by the industry but let’s save that story for another time. With the early success, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. I had to always keep things in check, always managing people’s expectations. There was once when Radhi got into one of his moods and decided to use a marker pen and wrote angry messages on the walls. And there was once I had to withdraw all my money from my savings to pay royalties for all the artists when the company funds were not in yet. And there was once I nearly quit when I was shouted at by the manager at Piccadilly who thought that Poetic Ammo was performing instead of OAG. I remember looking at Paul and going, “I don’t know, man. This is tough.” Paul just said, “So you’re thinking of quitting, huh?” But I didn’t in the end. The next few years were the golden years of Positive Tone. With the influx of revenues, we managed to hire more staff. These staff quickly became the core of the Positive Tone DNA. With the help of these new colleagues, we developed our own work processes and even broke new ground in creative marketing and working with sponsors. (Well, we had no choice but to be creative as we usually had extremely small budgets). Our culture was beginning to be more solid and more established. Our music videos became the standard for all music video productions in Malaysia. A lot of artists from other labels would complain to their labels how Positive Tone, a tiny label, could make amazing music videos. The answer was actually quite simple. We didn’t spend on anything else. Ahmad Izham Omar
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Whilst other companies spent on advertising on TV, radio, print, buses, etc, we just spent on music videos. And even then sometimes it was produced cheaply by a sympathetic production house who loved our music. And with our focus on urban and progressive music, we became the favourites of sponsors which then helped with our roadshow and advertising costs. It all worked out great and all due to our singular mission. We set ourselves apart from the beginning and it was beginning to pay off. We had great fun at our office in Kelana Jaya. Yes, sometimes it would rain so hard that our roof gave way and everyone had to quickly move the computers from the rain but it was our home. We did all we can to make it a fun place to work. We did all we can to make it home. Positive Tone wasn’t just home to our artists and our staff, it became a sort of flag-bearer for up-and-coming artists. We received a lot of demos, wished we could do more with all of them, but wisely chose to work with only the most promising ones. Sometimes I got it wrong. After one hearing from a Singaporean guy, I threw his demo into the dustbin. Paul fished it out and said, “You gotta listen to the SOUL of this guy’s singing.” It was Ferhad. When EMI became our parent, we got more professional in our operations. We moved into new offices, finally had e-mail, and our computers worked faster. But our love for urban and progressive music never wavered. That remained strong and true. Apart from the three artists that launched us, Positive Tone explored various musical styles with releases from IntoXicated, Ferhad, Juliet The Orange, Nice Stupid Playground, Ruffedge, VE, John’s Mistress, Rabbit, Reefa, Pop Shuvit and numerous more artists. We made several landmark compilation albums: Boys & Girls 1+1=3 which defined the indie scene then and Tricks & Tales and The Phat Family which defined the hip-hop scene then. These compilations included artists like Naughtius Maximus, The Teh Tarik Crew, Phlowtron, Emberz Of Soul and many more. And of course, Too Phat defined the millennium for Positive Tone. The production quality, commitment to gigs, intensive perfectionism and creative marketing set the tone for Positive Tone’s sound and work processes. The collaboration with Warren G showed that a little label can indeed work wonders. That being said, Malique’s intensity really did push us and kept us on our toes. Others might say that he was too much of a perfectionist, I say that he was someone I learnt a lot from. Ahmad Izham Omar
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Even though we were all on our own in the early years, after a while the industry gave us recognition and support. Positive Tone won the Best English Album category in AIM for 8 straight years. We also had major support from the important guys behind-the-scenes in the industry – from Darren Choy, who believed in our mission and called us ‘the indie label with a MAJOR attitude’, to Arif Efendi from McCann-Erickson, who taught us how to ‘make things bigger’, to Lilac from Hotlink who took a chance on an indie label, to Claire Kenny who gave OAG a shot to sing the theme song to the Coca-Cola World Youth Cup, to Jake Abdullah, who created the Malaysian English Top 10 which catapulted us into the mainstream, to Jennifer Thompson, who gave us priceless time on stage during AIM, to the writers at TONE magazine, who gave us props to no end. There were so many more individuals who helped and I am indebted to every single one of them. I have to say that I was also lucky to have met so many great artists. They were not just great but they were all different. They were all original. And they all had amazing passion. Radhi was just someone with songwriting skills you can’t ignore. When Reymee, Sam, Pot and Taj got together, they had a sound that no other group can get until now. Yogi B had this manic attention to detail. Malique and Joe shook the nation like no other. You could just sing along to Nice Stupid Playground and smile. When Ferhad suddenly came out with the chorus to ‘Higher Deeper’ in the studio, I nearly peed in my pants. There were many others we met along the way, everyone talented in their very own way. I was also blessed to have met so many great and talented people who became our staff and colleagues, from Paul to Yogi to Azmi, to Efida, Putri, Laton, Jacynta, Wandy, Kim, Hawa, Nicky, Shah, Yan, Helmy, Luke, Pietro, Simon, Jeremy, Azwar, Maha, Aisha Rozaina, Ikmal and more names I can’t remember, man it was 1Malaysia even before the term was coined. Even my brother Ikram came and help whenever he could, such was his love for the company that we all created. It was like we had our own home, our own culture, our own way of doing things. We were small but we fought hard. We didn’t have big budgets but we figured out how to make the best of it. These guys were the life of Positive Tone. They gave it a soul, a character, a home. The secret of Positive Tone wasn’t that we were urban and progressive. The true secret was that we not only made urban and progressive music BUT aim to ensure its appeal to mainstream audiences without losing its urban and progressive values. That was why PT was what it was. It never just made music for the core urban audiences. It tried to showcase it for everyone to enjoy. PT did its best to ‘urbanize’ the mass market. And what a journey it had in its Ahmad Izham Omar
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efforts. Until today, as I sit and mull over the many financial statements I have to pore through and the many long-winded meetings I have to attend to in my current job in the world of broadcasting, I think back to those days in Positive Tone and a warm fuzzy feeling would always come over me. I miss those times. I miss the artists. I miss my colleagues. And I miss the music. It wasn’t just a record label. It was a magical collection of passionate people that made up the Positive Tone sound and spirit. We were crazy, we had a cando attitude and we thought that nothing could come in our way. We were out to take on the world and I loved every single minute of it. Every single minute.
Ahmad Izham Omar
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#projekbuku
Dead And Alive by Alak Idle
Alak is one of the backbones of Shock&Awe! Media, a non-profit media center that documents and produces materials for the current Malaysian DIY hardcore punk scene. Musically he fronts local punk band Pusher and sings for Carburetor Dung. 38
“Judge not others unless you’re prepared to be judged!” – John Lydon We are now sitting on our arses in this era of unlimited information. Thanks to those tech geniuses who made the Internet so dependable and indispensable like the underwear gripping your crotch as you read this. Yet, after years of fingering the keyboard and actively Googling the net, it still doesn’t lead me to the exact answer on the whole encapsulation of the ‘punk’ existence. There are gazillions of definitions and yet none of it could give capture the meaning of its existence. I’ve come to suspect that exploring deeper this so-called truth is as complicated as questioning the existence of mankind itself.
Have I tried Wikipedia? Hell yeah. The impression that I‘ve gotten remains vague when it comes to the black and white of what ‘punk’ really is. The conflict revolving this formless idea however portrays the beauty of what it really is. Punk allows individuals to define what it is to them themselves. And in an almost natural progression these individuals who are attached to it develop chemistry among themselves to bond together without any need to announce it or by obtaining any form of recognition by some (so-called) punk forefathers (and -mothers). Alak Idle
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For me, it’s simply an honest idea of celebrating diversity in breaking the mould of the monotonous society. Consequently it drives individuals to a rebellious edge along with self-empowerment while gaining internal confidence to just be themselves without any obliging or conforming to any societal norms and taboos that has been put in place without their say. Any passionate form of act, be it in music, poetry, politics or even sports that that challenges tradition, fundamentalism and the rigid old ways in daily life with a fresh take and progression on things is considered punk rock to me.
The Local Vista The punk epidemic in the 70’s affected every part of the world. It blew the minds of every single bored teenager with its shocking flamboyance, style and stripped-down musical composition. In some way, an alliance was form, ‘of the kids, by the kids and for the kids’ in various scenes mushrooming since then, creating a network of solidarity. It was also a symbolic middle finger given by the youth to the Man obsessively controlling every domain of people’s life. Similar phenomena also brewed here in Malaysia; out of the blue in the early 90’s, a semblance of scene was established and it was referred to as the ‘underground’ scene. It was not particularly an exact ‘punk’ scene, but from the very beginning it holds strongly to one of the main punk maxim: Do-It-Yourself. From whacking up any instrument, starting bands, exploring new sounds, organizing shows, recording/releasing materials, writing fanzines etc; it was all done by these groups of enthusiastic individuals without much worry of who would like or hate them. The conservative society then was not ready to accept different types of music than those usually aired on radio and TV. The “all knowing” prime media was too ignorant to do research and described the scene as just some menace to the society with the usual dumb blame to Satanic cults of being the catalyst. Punk is (was?) a threat to the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world, as one writer would possibly say it. Years went by with the yadda-yaddas and the changes that came along with it was drastic judging from the length of time. Nominally, different names were given; from ‘Underground’, ‘Alternative’, ‘Indie’ and then the so-called “Independent” Scene. Like all the youth culture in the margins, it became a hip teenage sensation that subsequently allured hungry corporate sharks Alak Idle
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who were eager to co-opt by buying the culture out, to turn the rebellion into money. Lines were drawn and the scene was divided into different pockets of sub-scenes mainly according to the differences of genres and stances in each clusters. The period from recent five years till today has witnessed a part of the scene that has matured after surviving all the hanky-panky politics. The good part is, it still breathes DIY. Even though it still revolves around the core values of hardcore/punk, the barriers between genres has been crossed among those who understood the ethos and stance. Much progression has been made and kids are firmer in defining what they stand for. Their principles are, after all, the only differential that they can claim possessing unlike the rest of the music scenes, now that solely being independent doesn’t worth much street cred. There is not much need to depend on hotels, clubs or government-owned halls to host gigs anymore, as there are a handful of spaces being run by the kids themselves currently. These spaces are not limited to only in cities like Kuala Lumpur, but are also popping up in various small towns around Malaysia. Spaces like Rumah Api (Ampang), The Wall (Batu Pahat) and Embrace Hall (Johor Bahru) are now mandatory stops for foreign bands around the world in their South East Asian tour. Although the mighty “download” medium has stabbed many major labels in the back, it does not affect DIY labels much other than being an advantage to strengthened up the trade networking around the world. Perseverant local DIY record labels/distros such as Basement, Cactus, Revulsion, Knot, Ricecooker, Stoneville, Utarid, Pissart, Pure Minds, Bullwhip and Nervhous are still releasing stuffs from local and international bands and in various formats: vinyls, cassettes and CDs which are then distributed worldwide through trading with similar DIY labels elsewhere. And for a person like me who still attains a hard-on by getting and owning releases in its physical format from a favorite band (with the cover and inlay- printed, hand-drawn or silkscreened), the relevance of DIY record labels like those I have mentioned are unquestionable. Playing an important role in providing a sense of place and as the only fixed spot for local record hunters to fulfill their music ravenousness is the Ricecooker Shop. The shop’s tagline: ‘The one-stop outlet for DIY/indie culture’ foretells the DIY, multi-genre, multi-format, local and international offerings the shop retails. Even foreign visitors who stopped by sometimes Alak Idle
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go crazy buying stuffs here, as rarity is almost the second nature of DIY releases. For those who haven’t heard of the shop, the address of the shop is attached in the end of this article. It is in the center of Kuala Lumpur, though it is a little bit tricky to find, tucked in the basement of a building that has seen its better days.
Tying The Knot In early 2000, after having our bands established, my friends and I were subsequently faced with a question that probably isn’t so foreign among creatures living in the DIY microcosm: “What’s next?” We pondered upon our own financial standing. The money that we own was barely sufficient to carry us through the next day; it seems almost impossible for us to get our materials recorded and released. We observe and we learn those who have gone the road before us and we were adamant to start our own collective record label, Knot Records, which consists of a few bands and close friends. Learning from a clichéd old adage, we each contributed RM 1 per day. No excuses, even if it means that we ate less that day. We had to wait until the fund was enough to get a few bands to record. The collectives’ first release was in the format of a dubbed CD-r with hand drawn inlay. It was a good start, as things went smoothly and steady with that one which made it clear to us that producing things DIY was in fact, possible. The years of struggling did jumbled up the collective a bit. Loads of lessons were learnt in terms of organizing, financial managing and also music producing. We were firm with the stance of to be a label that does not control the direction and creative output of any bands but to be in service to bands according to their needs. As a record label with financial investment at stake, we do monitor the production process in assurance to improve what we produce. To us the importance of quality exceeds those of quantity by any means – it is useless to have a huge listing of release with crappy quality. It did quite some time to wake up from our hibernation but it all paid off after we came out with a couple of pro CD releases. In late 2009, Pusher’s Our Beloved City of The Dead EP CD, became our first watershed attempt to produce everything DIY. From getting a friend to help do the recordings, mixing/mastering together, going to the factory to press the CDs and then packaging it ourselves. We even did a self-made video, which was Alak Idle
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then picked as video of the week by the infamous Maximum Rock n’ Roll magazine site. At the same time, we also managed to release The Pips’ Tug Of War EP CD that was produced in the same way. Getting The Pips to release was an intention to diversify the scene with a softer (sounding) approach in getting the satirical political message across. In some ways it was also to highlight the female empowerment agenda in a male dominated scene. The most recent release by Knot is with a talented band of stray cats called The Garrison. Their album entitled Subversion was entirely a collective effort and being able to release a band with such potential gave us the push to invest extra effort in the whole production process. It may be a bit clichéd for the revival of ‘77 punky-reggae sound, but you be the judge: do take a listen to the band’s material and tell us what you think. The process took a considerable duration of time as it was complicated to get that exact raw vintage sound in this digitalised era. We do hope in nailing this one, as of now we’re waiting for more critical feedbacks about it. Next on the menu would be a compilation documenting the DIY scene in 2007, called Berikan Cinta Pada Sesama featuring 16 local bands (including young-at-heart veterans, Carburetor Dung and The Bolllocks), which is co-produced with Ricecooker Recordings. We are also working on one experimental split release on vinyl which we decide to keep mum about that for now. The next candidate for recording studio torturing would be Klang’s notorious thrash squadron, Sarjan Hassan. If the stars align with Jupiter when the time comes, we’d be glad to kidnap the frantic Killeur Calculateur to record with us.
The Shock and The Awe “Don’t hate the media; be the media.” Jello Biafra If punk songs inform its audience the ideas in punk, fanzines then elaborate and put the ideas into context. It is no surprise that fanzines have played a crucial role in the development of the punk scene that claims to be something more than just music. The humble homemade publication originally produced to fill in the gap in media coverage has formed a corpus of literature documenting the DIY punk scene in all of its elements and expression that challenges the mainstream media as the sole reportage reporting bodies.
Alak Idle
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The idea of doing Shock&Awe! Magazine came about after getting weary for the years of the ‘talk-talk-do nothing’ routine over hundred glasses of teh tarik. There were too much complaints, issues, opinions and ideas that never had the chance to be voiced out, as least on our own personal side. It was only natural (or unnatural, depending how you see punk) that we work on a zine of our own. The first issue started as a trial fanzine with the typical contents of articles, reviews (music, print and film) and also band interviews. After selling off the first 200 copies within the first two weeks, we knew that there were readers who might be interested to get more of the same thing. The second issue follows with minor improvements from lessons learnt from the first, with additions of contributors and, some might argue, better layout. By the third issue, we were ready to take on the form of a magazine. It is not so much about differentiation with other zines but more of having a ‘complete’ format in our coverage of sections together with wider geographical documentation. The third issue costs a lot more than the first two, as we migrated to offset printing, a practical move considering our widening readership and that sweet, sweet smell of fresh offset-printed pages. Shock&Awe! magazine is an open collective effort which gathers individuals who are actively participating in the Southeast Asia punk scene and has a lot of things to say about it. Everybody does their part; from giving ideas, writing, reporting, reviewing, illustrating, marketing, accounting, printing and also distributing. By the 4th issue, we are lucky to have few distributors helping us to spread our magazine not only in Southeast Asia, but also in Australia, Canada, France and Spain to individuals who are interested to know about the punk scene in this part of the world. ‘There is a light that never goes out’ To run into another year doing the same thing again and again might fill the scene with bitterness and lead more people to get jaded. There are glimpse of that happening, as the everywhere we see seems to be clouded with new trends that are more of a lavish hobby with lack of substance. Even simple issues on humanity such as racism are being sidestepped; as for some people, the sense of belonging in a cool group matters more than anything. Some imitate and follow what other people are doing which we all could see from the bunch of bands coming up as carbon copies of what Alak Idle
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others were doing before, without much improvement from the original. Quantity is killing quality by the bits and all there is in the end is the uniformity that already exists outside the so-called underground scene. But then again, where is the underground today?
Let there be conflict. Let there be arguments. In a way it brings up discussions, which is the essential to what makes a scene alive. Stagnancy in the scene can only be prevented by constantly challenging oneself to tread the road that few have taken before. The scene will carry on, as long there are still people who have the balls to question and challenge the norm that is killing it. 2012 will be another year for the scene to strive and survive. Let’s hope the Mayans had a wrong prediction on the world destruction coming. Or else we can experience what some punks have always envisioned as their utopia: the total annihilation of the world that will bring forth a new one. If they survive this one that is.
Alak Idle
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#projekbuku
Music Publishing 101 by Amir Shazlan
Amir Shazlan plays bass for They Will Kill Us All and is the mover behind Super Stellar Sound Recordings. 46
There are many people in the music community today, especially those just starting out, who are unclear about the business of music publishing. So, here is a basic introduction to what is music publishing from a songwriter’s point of view. In a nutshell, publishing is about recognizing who is the ‘owner’ of a song and then giving them due compensation for use. The owner is the individual who composes the music, arranges the song and pens the lyrics. This can be done by just one person or a group of individuals doing different things. With some bands, the singer is a lyricist and the guitarist, the composer. Some bands share the spoils evenly, naming all band members as lyricist and composer. Now let’s go to the details. There are two halves to the publishing rights of a song. The first half is called the Writer’s share. This share will stay with the songwriters for life. If the songwriter passes away then it will be shared with the beneficiaries. The other half is the Publishers share. The publishers share initially stays with the songwriters. When the writer signs a publishing or co-publishing deal with a music publisher, only then the Publishers share is given out to these parties according to the publishing agreement. As it is, the songwriters sign these deals in exchange for a cash Amir Shazlan
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advance. The music publishers will then act as promoters and promote the song. They will try to get the song recorded (or in publishing jargon, ‘cut’) by an artist or placed in a movie or TV show. They don’t make money unless they get the song used. What is meant by due compensation? It means to earn royalties from the use of published songs. The most common way to earn royalties is by radio airplay. Every time a song is played on the radio, there is a royalty payment. The more airplay a song gets, the more royalty a writer receives. Simple as that. Another way to earn money is to perform live music in public. By right the organisers for any event that chooses to feature a live music performance must pay royalty for every song performed in the event. Now if you are famous enough, your song might be tuned into a karaoke tune or your song might be played in stores or supermarkets. Both of these situations require the facility owner to pay royalties too. There is also something called mechanical royalty. This comes from the physical copy of a CD. For each copy of the CD, the record label has to pay royalty to the music publishers. There are many more ways a royalty is due for songs, but these are common ones that up and coming songwriters should be aware of. Who collects the royalties? All these royalties are collected by collective management organizations (CMO). These are not-for-profit organizations that collect royalties on behalf of its members. Three recognized organizations in Malaysia are PPM, MACP and PRISM. Different organizations have different types of members. PPM has recording labels as members, MACP are for composers, lyricists and music publishers while PRISM accepts only recording artists and musicians as its members. By officially publishing your songs, it paves the way for you to become the members of these CMOs. Then you can start receiving royalties. Now we’ve seen what is publishing, the mechanisms of publishing and how royalites are collected. But that does not answer the big question – what is the motivation to publish your songs? There is only one reason why you should publish your song—it’s to profit from it. If you want to publish because you want to protect your songs, then you are doing it for the wrong reason. This is because every song Amir Shazlan
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you write is actually already given protection according to the Copyright Act 1987. As long as writers for the song are identified, then the copyright exists for the song. How does it apply to you? Let’s say you are an old school hardcore band. In the saturated world of today’s radio, there is little chance you will get regular airplay. And for most part, you will probably print the CDs yourself and play DIY gigs. As such, I would not advise you to go through the hassle of publishing your songs. You would profit more on your own rather than go through this entire publishing setup to claim what would possibly be small returns. Now, if you are a radio-friendly pop band and your songs are played on the airwaves quite frequently, then you have a good reason to pursue publishing. Get your song published, and then become a member of a collective management organization such as MACP, PPM or PRISM. After that you can collect what royalties are due to you. Right now there are a substantial number of bands and solo acts whose songs are being heavily played on radio, but they fail to collect royalties. Why? Lack of awareness about how publishing works is a clear factor. Laila’s Lounge took two years after their songs first played on the radio to collect their royalties. There are many more similar cases out there with lesser known bands. Lastly, I hope this short piece of writing inspires you to equip yourself with the necessary knowledge and take action to claim what is rightfully yours.
Amir Shazlan
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#projekbuku
Where Do We Go From Here O Brother by Anas Amdan
Anas Amdan is a producer and composer with Kasi Gegar Entertainment. He also plays with Go Gerila. 50
I’m not here to tell you how to be an artist. I’m here to just share with you the journey Aizat and I took to be where we are at now. So here goes. When Aizat was eliminated from Akademi Fantasia (AF), the biggest challenge we faced was, how do we move forward from here? Aizat, he was a natural stage performer. He showed confidence like he is one of the top singers around during his AF days. However, he was not your stereotypical presentable singer type. He was overweight and the public was so negative of him. I still remember the times when my mother would cry over the remarks made about him by the public. Aizat however, was forever forgiving – something about him that I truly admire. Then after 18 years of being obese, he slimmed down. All he did was hit the gym and jog. Really. Now that he’s slimmer, Aizat didn’t hold any grudge against his detractors. Anas Amdan
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For him, it was something that never happened. They were indirectly forgiven by him. He once told me: “I just want to perform and that’s all that matters. Let people judge me based on my work, not the way I look, or where I come from.” That to me was amazing and courageous for someone to think that way. The whole experience changed me a lot. It made me look at artist from a very different angle since. I realised that the most important aspect of being an artist is your INTENTION. It doesn’t matter what type of music you play or which scene you are on, your image and branding, intention is still something that you have to look at yourself very closely. Like Joe Flizzow once said: “Kita boleh tipu orang, tapi kita tak boleh tipu diri sendiri.” Your intention must be pure and honest. If you put a lot of focus in what you intent to do, InsyaAllah, God will help you achieve that. If Aizat’s intention was to just perform, mine was to help people with ambitions. It’s only natural for me to start with something that was close to me – Aizat. Since very few saw the potential, or believed in the fact that Aizat had the potential to go far, we thought, let’s just do it ourselves. The first thing we did was to register a company using Aizat’s “catchphrase” during AF, “Kasi Gegar”. The basis of KGE is simple – we admire pure passionate talents and help them achieve their ambitions. It’s a blessing to have your own independent label. We are small but full of passion. We then approached Mujahid, a producer from Rumpun Records, to help us record Aizat’s debut album. Mujahid contributed two songs for the album, (‘Hanya Kau Yang Mampu’ & ‘Sahabat’) while the rest was co-written by Anas Amdan
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Aizat and me. To be honest, it was the first time we got the chance to compose our own stuff. I had some materials that I composed while I was in Brisbane finishing my degree, but this, was totally something else. It was even more challenging when we decided that ‘Percubaan Pertama’ is going to be a full Malay album, well, to me at least as I usually write in English. Really, it’s easier to match English phrase with melodies as most of its words are at most one or two syllable. For example, ‘I love you’ versus ‘Aku cintakan kamu’ in the same melody have two different feelings to it despite its same meanings. One is light and the other one is heavier. I really admire those who excel writing songs in Malay. For me they are pure geniuses. As for the music on the album, I like to look at things the simplest way as possible. Writing music to me is like cooking. A good chef will always be reputable for his good food and with the right amount of ingredients, your own creativity; you can produce a great meal. For us, we wanted to use our own creativity and cater for anyone who wants it. We just want to develop our own unique music that hopefully connects. I don’t waste my time worrying whether the music sounds too commercial or not current enough. I cook, you taste, if you like it, you’ll put in good reviews. If not, I will try a different recipe. Speaking of reviews, I don’t really like having review from friends. Most of them will say things that you want to hear, seriously. Neutral perspective is always better. By that I mean the public’s view. Always respect your listeners. You can’t blame them for not liking your music. Never undermine them, only a loser does that. Set your ego aside and accept to learn the truth. Like food, you can’t force people to like it when it sucks; or say that they do not understand this kind of food. You just need to learn from it because music is how your heart communicates to another heart. That is the beauty of music. Your creativity is God’s gift to you. Back to Percubaan Pertama, a few years back, Roslan Aziz told Aizat the Anas Amdan
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secret on how his Ikhlas concert in 1991 was a massive success – he went out there and performed as many areas as possible prior to it. Aizat took Roslan Aziz’s words seriously. He believed that with all the success he had for ‘Percubaan Pertama’ and the number of awards he won; he had to return the favour to his fans by hitting the road and perform. It was a rather difficult thing to do though, especially when we live in a different era where people are so used to free concerts, but hey, someone needs to step up, right? So we did a mini tour in three different areas – ‘Live in Damansara’, ‘Borneo Tour: Live in Kuching’ and third was ‘Borneo tour: Live in Kota Kinabalu’. Preparing for it was a hell but it all went well. We successfully went out there. We had two intentions for the tour; to send a clear message to the industry – to encourage more paying concert for artist; and to the performers – reach out to your fans! Make a real concert experience for them! Financially, we made a lost for the Borneo tour. We did not have sufficient sponsor to cover the cost so we forked out our own money to ensure that it happens. We are after all in a risky business anyway, so risk is just an option that sometimes you just have to take. But Alhamdulillah, a few months later DiGi took notice of our Borneo Tour and backed him up for few more dates in the peninsular. I am so happy that Aizat got the chance to perform at so many different areas. It was even sweeter because all were ticketed concerts. Why is paying concert important to us? Because free concerts will not help you. Why? Because majority who turned up for it are not really your fans! They are a mixture of people who just so happen to walk by the stage from some booth, sit down and not singing to your song. It’s not healthy for the industry cause at the end of the day you are just like a puppet show to them. Where’s the value in that? I’m not saying that I haven’t performed in one, but the Anas Amdan
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feeling, in all honesty, SUCKS! And I repeat it’s not healthy. Speaking of creative values, in the West, people in the creative business are valued highly because they colour their whole country with their creativity. Sadly, that’s not really the case here. I just don’t understand why we can’t lift our country’s name by doing the same. I always felt like the only way we can beat the Western is through our creativity. Forget the physical facets. Why do you think some of the international artistes can be heard here in our country? Not because they are better than us creatively, it’s simply because they got someone with good business sense to bring them here. The problem here in Malaysia is that we never take creative values seriously. By serious, I mean we never handle things professionally. For example, I find it quite frustrating when some of us can happily work without having any black and white signed. The music industry needs to start small somewhere. Anyway, I am not going to talk so much about the music industry apart of it being just a game. A game played by ‘kawan-kawan’ for the ‘kawan-kawan’. The saying is not about what you know, is about who you know pretty much sums it up. Well at 24, I still have a lot of time to not care so much about the politics behind it. I rather not let my creative juice be affected by things that they want you to do. I am just an outsider. Looking back, I would say that I am quite fortunate than to have the financial support from my family when all these started. Not many people have that. I do get a lot of people saying that our success was because of my background. Well let me tell you this, money is not at all correlated with the music you make. I did not make an offer to the almighty to bless me with this gift. I heard stories that some people spend hundreds of thousands for an album that guarantee a hit but still end up nowhere.
Anas Amdan
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For me once again, it all comes down to your intention in the first place. Aizat is so far a blessing to me and I’m glad that he is my brother. Well I hope this journal will help others out there who inspire to be a singer, artist, or musicians. It is just my side of the story and this is what I can honestly tell you. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you are not ready to fulfil your dream because you are still young. Don’t let them limit what you can do. Always believe and make it happen, or else you will end up being a typical person who live in the past, brag about past glory and at the same time complain about past failures. I am still young in this industry. My serious involvement in the music industry has only been 3 years. Still is a baby. I have a lot to learn. But I always believe in my potential. So must you. This is as much as I can offer my experience and journey. Always look at the positive side of things and try to have patience in yourself. Be the future. On top of it all, have pure intentions!
Anas Amdan
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#projekbuku
What Is A Song? by Azmyl Yunor
Azmyl Yunor is a singer/songwriter who performs/performed as Azmyl Yunor & the Sigarettes, The Maharajah Commission, Ben’s Bitches, Furniture, Ciplak and Thunder Coffee Club. He also happens to be a lecturer. 57
Songs...ahh, sometimes we as musicians forget the most important part of what got us into this trade in the first place. The joy, wonder, and sometimes bittersweet, practice of churning/crafting/cracking/creating a song out of nothing is truly a great thing to experience. There’s an almost spiritual and mystical (and sometimes therapeutic) aspect to songwriting, for me at least, that intrigues me. Unfortunately, sometimes the commercial and industrial aspects of the music business can disillusion some (and make some quit playing music altogether) and leave some unable to see the forest from the trees. My troubadour friend and folk hero Meor Yusof Aziddin once told me that songs are like prayers. But to whom? I asked myself. Well, to whomever you believe in and wish to deliver them to, be it the Almighty, spirits, Mother Nature, or lover I suppose. It can be in any language or gibberish or even an instrumental, as long as the initial thought/image/mood that appeared in your mind during the song’s birth resonates with something you feel so strongly about in yourself that it can’t help but find its way out. We, as human beings, are mere mediators. We are the medium for songs. All physical beings are. We’re here on this piece of rock temporarily but the songs will remain (up until we’re extinct as species, that is). Look at Azmyl Yunor
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how many songs by dead people we are still singing along to now. I bet my bottom ringgit that you are listening to one right now. I think this perspective becomes more evident if you go it solo and spend a lot time alone somewhere godforsaken, disconnected from everyone— handphones are evil!—in order to summon the song to arrive. As physical beings, we react to our surroundings: the weather, the room temperature, the people you are in company with, the noises you hear, how rude the waiter was when you ordered your teh ais over lunch today. Therefore, the songs that you ‘write’ will be the end result of a small portion of your collective physical and mental experience during that particular moment. A mere chemical reaction from physical stimuli. Or maybe not. That’s just me, I write for myself; everything else are bonuses which I am still eternally grateful for, since it gives my existence meaning in order to wake up and do stuff like pay bills or whatever. The late singer-songwriter and all round rabak artist Townes Van Zandt once remarked that in order to write a song, you need to be alone. He also noted that being alone is not being lonely. Being alone is a state of mind. It allows you to focus on the experience, the journey, not the end result or destination. Being lonely helps too since you feel desperate and have the urge to express yourself. However, a lot of people are afraid of being alone. Sad but true. Being alone should be celebrated, and what best way to celebrate it than writing a song. It doesn’t have to be a perky celebratory song, it can be a depressing suicidal ballad too if you wish! This brings us back to Meor’s observation that a song is like a prayer: when you pray, you are alone with yourself and to whomever/whatever you are praying to. You willingly open your heart and bare you soul and share and face your innermost hopes and fears, stare it in the eye, and conquer or come to terms with it. While songs may be considered ‘sacred’, I think you shouldn’t treat them as something precious: use them and use them hard; throw them around, bruise it, scar it, then you’ll know it’s a tough gem. However, Lemmy of the rock n’ roll legends Motorhead also remarked in an interview that songs are like postcards; they arrive from anywhere and everywhere without warning. The duty of the artist in this sense is to realise its arrival and access its worth: should you spend some time looking at the postcard in detail and write back? Or leave the postcard lying forgotten in the mailbox of your mind? Sometimes, you write a postcard back and send Azmyl Yunor
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it off to someone else. In this sense, songs are good company, like an old friend. Songs sometimes remind you of something, somewhere. It’s like hanging around with a friend nostalgically reminiscing the good ol’ days. Sometimes the song reminds you of what a terrible person you were and you reflect on how far you have changed or remain the same. This however, brings us to the question of documenting or capturing the song on record. Local legend Rafique Rashid expressed his fear of recording a song in a very simple manner: “What if the song is never finished?” How true. Songs that are recorded are merely a documentation of the version of the song on the specific day and time and place it was recorded. It is not necessarily THE definitive version. However, we’ve been sold the industrialized idea (and relentless propaganda via entertainment industry) that songs need to be recorded (and most of the time, in high fidelity) and sold in order to make the song ‘official’. That’s bullshit. Songs were never sold in the past; the music industry is only about a hundred or so years old. The current state of the recording industry is both a symptom and a blessing: those big major labels deserve to die a slow, horrible death, because songs were never meant to be commodified to a certain ‘industrial standard’ and make those people in suits rich (sorry people in suits, I don’t mean to generalize, but you get my point). The present state of the music industry is bad karma, that’s all. Nobody knows who the fuck wrote ‘Happy Birthday’ but everybody sings it. Even the great P. Ramlee once claimed that “my art is not for money. My art is for society.” I still don’t know what a song is beyond the obvious thing that it is a ‘composition’ and has a ‘melody’. I like to keep that part of my songwriting innocent, naive, spontaneous, and not probe it too much. To me, a song either comes to you or it doesn’t. That’s why some best songs are sometimes written on receipts, napkins, tissues, drink coasters, etc. I call it a ‘song attack’. Songs have lives of their own. Sometimes it’s the song that matters, not the singer. If you truly love your songs, let them run free and wild in the night for that’s where they belong. Listen to Sting’s advice: if you love someone, set them free.
Azmyl Yunor
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#projekbuku
The Malaysian Music Scene, A Sabahan’s View by Chris Pereira
Chris Pereira is an audio engineer, producer, studio slave, keen photographer and overall loud mouth always with an opinion. Oh he’s a rapper too! 61
Sabah. The capital city, Kota Kinabalu, or KK for short, is, I would say, the size of Bukit Bintang. The size apart, it has had a good run in the music business. Music teachers are more in demand than ever. Small gigs and bigger events are local-act-friendly than it ever was. The local-local, as in the ethnic side of the music scene, the Kadazan, the Dusun, the Kadazan-Dusun, the Murut, the Bajau and so on are doing awesome especially when the grassroots are still buying the CDs! YES THEY STILL BUY CDS! Even as late as 2008/2009, the Kadazan Dusun Music (KDM) as it’s officially called here could move an amazing 20,000 copies of an album (and this is excluding the karaoke VCD that comes after). Bear in mind that these were achieved with no online sales or promo, no newspaper advertising, no interviews on TV. Just happy go lucky reggae influenced local pop songs as it was done in the 80s. All together now… WOOOWWW… Then reality kicks in, what happens after that? You sell 20,000 CD’s and then? The only station that pays up to MACP, and actually plays the songs Chris Pereira
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are RTM and… on limited shows in a day. You see… here, I would say 75% of the industry knows about MACP, but is it relevant? Sure-sure long term, protection and all that, but with only 1 station playing your song? Get what I mean? Business sense, the small labels that are in KK manages the artist like a big label would, with the artist getting close to nothing in terms of monetary wise but all the fame to feed an 11 member football squad. To me, we fail to think long term. We all think: MONEY, NOW, HOW, NOW, MONEY, NOW Which isn’t necessarily bad, as the label pushes and finds ways to make creating an album a faster process, no more self indulging like three years to perfect that guitar tone for the solo on song #7 on your album. The style now is – you have three producers/songwriters/lyricist/videographers. You have four weeks to finish your songwriting and then two weeks to put it on tape. While the producers master the tracks, you have to shoot the Karaoke videos within two days. Now here’s the kicker. This has been the same process since KDM first started. The technology has evolved yet the sound chose to stay behind. It appears that KDM have discovered McFly’s DeLorean and took a trip back to the future. No offence to KDM because the main core buyers who still frequent the record shops, the tamu and those religiously source these releases came from that same era. The same people who were buying then are buying now. Like it or not, that’s what the buyers want to listen to and it’s the buying power who dictates the direction of the music. So how can the new generation bridge the gap? They don’t. A lot of us have given up on “upgrading” the KDM scene especially when the movers and shakers are hardcore at maintaining its “purity.” That Sumazau beat must be there, same goes with the comical lyrics, the stories of unspoken antics in a drunken stupor, etc. Well those being good excuses, I see it as US not supporting US. We say we want change, change comes, and we let it slide. How so? We don’t support Chris Pereira
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the music scene. We only talk, the previous generation of music lovers still loves the music scene, they are still going out to buy it and not just talk about it. We? We all want to complain about the price of CDs. But when it’s a nonSabahan CD, it’s okay to fork out RM29.90, we’re really just lowering our own expectation of our own music culture and scene. We want it to grow. We want it to grow for free. We need to re-learn to respect ourselves before we go out and showcase ourselves. Now, what about the rest of the music here in KK? The indie scene here is alive! It’s at the stage where it’s about the music not the radio, shows, sponsors. It’s still at its rawest stage, where passion and love for music stands high above carving a living out of it. Where the instruments, the amps, the drum skins, the brand does not matter. What matters is that music is here, its now, its loud and its alive. Songs are still at four minutes minimum, the guitar solos are still 16 bars, a song has at least two sections to show off musical technicality. Music is music and not about dollars and cents. Where artistic creativity outshines commercial viability. In other words, the underground movement is as strong as ever. Until recently, say the past two to three years, the indie movement here was never taken seriously. It was always perceived as a hobby, as a waste of time for kids who have nothing better to do. Then, something happened. A local DJ broadcasting from KL started to play anything and almost everything that came out of Sabah, be it home made demos, polished singles or rough takes on radio. From 2007 onwards, music has taken flight and never looked back! Then the wonder of evolution took place. The value of quality over quantity came into play. It’s nice to see the bands having meet ups to talk about how they get their own sound and tone. Everyone was willing to share knowledge. We’re still new. A lot of the bands have yet to explore beyond their comfort zone. Now we are taking it forward with “regulations” set for radio airplay. Okay, allow me to take a few steps back and give you a picture on what Chris Pereira
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do most of the bands here understand about having their song played on radio. Majority of the active members in KK’s growing indie scene are still under the impression that in order for their songs to have airplay, they have to be under a label or production house. In a harsher way to put it – that they have to be owned by someone else. With that mentality as well, a lot here still see progression is something that will come their way if they’re signed to a recording label. This year itself, around middle of the year, I had a session with a metal band and we were discussing about the metal scene and how some bands sound the way they are. The Black Metal Gods of Sabah that is Mantak was mentioned and the band members said “Sound dia orang bagus sebab dia orang under laber bah tu.” I had to break that bubble by saying the band recorded in the same studio they were in, using the same backline. The scene here is still fresh, so fresh that they hope a label will pick them up and polish them and not the other way round – polished and ready to take on the world. At the same time, in this freshness is where I find the discovery, the adventure, the wonders of finding out what sound works for you. Where trends are not followed and roots are dug up and digested. How do we sound like Led Zeppelin? What made the Beatles vibe on their recording so awesome? In other words, we’re working our way up from the essence of what made the indie scene in the 1st place. It’s a starting point for bigger things to come. The game now is waiting for it to mature and be an industry instead of just a scene. I hope in the process we don’t lose our self to just chase the fame, the money and totally forgot about how we all started getting into music for the love of it, how we made music = life.
Chris Pereira
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#projekbuku
Of Memory, Moments and Music: A Brief History of a Fan, a Friend and a Photographer by Danial Radzmi
Danial Radzmi is a freelance writer and photographer. 66
Being a music photographer is not as glamorous as the appeal suggests. On regular basis, you will find yourself battling elbows with unforgiving media photographers for a few inches of extra space. In smaller indoor spaces, you’d navigate amidst a stormy sea of sweaty strangers in the merciless mosh pit while precariously balancing your RM20,000 worth of fragile camera gear. And all these are for? The heavy pressure of capturing fleeting moments of a band, the fans and the event. It tougher when you are a fan who is also a photographer and a professional at the same time, however, on the flip side, it’s also advantageous to merge all the above into one, as only an avid fan truly knows the product and subject, so to speak. To me, photography is not just about shooting it well, but also shooting it the right way. It has a lot to do with participation, preparation, and anticipation. You participate by buying the music and reading through the lyrics to understand the artist better. You prepare by remembering the verses and choruses of their songs, as well as the stage lightings setup so that you can capture aesthetically good, memorable moments. You anticipate by knowing when the bassist will jump during the band’s Danial Radzmi
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performance, or at which beat, which line of a chorus will the frontman scream in utter euphoria. Most importantly, you need to have the foresight on where the next photographic moment will take place. Everything is in the details as a good photograph is already half made even before the shutter clicks. At it doesn’t end there. There’s also photojournalistic captures beyond live shows. How do you shoot a group portrait of musicians or a singer-songwriter in her favourite private space? What about that light-hearted and candid moments between the artiste, composer and producer during recording sessions at a studio or random going-ons backstage after a concert or the roadtrip in a beat up van for a show up North in godknowswhere? To find a story to tell in places that are often overlooked is by far one of the most difficult yet crucial tasks of a good photographer. As demanding, unprofitable and exhausting as it may be, there is in fact much more to gain from this less travelled road. It’s by far one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever taken part in my life. You play the part of a passionate fanboy, immortalise moments in pictures forever, befriend and hang out with truly inspiring people, and (sometimes) get paid at the end of it. A pretty sweet deal, I must say. Although my venture into music photography was rather brief, it was a whirlwind of back-breaking, hair-raising, ear-splitting, solid three years of great times. And thankfully, it wasn’t only confined within the boundaries of the independent band and singer-songwriter circle. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to document almost the entire spectrum of the local music industry; from bands to DJs to singersongwriters, small gigs to massive music festivals, modest indie set-ups to major mainstream award shows, local and international acts (with Paramore being the last overseas artiste photographed in late 2010) while spanning a variety of genres, and the many faces of unsung heroes – the organisers, the managers, the crew, and of course, the fans. Not forgetting club gigs with visiting DJs from around the region (a memorable one being DJ Rocky Rock, the official DJ for Black Eyed Peas) spinning booty-shaking-friendly tunes and accompanied by dancers invited from the far Orient who resembles the Wondergirls on crack, with Danial Radzmi
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far, far less clothing, dancing in cages and spinning around stripper poles. There was also a sado-masochism theme night, master-slave, leather and whips and all that jazz, which, by the way, happened to be my first day on the job as a full-time photographer. “Only take photos of hot girls. Take lots of ‘em. And don’t forget the DJs,” said the boss, what still stands as the single best instruction from the powers-that-be that I’ve ever had the pleasure of receiving. I tend to digress past midnight and it’s 4.28am, anyway, that’s a story for another day. Rewinding back, my first most vivid memory of music-photographercoming-of-age, for lack of a cornier phrase, was back in mid-2008 at Laundry Bar while freelancing with Chaswood (which included other performance spaces like The Apartment and Republic Bar.) The photos I took that night turned out to be absolute shit (you win some, you lose some) but it didn’t matter since the event itself was superb. Performing that night was Bunkface, Oh Chentaku and none other than living legends, Butterfingers, and what a glorious night it was. Bunkface was still innocent newbies, yet to explode into the scene with their seminal hit single “Situasi.” Oh Chentaku were gig veterans with a rabid following and incredible performers to boot. Who could forget the frontman and lead guitarist Myo’s 360-degree guitar spins? And then there was the mighty Butterfingers to close the night. It was my first close encounter with a band I worshiped (short of building a shrine to give daily thanks to Dear Leader) and one that I quite literally grew up with since I was this snotty, pimpled-face 13 year old. I remember myself sprawling on the stage frantically shooting away Emmett, who was only a slap away, thinking “Dude, I still have your ‘98 Butterworth Pushful’ cassette.” Which I later eventually said to him, and this celebrity of epic proportions, this rock god of our garden city of lights, inexplicably blushed and muttered an almost shy “thank you.” His wife, Terrina then later remarked, “don’t fret, he’s completely oblivious to his fame. It happens all the time.” I was floored. Not so much because I finally get to meet a long time idol, but how human he seems. While I did more work for them and given the opportunity (thanks to Loque’s wife Dahlia and Terrina) to photograph their historic farewell concert at Istana Budaya the following year, I learnt Danial Radzmi
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even more that this man is just a regular – although incredibly talented – guy. And I’m glad to say it’s an endearing quality that I find in everyone that I’ve met in our quaint little scene. Humble, gracious and genuinely passionate about what they do. It has been a constant source of inspiration, the never-say-die attitude, hard work, sacrifice and dedication the artistes, managers, crew, and the rest put into their craft. Regardless of who or what they are, (pretty much) everyone is comrade-in-arms and rebels of the same cause. As someone wise fittingly wrote, “we are not an association, we are a community.” The camaraderie within the scene is truly inspiring. Something that – sad to say – is often lost in the materialist rat race of the wider capitalist community. It is this spirit that must always be remembered; of people coming together for a single cause, of collective celebration of joy, and our innate capacity to create artistic expressions of beauty, meaning and purpose. As Robert E. Lee aptly puts: “In spite of failures which I lament, of errors which I now see and acknowledge, or of the present aspect of affairs, do I despair the future? The truth is this: the march of Providence is so slow, our desires so impatient, the work of progress is so immense, and our means of aiding it so feeble, the life of humanity is so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us to hope.” I deeply believe in the importance of music documentation, be it in photographic or video form (notable mention goes to fellow friends and comrades Ahmad Faris and Zul Luey who have been working on the episodic rockumentary Tapau – a local adaptation of Vincent Moon’s critically acclaimed La Blogotheque show – and the brilliant music videos they create, culminating with the recent AIM18 award for Best Music Video for Aizat Amdan’s “Susun Silang Kata.” It’s important that such moments are spoken of and documented and remembered. Moments like pre-breakout Yuna crooning the still-raw “Deeper Conversation” at No Black Tie, heroes of yesteryears Amy Search and Republic of Brickfields onstage together, Noh and Lan fronting the two biggest bands then – Hujan and Meet Uncle Hussain – banding together at the peak of “Lagu Untukmu” live at the epic closing of AIM16, Meet Uncle Hussain’s watershed farewell-to-Lan showcase at Hard Rock Café and the very last photo of their original line-up, preBrushfire Zee Avi back when she was still known as KokoKaina at the now defunct Lepaq Performing Arts Café and her signature ukelele, Deepset’s Danial Radzmi
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mindblowing collaboration with Nyoba Kan at the annual Urbanscapes arts festival, OAG’s final unplugged showcase at Istana Budaya, One Buck Short’s then bassist Izal crowdsurfing in majestic fashion on thousands of fans way past the staging barriers at Rock The World 2009 and the long list goes on. What a beautiful sight to witness, wedged in that space between fans crushing the barricades, colliding bodies in the whirling mosh pit, singing along in complete rapture, and the artiste, the band, swooning in serene joy, drums crashing, guitar “raping”, exploding in chorus crescendo. Like a foot soldier in a trench between two wars of the utmost beautiful kind, two episodes of a heartwarming story, two lovers stuck in that Twilight Zone limbo of post-quarrel and pre-make up sex. And yes, it’s orgasmic. I was a witness to these moments, and more. I was both creator and participator, detached yet connected at the same time. I was a part of it but standing apart, invisible yet known. An enlightening dissonance, a unique dichotomy, one might say. Though it should be known that the photographer and the camera are only mediums by which these moments are immortalized and passed on for all the rest to bear witness. Susan Sontag, the late art critic (and famed celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz’s lover) amusingly captures the idea of imaging and the position of the artist as merely a vessel in her 1977 collection of essays titled On Photography: “...the very question of whether photography is or is not an art is essentially a misleading one. Although photography generates works that can be called art – it requires subjectivity, it can lie, it gives aesthetic pleasure – photography is not, to begin with, an art form at all. Like language, it is a medium in which works of art (among other things) are made. Out of language, one can make scientific discourse, bureaucratic memoranda, love letters, grocery lists, and Balzac’s Paris. Out of photography, one can make passport pictures, weather photographs, pornographic pictures, X-rays, wedding pictures, and Atget’s Paris.” As cliché as it may sound, what she said was very true – a picture preserves a passing moment for all eternity (or till your external HDD decides to die in a silent whimper, a heartbreaking pain to which I’ve had the unfortunate privilege to experience and yet to fully recover till today.)
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In a rather poetic way to put it, photographs do not create art but instead pays homage to works of art. And in light of our burgeoning music scene and its immortalized visuals, it documents the story of how it began, where it is today, and a means by which to fondly time travel in reminiscence of the good ol’ days. Nevertheless, the visual portrayal of music is merely part of a larger chronicle, both of which – sounds and sight – tell stories, though in different ways. Sontag goes on to say: “What do we have from the past? Art and thought. That’s what lasts. That’s what continues to feed people and give them an idea of something better.” Art is the identity of a nation as well as its culture and the expression of its passion. Who are we? What does a Malaysian song sound like? How does it move and in what way? What does it look like? There need not be an absolute, final answer. What matters more is the journey towards unity and piecing together this fragmented creative landscape we have today. A rallying call, one might say, that Loque is constantly striving for to ignite “a Malaysian Renaissance.” Perfectly encapsulated in Monoloque’s debut album Jejak Tanah, it’s a call to arms for all in search of our identity and the preservation of our passions and cultural roots. In the opening lines of “Batu Belah Batu Konkrit” classic songstress Azlina Aziz hauntingly sings “wahai anandaku sayang, ke mana hilang budaya?” telling the story of a lost sense of self and long forgotten tales. And there are some stories that we must never forget. So, what stories have I crafted these past brief years? Let me rephrase that —what stories have I found and captured? What do my images, and those of others, talk about? What do they speak of? Why, immortality, of course. In the same way why stars are beautiful, looking at a still photo is looking at the past. It’s a constant reminder of a passing time, an instant long gone. Photography captures the death of a moment and gives a sobering reminder that the end is nigh. Everything becomes that much more meaningful because it is doomed. Thanks to the advances of science and technology, it has become easier today to preserve such precious memories and stories, and the first time in the history of humanity that we are accorded with such a gift. “The only reason I want to meet Shakespeare or might even want to is because I can meet him anytime. Because he is immortal in the works he’s left behind,” said the polemecist Christopher Hitchens, who ironically is going through the final chapter of his life, battling a terminal stage IV esophageal cancer.
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Oftentimes, expressions of an art form – be it a song, an album cover, a music video, a picture of a band mid-show on stage – need not be neither complex nor deep. Sometimes, it is simply memorable. Moving. Powerful. Poignant. Beautiful. And sometimes, that’s all there is to it. This chapter marks the death of my brief career as a music photographer, but the images captured will live on. Before, I wrote with light. Today, I write these words. This is my testament to what I’ve witnessed. This is my homage to life, art, music, and all those beautiful events and people I’ve had the privilege to meet in that wonderful episode in time. It’s 6.21am and near sunrise. Time to revisit the past back to 1998, to when I first learnt this song from a late friend, Adyz Adrin, who passed away a year later: Where’s the thing call beautiful I don’t think it’s wonderful Just to fake it ain’t so sweet Ain’t so numb and its not because of me If I take it all for granted I would spread word through the pieces Do you think it all screwed up I don’t think so because I’m free now
Danial Radzmi
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#projekbuku
Falling In And Out Of Love With Music by David Buri
David was the guitarist for the band Disagree from the beginning of 2006 up until early 2011. He has also performed with the likes of Zee Avi, Rendra Zawawi, and many more. 74
I am not one to judge nor am I really the right person to be giving advice. In my current position, I am neither a success story, nor am I failure. Even though I have been in the music industry for 6 years, I do not believe I have the right to preach of it as if I know it so well. The fact is that, the music industry is ever changing and the only thing I can do is to tell you of what I know best - my own story. Hello, my name is David Rafael Buri. I have always loved music. Ever since I was a young boy, music was always a big part of my life. My mother would put on some Latin tunes and we would just groove and dance to the sound of the beat. Our family never really lived a moment without music. This became an inspiration to why I wanted to pick up an instrument. I wanted to play guitar. I wanted to make music. I constantly had these melodies in my head that needed to be translated into reality. But sadly, I never did pick up an instrument during my young age. Growing up in the small urban town of Miri, Sarawak, I thought musicianship was David Buri
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only for those who had special talent. Though I did admire anyone who could play even a single chord, I did not think I would ever be good enough to learn how to play myself. In addition, instruments weren’t cheap in Miri – or at least it didn’t seem affordable at that time. This is a town that sold chicken rice for RM2. Seeing a Fender guitar for RM1, 200 seemed like a lot of money in comparison to everything else around. To me, anyone who owned a guitar, let alone an electric guitar, was rich and very talented. Schools at that time did not really support the creative medium either. The music and arts classes were always substituted for mathematics or something else. Even if we did have music class, the only instrument we were actually learning was the Recorder, or better yet, the Triangle. With all these reasons in mind, music became nothing more than something I would listen to. At the age of 14, though, everything changed. My family moved. My father was able to get a job in the Netherlands. I started attending an American international high school. As much as everyone hates the United States, I will be forever grateful for this shift in my life that actually propelled me to what I would be doing later on. The American system, unlike the British, was very creative based. They taught about balance and of how students should excel academically as well as creatively. With this in mind, my paradigm completely shifted and I began to learn things I thought I never would. I was in love. This was a whole new world for me. This was a culture I thought only existed on TV shows. I started hanging around the creative kids. They introduced me to bands such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, Foo Fighters and so many more. They basically gave a crash course on Rock music and I took it all in. These kids were talented. I would watch as a 14 year old would flawlessly perform an Yngwie Malmsteen song. I spent the afternoons watching high school bands perform rock songs perfectly. I met opera singers, soul singers, jazz guitarists - everyone. David Buri
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I was inspired to say the least. I wanted to play music. I wanted to be a part of this musical movement and play with the rest. I found my passion and with the help, motivation and encouragement of others, I was determined to be a musician. And so, I picked up my first acoustic guitar when I was 15 years old. Every day I would come home and practice for six hours straight. It actually came to a point where I started to bring my guitar to school and play during recess – just so I could have an extra 20 minutes a day to practice. I was determined and well-disciplined. I even had this little rat race going on in my head. I needed to be as good as or even better than everyone in my school. I wanted to be the best guitarist around. This thought by itself motivated me even more. By the time I was 16, I bought my first electric guitar. It was a kit guitar with a mini amp. The brand was a Hyundai (yes, just like the car). It was the only thing I could afford, but it worked. I started soloing and practicing even more. I learnt scales, chords, melodies, tricks – everything. I basically didn’t have a life. All I did was study and practice. It helped as well that there was never anything good on TV and downloading videos at that time was more or less impossible. (I was never big into video games or sports, so there was never a distractive issue there). In the spring of 2003, I joined my first band. We called ourselves BOB, which was short for Breed of Brilliance. It was a stupid name, but as a teenager, it was the coolest thing in the world. We performed wherever we could. We would play at parties and functions. We would join every single Battle of the Bands and any other talent competition. We played at schools, halls, and anywhere else that gave us a chance. But all of that changed quickly. One day when the clouds were eerily dark, I made my way to school as usual. There was a silence in the air. Something felt wrong. During our second class, the dean of students walked into every room and asked all the students to quietly go to the auditorium. The teachers were David Buri
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silent. No smiles, no frowns. The eyes of a few were swollen, as if they were crying moments before. Once every student was seated, the principle slowly walked on stage. With a heavy heart, she began to speak. The hall was quiet. What she told us next was just unbelievable. Even until this day, it still feels so surreal. On the 24th of October 2003, our principle stood in front of the whole school, and told us that our drummer, our beloved friend, had tragically passed away in an accident that very morning. Just a few months from graduation, Nathan Bachman – bless his soul – was on his way to school when his motorcycle collided with another, ending his life. The whole school was in shock. I never knew the feeling of not seeing someone again knowing they will never come back. I never thought that this would happen. It was a tragic end to a beautiful life. He was supposed to go to the Berkley School of Music. He wanted to become a professional sessionist. He definitely had the talent. He even spent his summer vacations at Berkley just to prep for university. He had the dedication, the determination – the heart. And all this was taken away from him in a heartbeat. Midst the tears I shed, though, I started to realise something about myself. Nathan Bachman taught something valuable, a lesson that has stuck with me till this very day – pursue your dreams, no matter what they are. Before this happened, I didn’t even think about a career in music. I was still adamant on being successful in my academics, as I actually wanted to become a mechanical engineer. Playing guitar was just my hobby. I then realised that music was more than just another hobby. It was a passion. I wanted to be a musician. I wanted a career in this. I didn’t want to work as an engineer. I wanted to be a guitarist on stage and tour the world.
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For teaching me this, I thank you, Nathan. He was, and is my inspiration. So I decided that when I would return to Malaysia, I would break into the music scene. I will make it to the top. I will become a recording artist. From then on, I spent the rest of my high school years focusing on music. I even gained a sense of popularity amongst my schoolmates. They knew me as the rocker. My juniors looked up to me; some even praising me for my skills and talent. This fueled my ego even more. I thought, if my school likes me, then why wouldn’t a whole country? My dreams got bigger. I then wanted the rock lifestyle. I could taste myself living this “drug, sex and rock n roll” dream. Such motivation. Get the girls. Get the booze. Live the celebrity lifestyle. I was excited. In the summer of 2005, I moved back to Malaysia and I was ready to take it by storm. But I didn’t know much. Moving to Kuala Lumpur was new to me. We only visited it a few times when I was younger. So this again was a culture shock. I didn’t know the place and I didn’t know the scene. It scared me at first, as I didn’t know much Malay. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to break into the market, but I was willing to try. I started meeting people, doing research on the scene, picking up random flyers and going to gigs so I could listen to the music out there. It freaked me out. The amount of talent was amazing. I didn’t think that one scene could be filled with so many great bands. As an 18-year-old boy, I got scared. But I wanted to prove myself. I was determined in doing so. And my big break serendipitously happened in 2006. I was taking a journalism course at that time and I needed to write an assignment based on local news. I decided to write on the music scene. The only person that I could get a hold of at that time worked beneath my exgirlfriend’s apartment block – Mr. Jason Lo formerly of Fat Boys Records. David Buri
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So one day I just strolled into the office and asked if I could see him. He wasn’t there, but the man who would change my life was. Zahid, the lead singer for Disagree was working hard at his desk. I needed to get my paper done so I asked if I could interview him instead. He obliged to this boy’s request. We went into the studio room and I began to conduct my interview. I asked him all about the industry and how it is in Malaysia. Once the interview was over, I then mentioned how I wanted to break into the scene myself. After a pleasant conversation with him, we said our goodbyes and I didn’t think much else would come from this. But a few days later, he calls. He wanted me to audition as the last guitarist left the band. I was more than happy to audition – I was excited. So we practiced at their studio for a few months. We got to know each other more and more everyday and noticed that we had quite good chemistry amongst us. We played a few of their old songs and the band introduced me to a few new ones. I was quite astounded by some of the new songs. I immediately went home and started writing guitar pieces for them. I wanted to show them how talented I was. Then came my test. It was a make-it-or-break-it situation. There was a show in Penang that if I performed well in, I would be in the band. My first real show. Awesomely enough, it was on the beach. I did my first proper sound check. The guys, alongside Jason Lo, were there to help me out and teach me a few things here and there. I listened to all the advice and took note of everything. Then the crowd came in. Around 400 people attended that event. I was so nervous. Never have I played for so many strangers before. There was a lot of pressure on me as I was ‘that new guy’ in a well-known band. I honestly felt like there were thousands of eyes judging my every single movement. The only thing I thought was that this could be my first of many shows, or my very last show. So I went up and did the best I could. Till today, I still feel as if that was one of my best performances. David Buri
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And that’s how I got into the scene. I proved myself and the band later accepted me as the new guitarist. I was so proud. Then came the interviews and the constant socialising. I needed to get known. I blatantly put myself out there with hopes of people getting to know who I am. It was difficult. Many people judged me. Firstly, of course, is because I came out of nowhere and joined a well-known band at that time. Secondly, I was young. At 18, people don’t take you seriously. People would first talk to me normally. When they would find out my age, their tone would change; as if they were talking to a kid and they had superiority against me. This embarrassed me and I became shy. I stayed away from saying my age. Sometimes I would lie. It seemed like the best idea at that time. In the end, I did get some of the attention I was looking for. Not a lot, but enough to give me the rock and roll dream. My life at such a young age became an amazing party. I got invited to exclusive events. I got to meet international artists. I always got free food and free alcohol. In fact, almost everything came free. Organisers would give us bottles and girls would flaunt around as if it was an added attraction when I said I was a musician. We would tour the country and, alongside other bands, I would have the craziest nights out. It was a time to experiment and push the limits. Sex, booze, and other things I shouldn’t mention – I had everything I ever wanted. I guess you could say that I was kind of living the “Drugs, Sex, and Rock n’ Roll” lifestyle. But I was never really a celebrity. I gained the respect and credibility I craved, but I was never that famous. People knew me, but not everybody knew me. I had to constantly introduce myself over and over again. But it was fine. I knew it would be a tediously difficult process but I was willing to try anyways. And this whole time was a learning process for me. I learnt how to be David Buri
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professional, how to record an album, how to pick my sound and my instruments, how to dress and how to act. I would sit right next to our producer and learn as much as I could about the dynamics of sound and mixing. I wanted to be able to handle the mixer and all the controls myself. Eventually, I was able to. I would then spend weeks alone in the studio fiddling with my music; always trying something new. I was never happy. I was looking for perfection. I kept on going to gigs, mainly to support the scene, but also to pick up on new sounds. I would listen to hours upon hours of music, from rock, to rap, to jazz, to everything in between. Every day I was in the studio, I would change and rewrite my melodies and riffs. I would leave a song alone for a month, come back and change it one more time. But at one point, it just stopped. We stopped getting shows, we stopped having interviews and the requests for our presence were no longer there. There was no new music for years so people forgot about us. We were no longer relevant. It was no longer beneficial to say, “I’m from Disagree”. When I said that, people would just ask ‘so where is the new album?’ I didn’t know how to answer that. I tried to concentrate on the album, but we just found something else to do. Our priorities shifted. Other things became more important like work, friends, and family. Music was left at the back seat. As much as I wanted to continue, these outside forces just tired me out. I lost my discipline. My passion was absent. Of course, every now and then we would go back to the studio, but it was with a heavy heart. I just wanted to get it done. It was an unfinished project and I just wanted to complete it. I had hopes that things would pick up again after it was done; that I would David Buri
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be able to lead that lifestyle I once did. I was craving for the tours, the gigs, and the VIP treatment. Yet, I was too tired to work for it. So making the album took the longest time. But after all the delays and the procrastination, we finally got the motivation and momentum to release the album in the middle of 2009. Finally, after 4 years of being in a band, I could finally say that I had an album out. I was a recording artist. I was happy. It was done. And the hectic life started once again. We were jamming 2 times a week for hours on end. There were interviews, fittings, sound checks, shows, touring, and music videos – the whole lot. We were invited to parties again and all the benefits I once lost were coming back. But it wasn’t to my expectations. It was either my hopes were too high, or the scene has changed. Either way, something was different. Being an artist, a musician, wasn’t as spectacular as I remembered it to be. Was it everything around me, or was it just me? Because it didn’t reach my expectations, I again stopped pushing. I must note that we never had a manager, so we did everything ourselves. It was tiring. Work was also becoming very hectic and pushing the album was considered more of a burden. In my head, I was thinking that if the benefits are not there, then there is no point in doing this. Jamming became a chore that wasn’t fun. The idea of ‘let’s just get this over with’ always popped into my head. There was no more passion. I dreaded sound checks. I stopped giving it my all after a while. I didn’t really care. There was always something better to do on my mind. In the past I would usually stay after my set to socialise and support the scene. After a while, I stopped that too. I just wanted to go home. I actually stopped caring about the benefits that came along with being in a band. I even started to decline many of them. I was able to find better David Buri
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benefits elsewhere. Friends got me into events with no problems. I could afford things that were once given to me for free. I basically started living the “Drugs, Sex and Rock n’ Roll” lifestyle without the rock and roll. I didn’t need it. With that, playing music became irrelevant. I didn’t even want to go home to play music. I had 9 untouched guitars that I left in the corner to collect dust. I had better things to do. Or so I thought. In early 2011, I made a decision to quit the band. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it had to be made. There were a lot of reasons behind this. Mainly, I was ashamed. I was in a band, but I no longer lived for the band. I didn’t want to be in something that I felt was more of a burden rather than anything else. If I wasn’t giving it my all, I didn’t want to give anything at all. So I quit. Shamefully, I gave up. I don’t have regrets because I did try. I proved myself, I supported, and I did so much. It was just the end of a chapter. But what I do regret is the fact that I lost that drive that once motivated me as a teenager before being consumed by the thought of ‘if it is not beneficial for me, then I’m not going to do it’. I hated the fact that I lost the discipline because I wanted the benefits but I didn’t want to work for it. Honestly, I hated the fact that the drug sex and rock and roll ideal became my motivation, because after awhile I stopped wanting it. I already knew that being a musician was a career, a job. But like every job, you strive to achieve a goal. And this goal wasn’t worth it for me anymore. Putting a goal, be it money, benefits, or the rock n roll dream, deterred me. I miss the days of performing just for the shear adrenaline rush that came with it. I miss the days of being on stage and entertaining the crowd.
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Which leads me to where I am today. After almost a year of being out of the scene, I now remember the first reason of why I picked up an instrument - To play. I just want to play for the sake of playing. I sit here free of want; free of the craving for a lifestyle I no longer care for; and full of passion and inspiration. Knowing that time is irrelevant, I am taking the time to plan my next move, get back into the scene, and just play because I want to play. If I make money in the future, if I become famous, then great. But that is no longer my priority. It should never have been. That is music. To play, just to play. Everything comes secondary. Everything else doesn’t matter - Just the music.
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#projekbuku
Fuzzy Logic: The Art of the DJ by DJ Fuzz
DJ Fuzz is a Penggesek Piring Hitam who is also 1⁄4 of Teh Tarik Crew. He’s responsible for Mixology Music Academy and The Way Of The DJ book. 86
In this chapter, I’m going to go a little bit off the cuff and lay down some of my opinions on a few major aspects of DJ culture and the industry it’s sparked off over the decades. These are the views I’ve developed over the years working with the Malaysian community and operating within the industry, so although I hold these things true for myself, I advise that you keep an open mind and see if what I’m saying holds water for you. Every journeyman takes his own path, and I won’t presume the road you take will be the same as mine. But for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts.
The Power of the DJ: Clubs, Radio and the Music Industry DJs wield a considerable amount of clout and influence over their audiences, their target markets and other DJs. On the radio, what a DJ plugs on his mix show will influence the listeners tuning in to dig the new material; in the clubs, some DJs spin fresh material that their followers will pick up beyond the dance floor; and then there are the taste-making DJs who influence other DJs to play the material they break out. In this kind of environment, record labels would naturally be inclined to pass on their new releases (or soon-to-be releases) to DJs and ask for them DJ Fuzz
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to be put on priority rotation in their sets, to ensure that the new material gets the chance to be heard. If a song is a bona fide hit, the artist and the label are able to generate revenue through record sales. The DJ who broke the single would have played a significant part in that. Now, savvy promoters would recognise the DJs who have a track record in breaking hit singles on a consistent basis, and would be inclined to book these DJs for more shows and events. And so it goes. This is one of the main reasons why DJs should never give in to the temptation to become crowd slaves. The crowd wants to hear what you have for them, not what they already know–not all the time, anyway. If they wanted nothing but what was already familiar to them, they might as well have turned on their iPods or put on something from their existing CD collections. So, yes, there are DJs who make a career out of breaking new records and turning singles into hits. These DJs get early access to new music, with some getting pre-releases six months before they officially become available to the public. These DJs get a heads-up advantage over other DJs in the game, effectively making them trendsetters in their genres. From this, eventually DJs would form the backbone of the music industry, and both ends of the spectrum–the labels that produce and market new music, and the audience waiting to hear the next big thing–will come to depend on the DJ community to become the conduit for new hit material. Because the DJ has the power to influence others, he or she has to use that power effectively and responsibly. Always try to educate your audience with new stuff, and slip in some classic material too. Having a good balance of both adds flavour to your sets, and instils an appreciation for where the music people make and listen to is coming from. DJs are paid to do their homework, and the ones who make the effort are more often than not the ones people keep coming back to. Remember, the DJ can suggest what’s hot to the audience, and in so doing, helps move the music industry along. This makes him or her a tastemaker. The DJ has the power to control the crowd because in essence, the crowd wants to be controlled by the DJ. Real DJs break records! “I remember as a kid in the late 80s, listening to the radio and waiting to see what the DJ was gonna play during his show to be up on the newest and hottest music before all my friends. Today, it’s a little different with all the mass media outlets such as MTV, BET, VH1 and every other DJ Fuzz
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outlet there is out there predetermining what’s hot.” DJ Pheloneous Bum Squad DJz/Hot Jamz 94.5 Seattle KMIH
Staying on Top of Your Game: Battles, Mixtapes, Clubs and Mix Shows There are many ways to evaluate a DJ’s qualities. You could judge him or her by the technical skills, experience, knowledge, financial success and so on. Some DJs are tight with their cuts and kill it at all the turntablism battles, and some are past masters at rocking parties and becoming the hottest DJs in their area codes, while others have the biggest followings on their radio mix shows. When we start squaring off DJs against each other, patterns emerge. We realise that there are different tiers to the DJ scene, with some DJs operating on a higher plane than others. Some are consistent turntable battle champions, others go platinum selling out their albums, and still others rack up followers on their MySpace pages like nobody’s business. It all brings us to this question:
How do we reach the top? It all boils down to determination, a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and a clear idea of where you want to go with your hustle and what you’re willing to give up for it. Some DJs want to clean up at the battles, and some want to be Party Rocker No.1. Decide where you fit in. World-class turntablists have an unparalleled work ethic when it comes to elevating their scratching and juggling chops. The skills they gain and employ don’t come from studying someone else’s style on TV alone. They put in real work practising and innovating. Some will practise every day, all day, just to get the perfect routine. They’ll join battles, lose a few, then learn from their mistakes and re-strategise for the next battle. And they’ll keep doing it until they get to where they need to be. The same punishing regiment of self-discipline and sustained drive applies to all the other fields of DJing. As practitioners of the art, we have to practise, work hard and, most importantly, stick to it. The foundation is to love what you do, because in order to be good at what you do, you have to be passionate about it. You have to have love for the art form. You have to eat, sleep and drink DJing. The turntable is your best friend. If you want to be at the top of your game, you’re going to have to tirelessly practise on those decks to perfect your mixes. They have to be seamless and flawless, DJ Fuzz
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until pulling off those intricate routines becomes second nature. Getting ahead requires an accumulation of experiences too. You’ll need to get used to reading the crowd, and doing it effortlessly. This takes doing show after show after show, all the while keeping your senses open to the lessons that only hands-on experience can give you. Success will not come overnight, so bear with the process, gain from it and thrive off the journey. Dream big, but know that it takes many, many baby steps to realise your dreams.
Knowledge is Power It might sound like a tired, oft-repeated cliché, but it’s true. A DJ who possesses detailed knowledge of everything he is involved in is one who is prepared for damn near everything. Being proficient in technical skills is important, but it’s not nearly enough if you want to attain true greatness. The ability to read a crowd and knowing exactly which song can turn any one crowd on; knowing all the classic tracks, outdated hits and fresh new material; being aware of all these things will help a DJ immensely in the course of his or her career. Sometimes, knowing the producers of each song will help in blending songs together. Knowing where the records in your crate come from, be they West Coast, East Coast, Bay Area Hyphy or Miami Bass, can help you theme out your mix sets. Knowing which original songs were sampled for a particular hip hop beat will allow you to lead in with the original before you let loose with the beat it was derived from it in a set. Having as vast a knowledge as you can gain will help you to be dynamic and flexible in your sets. Being a DJ who knows how to cultivate a diverse record collection is crucial when faced with a crowd that might not be composed of true school hip hop heads, or say, one that has a yen for only the classic, old school stuff. Imagine being at a corporate dinner event and dropping, say, Busta Rhymes’ ‘Arab Money’ when you could have hedged your bets and gone with the statistically safer Michael Jackson medley. Knowing more will help you fit into more spaces as a DJ, and diversify your range of expertise. Knowledge isn’t going to just be helpful when you’re behind the console and in front of an audience. You’re going to need to use everything you know when you’re trying your hand at production as well. Being aware of your target audience is essential when you’re a beat-maker; stray too far away from what the people want and you run the risk of alienating yourself DJ Fuzz
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from paying customers and chart exposure. When your audience is fiending for some nu pop Lady Gaga material, cranking out nothing but hyphy beats isn’t going to attract a lot of buyers. Niche markets are always there, but they are what they are; if you want to break out and remain visible in the mainstream mass market, you’re going to have to constantly conduct market research. Know what people want, and know how to give it to them when the need arises. When you’re gearing up for battles and tournaments, not keeping up and keeping sharp with the latest technology, tricks and techniques is going to hurt your chances in a major way. If you’re hoping to break away from the rest of the competition when it comes to crunch time, relying on nothing but a basic skill set on the cuts isn’t going to, well, cut it. Every DJ in that tournament with half a chance of making it into the finals will have the same tricks up their sleeve, at the very least. Whatever everyone else can do, you should be able to do effortlessly with a ton more style, and tweaked until it looks completely fresh. Knowing what your opponents can do, and knowing how to outclass them at it, will be central to getting you those precious points. Sit down, observe, read, study and learn. Learning is a continuous process, and with the knowledge you gain, the more you want to know. All the best DJs in the world are unsurpassed scholars in their respective fields. If you’re aiming to be one of the best, you’d better do what the best do.
Scratching: A Daily Operation vs. Strictly Hardcore “What is a DJ if he can’t scratch?” - Egyptian Lover Truth be told, you don’t have to be able to scratch your records into mush to be a good DJ. But it’s always good to pepper your mix sets with flourishes and tricks to keep them sounding fresh, and make them stand out from other sets that just blend cleanly from one song to the next. In the case of dance music mixing, however, scratching isn’t much of an issue, if at all. Dance DJs showcase their skills through their programming, the flow of their mix, their use of effects and EQ, and what’s called “mixing in key”–a technique rarely used by hip hop DJs. So I suppose that evens things out. If you’re looking to be a DJ who primarily works with hip hop, breaks and related genres, however, it’d be advisable to learn the basics of turntablism. You might want to do a live remix juggling the beats, scratching the samples up, just adding colour to your set to make it more interesting. Just remember not to overdo it. DJ Fuzz
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The bottom line is, you don’t have to scratch to be good. There are house DJs who incorporate scratches into their mix sets, which definitely add flavour, but honestly, solid blending and a killer playlist are enough to get the crowd going. Your main aim is to entertain and get the crowd dancing, unless you’re hired to do a special turntablism set. “In a club, from my experience, people don’t want to hear all that scratching too much. A little is fine, but not too much. During mix shows, the listeners enjoy it much more. But I don’t think it’s a must.” DJ Jesse Jazz - Bum Squad DJz/WTMP 96.1FM
Song Requests If you’re spinning in a club, chances are you will experience getting requests from members of your audience. As an entertainer, you should do all you can to accommodate reasonable requests. But what if 20 people come to the console asking for the same obvious hit single, over and over again? What if someone comes up to you and hits you with a request for something completely vague, like, “Play something with a beat.”? You’re going to have to work on the fly with this. It’s cool to acquiesce to some basic requests that you think will please most, if not all, of the people on the floor. But for the sake of the flow of your set (and your sanity), you can’t bend over backwards for each and every request for Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’, especially if you’re deep in the middle of a drum n bass set. Play a requested song if you feel like it, and if you feel it’s appropriate. Otherwise, smile and politely carry on. Sometimes requests can be a good thing, reminding you of a hit single you’ve forgotten to include in your mix. You can’t assume you’re always on point with your song selection, and getting real-time feedback is always a plus. Of course, not all DJs can be this accessible, especially in the case of massive festivals, where DJs are placed high above the crowd or surrounded by a gang of security personnel. But that’s a whole different ballgame altogether. “I never decline requests. But sometimes people have to wait for a bit if they request a slow song when I’m spinning fast-tempo tracks. I will only play the right song at the right time.” DJ Meeh - Thailand Vestax Extravaganza Champ/Bangkok Invaders
Turntables vs. CDJs vs. Whatever Else: The Eternal Debate The advancement of technology has given DJs today more choices than DJ Fuzz
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Kool Herc ever dreamt of having back in the day. You can switch from using traditional (ain’t that a trip–traditional!) vinyl turntables to CDJs, or just stick to mixing the tracks you’ve got stored on your laptop. As with any gear, each option has its pros and cons. The reason why turntables, CDJs and DJ software subsist together today is because each setup caters to different DJs and the different ways they want to get their work done. The aim remains the same: DJs want to rock the crowd. But what type of equipment a DJ feels comfortable using to rock that crowd is subjective. It doesn’t matter what you use, as long as what you use helps you achieve your objectives. I have to say, though, that being able to use all the different types of DJ gear available in the market now is a major plus point, because you never know when you might have to settle with a setup that’s not your absolute favourite. And besides, if you can sound good on any piece of equipment they throw at you, that’s possessing DJ chops right there. A good DJ should be able to rock a show regardless of whether he’s using a turntable, a CD player or a computer software suite. People who keep arguing over which setup is better are just wasting their time. DJ technology, old and new, is here to stay. Good DJs don’t bitch about it—they deal with it and elevate their skills with it.
Must DJs Talk? There are some DJs out there who have mad microphone skills. Some, like Kid Capri, can talk their ass off all night long behind the console, while others like Latin Prince will slip in a few words here and there to keep the crowd pumped. The gift of gab is an advantage for the DJ, because not only will they be spinning the hottest music, they’ll be carrying out a call-andresponse with the crowd at the same time. Crowd interaction is great to keep your audience involved and stoked on your set, but what about DJs who don’t feel comfortable being on the mic during mixes? Well, that’s when you can choose to pair up with an MC. This is a time-honoured tradition in hip hop music, from way back when DJs would get their boys to get up onstage with them and help them hype up their sets. By doing this, you’re also giving MCs their time to shine. Some DJs don’t mind being on the mic, but find it difficult because the sets they’ve planned out are too technically complex. At the end of the day, either way is cool.
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“Respect My Fresh”: The Importance of Image Is image important? If you ask me, I’d have to say yes. Like it or not, in a professional capacity, people will be judging you not only by the way you work those decks, but also by how you look and how you talk. In fact, your fans are likely to copy your style if they think it’s fresh. Even the catchphrases you throw out can become cool and copied by the masses (see DJ Khaled’s “We the best!” and Clinton Sparks’ “Get familiar” taglines), so maintaining a consistent image is akin to branding yourself. I’m not speaking of fabricating an elaborate façade of a shot-caller who smokes Cuban cigars and wears expensive Italian suits. You don’t have to deck yourself out in leather jumpsuits and thick, gold rope chains either. It all depends on how you want to project your personal style. Keep your image appropriate to the situation at hand. Don’t go above and beyond who you really are, but leave a lasting impression on the people who’ve got their eyes on you, and maintain some swagger. And always get in where you fit in. If you’re going to be DJing for an underground hip hop gig, it might not go over very well with your crowd if you show up in some crazy Yin Yang Twins getup. Know your personal brand and package yourself accordingly. You are a business, and in business, marketing is key.
Your DJ Name How important is a DJ’s chosen stage name? I happen to think it’s very important, just as naming your product properly before you market it for sale is important to the longevity of your business. Here’s a tip: be original. The name you choose doesn’t have to be flashy. Figure out a public identity that will best represent you and what you do as an artist. Some DJs have used recognisable names from comic book superheroes like Green Lantern and Clark Kent; others just use their real names like DJ Abdul Karim and DJ Vadim; or you can opt for a one-letter initial like DJ T. Having a long-ass DJ name is cool too, but remember that people might find it hard to keep a long name in their heads, especially if you haven’t had all that many notches on your belt yet. I know it might be hard for people to remember my name if I called myself DJ Fuzzy Fuzz the Mad Juggler aka The Swift Kut Kreator. It’s something you could choose to take on, but at the very least, an overly long DJ name is going to be trouble when you want to fit it into a gig flyer. Pick a name that suits you and represents you, and what you’re about. Choosing the right name is part of projecting your image as a DJ. It’s exactly like packaging and naming a product. You’re the product in this case, so name yourself well. DJ Fuzz
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As for my DJ name, it’s really simple. Back in college, some of my friends started calling me Fuzz, which is a shorter version of my full name. People have known me by that nickname since, so I figured I might as well stick to it and keep it original. It’s easy to remember too.
So Where Do We Go From Here? It seems we’ve reached the end of our journey, young grasshopper. I’ve pretty much broken down the basics of DJing: the history, the culture and the industry that it sparked off; now it’s time for you to decide where to go from this point onwards. Set goals for yourself, because without that yardstick to gauge your progress, you’ll never know how far you’ve gone and how far you still need to go. Don’t stress yourself over things you don’t want to do; you can be a birthday party DJ if you so choose, but whatever the decision, I hope you find it in yourself to be the best at what you do. Take baby steps all the way, and never stop working your way up. I hope this book has inspired you to consider pursuing DJing as a way to creatively express yourself. And if it has, I hope whatever I’ve shared in these pages will help you through your journey and keep you motivated. Have fun with it, and always remember that you’re in this business because, first and foremost, you have a deep passion for music.
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#projekbuku
A Few Simple Rules For Radio Airplay by DJ Uno
DJ Uno plays for local rock band Pop Shuvit and on occasion with the Stylustiks together with DJ CZA and DJ Fuzz. He is currently Astro Radio Operation Manager in Sabah. 96
First, ask yourself this question: why are you playing music? To satisfy yourself? Your friends? For fun? Or you’re doing it seriously to achieve something: recognition, fame, money? If you answered one of the first three, there is no reason for you to read further. It doesn’t matter if you want recognition, fame or money or all three. The truth is all musicians or artists yearn for an audience. In order to get an audience, there are various platforms right now to choose from, but one of the most sought after and effective mediums would be radio. I have to say the new breed of musicians in Malaysia right now are far more intelligent and educated than the previous one, thanks to social networking sites and of course, the internet. But still not a lot of them know how exactly radio works and this is a disadvantage for most, I must say. Bands would complain that radio won’t play their songs and they play the same old song again and again. I don’t blame them for I was under the very same impression, until I started working for radio. DJ Uno
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First, there are various types of radio stations—the ones that cater to a specific niche or the ones that cater to the masses. And there’s talk radio, business, religious, campus radios and so on. Here’s the thing: if you want the mass radio to play your song, than your song has to somehow have a mass appeal. In order to have mass appeal there are a few factors that need to be considered: Strong songwriting and structure, and excellent recording quality. Mass radio works based on the average listeners’ taste of the moment. Contrary to popular belief, radio stations don’t dictate what music gets to be popular music, the listeners do. There will always be artistic clashes when it comes to writing a song for radio airplay, but a good musician knows how to balance out those differences. Look at it this way, you write a song that gets radio play to the masses, it will lead them to be aware of your existence and it will only open more doors for them to sample more of your music and find out what you stand for. Here are a few simple rules for radio airplay: 1 Make sure you have a good song 2 Keep the intro short and impactful—the first thirty seconds of any song are the most crucial part as you need to grab listeners’ attention. 3 A strong hook or chorus—most of the time, this is the only part the listeners will remember. Remember, if you want your songs to be played next to international songs, your songs have to better if not on par to cut through the clutter of music offered by the station throughout the day. Next, make a trip down to your local stations and make friends with the people behind the stations. They are still human beings and they would be more than happy if not excited to sample new music. Most of the time, they would offer some feedback or constructive criticism on your music. Use this to get better. Be sure to prepare sample CDs (even demos if you are looking for feedback) and a good bio with your contact details to be passed to the station. Talk to the station personnel on how to get your songs on rotation. I assure you they would be more than happy to help.
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Having said all that, you can have the fanciest press kit or CD album design but it all boils back down to one thing: is your song good enough for air play? This is just one of the many parts that you need to absorb in order to survive the music industry in Malaysia. I’ll leave the rest to the far more credible contributors here.
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#projekbuku
If You Are Not Going To Do It, Who? by Edwin Raj
Edwin Raj is frontman for They Will Kill Us All. 100
Secondary school almost bore me to death. I used to ‘balik awal’ before 5pm to catch that week’s episode of ‘Alternatif’ on TV3. It was the only TV show that seemed to provide some info on local bands and scene happenings. I was hooked to it and I had almost every episode recorded on tape. This was the mid 90s and I just arrived to my teens, Kurt had just died at the height of the grunge explosion and the brewing KL music scene was at its peak (which caught my attention more then what was going on internationally). Locally, a crunchy pop fuzz band named OAG exploded in to the mainstream, kick starting the first wave of local alternative rock music to the masses. From then on, I started to discover more bands, like Butterfingers, The Pilgrims, The Bollocks, Boot Off! Spiral Kinetic Circus, Sputum, Naked Butterfly, Basic Rights and Chronic Mass to name a few. I soon found myself in a scene with kids from different music subcultures consisting of punks, skinheads, indie/grunge, HC and Metal all coming as Edwin Raj
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one at gigs every weekend (well, almost as one, as the skins and punks would get into the occasional scuffle) but the spirit and the atmosphere was well and alive. The millennium came and I was already in college majoring in TV & Video Production. By then I was more informed of the local scene, having tuned in to radio shows like Kamil Othman’s Alternative Rock Show, reading Joe Kidd’s Blasting Concept columns as well as Daryl Goh’s occasional local band review/articles in The Star. There were also magazines like TONE and ROTTW which were accessible at newsstands and ‘underground’ fanzines like Vortex from the East, Broken Vision, Buddy Holly and Suffer Age that were sold at gigs. There was still lack of information being circulated to the masses as this was the beginning stages of the internet and the only mediums available in giving exposure to this growing scene were fragmented. The lack of mediums to disseminate this information somehow has inspired me to be more involved and to do my part to help develop the local music scene especially from the role of the media. Understanding the fact that most unsigned local independent artist didn’t get the privilege of public exposure or plainly didn’t have the budget to produce a proper music video, I started making videos on a budget. The first video I produced was for a friend’s band called Polythene. Me and my team made the effort to build a DIY set using college facilities, coaxed a female friend to play the lead in return for ‘belanja makan’ and pulled favours asking the boys from the animation faculty to incorporate some element of 3D in to the video. The video turned out well for a first attempt and we sent it in for MVA awards. No, we didn’t win but we did gained a fair amount of exposure which was a good start. Fast forward a few years later, I landed a gig playing bass for a prominent mainstream act as part of their revival. This gave me the opportunity to meet and network with some of the key players in the music industry whom I communicated my interest in producing more local music videos.
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One of the guys that I managed to capture his attention was Paul Moss, whom I had previously approached with my student reel. He gave me the opportunity to direct the first few videos for an upcoming rap rock outfit called Pop Shuvit. I took on the challenge and managed to direct and produce two videos for them under a minimum budget allocated by their then Positive Tone/EMI record label. In between, I got wind that other directors from the industry were accusing me of ruining the market by undercharging, that and how my work was amateurish. This didn’t affect me one bit as my goal was to immortalise these bands in local music history rather than making a quick buck. I was driven by passion and was always looking at the bigger picture. I continued to produce videos for other local acts such as Butterfingers “Kabus Ribut,” Ferhad “Pernah” and RuffEdge “Tiada Lagi Cinta.” These were all budget videos that gained rotation on national TV stations. I had mixed feedback for my productions and looking back, I know I could have done better in terms of quality but hey, I had no regrets. The goal was to do my part and gain experiences. After a stint working at a drama production house, Paul called me up again. This time to be a part of a new terrestrial TV station that he and Ahmad Izham Omar were about to launch. I landed my first job as a content executive at 8TV and was given the privilege to work under Michael Christian Simon, whom I found out later was the producer of ‘Alternatif,’ the very same TV program that sparked my interest to get into this industry in the first place. Mike guided me or more so whipped me into shape as my then colleagues would prefer to remember. He thought me the ropes and encouraged me to continue my passion. I was promoted to a senior producer and worked on shows such as The 8TV Quickie and Flava (Malaysia’s first ever hip hop TV show hosted by Joe Flizzow). Mike also gave me the chance to select the local guest performers for a late night talk show called Latte@8. Largely unknown bands like Deja Voodoo Spells, Plague of Happiness, Sgt. Weeners Arms and Couple had their national TV debut on the show. At the same time, I was also working on part-time basis with Mike’s productions house called Homegrown (now the name of his production company). This is where we discovered and showcased bands such as Bittersweet, Meet Uncle Hussien and Pure Vibracion to name a few. Edwin Raj
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At that point, I came to realise that I could finally utilise the power of television to change the landscape, the public’s perception and the lack of appreciation towards local Malaysian music. My most memorable project was to document Pop Shuvit’s first ever tour to Japan. This was a historical event as the band received an overwhelming support from the Japanese audience and I managed to capture everything on tape. The documentary was aired on 8TV and gave Pop Shuvit the recognition they deserved especially from the skeptical Malaysian public who didn’t believe that a local band could achieve such success. Throughout the years I have had the chance to work on more music related projects and gained valuable experience working with some of the best people in this industry. In early 2011, I was given the opportunity by Cheong Cheng Vei of Astro. Hitz to develop The Music Video Grant concept which I think is an amazing platform for all you upcoming artist out there to expose your music as well as budding filmmakers to showcase your talent. I was the executive producer of the project, and together with my team – Wing Meng (of Love Me Butch), Jeremy Little (of Laguna Music), Hasyemee Latiff and Uzair Sawal – we worked on monthly episodes that features unsigned artist voted by the public collaborating with selected local filmmakers to produce quality music videos. The videos are then premiered on the channel giving ample exposure for the winning artist. The show has discovered and featured artist such as I Revival, Heart-ATack, James Baum, The Azenders and many more. Personally, I think it was the best TV show Astro.Hitz has ever aired and there is no other initiative like this out there. Looking back to what I have written here, I feel nostalgic, proud and appreciative for all the ups and downs, trial and errors as well as the glory and failure I have experienced pursuing this passion of mine. If there’s anything I want you to take from reading this would be it being and Edwin Raj
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inspiration for you to contribute your part in developing and sustaining our local music industry.
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#projekbuku
Satu Perjalanan Muzik oleh Efry Arwis
Efry Arwis plays bass for Yuna, Diandra Arjunaidi, Salammusik, Narmi and more. 106
Assalamualaikum, Selamat Sejahtera semua, mintak maaf kalau tulisan saya ni tak berapa nak henjut la kata orang, maklum saya budak baru, mentah dari segala sudut tengah cuba-cuba nak catch up benda yang banyak orang dah accomplish kalau pandang umur saya sekarang ni. Merepek, kan? Maaf saya takda bakat penulisan tapi tergerak hati nak share dengan semua. Paham tak paham lain cerita yang penting saya dah try nak share. Yang penting cuba kan? Ok lah, saya Efry Arwis, umur 25 tahun, baru main bass secara serious hujung 2007 gitu. Lulusan Ijazah Sarjana Muda Digital Media (MMU) 2004-2008. Lepas tu apply masuk sekolah muzik sebab nak belajar muzik secara formal maklum la bakat tak cukup bagus. Cerita yang sebelum 2007 tu tak perlu la, sebab ni bukan autobiography saya kan, jadi kita cerita yang patut ja sikit-sikit sebab intro gini pun dah bikin orang bosan. Efry Arwis
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Kisah dia, saya minat mendalam sangat nak main muzik ni, dan tak pikir apa dah time tu. Kira dalam jiwa bergejolak ni nak main muzik je, so sebab tu la saya ok je dengan segala apa band yang bole la nak terima saya main bass time tu. Apa note apa chords semua taktau.. tuptaptuptap camni camtu cerita dia dapat la main untuk beberapa band kat gig-gig kecik kt area KL ni. Pastu lepas grad MMU terus apply masuk sekolah muzik berbekalkan keinginan dengan semangat je. Then murah rezeki dapat la main band dengan Yuna, time tu la semua benda ni bermula dengan seriousnya…
Pendidikan Muzik Di IPT (Environment & Academic) Sebelum saya start belajar formal banyak orang cakap nak main muzik ni tak perlu pun ijazah ke ape ke sebab diorang kata muzik ni talent. Tapi orang macam saya ni talent pun ciput je. Yang besar time tu semangat yang membuak-buak. Tu yang masuk la IPT, memang excited sangat sebab dapat belajar muzik kan. Banyak sangat ilmu dapat dari sini. Memang ramai lecturer yang bagus dan experienced and ramai budak-budak yang terer-terer la kat sini. Tempat nak korek ilmu memang bagus kat tapi mungkin sesetengah orang tak biasa dengan environment ‘melayu’ kat IPT ni. Mungkin juga sebab saya dari universiti swasta sebelum tu. Bukan nak kritik tapi mungkin masalah diri sendiri jugak kot tak boleh adjust dengan environment ‘kemelayuan’ macam tu. Biasa la kan, bau-bau dengki, perli tu perli ni pastu tak join group diorang lepak ke ape ke diorang kata kita belagak, padahal malas nak campur politik diorang. Ingat politik antara student je mulanya, sekali dah tahun ke-2 ada jugak politik dengan lecturer la apa lah. Saya banyak dapat feedback tak baik sebab ada sesetengah lecturer yang macam menghalang student muzik fulltime bermain muzik di luar selagi tak habis belajar. Aihhh bukan pengalaman kat luar tu jugak ke yang tolong pembelajaran? Apa la salahnya main band kat luar tu sebab nak cari pengalaman untuk bekerja bila dah abis belajar nanti kan? Tapi bukan semua lecturer yang macam tu, ada yang betul-betul support, diorang guide selagi mampu. Tapi ada yang sampai kata, “Awak ni fulltime student ke fulltime musician?” Hah sudah. Nak jawab apa? Patut galakkan budak-budak ni main kat luar, henjut sana sini, tapi ni melarang.. “Awak settlekan degree awak ni baru awak cari kerja.” Mungkin ada betul apa yang dia cakap tu tapi seeloknya encourage pelajar-pelajar ni carik ilmu kat luar tu jugak, bukan sekadar kat dalam sekolah tu je. Sebab alih-alih, saya tengok senior-senior saya yang main kat luar punya la terer, kerja bagus, semua orang nak panggil diorang kerja tapi bila saya tanya, “Bang, time diorang panggil session tu diorang tanya abang ada degree ke?” Efry Arwis
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Takde pulak yang jawab diorang bawak sijil degree tu dalam beg setiap kali pergi show. Lagi satu environment tu tak berapa nak sihat sangat la sebab kes-kes dengki sesama sendiri ni. Patut tolong la sama-sama kawan kan, yang nak busuk hati kenapa? Nanti time kerja kat luar tu nanti sama-sama jugak, kan? Buat apa nak dengki sebab mamat tu main lagi bagus dari kau? Patut kau belajar la dari dia. Kau dengki dapat apa? Balik-balik lepak kedai mamak kutuk dia itu ini, last-last dia tu dah main merata-rata kau kat mana? Kat kedai mamak lagi? Mentality tu kot kena betulkan. Ada kes kawan saya seorang ni berapa kali tak dapat masuk belajar di IPTA sebab keputusan SPM dia tak berapa nak OK sangat. Tapi bila audition sebelum masuk semua dia lepas. Kira nak cakap berbakat tu memang berbakat tapi sebab SPM tu terkucil sikit IPTA taknak amik. Ni bakat bermuzik. Anugerah Tuhan. Lalau kau ada, ada la, kalau takda kau belajar la tinggi langit pun kalau memang takda gift tu nak buat macam mana kan? Betul orang kata bakat boleh asah tapi nak start tu kena ada bakat la kan? Kalau takda bakat tapi SPM 9-10 A pun tak jalan jugak. Tapi tu la kenapa tak cuba ubah sistem tu? Betul akademik tu penting. Tapi kalau dah berbakat tu tak boleh la nak tolak dia 100%, tak boleh masuk belajar sebab keputusan SPM terkucil. Patut cuba la ubah sistem tu. Amik orang-orang yang ada bakat, nampak semangat dia nak belajar tu. Nampak ikhlas budak tu nak cuba capai impian dia tapi last-last kena reject macam tu je. Nanti dia salahkan siapa? Cuba la terima golongan-golongan macam tu dalam sekolah, lepas tu dari sekolah tu la cuba tingkatkan kualiti akademik dia. Jangan la budak tu audition main gitar tapi lepas dapat masuk kena main trumpet. Ha tak ke frust budak tu? Dia datang usaha belajar lagu itu ini nak gi audition nak lepas dapat masuk universiti sekali dapat masuk kena main instrument lain. Tak ke remuk jiwa dia? Saya tak cakap semua macam tu, tapi kebanyakkannya la. Saya pun tak salahkan 100% . Mungkin ada benda yang saya tak nampak kenapa diorang buat macam tu tapi at least terangkan kat budak-budak tu. Banyak student-student yang bagus-bagus kat dalam tu tapi tak dapat peluang untuk diorang tunjuk diri diorang tu sebab ni la. Patut cuba korek, cungkil apa yang bagus dari student ni pastu kembangkan bukan paksa dia buat benda dia tak suka. Betul kalau boleh kita kena ambik tau segala Efry Arwis
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benda tapi bukan semua orang sama, ada yang boleh carry ada yang tak boleh. So kat mana aspek yang dia bagus kasi dia peluang untuk dia tunjuk, bagi la projek-projek arrangement ke composition ke performance ke kalau budak-budak tu ada ke arah situ. Jangan sekat. Orang seni ni kalau kena sekat lagi dia memberontak. Taktau la nak cakap seni tu macam mana benda ni abstrak kan? Tapi tetap ada guidelines la kan jangan nak seni sangat sampai orang tak boleh terima. Saya tak kata tak bagus belajar formal di IPT ni tapi cuma ada la sikit-sikit tak kena tu kan. Bohong la kalau saya cakap selama 2 tahun saya belajar di situ dan tak habis plak tu segala ilmu yang saya carry selama ni semua memang dari lecturer-lecturer kat sana. Cuma kita bila belajar tu kena betul tau la apa kita nak carik bila habis nanti. Kena tau apa nak achieve, apa goal kita, jangan belajar muzik sebab nak glamour je. Belajar muzik ni bukan senang macam orang dok cakap. Ye la kena belajar baca, belajar interpret, belajar ethics semua. Banyak la. Bagus belajar ni sebab benda ni semua ilmu kan. Salah seorang lecturer... well actually saya dah anggap dia lebih dari seorang cikgu/mentor dah, dah mcm abang sendiri, dia cakap benda ni sebelum saya masuk IPT lagi, “Proper music education hanya membantu skit je, selebihnya tu usaha kita n rezeki dari Allah” – Fly Halizor . Memang saya pegang apa dia cakap tu sebab pada apa yang saya tempuh selama ni semua ni memang rezeki dan usaha. Sebab nak kata bakat tu 10% je time baru nak mula sentuh bass tu main tekan-tekan skit pastu terasa macam, eh aku boleh main bass lah, tapi benda tu sampai seminggu je lepas tu kena la praktis segala benda lain dah sebab 90% selebihnya tu usaha kita. Ada orang cakap main macam tu main macam ni tapi kita kena kaji gak diri kita ni, reflect macam mana, ada certain benda orang lain buat cara dia, kita kena cari cara kita sendiri la sebab masing-masing tak sama kan? Jari tangan memang 10 kan tapi cap jari tak sama langsung pun.
Mentor, Niat, Attitude, Pengorbanan, Teamwork, Respect MENTOR Bagi saya, kita kena ada orang yang kita pakai sebagai guide/mentor la orang kata kan sebab macam mana kita nak tempuh jalan kalau kita sendiri tak tau jalan tu macam mana punya rupa kan? So kalau ada mentor kita bole refer ke dia, tanya betul ke apa kita buat ni, apa kita praktis ni, semua la. Kalau nak jadi performer so cari mentor/cikgu yang memang Efry Arwis
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experienced performer supaya senang nak mintak dia guide. Kalau boleh jadi la penyibuk, ikut dia gi show ke, gi recording ke, tengok macam mana dia buat kerja semua sebab lama-lama nanti kita kena hadap gak bendabenda gitu. Tapi time dia kerja jangan la kacau, tanya tu tanya ni semua. Kasi dia habis kerja dulu lepas tu tanya la. Adab kena jaga. NIAT Satu lagi niat kena betul sebab kalau niat dah salah memang la tak jadi apa langsung. “Nawaitu ko tu kena terer” – Kelly Bass . Kelly ni salah seorang cikgu saya. Dia pernah cakap yang niat kita ni kena betul baru senang. Dulu saya ni kurang yakin pasal boleh ke survive hidup main muzik ni sebab ye lah kan banyak orang kata main muzik ni tak boleh survive. ATTITUDE Lepas tu attitude kita ni kena elok. Jangan nak perasan dah bagus sebab ramai lagi yang bagus-bagus dalam dunia ni. OK tak payah dunia la besar sangat bagi contoh dalam KL sudah la kan. Ramai yang bagus-bagus, jadi jangan la nak pacak hidung tu sangat cakap diri bagus. Lagi elok baik dengan semua orang, senyum kat semua orang sebab kita tak tau pun satu hari nanti kita akan kerja dengan diorang. Attitude time kerja kena jaga, time kena tepat, jangan nak rockstar sangat sebab kita libatkan time semua orang bukan time kita sorang je. Jangan nak kutuk kerja orang tu tak bagus kerja orang ni tak bagus. Kalau dia tak bagus takda orang panggil dia kerja. Baik kita jadi baik dengan semua orang. Senyum je, bukan susah pun nak senyum. Kena ada disiplin untuk individual practice. Maksudnya praktis sendirisendiri kat rumah bila kita dah dapat job kan, kata dapat job 20 lagu kena henjut hujung minggu, so buat homework, cari parts sendiri kalau taktau tanya sesiapa yang pernah main lagu tu. Kena ada tanggungjawab tu sebab kita bekerja melibatkan ramai orang, so jangan susahkan orang lain. Kalau rasa tak boleh carry job tu jangan amik sebab nanti menyusahkan orang lain. Paling saya pantang bila pergi show pastu diorang cakap, “Ohhh sorry eh kitorang tak sempat praktis la, so apa-apa sumbang ke ape ke sorry la eh.” Benda ni kalau boleh elakkanlah. Kalau kau dah amik job tu kau kena bertanggungjawab la, praktis la kan. Kalau dah tau tak boleh buat kenapa amik job tu? Nampak tak betapa takda rasa tanggungjawab tu kat kerja kau tu. Ramai lagi yang kat luar tu berlumba-lumba nak dapat platform macam tu nak perform depan orang ramai, nak share karya diorang, nak Efry Arwis
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cari rezeki tapi alih-alih dapat kat golongan macam ni, kan kerja tak ikhlas tu. Kira diorang ni main confirm je job tu pastu tak praktis janji dapat henjut atas stage tu sebab nak cari glamour? Macam tu? Attitude ni kena elok kena bagus supaya orang selesa dengan kita, senang kerja dengan kita, jangan nak besar kepala sangat nanti orang tak suka dah tak dapat job pastu kebulur kat rumah bising takda kerja kan dah susah. PENGORBANAN Lagi satu, pengorbanan. Banyak benda nak kena korban ni. Main muzik ni nak kena praktis instrument sendiri, nak kena study lagu la itu ini, nak kena praktis teknik la praktis faham dalam band la itu ini, basically banyak hal la kan. So kena la korban masa-masa riang ria huhahuha tu, balik rumah lewat kena praktis tidur tak cukup, korban masa tidur tu. Korban duit untuk suka ria. Ye la mula korban masa untuk praktis, lepas tu korban masa untuk tidur, lepas tu murah rezeki sikit dapat job kena korban mana lepak-lepak ni, lepas tu dapat la duit dari show tu kena korban la nak beli itu ini apa semua sebab nak kena beli instrument, barang-barang untuk buat kerja kan. Basically semua yang kita korbankan tu sebenarnya adalah untuk masa akan datang, benda yang kau akan pakai untuk kerja. TEAMWORK Teamwork ni penting sebab kita kerja sama-sama dalam satu unit. Kita bukan kerja sendiri, so kena ada give and take tu. Kalau dalam band tu ada saxophonist ni takleh tiup tinggi melangit, jangan push dia. Yes, betul, benda boleh praktis tapi dalam sementara dia praktis nak capai apa kau nak tu, kau pakai dulu apa dia mampu. Keluarkan apa yang dia selesa dulu, apa yang dia dah ada tu ko pakai. Tak semestinya tiup tinggi melangit tu sedap, tak semestinya solo rebut tu sedap. Berapa ramai je orang dengar lagu dia akan cakap ehhh solo dia tu tadi ada 479 notes la dalam 8bar, mungkin ada kita taktau kan tapi kebanyakkannya notice benda yang sedap. So kita produce la dari team tu benda yang sedap. Kalau kata dia tau 5 notes je lah dalam seumur hidup dia, boleh je kita accept 5 notes tu kan janji benda tu sedap kita dengar senang nak hadam. Kita kerja la dalam team tu, cari apa setiap individual tu ada, keluarkan dari situ. Lepas tu tak semua parts kita nak kena shine, kalau patut parts kita dengar tak dengar so dengar tak dengar la. Cerita dia sebab bila semua nak ke atas siapa nak jaga bawah ni? Tak kukuh la nanti kan. Kalau ada orang bagi idea jangan ego taknak dengar, sebab semua ada hak nak bagi idea. Terima tak terima tu lepas tu yang penting dengar dulu.
Efry Arwis
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ADAB KERJA & PENTINGNYA UNTUK RESPECT KARYA / KERJA SONGWRITER, ARRANGER, PRODUCER, MUSIC DIRECTOR Kita bekerja dengan orang ni kita kena hormat kerja dia. Contoh la eh-- dia tulis lagu kata la 3 chords utk Verse lepas tu Chorus pun chords yang sama gak pergi balik. Kita kena respect sebab tu lagu dia tu karya dia. Kita kerja dengan dia untuk membantu dia jadikan lagu tu lagi sedap la kan (kalau sedap la apa kita buat tu). Kena respect karya dia tu jangan nak pandaipandai ubah itu ini melainkan dia mintak kita ubah. Lepas tu kalau kena dapat job recording pulak, selalunya arranger ke producer ni dah ada guide dah ada bayangan macam mana dia nak certain parts or macam mana lagu tu pergi dia. So kita ikut apa dia nak, kalau ada idea, ada cadangan, kasi suggestion untuk certain parts tapi jangan terus cakap, “Eh aku taknak main la kalau parts macam ni.” Dia panggil kita datang kerja lepas tu kita nak macam-macam pulak kan? Kalau kita tak mampu nak buat cakap kat dia yang kita tak mampu nak buat macam mana dia mintak tu, so bagi cadangan benda yang ikut kemampuan kita. Ikut je apa dia nak, kalau dungdungdung bass tu all the way kena main, dungdungdung lah kau. Kena ingat kita ni kerja dengan orang so respect tu kena ada. Lagi satu pula bila kerja contoh as back-up artist ke main show tv yang ada Music Director ni, kita sebagai pekerja dengan dia kena hormat dan ikut cakap dia. Jangan nak ada 2, 3 lagi Music Director lain dalam band tu, kacau bilau jadi dia nanti. Cukup la yang lain ni, buang ego tu, dengar cakap ketua ni, sebab kita kerja bersama and kita nak kerja lama dengan orang-orang ni. Jangan la pandai-pandai buat kepala sendiri. Ni ada beberapa kata-kata hikmah la untuk saya yang saya ingat dan sempat tulis dan saya pegang selama baru setahun jagung saya ikut musicianmusician dalam industri muzik Malaysia ni. “Proper music education hanya membantu skit je, selebihnya tu usaha kita n rezeki dari Allah..” – Fly Halizor “Learn more songs and chords” – Aidit Alfian “Nawaitu ko tu kena terer” – Kelly Bass “Music tu lonely” – Rozhan Razman “Kalau hang gila Kelly, baik aku panggil Kelly ja record” – AG Coco “Jangan jadi the next Bruce Lee, jadi kuat macam Bruce Lee takpa” – Lok U Efry Arwis
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“Main muzik jangan pakai akal je, kena pakai hati” – Farihin Abdul Fattah “Main muzik ni mesti kena ada jiwa, jangan main kosong” – Mohar Mohram ”Time kerja kena focus, main kena confirm” – Ramli Rebana “Aesthetics value dia kita kena jaga” – Adil Ali Ok ini je yang saya nak share. Sorry la tulisan ni tak seberapa sangat tapi benda-benda ni lah yang saya pegang selama merangkak lagi ni. Terima kasih kepada semua cikgu-cikgu, kawan-kawan dan ramai lagi yang banyak bagi peluang dan percaya dengan saya. Terima kasih banyak-banyak. Mintak maaf kalau ada cakap terlepas apa yang tak patut. Yang penting kita passionate dan ikhlas.
Efry Arwis
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#projekbuku
The End? by Emmet Roslan
Emmet Roslan was the frontman for Butterfingers. 115
Butterfingers – the band that traveled far, but went nowhere. We had a good run. After the highest highs and the lowest lows, I choose the middle. I thought music was the most important thing in my life, and then I had a family. Thanks for letting me sing for you for a while.
Emmet Roslan
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#projekbuku
Di Belakang Tabir : Kau Ingat Band Indie Perform Jenis Plug And Play? oleh Epain Ahmad
Epain Ahmad is the road manager and one of the backbones of rock bands Hujan and Da Vagabonds. 117
Aku start kerja dengan HUJAN dari hujung tahun 2007 sampai sekarang (2011). Mula dengan saja-saja ikut Noh dan sekarang Alhamdulillah dapat jadi Road Manager HUJAN. Along this journey aku nampak macam-macam. Artikel ini adalah dari pandangan aku and takda kena mengena dengan band HUJAN sebab selain bekerja dengan HUJAN, aku ada bekerja dengan band/musicians dan pihak-pihak lain. Mungkin artikel ni akan dipandang remeh oleh sesetengah pihak sebab aku still baru and I’m nobody, but I don’t give a shit and here’s what I see...
Berat Sebelah Aku selalu nampak benda ni terjadi and aku tak faham kenapa isu ini perlu ada sedangkan band indie adalah salah satu revolution and sangat penting untuk industry muzik Malaysia. Double standard dekat dalam banyak perkara dari segi promotion, timing, performance duration and yang paling penting PAYMENT. Jangan disebabkan perkataaan ‘indie’, band-band ini di anak tirikan. Orang-orang corporate pandang band-band ini sebelah mata dan beranggapan ahli-ahli kugiran ini atau the team tak tahu tentang halhal business and so on. Jangan kerana kami pakai t-shirt, seluar jeans dan kasut sneakers, kami ini orang tak terpelajar. Ada sesetengah musicians ni sebenarnya student business, law, accounting dan lain-lain. Epain Ahmad
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Selain dari tu, adanya perkataan ‘indie’ menyebabkan beberapa organizer yang tak nak bayar band-band ini dengan bayaran yang setimpal. Kalau nak diikutkan, band-band indie bergerak secara sendiri dan mereka harus bayar semuanya dengan duit poket mereka. So secara logiknya mereka berhak dibayar dengan harga yang setimpal kerana mereka bekerja dengan jumlah pekerja yang ramai. Aku juga pernah berhadapan dengan timing soundcheck yang tak masuk akal. Logik ke untuk sesebuah band itu untuk buat soundcheck dalam masa kurang dari 10 minit? Disebabkan adanya perkataan ‘indie’, band tu dipandang lekeh? Band-band ini juga amat pentingkan kualiti persembahan mereka. Aku dah pernah bekerja dengan beberapa band indie dan mereka ini sangat pentingkan kualiti persembahan mereka terutama dari segi sound. Cukuplah band-band ni dilayan macam tu kat gig –gig kecil takkan mereka perform di show-show besar pun mereka dilayan dengan cara yang sama. Ini semua sebenarnya adalah mentality kolot dan sangat narrow minded sebab as production or organizers, we have to treat the performers equally tak kisah kalau band indie atau otai. Selama aku bekerja dengan HUJAN, aku berpeluang ikut dorang pergi ke luar negara. Antaranya aku pergi ke Bandung, and kat sana aku nampak macam mana organizer kat sana treat band-band indie (underground) ni. Bukan itu sahaja, even HUJAN pun dilayan dengan sama rata dan sangat profesional walhal diorang tak kenal sama sekali dengan band HUJAN. Bukan niat aku untuk menyanjung orang luar tapi kata orang, “Ambil yang jernih, buang yang keruh.”
Kepentingan Soundcheck And Rehearsals Sesebuah persembahan takkan boleh terjadi dengan jayanya kalau takda soundcheck or rehearsal yang sempurna. Waktu aku buat practical dengan TV3 awal tahun 2009, aku sempat involve dalam production Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL) and time tu aku nampak yang soundcheck and rehearsals sangat penting! Time soundcheck ni lah kita tahu apa masalah dari segi teknikal dan sebagainya dan overcome the problems immediately. Persembahan boleh berjalan lancar kalau adanya rehearsals. Ia juga penting untuk determine flow production dan persembahan. Aku suka kalau sesebuah performer tu sanggup untuk menghabiskan masa bersama-sama dengan production untuk menjalankan rehearsals bagi memastikan persembahan itu berjaya. Production and musicians (artistes) kena bekerjasama and tak boleh buat hal Epain Ahmad
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masing-masing sebab bagi aku dua-dua sama penting dalam menjayakan sesebuah persembahan itu. Aku pernah pergi satu show and waktu kami nak buat soundcheck, muncul seseorang dan dengan muka selambanya dia datang kat aku and kata, “Bro, korang ada 10 minit sahaja untuk soundcheck”. Apa disebabkan adanya title indie, kami kena buat soundcheck 10 minit? Bagi aku 10 minit tu tak masuk akal. Macam mana band tu nak perform kalau soundcheck pun tak sempurna. Paling penting, macam mana audience nak enjoy performance tu kalau sound pun ke laut kan? Waktu di France bersama dengan HUJAN, aku dapat tengok cara technician di sana bekerja. Aku respect dekat mamat tu sebab walaupun dia sibuk tapi apa technical request dari kami akan dia layan sebaik mungkin. Kiranya apa yang kami minta akan dia tunaikan. Bukan semua production di Malaysia ni tak elok, banyak juga yang bagus antaranya Jennifer Thompson dan Gbam TV3. Bagi aku, cara mereka bekerja harus dijadikan contoh sebab mereka sangat bagus dalam hal-hal handle band dari segi timing, requests dan lainlain.
Production Team Sendiri ‘Kenapa ramai sangat?’ Itu soalan paling lazim yang diajukan kat aku oleh organizer. Aku start as orang production and aku nampak kepentingan production dalam sesebuah band indie. Selalunya sesebuah band hanya ada 2-3 orang roadie sahaja. Kalau kita tengok band-band luar negara, mereka ada production team sendiri yang lengkap, dari roadie sehingga ke concert producer sendiri. Bukan kerja musician untuk fikir dan stresskan diri untuk settlekan hal-hal production contohnya props, stage, lighting and all. Di sini both sides, production and musician, perlulah bekerjasama dengan baik bagi memastikan persembahan itu berjaya. Bila sesebuah band itu ada production team sendiri maka production team itu akan lebih fokus dan akan lebih faham akan kehendak band itu. Kerja sesebuah band atau musician juga akan lebih senang dan boleh fokus akan persembahan mereka. Bagi aku kualiti mutu sesebuah persembahan itu sangat penting sebab ianya akan reflect kepuasan penonton. Adanya sound, lighting and gimmicks yang menarik dekat persembahan maka audience akan berpuas hati dan secara automatic akan membuatkan musicians itu puas. Namun aku tengok ramai orang sekarang berlumba-lumba nak buat band baru and kurang yang nak bekerja di belakang tabir sebab mungkin ramai yang tak sedar bahawa kerja-kerja ini sangat penting dan mampu menjadi karier.
Epain Ahmad
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#projekbuku
Nostalgia Studio Jamming oleh Fahmi Ismail
Fahmi Ismail aka Sifakap was the frontman for punk band FSF. 121
(Yep. Ini adalah salah satu cerita dari beribu cerita.) Dulu, waktu aku membesar di pekan Sungai Petani, hanya ada beberapa studio jamming untuk berlatih muzik dan mengasah bakat. Tak ada studio muzik di sekolah aku kerana Cikgu Rahman @ Man Trombone, cikgu muzik tersohor sekolah aku sangat sibuk dan hanya mahu menguruskan brass band sekolah yang terdiri daripada budak-budak perempuan asrama sekolah aku. Kelab muzik pula langsung tak membantu. Hanya koir, koir dan koir. Jadi bakat-bakat lain, jelas diketepikan. Bila ada kemahuan dan keinginan, aku dan teman-teman aku cari jalan. Kami cuba usahakan sendiri, dengan sesi jamming gitar kapok dengan kutu-kutu rock tembok simpang taman yang dah sizen sampai ke maghrib. Tapi sesi itu pun tak lama, sebab lama-lama kami jadi tepu. Kutu tak habis-habis nak main rock kapak lokal, Bon Jovi, Guns and Roses, Scorpions atau ’Hotel Carlifornia.’ (Ya, betul, Itu cara sebutan kutu: Ho-tel Car-li-for-nia.) Dan lagu habis moden yang kutu-kutu rock simpang mahu main waktu itu adalah Metallica, ‘Enter Sandman.’ Serious. Cilaka habis. Fahmi Ismail
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Kami yang baru nak up time tu rasa tepu dan lemau. Mana tahan. Takkan rock kapak dan lagu cintan tangkap leleh saja. Kami perlukan alternatif lain, pantas. Kami cari dan baca majalah luar seperti Kerranng!, Hit Parader, Metal Edge dan lain-lain. Cari akhbar The Sun setiap hari Rabu semata-mata nak baca tulisan Joe Kidd dalam ruangan ’Blasting Concept.’ Kami yang menonton setiap minggu rancangan Alternatif di TV3 langsung tak puas hati. Kami yang hampir setiap malam minggu berkorban untuk tidak keluar berpeleseran hanya untuk mendengar siaran ’The Alternative Rock Show’ kelolaan DJ Kamil Othman di 99.3 Time Highway Radio mula memberontak. Kami kalau ada duit lebih, akan ramai-ramai ke Pulau Pinang menaiki bas nombor 516 atau 517 dari Sungai Petani ke Bagan/Butterworth, mengambil risiko untuk kena pow oleh gangster jeti sebelum naik feri ke Pulau Pinang hanya untuk menonton giggig lokal di tempat seperti Hyppodrome, Songbird, SOL, Rock World dan banyak lagi. Kami yang berutus surat (selalunya dengan menggunakan stamp recycle) mencari teman yang mahu berkongsi minat serata dunia melalui produk DIY buatan sendiri seperti fanzine-fanzine fotostat, memburu kasetkaset rehearsal/demo yang kulitnya difotostat dan kualiti bunyinya teruk (sebu macam haram), bertukar kaset-kaset dubbing (juga selalunya recycle rakaman ceramah keagamaan milik orang tua) pelbagai genre mula tak senang duduk, kerana kami sedang meneroka dan mengalami revolusi muzik baru dari ikonikon baru generasi kami yang menghasilkan karya-karya agung. Kami ingin turut serta, tapi sayangnya kami tak ada outlet untuk keluarkan kreativiti kami. Kami tak tahan! Kami perlu bingar! Kami mahu gitar dan distorsi keras, mengaum garang dari amplifier. Kami mahu ketukan drum yang menggila dan bunyi bass yang menggetar dan menggegar macam guruh. Rock and Roll dengan elektrik, brader! Bukan muzik Pop yeh-yeh 60an pakcik-pakcik kenduri kahwin, lagu hippie bapak-bapak atau cheesy melodic pop 80an. Kami mahu muzik dari generasi kami. Kami perlukan ruang untuk curahkan apa yang terbuku di dada. Dan tempat itu adalah Studio Muthu di Taman Mutiara, Sungai Petani. Studio Muthu sebenarnya adalah rumah teres kos rendah bertaraf corner lot yang telah di naik taraf menjadi sebuah studio kecil. Dia ubahsuai bilik belakang rumahnya dan buat pintu kecil di sisi supaya orang senang masuk ke rumahnya tanpa masuk dan mengganggu hadapan rumahnya. Macam rumah kedai di taman perumahan, selalunya. Dinding bilik yang dipenuhi sarang telur, tapi tak kedap bunyi. Sekiranya ada band sedang rehearsal, dari jauh dah boleh dengar. Dilengkapi dengan penghawa dingin yang suam-suam, dan tak berapa nak dingin. Bilik yang bau kepam rokok, busuk peluh badan atau Fahmi Ismail
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kaki dan saki baki nafas orang sebelumnya menjemput kami masuk, selalunya. Tapi dengan bayaran sebanyak RM 10 untuk satu jam ia sangat berbaloi. Kami dibenarkan untuk mencurahkan bakat terpendam yang dah lama terbelenggu. Dengar-dengar cerita, Muthu buka studio jamming secara suka-suka tapi kami suspek dia merupakan salah seorang pemuzik satu ketika dahulu sebab barang-barangnya berkualiti dari beberapa studio yang lain. Ye lah, masa zaman tu tak semua studio jamming mahu letak gitar Ibanez RG atau Jackson, bass Yamaha RBX 250 dan set dram Tama yang original dan terjaga. Selalunya, Muthu tiada di rumah kerana dia sibuk dengan urusan kerjanya. Dia hanya ada pada hujung minggu. Jadi, anak dan bini Muthu yang akan take over sekiranya hari hari biasa. Tapi sedikit susah kerana anak dan bini Muthu selalunya sangat cerewet dalam memilih pelanggan dan muzik pelanggan yang mahu bermain di studio mereka berbanding Muthu. Kriteria pemainan haruslah tinggi, bersifat ‘pop’ish dan punyai nada vokal yang baik. Yang penting, tidak begitu bising. Dan setiap kali tu jugaklah kalau kami melangkah masuk ke studionya, kami diberi amaran keras oleh bininya. Amaran-amaran seperti: “You all main elok-elok aa! Tak mau main lagu bising-bising aa! Jangan main lagu ‘trash’ aaa.” Kami menyengih lebar, sebab tahu risikonya. Apa barang dapat main guitar elektrik tapi main lagu tak ada distortion langsung, kan? Tangan masingmasing dah bergetar. Kutu yang pegang kayu drum dah tak sabar sabar tunjuk skill. Cuba-cuba rolling sotong. Yang pegang mikrofon dah genggam erat-erat, steady dengan key note E terbalik. Takkan nak main lagu ’Antara Gadis?’ Pala hotak hang! Apa barang! Jadi kami akan mulakan set dengan lagu dari Napalm Death—’You Suffer,’ ’Scum’ atau ’Polluted Minds’ sebab paling senang. Kalau punk rock ada variety dari Sex Pistol, The Exploited, The Ramones hinggalah ke Bad Religion, Rancid, Nirvana dan yang lain-lain. Biasalah, baru-baru nak kenal muzik. Baru nak pandai. Jadi lagu-lagunya harus mudah, kerana pakai chord rock, atau lebih dikenali sebagai chord pacak. Kalau semua fail, apa saja lagu yang terlintas, Fahmi Ismail
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kebanyakkannya lagu-lagu anthem band lokal. Tekan distortion, full volume. Drum count. “One, two, three, four!” Record paling lama kami dapat main di studionya: setengah jam. Paling cepat, lepas 2 lagu. Dan selalunya, kami akan dapat makian percuma dari bini Muthu dan kemudiannya dihalau keluar dari studio. Dan oleh kerana sekejap, kami kena bayar half price. Makian, seperti: “Dey! Tatau main muzik jangan main sinilah! Kasi balik belajar dulu. Kasi main betul-betul lah. Ini trash sana, trash sini. Bloody Rascals! Telinga juga ada sakit! Chhit! Poddahh” Tapi makian itu, tidak pernah meluntur semangat muzik kami. Apa ada hal. Minggu depan, kami kembali. “Boleh lah, Aunty. Satu jam saja. Kali ni sumpah kami dah terrer main muzik! Nanti kami main lagu Alleycats! “ Rayu kami. Yeah. Aku tahu, sangat tak boleh belah. Tapi itu sahaja yang dapat mengubat hati dan saniti kami masa itu. * Aku pasti ramai punyai nostalgia tentang studio jamming, nostalgia yang jauh lebih baik dari aku. Tapi aku masih rasa ianya penting kerana bagi aku studio jamming dulu merupakan asas untuk setiap scene muzik. Tak kira apa jenis genre atau pegangan pemuziknya. Tak kira samada ianya bersifat bawah tanah, indie ataupun mainstream. It’s the breeding ground untuk kebanyakkan band di Malaysia untuk memahami dan membuat ekplorasi pada bunyi, tempo dan ritma. Selain melepak, kebanyakkan band akan mula mengenali band-band lain melalui studio jamming, lantas bertindak sebagai hub untuk menyebarkan Fahmi Ismail
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apa-apa berita baru, tak kiralah gig, rilisan baru ataupun gosip (Haa!). Sedikit berbeza dari band negara kelas pertama yang revolusinya bermula dari garage rumah atau dalam stor bawah rumah, namun semangatnya masih sama. Jadi, yeah. Studio jamming. “One, two, three, four!”
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#projekbuku
Tentang Menjadi Idola dan Hero oleh Fairuz Rahman
Fairuz Rahman is an educating educator who finds solace in photography, reading & traveling, as well as entertaining herself with the nicest of music and movie. 127
Sebuah tulisan demi anak-anak Chow Kit dan remaja selainnya yang mengidolakan seni arus perdana, dalam mencari dan menjadi figura sang hero demi masa depan yang lebih berani dan bererti.
Chow Kit. Siang malam riuh dengan kesibukan. Baik yang berjual dan berdagang sepanjang siangnya, melarut kepada yang ‘berjual’ dan ‘berdagang’ di malam harinya. Sebagai warga Lembah Klang, mungkin sekitaran ini sangat sinonim sebagai kawasan ‘mesti sampai’. Tak kira kau membeli keperluan harian - isi dapur, isi almari, malah isi perut dari jengah pagi ke subuh esok hari. Kawasan yang tak pernah mati dan tak kenal sunyi. Kehidupan aku sebagai anak jati Kuala Lumpur secara tidak langsung berkisar seputar Chow Kit. Dari pangkalnya dan sepanjang Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, langsung membawa ke kawasan Masjid Jamek. Pemahaman aku selaku anak sekolah dan remaja lewat 90-an adalah tipikal pemikiran yang ditelah dari bacaan atau paparan media perdana.
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Yang sinonim dengan Chow Kit – penagih dadah, pelacuran, gengsterisma dan gelandangan.
‘Kawasan Lampu Merah’ Terima kasih kepada peti petak televisyen, ini adalah imej Chow Kit yang tertanam pada pemikiran singkat aku. Segala isinya mengagah bibit rasa takut dan bimbang, berada di kaki limanya serasa seakan mempertaruh nyawa. Berjalan beramai tetap ada gentar, susup-sasap di celah manusia sambil pandangan berawas dan mengepit beg galas. Segala susuk tubuh dipandang dari hujung mata, seolah setiapnya tak kira anak kecil malah dewasa adalah bahaya. Akal kecil dengan fikiran senang dipengaruh lagi sambil lewa, ikhlasnya itulah aku. Dulu. Kadang-kadang orang kata yang paling kau tak mahu, itulah yang paling kau akan dapat. Yang paling kononnya aku hindar dan takuti pada jenama Chow Kit itu, akhirnya sehingga hari ini antara sebab aku berdiri sebagai diri aku yang mungkin kau dan mereka kenali ini. Menjadi ‘cikgu’ kepada anak-anak ini di dalam senario pendidikan sekolah menengah adalah suatu cabaran yang tidak sedikit. Kesabaran dan kebijaksanaan memintas sikap lepas laku mereka adalah kualiti utama yang harus ada. Empat tahun di dalam sistem dan secara rasmi mengajar Pendidikan Seni adalah kelebihan untuk benar-benar menelah kegusaran hati remaja mereka. Dalam sebuah sekolah dengan seluruh pelajarnya lelaki, menjadi perempuan adalah satu ujian. Bayangkan sebuah kelas dengan kapasiti 30 pelajar lelaki dan kau si cikgu perempuan adalah subjek pemerhatian yang sangat mengujakan. Salah kau terlebih berlembut maka naik bertanduklah pe’elnya. Salah kau berkasar, lebih lagi kau dimusuhi. Bergaya juga harus sederhana tapi kemas manis, kerana setiap seorang mereka adalah pengkritik fesyen yang sangat telus tak bertapis. Seminggu pertama di sekolah sudah diberi awas tentang kelaku anak-anak teruna yang bakal di bawah didik. Apatah lagi dengan kereta polis peronda yang setiap hari di hadapan sekolah. Khabarnya, sikap rasis antara punca berbalah siap berparang, kerambit dan buku lima. Majoriti mereka dari Fairuz Rahman
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perumahan sekitar Chow Kit, Flat Pekeliling dan Kg. Baru. Ini semua aku hadam sebagai persiapan mental. Cikgu Fairuz, garang dan kerek nak mati. Kuku tangan harus pendek bersih, kalau tidak bakal diketuk dengan pembaris besi panjang. Cikgu Fairuz, bajet cun. Usik tegur tak laku, muka ketat senyum mahal. Cikgu Fairuz, cikgu kadet bomba bermulut puaka. Lambat turun latihan maka bersedia dengan tekan tubi mencecah lantai diulang puluhan kali. Kalau diikutkan garangnya Cikgu Fairuz dengan segala kriteria di atas, maka sewajarnya jenuh aku mengganti tayar kereta yang dipancitkan sebulan sekali. Tapi syukur, tidak pernah sekalipun aku dibalakan sebagaimana cikgu-cikgu lain yang malah lebih lembut gemalai dalam mengajar dan berbicara. Seperkara yang selalu melembutkan hati anak-anak ini ialah muzik. Studio Pendidikan Seni di bawah kendalian aku adalah zon ekspresi. Dinding belakang dihiasi grafiti dan meskipun lokasinya berhadapan dengan bilik disiplin sekolah, ia tempat santai paling meriah. Muzik dari pelbagai ragam genre saban waktu berkumandang terutama selepas waktu sekolah. Daripada dendangan Dewa dan perlahan-lahan dipecahkan dengan muzik Hujan serta Meet Uncle Hussein, sambil berselang-seli sesekali nakal mereka memasang goyang dangdut. Apa saja, bersyarat tugas diberikan siap dan mulut diam sambil leka bekerja. Tapi cabaran menjinakkan remaja-remaja lelaki ini tidaklah habis di situ. Kalau dia memang ada fokus untuk bersekolah jadi tugas selebihnya memang mudah. Peranan seorang cikgu hanya tinggal memastikan semua isi buku selesai diajar fahamkan demi kejayaan yang dinilai pada banyaknya A yang diraih dalam peperiksaan-peperiksaan besar. Bagaimana pula dengan yang sekadar ke sekolah kerana dia diarah bersekolah? Jangankan subjek teras mahu dihadapnya, subjek elektif seperti Pendidikan Seni langsung tak sudi. Ke studio atas arahan dan mengelak tindakan rotan atau gantung sekolah. Masuk ruangan aku, terus menyusun kerusi, lunjur kaki dan tidur. Kesabaran sangat diuji, tapi apa pilihan yang ada? Untuk apa memaksa orang yang tidak ada seluruh jiwanya untuk subjek itu? Harus diingat, seni bukan sekadar apa yang ditrampil, ia melibatkan penghayatan dan minat. Fairuz Rahman
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Kalau sudah dianya tidak suka lagi bebal, kau bekal pensel, kertas, warna, berus segala pun belum tentu mencapai apa yang dicita. Kemudian kau maki bila segala yang diberi tadi bersepah di lantai begitu saja, merungutrungut sambil mengutip dan menyimpannya semula. Tapi cuba sekali itu dibiarkan dia leka sendiri, jangan sua kertas lukisan dan warna. Sebaliknya bualkan ehwal dirinya. Apa aktiviti petangnya, apa kerja ibu ayahnya. Provokkan dengan gelagat-gelagat nakalnya terhendaphendap di belakang surau sekolah mencari peluang meloloskan diri di celah pagar, atau bau asap yang terlekat di seragam putihnya. Atau kalau di sekolah itu dulunya, anak-anak Cina ini walau malas tahap siamang pun di sekolah, kerapnya aku puji mengatakan dia rajin dan budak baik. Bukan bodek pun, kalau dia itu memang malas dan tak berguna, masakan boleh di sebelah petangnya dia bergegas-gegas ke tempat kerja demi gaji yang tidaklah seberapa. Kalau sudah penat bekerja, haruslah dia keletihan malas di sekolah. Lantas untuk apa dicucuk harimau yang sedang lapar, mengaum mengamuk sudahlah tentu! Nyata sekali menjadi cikgu dalam era kini tidak semudah dulu. Pendekatan yang lebih beretika dan menghormati haknya harus selalu diulang ingat. Nilailah insannya dia, bukan lahiriahnya. Sudah namanya manusia, toleransi dan menjadi pendengar terbaik untuknya jadi kunci. Membina harga diri seseorang lebih penting dari mendesak dia menjadi yang sempurna pada penilaian atas kertas. Ini mengingatkan aku pada kesempatan berkenal rapat dengan cucu Seniman Agung Negara – Allahyarham Tan Sri P. Ramlee. Sampai hari ini aku terngiang luah rasanya, “Saya sedih tak mampu jadi sehebat atuk saya, cikgu.” Allahyarham Nasir P. Ramlee, boleh disifatkan sangat karib dengan institusi sekolah aku. Kelibatnya kerap ditemui di kawasan bilik disiplin, yang kebetulan bersebelahan dengan studio pendidikan seni yang dihuni aku. Lazimnya berbaju melayu johor lengkap samping. sesuai tugasnya sebagai pengarah muzik di Istana Budaya yang berjiran pagar dengan sekolah. Anaknya Zakaria Nasir, selain merupakan pelajar aku juga kerap singgah menjenguk aku sambil berkongsi pelbagai perihal diri dan keluarganya. Fairuz Rahman
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Dia tidak pernah senang disebut-sebut sebagai cucu P. Ramlee. malah kerap naik berang kerana ada guru di sekolah lamanya memperolokolokkan keturunannya. Kalau ditilik pada raut wajah dan gayanya, tidak terbayang air muka sang Seniman Agung. Tinggal kerinting rambutnya mengimbas P. Ramlee semasa kegemilangan filem-filem Bujang Lapok. Pernah aku tanyakan, apa rasanya menjadi cucu P. Ramlee? Apa kelebihan P. Ramlee yang mungkin kamu warisi? Bilangnya, “Biasa saja cikgu. Cuma sesekali di majlis-majlis tribute untuk P.Ramlee baru saya rasa - oh, aku ini cucu manusia yang sangat hebat. Kalau pun ada saya cuma boleh main dram, itu saja.” “Pernah di ruang tamu rumah, saya ternampak jelmaan arwah atuk memandang tepat pada saya. Serammmm, cikgu!” “Ada sekali itu, saya pakai tarbus tinggi arwah atuk yang dalam cerita Tiga Abdul tu, dan tengok cermin -- wah, baru nampak macam muka dia.” dan yang paling selalu dikesalinya -“Saya sedih, saya tak mampu jadi sehebat P. Ramlee.” Tidak lama selepas itu, Nasir P. Ramlee menulis buku ‘Bapaku P. Ramlee’. Selang beberapa hari berikutnya Zakaria bergegas-gegas menemui aku sebaik loceng akhir sekolah berbunyi. Tangannya bingkas mencari-cari dari celah beg sandang, dan dihulur bungkus plastik putih --”Ini, ayah bagi pada cikgu”.Ya, naskhah ‘Bapaku P. Ramlee’ lengkap tandatangan Nasir P. Ramlee sudah di tangan, awal sebelum ia mula diletak di toko buku seluruh Malaysia. Selepas itu, kelibatnya tidak lagi kelihatan di sekolah. Khabar dari guru kelas, Zakaria ponteng berlarut-larutan. Beberapa minggu selepas itu, aku nampak Nasir P. Ramlee di luar bilik disiplin menyelesaikan urusan berhenti sekolah. Ya, Zakaria telah berhenti sekolah di akhir tingkatan empat. Benarlah, lagenda cuma wujud satu dalam sejuta. Cuma ada satu P. Ramlee. Tetapi harapan dari semua orang untuk melihat seorang lagi Fairuz Rahman
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P. Ramlee dari salasilahnya cuma menjadi tekanan. Mendekati mereka secara peribadi adalah sangat menginsafkan. Mereka tetap remaja yang perlukan perhatian ayah bonda, mudah kalah dengan hedonisma dunia, enggan dihakimi sewenangnya dari parut toreh dan calar di raut wajah yang muram kasar dan sifat nakal berontak seorang anak lelaki yang bisa bertumbuk kerana gurau sinis dan cemuh orang -- kerana yang mereka mahu semoga ada yang memahami mereka cuma insan biasa. Tidak mungkin jadi Nasir P. Ramlee. Jauh sekali, bukan P. Ramlee. Sebagai seorang yang telah pernah mendapat pendidikan dalam sistem pendidikan yang sama di Malaysia, seperkara yang semakin kurang dalam senario terkini ialah peri pentingnya pembangunan kesenian dalam jiwa anak-anak masa ini. Yang dipaksa kejar ialah deretan A, sehinggakan kualitinya sudah sangat boleh dipertikaikan. Ya, apalah nilainya kalau A atas kertas adalah dari semata menyalin apa yang ditulis cikgu atau lebih hancur bila si cikgu sendiri yang diarahkan melengkapkan tugasan anak murid kerana pihak sekolah enggan bertanggungjawab bila dipersoalkan kenapa ada pelajar yang tidak berminat menyelesaikan tugasan mereka. Yang makin kurang pada masa ini ialah sikap berusaha dan menginspirasi supaya anak-anak ini mahu mencari apa yang harus dikuasai demi kehidupannya. Sebaliknya, kita ‘menternak’ generasi parasit – semata mengharap atas apa yang kita akan berikan, malah membantah dan menyalahkan bila mereka gagal menyelesaikan tugasan kerana ‘cikgu tak tolong saya cari jawapan.’ Atau kalau kita kaitkan isu ini dengan kecenderungan mereka terhadap letusan seni arus perdana, mereka melihat menjadi sang hero yang beraksi di pentas adalah kejayaan mutlak yang meliputi glamor, bangga dan kemewahan. Kurang sekali yang sebenarnya sedar atau mahu mengerti bahawa di sebalik bergayanya si penghibur beraksi, telah banyak susah dan sedih yang dilalui sebagai manusia biasa. Anak-anak Chow Kit telah diklasifikasikan sebagai ‘at-risk kids.’ Berhadapan dengan masalah kemiskinan, kurangnya akses kepada informasi pendidikan, berdepan keganasan dan buli serta masalah disiplin adalah antara yang sering menjadi titik perhatian. Ini lebih diburukkan apabila ada ahli keluarga mereka yang terlibat dengan dadah, mungkin Fairuz Rahman
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makin parah apabila struktur keluarganya pincang. Rata-rata mereka dibesarkan oleh ibu atau bapa tunggal, atau jika kedua ibu bapanya masih ada barangkali ia hanya pada nama dan figura, tapi jelasnya tidak langsung memainkan peranan untuk membantu perkembangan pemikiran dan motivasi anak-anak tadi. Bekerja secara rapat dengan anak-anak ini, aku mengesan yang mereka perlu lebih dari sekadar dipastikan cukup makan dan pakai atau dimewahkan dengan kemudahan lain. Meskipun telah ada badan bukan kerajaan yang telah memainkan peranan di sana, sayang sekali ia diibaratkan tindakan memberi makan ikan, tetapi tidak pula mengajar mereka memancing ikan. Walhal ini lebih penting kerana dalam jangka masa panjang, tidak selamanya kita upaya memastikan kita tidak akan terputus bekal ikan. Lewat 2010, aku ditemukan dengan Slash Shoot Dance Crew - sekumpulan remaja Chow Kit yang beraspirasi untuk menjadi penari lewat ledakan populariti program Showdown di 8TV. Sebagai bekas cikgu mereka, aku bukanlah wajah asing. Semasa mereka masih di bawah tunjuk ajar aku, inilah anak-anak yang sama dalam Kadet Bomba serta ke persembahan sempena Hari Kebangsaan pada tahun 2008. Persefahaman yang termeteri itu sudah sangat lama, dan kimia antara kami sangat perlu demi membangunkan keyakinan masing-masing. Menjadi Slash Shoot tidaklah mudah. Segala rentak tarian dipelajari semata dari Youtube. Lagu latar diubah dan disusun dengan segala macam kepakaran ‘melanun’. Sepasang kasut yang sama dipakai ke sekolah dan kasut itulah yang digunakan ke medan persembahan, sampai nipis tapak dan bocor sisi tetap disarung ke mana jua. Menyertai Showdown 2011 menjadi medan ujian yang pertama. Imej bertopeng jadi taruhan – satu-satunya dance crew berpenampilan seragam sedemikian. “Cikgu, kami nak jaket untuk Showdown. Topeng dengan snowcap pun nak ganti.” Tiga hari berturut sesudah itu, anak-anak ini berbusking di Menara Maybank. Duit kutipan jadi modal persiapan. Jaket dan topeng, snowcap dan sarung tangan siap tersedia. Tidak tinggi harapan kami, cukuplah sekadar pendedahan dan pengalaman.
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Di Showdown 2011, mereka jadi perhatian dek imej berbeza. Malah mendapat special mention semasa siaran di kaca tv bermula kerana kelainan ditonjolkan. Sedang peserta lain bergaya dengan kasut Supra aneka warna dan rupa, anak-anak ini rasa rendah hati dek kasut sekolah bertapak nipis dan bocor sisi.
Ini cerita setahun sudah. Showdown kembali lagi. Pada tika aku menulis ini, ujibakat untuk zon Kuala Lumpur tinggal kurang dua minggu. Selepas Showdown, bertali arus jemputan persembahan diterima. Kalau dulu cukup sakit mencari dana, barangkali makin kurang yang perlu diralatkan. Slash Shoot kini berharga tidak kurang dari RM 3,000. Segala urusan secara rasmi dibawah kendalian aku. Wang diterima tidak langsai bulat-bulat, diajar pengurusan kewangan supaya anak-anak ini tahu betapa lelah dan penat mereka berlatih sampai cedera terkehel bahu, lengan atau betis itu ada harganya. Seputar aku bertugas di Morning Rocket, anak-anak ini diperkenalkan dengan anggota band Hujan. Diberi kesempatan memahami kerja keras di sebalik sebuah jenama yang gah. AG yang tak lelah berkurung di Kamar Seni, Dimas dengan visi untuk penjenamaan yang stabil, Noh sebagai minda di sebalik semua bunyi serta kata pada setiap yang dilagukan serta sepasukan yang selalu bersama sebagai keluarga, menyokong dan melengkapi pada setiap masa. Yang paling penting, selalu merendah diri dan tidak putus mencuba walau diduga dan dinista hina. Ini, teladan paling hebat untuk Slash Shoot yang memerlukan idola, memerlukan hero untuk jangkamasa yang lebih lama. Diajar supaya yakin pada diri, berani untuk mencipta peluang dan menjadi oportunis yang bijak. Selain semangat bersatu dan menghargai pada setiap kepayahan dan cabaran yang diterima. Slash Shoot di pentas adalah tangisan kegembiraan aku. Betapa tidak ada lagi yang peduli pada asal-usul Chow Kit mereka bila semuanya bangun berdiri di hujung persembahan sambil bertepuk sorak dalam kekaguman. Yang dijual adalah bakat. Yang ditampilkan adalah semangat. Rumah buruk, keluarga yang bercelaru, kata ejek pada angan-angan untuk Fairuz Rahman
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muncul di kaca tv adalah kekuatan. Mereka boleh mengubah semuanya, tinggal harus diyakinkan yang ia boleh dilakukan. Aku bukan cikgu terbaik. Tapi aku mahu anak-anak ini jadi yang terbaik. Yang susah aku lalui, semoga jadi kelebihan supaya mereka berusaha jadi lebih baik. Terima kasih pada sekalian yang mungkin kini boleh ditakrif aku sebagai kenalan – di Morning Rocket atau Frinjan – anak-anak ini dapat memilih idola dan hero masing-masing. Kehidupan adalah sekolah, serta semua manusia yang kita temui adalah cikgu-cikgu paling berharga. Semoga Chow Kit dan segala sisi gelapnya berjaya dicerah bersihkan, tidak sekadar yang terzahir di mata. Yang penting, jiwanya.
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#projekbuku
Hijrah Muzik Saya oleh Faris Rafie Ismail
Faris Rafie Ismail is the frontman for Awanband. 137
Helaian Pertama Introduksi, Nasyid, Dan Pemahaman Awal Bermula dengan lafaz Bismillah, ingin aku berkongsi sebuah cerita tentang lakaran hidup seorang penggubah melodi dan penulis lirik juga perkara yang melibatkan kejutan budaya di dalam pergerakan muzik tanah air. Bukan kerana rasa bangga diri atau bermegah dengan apa yang bakal aku kongsikan, tetapi ianya adalah cetusan rasa dan pengalaman aku bekerja sambil mengenali mereka-mereka yang hebat di dalam pergerakan muzik tanah air. Dari segi teknologi Audio dan Visual, aku bermula dari zaman tape dan kaset tetapi di waktu itu aku sudah mula membayangkan penghasilan bunyi adalah suatu elemen yang menjadikan aku peka dan berhati-hati. Ianya juga senang melekat di fikiran ku. Aku juga merasakan usaha berterusan tanpa jemu juga perkongsian idea dari mana-mana pihak dapat menghasilkan pati (essence) bunyi yang bakal menjadi medium atau menjadi sumber inspirasi kepada cabang-cabang senireka yang lain. Maka jelaslah tujuan utama aku memilih muzik sebagai medan berkarya kerana aku mahu menentang sikap malas yang bermaharajalela di dalam diri ku Faris Rafie Ismail
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ini kerana ianya seperti penyakit pada ku, dalam masa yang sama juga aku ingin berkongsi pengetahuan dan juga ingin menjadi ikon kepada penemuan-penemuan baru yang aku hasilkan sendiri. Nama aku ialah Faris Rafie Bin Haji Ismail, berusia 30 tahun pada 4 Disember 2011. Memulakan karier muzik aku sebagai penyanyi utama di dalam sebuah kumpulan nasyid ketika aku berusia 8 tahun. Disebabkan aku sekolah pondok ketika itu maka peralatan muzik di sekolahku hanya peralatan perkusi seperi kompang, kongga dan shaker. Para ustazku pula mengatakan muzik yang melibatkan alat muzik bertali itu adalah haram sedangkan aku berfikir bagaimana pula baris melodi yang dikeluarkan oleh suara boleh dikatakan hampir sama bunyinya dengan bunyi yang dikeluarkan oleh muzik bertali? Contohnya, kod-kod harmoni yang dimainkan oleh gitar atau piano boleh dihasilkan oleh paduan suara 6 ke 7 orang yang boleh menyanyikan kod harmoni tersebut dengan masingmasing mengeluarkan bunyi atau baris-baris melodi yang berbeza. Pada ketika aku sekolah pondok itu juga aku sempat berkenalan dengan abang Nazri Johani(vokalis Raihan) yang pada ketika itu menganggotai kumpulan nasyid yang diberi nama The Zikr. Dengan beliaulah aku belajar tentang penciptaan baris-baris melodi. Aku juga belajar cara untuk menghasilkan suara latar yang berharmoni dengan Rosdi Zahari (pemain perkusi Yasin) yang juga lebih dikenali sebagai Acik. Acik adalah kawan baik aku dan aku rapat dengan beliau kerana kami selalu berlatih vokal bersama dan dia selalu mengajarkan aku baris-baris harmoni seperti second part harmonies, third part harmonies dan baris-baris harmoni yang lain lagi. Aku juga sempat berkenalan dan belajar dengan arwah Zairie (vokalis Raihan), arwah Ustaz Asri ( vokalis Rabbani), Abang Munif (vokalis Hijjaz), abang Isman (vokalis Hijjaz), dan ramai lagi penyanyi-penyanyi nasyid yang hebat ketika itu. Mereka ini juga sebenarnya melalui zaman peralihan muzik yang agak hebat. Contohnya, kumpulan nasyid Hijjaz dan Rabbani pada ketika dahulunya adalah berasal dari satu kumpulan nasyid yang sama iaitu Nada Murni 1. Raihan pula satu ketika dahulunya lebih dikenali dengan nama The Zikr. Acik pula adalah bekas vokalis utama kumpulan nasyid Nada Murni 2 tetapi sekarang ini beliau lebih dikenali sebagai pemain perkusi untuk persembahan Yasin (bekas vokalis kumpulan nasyid Brothers). Seterusnya, aku diberhentikan dari sekolah pondok oleh ibu bapaku pada usia 13 tahun kerana masalah kegawatan ekonomi dan aku terpaksa berkorban untuk menjaga adik bongsuku yang baru lahir ketika itu. Saat itu takkan aku lupakan kerana dalam tempoh 5 tahun tersebut ibu bapaku Faris Rafie Ismail
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melarang aku dari mendengar muzik dan aku dikurung di rumah dan dilatih seperti askar, pengasuh bayi, dan orang gaji kelas A. Satu-satunya medium aku untuk berkarya dan menghidupkan bakat yang ada di dalam jiwaku pada ketika itu ialah dengan mengaji, menulis puisi, sajak, dan bersyair seorang diri. Setiap kali air mataku menitis tiada siapa yang nampak dan setiap kali aku merintih tiada siapa yang mendengar. Mungkin kerana aku terlalu obses dengan penulisan yang melibatkan tajuk ’CINTA’ akhirnya rahsia yang disimpan oleh keluargaku bocor, pada usiaku 15 tahun ketika aku sedang mengemas bilik ibuku secara tidak sengaja aku menjumpai dokumen-dokumen sulit ibuku, di dalamnya terkandung identiti sebenar aku yang bernama Mohd Shazee Bin Zailani dan ibuku telah bercerai dengan bapa kandungku ketika aku berusia 9 bulan. Pada ketika itu arwah ayah tiriku tidak mahu rahsia itu bocor dan menukarkan namaku kepada Faris Rafie Bin Haji Ismail. Sehingga kini aku masih belum berjumpa bapa kandungku dan berdasarkan khabar angin, ayahku itu adalah bekas gitaris kumpulan Revolvers. Ada juga khabar angin yang mengatakan beliau juga pernah ‘session’ bersama Jimi Hendrix. Seperti biasa aku hanya mendiamkan perkara tersebut dan menyimpan satu keazaman bahawa satu hari nanti aku perlu mencari kebenaran tanpa melukakan hati ibuku.
Helaian Kedua Industri Muzik Dan Permulaan Trankripsi Pada ketika aku berusia 18 tahun aku telah ‘curi-curi’ keluar dari rumah dan bertemu dengan Abang Nazri (vokalis Raihan). Beliau telah menjemput aku untuk terlibat sama sebagai penyanyi latar kumpulan nasyid Raihan untuk jelajah promosi album ‘Syukur.’ Ironinya bila aku dapat berlatih bersama mereka tetapi aku tidak berpeluang untuk turut serta di dalam konsert mereka kerana masalah conflict of interest. Dalam masa yang sama aku bertemu kembali dengan kawan baikku Acik. Aku meninggalkan kumpulan Raihan dan mengikuti Acik untuk terlibat di dalam aktiviti melatih pelajar-pelajar Sekolah Rendah Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, Sekolah Menengah Sungai Besi, dan Sekolah Menengah Bangsar. Kami melatih mereka membentuk paduan suara berharmoni bagi berhadapan dengan cabaran pertandingan nasyid ke peringkat kebangsaan. Sebenarnya ada lagi sekolah-sekolah yang tak dapatku nyatakan di sini kerana masalah conflict of interest ha ha ha.. Dalam masa yang sama, aku dan Acik telah membentuk sebuah kumpulan Faris Rafie Ismail
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paduan suara berharmoni yang kami namakan sebagai N.I.E. Kami tidak melabelkannya sebagai kumpulan nasyid dan penulisan lagu di dalam projek N.I.E ni adalah berteraskan konsep pop RnB yang ringan. Cuma yang memperlihatkan ia seperti kumpulan nasyid adalah kerana kami berasal dari keluarga besar pergerakan muzik nasyid tanah air. ‘Kami’ yang aku maksudkan adalah aku, Acik dan seorang lagi rakan kami yang bernama Husaini. Pada ketika N.I.E sedang dalam proses untuk memulakan rakaman single kami yang pertama, sekali aku berhadapan dengan krisis conflict of interest ketika berada di dalam grup ini. Ianya bermula pada ketika Acik mengenalkan aku kepada abang Mohariz Yaakob. Kami memanggil beliau dengan nama abang Zul. Abang Zul adalah orang yang bertanggungjawab membawa kami masuk ke dalam perkara yang dinamakan sebagai industri muzik tanah air atau dalam bahasa Inggeris disebut ‘Malaysian Music Industry’. Abang Zul jugalah orang yang bertanggungjawab mengenalkan aku kepada komposer tersohor tanah air kita ketika itu, Adnan Abu Hassan. Beliau lebih dikenali dengan panggilan abang Dee. N.I.E telah memulakan rakaman single pertama di studio kecil abang dee (ketika itu belum dibesarkan lagi). Abang Zul bertindak sebagai salah seorang penerbit untuk projek N.I.E, Sharon Paul pula selaku music arranger kami, dan ayah kepada Husaini (arwah Mokhtaruddin) bertindak sebagai penaja yang membiayai projek album N.I.E. Berbalik kepada conflict of interest yang aku maksudkan tadi, ianya bermula apabila Husaini ingin menarik diri keluar dari N.I.E. Proses rakaman sudah tentulah akan tergendala. Tatkala perkara itu terjadi abang Dee sudah pun mengenal pasti bakat aku yang boleh digilap sebagai penyanyi. Pada masa yang sama sikap aku yang agak rajin membantu beliau dalam kerja-kerja rakaman tanpa disuruh secara tidak disangka telah membuka satu era baru di dalam kehidupan aku. Sebenarnya aku tidak menceritakan lagi kisah aku lari dari rumah dan berhijrah ke Kelantan untuk menyiapkan Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia aku di sana, dan memang aku sengaja meletakkan cerita ini di akhir perenggan kerana aku tahu kisah aku di Kelantan banyak pertikaian, dan ianya saat yang sangat pedih untuk aku kongsikan. Jujur aku katakan, di Kelantanlah aku mula memegang gitar dan belajar sendiri (self thought) memetiknya pada usia ku 18 tahun dan cukuplah untuk aku katakan aku hanya belajar kod-kod asas gitar dari sedikit tunjuk ajar dari kawan-kawan ku di sana.
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Helaian Ketiga Penulisan Lirik, Kesedihan dalam Penulisan dan Pemahamannya Secara Teknikal Tanpa disedari, sekitar awal tahun 2003 aku sudah mula menjadi sebahagian dari keluarga Adnan Abu Hassan. Aku turut serta meraikan kejayaan beliau memenangi Anugerah Juara Lagu melalui lagu ‘Bungabunga Cinta’ nyanyian Misha Omar. Taraf aku dinaikkan sebagai anak angkatnya dan aku tinggal bersama beliau di rumahnya yang masih lagi sekarang ini di Sungai Ramal Dalam, Kajang. Aku dipertanggungjawabkan untuk menghantar anak-anak beliau (Aiman dan aina) ke sekolah. Dalam masa yang sama aku juga bertindak sebagai penolong jururakam beliau. Bermula peristiwa di mana aku berjaya menggodek peralatan rakaman beliau dengan beraninya tanpa pengetahuan beliau sendiri. Ironinya aku dapat memahami semua peralatan itu dengan sedikit bimbingan ala-ala komando dari abang Zul. Dalam masa yang sama aku berhadapan dengan cabaran yang baru apabila projek Akademi Fantasia yang pertama mendapat perhatian yang luas dari rakyat Malaysia. Cabaran yang aku maksudkan itu adalah lambakan projek lagu-lagu baru untuk artis-artis Akademi Fantasia yang perlu disiapkan oleh abang Dee dan abang Zul selaku penulis lirik yang aktif bersama beliau pada ketika itu. Aku sebenarnya tidak nampak dan tidak tahu apa sebenarnya konflik yang berlaku di antara abang Dee dan abang Zul. Mungkin ada sedikit conflict of interest atau gangguan komunikasi yang telah berlaku dan membuatkan abang Dee mula menyuruh aku menulis lirik untuk lagu-lagu beliau. Seperti biasa tema untuk kebanyakan lagu Adnan Abu Hassan adalah berkisarkan ‘CINTA’ dan betapa peritnya bila seseorang itu putus cinta. Aku memulakan penulisan lirik ku yang pertama dengan mendengar patah melodi flute yang diberikan komposer lalu menukarnya dalam bentuk perkataan. Contohnya, melodi flute berbunyi na na na na na, ada lima patah bunyi na lalu di dalam perkataan aku ubah menjadi sa yang kan ka mu (sayang kan kamu.) Lima patah melodi menjadi lima patah melodi dalam perkataan. Bermula dengan ‘Memori Bahagia’ nyanyian Sahri AF 1 iaitu naskhah sulung aku sebagai penulis lirik, seterusnya abang Dee memberi aku peluang untuk menulis lirik untuk lagu beliau buat dua orang finalis Akademi Fantasia 2, Bob Mesra dan Farah Breep Breep. Aku juga berjaya menyiapkan lirik lagu Kaer yang bertajuk ‘Kembali Bersama’ di malam terakhir sebelum konsert akhir Akademi Fantasia musim kedua. Ingin aku jelaskan lagu ‘Kembali Faris Rafie Ismail
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Bersama’ itu adalah ciptaan Omar K dan sepatutnya lirik itu disiapkan oleh abang Zul tetapi apa yang tidak kena dengan lirik abang Zul dan kenapa aku harus menukarkan lagu tersebut dengan lirik yang baru? (satu lagi ‘conflict’ yang tidak aku ketahui hujung pangkalnya). Cuba bayangkan, tiga buah lirik lagu perlu aku siapkan dalam masa dua minggu. Alhamdulillah berkat dari penelitian dan mengimbas kembali kenangan lampau, aku mengerti pengalaman banyak memberikan aku sedikit kupasan cerita, dan huraian aku di dalam perkataan pula banyak di bantu oleh tabiat aku yang suka membaca. Cuma yang agak memeranjatkan adalah aku mula kehilangan kawan baik aku dan kejamnya aku kerana tanpa disedari aku telah terbabit sama untuk menghalau beliau keluar dari dunia aku saat itu. Acik untuk pengetahuan kau, bukan aku yang merancang plot tersebut dan aku tau jika kau membaca buku ni sekarang, kau pun tahu siapa sebenarnya yang menghalau kau di waktu itu. Setelah kejayaan lagu ‘Cinta Seorang Teman’ nyanyian Bob Mesra dan lagu ‘Antara Dua’ nyanyian Farah Breep Breep, aku sekali diberi kepercayaan oleh abang Dee untuk menulis lirik lagu yang bertajuk ‘Warkah Berlagu Pilu’ nyanyian Felix dari Akademi Fantasia 3. Sayangnya lirik itu juga adalah surat perpisahan yang dibaca oleh bekas kekasihku di malam konsert terakhir Akademi Fantasia 3. Detik yang paling mencemaskan ketika itu ialah di waktu aku berlari ke tandas sebelum air mataku gugur kerana gagal menahan perasaan, dan ianya sebuah kesedihan yang sedang diraikan dengan tepukan yang gemuruh oleh penonton di Stadium Bukit Jalil, dan berjuta rakyat Malaysia dan Brunei yang sedang menonton rancangan itu. Kesimpulannya, walaupun mawi bergelar juara malam itu dengan undian yang paling tinggi jauh mengatasi Felix tetapi dari segi jumlah undian keseluruhan masih dimenangi oleh para pelajar Akademi Fantasia 2 ketika Zahid menjadi juara.
Helaian Ke Empat Tercalon Ke Peringkat Separuh Akhir Muzik-Muzik Sebagai penulis Lirik dan Mengorak Langkah Kepada Seorang Komposer Ketika ramai penulis lirik tanah air sedang memikirkan nasib mereka layak atau tidak ke peringkat separuh akhir Muzik-Muzik, aku pula memikirkan kisah apa pula yang bakalku tulis untuk lagu abang Dee yang seterusnya. Aku tidak ingat dalam sekitar tahun berapa tetapi aku ingat lagi ketika nama aku diumumkan sebagai salah seorang semi-finalis Muzik-Muzik Faris Rafie Ismail
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untuk lagu ‘Antara Dua’ dan Farah Breep Breep menarik aku untuk naik ke pentas untuk sesi bergambar dengan semua peserta yang layak. Aku sebenarnya masih lagi terkejut dengan perubahan yang agak drastic terjadi dalam hidup aku ketika itu. Bayangkan aku telah menulis sekitar 20 ke 30 lirik lagu dalam tempoh 2 tahun. Perkara itu sangat mengejutkan untuk penulis yang tidak berpengalaman seperti aku, jauh sekali mempunyai impian untuk menulis lirik dalam lagu komposer tersohor tanah air. Aku sebenarnya mempunyai rasa keyakinan diri yang sangat rendah dan seluruh tubuh ku menggigil setiap kali naik ke pentas sehinggalah ke hari ini. Aku tidak ingat berapa kali aku tercalon ke peringkat separuh akhir MuzikMuzik tetapi perkara yang tak dapat dilupakan selain dari itu ialah ketika abang Dee menawarkan aku kontrak sebagai penyanyi baru di bawah syarikat rakaman beliau (SRD Villa Records) dan beliau telah menyiapkan dua buah lagu baru ciptaannya untuk aku. Aku juga telah menulis lirik untuk salah satu lagu tersebut. Maka setelah selesai proses rakaman dan proses penerbitan, album yang siap itu memuatkan dua single terbaru aku dan single-single terbaru artis lain yang bernaung di bawah syarikat rakaman SRD Villa Records. Album itu bertajuk ‘Sehati Sejiwa’ dan yang istimewanya abang Dee turut menyumbangkan suara beliau untuk lagu ‘Dambaan Pilu’ di dalam album tersebut. Maka setelah itu, aku sebagai artis rakaman terpaksa mengosongkan masa selama 3 bulan bagi mengikuti rangka promosi dan jelajah ke beberapa negeri untuk mempersembahkan single terbaru aku tersebut di khalayak ramai. Ketika rangka promosi tersebut, artis- artis SRD Villa Records dicampurkan sekali dengan artis-artis FMC records dan di waktu itulah aku mula berkenalan dengan AG Coco. Salam perkenalan kami yang pertama adalah ketika di dalam bas untuk ke tempat ‘show’ di mana dalam sepanjang perjalanan itu kami hanya berbual dan saling mengenali dalam cara membuat lagu secara spontan dan AG Coco mengajarku langkah-langkah asas untuk mengadunkan melodi dari suara supaya ia menjadi tersusun dalam pergerakan kod-kod lagu rock. Maka jika difikirkan kembali, AG Coco adalah orang yang bertanggungjawab mengajarku tentang elemenelemen gitar di dalam penggubahan lagu manakala abang Dee pula bertanggungjawab memberi kefahaman tentang elemen-elemen piano di dalam penggubahan sesebuah lagu. Selesai sahaja rangka promosi ke beberapa buah negeri, aku kembali ke studio dan melakukan kerjaku Faris Rafie Ismail
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seperti biasa, namun aku sudah ke tempat AG dan belajar bagaimana untuk lebih mahir menggunakan perisian rakaman di dalam komputer beliau. Ini bermakna jika aku tidak ada kerja rakaman di studio abang Dee, aku akan ke rumah AG dan menggubah lagu-lagu baru dengan beliau. Aku juga turut membantu beliau untuk menyiapkan suara latar di dalam lagu-lagu dari album kedua kumpulan Coco.
Helaian Ke Lima Lagu Pertama Ciptaan Ku Sepenuhnya, konflik dan Awanband Akhirnya harapan aku untuk bergelar seorang komposer telah berjaya apabila Abang Dee mengambil demoku yang bertajuk ‘Mungkinkah’ dan menjadikan lagu tersebut sebagai single pertama Sheila Abdul sekitar tahun 2004-2005. Aku juga sangat bersyukur kerana itulah lagu yang menaikkan nama Sheila Abdul dan lagu kedua tajuk lagunya aku berikan telah menjadi tajuk album. Abang Dee terus aktif berkarya dan terus mencari penyanyi-penyanyi baru yang akan diasah bakat mereka melalui penganjuran pertandingan suara bintang Adnan Abu Hassan. Dalam masa yang sama aku menjadi sebahagian dari krew beliau, sebagai jururakam video dan penolong pengarah untuk video klip lagu ‘Mungkinkah.’ Pelik atau tidak, aku juga menjadi salah seorang model di dalam video klip berkenaan sambil mengarahkan video klip tersebut. Di situ aku belajar dan diajar untuk lebih pandai mengenalpasti kebolehan orang memastikan orang itu menggunakan kebolehannya sepenuhnya. Selang beberapa tahun selepas itu aku diberikan satu peluang untuk terlibat dengan projek Di Raja Kedah. Aku telah dapat berduet dalam sebuah lagu bersama isteri pemangku Sultan Kedah iaitu Toh Puan Nor Suzana, isteri kepada Tunku Anuar, pemangku Sultan Kedah. Album tersebut dibuat untuk mengutip dana untuk hal-hal berkaitan dengan bencana alam yang melanda negeri Kedah. Lagu tersebut dicipta oleh abang Dee dan seperti biasa liriknya pula ditulis oleh aku. Ketika projek itu hampir selesai, aku dikejutkan oleh berita yang ayah tiriku telah meninggal kerana diserang ‘brain stamp stroke’ secara tiba-tiba. Aku tidak dapat membayangkan perasaanku ketika pulang sambil memerhatikan sekujur tubuh terbaring kaku di halaman rumahku. Keesokan hari ketika aku sedang memandikan jenazah beliau barulah aku menerima hakikat bahawa ayah tiriku telah pergi mengadap Illahi. Abang Dee dan kak Min (isteri beliau), Hidhir dan Sheila Abdul juga turut hadir di waktu pengebumian arwah. Ketika Ustaz Badrul Amin membacakan Talqin, aku menangis sekuat hati di dalam hati Faris Rafie Ismail
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dan air mata yang mengalir seolah-olah memahatkan rasa sedih yang tidak berhujung di dalam relung jiwaku saat itu. Masihku ingat lagi kata-kata arwah supaya mendapatkan restu dari mama untuk terus berkarya, dan selepas itu barulah mamaku memberi restu untuk aku bermain muzik dan menulis lagu. Restu itu hadir selepas pemergian arwah ayah tiriku. Selepas itu, langkahku sebagai penulis terhenti dalam tempoh setahun, ketika itu aku melibatkan diri dalam ‘multilevel marketing’ dan aku mula menjauhkan diriku dari para pemuzik yang aku kenali. Ironinya, ruparupanya ‘upline’ aku ketika itu adalah abang Rosli Selasih, salah seorang komposer tersohor di tanah air kita walhal aku sedang merajuk dan ingin menjauhkan diriku dari perkara yang berkaitan dengan hal penulisan lagu, muzik, mahupun penulisan lirik. Ternyata aku tidak dapat lari dari takdir yang tertulis dalam hidupku. Sekitar hujung tahun 2007 aku bertemu kembali dengan AG Coco setelah hampir setahun aku lost contact dengan kawan baikku ini. Aku masih mengenali beliau sebagai AG Coco walaupun ketika itu nama beliau sedang naik sebagai gitaris utama band Hujan. Kami menyambung kembali proses membuat lagu bersama tetapi kali ini aku mendapati proses ini lebih menampakkan perkongsian dan kerjasama yang lebih erat dan dalam masa yang sama lebih menjelaskan keadilan di dalam berkarya. Tidak penting nama siapa yang berada di gelaran komposer mahupun di penulis lirik kerana yang penting adalah kebersamaan sewaktu menyiapkan karya dan siapa yang benar-benar terbabit untuk memegang hak sebagai pemilik lagu berkenaan. Seterusnya AG mengenalkan aku kepada Boboi (gitaris dan orang yang mewujudkan Awanband), Ully (sound engineer Kamarseni juga lead guitarist Awanband) dan seterusnya rakan-rakan seperjuangan aku yang baru. AG juga bertanggungjawab menjadi penasihat kepada beberapa band-band indie yang sedang naik dan telah menyarankan agar Awanband mengambil aku menjadi vokalis mereka supaya muzik yang Boboi hasilkan ketika itu tidak hanya menjadi lagu-lagu instrumental. Kemudiannya AG and Co berjaya merealisasikan impian untuk memiliki sebuah studio yang kini lebih dikenali sebagai Kamarseni Studio di Bandar Permaisuri, Cheras. Di situlah tempat utama aku menambah ilmu dalam teknik pembikinan lagu dan buktinya adalah apabila album pertama Awanband berjaya dihasilkan. Album Awanband adalah bukti kepada perit-jerih dan pahit-maung aku menantikan sesuatu yang baru di dalam karya ciptaanku. Tidak malu untuk aku katakan album pertama Awanband yang keluar di pasaran hujung September tahun 2011 ini adalah suatu penghasilan ku di dalam Faris Rafie Ismail
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sebuah pasukan. Aku menulis hampir kesemua lagu di dalam album ini tetapi ianya adalah penulisan bersama dari segi penulisan lirik mahupun penciptaan melodi. Ada lagu yang aku buat bersama Ully dan ada lagu yang aku buat bersama Boboi. Secara positifnya aku melihat transformasi ini sebagai suatu cara untuk membentuk penghasilan seni yang lebih unik pengertiannya, ini ditambah pula dengan rasa jujur dan saling bersaing dari segi idea tetapi berjaya disatukan menjadi sebuah lagu. Pengalamanpengalaman yang diadunkan bersama trend fesyen dan rasa ingin ‘enjoy’ ketika mempersembahkan lagu tersebut menjadi elemen yang paling penting, dan ianya menjadikan ramai muda-mudi bersedia untuk menyambung perjuangan pergerakan muzik tanah air kita. Sama ada ‘mainstream’ ataupun ‘independent scene’ kita harus menggunakan medium muzik sebagai suatu cara untuk menguatkan yang lemah dan menegakkan kebenaran kerana muzik akan menyatukan kita. Transaksi yang berterusan akan lebih membesarkan lagi pengaruh industri muzik tanah air kita.
Faris Rafie Ismail
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#projekbuku
Hip-Hop Dari Kacamata Filsuf oleh Filsuf
Filsuf is Daly. Daly meanwhile was responsible for the groundbreaking hip hop group Ahli Fiqir. 148
Ramai yang menganggap di dalam industri muzik kita ini muzik Hip-hop atau lebih dikenali dikalangan orang kita sebagai lagu RAP, hanyalah muzik tempelan ataupun genra muzik yang di bawah sekali kalau nak dibandingkan dengan genra muzik Pop, Balada, Rock, Nasyid ataupun Indie. Sehingga baru-baru ini genra muzik Hip-hop tidak boleh dipertandingkan atau dicalonkan kerana ianya dianggap muzik dari barat. Jadi adakah Pop, Balada, Rock dan juga Indie itu muzik orang kita? Kita sering di anak tirikan walhal suatu masa dahulu kita pernah dipuji dan disanjung kerana melakukkan sesuatu kelainan. Bezanya kami dengan kebanyakkan penyanyi lain ialah kami tidak memerlukan orang lain untuk menulis senikata kami sendiri, apa yang kami lakukkan adalah hasil dan keringat kami, idea kami dan titik peluh kami. Malah banyak juga lagu kami yang setanding ataupun lebih baik daripada genra muzik yang lain.Tapi sayang hanya kerana disebabkan segelintir pihak yang tidak menyukai ataupun meminati apa yang kami perjuangkan ianya terus menjadi sampah. Perkara sebegini tidak seharusnya terjadi dan patut dielakkan kerana muzik Hip-Hop tidak pernah menggangu kelancaran ataupun perkembangan industri muzik. Kalau dikira dari persembahan kami mampu menyaingi mana-mana penghibur untuk melakukkan sesuatu yang terbaik tetapi masalahnya peluang yang diberikan untuk kami terlalu terhad malah boleh Filsuf
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dikatakan tiada peluang langsung yang diberikan untuk kami menonjolkan bakat kami yang sebenar. Kami umpama terompah usang bila musim hujan barulah berguna. Mungkin bagi mereka yang kurang mengerti susah untuk mereka memahami tentang keunikan muzik Hip-hop itu sendiri kerana mereka lebih selesa dan sudah biasa dengan apa yang mereka dengar. Situasi seperti ini telah membuat segelintir pejuang Hip-hop seperti patah semangat dan mengaku kalah kerana mereka sendiri tidak tahu apa yang diinginkan didalam Industri kita. Kita mengaku ini bukanlah budaya kita ataupun muzik kita tetapi bila sesuatu usha itu dilakukan untuk memartabatkan bahasa ibunda kita kami rasa ianya harus diberi pengiktirafan dan penghargaan. Janganlah kerana pihak yang di atas tidak suka, kami yang di bawah ini dibiarkan berduka. Kalau kita lihat pada masa sekarang ramai artist Rock, Pop, Balada, Nasyid dan juga Indie boleh menerima dan bekerjasama dengan artist Hip-Hop. Kalau mereka boleh menerima dan bekerjasama kenapa tidak pihak yang di atas? Kami bukanlah meminta untuk dilayan seperti artist top yang sedia ada. Kami hanya mahukan sedikit keadilan dan kefahaman daripada pihak-pihak yang tertentu. Jikalau perkara ini terus berlaku, dan tanpa keadilan anda dan sokongan pihak Media dan radio ia akan menyekat serta mematikan bakat, karya dan kreativiti kami secara perlahan-lahan. Susah juga untuk kami melahirkan atupun membantu generasi-generasi muda dan baru yang meminati muzik Hip-hop ini untuk terus cenderung dalam bidang dalam penulisan bahasa. Didalam kemurungan industri kita sekarang ini masih perlukah untuk kita berada di takuk yang lama? Apa bezanya pejuangan kami dengan pejuangan mereka? Apakah lainya titik peluh mereka? Apakah lebihnya mereka sehinggakan kami ini dianggap kurang?... Jaga-jaga yang diatas.... Yang dibawah akan menimpa.
Filsuf
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#projekbuku
Kenapa Aku Main Band oleh Ham Abdullah
Ham is the resident guitar “rapist” for local rock band Sevencollar T-Shirt. He only plays the guitar when he’s performing with OJ Law. 151
Terus terang aku akan cakap dari dulu, aku nak main band sebab nak usha awek. Bila aku cakap sebab kenapa aku main band, semua cakap buruk betul perangai kau…tapi percayalah…masa tu umur aku 15 tahun. Kat sekolah menengah, aku bersukan, belajar, berkokurikulum semuanya tak boleh. Kalau tak boleh buat semua tu di sekolah, maka tak bolehlah usha awek kan? (Harus di ingatkan, masa tu aku umur 15 tahun). Sampailah satu hari aku di ajak pergi gig di Piccadilly, Atria, Damansara. Aku berjaya tengok Butterfingers kat pentas, terus mengubah hidup aku. Budak lelaki melompat-lompat, awekawek pula teruja tengok band rocking on stage. Lalu aku terfikir, dari zaman dulu…Iklim main band, boleh dapat awek, Awie dapat Erra Fazira (masa tulah..) kalau aku main band mesti dapat awek kan? Terus aku nak belajar main gitar, jadi penyanyi dan main band. Selepas berjaya masuk kelas gitar (tak sampai setahun pun), aku pun terus dengan semangatnya cuba hafal main gitar satu album Nirvana Unplugged. Habis aku sibuk tanya budak-budak kat sekolah. Dari situlah, aku mula cuba bersosial di sekolah menengah, tanya orang sana sini pasal gitar. Lepas dah pandai main gitar (sikit), aku mula nak buat band. Dan dari situlah bermulanya ‘adventure’ epik aku. Ham Abdullah
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Mula-mula nak main band, kena cari bandmate dulu. Aku nasib baik jumpa kawan sekolah nama Duan yang memang hebat gila main gitar. Masa kat sekolah dulu, semua cakap dia hebatlah main gitar. Siap ada band yang pernah demonya di review oleh Joe Kidd dalam segmen Blasting Concept. Dari Duan, aku kenal Boy yang pada masa tu, drummer yang ketuk drum gaya…(diulangi GAYANYA sahaja) macam Dave Grohl dari Nirvana. Dan kawan baik sekolah menengah aku Nik Justin aku ajak untuk main bass, sebab aku tak kenal sapasapa main bass, dan dia sorang je yang sanggup nak main bass. Dari situlah, kitaorang dah mula perah otak untuk nama. Dari Four Pineapples, ke Rust, ke Godspeed….akhirnya semua setuju untuk guna nama Seven Collar T-Shirt, dapat nama lepak depan bus stop Kelana Jaya tengah malam buta, walaupun tidak di sokong Duan. Kami memainkan cover band-band favorite time tu, termasuklah Butterfingers (wajib), Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Silverchair dan banyak lagi muzik zaman Alternative. Masa ni juga, tengah hangatnya scene ‘underground’ sebab OAG dan Butterfingers baru release album pertama mereka. Dari situlah aku dengan Duan berjinakjinak cuba tulis lagu sendiri, jamming di studio setiap hari Sabtu. Pergi jamming naik bas, teksi dan jalan kaki. Gig underground setiap minggu mesti pergi punyalah, nasib baik tak pernah naik Black Maria sebab bawah umur kan. Dan dari zaman sekolah menengah ni lah, aku kenal Kong, Meng, Singh dan Syarul dari Shah Alam yang juga baru menubuhkan sebuah band. Habisnya SPM, aku cuba pilih course subject yang boleh pastikan aku masih boleh main band siang malam. Memandangkan SPM pun tak seberapa, (gred 2! Like barely) aku ambik course Mass Communication di kolej dengan duit mak dan bank. (Belajar tak pandai, tak dapat guna duit kerajaan). Masa di kolejlah, berkat duit dari pinjaman bank, aku dengan Mak aku beli kereta Kancil untuk aku travel around town. Dari kewujudan Kancil nilah, aku dengan bandmates makin kuat habiskan masa jamming kat studio, pergi kedai gitar tengok gitar, pergi ke gig, pergi lepak Shah Alam cerita pasal band lagi dengan bebudak Shah Alam. Masa ni juga, Meng dan Singh dah dapat nama band yang agak baek juga iaitu Love Me Butch. Nama yang aku iri hati sampai sekarang sebab sial…nama band tu cool nak mampos kut. Sebab nak main gig, kau kena ada demo tape dulu. Nasib baik time tu, SS2 ada ‘The Jam Studio’ yang menawarkan rekoding demo untuk RM40 sejam. Terus tiap-tiap hari kitaorang jamming tak agak-agak sampai malam buta untuk compose lagu sendiri. Berbekalkan influence dari Silverchair, Pearl Jam dan Bush, kitaorang berjaya rekod demo pertama. Bila nak release demo, kena ada cover kan? Dan dari situ aku terus guna kertas A4, ambik cover kaset band luar, Ham Abdullah
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potong ikut cover kaset band tu kat kertas A4, dan beridolakan cover Beatles ‘White Album,’ kitaorang namakan demo tu, ‘The White Demo.’ Dari situ, kitaorang mulalah promote demo tu merata. Aku semangat promote dekat chatroom di internet, sambil menggunakan nama ID palsu kat chatroom untuk promote band yang dikantoikan oleh Ihsan (drummer Custom Daisy/ kini TWKUA). Aku juga dengan yakinnya mempromote kepada awek di kolej dengan menyangkutkan cover demo tu kat fail aku kat kelas. Ye, aku amat desperate nak awek dengan menggunakan band. Sayangnya masa tu semua aweks menumpukan perhatian kepada Rashidi Ishak, jejaka tampan gitaris hebat dari Dead Mushroom. Mamat ni punyalah hebat, dia hanya perlu main gitar je depan awek, terus awek akan sangkut dengannya. Dari demo ni jugaklah kitaorang kenal banyak band termasuklah Custom Daisy, Lyme, Prana, Novokane, Dust Components, 18SGG, Nervewreck dan banyak lagilah. Berkat kenalan kawan-kawan, demo tu sampai ke tangan Joe Kidd, dan buat pertama kali dalam sejarah hidup, nama band keluar dalam Blasting Concept. Punyalah bangga sampai habis aku bagi satu family aku baca, dan kitaorang dapatlah merasa main satu dua gig. Dari review Joe Kidd juga, banyak orang hantar duit ke rumah untuk beli demo tu. Mail order bro! Modal nak print satu kaset was around RM3. RM1 untuk kertas A4 buat cover, dan RM2 adalah kaset Fazley dari bargain bin di Jaya Jusco. Kaset Fazley kitaorang dub semula lagu demo dan padam nama Fazley di kaset dengan minyak wangi. Memang DIY ala 1999 habis! Pada masa yang sama, abang Duan ada kenal budak-budak dari scene Perlis yang ajak kitaorang contribute 2 lagu untuk compilation ‘With Guns in Our Hands.’ Masa tu pun Love Me Butch tengah hangat buat lagu sendiri, jadi kitaorang ajak LMB untuk contribute dua lagu sekali. Mungkin sebab lagu Love Me Butch memang sedap, dan kitaorang punya agak lembab, gig bagi kitaorang tak sebanyak Love Me Butch. Pada masa tu pulak ada venue di Colors Pub, Damansara yang boleh buat gig dengan deal yang murah. (Harga tiket RM8, RM4 pergi kat venue, RM4 kat organizer), kitaorang dan Love Me Butch terus organize gig sendiri. Dari sini kitaorang belajar mana nak sewa equipment, nak promote gig (reka flyers, cetak flyers, promote flyers dekat Lot 10, Sungei Wang, One Utama dan tempat budak-budak lepak). Masa ni juga, aku masih tak dapat awek dari main band, habis aku pass flyers dan demo kaset kitaorang kat awek-awek di kolej dengan harapan ada awek sangkut dengan aku main band tapi sayang satu pun tak dapat. Gig pertama kitaorang organize berjaya dan terus kitaorang kalau boleh setiap 3 bulan cuba Ham Abdullah
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organize gig sendiri jugak. Masa ni juga, kitaorang dapat contact dari Novokane untuk rakam 2 lagu untuk radioshow di Radio 4 yang bernama Undercurrent, di mana for the first time, lagu keluar radio! Tak lama lepas tu, tiba-tiba Nik dan Boy nak keluar dari band sebab hal masingmasing. For the first time in my life, baru aku tau yang Duan sebenarnya amat serius dengan band yang kitorang form ni. Berbeza dengan aku yang nak main band sebab awek, Duan menangis depan Nik yang masa tu tengah mengugut untuk berhenti main band. Duan marah, terus menangis dan cakap, “Nik, aku ni belajar fucked up, family pun tak rapat sangat, awek takde. Band ni jelah yang aku ada….kau jangan nak main-main dalam band ni! Kalau kau tak nak main, blah!” Dari situ baru aku tau betapa pentingnya band ni pada Duan, dan slowly aku pun cuba tanam sikap seperti Duan. Namun aku tetap cuba cuba mengusha awek dengan guna band, tapi band tak sedap, jadi tak berjaya juga. Dengan semangat ke-band-an, aku dengan Duan berjaya recruit Mokhtar yang memang power main drum (masa tulah) dan Fidi yang pernah main bass untuk Man Bai dan band kelab profesional. Sebab dua orang nilah, aku dengan Duan lebih serius main muzik sebab dua budak ni hebat main muzik kan. Aku pun terus beli gitar elok sikit (Telecaster bukan dari Jepun tapi dari Mexico) dan mula bermain dengan perlahan di studio takut Fidi marah, bising sangat. Mokhtar pulak memang seorang yang bersemangat tinggi, dan dengan berkat semangatnya kitaorang berjaya tulis 5 lagu dan rakam 5 lagu tu secara live di King’s Studio. (5 lagu itu terus dijadikan EP pertama band) Dari EP tu, kitaorang dijemput rakam compilation dengan label besar jugaklah masa tu. NSR tengah nak cash in on the underground music scene, jadi mereka tubuhkan label kecil yang di panggil Posse Records. LMB, Lyme, Prana pun ada sekali. Jadi memang seronoklah, pertama kali pergi ke pejabat record label, jumpa label executives, lepas tu pergi record track by track kat studio mahal. Sebab Mokhtar seorang yang bersemangat waja, dia terus nak rakam album sendiri. Sebab masa tu Mokhtar tengah kerja di salah satu studio muzik, dia berjaya ajak Greg Henderson untuk rakam album pertama kitaorang. Dengan budget yang ada, Greg berjaya tolong rakam album pertama yang majoritinya di rekod di rumah Mokhtar. Pada masa ini juga, aku dah habis belajar kolej dan memang terpaksa kena kerja untuk bayar balik duit bank aku pinjam untuk belajar. Aku pulak bertekad untuk make sure yang aku dapat kerja yang memang akan kerja 9 – 5 supaya aku boleh lagi main band waktu malam. Selepas selesai kerja siang, malam pergi rekod album dengan Greg dan bandmate yang lain. Alhamdullilah, tahun 2002 kitaorang berjaya rakam dan release album pertama yang diberi nama ‘Freeway, Dreaming and Broke.’ Ham Abdullah
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Memang semangatlah cari orang untuk reka cover, meeting dengan 2 major label untuk release album dan sebab nama Greg Henderson tu memang kuat, dapat release album ke serata Malaysia dengan EMI. Dari album pertama nilah, dapat jumpa ramai lagi orang dari industri media yang banyak menyokong band band tempatan seperti Daryl Goh, Adly Syairi Ramly, Zack Yusoff, Abang Rom, Adrian dan Brian Yap dan juga band-band cool macam Sgt Weener Arms, Damn Dirty Apes, MUZE, Ellisable Tears, Pop Shuvit dan ramai lagu. Masa ni lagu-lagu dari album ada lah dapat airplay di radio sikit-sikit. Album ni jugaklah, buat pertama kali merasa main gig di luar Malaysia (Singapura je). Dapat main Baybeats Festival yang memang wow seronoklah, sebab dapat main luar negara dan untuk first time, boleh guna passport! Tak lama lepas tu, Mokhtar pulak terpaksa berhenti main band sebab kena tolong keluarga financially (yelah main band, mana dapat duit). Sebab Duan, aku dan Fidi masih bersemangat nak main band, kitaorang recruit budak baru lepas SPM, Adil untuk main dram. Dan pada masa nilah, Jeff dan Jeremy dari Prana baru buat label mereka sendiri, Laguna Records dan diorang nak band untuk penuhkan label diorang. Duan terus ajak aku dan yang lain untuk join Laguna Records sebab diorang pun ada studio dan dengan itu, tak payah kitaorang sibuk kumpul duit untuk rekod album. 2003 kitaorang terus bersalam-salaman untuk join Laguna Records dan work on the second record yang di release pada tahun 2004 yang diberi nama ‘Drones.’ Masa ni kitaorang bernasib baik dapat bantuan dari Roslan Aziz untuk mix the album. Kitaorang jumpa Roslan pun by accident. Roslan masa tu jaga sound dekat No Black Tie untuk farewell gig Mokhtar. Selepas show, Roslan offer untuk record our next release, which Fidi tak teragak-agak untuk gunakan. Dan masa nilah, barulah band rasa profesional sikit, sebab setiap show, band dah ada sound engineer untuk jaga sound band di gig. Yelah, dah under label kan. Pada masa ni juga, terma underground dah di upgrade menjadi Urban. Memandangkan kitaorang (dan juga Love Me Butch) yang masih aktif rakam album, kitaorang dapat banyak jemputan gig-gig besar dan berbayar serta jemputan berbayar dari syarikat korporat untuk menulis dan merakam satu lagu yang memudahkan kitaorang untuk upgrade gear band yang ada. Kewujudan Myspace dan Friendster telah banyak bantu band untuk promote show dan releases. Tak payahlah nak print flyer, pass around kat Lot 10 lagi, hanya paparkan dengan Myspace je. ‘Drones’ juga mark our first ever music video yang di shoot oleh Alet dan disunting oleh Tan Chee Meng. Dengan album ‘Drones’ juga, band kitorang lagi sekali dapat menggunakan passport untuk ke Singapura dan Indonesia. Time ni pun scene makin seronok dan aku dapat kenal ramai lagi member-member dari Bittersweet, They Will Kill Us All, Ham Abdullah
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Couple, Plague Of Happiness, Laila’s Lounge, The Official dan seangkatannya. Paling pelik ialah dapat perhatian daripada M.Nasir yang kata album ‘Drones’ tak best. Walaupun komen tak best, tapi bagi kitaorang agak satu feat sebab dapat M.Nasir komen album kan. Tapi sekali lagi, malangnya, Fidi pulak terpaksa mengundur diri sebab kerja, isteri dan karier. Yelah bila main band, bila nak ada masa untuk kerja, belajar dan buat anak at the same time kan? Pemergian Fidi memang sedih sebab Fidi merupakan band mate yang mengajar aku dan Duan banyak untuk menjadi pemuzik dan bukanlah bebudak jamming kat studio je. Nasib baik luck was on our side as kitaorang berjaya tarik kawan lama Keng Lee untuk gantikan Fidi. Pada masa ini juga, media dah lupa kepada muzik ‘urban’ dan kini telah beralih arah kepada scene ‘Indie’, hasil daripada letupan filem ‘Kami’ dan juga Hujan serta Meet Uncle Hussein. Letupan scene Indie ni pun sebaik sebanyak menarik ramai syarikat korporat untuk sponsor dan buat gig secara besar-besaran. Kitaorang pun bernasib baik jugak dapat merasa kehangatan letupan Indie dengan banyak bermain banyak gig hampir setiap minggu. Masa ni Keng Lee pun dah dapat gel bersama dengan band setelah kitaorang bawak Keng ke UK untuk perform. (walaupun perform untuk student Malaysia sahaja tapi terbang ke UK free weh, bila lagi nak merasa travel ke UK tak payah bayar?) Balik dari UK terus kitaorang bertungkus lumus menyiapkan album ke-3 yang kami panggil ‘The Great Battle.’ Album ni kitorang decide untuk produce sendiri dengan Jeff berdasarkan dari pengalaman yang kitaorang dah belajar banyak dari Greg dan Roslan. Masa ni pun ahli band semuanya dah bekerja tetap dan sebab kitaorang masih lagi nak band jalan no matter what, kitaorang teruskan je usaha murni ni. Dalam tengah record album ke-3 baru tersedar yang band dah pun berusia 10 tahun lalu Duan dan Jeremy bercadang untuk buat 10th anniversary concert di Actors Studio di Bangsar. Untuk buat concert ni lain dari yang lain sikit, kitaorang pecahkan concert kepada dua bahagian, acoustic bersama string quartet dan juga set electric. ‘A Seven Collar Sonique Cinematique’ ialah konsert pertama kitaorang dengan memainkan 20 lagu. Agak massive untuk band tapi walaupun ada glitches sana sini serta harga tiket RM37, dapat juga tarik ramai orang untuk tengok. Jeremy pun berjaya release the concert on DVD, walaupun tak segempak mana, tapi berjaya jugak kitaorang document concert sulung kitaorang ni. Album ‘The Great Battle’ berjaya di release dan seperti biasa, dengan album ketiga, jemputan gig masih konsisten dan kali ni berjaya jugak kami gunakan Ham Abdullah
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passport untuk perform untuk geng-geng di Melbourne. Kawan kenalan band pun makin ramai dengan Pesawat, Meet Uncle Hussein, Hujan, Komplot, Estranged, Akta Angkasa yang memperjuangkan muzik rock alaf baru dalam Bahasa Melayu. Disebabkan kami ni Mat Saleh teramat sangat, memang susah nak tulis lagu Melayu, apabila dijemput untuk contribute satu lagu untuk Indiepretasi P.Ramlee, kitaorang tak agak-agak untuk cover lagu ‘Jangan Tinggal Daku.’ Sekarang ni band tengah sibuk untuk kumpul material nak tulis lagu baru. Aku dengan Duan dah pun masuk umur 30-an, dan memang lah terasa umur dah meningkat. Tapi sebab sayang band, kitaorang masih cuba nak keep it alive. Yelah, selepas 15 tahun bersusah payah buat muzik, maintain ahli band, cari kerja yang boleh suit our timing untuk main band, kena tinggal awek sebab band, kena stay up malam hingga pagi buta untuk band (habis recording 5 pagi, pukul 8 bangun pergi kerja), takkan nak biar band habis macam tu je kut. Memang band ni yang keep us alive kut. Itupun tak cukup kalau takde support yang teramat sangat dari ahli keluarga, isteri serta kekasih yang amat bersabar dengan passion kami serta kawan-kawan yang sentiasa ada memberi komen dan pujian untuk kitaorang jalankan band ni. Bila orang tanya aku, “Kenapa kau nak main band lagi? Bukan dapat duit.” Memanglah tak dapat duit, but the experience yang kitaorang dah lalu, the things that we have learned, the friends that we have made, the support that we get when we play on stage…walaupun kitaorang masih tak se-close Butterfingers’ achievement…semua tu still pengalaman yang sangat berharga. Percayalah cakap aku, main band ni tak senang. Dah bertahun main, tapi it teaches us a lot sial. Bayangkan kalau korang start a relationship dengan awek. Nak maintain pun amatlah challenging. Tu baru satu awek. Dalam band kau kena jaga 4 hati orang yang berbeza personality…dan kau sendiri pun ada personality yang memang tak best…memang mengajar untuk banyak bersabar. Pasal tu sekarang aku amat appreciate band yang masih main gig, masih recording album sebab that is not an easy thing to do. To those who are still in a band, wa caya lu wei. To those yang nak start, good luck and semoga berjaya. Oh yeah, on a personal note, aku masih tak dapat awek sebab main band.
Ham Abdullah
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#projekbuku
Dari ‘Korang’ ke ‘Anda Semua’—A Transition by Haniff Hamzah
Hanif Hamzah is one third of Malaysia’s No. 1 radio breakfast show, JOHARA Pagi Era. 159
Salam. From Haniff XFM to Haniff ERA, I’m sure there were a lot of changes that I went through during the transition. At the same time, some old habits are hard to die, and in this case, my passion towards local music. I may be a “newbie” when it comes to the radio world – two years since I made my radio debut on XFM Radio Zon Planet X – but I’m proud to say that I have witnessed a lot of local acts making that transitions from being an “indie” act to a “mainstream” act. Yes, the definition of both categories differs from where you look at or define it. In this context, and for your easier understanding, read it as: XFM = indie; Era = Mainstream. Before I continue, I just want to make it clear that my intention is to share my thoughts, from my perspective, on how one can make a mark in the industry and how this line many calls as indie and mainstream are most of the time augmented reality. If there’s anything that is worth picking up within this rant of mine, please do. If you see no values in this, skip the pages. To me, when a person decides to become a musician he or she has made Haniff Hamzah
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the decision that they want to be heard. Some opted to share their music via the “fringe music” scene, some opted to go mass. Whatever option that one made, the goal is still the same – to be heard. Getting to the goal, is a totally different story and below are some of the examples. A couple of years ago, Estranged was headlining a gig organised by some friends of mine. No big deal, it was just another gig, by another band. Fast forward a few months, frontman Rich took part in Akademi Fantasia, got into a bit of a reality show dramas and then eliminated. Unlike other AF alumnis, Rich regrouped with his band, and the band recorded ‘Itu Kamu’. The song was a big hit and suddenly everyone loves Estranged. There were also haters, especially those who questions the band’s credibility, especially on the fact, how can they be called and indie band when the frontman took part in a mega mainstream reality talent show. Well, the point here is, Estranged’s music is finally heard by the masses. Bunkface started out as bunch of boys who love making music. Like all the bands out there, they spent their early days in the jamming studios, unlike many other bands, the boys have knack for writing great sing-a-long hooks and they somehow know the importance of image for a band. One of their tunes ‘Silly Lilly’ was a hit on local English radio stations and soon enough, the band made their TV debut on hitz.TV (Astro Hitz now) talent search competition, Blast Off! Bunkface then were the talk of the scene. Then the band took the brave move of writing their first Malay tune, ‘Situasi’. The song conquered the airwaves. From the talk of the scene, Bunkface is now the talk of the country. Former Teh Tarik Crew member, Altimet, knows the Malaysian hip hop game unlike others. However, back then if you ask any regular middleclass Malay kid “tahu tak lagu ‘Do That’’ and you’d probably get an “apa lancau tu” face. Tables were turned when he released strings of Malay singles, ‘Sayang Sayang’ and ‘Chantek’ the song that gave him his big mainstream break. His formula, well sort of – catchy chorus mixed with easily digestible tune and lyrics. No, it is not something that he picked off the air, but something that he perfected after years of being an MC and a rapper for that matter. The guy have sealed his place in the mainstream and he’s going to be there for a very long time, not by default, but by being game-smart. He knows what and when to rap, how and where to drop a single.
Haniff Hamzah
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Going back to early 2000, Joe and Malique had their mainstream break too, but in a very different way compared to Bunkface or Altimet. Too Phat did not rely on a Malay tune to capture the mass audience. What they had was great tunes and lyircs that broke across both the English-speaking and Malay-speaking audiences. In short, their success was on their own terms and not dictated by the market. Too Phat was the benchmark of success for Malaysian hip hop. Yes, they are currently on a indefinite hiatus, but Malique and Joe are still at it, successfully, as solo performer. For Yuna, Zee Avi and Najwa Latiff, Youtube played a huge factor in their success, both locally and internationally. Truth be told, if you are famous online, chances are the radio stations will play your music. That is radio. A business entity and will play music based on what their listeners wants or like. It’s not that easy though, the social media is a low entry investment, which mean by the seconds, a new “star” is born. It’s so fast, by the time you have a brilliant idea in place, someone else have already uploaded it. While many aspires to break into the mainstream, some chose to stay close to their closely-knitted scene. Nothing wrong with that as it’s a choice that they made. Speaking of choices, there are obviously different understandings on what “indie” and “mainstream” represents. One can debate until the cows come home and no clear winner will emerge victorious at the end of the day. Again, the point is, to have your music heard, by who, that’s a choice you make but to be determined by which playing field you opted to play.
Haniff Hamzah
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#projekbuku
Until Octopuses Invade Our Land, Play Our Guitars, And Steal Our Groupies by HQA
HQA is a member of rap group The Rebel Scum. About to be kicked out from The Rebel Scum for having sexy Angelina Jolie lips. People smoke him recreationally, some have been caught for possession of him. 163
Back when commuting from TTDI to Keramat required a passport, and by the time you get to your destination you’d have bypassed a few stages in human evolution, a large cloud of rivalry shaded the land of KL Hip Hop (before I resume take note that I have entered post-140 characters which these days is uncharted territory for me, good luck me.) This clash pitted the flamboyant fur-shouldered knights of the west side against the grimy growling orcs of the east side. As a west side resident in an east side group, this fascinated me. I used to poke my elder statesmen crew members who I considered as my step-grandfathers for more fables revolving around this feud. Whether physical skirmishes with heat seeking arrows and cold cutting cleavers were involved remain unrevealed but traces are mostly left through lines upon lines in angsty rap songs embedded with sharp darts layered within phrases designed to hurt enemies. I appreciate both styles, which is why to me this type of rivalry is beneficial as long as it remains impersonal. Both sides could learn from each other to keep up with one another and skills were constantly sharpened for fear of being overshadowed. It is no coincidence that this bout of contest coincided with what could be regarded as the golden era of the local underground Hip Hop HQA
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scene. However, keeping things non-personal is never easy in this country. When things get personal, that is when jealousy and envy reigns. When jealousy and envy reigns, that is when the focus is lost. This in turn would cause us all to pay more attention to what is irrelevant. It is something that has constantly plagued our entertainment landscape in general. When even the greatest entertainer that has ever graced this country was a victim of jealousy and envy, what chance do his aspiring successors possess? Sometimes it seems as if we are all hardwired to concern ourselves more over everything other than the music itself. How many times have we seen breakaway artists with no big-name backing gain a following, penetrate the big league only for their momentum to be slugged by scrutiny on trivialities such as how they approach the media, who they are seeing and what they are doing with who they are seeing, a slip of the tongue, or anything at all that has nonce to do with the music. We’re more concerned with the underlying colour of their underwear than the upper scale they’re reaching with the rhythm they’re playing. We need to realize that artists are not meant to be sane, at least not the best ones. Their aberrant inability to be conventional in life is offset by their supernatural ability in their craft. I am a reasonably rational person. This is why I am but an unknown part-time rapper. I expect the opposite from those who are millions of light years ahead of me. I expect aspiring legends to be mental. History has shown that most of them are which in a way explains how they always come up with the unthinkable. I don’t want to see our upcoming local artists become just another goodie two-shoe like me, I want to see them become Jimi Hendrix, or Prince, or ODB. I want them to be supernatural beings sent spiritually crashing like ships and gliding like feathers into sixty nine different dimensions all at the same time but in different time warps and galaxies to experience the vastness of what the creative mind could conceive and then lay it upon us all in musical presentations impossibly bionic. In return, we must allow leeway when they can’t act accordingly in line with societies’ norm because they don’t move or think in regular time. Well, as long as they don’t end up raping goats. So if you want to be a legendary musician, you probably won’t be reading this anyway, you should be too busy being trippy. We also need to remember that other than the odd treatment of artists by the HQA
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suits and popular media, fans are also degenerate pricks. A decade ago I was part of a crowd in an underground gig that booed a (now) legendary band because they were “main stream”. Why did I do that when I actually liked the band’s music, I was a sheep, just because I was in an underground crowd that championed “non-conformity” didn’t mean I couldn’t be a sheep. Just because I was in a crowd that detested “pop” doesn’t mean I have better taste. There is no such thing as non-conformity, to every non-conformity is a non-conformer not conforming to non-conformity (I learnt this from Southpark) So screw everything or everyone else, it’s your choice as musicians whether to fit into the square as a square or to caress every inch of the gap with various motions and sensations like an army of trillion-tentacle octopi. Listeners are such monsters most of the time. We are prone to overlooking melody for hipness or choosing critical acclaim over whether our soul is touched. How sweet and simple it is to go back to just being a kid, to measure a song only by how it warms your heart, to know or think less and feel more, to not care about the category as long as when it is played our ears vibrate horny. But of course, to expect someone who has gone through a lot of life to be innocent in the membrane is like squeezing a pigeon hoping it would lactate wine (please don’t try this). Still, the least we could as both aural senders and receivers do is to exercise cynical-ness in moderation and excrete rainbow-y beauty as much as we can. Up to this point It might sound like there are so many negatives facing anyone about to enter the musical sphere but don’t fret, there is always a platinum lining. Things are not as hard as it used to be. We have entered the dusk of the information age (and the dawn of Biometric and Cybernetic age which is for another article, when I get an auto-tune nanochip installed in my voice box), by now everything has developed enough to allow artists so much control over our destinies. Hang ups over rule 4080 can never be used as an excuse anymore when every tool required to do what is so difficult to execute independently back then are all now within reach and we don’t need to fully rely on the middle men anymore. You don’t need a label to give you studio time anymore, create your own studio. Back then, me and group mates had to buy 3-4 equipment just to record our vocals which is of course in order to avoid eventually losing a fortune renting studio time, nowadays you probably need only one little magical phallus object capable of commendable vocal capture. Of course it sounds like a shortcut but what does it matter when you get what you want with the end product. Technology is your best friend, so use it fully and treat it nicely (I HQA
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stroke my USB mic’s ego quite frequently through flatteries with my sweet saliva) Distribution? Put up your songs online, it will reach Azroy next door as fast as it could Cruzito in East Los Angeles. In fact, nowadays you could make money just from Youtube views. Marketing? Social media has allowed a mere sentence to move around freely in and out of people’s consciousness like an expensive billboard but at no insertion cost whatsoever. The music you make? Do what you like with it, when you have full control over the technicalities you can do whatever you like with your product. Actually in this day and age both artists and listeners have so much freedom. As an artist I can do whatever I like, put my stuff up there for everyone to see and if I’m good and lucky enough I might make it big. As a listener I don’t need to succumb to someone choosing what I must listen to. So many music that I listen to nowadays are my own choosing I don’t need to be one of those whinies bitching about songs that are played too often on the radio. Most new artists I listen to and admire practice what I described in the paragraph before last. They do what they want with their music, they have broken free from the shackles of both overbearing record labels and the rigidness of elitist or underground mentality. Some of them have achieved both popularity and monetary success while some deserve to be so what’s stopping you and me trying and striving for the same. An artist’s life is all about achieving musical nirvana which varies between having your brains sprawled all over the carpet to parading a million dollar suit on the red carpet. Regardless, nobody wants to be the carpet (what.)
HQA
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#projekbuku
Missing Local Music Magazines by Ili Farhana
Ili manages bands, events and travels for music. One day she hopes to work for the folks at YG Entertainment. Ili is also on a constant look out for a blue timetravelling police box, and funders for her PHD in popular music and culture industry studies. 168
Hello. I’m ili, 32 years old. Music fan. And I miss reading good local music magazines. I remember buying a lot of URTV yonks ago. When you’re 12 and a fan of 4U2C and KRU during their heydays, that’s the best music magazine you can get. Articles and posters galore! Galaxie at some point was relevant too. Then I moved on to ROTTW, which used to be quite well written. I remember being quite fond of Sentiasa Manja too. Dodgy name but excellent music and movie content for a Malay magazine. Last local music magazine around worth reading was JUNK, but the best is still TONE. You can’t call yourself a local music fan if you have not actually read a copy of TONE. What about this ancient medium that I miss? Photos always look better printed, articles are easier to read when it’s on paper. It’s a work of beauty, really. The combination of well-written article, memorable photos and eyepleasing layout is hard to replicated digitally. And i feel that the quality of writing is always better on print. See, there’s very limited space in any kind of magazine. You have to be a little special to be in it—be it as a contributing writer, freelance photographer, Ili Farhana
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or a featured musician. If you’re one of these, don’t you feel a bit more validated? To be printed? Archiving also feels a bit more satisfactory. cutting articles out from magazines, or newspapers, and compiling them in a binder. Anybody still does that? Printing out articles from online sources works too but there’s just something missing. Maybe it’s the type of paper, or maybe how most photos are unprintable because they’re embedded in some form of magical script-based scroller thing. I feel that there’s no permanence when it comes to digital and online music magazines. Here today and next week, but by next month, you’ll be lucky to be able to access the same article for free, or if it’s still at the link you Pocket-ed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t appreciate local online music magazines, I do. I really do. Word gets out faster and spreads wider when it’s online. Great for local musicians. Gumball (Gumballmag. com) , and Dailyseni (Dailyseni.com) are two of my favourites (yes I know they’re both not full-on music sites.) May I also include The WKND (www. the-wknd.com) to this list? However, for me, no matter how informative or enjoyable these sites or magazines are, the romanticism is different. I understand that paper unfortunately cost more than running a webbased magazine. And no one spends for anything these days now that cost of living is really high. But every time I see someone spends RM60 on an imported magazine, I wonder why can’t a music fan spend RM10 on a well-made local music magazine. Of course, in order to get that, we need someone mad enough to invest on a good team-- not just editorial, but also marketing and sales. These days, FMFA and Urbanscapes always makes say to myself, “Look at all these merriment and musicians. Wouldn’t it be great if TONE, Sentiasa Manja and JUNK are still around. Yes, I am biased. And obviously old, ancient and lover of all things tangible. Don’t get me started on the merits of buying physical records. And right now, I really miss reading an actual, printed, good local music magazine. A tiny pang of irony just hit me. I’m writing all this for a book that will be out only digitally.
Ili Farhana
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#projekbuku
Tips For New Bands by Imran Fadzil Ishak
Imran Fadzil Ishak used to be known as the drummer from One Buck Short, until he decided to come clean with his guitars and voice as Narmi. 171
It’s been a decade since I started playing in a band. Honestly, when I first started, I knew nothing of the Malaysian music scene. In fact I still don’t. All I know is that I’m lucky. I made lucky decisions, and was lucky enough to find band mates that knew what we were getting into…well, sort of. It was Rahul that started it all. His vision was simple. He said, “There is no pop punk band in Malaysia. We’ll be the first.” We were lucky here because Rahul saw a need in the scene, and we set out to fill that void. Bear in mind that there were, in fact, other punk bands in Malaysia. We just got really specific about what type of punk.
Tip #1: Find a need and fill it. I remember playing our first underground show. We had practiced for two months straight—working on our songs, and getting everything tight. Years later, people would ask me, how did you guys get so good? I would simply say, “You gotta be tight.”
Tip #2: You must be tight. So what the hell is ‘tight’? This is probably the most important thing when you’re playing in a band. Our ‘otai’ musician friend told us one day as we were Imran Fadzil Ishak
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rehearsing, “You are only tight once you are sick of rehearsing that song.” Your audience won’t remember what song you played. They won’t remember how many mistakes you made—how could they? They don’t even know your song at this point—they won’t remember what you wore, and they might not even remember your face. What they will remember though, is the feeling they get from your performance—that energy, that ‘togetherness’ that can only be derived from the countless hours in the rehearsal studio. Like I said, tight. It might help if you assign the role of what I call a ‘rehearsal bitch’ to one of your band members. He or she’s basic role is to be a ‘bitch’ during rehearsal. What this means is, he has the power to: 1 Restart the song because someone messed up 2 Point out the mistakes of the other members 3 Extend rehearsal if deemed necessary This person can only be a ‘bitch’ during rehearsal. After rehearsal, there should be no hard feelings toward the ‘bitch’.
Tip #3 – You must do it for the love of music/performing During the early years of One Buck Short, we played a lot of shows. Wherever there was a gig, we would be there. We weren’t picky about the shows that we played because we just loved playing shows. If you’re in a new band, don’t expect to get paid too much for the first couple of years. Even if you do get paid, use that money to cover your costs. If you are not doing it because you love it, then it probably won’t last. If you are doing it for the fame, then it definitely won’t last. If you’re doing it for the love, the fun and you believe that fame and money are just by-products, then you are on the right path.
Tip #4 – You must be headed in the same direction. If all the members in your band are headed for the same destination, then you have nothing to worry about. First and foremost, however, one must make sure of your destination.
Tip #5 – Communicate Band meetings, in general, are important. I’m not talking about the ‘yam cha’ session after a rehearsal. It must be separate. This is because after jamming, you are most likely to be tired, or pumped up or excited, and therefore not in the right frame of mind to discuss the important things. That being said, the meeting on the band’s direction, only needs to happen once, but that may need Imran Fadzil Ishak
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to be re-called on occasion. I remember with One Buck Short, it took place sometime in 2003, right before we decided record Where’s ze’ mouse? EP. So how does one make sure that everyone in the band is heading for the same direction? The simple fact is, you really can’t. People change, priorities change, circumstances take over. We have all seen it before. A band member being ‘substituted’ is quite a common practice. But if you notice, the core members of the band always stick around. And I am confident to say that those are the members that showed up for that meeting. I believe that miscommunication is the source to most problems. Therefore, you must be comfortable enough to communicate openly with your band. Being in close quarters with your band members can lead to misunderstandings and maybe some pent-up resentment. So every now and then, I suggest a ‘band bitching session’. This session is to clear the air with your band mates, be it on a personal level, or on a professional level. By doing this, it will ensure the longevity of your band and of your friendships.
Imran Fadzil Ishak
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#projekbuku
Before I Get Old by Irman Hilmi
Irman Hilmi laid this out for zero design fees. 175
Ground Zero The year was 1996. I was busily updating my Geocities homepage at a cyber café in Bangsar when I noticed a very familiar face planted intently on the computer screen nearby. Having seen him before on TV and reading his articles on The Sun’s Blasting Concept section every week (my dad used to mail the cutouts to me without fail every month) I went up to him and said hello, awkwardly questioning him on the merits of featuring Oasis on the TV show he was involved in called ‘Alternatif’. He was extremely friendly and accomodating as he explained his reasons to me, and we proceeded to exchange CDs as he shared with me his music collection in his small room at Brickfields which had walls of cassette tapes and CDs. His name was Joe Kidd, and he was the first of many connections I made in the local (underground) music industry. Having being involved only in University Malaya’s music circuit prior to that (UM’s Pusat Kebudayaan back then was very supportive of the arts, although usually of the local, traditional variety), one of my earliest forays into the local music scene was attending a Nirvana tribute gig over at KL’s Life Centre. OAG was playing (with the line-up that included Edmund on bass and Qi Razali on drums), as well as a very young, grunge-era Butterfingers (Emmet was predictably wearing a striped, Cobain-esque sweater) and Lovely Ugly Carnival Irman Hilmi
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(which featured Lim Kok Kean aka Twilight Actiongirl’s DJ Bunga when he still had vocal aspirations). I was really disappointed by that gig, memorable only because of the little guitar combo amps they used for such a big venue with floppy, stand-less microphones slapped on top of it (I was expecting loud Marshall stacks and all that), and being a Nirvana fan back then, the lack of actual Nirvana covers that they played for the night. I never set foot in a local gig again until I left for Japan for college in 1995. Japan had me engrossed in its rich musical sub-culture, although in hindsight where I was located meant the scene’s musical focus was either New Yorkstyled new school hardcore, metal and boring pop bands, where as I was more interested in the avant-garde and experimental noise scene brewing up further up north with bands such as Melt Banana, Merzbow and Masonna, as well as the Berlinesque techno sounds of Ken Ishii and Takkyu Ishino. I kept up with what’s happening in music by never failing to purchase copies of zines like Maximum Rock N Roll and the likes, and I accidentally caught up and reconnected on the Malaysian scene via an article in the then popular Japanese fanzine on underground culture called Eat Magazine. The article was on South East Asian scenes, and the Malaysian section of course had Joe Kidd in it, which detailed his involvement with Carburetor Dung and his Aedes zine. The article also included his home address. I wrote to him (I don’t remember what I wrote), but never received a reply and never really bothered until that day in Bangsar in 1996. So meeting up with Joe was a huge catalyst in what would become my way back into the local music scene after my disappointment a few years earlier at that Nirvana tribute gig. As Joe introduced me to his friends who played in bands or made their own fanzines, I realized that aside from their love for music the scene was very fragmented, more so than it is currently, with the words ‘underground’ and ‘ethics’ being tossed and abused. It wasn’t uncommon to see different ‘tribes’ of musical fans lepaking in different sections under one roof, none the more obvious than the creative musical melting pot that was Central Market. Before being the boring tourist trap that it is now, Central Market was, in its musical heyday, the place to be if you wanted to be ‘in’ the scene. You just showed up there, get the guts to say hello to someone who looked like he belonged in the scene (a dead giveaway would be a band t-shirt. Or long hair) and sooner or later you see your musical social circle expand. Although back then you have to know where you belong, as the place was separated into two obvious sections. Chances are if you’re into new school hardcore, was into Irman Hilmi
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Strange Culture Records bands (by then the most prolific local record label churning out hardcore releases) and actually wore colour you’d be labelled as a ‘budak atas’ and would make the food court on the first floor your regular spot. If you’re a jaded, crusty punk, metalhead or deeply into The Smiths and Depeche Mode and rarely wear anything but black then you’d be a ‘budak bawah’. And the place where you belong would be Hameed, a mamak restaurant over on the ground floor. Although I could easily slip into these two groups easily (upstairs by virtue that I was dressed like a hardcore music fan and was based in Japan, downstairs by the fact that Joe Kidd introduced me to a lot of people who hung out there), I would usually be at Hameed puffing away on cheap cigarettes with the other misfits there. Being in what would technically be a mall, Hameed was of course a non-smoking area, but it never stopped the characters that hung out there from smoking, although from time to time we’d keep an eye out for DBKL officers looking to earn an easy RM50 by ticketing us on the spot. Central Market was essentially my first destination everytime I was back for my summer break from studies in Japan, or whenever I’d arrive in Kuala Lumpur from my hometown in Johor. I would come, usually to Hameed downstairs, armed with a backpack (which usually just contained a towel, toothbrush and boxer shorts) and basically crashed at anybody who allowed me into their homes. I made a lot of friends this way (most notably Azmir Karim, whom I thought looked like Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode circa ‘Songs Of Faith And Devotion’ when I met him. He would later become one of my regular coconspirators) although I would usually end up at Joe Kidd’s apartment over in Brickfields. A lot of musicians where staying at his place and the apartments across the hall. It was here where I met people like Lee, who was the vocalist for Hijrah/Pilgrims and later Carburetor Dung, Fathullah Luqman, the brains behind arguably Malaysia’s first proper indie band Spiral Kinetic Circus, Fathul’s then bandmate Andy (and his whole family!) who later had a successful run with his original band Flop Poppy, dreadlocked Aru of metal band Nemesis and later nu-metal outfit Koffin Kanser, Fendi Mazlan, bassist from Carburetor Dung (and the only bassist I knew back then who couldn’t tune his own bass guitar) and the late Oz of the infamous funk unit Naked Butterfly. I usually didn’t come back from Japan empty handed. Aside from the numerous CDs and records that I collected and brought back (this was probably due to me running an online distro of Japanese CDs since 1996, which later morphed into the Japanese underground music site called J-Underground, the only English site on Japanese underground music back then), I also came back with Irman Hilmi
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a bandful of Japanese pranksters called Damage Digital. The band initially started as a joke really, the nexus of the idea came up after me, drummer Masayoshi Ichinose and our friends Makoto Kusano and Misa Moronaga took the long drive up to Osaka to watch our grindcore heroes from New Jersey called Discordance Axis play there. The gig was also memorable due to the fact that the other two bands that I saw, the Spanish-by-way-of-Japanese sludge monsters Corrupted and arguably Japan’s best death metallers, Hellchild, became two of my favorite Japanese bands. Discordance Axis (whom I still believe is the best grindcore band ever) was recommended by Makoto via a split record with Melt Banana that I really loved, enough for me to actually email vocalist Jon Chang. We later became close friends due to the fact that he was a Japanophile. In fact he was the one who suggested the name Damage Digital when I told him we figured we had enough talent to start a grindcore band after seeing his band play in Osaka. Masayoshi and myself basically started writing songs at our college’s music studio (Masayoshi had already graduated and started working but still comes to college to jam!) and began to play small shows around the college circuit. When we later figured out it was too tiring and difficult to play our instruments and shout rubbish at the microphone at the same time, we recruited Makoto and Misa and another friend Shouhei Baba to scream and growl for us. This eventually became the original line-up for the band and how I became the token Malaysian in this Japanese grindcore band. The band continued on after I left Japan in 1999 and is still actively performing shows in the grind and noise circuit over there, with numerous releases on small obscure European labels. Locally, we managed to record and release a cassette-only album under Joe Kidd’s fledgling Alternative Garage Entertainment label entitled ‘Delete’. We recorded the album in a recording studio in a bungalow somewhere in Petaling Jaya, thanks to Joe Kidd who had extra recording studio hours left over from a project he was working on for a movie. I don’t remember where it was but I was pretty sure our studio engineer was a fine Chinese gentlemen called Tham who probably didn’t understand the kind of ‘music’ we were recording but persisted anyway. Fortunately for him we finished recording everything in one night. When ‘Delete’ was released, I would sell the cassettes myself at gigs. Francis Wolf from the band Spunky Funggy would be selling his band’s cassettes just beside me as well, and I’d always end up selling more cassettes than he did. He jokingly said it’s because I had Japanese people in the band, which was probably true. I bet if the band was made out of five Malaysians it wouldn’t have garnered the attention that it did. Irman Hilmi
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The movie that Joe Kidd was working on was Hishamuddin Rais’ ‘Dari Jemapoh Ke Manchestee’, and he was in charge of the soundtrack album. Our recordings that night made it to this album, although we were never really featured in the movie itself. They had a press conference and a gig when launching the soundtrack, which was held at a Chinese assembly hall in Chinatown. Damage Digital played at this gig, but it was more memorable to me as it was the earlier shows of Aru’s band Koffin Kanser, which at that time consisted of just him, plus myself and Azmir on synthesizers. Aru recorded ‘Gott’ for this soundtrack (and performed it that night), which sort of blew my mind when I first heard it since it meshed live, chugging guitars and programmed drum beats perfectly. In case you didn’t know, the song is called ‘Gott’ to divert attention away from the fact that the chorus actually went, ‘God, religion sucks!’. Lim (Kok Kean aka DJ Bunga of Twilight Actiongirl) was also working at Pony Canyon Records at this time, back then a record label that fully supported underground bands like The Pilgrims and a few others. Working with Joe Kidd he worked on a compilation CD called ‘The Underground Chronicles’ that also featured Damage Digital. Lim was the only friend I met thru Central Market that actually visited me when I was in Japan. This was also probably due to the fact that back then I had to make regular visits to Toys ‘R’ Us and countless toy stores there to get him the limited edition Japanese toys that he wanted as a serious toy collector. He was also responsible for giving me one of my first proper CD cover layout job (I ended doing up doing endless CD covers), which was for a live album for metalheads FTG. Damage Digital went on to play several sweaty shows at metal and punk gigs in KL and Singapore. Our shows were really intense (and short) and things quickly become chaotic the moment the first riff starts. During one of our shows at Fire Disco (then a very popular venue for underground gigs) things got so intense that our vocalist Makoto growled so hard that he vomited into the microphone. At another gig in a shady part of Serangoon in Singapore I got so over-excited that by the last song I was pulling out my guitar strings with my fingers, which resulted in them getting cut badly and getting blood all over my guitar. Don’t even mention the countless times Misa crowd-surfed over the audience, much to the delight of their groping hands. Who wouldn’t want to grope a Japanese girl? I guess we really suffered for our art. During the big black metal witch hunt of 2000, no thanks in part to Harian Metro’s (still) irresponsible reporting, we saw one of our shows at the now defunct venue called Factory over at Bukit Bintang being raided by the authorities. The gig was called “Tora Tora Tora”, and featured amongst others Irman Hilmi
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18SGG and Custom Daisy (whom I later sessioned for also in a gig) plus my side project with Jijoe (formerly of Stoned Crows and Spiral Kinetic Circus) and Aru. This side project (whose name escapes me) was just about to perform when we heard “Kami dari Polis DiRaja Malaysia.” being announced over the PA system. We thought the soundman was pulling a prank, but when there was a mass exodus to the exit we knew things were serious. There was a huge scramble to the exit, and we were then ushered with the rest of the performers thru a back exit via Starhill’s parking lot. When we were outside we could only shake our heads in disbelief as truckloads of Black Marias were hauling kids just for attending the gig. The negative media blitz against gigs didn’t end after that, and from my observation Harian Metro would just recycle headlines using the terms ‘black metal’, ‘seks’ and ‘kambing’ once every 6-7 years. The band didn’t return back until September of 2010, when we had a reunion of sorts with me back on guitar, the first time since 2002.
Going Electronic So when I came up with my drum n bass/jungle project Spacebar Collective it sort of took people by surprise. By then most people knew me as the bucket-hatwearing guitarist of a Japanese grindcore band, but by my final years in Japan I started dabbling with electronic music and MIDI. Through some friends who had similar interests that I met via the Central Market circle, namely Azmir Karim, Oji and Sengwai from Cyberwerk, we spent hours in IRC discussing MIDI setups, audio engineering and synthesizers. This was pretty amusing considering the fact that I was in Japan and they’d be four music nerds in a private IRC channel just chatting about really geeky music stuff. This was pre-laptop music days of course, so I spent quite a bit of money on hardware equipment, including an MC-505 Groovebox (which was basically a glorified synthesizer/sequencer) which I bought using my ex-girlfriend’s credit card (which I promptly paid back, of course). By the summer of 1997/98 me, Azmir, and an old school friend Hrishikesh decided to band together and develop the Spacebar idea. I originally started playing in small venues in Japan, and wanted to take the Spacebar concept further back home. We started sitting down together, toyed with the idea of a loose collective of musicians, DJs, and graphic designers, and began developing songs at Oji’s home studio. Oji, together with Seng Wai was in Cyberwerk, a trance duo that performs live so we figured we’d do the same thing and try out a live electronica band as well. The Spacebar Collective materialized, Azmir took the moniker Numlok, and Kesh was Backslash (which he still uses until now as a DJ). Co-incidentally Kesh had a brother named Murali whom I met years earlier when as teenagers we went to the Singapore Indoor Stadium to Irman Hilmi
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watch a Metallica concert. Murali or Mu as we’d call him gave up on electric guitars (he was a big Soundgarden and Red Hot Chilli Peppers fan, bands he introduced to me when I was 15) and started tinkering with keyboards and samplers. Together with Rene Sullivan he started Discomafia, and this was basically how everything started for us. Performing in a club/rave with party setting was of course very different than the grimy underground punk gigs that I was accustomed to. With Mu’s help Spacebar began to get shows at parties, usually with Discomafia, at a time when ‘live’ electronica or dance music was pretty much unheard of. Lim (Kok Kean) was also our manager at one time, scoring us numerous gigs at various parties. One memorable but ill-fated performance we had was at the infamous Hancur House venue over at Jalan Tun Razak (then a very popular venue for illegal raves and house parties), organized by the Gillazia crew that included Mu. Spacebar was collaborating with Discomafia, which also included legendary jazz drummer Lewis Pragasam on live drums and Zouk Singapore staple percussionist Tabla Maniam helping us out on percussions. I was pretty much starstruck having Lewis drum along to my electronic beats! This mindblowing experience was unfortunately cut short when this illegal rave (‘legal’ raves probably didn’t exist back then, due to the copious amounts of drugs present) were shut down and raided by the cops shortly after I finished my set. Dance music and clubbing in general was was really different. In the pre-Zouk days, tobacco sponsors were aplenty, clubbers were friendlier (pushing Ecstacy was great business and you’d often see friends popping pills in each others mouths when the parties started) and big name DJs were often in town playing for a Kent or Salem-sponsored event. It was dirty, unadulterated, drug-driven and completely out of control. Raids on raves even made it to the front page of local newspapers. Party promoters like Tempo, Excessive and Frenzy (who are actually the ones who actually made it to the front page of Berita Harian) were throwing parties regularly. In the beginning the parties were usually held at odd places like building rooftops, deserted bungalows and jungle hillsides, and the then deserted Pudu Jail actually witnessed a large scaled rave party. I wasn’t there personally, but come on, a rave party in an abandoned jail? By that time a bunch of us were living above Joe Kidd’s new apartment in Bukit Ceylon, and aside from Azmir (who started working with Butterfingers on their ‘Transcendence’ album), we had Ken from Spiral Kinetic Circus (currently in The Malayan with Andy from Flop Poppy) and Eugene plus Voon Kee from Novokane. If you remember, Novokane is often credited as raising the bar when it came to local demo tape recording standards! Irman Hilmi
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The atmosphere at 14C Bukit Ceylon was chaotically creative. We had a mini studio where we’d write songs and practice our DJ sets, and at one point the studio included a huge 32-channel mixing desk in our living room and 11 guitars! It was in Bukit Ceylon that we started collaborating with Kenneth Chan from Pervert Design, who did the visual projections for our shows at a time when it was pretty uncommon to do so. With many people living under one roof, we were hecticly productive. Music projects back then included remixing Deanna Yusoff (yes, she came up with one album), programming and playing for Koffin Kanser’s first live show ever (the aforementioned ‘Dari Jemapoh Ke Manchestee’ soundtrack launch) and even me joining Carburetor Dung as a sessionist guitarist for their Malaysian tour. The guys from Discomafia, as well as Sam and Brian from Herb Vendors would come and visit, where we would usually geek out about MIDI and audio processing, usually resulting in unexpected collaborations. We also met up with a lot of people in Malaysian arts and the film industry through Joe’s partner Yee I-Lann, one of them being film director Teck Tan. He had this idea about a film involving clubbing culture and dance music intertwining with traditional music. This idea later became ‘Spinning Gasing’, his first local feature film. We ended up becoming advisors for the film since he needed technical help and a touch of authenticity from real people in the clubbing scene. The place we were living in was also oftenly made the location for music videos and shoots, probably since we actually had funky silver-coloured walls left by an architectural firm that operated there before we moved in. Butterfingers’ ‘Malayneum’ music video was shot by our neighbour Kenneth in our living room! With Joe Kidd as our neighbour downstairs, it was not uncommon to see and meet visiting punks and musicians who often crashed at our places. Fathul (Spiral Kinetic Circus) was also living in the same block, living just below Joe with, among others, Zemang from Kuchalana. We had a void deck in our building, where we’d just work on art projects or just have barbecues. Our house parties were quasi-legendary and bugged the hell out of our neighbours, since everybody basically had two floors to party on! There used to be days when I’d wake up from last night’s party and see strangers sleeping in our living room. Most notable was one crazy night when someone with an obvious low tolerance to alcohol managed to puke on our bathroom’s door knob, and later proceeded to vomit into a clogged sink. If that’s not enough, he (or she, we never figured out who) managed to pull all of our toiletries which were on a shelf above the sink, into the aforementioned clogged and full sink. My regular haunt this time aside from my regular evening visits to Central Market was Excessive Records, located on Jalan Walter Grenier near Bukit Irman Hilmi
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Bintang. This is where I met people like Bryan Burger, Boon and of course Callen Tham, who was my guru of sorts when it came to DJing. Goldfish and Blink, then wide-eyed teenagers wearing really baggy clothes were often there, and Bryan Burger would often feed me with the juiciest DJ gossip whenever I’m around. My gigs with Spacebar also brought me over to DJ Low’s Loops Collective studio often, where I often practiced with maestro DJ Acid, who was Malaysia’s DMC Turntablist Champion at the time. Acid went on to play with us live on countless shows including one at Genting Highlands (back when it was still acceptable to have rave parties over there) in front of at least 10,000 people. The same gig had at least nine people performing on stage including turntablists, percussionists, didjeridoos, MCs and the works. The same gig also had us freezing in the cold onstage as rain forced the show to start late by at least two hours! We were left standing by on stage until it started with no food, just mineral water that nobody wanted to drink since everyone was dying to go to the toilet. Total overkill but at least the money was good. Yes, we played for money as well. Around the same time I realized that lugging around expensive studio equipment just to play out live was very cumbersome, so I began DJing instead. This also came about because I was approached by a German DJ friend to beta test a new DJing system using control vinyl records, which later became the Traktor Final Scratch system. I supposed it made more sense for us, to have DJ-like control, but without the extra pain of bringing crateboxes filled with records around. Acid later gave me confidence to play out on my own as a DJ, but in the beginning he was always behind me nudging a record or two when my timing was out. The first show I had as a solo DJ was actually at a friend’s club in Penang called Cornucopia (defunct), where I was heckled to death by a drunk patron who kept insisting that I play rnb instead. Of course you cannot mention clubbing in the early 2000s without mentioning Movement. Located at the end of Jalan Bukit Bintang in an old cinema, it was at that time the best club with the best soundsystem. The crowd at Movement was always the most up-for-it crowd, and they had the best crowd-pulling DJs thanks to tobacco sponsors with deep pockets. Their DJ console was a good 15 feet up, accessible only via a wobbly metal ladder, but once you’re there you really do feel like God with your lesser minions dancing in the dancefloor below. DJing there was a challenge because since the club was really huge (it was an old cinema after all), there would actually be a noticeable delay between the monitor speakers in your console and the house system. There was also a smaller room at the back, usually filled with dodgy types being
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engulfed in sweet-smelling non-tobacco smoke. This room was also where we played our longest ever live set ever at 5 hours! Our friends at Excessive Records, Callen and Terence Chong (who would later became Altered Image) was in charge of Movement in its latter years before it tragically burned down (probably because it was an old cinema, but who knows?) Since the club was just within walking distance of Bukit Ceylon, we’d walk over on a quiet Tuesday or Wednesday night with a CD of a freshly minted Spacebar track, and we were actually able to play it out on their house system, just to check out how the song would play out in a club. It was like having a club as your personal stereo! One memorable gig there was when we were called to open for our junglist hero Goldie. I bought Goldie’s ‘Inner City Life’ years earlier as a student in Japan, and his music was what got me into drum n bass in the first place, but I never thought I’d end up opening for his set. It started really badly because the club owner was being an ass about something, which resulted in us plugging in our equipment, setting up, the unpluggin everything, arguing, and plugging everything back in yet again. This wouldn’t usually be a problem but remember the DJ console was a good 15 feet off the ground. By the time it started all was good, and I was so excited I spilled my drink all over Goldie himself in the cramped DJ console but he didn’t mind it one bit. Nice bloke. Sorry, Goldie. Another memorable gig there was the ToneDef party organized by Tone Magazine, one of the first local music rags in English. It was the first time local electronica acts were brought together under one roof and performed live together. Aside from Spacebar, our contemporaries Cyberwerk, Herb Vendors and Discomafia played, but at least this time we performed on the stage and not at the God console, which meant more space and not having to climb up a ladder to start performing. Having said that our intoxication level that night probably made that 3 feet on the stage feel like 15 feet anyway. How do I know this? I fell while trying to get on stage. Tone Magazine was really supportive of what Spacebar was doing, and often featured us in their publication. Maybe they genuinely liked us, maybe their female editor had a thing for Azmir, but it really brought attention to what we were trying to do. I will always remember the last interview we did with them, which was with Abigail de Vries (who I ended working with together a few years later), because as we were halfway through the interview, I-Lann from downstairs raced up to our apartment and told us to switch on our tv sets as something big was happening in New York. The date of the interview? September 11, 2001.
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Aside from Tone, there was a lot of support on radio for our music. There was Angie Ng’s show on WowFM, and Fresh’s and Aminah’s show over at Red104.9. Radio was probably more lenient then, and Spacebar was once actually asked to perform live on air on Red104.9, which we did for one solid hour. One solid hour of drum n bass, live. Totally unthinkable now, especially since we blundered the first part of the show which resulted in dead air for at least one whole minute. For the show we had Teh Tarik Crew’s Altimet (we collaborated earlier at another event organized by Tone Magazine) and DJ Nicky C as our MC. I’m pretty sure a recording of that show exists somewhere. I also remember a live radio interview with them where after a lengthy chat session, they opened the lines for listeners to call in. One interesting fellow called, requesting to talk to me, and he proceeded to sing the chorus to Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want It That Way’ to me live on air. It was a very enlightening experience to say the least. Of course a few years earlier there was also Kamil Othman’s ‘The Alternative Rock Show’ on Time Highway Radio, which has since become an Tamil radio station. Kamil Othman was a high-ranking director in a company that pushed the Multimedia Super Corridor in Cyberjaya, but he was a huge music nerd and the closest we had to BBC Radio One legend John Peel. He would play the most obscure tracks on air, (thinking back, I wonder how he got most of the tracks cleared for broadcast) and I would listen to him religiously every week, as I’m sure most music fans then would. I was called into his studio once to talk about my music, and he actually played Damage Digital’s ‘Motherfucker’ in the background while he was interviewing me, in its entirety, not once, but twice!
Rock Revivalists By 2003 and 2004, drum n bass was at its full swing (it has never fully regained momentum since) and I was DJing regularly at clubs around KL and Singapore. As I was doing all this a bunch of friends whom I knew as serious music collectors started planning for a series of parties for real music friends, These four, Lim and Kelvin whom I knew from my Central Market days, Daryl Goh who I met thru his work at The Star and Ah Xu who I worked with at photoshoots became Twilight Actiongirl, and they had the best flyers, or at least had a foolproof concept for it. Rather than just putting the names of the DJs playing, these guys actually figured out more people would come if they put the names of the bands whose songs they were going to spin! I guess seeing the words ‘The Smiths’, ‘New Order’ and ‘Depeche Mode’ made a lot of music fans excited to go see them play at this small Hartamas club called Bar Amber. All I remember about this club was that it was predominantly blue and purple and there’s always familiar, smiling faces when I stepped in there.
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The early Bar Amber gigs were awesome not because they happened, but because we wouldn’t know whether it would happen or not. There used to be Friday nights when I’d wait anxiously for an SMS to arrive stating whether that night’s TAG party was happening or not, since Hartamas in those days was notorious for having parties shut down by the authorities. It was like a family affair, and I’d meet friends that I made years earlier from the Central Market and band days. Or rather it was a good way to hear our lives’ musical anthems being shared loudly in a club environment. I guess their perseverance paid off, as they were quickly snapped up by Zouk KL which began operating sometime after that. Around the same time I started my appreciation of the post-rock genre. Personal developments at the time made it easy for me to relate to the blank, desolate worlds painted by this mostly instrumental genre. Inspired by Deftones’ ‘Minerva’ and other bands such as Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, locals Damn Dirty Apes (their magnum opus “Death of Optimus Prime” is one of local post-rock’s definitive tracks), R.U.S.H (later Furniture) and a bunch of Hobbit-esque Multimedia University Cyberjaya students who called themselves Sgt Weener Arms, I began a new musical project that was drastically different than my earlier endevours. It started the moment I picked up my rusty, trusted Ibanez Talman guitar (it has been duly neglected due to my commitment to turntables instead) and later buying myself a cheap delay pedal. Jijoe (ex-Spiral Kinetic Circus) suggested the name Kuala Lumpur PostHarmonic Quartet (later Quintet) when asked for something that sounded like ‘Kuala Lumpur Philharmonic Orchestra”. The only idea that I had in my head was ‘wall of sound’, and by the time that idea evolved I was dying to leave the DJ console and start playing back on stage with a guitar again. Prior to this I had started to play the guitar again, even sessioning on guitar for the final ever Custom Daisy show in Shah Alam. I had met Ihsan Ariffin (currently with They Will Kill Us All) and Ishaq Mohd Nor of Custom Daisy years earlier when they still had nu-metal leanings, and actually witnessed one of their earlier shows at the original Lim Kok Wing campus in Kelana Jaya. I wasn’t actually paying attention to the band, but more to Ihsan whom I thought had skills as a drummer. When given the opportunity to play for the band I jumped into it, as I was itching to be playing in a grindcore band again. Sure enough, the gig was held in what seemed to be a roofed basketball court, no stage, with no miking for the guitar amps and drums, a very back-to-basics set up. I don’t remember what I played, but I remembered the someone from the audience stepping on my guitar cable towards the end of our set, breaking it, rendering my guitar completely useless. So instead I started balancing my Irman Hilmi
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guitar on one end using one hand, and proceeded to do a circus balancing act amongst the moshing crowd. Fun times indeed. The first member of Kuala Lumpur Post-Harmonic Quartet (KLPHQ) was Firdaus Shah aka Pidos, whom I spotted at another gig in a Cheras art gallery while I was sessioning (on drums this time) for yet another band, R.U.S.H.. Honestly, I wanted him in the band by virtue of his good looks. I had this idea of finding really good-looking band members so I’d be able to sell the band. This idea failed immediately. The band had a loose core of members, which amalgamated nicely once I was introduced to Fairuz Osman aka Piut who would become the guitarist, replacing Pidos who started playing keyboards instead. When we started we used to jam over at Loque’s (Butterfingers) Bilik Bedah studio at Bandar Sri Manjalara, usually at 2-3am. Loque himself played bass for a few shows, but we must have went through at least five bassists before settling on Tariq Hamzah who was also playing for Simon The Fag (later renamed I Am Rain for obvious reasons). But then again we went through at least eight drummers before settling on Mamat, drummer for screamo band Elisebelle Tears which disbanded earlier. Funnily enough, I have actually met Mamat quite a few years earlier when he was 14 and at the same gig where I was at. The gig was at Barnum’s in One Utama, and although I have a hardly remember who played (I think Prana played, Jeremy and Jeffrey Little’s band, currently running Laguna Records.) I remember vividly what I did after. As I walked outside the venue, I spotted a kid wearing glasses sitting alone. There was nothing remarkable about him, except the fact that he was wearing an Atari Teenage Riot (ATR) t-shirt. ATR, if you didn’t know, are one of the purveyors of the whole digital hardcore movement, a band that I was a big fan of at that moment. So I tried to buy the t-shirt off the kid. He said no because then he’d be left running around One Utama with no t-shirt on. Mamat was that kid. KLPHQ had a concept of never releasing a recording, and being a live band instead, similar to what a theatre production would be like. Our first show was actually at someone’s home, specifically the home of Mokhtarizal (formerly of Sevencollar T-Shirt) who was organizing a small gig in his front lawn. Piut hasn’t joined the band yet at that time, but he was actually one of the confused people in the audience as we went on a 20-minute wanking of a song. Yes, just one song, for 20 minutes. The songwriting process fortunately progressed better, and the band actually went to better things, having headlining one of the three stages in a particular instalment of the Rock The World concert to playing Singapore’s Baybeats Festival. Fairuz Sulaiman aka Blur was inducted to the Irman Hilmi
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band as well, often providing thought-provoking (or simply gross) projected visuals to accompany our oftenly irregular live performances. His masterpiece? Throwing glowsticks on stage while we were performing at Rock The World. We’d often invite the audience to make up imaginery lyrics to our instrumental songs, and often forcing them to stand up and squeeze in amongst themselves uncomfortably since the norm at post-rock gigs (especially in Singapore) is to sit down, starry-eyed. This annoyed the hell out of me, as we tried to feed off the audience’s energy to be able to give back a powerful performance. That was the idea anyway. Sometimes this energy would not be enough, and we would purposely do something drastic or unpredictable onstage to get a response from the audience. Like shout at each other and abuse our instruments. Or even bandmates. Yes, I have kicked a bandmate on stage for missing a cue. And yes, I have apologized to him. My work with KLPHQ led me to organize Motion Picture Soundtrack, which was a series of gigs that tried to blend quality music and visual arts experimentation. It ran for at least four times, the first being at No Black Tie where we had painter Rina Shukor doing a live painting onstage while four bands played throughout the night. The latter shows were done at Laundry Bar over in Mutiara Damansara, were we did everything from our own interpretation of wayang kulit using children’s toys with overhead projectors to hanging shower curtains, bedsheets and neon-painted boxes with blacklights on stage. I’d like to think of it as putting music in an irregular setup and presenting it an artform, although my association with the arts scene locally can be described as minimal at the very best.
It’s all Junk Towards 2006-2007, with the death of CDs imminent and the advent of the Myspace age, the magazine that I was working for at that moment decided to gamble on a new music magazine to basically take over where Tone Magazine left off. KLue publisher Adrian Yap and Adlin Rosli came up with Junk Magazine, where I was roped in to help as well. Until it became an online-only publication, the printed edition had a pretty good run, showcasing and highlighting music that wouldn’t have regularly made it on people’s radar here. It was the catalyst for many people discovering many cool bands locally, although to be honest in a larger context the Pitchfork website was probably more responsible for that. Being in a music publication was a lot of fun, but fun doesn’t come without hardship. The first few issues were very tricky, as were the balance between editorial integrity and mainstream appeal. There were may sleepless nights just trying to find content to actually come up with a magazine, but there are Irman Hilmi
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many perks of course. I would be paid to just attend gigs, and write reviews about them or the countless promo CDs that would arrive at our doorstep. The opportunity to meet and interview two of my favourite post-rock bands, namely Explosions In The Sky and Mono, also materialized thanks to working at Junk, and it’s always interesting to hear thoughts on being a band and the challenges a musician faces being active in another country. The latter part of the decade probably saw a boom in terms of active, independent bands with bands like Hujan and Meet Uncle Hussein leading the pack, and basically made the local music industry exciting again. It’s also pretty ironic to later see sifus of the Malaysian music industry actually ending up collaborating with these bands, eventhough they were earlier quoted in magazines like Tone that bands who doesn’t exist within the confines of established, major record labels would never survive. It was a minor victory of sorts, seeing record labels crumbling with their traditional business models based on record sales and having to embrace what these kids are doing on their own online. Junk co-incidentally came out together with another huge influencer of what would later become the ‘indie’ wave of music, the tv show ‘Kami’. The idea for the tv show surfaced when Fendi Mazlan (bassist for Carburetor Dung) and his wife Fizzi Ishak were still staying at Bukit Ceylon in the early 2000s. They kept raving about the idea of having a tv show or movie about ‘a bunch of friends going to gigs with cool bands’, and how their life drama would revolve around that setting. When they were later writing and developing the show, they had no idea how big this little idea has become. When the series ended we caught up and I told them how their tv show was hugely responsible for making local independent music relevant again. They had no idea, of course, which comes to show that sometimes the simplest ideas achieve the grandest of things. The combination of Junk as a slightly off-centre music publication and how mainstream media graciously embraced ‘Kami’ was instrumental in shaping mindsets of current music fans. With the traditional record label business model gone, its easier for people with real talent to get their music across in an increasingly competitive market. Which is why some might say music is so disposable nowadays. You hardly hear the word underground being mentioned anymore, probably because in the age of Facebook nothing is really sacredly underground. All you need is one mention in Pitchfork, one Youtube video to be discovered, and your music is out there for the masses to consume. You would be an idiot to set up a band that plays cool music and still be unknown by now. Just ask Zee Avi and Yuna, whose audiences now span across the globe, a marked difference than how the struggles a singer songwriter in the mid 90s would have faced. Just breaking the American market is then unheard of, Irman Hilmi
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and it gives hope to musicians who still want to maintain Do-It-Yourself ethics while exploring markets they wouldn’t have had access to in the past. Then again, with access to cheap laptop-based studios and even cheaper software, every ‘musician’ and his mother is uploading their masterpiece on Soundcloud. The market has more choices now, competition even stiffer, but this combination of technology and the desperation to be discovered would actually push creativity even further. Current artistes like OJ Law and Guba got the attention from the public because they deserve the attention. The channels to get your sound heard out there is endless, and most definitely cheaper and more accessible than what it was ten years ago. The term ‘survival of the fittest’ bears more weight now, as compared to how the scene was before. Mainstream media is has been very supportive, well at least until the next time the black/ white/pink metal witch hunt begins.
Moving on, moving forward The ideologies and issues are different now, and it will surely make the purist cringe and roll in their graves, but I’ve always stayed true to what I believe, and that these are all just forms of creative expression, and the best crafted and delivered expressions always make the best entertainment, whether for the right or wrong reasons. Regardless of whatever form or genre, creative expression will always be persecuted first before being embraced. So do as I do. Never stop.
Irman Hilmi
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#projekbuku
Tone Deaf And Lovin’ It!!! by Izal Azlee
Izal is the bassist for The Azenders. 192
Everyday for the past 8 years, I’ve been asking myself, “What’s the FUCKING point??” I spend more than I earn, I sweat blood and the fact that we try and try to portray ourselves as a fucking successful band is a fucking cover to all the fights, the hatred, the manipulation to get what you want from within, so was it worth it? FUCK YEAH!!! I wouldn’t be where I am or who I am today if it wasn’t for this one person. A dear friend and a brother within this would seem a moronic little Singaporean dude in the shape of Mr. Hafiz Ellahi. He was the soul of One Buck Short and everyone knew it. It was just like yesterday when Rahul, Mooky, Imran and I were at the bus stop sending the fucking devil off for National Service. The then cap-n-spectacle wearing nerd came to me, all teary eyed and shit and popped the question, “Hey man, we have a show next week, you wanna play?” That was the start of a brotherly relationship like no other. Maybe I should just go back a little bit, Hafiz and I knew each other for 12 years now, and I was always a supportive friend so the thing is, everyone already knew me, and to them it was not about the talent, it was about the comfort of already knowing each other and that that was what mattered the most, sold the Izal Azlee
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fucking crap out of me. The adventure that we went through was amazing, we cried, we fought, we hated each other but every time after a show all four of us would have the same idiotic smirk on our faces, and that made all the crap we had to endure worth the fucking pain and the joy, was unspoken. Truth is, that would be where all the brotherhood ended, it was as if every time we got of the stage and out of the studio, we were strangers, we had lives, which was understandable but the fact that we grew apart from the years we’ve been together, killed me inside. It wasn’t all-bad though we had our good times, and the bad shit wasn’t much, it just accumulated, that’s it. A fucking tragedy is what I would call it. Don’t make me fool you, being in a band is great, it gives you the freedom to say “fuck you!!” in a controlled conniving kind of way which makes you feel good about yourself. But it also takes shitloads of work, which would make you question yourself, and your dignity at times, so the main thing is about putting things into perspective. Being in One Buck Short taught me a whole bunch of things, how to accommodate people, compromise on your own goals, practically it was like handling your family and sacrificing your own needs for the better good. It was like when OBS had the chance to open for Fall Out Boy in Singapore, we were fucking over the moon; it was no Green Day, but hell yeah!!! Then the news came that we had to bring our own fucking backline and pay everything for ourselves, first reaction, “FUCKTHATSHIT!!!” Arguments broke, it was chaos, hate was the main feeling, and plus, we had to use personal money which the four of us didn’t have and it didn’t help that the other band (from Singapore) were being absolute fucking assholes. Even the ride down south was fucked up, we traveled in cliques of two cars due to not wanting to be with another. The ride was full of complaining, bitching, whatever the fuck you want to call it. Resentment was apparent to the point of sound check, but everyone did their job, it was called doing the best for the band. Girlfriends were whiny, and it took a toll on all of us, because, here we are trying to do the best and when your mind is clouded by your other halves that have been supportive but it just makes it that much harder to get your head straight.
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It didn’t help that the Singapore band made their asshole introduction by taking two thirds of an already insufficient sound check and it left us with five minutes just to get sense of the stage and everything that would make us so-tosay, “function”. By the time we got on stage, “BAM!!!” the fucking door opens and the crowd starts running in. So what was practically a session to setup the guitars ended with everyone felling like absolute shit! We were in distraught, me mainly, biggest show of our musical careers (at the time), and we didn’t know what the fuck was going on. We huddled, said “Fuck it all” and went on stage, we were brothers once more and the rest was history. In short, that show paved the way to a roller coaster ride to hell, heaven and back, and even though I’m not playing with them anymore, I wouldn’t change a thing, for better or for worse, it’s my history, our history, a story that’s beyond the words that’s here, it’s a way of life, its called passion. To be in a band is more commitment than one would think. It calls for sheer determination in doing what you love most, and at most times call for sacrifices. I was on the verge to Australia for a Degree course in Advertising and Marketing Communications, which would have taken a measly nine months, but I was willing to sacrifice it to record a-so-called album entitled “Halal and Loving it!”. Those were the best days of my life in the band, all because we bonded. Imran and I would have separate sessions to get every attack, every roll, and every bass line in tact and all on our own accord. I guess that was why we had good chemistry on stage; we understood each other, being the one with least musical talent among three talented musicians was hard on me, and those sessions made me understand how it was to play music in a band, like for real. When I first started, I couldn’t even tell if my bass was out of tune, or if I was playing a totally different chord from Rahul. Imran helped me out here a lot, and I mean A LOT!!! He thought me what I should do if the drums rolls this way, or if my bass line (or something close to a bass line) should go with the flow of the band, and most importantly, timing (not that it improved much). What happened was, I got my lesson in feel and groove, which was the very essence of music in the first place. For this I wouldn’t be able to repay him enough, it made us become a unit and we could function and sound good even without the rest of the band. All this with him not remembering my name the first few sessions, it just made musical sense.
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With Rahul, it was kind of different. He was the one that was up for the parties, the acting stupid, going crazy, well not at first though. He was a sweet nerdy type of guy, wouldn’t go in too detail into his personal life but all I can say is I understand why the punk rock lifestyle would appeal to him, and me in many scary coincidental circumstances. This was what I shared with him, even though neither of us would acknowledge it (ego….). First act as bassist the dude brought me to a meeting for a video shoot the very next day, and I was thinking to myself, “Fuck, we haven’t even jammed yet, and we’re doing a video clip? If I can’t play the song for real, I’m fucking screwed!!”. We did it anyways, didn’t matter, “just go with the flow” I said to myself. It was a rushed shoot, had fun and found out first hand that Malaysians bands don’t actually have fucking money. That sucked me in even more, the fact that we were the underdogs of the industry, “a bunch of kids thinking that they’re punk rock dudes based on teeny-bopper melodies from Blink 182 or even worse, Simple Plan” were trying to take the scene by storm, to matter, to send out a message and we did the latter, 3 years later though, but it was never too late because people still got it. Rahul was the one that wanted to be a Rock Star, we all did, in our so-calledlocal-descending-if-your-fucking-song-is-on-the-radio-so-you-have-shitloadsof-money scene that is. And to be honest all four of us thought that was it and that when reality hit us that it wasn’t, it hit us really fucking hard. But that didn’t stop Rahul from doing it, in a way it made the remaining three of us to also want it, whining and complaining along the way. Maybe we wanted to resent him for that but we couldn’t, because in the back of our complaining heads we knew it was right, sometimes it wasn’t but what better way to learn than from your own mistakes. (….some of those mistakes I saw coming, said my peace and we still did it…just saying though.) He drove us harder than our parents drove us to study, we hated it, enjoyed the ride though. He was also the main force behind the wonderful melodies that was done, it were all his songs, his melodies but with our flavour in it. Very protective of what he had in his mind though, not a bad thing just demoralizing at times but we stuck together, and it was all good. We respected each other in our own way, never acknowledged it though which was kind of sad. Rahul wasn’t one to share much (unless if he was drunk). But when he did we knew that we mattered to him, which was a nice reminder Izal Azlee
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that of how human he actually is. Mooky and I would talk about how Rahul is starting to open up to us and all, I guess he was the one that sort of got us closer together in an unknowing kind of way. Kudos to the Ridsect-swallowing-crazyass-motherfucker, you did it my man!! Then comes Mooky (or Mundzir to close friends), the guy who never stops smiling, the guy who can sleep anywhere (he slept during jamming a few times…yup….in the studio). This guy I fought with the most. Maybe it was the fact that I knew that everything would be all right no matter what happens. We almost came to blows at times, I freaked out of course, have you seen the guy? Jeez… You often hear the expression “brother from another mother” and I couldn’t explain our relationship any better. It was a weird bond, if Imran and I had chemistry musically; Mooky and I had real chemistry, friendship, honesty, openness that I wouldn’t be able to share with the rest of the band. I knew that whatever happened, personally, professionally, I could go to this guy and no matter what, he would make time for me, listen to me try to be in my shoes, a true fucking brother!! Not to say he’s the perfect band mate, because he isn’t, but he’s the guy you would always want in your corner. A lot of memories with this guy but the most memorable one of all would be on after I left the band, one that matter the most during my wedding. I was practically freaking out, while trying to not think about the ustaz asking me to recite the Doa Qunut, saw this figure standing watching me and when he gave that smile, I knew everything was going to be ok. That summed up what I thought of him, my buddy-cum-brother. So fuck that emo shit, Mooky was blur as shit, he wouldn’t remember booked dates for shows and stuff, he’s an idiot!! Ha ha ha ha ha… as blur as he was he was always there and took in the criticism, was a man and accepted what was given to him. He was also the cause of the funny shit that happened in the band. Till today the “Justea” joke will never be forgotten by the boys and me, and oh yeah maybe Reza Salleh and Rashdan Harith would get it as well. Go ask Mooky if you really want to know. Knowing the three guys the way I did made the decision to leave the band all Izal Azlee
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that much harder to do. I was in fucking hell. Like it or not, whatever band you’re in and no matter who’s in the band with you, it won’t let you escape the fact that you would still have those fights, those eyebrows raised questions about how the money is used, whether the show was for your personal benefit or the band and mountain of shit that would never end here. Most people think I setup The Azenders to leave OBS, this is not in any way FUCKING true. Wouldn’t blame you for thinking so, the timing does give you an implication that it points that way. Might had some factor to it, but that was the last thing on my mind when Sam, Ajam, Kudut and I went into the studio together. The Azenders was more of having an outlet of creative expression. The fact that the four us had the same idea, the same vision, and the same goal made it a whole lot easier. The first two people were Sam and I, we were talking about doing something together for quite sometime, and well I think I approached him more than he did me. When we finally met up, we came to a conclusion that the most important thing was that each band mate we were to choose was able to sit down and chill with us and that was it. We knew people who could play, and it didn’t matter to us if they were the best or not, but if we could be friends and chill out. Surprisingly, we were on the same wavelength in terms of who would play the drums, and who else other than Kudut, whom I knew from his days with Plague of Happiness. So I called him up and we had our band, or so we thought. We started jamming, wrote a song in three hours, even recorded a demo, but there was a big problem, we still sounded like either Bunkface or One Buck Short. So we needed an extra element, and we found it in the form of Ajam, the guy who adds the magic into the music. When we got the core elements, we actually sat down, discussed what kind of music we wanted to make, listened to references, burnt each other mixed CD’s, we started fresh, just like a new band. We chill out more than we jam, to make sure that the chemistry and relationship of the band s strong, and it’s more of friendship than being in a band and doing “work”. It’s important to us, so that it doesn’t get old, so that we wouldn’t be bored of each other and run out of things to say each other. It’s safe to say everyone believes in each other and understands everyone’s pain if there be any. It’s a perfect family. Izal Azlee
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Then came the big decision, for me personally to leave the band that made me. It was a casual chat at first but I kind of knew what it was heading. I think they all knew about it but never said anything to me. Then the question came up, “so…I heard…”, question didn’t even finish, but we knew. Maybe it as the change in characters throughout the years, the fake success stories that built our egos, mine included. We just didn’t get along anymore. Maybe it was just me, maybe I knew too much about each of them that it just didn’t feel real to me anymore. I even felt that maybe I was the bad apple of the band causing the distress. I blame it on our ever-lasting battle with fucked up management. The last one was the worst, where we were pitted against each other. I say that was the end of whatever real friendship we had in the band. Not to say I’m speaking for the rest of One Buck Short, but that was what I felt, what I observed. I have my faults, which can’t be denied. I had my share of being a total ass. No regrets for what I’ve done with them and what I’ve done for myself. It was a great experience that I wouldn’t share with any other group of people if given a million chances over. It was just that, an end of an era as some of you would say. I moved on, we, moved on, no bad vibes whatsoever and we did what we had to do, miss them I do but at the same time there’s just this sense of completion and satisfaction of moving on. Don’t treat this as me trying to tell you my story, or bitching about the past. That isn’t the point, I hope that this would inspire you, whoever you are, in doing the things you want, that you love. To believe and have faith with the people around you, your band, your friends, your family. As the saying goes, janji niat betul. So go on and do what’s right and may you share the same philosophy as me. “…coz we’re livin’ rock and roll now….”
Izal Azlee
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#projekbuku
Connect The Dots by Jake Abdullah
Jake Abdullah was a member of pioneering local hip hop group Krash Kozz. He is now the Chief Executive Officer of Astro Radio. 200
The passing of Steve Jobs was shocking and as footage of his Stamford address was shared our YouTube and all social media sites, one phrase haunted me as, it all suddenly came apparent! “Connect the dots.” We are here for the long haul and sometime succumb to the little bump or obstacle in the road. Let me explain as briefly as I can as I connect the dots …… It was 1995 and after playing for 15 years as a disc jockey , I ended up in probably my last club (little did I know it at that time) called (MIX—ironic isn’t it?) Afdlin Shauki (an old mate) and his band was playing in the club and he informed me of a company called Measat (Astro) that was looking for deejays. So he gave me the number and I called got myself an interview and landed the job. I started there on the 1st of April 1996 as a Music Director/Drive Announcer. Let’s just say that if the Club Mix did not exist, I wouldn’t have met Afdlin who then made me apply for the job. Jake Abdullah
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The paradox effect of that? I have had the opportunity to employ dozens of Malaysia’s finest radio and TV talent across Asia, build and unearth countless numbers of bands, singers and musicians and the journey still continues. I gave JJ (hitz morning Crew) a chance at an on air job when he was in my street team. Ean was hired when he was a promo admin in AMP radio. Jin was hired when I saw him perform with his band Vespertine. Moots spent too much time at the hitz studio that I offered him a job as a Programme Manager/Announcer on hitz (he was a Bank Negara Employee then). Brian (the network Manager) was hired from Channel V when I met him at a Reshmonu press junket (whom whose music I aggressively helped push when he was starting off). Ryan, was a Hitz cruiser when I gave him his shot at an on air shift. There is a long list of people that I have had the opportunity to hire and be a part of the grandeur but I won’t bore you with that…. In fact most of the people who work elsewhere to have somehow passed through me, Premo, Ben and Hunny Madu at Fly, Rudy (who incidentally was hired at a Party) at Red FM etc. Adly (who got me to write this!) was a mate from Malay Mail who was hired when I noticed his Facebook status—“ Looking for a Job”. I aggressively wanted to do something for the Local English Music scene and started the Malaysian English Top Ten which became the MET 10. This show (which was a TV and radio show) became the outlet to unearth some of the best local talent you hear these days including DejaVoodoo Spells, One Buck Short, Pop Shuvit, John’s Mistress etc etc etc etc. To make a long story short—when I connect the dots, I see my true calling. I didn’t have what it takes to be a great musician and I admit that, but Allah has Jake Abdullah
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given me the ability to help others. I did the next best thing which was disc jockeying and remixining and also running radio stations across Asia. I have had the opportunity to be apart of so many people’s lives. I have been blessed so many times. I have seen people grow in their career, life family, wealth, health etc. I have seen all this people get married, have kids and continue to flourish. In the end, to quote Robin Sharma “How will you want to be remembered at your funeral?” I think most are gonna say. “The fella Jake was crazy lah! At 80, he was still playing gigs and just a psycho…” I’ll take that! In the end , its all about connect. Always has been, we just get caught up in our own woes that we forget the big picture. I have connected my dots and I see the big picture... If you have been part of mine, I thank you and if you have not, don’t worry as we will connect…we have always been one…You just don’t know it yet!
Jake Abdullah
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#projekbuku
Beyond The Looking Glass by Jason Schadt aka Vandal
Jason “Vandal” Schadt was an Urban Camper who is now the Director at The MoveMint as well as the Head of Production at RockCorps Malaysia. 204
My very first taste of the Malaysian Music Industry came in August 1999. I had been in Mauritius & Madagascar for 5 months researching the local music scenes so by the time I reached Malaysia I was primed to connect with the Hip Hop scene. On my second night back in KL I ventured to a place called Echo in Bangsar Baru, which at the time was the most popular hang out spot in the city. Standing on the steps I happened to hear someone mention the word “Emcee”. Being an emcee, I approached the two guys and next thing you know I was on the mic rapping. As it happens, the two guys were Joey G and DJ Gabriel. They gave me the number for DJ Face, who promptly put me in touch with Jaya from Da Joint. From a line in my song “KL”, we met at MC Donald’s outside Central Market and my introduction to Malaysian Hip Hop began. In February 2000 I decided to move to Malaysia, spending 7 months in KL, and the rest is history. From a Hip Hop perspective, I had arrived in KL at a key period witnessing the birth of Too Phat and the establishment of the Malaysian DJ scene. It was also the time where gigs were frequent and the Independent record labels had a strong hold. In fact, until this day we have yet to see another Independent record label make as much of an impact on the Malaysian Music Industry as Positive Tone did.
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Here we are, almost 13 years later and I find myself becoming a cornerstone of Hip Hop in Malaysia. Having been actively involved in Hop Hop since around 1992, I’m quickly arriving at the 20 year mark and I’m more active than I’ve ever been. In 2008 I formed The MoveMint, partially out of frustration with the current state of the Industry, but mainly because I needed a higher purpose. You see, there were hardly any gigs going on and Hip Hop had clearly begun a transformation into the commercial beast I passionately loathed. As a Hip Hop purist, I was bent on establishing something tangible for the scene, so I took matters into my own hands. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. On August 13th 2008 The MoveMint held its first event, Think You Got Skillz, and I had arrived at my purpose. TYGS was the beginning of a major shift in the Industry, but without the support of Cloth & Clef we may not be where we are today. C&C was instrumental to Malaysia’s current Hip Hop revival and it was sad to see their doors close late 2009. A sign of the times I guess, but mostly it was indicative of the state of the Industry and the lack of financial support from the community. The trials and tribulations of a struggling scene. The climate has not changed much and people still seem unwilling to part with the little spare cash they might have, but without contributions from those involved we will continue to experience similar situations. Today, The MoveMint is stronger than it’s ever been. Having paved the way for the next generation of Malaysia’s Hip Hop ambassadors we’ve seen an explosion of Rap Battles and underground gigs. In fact I’m proud to see more artists taking the initiative and organizing their own gigs and events (Shout out to Jin Hackman). The Malay Rap scene is evolving with movements like KTM and artists like Karmal, SSK & 5Forty2. Although I’m not very familiar with the Tamil scene, people like Balan Kashmir and Rabbit Mac assure me that the community strongly supports their artists, contributing to their success. To top it off, one of the most amazing things I have witnessed over the past 2 years has to be the explosion of the Malaysian Beatbox scene. Only a few years ago if you asked me about Malaysian Beatbox I probably couldn’t tell you much, but now it is the fastest growing community with over 100 Beatbox artists across Malaysia. The amazing thing is that their average age is only 18! Definitely a promising future awaits them. So where is this all heading? To be honest, I’m not really sure but one thing I do know is that the Malaysian Music revolution is fast approaching. The International success of artists like Zee Avi, Yuna and Nadhira give a renewed confidence to those coming up. Hope is in the future and with proper guidance Jason Schadt
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and lots of hard work the talent that exists will have an easier time succeeding the Industry. The changes have already begun. For instance, a great example of this is Zain Azrai. 3 years ago Zain hit the scene entering almost every rap battle there was, from there he established Malaysia’s first Rap Battle League, Evil Poets Society. Today Zain has been able to compete against some of the best in the world in Australia and the UK, and is putting Malaysia on the map every time he wins. This combination of passion and perseverance is a shining example of what can be achieved on an Independent level. On a more personal note, and to close things out, I remain committed to the growth of the Industry on a number of fronts. Sharing your experience and skills with the next generation is what most of us should be doing, instead of withholding information to retain your precarious perch at the top and it’s with that motto that I am proud to announce the arrival of something truly special and unique to Malaysia. Launching in 2012 will be CRIB, short for Creative Incubator. A space for sharing, planting seeds and nurturing. The concept of a social venture “Hub” is not unique, but what makes CRIB special is that we aim to bring together the many facets of Malaysia’s Cultural & Media Industries with a youth focused perspective. With that said, I’d like to thank all of my friends and family for their continuing support, without you I’d be a chair with three legs. And lastly to all Malaysians and people around the world, continue to be committed to your dreams, give without expectation and be fearless along the road to achieving your goals.
Jason Schadt
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#projekbuku
Why You Need A Producer by JD Wong
JD Wong is the guitarist for local rock band Pop Shuvit and Project E.A.R. He also runs Studio 21:05. 208
When musicians talk about recording an album, the conversation is often rife with confusing terms and audio engineering jargon. The number one most misunderstood term is ‘mastering’. I am not going to talk about that. What I am going to talk about is the second most misunderstood term: the producer. The main job of a producer is to be the overall person-in-charge, the project manager so to speak. He is hired to helm the project, to take it from the earliest stages of songwriting, demo creation, all the way to completion of the final product. The producer (along with the artist) picks the songs, works out the arrangement, does pre-production rehearsals, selects the studio along with his choice of tracking engineer, plans and schedules the recording sessions, hires (and fires) personnel, chooses the mixer, the mastering engineer and much more. There is virtually nothing in the entire process of record-making that doesn’t escape the producer’s scrutiny in one way or another. Every decision that needs to be made, both creative and technical, has to ultimately be approved by the producer. He or she is the final seal of approval and provides quality control. Hence the phrase often heard in the studio, “It’s the producer’s call”. Much of what is presented in the following paragraphs comes from my learning experiences under two very important figures in the development JD Wong
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of my professional career. First , is Australian-born local producer Greg Henderson, whom I consider my mentor. He produced my band’s first two albums. My style of producing records is patterned after his. He still makes some of the most amazing sounding records today. The other is Eric Sarafin @ Mixerman. He is a L.A-based producer/mixer who wrote two fantastic books The Daily Adventures of Mixerman and Zen & The Art of Mixing. These two books are essential reading for anyone who makes records. A big part of what I’ve written is inspired by a similarly titled blog post by him. Why the need for a producer? It is probably the question most often asked (next to how much it costs) when I am meeting with a band for the very first time. It comes across as pretty strange question, given that the band is often the one who first approaches me to help produce. It’s a fair question though, given the fact that the band has probably read or heard about many a horror story involving the likes of a producer. There’s the story of the egocentric, self-centred producer who imposed his style and sonic imprint on the band. How about the one of an inexperienced producer, armed with a fresh diploma from audio school, who perhaps did not deliver what they expected? Then there are those from some segment of the indie/DIY school of thought, who argue that since a band does everything by themselves, why should they waste money by hiring a producer? There isn’t really anybody to blame for the confusion and I won’t go into detail trying to explain it. If you are reading this, it would be my ultimate goal to help you understand what the job of the producer is and how he or she can help your album reach its maximum potential and hopefully disprove the myths and misconceptions of working with a producer.
Isn’t the guy who’s doing the recording the producer? No! That’s the recording engineer, or in other parts of the world, tracking engineer. This is another common misconception amongst bands that are new to the recording process. They almost always automatically assume that the person setting up the mics and pressing the record button is also supposed to help produce. This is the dreaded phenomenon, which we in the studio industry call appointing a “producer by default”. Early symptoms include a sense of uncertainty amongst band members followed by asking the engineer what he or she thinks. The usual response would be a vague reply often followed by asking the same question back to the band. JD Wong
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So why isn’t it reasonable to expect the engineer to be the producer? Traditionally in the studio environment, there used to be separate, distinct tasks performed by different people. The engineers would operate the recording equipment, technicians would perform maintenance work, producers would be producing, musicians would play their instruments, songwriters would only write songs and singers sing when told to do so. As times have changed, so too the lines have blurred, most commonly that of producers whom often also do their own tracking work. I for example, am the hands-on type of guy and I prefer to do all the tracking myself with the help of the occasional assistant/ intern. So if you are heading into the studio, please do everyone a favour and assign someone as producer. If you enjoy working with the engineer and you’d like him or her to help produce, go ahead and ask. Just remember to pay her a production fee above what she may be getting paid for tracking. I, for that matter avoid any misunderstanding by explaining from the start the difference between hiring me as a producer and hiring me just to engineer. So why should you hire a producer? There are many reasons I can think of and I’ll present them based upon what you will experience with me running the session. A good producer will always stay within budget. You have x amount of money, so I will first tell you if you can make the album for that price, and if so, how. I will always manage expectations. You will know exactly what can and what can’t be achieved with the available budget. There are few things worse than the promise of something great but being unable to deliver (or even worse, asking for more money) due to overstretched budgets. All this will be done without negatively affecting the final product. A producer can judge to a fair degree of accuracy, how long it will take to complete the album. This is obtained through dialogue and by spending time with the band during pre-production. This entails spending time rehearsing the material to be recorded and working out the music before we even step foot into the studio. There’s a wise studio saying, “The more work put in outside the studio, the less work needed inside it.” The recording studio is NOT the place to be still figuring out where parts belong. As a fellow colleague once put it, the studio is an expensive way to practice. The producer always maintains the right perspective. The process of making a record is a creative one. I know that there are times that we ought to sweat JD Wong
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the microscopic details and yet there are times where we need to step back and look at the big picture. I have seen ‘self-produced’ bands waste precious hours going around in circles debating a minor guitar part (which is going to get buried in the mix anyway) and yet at the same time miss certain obvious flaws in the production (which I usually have to point out). I don’t settle for mediocrity. I strive for the best possible delivery, right from the start. I absolutely hate ‘fixing it in the mix’. (I also equally hate the phrase ‘fixing it in the mastering’ and it’s bastard half-sibling, ‘fixing it in the marketing’). I can proudly say that in every band I’ve produced to date, a good 99% of the lead vocals needed no form of pitch-correction whatsoever. (If you’re one the bands you can give yourself a pat on the back). A good producer always keeps things on track. I help plan and schedule recording sessions and make any necessary arrangements to ensure the entire session runs as smoothly as possible. I take care of all the minor technical details so that you can concentrate on the music. Issues that don’t contribute to the session should be removed. Time-wasting pursuits without any obvious benefits are to be avoided although sometimes we may decide to have a bit of fun and embark on creative sonic experiments. Leave the hard decisions to me. Bands are often afraid to commit to an idea or part. Sometimes they keep take upon multiple take to defer making a decision. Sometimes, tough decisions are avoided because they didn’t want someone’s feelings to get hurt. I can tell almost instantly if a part works or doesn’t and make the call to either keep or scrap it. I keep a close eye on the morale of the band members. Their self-confidence is highly important as it will affect how well they perform. I help solve problems related to the music, arrangement and more. I either offer solutions, or suggestions that help the band arrive at one. I am the one who is the source of vibe. I want to inspire the very best in them. Because I make the tough calls, I help to avoid disagreements which can often wreck the production process. If disagreements do appear (and I guarantee you it will), I act as mediator to help all parties arrive at an amicable solution. Very often, the producer’s job is like that of a psychotherapist and motivational coach combined, listening to people’s complaints, calming frayed nerves and motivating individuals. I never want to leave a sonic imprint on the record. In my opinion, the JD Wong
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producer should remain invisible and allow the artist and their music to speak for themselves. To me, if somebody says that they can hear my signature, it means I’ve partially failed as a producer. This is because I have distracted the listeners’ attention away from the band whereas the album should be about them and them alone. A producer’s face and name doesn’t appear on the album cover, the only thing I expect is to be properly credited in the liner notes. Ultimately, a producer brings his or her vast experience in making records, so go ahead and hire one. A good producer is usually worth more than the money it costs to hire one. In fact, a good producer helps save time and money, whilst at the same time delivering a product that you can be truly be happy with.
Help! Me and my band can’t afford a producer So if you’re reading this and thinking, what if I really can’t afford to hire a producer? Making a record is still a fairly expensive affair despite the lower costs brought on by the digital and home recording revolution. So ask yourself the following questions. Are you the person in the band who is most aware of the issues at hand? Do you find yourself making most of the creative decisions? Do you notice the minute details? Are you able to see the big picture? Are you often the one calling the shots and deciding which takes are the best? Are you often the one making arrangements, scheduling studio sessions and working out the recording plan? If you answered yes to most of the questions, guess what? You are effectively functioning as the producer! Of course, there is no substitute for hiring an experienced producer to help make records; otherwise there would be no reason why big bands overseas still do so. A quick examination of any popular, big-selling album’s liner notes will prove this point. I’ve argued that an album with a producer almost always turns out better than an album without one. This is especially so when comparing local albums with a producer compared to local self-produced efforts. This is taking into account an equivalent amount of given talent, equivalent budget and equivalent technical standards (i.e. gear and studio). The worst ones I’ve come across are often where the band members themselves are doing the engineering work. I’m not saying that taking matters into one’s own hands is necessarily bad, just that the potential for disaster is greatly multiplied. This is simply due to the fact that being so close to the music, one tends to lose sense of objectivity in evaluating the material.
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But having said all that, if you absolutely must self-produce, remember to take into account all that has been said in the earlier paragraphs. Chances are, if you’ve done your homework you just might be able to pull it off and come out with a work that you can be proud of!
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#projekbuku
Band Aid by Jennifer Thompson
Jennifer Thompson have seen it all when it come to the Malaysian music industry. 215
Over the last year I have been attending a whole slew of band auditions and competitions just to get a feel of what is happening on the ground. I like going or being a part of events such as these as it allows the bands to see their weaknesses and strength. It also serves as a guide to seeing how they fare against other bands and how to cope with performance pressure, which is very different from a practice studio or a small venue. We need performance venues/a touring circuit badly (this is a whole new topic for #ProjekBuku2). Malaysia has a lot of musical talent but they need guidance and polish so that they can shine. So many have the ability but it isn’t just about that. It’s the whole package–looks, musicianship, performance combined with stage presence, communication, handling fans, talking to press, etc. Going to these things always ends up enlightening me too. Here are my Top 10 (two cents worth) observations :
A Respecting each other A band is a group of people, all with different characters, hopes, likes and dislikes. So the first thing you need to do is RESPECT and understand each other. There is, however, no excuse for not coming on time, not turning up at Jennifer Thompson
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all and not practicing your parts. Discipline is a big part of success.
2 Open to criticism The band (or artistes) themselves need an open mind so they can always learn and improve. There is ALWAYS room for improvement. There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Sometimes people say hurtful things and some times the truth hurts. So you need to be able to take it all in stride and use it positively.
3 Practice for perfection You need to play your songs over and over again so that you don’t even need to think how to play it. It becomes second nature or auto pilot so that you can concentrate on other things – the way you look, the way you stand, the way you communicate with the audience.
4 Perform to excel You need to perform, then only can you improve your musicianship, playing together and communicating with the audience. Practice is important but performing on a live stage with an audience is very different. So we need performing venues and a touring circuit. (Yes, government I’m talking to you.)
5 When you think you’re doing enough, do some more. Performance is about giving 200 per cent, passionately. Fake movements and reactions really show, that’s why when you do something you have to commit. Practice in front of a mirror that’s the only way you can see how you look. If you see Aerosmith, Queen, Deep Purple, Earth, Wind and Fire, they all perform with passion moving the audience with their playing ability and their passionate performance. You give 200 percent and the audience will feel 100 percent. Anything less and you will get a lukewarm response.
6 Buy a tuner, AND USE IT. Most bands still do not own a tuner. You cannot tune your guitars without a tuner. I have seen so many bands suffer the consequence of playing out of tune. For the audience—what more if the audience is professional—it is excruciating.
7 Dress for success. It doesn’t need to be fancy clothes or outlandish, but it does need to suit the concept. Yes outlandish, if you’re playing glam rock but not if you’re going to do a killer ballad. Even a small amount of accessories can make blue jeans and a white tee look good. Jennifer Thompson
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8 Fitness matters. Working out gives you the stamina to stand on stage and play your instrument or sing. Try standing on stage for an hour or 90 minutes carrying a bass guitar or guitar, drumming consistently non-stop, or singing all the way. After a while, if you get tired you will start making mistakes. The fitter you are, the more alert you will be.
9 Play as a team (but you still have star players) As a band you have to realize that it is a team effort. Unfortunately, it is normal that the singer or one of the musicians (normally the guitarist, don’t ask me why) is more recognized or covered than most. The others will have fans but normally they are people who play the instrument. This is something that you have to live with. If you don’t believe me look at The Police, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, etc. And if you can’t accept that, become a singer (or guitarist) or quit.
K Choice of repertoire Choosing what songs to play and how you deliver them is something you have to learn to do. A show is playing with mass emotions. Driving the crowd, making them feel, leaving them wanting more. You need to plan your set and then practice it as it so you get the feel. And don’t ever make the mistake of not playing a hit song just because you’re fed-up, because your fans will never tire of the song. Or if you’re participating in a competition you need a song that will grab attention—strong melody, tight playing, passionate. After all you only have minutes to impress. Bands are a challenge but if you manage to stay and grow together it is definitely a rewarding experience. And to watch a band at work like a welloiled performance machine is always an exhilarating experience. Peace, love and respect.
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#projekbuku
The Label Life by Jeremy Little
Jeremy Little is the CEO of Laguna Music and Tune Studios. 219
Music is beautiful thing. We all have a love for it, a different level of appreciation for it. We open our eyes early in the morning, awoken by the sound of a song that we know and it captures us. The day begins, we get into our car and one of the first things we do is switch on the music player before we get on our way. The music we listen to becomes our friend through traffic jams and throughout the day and by the time it comes to an end, we’ve listened to a medley of songs written and composed by people near and far. Music has become a part of our lifestyle, and for many of us, it has become even more than that. Every so often, a song plays and you’re taken back to a time, a place or a person and that can either bring you joy or heartbreak. Its kind of like we’re creating our own soundtrack based on the story our lives. We can look back throughout the years and we can see the changes in ourselves just based on the different genres we swore by at different times of our lives. Some of us take music to heart a little more than others. We want to be involved in it. We want to play our own part in that world. We pick up an instrument, go for music lessons and we become musicians. We start to learn to make our own music, and we all become entrepreneurs with a mission of getting people to hear our songs. We aspire for our music to be heard by millions around the world and somewhat dream of being a rockstar, having our songs loved by Jeremy Little
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millions, just like the human deities we idolized growing up. The more involved and passionate you get with pushing out your music, the more determined you become to get people to listen to your music. I believe that we are all entrepreneurs of our own lives. From the time you leave school, you become independent and you take control of your life. It’s like running a business, the business of your existence; which paths you choose, which decisions you make, which people you meet and what job you take. All these choices will determine the success of your life. Well, in the creative industry you need to have that entrepreneurial instinct to survive and to sustain your career for long term, if not you’ll be hidden in the shadow and your work will remain unnoticed. So, you have to keep asking yourself, what is it that I can do to be heard or to be seen and to get noticed? What do I have to do to become somebody and get somewhere? Many people believe that all creative people are highly skilled and talented. Yes, you definitely need some skill or talent to stand out amongst the others, but this is not always the case. I’ve met some of the most creative, highly talented people who are still struggling to achieve success, yet at the same time, I’ve seen people who have been highly successful coming from a stock of very little talent. Luck perhaps? My judgment on talent can be quite subjective, but I believe success comes with an equal mix of talent, luck and most importantly, a good manager. When I was growing up I never would have imagined myself doing the kind of work that I am doing today. Working in the entertainment industry was not part of my plan. It was something that started out as a hobby, but passion and determination to succeed had led me to where I am. I guess it is quite the same for many people who have careers in the entertainment industry. It’s not usually something you plan for. You don’t wake up one day and say I’m going to be a rockstar. Well, not most of us anyway. For most celebrities, entertainers, musicians and actors, luck had a role to play. They were just at the right place at the right time. I’m not discounting the amount of hard work these people have put in to get to where they are today though because you do have to put in a lot of work initially for you to get to that right place at that percise time for you to be spotted. I started playing music when I was in high school, influenced by my brother, Jeff, who had been an avid drummer since we were young. He would have a drumset at the house and the other boys would come over to jam. We eventually formed a band and called ourselves Prana. We enjoyed playing a string of shows Jeremy Little
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on the very much underground scene at the time. The scene was very small at then, but it was a small scene filled with a handful of talented musicians. Mind you, there were very few shows happening at the time, but when there was a show, it would be almost guaranteed to be a full house with some of the most entertaining bands from the gig circuit. I would say we were lucky to be invited to play more shows, but we must have been doing something right for this to happen with our band. The underground scene was something of its own, very different to how it is today. It was a tough scene to be in. Most times you were lucky to get paid for the show, and if you did get paid it was only a few hundred ringgit at most, which was just enough to cover your jamming fees and a little bit of pocket money for each member. The scene was predominantly English language based. Most of the bands had been writing music in English, so we fit in quite well. All heavily influenced by International music, they took what they had learned from those bands and created their own blend of music. They had creative freedom, control over their work and everything else that evolved around the band. Each band had their own agenda; their own methods of doing things. They wanted to give to the listeners something different from what the mainstream was offering. We eventually got signed up by one of the mainstream labels and released our debut album, ‘Have A Nice Jaywalk’, the following year. Our album turned out to be successful and had brought a lot of interest to the band from people all over the country, but, mind you, it was not all smooth sailing working with a mainstream label. We eventually parted ways with them, and decided that we should give it a try doing it on our own. Working under the label taught us many valuable things. We had picked up knowledge on running a label, promoting and marketing bands, distribution of music products, contracts, etc. They were lessons that helped us build the foundation of Laguna Music today. We learned the way in which they had promoted their artists, but we knew there had to be a different formula to this. Not every band wants to be told what to do and how to be. We were from a D.I.Y culture. We learned to do things ourselves, and so did many of the other bands that had been emerging. In 2002, Greenhouse Studio and Laguna Records were born. The studio was opened to give the opportunity to younger bands a chance to record their songs at affordable rates, targeting newer bands. The label was created for Jeremy Little
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the release of Prana’s sophomore album. Eventually, the business had grown steadily and started to build its name within the industry. The company was eventually rebranded to Laguna Music. As the new General Manager of the label, I was now more determined than ever to make an impact in the industry. I had always been quite an organised person, so I worked towards reorganizing the business and finding new ways for us to market and to diffuse our music to further reaches. The businesses were formed at a time when there were great changes happening in the music industries worldwide. Sales of music CD’s were dropping everywhere with the widespread growth of piracy and especially the growth of the Internet. We had been fully aware of what was happening, but we had smaller targets to reach as compared to the major labels, so we knew we wouldn’t be as affected as they were. We had a smaller target market to reach and a smaller sales target to achieve. However, the growth of the Internet did become a great advantage to us. We were able to advertise and promote our music to people at no cost. We were in direct contact with our fans and were able to push to them our music without friction or fuss. Internet social platforms, like MySpace, brought the entire music industry to a whole different level. Musicians didn’t need to be signed up to a mainstream label to be heard anymore. The D.I.Y culture had grown rapidly and accessibility to new music was just a click of the mouse button away. Bands were now able to record songs, post them online and within seconds they could get feedback from their fans. The ways of the music business constantly changes worldwide. That’s what I find most intriguing about it. Music business models have endured multiple and constant transformation throughout the past 50 years and technological advances has been the biggest factor. The formats in which music is sold have changed many times throughout the years. We’ve listened to music on different formats many times over the past 20 years alone. From vinyl to magnetic tape to compact discs and now to digital audio files. The changes have lead to growth as well as decline. What I’ve learnt by running my own business is that there’s no one set way of how you have to run your business. There’s many ways that it can be done. You just have to keep working towards finding the formula that is right for you and your business. If it doesn’t work the first time, then just keep working until you achieve what you set out to achieve.
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It is always important to find your niche. You can either go into a business and copy what someone else is doing and be in direct competition with them, or you can try and create something that is unique only to your business and create a new market for yourself. Of course the latter possesses a bigger challenge, but it can potentially create a bigger and longer lasting impact for the business. We’ve had a small roster of bands that have been signed with us; Prana, SevenCollar T-Shirt, Estrella, PureVibracion, Lab The Rat & Guba. People tend to ask me about how we choose our bands but it’s usually quite a tough question to answer because there just isn’t any formula to it. Most of them just came in our path and we had a good feeling about it. We’ve been quite lucky with the bands that we’ve signed, with each of them achieving a fair bit for our company, helping to expand our name. Bands simply don’t come off the shelf ready made so it does require a bit of time to work and develop each artist. We like to work closely with our artists, to help them grow, to guide them to what we feel is good for them. They are like an investment for our company and we need to help them grow to achieve the most for the company. Honing skills, tweaking songs and creating concepts are some of the things we focus on. This also gives the band time to adjust to working with us. It’s important for the label and artist to have a good understanding of each other, to know each others goals, and to work together to create new goals. We’ve tried hard to develop new ways of promoting our bands and selling our music. Some of which have worked but some have failed. It’s a process of trial and error. Some campaigns might work well with some bands but not with others. It’s really about finding what’s right for that specific artist. You simply cannot create a template model and use it for all your artists and be successful with all. Its important not to rush on a project to allow you focus on what matters the most, and in music that would be the songs themselves. We like to give the creative song writing freedom to our artists. We let them write the songs and choose what songs should be placed in the album. Besides, we wouldn’t have signed them if we didn’t believe in their music. It’s hard to say what will sell and what won’t. Some songs become big hits and we can’t understand why, and some songs, which you hope will become a hit, might flop. Nonetheless, it’s always important to make sure the recording of the song is of the highest standards. The recording process tends to be a slow process of trying to make sure you have achieved the maximum to your effort in making it a loveable Jeremy Little
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song. There’s only so much you can do to a song to make it perfect, but you’re most probably only going to record that song once in your life, so it’s best make the most out of it. Our bands play a wide mix of genres, which makes our music quite diverse. To be different and to stand out, you have to push some boundaries. We’ve done this through the type of music that we produce. It becomes a bit of a challenge, for you to take your work into some unknown territory and make it a success, but if you succeed, then that achievement makes it all worthwhile and keeps you driven to achieve more. We always have to think of ways to stay ahead, and make an impact with our work. We’ve got to think of ways to get our music heard and noticed. I can proudly say that we’ve achieved numerous milestones throughout our time and I can safely say that our bands are amongst the best in their genres in the country. Success to me isn’t just about how much money you’ve made, but what you have achieved and how many milestones you’ve reached throughout your career. We’re all businessmen in a way but its not always just about making money. Creative people tend to work based on the passion for the art they create. Most musicians are really passionate about playing and making music. Its passion for what you do that makes you dedicated to working towards your goals and you tend to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. I’ve seen many musicians struggle without money for the sake of their passion for playing music. Some struggle more than others, but it’s the struggles that brings people together and work closer together to achieve similar goals. No one said working in the entertainment industry was going to be straightforward and easy. There’s a higher standard to accomplish these days and bands have to put in much more effort to get where they want to be. Are the younger musicians as willing to go through the same struggle though? I’ve noticed many bands these days that tend to take the shortcut route, by applying the same concepts as some of their successful peers. The moment they see one band being successful, they try to follow on and they hope for the exact same success story to happen to them, forgetting how to be unique. Its one thing to be influenced by another band and apply those influences into your own blend of music, but it’s totally a different thing just trying to be a carbon copy of that band. Musicians do tend to get influenced by popular bands and their success stories Jeremy Little
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that drive many of them to create their own bands, but its what each band applies to their career that makes them stand out amongst the others. New ideas, concepts and marketing tactics keep the industry fresh, helping it grow, with even the more experienced bands and labels learning to keep up with the next generation of bands. There are many artists that run and manage their music careers by themselves, but there are a number of them that aren’t very knowledgeable on the actual business of music. Many become popular as a live performing artist, or from the release of a single, but whilst focusing on building up their name or the band’s name, by ways of shows and promotional campaigns, many of these artists overlook the many other streams of revenue that can be capturedfrom the usage and airplay of their songs. Many of the established major and mainstream record labels have been around for decades now and are benefiting from the associations and societies that they have created over the years: Societies for the collection of royalty money from the usage of their songs and associations to dictate and represent the industry as a whole. Many of these forms of royalties collected by these societies, are usually waiting to be collected by the rightful owners of the songs, many of which aren’t registered and are losing out on the opportunity for this additional income. Unfortunately, members of these associations have created alliances amongst each other and have developed programs for their own benefits, making it harder for smaller enterprises to develop, leaving some independent artists and labels reluctant to join. While the newer bands face obstacles to build up their name, the more established recording artists are continuing with their own struggle to generate sales from their music. The industry as a whole has hit a bit of a slump, with artists earnings dropping significantly. Fewer people are spending on entertainment and there is less purchasing of music and with the reduction of income from lack of sales, bands continue the fight to survive, making it all the more necessary for bands to work harder and make the most out of their music. Online piracy definitely has had a big effect on the slump in the industry today. Malaysian people have become so used to the ease of illegally downloading music online, many without even realising the damage caused to the industry. The value of music has become almost non-existent. It’s quite hard to convince Jeremy Little
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a person to buy a song from you when they know they can easily download the song for free. This has lead to people wanting more free music, even when it comes to shows and concerts. We can’t deny the fact the Malaysians love free things. Given the opportunity, if you can get it for free, you’d try and get it. The entire infrastructure of how music is sold has been affected due to this. Music retail shops don’t generate enough revenue to survive, causing most of them to close down. As a label you want to have your music sold to as wide of a network as u can, but with fewer music stores around, your sales will eventually drop. The platforms to which music is sold, evolves with the developments in the digital world and we constantly have to look out for new ways to have our music sold. More recently, we’ve been active in looking to develop new platforms for independent musicians to have their music sold. I found that one of the main causes leading to the drop in music sales has also been due to the fact that music is not as accessible as it used to be, but many Malaysians still seem very open to purchasing Malaysian made music products. CD sales aren’t as high as they once were, but there are enough sales to continue producing them. We developed an online store, which would enable us to have our physical products sold worldwide. It became our store where we choose what music we want to sell. Creating a platform for not only our bands, but also other bands looking to have their music sold on a wider scale. As part of our extended mission to stimulate the growth of the physical products, we had also created a campaign together with 7-Eleven Malaysia, the largest chain of stores in Malaysia, giving the opportunity for Malaysian artists to have CD’s to be sold in every corner of the country. This was a campaign that made Laguna one of the big players for distribution of music CD’s. I’m a firm believer in the survival of the physical product and the importance of it. The physical product enables the artist to showcase a concept of art not only through their music, but also through their artwork on the album cover. A concept of a band. A package of songs. A concept packaged as a product. The CD album gives the artist a purpose for creating their songs and although the music we listen is mainly digital, having the physical product makes what you’re listening to a bit more of a reality. To be able to flip through pages of printed artwork and read the linear notes and special thanks of an artist makes you understand more of what the band is all about. It allows people to Jeremy Little
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appreciate the effort that was put into the making the song and the album. Digital music has caused us to forget this and we have lost our value for the music. Although this digital age has made it easier for us to spread music quickly and to a wider market, but the quality of the music itself has decreased tremendously. The music people download illegally online are usually of low quality standards for music playback. The next generation of musicians in Malaysia will eventually grow up used to listening to low quality music, meaning that they have lost the concept of depth, tone and quality, which they won’t apply to their future recordings. We all can foresee the eventual outcome of the physical product with the rapid growth of the digital industry, but one of the questions that I’ve kept asking myself is “Are we are ready for a fully digital industry?”. We’ve seen the changes happening worldwide. Gadgets we use all allow us to carry our digital music with us where ever we go, so it’s only natural for us to be more inclined towards heading to a fully digital industry. Unfortunately, technology progresses faster than we can accommodate. The Malaysian people are still relatively new to buying online, many are reluctant to purchase products without seeing it first and many more don’t own credit cards to be able to make the purchase. Although the mobile ring-back tone service has been highly successful in terms of sales, it remains as the only form of digital sales in Malaysia that artists and labels are generating sustainable revenues from. The other formats of digital music such as full song downloads have been unsuccessful in achieving sales high enough. On that note, it’s only the more popular local artists in the country that are actually able to achieve high numbers of downloads, leaving the newer and lesser popular artists to be in a constant struggle to generate enough revenue just to sustain themselves. For the consumers, millions of ringgits are spent annually on these 30-second ringtone clips of songs for other people to listen. So what do these consumers listen to themselves? The question is, are they still buying music for themselves or are they just illegally downloading it? The trend of purchasing of caller ring-back tones will eventually fade away as most trends do, it’s already started to, and so what will be next? Several companies have tried to open up a market for selling full songs but have failed. With physical sales at its lowest point, and digital sales declining drastically, the business of music will eventually come to a standstill, with labels waiting for whats to come next. Is it the mindset of the people that we have to change first? Or are the bands and labels simply not working hard enough to convince people to start appreciating the music? Jeremy Little
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Despite these issues, a majority of the mainstream and major labels are focusing fully into the growth of the digital market, and moving away totally from the physical product. But should we be following the path of external music industries? Keeping in mind that the external industries heading toward the full shift to the digital market are more prepared; online purchasing is stronger and are more established, as well as having stricter enforcements against piracy. Keeping in mind, that the sales of cassette tapes through Malaysia were still equally as high as CD up to just a few years ago. We also can’t keep relying on corporate organisations to keep funding our projects. In fact they have already shown less of an interest in supporting the smaller events and projects that don’t pull large enough audiences. The growth of independent music had caught the eye of many corporate companies a few years back and they had seen the potential and growing demand for these local bands. The easiest way for these companies to reach out their brands to the masses was to host ‘free’ concerts. As a result of this, many independent organisers, hosting ticketed events, suffered heavy financial losses, deterring other independent organisers from produce their own events. Coming to a situation where shows that do take place are heavily dependent on sponsorships, but since the economic decline, they too have decreased. You might wonder why I would keep running a music business in a time where record labels have become unnecessary and hard to sustain. Bands don’t see the need of signing with label, as it’s easy enough to create and promote their single online and through local radio. It’s also easy enough to book their own shows. What would they need to be signed for? Well on many levels this is true. If you’re willing enough to push your music and manage your own career, this will probably be the best thing for you. There are many artists out there that have become successful managing their own careers. Though, many independent artists still do remain dependent on labels for the marketing, distribution and publishing of their songs. As a label we have the advantage of having built a solid network and system to have music promoted and sold throughout the country and even worldwide, leaving the artists to concentrate on their creative work. Labels do play an important role in making sure the structure of the business of music remains intact. Should the major labels have played a bigger role with the development of local music in the past to avoid all this though? The major labels in Malaysia have been known to focus mainly on the international Jeremy Little
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market, feeding listeners with an overflow of foreign music, neglecting the growth of its homegrown music. We could have possibly have built a more solid foundation to our local industry, like that of our neighbouring countries, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand where their local industry is booming. In this tenth year of me being involved with all this, I’ve gotten to a point in my career where I feel there’s a need for me to step up my game and become more active in the development of the industry. Development in infrastructure of the music business has somewhat fascinated me. Hopefully, over the next several years, we would have reached a level where we have been instrumental in the growth of the industry. The value of music has decreased, in a similar way to which currencies decrease. The more money that is printed the actual value of each unit decreases. Unfortunately, money isn’t given out for free, in a similar way to which music isn’t made for free. Survival in this industry is really a matter of how well you play your cards. There are many paths that you can choose from. No path is the right and no path is wrong, but it does require a lot of passion, determination and patience for success, to maintain a steady career in this industry. Our habits have to change for this industry to survive. We have to start appreciating the value of music. Value the work behind making the music. Value the amount of time people put into their music work. Malaysians also need to start believing in their homegrown products and stop comparing Malaysian music to that of other countries. We know that music won’t die. I would hate to live in a world without music. The business of music won’t die either. It’ll just keep going through changes until it finds stability. The one thing that keeps music alive throughout the ups and downs are the passionate people that work and struggle for the sake of making music to entertain others.
Jeremy Little
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#projekbuku
“I’m In A Band. Where Do I Go From Here?” by Jipie
Jipie is the frontman for local rock band Pesawat. 231
Hi my name is Hudzaifei Hazmi, also known as Jipie. I’m the vocalist, guitarist, pianist, lyricist, composer, organizer, designer, planner, manager, arranger, executer, administrator, writer, right-brainer, marketer, photographer, videographer and editor, as you can see, I do pretty much everything for my band, PESAWAT and my record label, PRAMUGARU MUSIC. Yeah, you must be wondering why do I wear so many hats for my band. You might be thinking that I’m ‘Gila kuasa.’ It is actually because my band is independent and so all five of us take full responsibility of everything about the band, from what kind of music we want to play, how we are going to represent our music to people, to how far we want to take our music. Let me tell you a little bit about my band, PESAWAT. We play indie rock, infused with a little bit of post-punk and we also try to inject some traditional Malay music into our songs. We formed the band in 2005 before Myspace music, youtube or facebook existed. Back then, there were Kudux (drums), Edzly (guitar), Nizam Camel (bass) and me (guitar & vocals) in PESAWAT. Now we have Kudux (drums), Nizam Camel (guitar), Mann (bass), Danial (synthesizer) and me (guitar, piano, vocal). To date, we have one album entitled ‘Take Off’, which was launched in July 2011 after releasing seven singles since 2008. Our breakthrough in the music industry was in 2008 with our first single called Jipie
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‘Mirage’. My initial intention to form the band was purely for fun. I just love playing gigs, attend gigs, enjoy and listen to music that I can relate to. I first realized that it would be cool to have a band after watching a video of Metallica performing ‘Creeping Death’ live. I forgot which concert the video was of but it really caught my attention. From then, I picked up guitar and learnt my first song; it was ‘When I Come Around’ by ‘Green Day.’ I didn’t limit myself to listen to any specific genre only. To me, music is supposed to embrace as a whole, not in segments. Some of my favorite artists include Cliff Richard, R.Azmi, Sarah Mclachlan, Jamiroquai, Snoop Dog, Dave Matthews Band, System of a Down, Sepultura, Lamb, Morrissey, Gipsy Kings, Pearl Jam, The Used, Mogwai, and banyak lagi lah. ‘Alternatif’ was my favorite TV show. It was about underground local music scene hosted by Lee, Joe Kidd and Reza Saturnine. The show really showcased a lot of local bands like Chronic Mass, Saturnine, Dead Mushroom and so on. I wonder if TV3 is ever going to revive the show. There are tons of good local bands now and I’m sure they can appear on a episodes of the show, if it is revived. To get my music career started, I pushed myself to get involved in the ‘socalled’ music scene that we had back then. It was known more as ‘underground’ rather than ‘indie’ as how it is called nowadays. I got my music influence and cassettes/CDs supply from my brother who used to play drums for a punk band called Problem. My brother introduced me to Bad Religion, Cromok, The Living End and so on. In those days, I’ve attended a lot of gigs especially whenever Butterfingers, Carburetor Dung, OAG, Projek A.K, Subculture, Koffin Kanser, ACAB or The Pilgrims were on the list. Watching my favorite bands perform live really made me want to have my own. So, I formed a band (a few, actually) with my friends and we played covers. At that time, I got to know a lot of gig organizers, bands, musicians, zine writers and all the movers and shakers of the scene. To get a slot for a gig was not easy. You need to know the right person. So networking played an important role. I had to convinced gig organizers to select my band to play at their show with a raw demo cassette. There was no internet yet and it really costs a fortune to record a song at a studio. I believed then and now that hard work will pay off. You’ll never know where and what you’ll be someday. Another thing that I recall about the scene back then is there was a lot of gig Jipie
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‘campur’ or mixed gigs where you can see different kinds of bands share the stage to play music of different genre. Those gigs were somewhat like a mini music festival where you can see lot of colors. It was nice to see gig goers with torn jeans, grunge attire, skin head, dreadlocks, long hair, punk hairdo, denim jacket, boots, and a whole lot more all in one place. One of the good things about gig campur for a band is that you get to showcase your music to those who attended the gig, across all genres. It was good enough to reach them, nevermind if they didn’t dig your music. Back then, normally gigs were organized by individuals without a permit (which is because it wasn’t easy at all to get), so we’ve had to be ready to run in case the venue got raided by the authority. Nowadays, there are more gigs organized specifically for a certain genre only. Grunge with their own gig, metalcore with their community, ska with their skanking and reggae fans, indie rock with ‘indie’nyalah and so on. You can only see all music goers in the same place at music festivals like Rock the World or Rockaway. It is good to see how local live music scene has evolved in Malaysia with more music festivals now. It’s a good change as a lot of ‘underground’ artists/bands can make a seamless transition to the mainstream music and some people have even said that ‘Indie is the new mainstream’. The only unhealthy effect is that there are just too many free concerts! Let’s say, a band plays at a gig that charges RM25 for a ticket but next week the same band is going to play at a free concert organized or sponsored by some company where everything is taken care of. The dilemma for many music fans, especially those who have limited disposable income is should they pay RM25 this week or just wait another week to watch the band for free? It’s a no brainer, who doesn’t like free stuff? This includes illegal downloads. I think it’s not easy for a band to survive when these continue. Music is something that you can’t force upon a person. You can’t force someone to write songs within a certain time unless he is a maestro. It has never crossed my mind when I first formed the band that I would make it big or earn a decent income with my music like now. I’ve never thought like, “Ok, let’s write a catchy song and make money, become rich and famous”. Music is just something that I’m very passionate about and comes naturally to me. So I’ve started to learn how to write my own songs instead of just playing covers. My first song with PESAWAT was called ‘Modula Oblongata’. I got an idea to write the song after watching a movie called ‘Water Boy’. It’s a comedy movie about a boy with some mental disability ending up becoming a quarterback for a football team. The song has nothing to do with the movie though. Yeah, inputs do not necessarily end up as outputs. Hahaha. Years after writing the song, Jipie
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jamming and changing the arrangement of the song, I have finally managed to record the song at a studio with a decent quality. Then, I uploaded the song on Myspace and I was really surprised with the response. It was astounding! I have received a lot of comments about it from around the globe. It got me thinking, “Hey this Myspace thing really works!” So I’ve decided to write more songs, upload it on Myspace and let our fan base grow from there. I have received rave reviews about my songs and one invitation for an interview with a local English tabloid that really caught my eyes. It was from the man behind this projekbuku. Yes, the man himself, Adly Syari Ramly. He wanted to feature us in the Malay Mail and let the country know about our existence. A few days after that, we were featured in the ‘Below the Radar’ segment in Malay Mail. He bought our demo at a gig and suggested me to release ‘Mirage’ as my band’s first single. I got an idea to write the song during my journey from JB back to KL. JB was where all the inspiration came from and now she stays in KL. I still remember when we first played ‘Mirage’ live at a gig in Mont Kiara. It was disastrous! Hahaha. Both of our guitars had broken strings so we had to bear with drum and bass to finish the song. Yeah, sh*t happens. You are going to face ups and downs especially in the music industry. After that, my bandmates and I rerecorded our first single ‘Mirage’ and sent the song to radio and TV stations. XFM was the first radio station to play the song. Alhamdulillah, the song became an instant hit and it was played on most radio stations. We got a call from Channel [V] to feature us on their program called Amp Around Asia and we also got to share the stage with Nidji – a top Indonesian band, for their showcase in KL. Our musical journey has been great for us so far and it keeps on snowballing. We even got an actual airplane (Boeing 777) to launch our first music video within months after that by a collaboration with Channel [V], Malaysia Airlines and Malaysia Airport Berhad. We are the first band to ever to play a show at the KLIA departure gate and the first in Malaysia to launch a music video on an aeroplane! That was massive! Thanks to Nini Yusof and her team for landing us the gig. I’ve never thought that we can ever get a real plane to launch a music video by using the name PESAWAT for our band. By the way, PESAWAT stands for aircraft or airplane in English. The huge buzz from this got us everywhere. We’ve got invitations to play at music festival in Bandung, Indonesia, Hong Kong and also within Malaysia. It didn’t stop there and we still perform around South East Asia every now and then. Our songs have been played in radio stations in Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, and Hong Kong. Since the release of Jipie
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the first single, my band members and I have learned to become entrepreneurs. Speaking about entrepreneurship, we are back to my topic—“I’m in a band, where do I go from here?” The answer lies in you. It all depends on where you want to go and how far you want to take your music. You can actually go anywhere you want! You can be stuck with your music in your bedroom or share it with the world. There are so many ways to share your song. You can either join major label or stay independent. I chose the latter because I want to take really good care of everything related to my music myself with my friends. A question that bands always ask me is this, “How do we get our songs to be played on the radio?” There are certain criteria for songs to get an airplay. The criteria are very subjective actually—some says clarity, some says radiofriendly (no foul language and easy to digest), some says make sure it is not more than 4 minutes, and some says your song needs to be commercial. , What I can suggest are make sure that your song is recorded properly and get it mixed and mastered professionally. Basically, the quality of your song plays an important role for it to be played on the radio. Once you are confident that your song is radio material, get to know the music director of the respective radio stations and find him/her because he/she is the one who decides which songs will make the cut to be aired on their radio. Don’t give a bundle of songs and let them to decide. They don’t have time for this. You need to decide on which song you want to push as a single. Some bands don’t even know which one is their killer song or hit song. The easiest way is let a third ear to give an opinion and decide which song is the best. Make sure all the details are on the CD inlay to make it easier for the music director to get to know and contact the band. If this is your first time sending a song to a radio, do enclose your band profile. Band profile is important! My bandmates and I formed our own record label / publishing company called PRAMUGARU MUSIC to take care of everything related to PESAWAT. This includes registering with MACP, PRISM, RIM and whatever that the industry wants you to join so that you can be ‘recognized’. I learnt a lot about the inside out of our music industry during my days with ‘Meet Uncle Hussein’ (“MUH”). Yes, MUH. I used to play keyboard and piano for them as a sessionist. They are good friends of mine. Even Kudux used to be a member of MUH. During that time, performing on national TV was really strange but exciting for me. People started to recognize me and I’ve learned to adapt. Yeah, it had somehow pushed me to really push my own band. Now is the time. When our first song got into the radio, it got me thinking, how do I collect my royalties? There wasn’t any guidebook or manual on things to know and do as a band, so I’ve I’ve had to learn from scratch by asking some people from Jipie
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the music industry, doing a little bit of research on the net, and getting some guidance from friends who were more experienced. There are so many types of royalties but I’m only going to focus on royalties for songs played on TV, radio stations and live performances. In our country, we have MACP (Music Authors’ Copyright Protection) and PRISM (Performers & Artists Rights Malaysia) to monitor all these but how can we get the money? First, you need to have a music publisher. Music publisher are the one who administer the copyrights, licensing, collecting royalties on behalf of the songwriter. In our case, we decided to become our own publisher. Thus, we registered our company ‘PRAMUGARU MUSIC’ with SSM (Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia) as our record label / publisher. Hence, we have to do what music publisher does. Then, we registered ourselves with MACP as a member. There are certain criteria before you can become a member and collect royalty. You need to have at least five songs being played on radio or TV or live shows to register yourself as a composer or lyricist while a publisher need to publish at least 20 songs. You can skip all these by hiring a major label to take care of your publishing, but of course a big percentage will go straight to them. So what’s the point? Why should they reap the rewards of your hard work? You’ll get your royalty once everything is in order and when radio or TV stations or anyone who plays your songs have paid MACP. Yes, it’s that simple. By the way, the royalty is paid yearly. Don’t go knocking on their door every month for your royalties. On another note, not a lot of people know that you can actually collect royalty every time you play concerts or gigs but you need to be sure of the scale of gigs you’re playing. Some gig organizers are DIY guys who fork out their own money to organize the gig. So they won’t have enough to pay MACP. Claim your royalty from big organizers-those who have sponsors behind them. How to do that? Get the form for live performance from MACP and get the big organizer to acknowledge and send it back to MACP. As for PRISM, they collect and administer royalties for public performance, broadcasting and communication to the public on behalf of the musician. If you play any kinds of music instruments, you’ll get some royalty whenever you play concerts or TV shows. So get yourself registered with PRISM as well. Merchandise plays a major role in getting your band’s name out. As for us, Jipie
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we marketed our demo in 2007 by giving it away for free with a purchase of PESAWAT official T-shirt. One kind of marketing approach, I might say. The band’s name will act as the brand for you to market. I’ve seen fans wearing our T-shirt as far as Sabah, Hong Kong and Indonesia. But you have to make sure the T-shirt design is appealing or at least make it sellable (commercial). So start your band’s merchandise and sell it. It will somehow spark an interest for people to listen to your music, if they haven’t already. Another way to get some income and spread your music is via ring back tone. Find the catchiest part within your song and make it as a ring back tone. Sign with any content provider out there to sell your songs for people to download it. Yes, you do need to share some profit with the content provider. Hire a lawyer if you are confused with their terms or get someone who is good with contracts. You can actually become your own content provider, deal directly with telecommunication companies and take all the profit but it may take a longer process as you’d need to get yourself established first. Once you have the material to sell, package it nicely and sell it at gigs or wherever you can sell your CDs and merchandise. Don’t ever stop marketing your songs. In this digital era, it is easier to get your music out. I’m not sure if Myspace is still relevant but there are so many other avenues that can benefit you just as much or perhaps even more now like youtube, facebook and bandpage, to name a few. So don’t let your music be stuck and gather dust. Get to know other musicians around the world and make friends with them. Get your stuff on the net, spread it, and share it. Who knows some music big shot might listen to your songs. You can even sell your songs online via iTunes, Bandcamp, CD Baby, and Amazon or just do it yourself by charging people and e-mailing songs to them once the payment is made. Send an e-mail or a link about your band to music websites around the globe. I remember Afdlin Shauki sold his album entitled ‘Fuuyo!’ by letting the fans to pay whatever they think the album worth. Correct me if I’m wrong, he even got paid only RM1 for his album but yet it still one kind of marketing. In fact, I’m marketing his album right now. Alhamdulillah, within three years after releasing our first single, we have toured Malaysia, we’ve got to play at a lot of notable shows, major concerts and festivals in Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong, share the stage with big names like Butterfingers, Search, Wings, Nidji, Dewa19, Burgerkill, Mocca, Efek Rumah Kaca, Korn, NERD, Jason Mraz, Dappled Cities, Camera Obscura, DD/MM/YY, were also be featured in numerous programmes on regional and Jipie
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national TV, local and international magazines, our songs rotated on radio stations in Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong, sell our own merchandise, work with many corporate clients, enjoy some good sponsorship deals, and to top it all off, we’ve got our first album sold at record stores. The most important thing is we have learned and gained experience along our journey in the music industry to balance between the business aspect of the music industry and our passion in creating and playing music. Thanks to Myspace, and of course thanks to my loved ones, my other half, Sarah Zakaria, my parents, my friends and fans and the people who believe and support us since day 1. So what are waiting for? Go and start making music and all the best!
Jipie
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#projekbuku
Dealing With The Media by Joe Lee @ Klubbkiddkl
Joe Lee is KlubbkiddKL . 240
So you think you’re a big deal. Whether you’re a solo act, or a band, you’ve spent months musing, begging for all the necessary aid, writing, recording and now distributing your great masterpiece. Now, the real work begins. Everything else may come naturally to you, but one thing’s for sure: along with almost every other new act out there, chances are you don’t know just what you’re going to face with media interviews. Oh yes, you have a faint idea, probably, or you may have had one or two experiences, but trust me when I say even seasoned campaigners don’t know how to maximize their opportunity when it comes to the media. Dispel all ideas of an interview being strictly about media manipulation or being someone or something you’re not. No matter what the reputation of your interviewer, any interview with the media is about communicating confidently and effectively. This chapter will help you to discover what there is to know about how to make the most of your time with the press. The first thing you should remember: preparation is VITAL! Joe Lee
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This chapter is a compact, basic guide to get the most out of your media time, be it for online, print or broadcast interviews. Note this is not the be all and end all of how what you need going into an interview, but it is a fairly detailed blueprint of the outline you need to work on.
Preparation There are many levels to preparing for an interview. First of all, before you go into any interview, make sure you have already defined your media message. A media message is a collection of key points that describes what you want to highlight. For example, the launch of your single/EP/album or about your tour, etc etc. Think about how you would describe your music, your story, your journey. Be intelligent – don’t make up terms like ‘free pop’ or be prepared to be a laughing stock. Define a consistent, clear and simple message that you can use as the core of every interview. Make note of extra details you want to give out, your social media contact (sites/blog/Facebook/Twitter) as well as outlets of where to get your products, retail price and so on. Repetition and consistency will strengthen your brand, so remember it has to be locked in your memory for instant reference. Reporters and journalists are trained, knowledgeable and experienced in interviewing techniques and they work constantly to sharpen their skills. You will feel more confident in your interaction with them if you prepare too. Preparation is simply practicing. Just like if you don’t grind that axe for some time, you’re going to have troubles dishing it out. Like other more enjoyable activities, it can be done alone, or with a group of people. It may seem comical for some to rehearse interviews, but trust me, it’ll work to your benefit.
Practise Practising gets you further than you think. And that’s why it should done way before an interview. There are many ways you can practice an interview:
1 Choose a person who is serious about helping. Do a mock interview with them. Or if you’re a solo act, the mirror is your best friend. Trust me, it is NOT a waste of time. 2 Practise with list of anticipated questions. Joe Lee
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3 Fully answer each question as best you can without sending yourself to sleep.
4 Set a firm time limit for each answer so you don’t go on… and on… and on… and on… like the damn Energizer bunny.
5 Record practice interview sessions to see how you look/sound. 6 Work to shorten your answers. Again, this refers back to No. 3 as many tend to say too much with too little worth any interest.
7 LISTEN to questions and don’t talk over the interviewer. 8 Be concise and say the most important thing first. 9 Keep your cool! Never appear agitated, irritated, pissed, upset or angry in your facial expressions, body language, tone of voice or choice of words.
J Practise shrugging off hypothetical situations. If it didn’t happen, don’t allow for speculation. ‘What if’ questions should always follow with a “I’ll let you know when that happens/when I face it”. K Practise for ‘machine gunning’ or a rapid succession of questions to confuse you. That is one of the devices to intimidate/rattle people to get them messed up in order to do juicier stuff. L Interruptions are used to throw you off your ‘script’. So when someone jumps in to throw another question before, stop them and answer one at a time. Or more politely, listen to them go on and on, and answer one by one. If you’re a solo act, you have no choice but to study and prepare. If you’re a band, look for the great talker among you. The funniest, most charismatic person is always the best spokesperson for the band. All the practicing aside, sometimes, however it’s also a question of common sense. Common sense, apart from practice, is your greatest asset in dealing with interviews.
Different Media Understanding the needs of each different medium will give you confidence and enable you to send your message and provide value to your interaction. Here are the media outlets you need to be familiar with. Print (newspapers/magazines) Publications are an opportunity for more in-depth coverage than other forms of media. Be it in person or over the phone, be perceptive. If someone is writing, or typing slowly, slow down or you may just lose them, and they may miss what you have to say. If they’re recording it in any way, it still doesn’t give you the right to be a bore.
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Likewise, don’t drone on, and signs of yawning may give it away that you’re just plain boring. Understand every publication has a different angle, and you need to fit your message into their content, so learn to skew it to what they may be looking for. For example, doing an interview with Mangga, is going to be VERY different from one with The Star. READ! Famliarizing yourself with the content of various publications will allow you to navigate more appropriately through the interviews, offering your interviewer what they are looking for. Radio We’re talking recorded interviews here that call for short concise answers called sound bites that should last no longer than 20 seconds. Practice your responses with your watch to get a feel for what you can say in that time. They may ask you specific questions or ask open-ended queries that have no definite answer. Open-ended queries are general questions, like “What do you think of (insert topic here)” that do not have a definite answer, thus allowing the possibility of rambling. Either way, learn to be compact and concise in your answers that deliver maximum information, delivered straight to the point. Television There are several formats for TV interviews. First, the edited interview. Expect even an hour of interview to be condensed to a 15 to 30 second piece on air. Again, going straight to the point without being monosyllabic is important. Your primary message should come out in your first sentence and make sure your answers can stand alone. If the reporter has to piece together answers, they might not use the information the way you present it. Don’t try to fill dead air and stop after you answer a question. In all kinds of interviews, learn to recognize different situations. Then there’s the hostile interview. This is more often a confrontational, issue-based interview (think scandals, gossip, or in the TV context, Melodi). Preparation is the key to an effective interview in this situation. Know the issues likely to be raised and most of all, know the points you want to get across. Be Joe Lee
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firm but pleasant, keep your cool, hold your ground, and correct inaccuracies. Then there’s the hijacked interview. As with hostile interviews, a reporter indicates they want an interview on one subject, and suddenly switches to some other, usually controversial, issue. This is the most common approach used, and realise that first of all, that you have the right to end the interview immediately as you were lured on. This may not be the best solution and should be used only when really pressed on a VERY controversial topic. And then there’s the press conference. It is the most efficient way to reach the maximum number of journalists from all types of media. Deliver your message as if you were addressing a small gathering of friends, and never attempt to be too formal. And don’t forget to establish eye contact. There’s also the talk show. This is a lighter style, but remind yourself not to be complacent and to stay on message and maintain your professional appearance. A wide range of subjects may be covered so please be prepared not to look blonde on national TV. Always use simple English or Bahasa Malaysia and avoid technical language or jargon, or explain them immediately. Be human and use personal stories and that are more human interest to enable people to relate to you. Remember, never be the one to cause other people to switch channels.
Style Remember the media love quotes and sound bites, so keep your answers short, concise and positive. Having a successful interview encompasses a variety of techniques that are largely a function of attitude. NEVER assume a passive mode as you need to influence the direction of the interview so that you’re always in control. In other words, don’t just sit on your ass and wait for questions, but engage in conversation. Get in the mood by remembering these tips : • Be confident and relaxed. Don’t be a frigid bore, and learn to have fun while not overdoing it. Joe Lee
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• Avoid technical terms and acronyms so it’s easily understood by all. • Keep your answers simple and concise. This simply means, don’t take more than two minutes to answer something simple.
• If you don’t know the answer, admit it. Trying to appear smart when you’re not is likely to make you look dumber than ever.
• Never say “No comment.” Explain why you can’t offer an answer. For
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example: “I can’t reveal that at this point, but I will speak about it soon” or something along those lines. Again, at least you don’t end up making yourself seem stupid. One example I can give is when I interviewed Rihanna and brought up the question of religion. She politely declined to answer and stated, “My religious views are not pertinent to my career, so therefore I apologize as I choose not to answer that.” Use the methods of bridging, hooking or flagging. For example, if someone is asking you why you’re releasing just a single/EP instead of an album, bridge your response in this fashion: “Yes, we had budget constraints, but what we’re offering is a value added product. Included in our single/EP is a free etc etc”. Bridging is best for promotion, by connecting two topics, and also a great diversion in cases of negativity. Remember, you’re in control and this is one of the best devices you can use. Try not to introduce too much information; it can cause confusion and result in an inaccurate or out of context statement. If the reporter’s question contains misinformation, address or correct the inaccuracies in the information before you respond. If you make a mistake while answering, say so and restate your answer. State it so that the misunderstanding does not become a fact. Follow ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers with an explanation. Monosyllables are boring and not quotable. And honestly, again, they make you appear lacking in content between the ears. I have a personal motto I teach new artistes. There are no dumb questions, only dumb answers. So while something may be random, and you may feel it’s unrelated, it’s your intelligence that can make something of it. For example, one interview I had with P!nk, had the question “So, P!nk, do you have any pets?” from a teen magazine. While most would find that useless, P!nk turned it around and offered a funny anecdote: “Yes, I have two dogs. One of them is named—Can I say this in Asia?—well one of them is named Fucker. I named him that so I can throw open the doors, let him run out, and go chasing him down the street yelling, ‘HEY FUCKER!’” What was a boring, irrelevant question, provided a lighter, human story that was comical and revealing of P!nk’s sense of humour. Never speak OFF THE RECORD. No matter how friendly you might be with a reporter unless you have a superior personal friendship. You should
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always expect that anything you say could someday appear in print. As above, never assume the camera is off. Anything you say is fair game, remember that. Always tell the truth. Just learn to be selective of what to share. Don’t be defensive. Not everyone is going to like you or your work. So take a chill pill and relax. Especially in media interviews, no one’s personally hating on you. It’s their job. Never ask to edit a reporter’s written or recorded story. You may ask their direction or angle, but never ask for a copy to approve. You are not a diva. • Concentrate on the interviewer. Maintain eye contact with him/her. Don’t look at the camera or the floor or even your fingers or girlfriend. It’s rude. Keep your head up. If you’re sitting, sit up straight. Don’t slouch or lean to one side. More often than not, body language says more than what you expect. After 16 years in the business, I can attest to the fact that journalists know what you’re thinking by your body language. So watch it. For TV interviews, when standing, keep still. Don’t sway or bounce on the balls of your feet. Any movement is exaggerated on camera. Let your hands drop naturally to your sides and use natural hand movements for emphasis. Avoid choppy motions with your hands. Keep your hands and arms below your shoulders and away from your face. Do not look at or lean into the microphone. You’re not doing a concert or a blowjob on it. Avoid nodding your head unnecessarily. It may signal agreement even when you don’t mean to. Formal in-studio interviews have a dress code. Adhere. Don’t look like you just woke up, and please, don’t have body odour or the breath to go with it. Also, no boogers, stray nose hairs, bits of food in your teeth like a velociraptor extra from Jurassic Park. Look in the mirror before doing an interview and check. A minute will save you a lifetime of embarrassment. NEVER wear sunglasses or glasses that darken automatically. Keep the rockstar in the attitude, not faux mysteriousness of shades. That’s so yesterday. Don’t wear a hat or anything with a commercial logo on it! Thank the reporter for the interview. A positive follow-through might be the most important effort you make! Plus, it also shows good upbringing. The reporter may need more information to complete the story. Be sure to provide any necessary clarification right then and there or follow up yourself or using your management. Quickly clarify any points you felt were in not clear, or it may be printed as fact.
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• Remember you have given permission for the interview, you have relinquished the right to control what is written or aired. If a correspondent makes a mistake or uses something out of context, you may call the reporter or editor to point out the error, but ONLY if it is very significant or you may seem uptight. Don’t expect a retraction, but know that you’re helping to clarify the story to avoid similar future error. Only in serious cases demand retraction or apology.
Preparation You may not be used to talking about yourself, especially when it’s in explicit and excessive detail. Respectable music journalists (and there really aren’t that many) don’t like it too. We just want simple, straightforward facts, with a little bit of juice to make it interesting. Learn to highlight your achievements, even when you don’t think you’ve accomplished much, but be aware not to over-toot your horn. After so many interviews (for those who are not doing it for the first time), try not to repeat yourself, either by just presenting the necessary information by glossing over them (only if you’re not dealing with a lame interviewer), or by highlighting points that can be used. More experienced journalists may already have an angle in mind either before the interview or as it proceeds, so do ‘guide’ it by being confident, comfortable and improvisational, and offer colourful and interesting quote-worthy lines. Most journalists aren’t out to make you look bad, but be aware that of your appearance – your wardrobe, body language and choice of words etc, as these sometimes help back up a statement. As mentioned before, body language is THAT important. Note that the coward’s way is to arrange an email interview, where you, or you or a more intelligent friend, send in the most well thought out and eloquent quotes after three sleepless nights of pondering how to make you sound smart. This is not agreeable to most, but definitely welcomed by the lazier lot who just want to cut and paste and build sentences around what you’ve offered. The smarter way to prepare in that fashion is anticipate questions, have ready answers, and reword them verbatim. Throw in a favourite quote or two that you can offer looking smarter than you are, but not too smart or it will look out Joe Lee
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of character. Asking for an appropriate list of questions to be forwarded denotes weakness. Be prepared to be refused an interview altogether if you resort to this as most journalists judge that as either ‘diva’ or dumb-ass avoidance. Prepare by staying on top of what has been written about you in the past and where you fit into the current scenario today (taking into account the situation and latest topics or trends). Read or watch videos of straight Q&As with other artists that have already been published and expect the format of your interview to be something along those lines. Character-revealing anecdotes, are, in the end, are what people actually want to read about. Preparing for an interview is not that hard, but the art of conversation is. Learn that the natural course of an interview also requires some degree of being spontaneous. Never expect the same brand of interviewer to greet you, and always be prepared for it. Just like you should expect them to know at least a wee bit of you, be prepared to engage them with something relevant to their publication or programme. Generally most will be respectful, but that does not mean you won’t get a hard question. Be human in response, but do think. An interview has to be conversational, neither monotonous nor boringly rehearsed. Talk as you would with a friend. Leave no awkward pauses and be on top of the interview. The media is YOUR most powerful ally in getting the facts out to the public.
Reminders A fail-safe for any interview is always record the interview. This is not really recommended as it can create unnecessary distrust with a well-intentioned reporter but it is insurance that nothing is misquoted. Don’t wing it and make things up on the spot. You are never that good. Even when you are, you’re only human, and taking an unnecessary risk is never worth it. Don’t let me be right and discover you messed up. Remember that Joe Lee
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reporters are not here to promote you. They don’t care how great your product is. They want a story and that’s what you are to them. And most importantly – KEEP YOUR FOCUS!
The Shortcut In closing, if you found this chapter confusing, let me give you my personal instant formula that I give kids today as a checklist. It’s called the ‘get rich’ guide. As in get R.I.C.H. R is for respectful. Being respectful of your surroundings in acknowledging and greeting everyone there, respectful of your interviewer through being informed, and respectful or your body language and attitude. I is for intelligence. Knowing what you’re talking about shows real passion. Don’t be upset if people dismiss you as a poseur or wannabe just because you’re not articulate enough. C is for courteous. Be polite, please. Remember, the publication or programme can always get another artiste. You however, have a limited amount of avenues for publicity if you want to go big time. Ask for business cards and remember the media by at least a first name, and who they represent. If you don’t do that, don’t be surprised if no one takes the time to remember who you are or what you do. H is for honesty. Knowing what you should say, and how to mask damaging facts, is not being fake. I know some in the business today like Noh of Hujan and Yuna who have gotten bad press at the start of their career simply for being ‘real’. The fact remains that people only get a public façade of you, so it’s about being as honest as you can be. You don’t have to be plastic, nor do you have to be overtly obnoxious to be ‘real’, which is always the case for most newcomers seeking to establish their public identity. Allowing your personality and emotions to shine through will endear you to new fans, and help you build a rapport with the journalist and fans. In closing, practice and practice some more. When you perform, you send out your message through your songs. Likewise, interviews are the non-musical complement to your work. Having interviewed thousands of artistes in my 16 years, I have found that our musical fraternity is way behind in terms of how they express themselves.
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This is a serious skill to add to your list of must-haves, and when you have it down, trust me, it’s a big obstacle in your career overcome.
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#projekbuku
This Is How You Do It: Sending Your Song To The Radio Station by Kartini Ariffin
Kartini Ariffin was a radio announcer as well as a Music Director at Hot FM. 252
So many people have walked in and out of this office, at all times of the day, and they come to me with the same objective and many pose the same question. Some come with so many questions and some with none at all. Honestly, I never get bored explaining to my visitors, although I tend to repeat myself with different individuals who come in. But that’s okay, it’s my job. I think it is important for people to know how our system works here. We are transparent; we have got nothing to hide. Hence, when I saw the opportunity to further disseminate the information, I seized it without a second thought. Ok let’s get straight to business. Sending your song for air play to the radio station: how does it work? What happens next after that masterpiece of yours lands on the table of the Music Director? Well, I can only speak on behalf of the radio station that I work for, thus it could be different with other establishments. Anyway, all local songs that come to us will get air play. It goes into a weekend slot, where the latest and newest songs are previewed. Your song regardless from any kind of genre will get air play, if not twice or three times, at least once, Kartini Ariffin
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in this slot. The week after, we must make way for other songs to be previewed here. It’s just fair, right? Give others an opportunity also lah. In one slot we are able to preview around eleven to thirteen songs. Now, that it has been given some air time, what’s next? When can it go into the normal playlist? The next stage is a little crucial. Your song will be analysed and debated in a music meeting and then judged by our music jury. Who are these people? They are our listeners. They are the ones who will be rating your songs. You can check out our website and follow thru on how to be one of our music jury. The selection is random, thus it is highly unlikely that you will get a cluster of people who just love one particular song/genre/artist. A tabulated result gives us an indication of how well or unwell the response is for that particular song. And just like any other exam, only the high flyers, the cream of the crop, the A-list, will move on to the next stage. And how long does that last? It really depends. Some songs stay with us for months before it moves to the next stage, and some just a matter of weeks. So, if my song doesn’t move to the next stage what should I do? I suggest you keep on sending us new, fresh and good material for assessment. Do not get discouraged, you’ve got to keep on trying. Bear in mind that your competition is really stiff. New songs land here on a daily basis, so you got to make sure that your product is high above the rest. Okay, I hope I have clarified some of the things and having said that, you are more than welcome to send your materials to us, in person or courier or email – all methods are accepted as long as your songs are in the right format (MP3 or WAV), and of broadcast quality. And before, I leave, just a couple more tips to sending your materials: 1 Label them nicely. State the name of the artist and the title of the song clearly. 2 Together with the CD, include your contact details, in case we need to follow up with you. 3 If you have a band/artist profile, a soft copy would suffice. It is much easier for us to pass it on. Kartini Ariffin
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Yeah, I know the above is common sense, but you’d be surprised that many don’t have any. So good luck and keep on rocking the local music scene!
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#projekbuku
Oh Malaysia Ku by Kevin Yeoh
Kevin Yeoh is a fighter who happens to be a music journalist. 256
Remember the simpler times when you hear a song on radio and you record them to your blank cassettes? Fast-forward to about 10 years later, and all you have to do is just click to stream or download the music that you want, plus getting recommended for other sounds that may appeal to you. It’s booming like no other. It seems like a new song is being released every hour at different parts of the world. The international music scene is breaking boundaries everyday with music and even the unknown artists are relevant enough to be recognized throughout the industry. Can we say the same about Malaysian music? I’m always stuck when it comes to discussing the local music scene because there isn’t enough presence out there at the moment for me to see it as a music fan, and not as a person from the media. I see events and social media posts about new artists, but not enough support from the key platforms especially radio. Not blaming any radio stations for not playing more R&B or hip hop materials, which I happen to lean forward to more. It’s about making money and you do what you have to do to get that. Everyone’s hustling for paper everyday. Popular American music definitely plays a big part of how our music industry revolves too for sure. The Western power is very…well, powerful. It affects our Kevin Yeoh
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decisions and taste, which transcends what Malaysian artists produce because it works on radio and our artists want to ride on that too, no doubt. So if our artists are sampling what the Westerns are doing, why isn’t there equal airplay for local R&B and hip hop? R&B has always seemed to be a little underdog in Malaysia even back in the 90’s. It’s always been a phase for Malaysian R&B and they are always shortlived, even when it was making a huge impact in the States back in the mid 90’s. There are a handful of talented R&B acts in our country, but breaking through seems impossible. That, and also because there isn’t a demand for it at the moment, hence these artists are heading towards a more pop approach, which is the new wave to ride to be successful. As for local hip hop, it’s definitely festive, but not groundbreaking. There’s always someone out there making music, performing and events, but it has somehow become an underground thing for a lot of the new talents. It’s such a shame because there are a few out there who are just as good or even better than the stuff you hear on radio. The stereotype of hip hop is still very much a debating subject in Malaysia, and the scene is definitely playing it safe, which isn’t a bad thing, but where is this leading to? Music is progressing so rapidly these days with all these sub-genres that I can’t seem to catch up with or bothered, but if Malaysian R&B and hip hop were to grow, there’s a lot of things the industry need to do and not just the artists. It has lost its zing. People are very quick to judge local urban music, but there’s definitely a growth seen these past years. Awareness becomes more available these days, it’s just a matter of whether you even bother looking it up or have the right people to do so. Do I see a Malaysian R&B and hip hop rise in the near future? No. It’s all up to the hands of the labels, medias, event organizers and the continuous social media presence for the artists to come through to show you what they got. Everybody deserves a chance and everybody’s hustling for some respect. Do it right because you’re creating history every step of the way. No pressure.
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#projekbuku
What I See: When My Lens Becomes A Pen by Khalil Makata
Khalil is a rock photojournalist and a pejuang seni muzik berhaluan alternatif. 259
My school days I was exposed to the sound of Search, OAG, Butterfingers, Innuendo and many others, then I was more of a listener no more then that. My exposure to live music scene started when a friend (Hafiz) ask me to photograph OAG for Radhi at Alamanda Putrajaya, it was Fashion Roxx 2007 event. At that time my perception of music scene is awesome/great. People willing to come all the way to Alamanda to see OAG perform, at that time it was more like Alamana? Even tho it was a free concert in the middle of nowhere almost 200 people showed up, I was like, “Hmm Malaysian bands have followers whom willing to go the extra mile to watch their rockstar perform on stage.” At this stage I was still experimenting on what type of photography to focus on; at that time I photograph motor sport for A1 team malaysia, fashion for Nurita Harith and any other events which needs photographer for hire. Later that year a photographer friend called and ask if I’m willing to photograph a radio station anniversary concert at One Utama, I said yes. It was from Flyniversary 2007, I clearly see that there’s a ‘local scene’ fly has always been about international music for me up to that point. But when I saw the event list and band names I was like who are this people? Altimet? ‘Yeah sure nama mamat nih Ahmad’: Meet Uncle Hussein? ‘Uncle sapa la naik stage nanti’; Hujan? Khalil Makata
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‘abis la hujan turun bila band nih perform’. The skeptical died off when they came on stage the crowd when wild, this time the crowd was more then 200 it was more like 2000 maybe more. I remembered how the crowd enjoyed every single band/performer that took the stage. Hujan and Meet Uncle Hussein mesmerized the fans with Pagi Yang Gelap and Lagu Untukmu. From there onwards I fell in love photographing music scenes and that point in time I said to myself if u can’t be the rockstar lets take photos of these rockstars. Why music photography? Well I can’t play an instrument let alone sing, so maybe this is the only way I can contribute to music scene; it was a photo of The Clash by Pennie Smith which made me realize that I need to capture the moment, documenting as much as possible the Malaysian music scene. During that time my definition of local scene was; Siti Nurhaliza, Anuar Zain, Search, Innuendo cater to the different market than the mainstream that is OAG. From then on I learned in-depth that there is a different side/market/ scene in the music industry. Realizing then that what I perceive as mainstream music is a ‘split’ into two; in addition to the underground scenes. Though my friends was exposed with the underground gigs n scenes during my early teens with the likes of OAG, Butterfingers, Seven Collar, Disagree and Pop Shuvit, or even forming their own bands; I did not care, did not explore nor did I take any interest to go out and experience the music, let alone the scene. It was after Flyniversary I started to explore myspace, follow bands that I’ve shot, then dug deeper to know other bands and just to know when and where these bands perform. During this soul-searching, then I come to realize a place called laundry. I was like yeah lets go wash our clothes. With shows like project Bazooka, Moonshine, Campur Chart at Laundry I make it a point to go now and then to seek out the music scene, from there I came across Reza Salleh, Rashdan, EstrElla, and many others. 2008 came along with the birth of Sunburst Festival which one of the lineup includes all time favorite Incubus; I remembered writing an email to the organizer in order to secure a media access to photograph the international band I religiously listen to, and thank God that I had the opportunity to actually watch them perform live and managed to capture them on stage along with other great international and local acts. Then come an opportunity to shot Pesta Malam Indonesia 2—where again get to meet new found heroes Meet Uncle Hussein and Hujan who opened for Samsons, Sheila on 7, Slank, Dewi dewi, Ungu and Peterpan. These two festivals were an eye opener for me thus reaffirms my direction to become a specialist in photographing concerts and Khalil Makata
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live performance. Opportunity to be an official photographer at Rock The World 8 came around the corner and it was a make or break for me to actually stamp my presence in the local music scene, I actually took time to study the bands who will perform for Rock The World 8, from that show I became exposed with the likes of Bittersweet, Komplot, TWKUA, Otherside Orchestra, Revenge, OBS, Republik of Brickfields, and watching Butterfingers live for the first time (yes I admit it here the first time I watched Butterfingers perform live was at RTW8). At that night I managed to capture the moment where Emmett Roslan: lead singer of Butterfingers crowd surfing became one of my favorite photos of all time. From a photographing perspective I was wowed by the brilliance of these local acts; they were vibrant dare to perform and they believe in their music. I think that they should be given more exposure airtime on tv and radio stations, printed media. Reckon that they are on par or maybe better with whatever’s played on local media at that time. The New Year of 2009 I went to Soho KL to witness nuyear event where they showcasing few bands to perform as part of a New Year’s eve celebration, it was a xfm initiative and from there manage to put a face on the band who sings the hypnotic song mirage at that time; Pesawat, they shared the stage with TWKUA, The Times, Killeur Calculateur, Komplot and Broken Scar. That night was epic, where with the help of Radin Sri Ghazali (reporter of NST at that time) I’ve manage to sit down with the band and listen to her interview with the band, and exchange knowledge about the music scene in Malaysia. When band and song is good enough, fans will come. As evident in Meet Uncle Hussein; a brilliant example of how a small band residing mainly in the crowds appeal to the bigger mass market. Remember how the crowd sang along to their hit single ‘Lagu Untukmu’ for AJL 23? I was there to witness their triumph, and it was mind blowing. It was proof that indie band can topple great giants in the music industry; though Estranged did it earlier it was a dawn of a new era. I remember the day before were Meet Uncle Hussein perform at Twisties Bingit final at Cap Square and I approached the band to wish them luck for AJL final, and to witness them winning it was elevating. The same weekend I was left frustrated for not being able to shot Butterfingers live in Istana Budaya yet I make it a point not to miss one in a life time experience to watch the movers of local indie act to perform in an intimate session for their fans. It was unforgettable, the setup, sound, visuals everything was like a match made in heaven, it was a performance to die for, I envied the Khalil Makata
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official photographer especially (Daniel rdzm) who managed to captured the magical moment. I remember every now and then I meet up with the members of Butterfingers especially Loque and ask when will they release the DVD of the show. And now I want to ask the question again “Loque bila nak kasi kami (rakyat, pErajurit) beli dvd show kat Istana Budaya tuh?” Hired to photograph fly fm campur chart series at laundry, which I witness more bands. With the likes of, Joanna and co, Robot Asmara, Brainhead, Auburn, Stonebay, James Baum, An Honest Mistake, Bite Me Butterfly and many others, some stayed on and improve as time goes by, some are dormant, but most of them died off and not to be heard off till today. From there I manage to understand more about the music scene, where some musicians either copy their idols too much without effort to inject their own style to their music, or they just fade away with time “hilang dalam terang”. Band comes and go; Laila’s Lounge and Komplot was the band which could have reach the stars with awesome material, Mawar Khayalan and Nora Zen. I was lucky enough to have bought their EP and the band was never to be seen again till today. Rebrand bands such as Bittersweet and TWKUA; both band had the unfortunate event to replace their lead vocal; which for me as a photographer is the focal point for any performing band. They took time to rebrand themselves but it was something worth waiting for. I hold highest respect to bands that stayed the journey and believe if they work hard enough to get their music out there. The project P. Ramlee Satu Indiepretasi blew my mind away; it was moving the scene to a new level. I first came to aware about the project when Kudux (drummer of Pesawat) was talking about covering a song from the late Tan Sri P.Ramlee, I was like “Hey this is an awesome idea”. It was from the micro blogging; twitter where I manage to find out more about the project. Getting all these young bands to get together and work for a cause; the pitch perfect vocals of Azlan and the Typewriter screaming “jeritan batinku” gives me the creeps (the good kind), Duan with his soothing mix of Jangan Tinggal Daku, the magical touch of Monoloque with Tiada Kata Secantik Bahasa, and the laid back of Couple with Oh Menceceh proves that these young aspiring musicians can raise the bar and deliver in a short period of time. Cross-genre collaboration is also great, because the novice music enthusiast in me never before seen two different genres mixed together. I remembered the first time altimet gave me the opportunity to listen to one of his new material; Kotarayaku, I was like, “Hey isn’t that the voice of Noh?” In my mind was like Khalil Makata
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“Wow Altimet colab with noh!”. Then came over Loque and Atilia with Kekanda Adinda, and who can forget the superband of A.P.I consist of Azlan (Azlan and the Typewriter), Noh (Hujan), AJ (Popshuvit), Din (Estranged), Imran (OBS) and the mastermind Loque (Butterfingers) with the song Pelita. It was this three songs which made me want to watch them perform live, and true enough it was made reality during Shout Awards 2010. The trend seems to be healthy among the musicians where I see Alvin Gold, DJ Blink explore with Noh with Bila Seharusnya, Altimet, Mior and Ana Rafalli with Kalau Berpacaran, and not to forget the awesome quartet of The Ramlees consisting (Yuna, Najwa, Liyana Fizi and Amira of Tilu) sounds of angels, collaborating and interpreting Itulah Sayang of P. Ramlee. These musicians set their egos aside, sat down and do it for the love of music. Acknowledging other musicians’ raw talent as well as letting musicians explore their talent to another level and yes these musicians can compete with not just regional but also international talents. We cannot deny that the international acts are what each and every one of us waiting for to come over our shores. Not everybody can take the plunge, the courage nor opportunity to go out there logistically or monetarily go out and watch Foo Fighters, Coldplay or Red Hot Chili Peppers abroad. Music festivals such as Live And Loud in 2007, Sunburst Festival 2008-2009, and Rockaway this year managed to wet our palate to not just experience international acts but also local heroes. Solo concerts featuring Muse, Paramore, Deftones, Incubus and many others to name from, proves that there’s a healthy follower and loving acceptance towards the music industry. To see local heroes (or maybe this case heroines) Yuna and Zee Avi blossom from their cocoon and reach for the stars prove that it is not a one-way street for our local musicians, when the stars align great things happens. To experience twice, the small scenes like Khaos 1 and 2, which featured, Love Me Butch, Twkua, and Seven Collar, where crowd sang along with the bands almost all of the songs was an musical experience of another level for me, capturing emotions not just the band but also importantly the crowd at a filled in capacity venue was tremendous. It was like the band was talking to their fans with every single chord, key and drum stroke. Even though I was more incline to listen to the mainstream music along time ago, my experience in photography has harness my palate not just amongst the local scene but also regional and international music scenes. The lines between underground, independent with mainstream, and mainstream A with mainstream B is there. It’s like a Venn diagram it takes a bands courage either to crossover from one circle to another or just expends their circle and Khalil Makata
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exposed their music to the unknown. Listening/watching these acts/bands let alone local, regional or international on Youtube is just tip of the iceberg, experiencing them live on stage is breathless, but being able to capture the moments and share is with it with others is just breath-taking. Till this day I have managed to photograph several international or regional acts on our shores; let it be Babyface, Paramore, Incubus, Jason Mraz, Jamiroquai or even Maliq and D’essentials. I‘d make it a point not to miss any album launch of local music acts and local act shows. These local acts have something to prove to the nonbeliever out there, I was once one, maybe your next.
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#projekbuku
Liyana Estrella to Liyana Fizi by Liyana Fizi
Liyana Fizi is now known as Liyana Fizi. 266
Towards the end, things were not so rosy during my Estrella band days. After a few flying lawyer letters, it was confirmed that I had two choices: to continue with a second contract with the band’s label, and keep the Estrella band name, or walk away and leave behind the band that we named and loved. Very important lesson here kids, always read the fine print of any contract, even if it’s a contract with friends. Estrella was announced as disbanded on TV during Hari Raya, and I found out about it the same time as the rest of the country. Due to a few contract technicalities, passwords for Estrella’s Facebook & Myspace accounts were taken away and that was the end of that. The good news to this ending though, is that the songs were secure. Since I was one of the songwriters for Estrella together with Yob (original lead guitarist), I was able to keep the author rights for the songs that I wrote in the album. Thank you MACP. So in early September 2009 there I was, suddenly band-less. Sad and pissed off, I decided that what I needed was a plan. The plan was.…to form a plan as I go along. During this period, the driving factor was determination. I took all the crappy unfairness of the whole situation, and used it to my advantage. I had to listen/read so many different versions of what people ‘heard’ about Estrella, on why the band broke up. It circulated the mamak table discussions around town, and it was blogged about at length. Some of the stories online were amusing, and some were extremely mean. But let haters hate, rumors do Liyana Fizi
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not define a person. My friends stayed close to me, and gave all their support and encouragement. Email invitations kept coming in for Estrella and since I was unable to use the name, I decided to use my own name - Liyana Fizi, short for Liyana Bte Mohd Fizi. At first, event organizers were skeptical, since no one recognized the name. “Liyana Fizi who?”. They knew Estrella. So I was turned away a number of times by organizers, while a few other organizers compromised and printed my name on flyers like this: LIYANA FIZI (aka LIYANA ESTRELLA).
Starting from scratch As cliché as it sounds, anything is possible. You just need to be clear on what you want. In my case, I wanted to be an unsigned artist, I wanted to record music, be a full time musician, and travel the world playing music sambil jalan-jalan. At the time, I couldn’t afford a manager, so I got organized. To self-manage was hard, and it took a lot time and a lot of practice. I’d work on my schedule and dates, and on my sessionists’s dates, to try and make sure that nothing clashes. I recorded a few demo tracks to put up online, created a new Facebook Page for myself to build some presence, scheduled practice sessions, booked studios, and organized my own photoshoots with the help of photographer friends (Ena, Lan, Booya, Cipoi, thanks you guys). I maintained a network of friends and acquaintances, and started to build up my contacts. This included family & friends, event/concert organizers, musician friends, booking agents, editors, journalists, bloggers, photographers, sound engineers, TV/Radio producers, Radio DJs, and production houses. I pooled all my media contacts from my previous day job, and kept every newspaper clipping with my name on it, for the PR value. If I released a new single or videoclip, I would email the song to the respective radio DJs, or drive over to Media Prima to pass a burned CD by hand to them. For social media, I set aside time to respond to followers online, and try to reply every post or Tweet so that my online communities grew. Gig till you drop, that’s what I did. To get yourself out there, you need to continuously play shows for exposure. At the time, whatever invitations that came my way, I grabbed them even if they were non-paying shows. I played in as many places as I can, and leveraged on as many media opportunities as possible, so that audiences would start to recognize my music and know that I exist. In time, the patience paid off and small performances led to bigger ones, and I was able to slowly build the “Liyana Fizi” name in the local music scene. I managed to save enough money to cut an album in 2011, my debut solo effort titled “Between the Lines” which was released in September 2011. The album was self-published, and I worked out a deal with local music label Soundscape Records for CD distribution and licensing within Malaysia and Singapore. Liyana Fizi
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Through email enquiries, I also managed to secure a 2-year distribution and licensing deal with Japan based indie label Production Dessinee, who released “Between the Lines” in Japan beginning from 16 Nov 2011. I was so happy and content. It’s been 2 years since I released my debut album, and by right, the timing is good for me to start working on another one. Promo in the first year was amazing, and I got to travel and play outside of Malaysia like I always wanted. Things were good. In December 2012, that happy music wave came to an end for me, when my friend/ guitarist Izaad Amir passed away from a sudden car accident. It’s been a year since his passing, and honestly music feel very different to me now. Not really sure whether I want to still pursue music or not, but we’ll see. Before I sign off, special thanks & a huge I Love You shout out to my fans for being amazing. And THANK YOU #ProjekBuku, for documenting our local scene!
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#projekbuku
Lu Cermin Diri Lu Dulu! oleh Loy Ekzan
Loy Ekzan was one of the key players that made XFM radio a force to be reckoned with circa 2006-2010. He’s now flying high as Content Creation and Integration Assistant Manager at iM4U. 270
Saya minat muzik, tapi tak saya reti bermain muzik. Dulu-dulu, ada la cuba jadi rappper dan nyanyi sana sini. Tapi saya macam tiba-tiba tersedar limitation yang saya ada dalam bermain muzik ni. Jadi, dalam keadaan sedar diri, saya buat keputusan untuk berhenti bermain muzik. Yang berhenti adalah bermain muzik, tapi minat terhadap muzik dan keinginan untuk membantu pemain muzik yang bagus masih tebal dan utuh. Hari ini, saya lihat ramai yang bermain muzik, tapi kebanyakan dari mereka tidak sedar atau tahu limit yang mereka ada. Dalam bahasa rakyatnya, ramai yang syok sendiri. Sedarlah wahai kawan-kawan “pemuzik.” Kita ni ada limit. Ada yang kita boleh carry, dan ada yang kita tidak boleh carry. Yang paling penting kita sedar akan limit yang ada pada diri kita. Kalau betul nak menyumbang kepada music scene, dengar kata orang dan gunakan skill lain yang kita ada. Loy Ekzan
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Sebab apa? Sebab bukan semua orang kena jadi pemuzik bro. Ada banyak lagi cara lain. Kata Support.
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#projekbuku
Huang Ho! by Mak Wai Hoo
Mak Wai Hoo runs Soundscape Records. 273
Chapter 1 The Unforgettable Fire A lot of things come to mind when I’m invited by Adly to write an article about the past and present of the Malaysian Chinese music scene. Mainly, my mind wanders back to the days I live through with Huang Huo—åthe pioneer of Malaysian Chinese underground music. Tracing the label from its humble beginnings to the height of its success and finally to its disintegration in 2000 is not an easy task at all. It’s a story of highs and lows, happiness and sadness, inspiration and tragedy. However, it’s worth looking back as it comprised lots of fond memories and extraordinary experiences. And now I’m about to take you through the journey of what was one of the most defining eras of our part of music history. It was early 1997, the post Canto-rock era, after the commercially sponsored event was dissolved, local Chinese rock bands were left with no avenue to perform. Many were forced to disband or become pub cover band. The situation clearly indicate that most of the bands formed during that period were only eyeing the lucrative cash prizes and recording deal offered by the competition, it’s all about fame and glory. And the irony is, many were seen Mak Wai Hoo
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adopting the musical style of Hong Kong band Beyond, in order to qualify to the competition. In December 1997, the scene was given a new glimpse of hope by Huang Huo, the label that introduced the spirit of D-I-Y culture and underground music to the Chinese community. From there on, Malaysian Chinese underground music found its path and never look back. It all started with a self-financed gig at Komtar, Penang, recognized as the first Chinese underground gig in Malaysia. “Huang Huo” (literally means “Yellow Fire”) is actually the title of the gig, organized by the members of Chong Yang, who later become the founding members of Huang Huo Productions. In a typical underground gig style, the show is done without much financial support and publicity. The production team was formed by band members who at the same time are responsible for setting up the show. I still remember those days when we travel in a small car that loaded with equipments, traveling from one venue to another, playing to a small crowd that don’t even know who we are. But we still enjoy it, it means we’re growing and pushing the boundaries of our own ideologies. The gig at Komtar was a huge success! After that Huang Huo Productions started to take shape as an indie label. In 1998, the first compilation album named “Extremist Crap” (Ji Duan Fen Zi”) was released, highlighting bands like Moxuan and Chong Yang. The two bands led the charge, followed closely behind by bands such as KRMA, Arcadian, Jiu Tian and Dai Shop. Huang Huo went on to organize gigs at various cities, such as Penang, Ipoh, JB, Melaka and Klang. The scene is a little different at that point, it has this strong sense of unity and friendship that holds everyone together. In that same year, Huang Huo was given the opportunity to start its own music column in one of the major dailies. The very first article entitled “Destroy Local Produce Music” was published and its critical content caused considerably controversy within the Chinese community, mainly the mainstream music market. In the 70s and 80s, Chinese music market was dominated by cover songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as classics and oldies. There weren’t many original songs, because recording labels are not interested and same goes to the music listeners. In order to promote originality, a group of musicians started a movement that emphasize on “writing original songs”, to encourage Mak Wai Hoo
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young musicians to pick up guitars and start composing their own music. With the new concept, the group has succeeded in injecting a breath of fresh air to the Chinese music market. And the audience response to the movement, particularly from university and college students, was hugely positive. As a result, many of them started forming their own musical ensembles and start releasing their own materials. And the words “Support Local Produced Music” would later become a slogan or to be more precise - a product tagline. It was widely used by Chinese artists as a promo-tool to gather support from the media and consumers, sometimes to the point that music becomes secondary to their hype. Furthermore, the lack of creativity and diversity in their works were very obvious, the same approach being used over and over again, ideas were being duplicated from Taiwan and Hong Kong pop music, which leads to stagnation. The article then caused a heated debate between Huang Huo and some of the core members of the above-mentioned group. Huang Huo insisted that music should be perceived as an art form and its aesthetic qualities must be preserved. Huang Huo urged the collective to stop harping on the promotional slogan and put more emphasis on music experimentation, in order to uplift the standard of local Chinese music. Controversy makes headlines. Despite the outrage, Huang Huo still attracted a lot of media attention for its radical stance. Even so, that incident was less significant compared to the uproar caused when the label released its second compilation album “The Declaration of Huang Huo” in 1999. The album engaged several new acts, such as Arcadian, Dai Shop, Jiu Tian, Herb Vendors and CPJ from Singapore, with the inclusion of underground mainstays like Chong Yang, KRMA and Moxuan. But it was the album sleeve notes that trigger-off yet another music war between the mainstream music market and underground scene. “We hereby declare that we are committed to upholding the spirit of independence music as embodied in the declaration of HUANG HUO. There shall be no compromising in the battle against monopoly and transcend towards a liberal space of musical ideology.”
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The label is seen as a threat to the local Chinese music scene, which has been long accustomed to its own comfort zone, reaping success that sowed in a wrong manner. Vested interests groups that seek to maintain and control the system from which their benefit is derived would do anything to prevent Huang Huo from uncovering the reality and hypocrisy. But it wasn’t our intention to create an intense situation between the two different ends, our aim is not to overthrow the entire system, it’s like hitting stones with eggs, fighting against an extraordinary strong force is to be destined to lose. So what do we want to achieve? What we truly want is to counter the mainstream culture and at the same time to share our ideologies with the like-minded people. It’s about time that we had a change! We have chosen music as a tool over other art forms because of its impact and influence on the youth. At its height, Huang Huo had over 300 of subscribed members. They would become the backbone and driving force of the label to continue its struggle against the commercial music market. On the other hand, the aggressiveness and non-conforming attitude of the label has managed to catch the attention of other notable labels and individuals in the scene, in particular the punk scene. In late 1999, we were introduced to Joe Kidd (who hailed by many as the “Godfather of Malaysian Punk Rock Music”) by Luk Hass, a French guy and the founder of Tianamen 69 Records. That was our first cross-over experience with non-Chinese label. Both sides would later exchange performance slots and contacts of oversea labels. And it was at that point of time that we first realize that language is becoming one of the underlying problems between the two different scenes. A typical example was when a Chinese band performed in front of English speaking crowd, they would either walk away or keep silence. Until today, language barrier still stood in the way of the different music communities. I had once asked a chap about his opinion towards Chinese-singing bands, the feedback I got was it is disrespectful to sing in a language that someone doesn’t understand. So where do we go from here? Are we going to force the bands to start writing songs in English or just throw away the lyrics? The answer is, off course, no. The music will continue to be sung in Chinese, not for any reason Mak Wai Hoo
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about ethnic pride, it is something that worked well for us all this while and the best language that we can express ourselves in. But we would later translate the lyrics in English and include it in the album sleeve. It was done during the release of Chong Yang’s debut album – Forced March, arguably the best album released by a local Chinese band. Suffice to say, it is seen as the epitome of Huang Huo, as many of the thoughts and ideas that we had were being put into action via the album. The music itself is progressive and psychedelic. The influences came from classic rock bands such as The Doors, U2 and The Cure, coupled with socio-political lyrics that reiterate the stance of Huang Huo. Despite being the best album produced by the label, the cost is almost unbearable. And the return on sales would never be enough to cover the high expenses. The negative earnings prompt the label to re-evaluate its approach, whether or not to stick to its established standard of high-end production. At the same time, several key members were beginning to explore the concept of lo-fi recording, a technique that commonly used in the punk and hardcore scene. The idea is to reduce the budget spent on recording so that more albums can be put out within a shorter period of time and more bands will get to release their materials. However, the core founders insisted that there will be no compromise on the quality and standard of the finished product, in order to uphold the principle of the label. Hence, internal contradictions began to pile up and would later pave the way for further conflicts. Early 2000, the founder of Huang Huo visited the mainland and managed to hook up with some notable labels and key figures in the Beijing underground scene, the label inks a breakthrough deal with Modern Sky, one of the most well-known labels in China and brought in three albums by pioneer rockers The Fly, NO and You Dao She (Lure). In return, Moxuan was featured on the compilation CD given away with Modern Sky magazine. The song (Fox) caught the attention of music critic Yan Jun, who helped to set up the China tour in autumn 2000. With spirits and ambitions running high, Chong Yang and Moxuan embarked on the tour together with the core members of Huang Huo. It was an attempt to break away from the struggling local scene and to gain recognition from an unknown land. However, the musical trip quickly turned into a pointless Mak Wai Hoo
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vacation and conflicts arose between members of both bands and the founders of Huang Huo. The exploits of this trip were documented in the larger-than-life documentary “Surviving Beijing”. Upon returning to Malaysia, both bands as well as Huang Huo dissolved. The main issue was that some members were purely into creating music while others had more left field ideologies. The question is – Has Huang Huo taken it too far? Would things be better if the label had only concentrate on music? Well, that’s no definite answer. It was the circumstances and mutual frustrations, which probably took us to the point of no return. On the bright side, we’ve grown from our shortcomings and mistakes, and I believe that we should carry these experiences and pass it on to the future generations.
Chapter 2 One Man Army After the demise of Huang Huo, I went on to form Soundscape Records. It was hard in the beginning as opposed to the days of Huang Huo, running a label alone is kind of like a bittersweet experience. With limited resources and manpower, it has prompted me to take a drastic change on the direction and approach, to put the label on a totally different ground. At first, I was trying to carry on with what Huang Huo has been doing but it didn’t take long for me to drop the idea, mainly because the newer bands are not ready to pursue anything larger than music. During those days, we will spend hours and days talking to the bands, attempting to mould them into what we call the “socially responsible” and “politically motivated” bands. But there are always pros and cons of starting a movement. The bands whose rose to prominence under the caretaking of the Huang Huo, are often seen overshadowed by the label, which is inevitable at that time. But in a long run, the bands should stand on their own feet and become a force to be reckoned with. Hence I decided to take a backseat and let the bands and their music do the talking. And that’s how Nao became so influential and prominent on its own. The band inherited the spirit of Huang Huo and continued it denounce over social injustice, on a larger platform provided by Soundscape. Their debut album was filled with strong messages, assaulting the imbalance governance system, power abuse by cops and dilemmas faced by Chinese schools.
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Same goes to Deng Deng Etc. The band was given the total freedom to discover its own inclination and they’ve chosen to follow the passage left over by Nao, which is to continue to address the problem of our society, in an emotionallydriven way. In 2005, both bands toured China again, attempting to find their own feet on a foreign land and at the same time, to make up for what their predecessors failed to achieve in the previous trip. They managed to pull it off and did themselves proud by playing at the biggest festival in China as well as some really good side shows with bands from China, Korea, Japan and Sweden. Two years later, Nao was again invited to perform at the same festival and other solo shows at Beijing most famous live houses, such as 13 Club, Mao, Star Live and Yi Gong Yu Shan. The above accomplishments are results of a well-planned structure implemented by Soundscape, as well as through our connections and collaborations with oversea labels. Ideas and thoughts that were conceived during the days of Huang Huo were being realized by Soundscape Records. With the advantages of borderless online community and free flow of music information, we are bound to achieve greater things ahead of us. An important first breakthrough came to our way when we were approached by a commercial brand to work with them on a series of live music shows. We always had this stereotype impression that working with a corporate brand will cause one to sacrifice their integrity and bow to their demands and values. But that’s not necessarily true. In our case, we insisted on 100% freedom, from overall production of the show to the choice of bands, we never compromise. This is how we put together the Street Roar Festival in 2003, 2004 and 2006. From its inception the festival has been designed as a two-way collaboration project, where we hooked up with foreign labels and get them to arrange their artists to perform in our festival. Our goal is to introduce independent artists from all over Asia to the local and regional audience and hoping that our local acts will also get to perform abroad. The collaborative effort and partnership finally paid off when Nao and Citizens of Ice Cream were given a slot each to perform at the Music Terminals Festival in Taipei, sharing the same stage with major acts like Placebo, Tricky, Radio Dept, Ghost and many more. And from there on, we slowly get to the stage of what we are doing today. There’s no secret nor success factor behind all the things that we’ve done, it’s Mak Wai Hoo
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just a bunch of music devotees doing what they really like and strongly believe in. Back then, getting international acts to perform here was quite difficult, many of them do not have faith in the region but our persistence eventually paid off and we finally got to present our first international show in 2006. Those who have witnessed the performance of Dirty Three at Ruums Club will surely remember how intense the gig was, it was such a surreal experience for me to see one of my favorite bands live! Despite the small crowd, we still had an amazing experience. It was a good starting point for us. The following year we brought in US electro-pop female artist Caroline Lufkin. Like many others, I got to know her through Myspace. She was going to perform in Taiwan and I saw the opportunity of having her in Kuala Lumpur because she has over 15,000 friends and one of her tracks “Where’s My Love” has over 100,000 plays. And the coolest thing is she is signed under Temporary Residence, an imprint that I’ve always admired and aspired to be. We had two shows, both went very well and all the tickets were sold-out. And to top it off, we had such a great experience touring with her. The post-gig hang out in Singapore will become one of the unforgettable moments in our lives because we never expect a formalized relationship could become so fun-filled and bizarre. It would later give us the confidence to push the boundaries and gradually increase the scale of our shows. Our second breakthrough happened in 2008, it was such an eventful year for us. In the very same year, we brought in Club 8, Pelle Carlberg, Explosions in The Sky, Mono, Toe and My Disco and the label was also engaged by Esplanade Singapore to become the producer of their electro-lab series showcase called “Knob It!” We were obviously thrilled by the success of Explosions in The Sky show. It was such a magical night, the band, the crowd and the atmosphere, they all happened in a satisfactory way, everything just fell into place. It was indeed a very important milestone for us. And it was through the introduction of EITS that we got to know Mono, a band that we’ve been longing to work with. Taka, the band’s guitarist later disclosed that it was from the experience he heard from Munaf (EITS guitarist) that the Mak Wai Hoo
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band decided to visit Kuala Lumpur and the region. But much to our dismay, the gig was far from our satisfactory, apart from the small crowd, the venue wasn’t ideal for live gigs, it didn’t do the band justice. But at that point of time, we don’t have much choice in terms of venue selection. However, that doesn’t dampen our spirit. The following year we licensed their new album “Hymn To The Immortal Wind” and release it here, so that more people can get hold of the album and listen to it. It is actually a very oldfashioned way of promoting a band but it works, as long as we let the music speak for itself. And as expected, their second show in Kuala Lumpur was very well-received, the band performed with a string quartet, much to the delight of the full –house audience. On a personal level, we get on very well with the band, it is so crucial that it managed to bring out other qualities in us, be it the friendship, understanding or mutual respect between both ends. I’d prefer to work with smaller indie acts because I’d like grow alongside them. This has become one of the several criteria for us to consider before a deal is make. Malaysian market is very similar to Indonesian, where organizers relies heavily on sponsorship to make things happen, unlike other cities, our audience here has less spending power and not ready to fork out a large portion of their earnings on live gigs. According to an article published by a Singapore press, during peak concert season, an individual would spend approximately 1,500 to 2,000 to see their favorite acts. This is how a market or an industry can survive and thrive in a long run, without its dependence on sponsors. I have to admit that we still have a lot more to catch up but things are definitely getting better compared to a few years ago. As a promoter, we’ll do our part in roping in more quality acts to our home soil and hopefully this will also benefit the local scene, from one way or another. It’s been 10 years since we started the label, a lot has changed, and a lot hasn’t. Who would have thought that a small and humble record label could have last this long? We acknowledge our deep debt of gratitude to those who have helped and supported us along the journey. You are indeed a key participant in our success. Here’s to another 10 years! Mak Wai Hoo
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#projekbuku
The Two Sides of Music by Malique Ibrahim
Malique is still one half of Too Phat. 283
Music has always been my way of running from things. I love living with and around it. I’ve graduated from underground to the mainstream only to discover that there were two sides to music. Until I was 20, I was connected to music as a fan. Once there was Too Phat, things changed. And more importantly, once I started my solo career and formed my own label and publishing, I learned even more. I discovered that besides music, there is the Music Business. And thats what usually fucks things up. Most artistes who do not discover this and who have no understanding of how things go within the ‘industry’ in Malaysia, often end up with a short lived career. As far as making and producing songs are concerned, I am not worried at all. I know I write good shit. What worries me most of my time is how to sell it. From radio stations who do not push it because of personal and business reasons, to so-called fans who only know how to download and not purchase - none of them contribute to the positive growth of an artiste. At the end of the day, it is almost impossible to make a living out of music even though you can get all the compliments or respect in the world. That is when the artiste gets even more confused of his presence. Malique Ibrahim
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I came to a conclusion that warns; “dont ever believe what you see on TV, and dont ever believe what you hear on CD”. All these local stars people worship and adore - I know most of them. What is presented and portrayed is hardly the truth. There are a million different factors that affect the final cuts you see on TV and the mastered songs you hear on CD. There are a lot of lies and deceptions behind the scenes that allow any big organization or well-connected person to pimp anybody at all and make them big. And they get away with it too. All you need to become a star nowadays is a good story. Talent is not as important since the mass public is so easily deceived by advertising and marketing. I often ask myself why I’m doing all this. Who am I doing it for? I don’t know, I just have nowhere else to go. I’ve done this for so long that I’m stuck here. Sweet or bitter, I will probably be here and do this until I am gone. I am waiting for the day something will change, a change of system that allows both musicians and their business partners to prosper fairly without compromising one or the other. Until that day, I will continue to be the grumpy rapper who hides in other people’s darkness, because only there am I safe within the industry. Visuals in a business of audio in Malaysia, is sheer suicide. Peace, M.
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Nasionalisme dalam Seni Malaysia Abad ke 21; Adakah Pemikiran Kita Smua Sudah Merdeka? oleh Khairil Ridzwan b. Annuar
Khairil Ridzwan b. Annuar is Monoloque. 286
Smangat nasionalisme saya lahir akibat tertumpahnya darah dari arwah nenek moyang saya yang smemangnya terbukti anti penjajah di zaman kolonisasi suatu ketika dahulu. Paling dekat, mungkin dari arwah datuk saya, Allahyarham Maaruf b. Mahmud, seorang penulis buku, guru, pejuang dalam dunianya yang tersendiri, dan juga salah seorang dari mereka yang bertemu dengan Tunku Abdul Rahman untuk merasmikan Bahasa Melayu sebagai Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Kebangsaan Malaysia, sejurus selepas pembentukkan Malaysia pada tahun 1963. Bait-bait terperciknya nasionalisme dalam diri saya ini telah bermula sejak dari zaman grunge saya, iaitu semasa zaman pembentukkan awal band Butterfingers lagi. Pencarian identiti sudah pun menjadi kewajipan, dan smakin hari, smakin menjadi-jadi (‘extreme’), trutama skali selepas saya kembali dari bertapa di Tanah Madu dan Susu(Amerika Syarikat). Rasa seperti ‘anjakan paradigma’ pada ‘mindset’ (ketetapan minda) dipusingkan 180 darjah! Kenapa perlu nasionalisme? Saya suka ber’nasionalisme’ krana ia bukan politikal, bukan seperti patriotisme, dan pada saya, nasionalisme dan seni scara am, sangat berkait rapat, seperti irama dan lagu, dan sronok utk diujikaji trutamanya dalam seni. Khairil Ridzwan Annuar
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Seni yang akan saya bincangkan di sini, adalah seni-seni yang berkait rapat dengan diri saya, yang saya rasa saya layak pertikaikan dan terangkan, krana saya faham, iaitu: 1 Seni kata 2 Seni lagu 3 Seni reka/Bina/Am (saya kurang arif dalam bidang ini, tapi mungkin perspektif saya boleh diambil kira). Trutamanya apabila kita di dalam masyarakat pasca kolonisasi yang menelan apa sahaja atas dasar globalisasi, menagih apa sahaja atas nama modernisasi dan dalam diam, scara tak sedar, memamah identiti ‘kita’ scara halus. Jadi, nasionalisme ialah apa yg kita perlukan. Nasionalisme yang saya cuba terapkan di sini, sangat berkait rapat dengan budaya. Sperti yang smua sedia maklum, Malaysia pernah dijajah oleh Barat. Walaupun kita telah 51 tahun merdeka, namun rata-rata ‘mentaliti’ (ketetapan minda) kita sayangnya masih belum merdeka! Kita hanya laungkan “Merdeka!” skali stahun, di khayalak umum, tetapi realitinya adakah kita smua sudah merdeka sbenar-benarnya?
Seni Kata: Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa/Negara? Kebanyakan dari kita masih dengan bangganya berbahasa Inggeris dalam kehidupan/pekerjaan seharian. Antara yang paling ketara contohnya apabila hendak memikat prempuan (contohnya). Saya dahulu pun terjebak berbuat demikian suatu ketika dahulu sebelum saya ‘sedar’ siapa diri saya yang sbenarnya. Walaubagaimanapun, jangan salah anggap. Tak salah berbahasa Inggeris, malah smemangnya kita smua digalakkan utk menguasai lebih dari satu Bahasa, tapi kenapa perlu malu untuk berbahasa ibunda yakni Bahasa Malaysia? Kenapakah Bahasa Malaysia, yang scara rasminya dipersetujui untuk menjadi Bahasa Kebangsaan Malaysia, dianaktirikan di buminya sendiri? Lihat sahaja pada nama-nama bangunan, papan-papan iklan di kotaraya. Ini Kuala Lumpur. Contohnya kenapa ‘Time Square’ dan bukannya ‘Petak Masa.’ Ini bukannya NYC ‘brader.’ Kenapa perlu ikut bulat-bulat? Adakah kita betul-betul ketandusan idea dan budaya? Walhal ketika saya bertapa di Amerika Syarikat, saya perhatikan, contoh, menu makanannya, takde pulak Bhasa Malaysia. Nama-nama bangunannya, tiada pula Dayabumi? Di lapangan terbangnya, tiada pula tertulis ‘Selamat Datang’? Apabila saya sesat dan ingin bertanya arah, saya harus berbahasa Inggeris, kerana mereka Khairil Ridzwan Annuar
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tak faham Bahasa Malaysia. Tapi berlainan pula di sini. Kenapa perlu ada perbezaan darjat dalam bahasa? Salah siapa? Salah datuk nenek moyang kitakah? Siapa yang patut dipersalahkan? Masyarakat? Media? Kerajaan? Pengguna? Pada saya, jawapannya smua di atas! Dan dari pemerhatian teliti saya, nampaknya syarikat-syarikat korporat dan media ini lebih suka mengiklankan produk-produk mereka dalam Bahasa Inggeris demi mencapai status ‘ Urban’. Alasan mereka? Kerana pasaran yang ingin mereka tembusi lebih kepada penduduk-penduduk di kawasan bandar yang majoriti berbangsa Cina dan India. Tetapi, bukan kaum Cina dan India juga berbahasa Malaysia? Saya pasti anda smua pernah lihat kedai makanan Cina dan India yang dinamakan dalam Bahasa Malaysia seperti contohnya ‘Restoran Keluarga Bahagia 66’ atau ‘Restoran Maju Maju.’ Rilek aje mereka? Mungkin itu kehendak urbanisasi dan global, namun kenapa kita harus akur bulat-bulat, seperti negara kita ini tiada sejarah, tiada identiti, terpaksa akur dan tiru Barat demi kemajuan? Majukah minda kita sbenarnya? Bagaimana dengan bahasa nenek moyang kita yang telah sekian lama berputik dan melalui evolusinya yang tersendiri, mencerminkan diri kita, yang smakin ditelan arus permodenan? Tapi tujuan saya bukan untuk memperjuangkan bahasa atau seni kita bulatbulat seperti dahulukala (traditionalist/purist), tetapi lebih kepada ingin mengubah, mengolah, mengevolusikan, mengrevolusikan budaya saya (kita) sendiri serasi dengan kehendak terkini/global (sama ada sesuai atau tak, itu blakang kira, yang penting saya buat skrang), supaya elemen-elemen, seniseni ini, dapat diubahsuai, atau dievolusikan smula oleh anak cucu-cicit saya suatu hari nanti. Kita perlukan anjakan paradigma itu. Kluar dari tempurung atau kepompong yang sekian lama menggelapkan ‘awan’ kreativiti kita. Seperti contoh, baru-baru ini saya ada karang sebuah lagu di mana salah satu stanza liriknya berbunyi, “Ke mana hilang budaya? Diculik piring terbang, atau ditelan buaya,” di mana lirik itu spatutnya menggambarkan seorang ibu di kampung yang sedang mendodoikan anaknya dengan menyanyi. Namun ramai ‘traditionalist/purists’ yang menyuarakan bantahan mereka terhadap penggunaan “diculik piring terbang.” Mereka merasa janggal dengan frasa tersebut kerana pada mereka, “Mak-mak di kampung mana tau pasal piring terbang smua, lagi-lagi mak yang dah tua, dan lebih dari sparuh kehidupannya dia kampung. Jadi, hujah saya, “Kenapa kita perlu akur atau conform kepada perkara yang subjektf? Kalau emak2/bonda2 zaman pasca kolonisasi/Perang Khairil Ridzwan Annuar
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Dunia, mereka boleh membaca bukan? Jadi kenapa kita perlu stereotaip golongan tertentu? Hanya kerana mereka di kampung, tak smestinya pemikiran mereka di bawah tempurung! Ok, realitinya mungkin kita bukannya masyarakat yang suka membaca, tapi mak-mak di kampung juga tengok TV bukan? Sudah smestinya. Jadi kenapa kita harus berfikiran begitu? Masih di takuk lama? Lirik Bahasa Malaysia juga, perlu evolusi, seperti irama dan lagunya juga.
Penggunaan dan Penyerapan Bahasa Malaysia di dalam Muzik Barat. Kebanyakkan dilema band-band kini adalah untuk mengubahsuai lagu atau mencipta lagu di dalam Bahasa Malaysia rata-rata kerana mereka belum jumpa lenggoknya, seperti gendang (ritma) nusantara yg mementingkan tingkah (pattern), begitu juga bahasa, perlu lenggoknya. Suku-kata Bahasa Malaysia agak berbeza dgn Bahasa Inggeris. Orang dulu-dulu kata, Bahasa Malaysia ni lembut, lemah longlai, tak sesuai dicampur-adukkan dengan muzik-muzik Barat. Saya tak brapa setuju dengan kenyataan tersebut. Tiada yang mustahil. Ia smua terletak pada pemahaman dan penggunaan di dalam lagu. Gaya juga memainkan pranan penting. Penggunaan dissonance dan consonance di dalam Bahasa juga agak berlainan. Kebanyakkan lagu-lagu yang diubahsuai senikatanya menggunakan lenggok bahasa Inggeris, kemudian diterjemah bulat-bulat ke Bahasa Malaysia seringkali berbunyi janggal dan klakar, tapi tengok pada tempatnya juga, cara anda mengolahnya, dan teknik pengubahsuaian. Adakalanya ianya berbunyi sungguh radikal dan tersendiri. Contoh ‘The Chemistry Between Us’, kalau dialih bahasakan bulat-bulat, akan berbunyi ‘Bahan-Bahan Kimia Antara Kita.’ Pada saya itu sungguhlah bergaya! Lagi satu teknik popular yang digunakan adalah dengan mencampur-adukkan Bahasa Malaysia dengan Bahasa Inggeris yang sering digunakan dalam perbualan sharian. Contohnya seperti lagu ‘Kekanda Adinda,’ “ Kanda kerja overtime!” Saya menggunakan perkataan overtime kerana ia kerap digunakan dalam perbualan sharian masyarakat pasca kolonisasi Malaysia. Jika dikaji, P. Ramlee juga suka berbuat demikian. Dengar saja lagu-lagu beliau seperti ‘Dengar Ini Cerita,’ di mana beliau mencampur adukkan Bahasa Malaysia dengan Bahasa Inggeris dengan baik skali. Sungguh menarik! Pada saya itu adalah suatu evolusi dalam penggunaan Bahasa Malaysia dalam seni muzik tanahair. Yang penting, tulang blakang masih bahasa kebangsaan. Khairil Ridzwan Annuar
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Kenapa perlu ada sekatan/undang-undang? Yang penting, seniman/seniwati Malaysia masih guna Bahasa Malaysia, betul?
Seni Lagu : Penyerapan Identiti dalam Seni Muzik. Seperti yang sedia maklum, rata-rata kita telah dijajah oleh muzik dari Barat, dari zaman sebelum Merdeka shinggalah kini. Memang, kita ada ‘rock melayu’ atau ‘underground’, indie dan pelbagai lagi genre-genre jelmaan yg diberikan (dan kemudian melekat). Namun ‘pencedokan’ muzik dari Barat itu adalah sesuatu yang tak dapat dielakkan. Di awal pembabitan saya dalam muzik (Butterfingers) juga, sangat-sangat dipengaruhi oleh muzik Barat. Bukan salah ibu mengandung tapi mungkin atas sebab-sebab yang saya terangkan awal-awal tadi tentang ‘mentaliti’ kebanyakkan masyarakat pasca kolonisasi ini atau mungkin sudah ditakdirkan. Oleh kerana ‘mencedok’ dari Barat itu tidak dpt dielakkan, jadi kita harus bijak dalam ‘mencedok’ dan membuat ‘sesuatu yang ‘dicedok’ itu kepunyaan kita. Kenapa saya berkata begitu? Kenapa kita tak buang sahaja smua dan tekan butang reset ke 000? Kerana bukannya senang utk mencipta identiti sendiri di zaman globalisasi ini. Lebih lebih lagi, sebaik anda dilahirkan, tembok-tembok pemisah sudah terbina. Memang setiap nota-nota muzik sudah dimainkan jadi kita tak perlu memainkan smua nota2 yg ada. Kita boleh gunakan contohnya skala Timur (Asia) yg kebanyakkannya ‘pentatonik’ atau mengandungi 5 nota sahaja di dalam skalanya (seperti gamelan). Dari pemerhatian saya pula, skala barat rata-rata terbentuk dari penggunaan leading tone ataupun tedency tone di mana not ke 4 (fa) dan nota ke 7( ti) dan khadiran 2 darjah not itu sangat prominent di dalam lagu-lagu Barat. Apa kata anda cuba ujikaji, untuk membuat melodi dengan ‘mengelakkan’ nota ke 4 dan ke 7, pasti anda akan ‘sedar’ bunyinya mungkin kedengaran seperti ‘lagu Cina’ atau ‘lagu sape Sarawak’ dan sebagainya. Itulah skala Asia pada saya! Satu lagi cara untuk ‘meng-Asiakan’ lagu-lagu anda, adalah dipanggil (saya panggil) ‘Teknik P Ramlee.’ Saya percaya Allahyarham Tan Sri smemangnya sangat-sangat bijak serta berwawasan, dan beliau telah menebas lalang-lalang, membina ‘lebuh raya’ dan mencipta formula-formula buat anak-cucunya supaya dapat digunakan smula, atau mengubahsuai formula-formula beliau di masa hadapan. Cara beliau amatlah terperinci, tetapi langsung tidak rumit dan sangat-sangat efektif! Mungkin krana itu karya-karya beliau masih segar shingga kini, dan diakui srata dunia.
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Teknik P. Ramlee yang saya maksudkan adalah menjadikan dominant chords, skali lagi berkait dgn leading tone ‘4’ atau ‘7’, trutamanya 7(ti) dalam lagu2 beliau. Contoh seperti lagu ‘Senandung Kasih’ (yang saya jadikan rujukan utama dalam penghasilan karangan-karangan/lagu-lagu saya shingga kini bermula dengan lagu Butterfingers (‘Epitome,’ dari album Transcendence). Lagu di dalam D major, jadi C# adalah darjah ke 7 di dalam skala tersebut, dan krana C# itu, anda akan bertemu dgn dominant chord, kord untuk darjah ke 5, A major atau darjah 7 , C# diminish. Tetapi, P. Ramlee telah menurunkan (atau ‘flatkan’ -bahasa muzik) nota C# itu ke C natural, dan scara automatik kord A major dominant itu menjadi kord A minor (dan C natural scara automatik menjadikan darjah ke tujuh ke darjah b7 atau (te). Kreatif bukan? Bunyinya? Tak usah cakap! Sungguh unik dan menakjubkan! Apa kata tuan-tuan cuba! Memang pada mulanya, agak janggal bila kita cuba mengadunkan citarasa nusantara dengan Barat, tapi jika dibuat dengan teliti, ia akan menjadi padu dan paling penting ‘tersendiri’. (Maaf jika topik ini lebih cenderung ke arah ‘teknikal’. Untuk pemahaman/ penerangan lanjut, sertailah saya dalam pergerakan ‘Sekolah Baru Kuala Lumpur.’)
Nasionalisme lwn Tradisionalisme, Masalah2 serta Jalan2 Penyelesiannya (Kalau ikut cara saya) Pada saya, ‘nasionalisme’ bukannya memburuk-burukkan budaya-budaya lain, bukan juga berbaur perkauman. Nasionalisme adalah menyanjung tinggi dan melakukan evolusi ke atas budaya sendiri dalam segala segi, dan bagi saya, saya ber’nasionalisme’ melalui seni. Contohnya: jika makanan kegemaran anda adalah nasi lemak, dan anda bangga-banggakan bahawa nasi lemak berasal dari Malaysia dan dicipta oleh orang2 Melayu, adakah itu berbau perkauman? Adakah bermaksud anda tak akan makan burger yang dari Barat? Saya rasa tidak. Itulah nasionalisme yang sbenarnya pada pemahaman saya sendiri, dan ingin terapkan dalam karya2 seni saya. Anda mungkin akan rasa diri anda kurang ‘rock’ atau kurang ‘rugged’ atau ‘hip’ dan ‘terkini’ bila dalam playlist anda ada lagu-lagu dari Hamzah Dolmat, Abdullah Chik, Sheqal jika dibandingkan dengan remaja-remaja lain yang mendengar band-band pop, rock, metal terkini yang dari Barat. Tapi saya 180 darjah berbeza dari anda. Pada saya, kroncong itu sama ‘rugged’nya dengan rock n roll. Pakai kain pelikat pergi ke disko-disko dan klub-klub sangat 100000 kali lebih punk dari punk tiruan dan rebel tanpa haluan pada saya! Nak punk, nak new age Hippie, nak techno, tiada hal. Saya bukan nak menghalang, Khairil Ridzwan Annuar
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tapi dalam diri perlu ada ‘ilmu’ tentang siapa diri kita. Perlu ada ‘kesedaran’. Dan perlu tahu untuk menghargai atau appreciate apa yang dari diri kita atau akar umbi kita. Ok, memang saya slalu war-warkan ke sluruh pelusuk nusantara tetang niat saya ingin ‘mekarkan/hidupkan kembali yang dah layu/mati’ (renaissance) ke abad ke 21 ini. Memang betul, tapi saya bukan meniru bulat-bulat seperti dahulu. Dahulu, dahulu, skrang, skrang. Tetapi saya menggunakan acuanacuan dan rempah ratus yang telah ditinggalkan oleh Yusof B, R. Azmi, P. Ramlee dan skutu2nya, dan mengubahsuainya ke zaman skrang, dgn citarasa skrang, mengikut pemahaman saya. Pada saya, seni perlu ada evolusi. Seni bukannya sebuah tembok. Saya memandang seni itu sebagai sebuah masalah matematik, sebuah ‘pemboleh ubah’, seperti sesumpah. Cara untuk menyelesaikan permasalahan itu juga adalah suatu seni. Seperti interpretasi monoloQue utk karya agung P.Ramlee, ‘Tiada Kata Scantik Bahasa,’ ramai rakan-rakan sebaya yang menggemari versi kami, tapi banyak juga yang hampa. Ada juga yang merasa seolah-olah kami merosakkan karya suci P. Ramlee. Saya tertanya, kenapa mereka berfikiran begitu? Mungkinkah mereka ini golongan traditional atau purist, atau mereka jenis yang tak mau trima perubahan? Pada saya, sperti yang saya terangkan tadi, kami ambil acuan (form) dan rempah-ratusnya (melodi) dan mengubahsuaikan ia seolah-olah ia adalah salah satu lagu dari band monoloQue sendiri. Itu baru pada saya, sah untuk dipanggil cover version! Atau perhargaan tertinggi tahap dewa untuk salah satu karya suci Bapa Komposer kepada suara-suara Malaysia, iaitu Tan Sri P Ramlee. Saya takkan ubah-suai smula lagu-lagu lama, smata-mata untuk menandingi atau buat lebih baik daripada yang lama. Apakah signifikasinya jika saya ingin berbuat demikian? Baik anda dengar versi asli yang smemangnya telah diuji dan lulus sejak zaman berzaman dan telah mencapai status ‘malar segar’. Bezakan ia. Pada saya, yang lama, kita pelihara, yang baru kita biar ia ‘subjektif.’ Buka ruang untuk generasi-generai baru berinovasi. Tak perlu ada rang undang-undang untuk revolusi. Tak perlu ada lampu isyarat untuk lebuhraya kreativiti. Baru lah dinamakan evolusi. Seperti lukisan-lukisan Claude Monet, Van Gogh, atau lagu-lagu JS Bach dari Barat. Karya-karya mereka dipelihara dengan baik skali, lalu dianalisa dengan teliti baik di jalanan mahupun di menara-menara gading dengan kanta pembesar bratus-ratus tahun selepas kematian mereka.
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Setiap nota, setiap pergerakan, setiap pemilihan dan kputusan di dalam karya mreka membawa maksud tertentu. Begitu ‘ke hadapan’ cara mereka berfikir! Walau ada yang menganggap kebanyakkannya atas dasar ‘tidak sengaja’. Dan apakah hasilnya? Kerana mereka berfikiran begitulah, krana mentaliti mereka yg sebegitu, Seni Barat senantiasa maju, senantiasa berevolusi. Senantiasa bertapak-tapak maju dari kita, walaupun ketika ini, dunia ilmu tanpa sempadan dan teknologi yg digunakan hampir sama kerana mereka pelihara yang lama. Bukan untuk duduk lapuk di muzium sahaja, tapi dikaji scara teliti, kemudian menjadi pedoman/rujukan seni untuk diperbaharui oleh anak cucu cicit mereka. maka lahirlah apa yang anda di lihat di media-media masa barat skrang—pop, metal, rock impressionisme, ekspressionisme dan lain-lain. Tapi itu bukan objektif saya menyentuh hal ini. Saya ingin memberi perspektif berbeza kepada anda semua tentang pentingnya menghargai, memelihara, menganalisa, dan mencipta sesuatu yg baru tanpa kompromi. Dan juga sentiasa beringat, setiap pembahruan yang dilakukan pada mulanya smestinya ditentang. Pesanan hikmat yang menjadi pedoman diri ini dari ayah saya, “Bila nak perkenalkan yang baru, yang luarbiasa, bukan lazim, trutamanya untuk orang Malaysia, atau masyarakat Melayu khususnya, jangan sesekali terasa. Jangan sampai makan dalam, dan jangan sesekali putus asa!” Memang betul! Bukan senang nak membuat pembaharuan, trutamanya di dalam masyarakat yang telah berdekad-dekad selesa dengan ‘benda yang disuap.’ Kalau nak cerita pasal ‘suap menyuap,’ memang berjela lagilah coretan saya ini, jadi saya abaikan topik ‘suap menyuap’ itu untuk kali ini. Perhargaan, menghargai atau perkataan Inggerisnya, appreciation, adalah sesuatu yang agak ‘asing’ bagi masyarakat Malaysia scara umumnya. Menghargai bahasa, menghargai seni dan menghargai budaya yang harganya tidak ternilai.
‘Purist /traditionalist lwn westernized’ atau ‘kampung lwn urban?’ Anda pernah terasa tersekat di tengah-tengah masyarakat yang keliru, di era globalisasi kini? Dilema nasionalisme mungkin? Dari pandangan saya, masyarakat Malaysia terdiri dari 3 golongan – 1 yang purist 2 yang westernized 3 yang sesat.
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Untuk hujah ini, kita tinggalkanlah yang sesat atau lost. Tiada jalan tengah ? Kenapa perlu ada jurang? Saya tak rasa ia memudahkan, malah lebih mengelirukan. Apa itu ‘muzik kampung?’ Muzik yang iramanya lebih cenderung kepada kawasan kampung yang di mana lagu-lagunya hanya didengari oleh majoriti masyarakat berkasta petengahan dan rendah atau Felda, manakala ‘urban’ pula lebih tersasar ke citarasa anak muda dan yang kayaraya bergaya di Kuala Lumpur? Adakah jurang ini akan lebih memajukan muzik tanahair? Saya rasa tidak! Ini smua karut belaka. Kenapa orang-orang kampung harus disuapkan ‘rock melayu’ atau lagu-lagu joget inang belia, dan orang-orang bandar hanya disuapkan dengan lagu-lagu proBarat? Bagaimanakah intergrasi muzik Malaysia sebagai suatu kuasa seni yang beridentiti hendak dibentuk jika ada tembok yang memisahkan? Adakah muzik tanahair akan menerima nasib yg sama seperi masyarakat Malaysia yang berbilang kaum tapi diagihkan mengikut ‘zon-zon kepakaran’ (kata Si Inggeris), Melayu di kampung, Cina di bandar-bandar, dan India di estet-estet seperti zaman pra-Merdeka? Adakah benar2 pemikiran kita smua sudah merdeka, atau hanya ‘merdeka’ pada nama? Satu soalan yang sangat penting untuk kita tanya diri kita smua sebagai rakyat Malaysia yang ‘beridentiti’ dan berbangga serta pandai menghargai akar umbinya sendiri. Smuanya bermula hanya dengan cara kita berfikir! Di sini, saya nyatakan beberapa contoh cara pemikiran, mentaliti atau ketetapan minda (mindset) yang saya seringkali dijumpa pada masyarakat Malaysia hari ini. Saya mungkin tersilap atau salah, tapi ini adalah hasil dari pemerhatian saya slama ini. Mentaliti atau ketetapan minda (mindset) ini tipikal di Malaysia dan seharusnya ditukar secara menyeluruh :
1 Harus berbahasa Inggeris dalam perbualan sharian, urusan sharian, perniagaan dan rundingan, kecuali bila nak order nasi lemak kat makcik2 di gerai/brader2 burger)baru status ‘urban’ anda terbukti dan imej kampung anda terhakis shabis habisnya. Kalau cakap BM, anda dikira low class. Atau kalau ber’bahasa’, takut orang lain tak faham. Sangat-sangat prihatin kita ini.
2 Elemen-elemen Barat yang diserapkan melalui drama-drama yang menjadi medium ‘pembasuh otak’ (brain washing) utama dalam sikap dan mentaliti masyarakat, Melayu Malaysia trutamanya, scara automatik menjadi faktor dan penyumbang utama kepada ‘tempurung’ yang sekian lama mendominasi pemikiran anak-anak Malaysia trutamanya yang berbangsa Khairil Ridzwan Annuar
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Melayu. Contoh: Kalau adegan minum aje, mesti di coffee house mahal-mahal, atau kafe-kafe bergaya Inggeris atau Barat.
3 Seni bina rumah, kalau untuk menggambarkan kluarga dari kota, di depan mesti ada roman columns. Akibatnya, kita lihat rumah-rumah kampung di srata Malaysia kini pasti ada roman columns, walaupun berskala kecil! Sebagai simbol kekayaan mungkin?
4 Hiasan dalaman (interior decoration) rumah-rumah datuk dan datin smestinya bergaya Inggeris, dari chandelier, dengan eEnglish set lengkap, menjadi kemestian dalam sumber rujukan keluarga kelas pertengahan/ atasan Malaysia sebagai simbol kekayaan, umpama ‘lagi Barat, lagi tertinggi statusnya’ di dalam masyarakat.
5 Penggunaan ‘I’ sebagai ‘saya,’ dan ‘U’ sbg ‘awak,’ hanya ketika berkomunikasi antara dua gender yang berbeza. (Nampaknya, itu tak dapat diselamatkan lagi hehe)
6 Suka stereotaip. Contoh dalam seni: Kalau anda seorang guitarist rock, mesti kena berpakaian rock, kena bergaya dalam sesuatu gaya yg mnunjukkan anda seorang ‘rockers’, dan anda akan diterjemah sebagai seseorang yang pandai bermain lagu atau solo guitar lagu-lagu popular kumpulan-kumpulan rock.
7 Suka menghafal tanpa memahami. Contoh dalam seni: Kalau main gitar, kena terror macam Slash, dan kalau main lagu contohnya ‘Hotel California’ Eagles, solo kena sebijik, kalau improvise, anda dikira tak terror atau merosakkan lagu. “Kena main sebijik, barulah Slash!” Ish Ish Ish.
8 Produk-produk dari luar ditelan begitu sahaja, produk sendiri guna kanta pembesar untuk cari salah. Contoh: Kalau muzik dari Barat, walaupun janggal atau pelik, “Oh itu style baru!”, “Trend terkini,” tapi kalau muzik tempatan cuba membuat pembaharuan, ataupun lain dari yang sering ‘disuap’-- “Oh ini salah, itu sumbang,” “Kenapa sound tak macam Avenge Sevenfold,” atau “Menangis P.Ramlee dengar kau rosakkan lagu dia.”
9 Produk2 luar diberi layanan istimewa, produk tempatan dianaktirikan: Contoh dalam seni: Band luar, dibayar beribu-ribu ringgit, band tempatan, terpaksa ‘isi minyak kereta dengan air mineral.’ Khairil Ridzwan Annuar
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Antara alasan2 yang sering diberikan dan berkaitan: Band luar dapat menarik lebih perhatian umum dari band tempatan, jadi band luar sharusnya diberi keutamaan. Banyak lagi contoh2 yang kalau dinyatakan di sini, berjela jelalah lagi coretan saya ini. Mungkin saya akan sambung di coretan lain, di lain hari barangkali.... Dengan penulisan ini, bukannya niat saya sama skali untuk menjatuhkan mana-mana pihak yang mungkin akan terasa ‘dijatuhkan,’ tapi sbenarnya niat saya hanyalah skadar berkongsi apa yg tersemat slama ini di celah-celah sel otak mahupun di benak hati ini. Juga kerana prasaan jijik saya yang tak dapat dibendung lagi melihat masyarakat yang smakin hilang budaya dan identitnya, hanya kerana mengikut kemahuan globalisasi sejagat. Panggillah saya extreme, panggillah saya apa saja, pada saya, apa yang saya fikir, dan apa yang saya tulis, saya amat berharap dapat sdikit sbanyak memecahkan empangan dan menyuburkan kembali persada seni dan budaya dalam sgala segi yang slama ini ‘ketandusan’! Biarlah perlahan-lahan, janji evolusi pasti terjadi! Dan matlamat saya juga,smoga coretan saya ini dapat menyuluhkan sdikit cahaya buat kita smua yang pada saya masih di dalam ‘zaman gelap’/krisis identiti. Demikian, saya akhiri coretan saya ini dengan peribahasa yang saya telah adaptasikan dalam salah sebuah lagu ciptaan saya, ‘Joget Global,’ “Kera di hutan disusukan, anak di rumah mati kelaparan. Ubah! Ubah! Ubah! Ubah!” p/s: Perlahan-lahan kayuh, tak perlu gopoh untuk mengubah. Empayar Melaka pun bukannya dibina dalam satu hari!
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#projekbuku
Future Is Uncertain, Kepuasan Is oleh Mohd Jayzuan
Mohd Jayzuan is a writer, poet and frontman of Freelove. 298
Bila salah seorang orang gila dalam Malaysian rock n’ roll scene a.k.a Aie a.k.a Adly Syairi Ramly hubungi aku dan menceritakan tentang projek buku ini, aku tanpa banyak tanya, langsung bersetuju. Bagi aku, perkara baik tak perlu nak tanya banyak-banyak, perkara baik kena terus setuju dan buat. Bukan tak setuju, pandai cakap dan tak buat-buat. “Hang tulih je apa-apa, rant ke apa ke.” Itu adalah antara ayat yang aku ingat keluar daripada mulutnya dan aku rasa dia telah berjumpa dengan orang yang tepat, kerana menulis perkara-perkara merapu dan rant merepek-repek memang kepakaran aku. I’m the Rant King yo. Let see, kat mana aku nak mulakan tulisan ni. Hmm... Aaaaa... Umph... Ha! Ayuh mulakan dengan, who the fukk aku ni? Kenapa si mamat-bekaspenulis-zine yang gempak tahun 90an ni nak suruh aku menulis untuk projek ni? I don’t even know how to spell ‘Phillipines’ dengan betul pun. Itu belum kira Mohd Jayzuan
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lagi grammar tunggang-langgang yang macam kena tendang. Okay, go! Simpang Pulai adalah sebuah daerah kecil 20 minit dari bandaraya Ipoh. Aku adalah seorang budak kampung dari Simpang Pulai yang semenjak kecil lagi dah terlalu cintakan art dan rock n’ roll. Seawal usia 8 atau 9 tahun, aku dah tahu aku akan ada love-hate relationship dengan seni. Aku dah nampak yang aku tak akan ada masa depan bekerja dalam pejabat, not that I’m against anyone kerja pejabat, cuma aku memang dah lama tahu, aku tak boleh kerja di pejabat. Untuk semua para pekerja pejabat sedunia; may the paper clip be with you! Buatlah apa yang korang perlu buat dan aku sedang nak buat apa yang perlu dan mahu aku buat. Melukis adalah art pertama yang buat aku mula meliar dalam eksperimentasi seni. Semenjak kecil, dinding mana tak aku conteng dan kertas mana yang tak dinodai dengan contengan aku. Dalam lukisan, aku terasa bebas lepas untuk bermimpi tentang perkara-perkara yang tak pasti dalam hidup. Aku selalu bayangkan, alangkah indahnya jika aku adalah watak-watak kartun yang tak akan dimamah usia dan tak akan mati. Dalam usia yang sama juga, aku dah mula membaca dan menulis. Mak aku hanya biarkan aku baca apa jua bahan bacaan yang disuka. Selalunya kami akan ke kedai buku dan dia akan biarkan aku bebas memilih buku yang nak dibeli. Kalau mak ayah aku tak galakkan membaca masa kecil dulu, sekarang ni mungkin aku sedang cuba meragut beg tangan mana-mana perempuan kat lorong-lorong kecil di Ipoh. Sama seperti melukis, membaca buatkan aku hilang dalam setiap cerita-cerita yang dibaca. Aku gembira apabila lost dalam dunia sendiri. Kemudian, aku mula menulis, menulis dan menulis tanpa henti-henti sehingga sekarang. Melonjak ke umur 12 tahun, aku mula belajar main gitar tong dengan braderbrader yang melepak bawah pokok di kampung. Aku salahkah Kurt Cobain. Sebab dia aku mula angkat gitar dan lupa lukisan secara perlahan-lahan. 1998, masa berumur 16 tahun, aku bermain di gig underground pertama di depan 500++ orang yang datang. Waktu itu jugalah aku sedar yang tak ada lagi jalan untuk aku berpatah balik—aku nak jadi pemuja rock n’ roll sampai bila-bila! Semenjak dari itu, sehingga ke saat aku menulis ini, aku tak pernah berhenti daripada bermain di sebarang gig, tak kiralah underground, mainstream or takda-stream (?). Mana tempat yang mampu aku main, mana tempat yang boleh aku menjerit dan buang sisa-sisa peluh aku—aku akan Mohd Jayzuan
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main. Rock n’ roll adalah my lover, best buddy, soul mate, scandal—rock n’ roll adalah hantu dalam badan aku. Mari jadikan tulisan ini meleret-leret dan membosankan dengan cerita tentang perkara-perkara yang pernah dibuat dengan band-band aku. Dengan Bloodymary, band pertama aku (yang serius) kami pernah mengeluarkan sebuah E.P bertajuk “Why Too Care...??!!” pada tahun 2000 dan terlibat dalam empat buah kompilasi underground dan mainstream. Bloodymary pernah menerima tawaran daripada major label untuk menghasilkan album dan kami tolak. Free Love pula, sebuah band indie rock yang ditubuhkan pada 2002. Asalnya adalah sebuah side-project band membabitkan kawan-kawan aku daripada Bloodymary, Muck dan Harmacy. Free Love yang mana akhirnya banyak memberikan aku pengalaman-pengalaman rock n’ rolla gila pernah menghasilkan sebuah album bertajuk ‘Feed Us with Yr Love’ pada tahun 2008. Beberapa tahun sebelum album perdana kami keluar, Free Love pernah merakamkan dua buah lagu bertajuk ‘Indie Rock Darling’ dan ‘Hey Ho, I Love You’ untuk dua buah kompilasi indie. Free Love pernah pernah bermain di Singapura, Indonesia dan Filipina. Pernah mendapat tawaran bermain di Hong Kong dan Perancis, but too bad, band tak berduit macam kami tak ada sen nak pergi. Cari tajaan? Oi gila ke?! Siapa nak taja band kampung yang tak popular?! And, sumpah kami mana reti nak tulis proposal. Free Love juga pernah mendapat tawaran daripada sebuah syarikat rakaman arus perdana dan sekali lagi tawaran itu ditolak. Jangan salah anggap, aku tak ada apa-apa masalah dengan mana-mana syarikat rakaman arus perdana, malah tak mustahil kalau suatu hari nanti aku akan menerbitkan sesuatu dengan syarikat rakamana arus perdana, cuma syarat-syarat yang dikenakan pada kami waktu itu sangat lawak. Sebelum aku mati ketawa terbahak-bahak, sebelum naik lemak, baiklah ditolak. Kami sempat juga tandatangan dengan sebuah label indie berpusat di New York, tapi seperti cerita-cerita malang lain yang dilalui, Free Love tak sempat nak menghasilkan apa-apa pun dengan label tersebut. Terkubur begitu saja. Habis. Kapish! Ada dua perkara yang selalu aku ingat setiap kali terkenangkan Free Love (yang kini sedang hiatus). Free Love pernah menjadi band pembuka untuk band punk lagenda; Buzzcocks (yeah, Buzz’fukking’cocks! Band yang sama penting Mohd Jayzuan
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seperti Sex Pistols dan The Clash dalam sejarah punk dunia!) dan kepala aku pernah dijahit sebanyak 8 jahitan akibat terjatuh di atas pentas kerana aksi stage diving yang dilakukan. And that my friends, literally, so BLOODY rock n’ roll. Panjat-memanjat, bergayut sana-sini dan terloncat-loncat di atas stage adalah perkara biasa apabila bersama Free Love. Lain pula apabila aku mengangkat gitar kapok dan menggunakan nama sendiri sebagai stage name. Sisi lain aku sebagai singer-songwriter lebih tenang, lebih ke arah folk pop/lo-fi dan mellowbarai-sumbang-sukati. Beberapa material solo pernah dihasilkan seperti ‘Songs from Bedroom’ iaitu sebuah E.P cetakan terhad dan sebuah album bertajuk, ‘Love-Fi’. Masingmasing diterbitkan pada tahun 2007 dan 2008. As singer-songwriter, aku pernah dijemput ‘bikin kecoh’ hingga ke Galeri Nasional Jakarta dan Manila dan Singapura. Aku tak mahu berhenti lagi. 2009, satu keajaiban terjadi dalam hidup aku, Tuhan hantarkan keajaiban itu dalam bentuk seorang manusia bernama Sufian Abas. Brader ‘hip’ ini adalah orang yang bertanggungjawab menerbitkan buku pertama aku, ‘28 Hari: Jurnal Rock n’ Roll’ di bawah syarikat penerbitan bukunya; Sang Freud Press. Buku ini dikeluarkan pada tahun 2010, ianya tentang kembara aku menggelilingi Malaysia seorang diri; broke, tak happy dan no hope. Tak semena-mena selepas buku tersebut dilancarkan, karier menulis aku telah berkembang tanpa disangka. Aku dijemput menjadi tetamu menghadiri Ubud Writers Festival 2010 di Bali, dijemput membaca di universiti-universiti, di Balai Seni Lukis Negara dan beberapa acara dan tempat lain yang tak pernah terfikir oleh aku. Secara perlahan-lahan, aktiviti aku yang selalunya konon-wild-sangat dengan rock n’ roll berubah. Masa aku lebih banyak ke arah dunia penulisan dengan kawankawan penulis lain. Aktiviti-aktiviti geng-geng penulisan ini lebih santai dan tak memerlukan aku untuk terloncat-loncat, memanjat drums atau melakukan stage dive. Tak lama selepas mengeluarkan buku pertama, aku mengeluarkan sebuah buku cetakan terhad (hanya 333 naskhah) berjudul, ‘Nota-Nota Gila’ dan pada Julai 2011, sebuah novella berjudul ‘Anarki di Kuala Lumpur’. Kini, buku-buku aku boleh didapati di Kinokuniya, Borders, MPH, Popular dan Silverfish. Paling syok, aku dah mampu bayar mee goreng dan teh tarik Mohd Jayzuan
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menggunakan wang hasil tulisan-tulisan aku. Minat aku terhadap art bukan hanya di situ, awal 2011, aku telah bikin sebuah filem pendek bertajuk ‘Cin-Ntah?’. Ia adalah filem pendek pertama yang diarah dan ditulis aku sendiri. Dan ketika ini, ketika sedang menulis tulisan ini, aku sedang memerah otak bagi proses terakhir filem pendek kedua yang dijadualkan akan memulakan pengambaran (cewah! macam produksi besar je!) pada Disember 2011. Aku mahu bikin filem pula! Baru-baru ini, sekali lagi keajaiban terjadi. Tuhan hantar beberapa orang menjadi ‘penyelamat’ dan kali ini mereka adalah orang-orang dalam industri perfileman yang terdiri daripada pelakon, produser, pengarah yang aku tahu bertaraf kelas A di negara kita. Orang-orang ini sedang cuba nak bantu dan ‘selamatkan’ aku. Beberapa drama bersiri, telemovie dan filem sedang diusaha untuk direalisasikan. Aku tak tahu adakah ianya akan menjadi atau tak, tapi aku selalu amalkan prinsip; LANGGAR dan CUBA! Kalau gagal pun aku puas hati, sebab sekurang-kurangnya dah cuba. Lelaki sejati (wanita juga) tak takutkan kegagalan. Kita tendang pungkoq kegagalan, give them hard times. Jangan jatuh terduduk tak bangun-bangun sebab kegagalan. Tak ada salahnya dengan terjatuh dan gagal, tapi kena bangun balik. Bangun dan jalan menuju ke depan, lagi bagus kalau mampu berlari. Jangan takut untuk gagal dan bersedih. Tapi kalau takut untuk mencuba, that’s fukked up and fukking embarassing. Jangan jadi chicken shit, but jadi the fukking shit! Okay, what the fukk aku meleret cerita apa semua benda yang aku dah buat sepanjang aku bersenggama dengan seni ni? Simple, semudah A, B, C dan semudah kentut di sana-sini. I’m an outsider artist. Aku tak pernah menerima SEBARANG pendidikan formal tentang seni kecuali di sekolah menengah dulu dan aku tak punya walau sehelai sijil pun yang boleh mengesahkan tentang art yang aku bikin. Aku belajar daripada pemerhatian, bacaan dan buat. Salah satu perkara yang aku belajar, apa saja yang kita buat, akan ada orang yang tak suka dan akan cuba jatuhkan kita dengan bermacam-macam cara. Aku, dah lalu semua tu, kena kutuk, cerca, hina, itu semua aku punya roti dan mentega. I’m not talking about strangers. Usually, I don’t give a fish pasal strangers yang cakap pasal aku, sebab, depa bukannya kenal aku dalam kehidupan sebenar dan aku tak rasa aku perlu sesakkan otak dengan mendengar kutukan Mohd Jayzuan
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orang-orang yang aku tak kenal. Dan apa yang paling penting adalah untuk aku terus jalan dan buat apa yang aku percaya. Future is uncertain. Tak ada satu perkara pun yang pasti dalam dunia ini kecuali mati. Aku tak pasti perkara yang sedang aku buat ini akan membawa aku ke mana atau apa yang akan terjadi, tapi aku tahu, aku tak boleh duduk diam. Aku kena terus teroka dan gali dalam-dalam apa jua perkara berkaitan art yang aku suka. Kena terus jalan, redah dan langgar. Better than cakap, pandai complain dan tak buat apa-apa. Bertahun-tahun aku bikin kerja-kerja ini. Masih tak kaya, tak pernah keluar surat khabar Malaysia, masih tak dapat nak beli kereta dan adakalanya masih tak ada duit nak bayar ‘Nasi Ganja’ kat Ipoh yang dah naik harga tu. Apa yang aku dapat daripada semua ni? Kepuasan. K.e.p.u.a.s.a.n = Kepuasan. KEPUASAN! K E P U A S A N ! Ya, dah tentu kepuasan tak mampu bayar bil sewa rumah dan elektrik. Tapi aku sedang merayakan kehidupan aku dengan kepuasan ini. Ada orang merasa puas dengan mempunyai telefon pintar, ada yang rasa puas dengan mengumpul kasut, ada yang rasa puas setelah dapat pelangkung kepala orang yang dibencinya dan aku, aku sedang merasa puas dengan ‘menjelajah’ ke setiap pelusuk art yang termampu. Jelajah dan cuba conquer. Mohd Jayzuan
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Aku tak mahu suatu hari nanti apabila aku sedang terbaring nazak di atas katil menunggu mati, aku akan teringat, “Oh shizza! Aku tak sempat nak habiskan sajak yang kelmarin tu! Yang baru buat dua rangkap tu!” Aku tak nak mati dengan perasaan sedih. Percaya dan raikan kerja yang korang suka. Be a good bus driver, jadilah penggilap kasut yang mengilap dengan penuh cinta, juallah kacang putihmu dengan wajah yang tersenyum. Pendek kata, apa jua jalan yang dipilih, apa juga kerja yang kamu mahu bikin, make it very special. Cherish yr job. Jatuh cinta dan angaukan kerja kamu. Biar bodoh dengan mencuba daripada pandai dan tak buat apa-apa. Fukk. Apa jadah yang aku merepek ni?
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#projekbuku
The Artiste & Social Media by M. Zulkifli
M Zulkifli quit as a Magistrate to become the editor of FHM, New Man, The Malay Mail, and a TV Host. 306
And in the 5th billion year of Earth’s existence (more or less), man invented Social Media. A tad belated, you might say, but its impact has been nothing short of, well, Earth-shattering. Defined by Wikipedia as “media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques dialogue”, its impact has been of game-changing proportions for every one of us. How we communicate, do business and consume information, have all been altered and improved beyond all expectations and predictions. Of course, the music industry has been no exception. Social media has been at the heart of the evolution of the music business, for better or worse. And despite its young age, the use of social media in music has somewhat evolved, reflecting the maturity of the audience and the sophistication of its advocates and the technology. In the beginning, it was all about discovery as acts took it upon themselves to get noticed. The (then) mighty MySpace (established in 2003) and YouTube (2005) were the main platforms of choice. Acts created their profiles, recorded their music, uploaded them and soon enough, people started to pay attention. Everything was achieved at one’s own bedroom with minimal costs, and yes, no publicists needed. M. Zulkifli
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Sure, the purists pointed out that these acts were skipping one very important step; paying one’s dues. But there were also those who slaved away for years, driven by raw passion but never made it anywhere, until social media came along. Besides, people would eventually find out if you’re genuinely good or just a one-upload wonder. And so, the world – real and cyber – welcomed with much enthusiasm these social music stars including the Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen and Soulja Boy. Some did it on their own, while others benefited from the enthusiasm of their online fans and friends. What was missing from this chain of fame was the A&R executive, until it became clear that a new revenue model was for the taking. Meanwhile back home, despite the slow embrace of social media, we all know now of the success stories of Couple, Zee Avi and Yuna, among others. All of them have taken their music to greater heights, without a doubt. Couple received a huge recognition from none other than Rolling Stone magazine itself when it was listed as one of the “25 Best Bands on MySpace”. Zee Avi aka Kokokaina is now signed with Jack Johnson’s label Brushfire Records and Yuna has become an icon in her own right. And that’s the other beauty of the Internet and social media; it knows no boundaries. At the height of their popularity, rock legends Search never got the worldwide recognition it deserved. Save for a couple of shows in New York and the constant rumours of recording an album in Europe, global dominance frustratingly eluded them. Imagine if these social platforms were available back then! That’s the story of social media and discovery. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the same platform is perfect for the previously-costly activity of marketing. Traditionally a highly-specialised field that makes or breaks a music career, it quickly became something more personal and elementary. Acts didn’t start with a budget in mind, but with just bucket-loads of enthusiasm and passion. The Web 2.0 features of “sharing” and “embedding” became simple yet effective tools to promote and generate excitement. This was the digital wordof-mouth. Internet users no longer just viewed and moved along, they shared what they like with their friends and made it part of their own content on their blog and website. It was a marketer’s dream, and it came at the right time for the music industry M. Zulkifli
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because digital music had moved up to the next level with the easy availability of legal downloads. Maybe not here in Malaysia, but after Apple opened its iTunes store in 2003, and with MP3 player sales hitting the roof, this meant that social media fame for music acts was also bringing in the bucks. But even in markets where monetisation was slow to mature, social media marketing proved effective in raising the profile of acts and building credibility and community of followers. In fact, studies have shown that user comments received on some bands’ MySpace page actually translated into better CD or album sales in the real world. Not bad at all for a ZERO budget marketing tool. As mentioned, even being less than a decade old, social media has evolved in terms of platforms, user experience and utilisation. The boom in the smartphone market has made social media an even more convenient and intimate experience. And while MySpace has more or less kicked the bucket, Facebook and Twitter have become giants with 800 million and 200 million users respectively at the time of writing. Just as the technology itself moves very fast, user expectations are no different. To keep a generation with a short attention span and the tendency to be fickle interested, “engagement” is of paramount importance. Fans and followers expect their favourite artistes to take notice of them too. And engage in and respond to conversations. So you’ve been discovered online and people know your name. They tell their friends about your music and how awesome you are. It is now time to show that you care. And unlike those days when artistes could hire someone to sign their autographs and write their Thank You notes, fans expect nothing less than the real deal to be responding to their simple hellos. You know how, standing on the stage facing your fans, you utter the words: “I/ We wish I/we could thank each and every one of you for being here”? Well, now you can easily do that. And just imagine the amount of goodwill you will reap from such a simple gesture! Also remember that the general rules of social media apply also to the artist. Don’t spam your fans and followers. Got a new ringtone deal with a telco? Spread the word by no means, but don’t pollute the timeline with hard-sell messages that are impersonal and yes, downright irritating. The thousands that initially follow you might even dwindle dramatically, in real numbers or just enthusiasm. M. Zulkifli
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Let your personality shine through. Social media is not a mere message board. Inform not only of ‘official’ activities, but what’s really happening with the real you. Magazine articles are great, but they’re not interactive. All it takes is just a few typed characters and the ‘replies’ and ‘re-tweets’ will add to the reasons why more people will be proudly calling themselves your fans. Of course, it’s not all positive in the land of social media. It’s where love and hate collide, but that’s just a challenge every artist has to go through. It should strengthen your resolve, and if a criticism is valid and constructive, what would seem as a negative would surely translate into a future positive. No one can accurately predict what the next big Internet trend will be, but for now, social media is king. It will continue to be pivotal in the communication space and facilitate the artist in the ways described above. Use it now, and use it wisely.
M. Zulkifli
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#projekbuku
(F)requency : (M)alaysia by Najihah Sani
Najihah Sani is Naj Frusciante. She is a radio presenter, a music journalist and also one of the team members of The Swagger Salon. 311
CONTRARY to popular beliefs, YOU are never too young to be nostalgic. Really, if you have lived enough, you’ll agree that some incidents gets stuck in your brain as if it happened yesterday. You tend to remember them vividly and each time you think about it, your whole blood stream feels different. Whether or not you need a box of tissue, is another issue. Really, our mind, unlike the computer, does not have the ability to trash out certain memories whenever we want it One of the components that can relive the past is the voices that we are familiar with. I’m not referring to those subliminal messages that you get when you hallucinate or when you dream, but real voices. You know, like the voices of your teachers scolding you when you didn’t do your homework as a kid. Or that squeaky voice of your least favourite aunty forcing you to taste the cookies she baked. Even the times when you turn on the radio in the morning and you feel Najihah Sani
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energised because you have that husky voice to keep you company to work, or to school. It is found that radio had the most mood-enhancing effect, among other media, with listeners saying that it lifted their happiness levels 100 per cent and energy levels by 300 percent. That research was done in the UK by the Media and Mood Nation Study. So far, I have not come across any research that is being done pertaining the listeners’ behaviour in Malaysia. This is part memoir and also part manifesto simply because I am a radio listener and at the same time I’m a radio presenter. However, whenever people ask me what I do for a living, I feel reluctant to answer, and most of the time, I’ll just tell them that I’m a kindergarten teacher. For the fun of it, you know. I don’t say this enough, but I really love my job. I’ve actually been to countless auditions to become one, and now that I am one, I really feel the need to bring in positive changes to the music industry. Radio is special in its own way. It is very personalised compared to many other media. Radio shows are being scripted in such a way where the listeners should feel that it’s a ‘one on one’ communication. It is through radio that you were informed about shocking incidents that happened, for instance, I first knew about Lady Diana’s passing via radio. I’m sure you remember the interviews that inspired you. Speaking through experience, I once woke up very early in the morning just to listen to Sheila Majid’s interview. I bet you remember those moments that made you smile because someone special dedicated a song to you on a radio show? What about the morning prank calls that made the traffic less of a problem for you, because you were laughing out loud. As for me, every time I hear the name Lil’ Kev and Fly Guy, the only thing I could think of is how hard I used to laugh to their jokes. All these memories wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t because of the electromagnetic waves that passes the vacuum in space and into a device called the radio. Today a rich literature investigates the impact of music on cognitive psychology and consumer behaviour. I hear people saying that local radio is not like how it used to be. Probably its sign of the times. Although we still see some entertainment oriented commercial programs on radio getting higher retention and recall of information, personal involvement attention and perceived credibility, more and more people however, hardly turn on their radio. Najihah Sani
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Has radio lost its charm? Does it have to depend on advertisements and commercial music to sustain itself? While popular culturalists often speak negatively of popular music in advertising as bankruptcy of culture, advertisers typically describe it in a glowing term as the marriage of art and commerce. Maintaining a radio station is no easy task, and with the thick expenses that come with it, it’s only right that radio stations rely on advertisements and on ground promotions to gain popularity. Somehow there has to be a balance between making money and also disseminating substantial music to the public. Radio stations need to realize that listeners are individuals and not consumers. Radio listeners have got the say to decide whether a certain format works well or not, and now that the technology has the best of us, we can’t help but to compare what we have with what the rest of the world has to offer. Online streaming, podcast, mixtapes, and many other avenues to new music, listeners are just thirsty. Music may well be the single most stimulating component in advertising. But don’t make it as the only concern in broadcasting as the aesthetics is what makes a station last. There are many things that can be done to bring up the credibility of local radio. If I could have enough support to propose that Malaysia should have a listener supported station, I’d be more than grateful. Each time I prepare for my show, I always put myself in the shoes of my listeners. It’s all about sharing and connecting. I’m typing this while listening to “Kiss Me Deadly” by Generation X, getting very sentimental, I would like to turn on your radio, our radio, Malaysian radio.
Najihah Sani
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#projekbuku
Fans: Powering Social Media Marketing by Nini Yusof
Nini Yusof is a well travelled creative communication expert whose resumes include Star TV, FOX, National Geographic Channel, NBC Universal and E! She’s in love with Park Yoo-Chun. 315
I am a big fan of Korean indie pop band, JYJ. I like their vocals and music style but I especially admire their passion and determination to succeed in the challenging Korean entertainment industry, which is full of bubble gum, autotuned music manufactured by giant entertainment agencies. JYJ is a band that has no television airtime in Korea. Their band is the only band that does not get to appear on air to promote their music and new album. It has been three long years. Yet their album In Heaven managed to be amongst the top three album sales in 2011 and sell a ‘sold out’ concert in Ibaraki Japan for 80,000 fans. What can we learn from this phenomenal success story that can be applicable to our own local music industry? Each of JYJ band members – Jae Joong, Yuchun and Junsu—has a twitter account and they use this to communicate regularly with their fans - indirectly building a strong support fan base. There are currently hundreds of small fan clubs around the world that help make up a bigger fan base in totality. Locally, Hujan and Bunkface each have a very strong fan base that they call Raingers and Bunkers. Even Nidji commendably calls their fans Nidjiholics. Nini Yusof
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These names clearly bring out a true heart felt connection with the fans. Now artistes just have to step up their game by engaging the hearts of their fans. As artistes, you should encourage fans to build their own sub fan club via social media but you must ensure that these sub fan clubs get access to the latest information and activities. With these sub fan bases, you can quickly disseminate artiste activities, concerts, where to buy tickets and the latest merchandise available. I am pretty sure die-hard fans will be willing to pay to attend concerts if they know that there is something extraordinary that they can expect from the bands. Differentiate your band’s performance between a free concert and paid concert. Put on a jam-packed show! Create higher value for your paid concerts. And make sure that the screams through the fan-cams tell it all through Facebook and Twitter. Social media is a powerful tool if used effectively. You can even premiere your music video online first to make your fans feel special. Let them spread your music. Let them get you on television. Let them make countless requests for your music videos on the television station’s website, Facebook pages and twitter accounts. If the fans love you that much, how can the stations not play your music video? So what are you waiting for? Mobilize them now!
Nini Yusof
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#projekbuku
Nervhous Records and Distro: A Life Less Ordinary oleh Nizang
Nizang is the founder of Nervhous Records and writes for Mosh zine. He currently plays bass in Dum Dum Tak, a KL-based punk band and works as a lecturer at a private university in Cyberjaya. 318
Mari aku ceritakan tentang label kecil-kecilan Nervhous Records, sebuah label muzik DIY. Suatu hari aku terbaca perkataan ‘distro’ di dalam zine PangCore #3/4 tulisan Mat Pang. Aku tak mengetahui maksudnya. Aku bayangkan ia adalah adik-beradik atau seakan-akan ‘bistro’. Semakin banyak zine aku baca dan bergaul dengan budak-budak underground, maka kemudian fahamlah aku perkataan ‘distro’ adalah singkatan untuk ‘distribusi’. Pada akhir 90an, ‘distro’ bermaksud individu atau kumpulan kecil yang mendistribusi produk-produk muzik DIY seperti kaset, cakera padat, piring hitam, dan juga zine-zine fotostat. Mereka menjual barangan mereka secara pos, di konsert, gig dan acara-acara muda-mudi yang lainnya. Kini, di Indonesia, distro bermaksud kedai dan butik independent yang menjual pakaian jenama independent dan juga produk-produk muzik independent. Di Malaysia juga kedai-kedai sebegini sudah mula wujud walaupun scene ini masih baru dan hijau berbanding di Indonesia. Pada tahun 1999, aku bercadang untuk membuka distro kerana ketika itu di tempat tinggal aku, Kuala Terengganu, dirasakan susah untuk mendapatkan produk-produk muzik DIY. Aku namakan distro ni sebagai Batman Distro dan mengiklankannya dalam zine aku, Mosh dalam isu experimental. Apa yang aku lakukan adalah membeli kaset atau zine lebih dari satu salinan. Aku promote Nizang
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pada kawan-kawan sekeliling untuk beli kaset atau zine yang aku beli lebih tu dari aku. Antara produk yang aku masih ingat adalah kaset Restricted Overripe ‘Fried Eggs’ dan juga kaset-kaset dan zine-zine lain. Oh ya, Restricted Overripe merupakan band grunge Zul Akta Angkasa semasa zaman sekolah menengah di Kerteh, Terengganu. Yeah, now you know it. Sesudah itu, tahun yang sama juga aku bercita-cita pula untuk membuat kompilasi punk rock. Jadi, aku cari nama untuk record label aku. Aku buat iklan dalam zine Mosh juga, isu kedua kalau tak silap aku. Namanya adalah Sixth Sense Records namun kompilasi ini tak menjadi, hanya iklan pada zine saja yang ada, hehehe. Tahun 1999 ni juga, aku tubuhkan band pertama bersama kawan baik aku, Samir yang sama sekolah dengan aku –SMKSS. Nazri yang kini bekerja di ROTTW tu senior kami setahun. Dua lagi ahli band ni, Shah dan Ujay adalah kawan-kawan yang kami kenali di ‘Royal Skatepark,’ tempat kami main papan selaju iaitu di hadapan Istana Maziah berdekatan dengan Pasar Payang. Pada mulanya kami menggunakan nama ‘Half Life’ untuk band ini, terma yang kami pelajari dalam subjek Fizik di sekolah. Tetapi kerana kami dapati ada dua band lain di luar negara yang menggunakan nama yang sama, kami tukarkan kepada nama ‘Jellybelly.’ Kenapa? Yeah, betul. Bersempena lagu Smashing Pumpkins tu. Tapi ada juga band lain pakai nama ni, ah lantaklah. Pada akhir tahun 2000, kami berjaya merakam demo tape dan ingin menjualnya. Ini membuatkan aku dan Shah membentuk record label kami, Nervous Entertainment. Kenapa nama tu? Mungkin kerana terpengaruh dengan record label/band/studio jamming dari Kuantan yang bernama Dull Entertainment Programme (DEP). Pernah Ujay nyatakan pada kami, nama tu seakan nama DEP, tapi aku nafikan bahawa kami terpengaruh dengan nama mereka. Tapi bila difikirkan balik, heh…memang betul pun rasanya! Namun sebelum mengeluarkan demo tape Jellybelly, Shah ada merakam sesi jamming band indie pop kawan kami, The Mojos. Rakam menggunakan walkman saja. Ujay bermain dram untuk band ini. Oleh kerana kualiti bunyi agak boleh tahan (mengikut standard masa tulah), kami dengan rasa konfiden mengeluarkan demo tape mereka sebagai keluaran pertama kami. Cover fotostat dengan hasil lukisan aku dan Syed. Banyak juga salinan demo tape ‘Cappuccino Sold Here’ ini yang terjual. Design dan layout untuk kaset ini dilakukan oleh Shah. Ketika ini, Shah juga banyak melakukan grafik untuk zine aku, Mosh, dan nampak lebih cun dan teratur berbanding sebelum itu: chaotic cut and paste all the way. Nizang
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Akhir tahun tersebut, Jellybelly berjaya mengeluarkan demo tape. Shah yang baru sambung belajar di KL telah menjumpai jalan untuk mencetak dan press kaset tersebut di kilang dengan pertolongan Feroz dari band Heterodox/ Demise Records dan Fazri dari band Kasih Sayang/Ronin Distro. Judul kaset ini, kami letak ‘Waiting For The Last Semester’s Vacation’ kerana lama menunggu untuk rakaman ini dikeluarkan-- lebih dari setahun, kerana masalah-masalah teknikal. Visi dan misi Nervhous Records hanyalah untuk mengeluarkan dan mengedarkan hasil rakaman band-band kawan-kawan terutamanya dari Terengganu. Seperti Dischord Records yang mengeluarkan produk muzik dari Washington DC sahaja. Namun ada juga keluaran luar negara yang kami keluarkan seperti ner 10: Spit End (Filipina), ner 12: Marjinal (Indonesia), ner 24: Repoman/Scum System Kill (Austalia) dan ner 37: Seven Crowns (United Kingdom). Sedar tak sedar, dah lebih dari sepuluh tahun label ni aktif dan produktif. Tapi Shah menjadi tidak aktif bersama Nervhous selepas keluaran ketiga kami, Bollok Wok Vol. 2. Sejak keluaran ke-15 iaitu ‘Punk Rock Paradox’ 4-way split CD, aku banyak dibantu oleh Amert (Stick No Bill), Tobek (Always Last), Shah (The Mindless Show) dan susuk-susuk lain. Nama label pun telah bertukar dari Nervous Entertainment menjadi Nervous Records dan kemudian ditukar lagi menjadi Nervhous Records. Kenapa Nervhous? Sekitar tahun 2008, aku mendapat satu email dari Nervous Records (UK) yang sudah didaftarkan dan beroperasi sejak 1979. Mereka banyak mengeluarkan muzik Rocakabilly dan Rock and Roll. Aku lupa isi email tersebut secara terperinci, tapi mereka memarahi kami kerana menggunakan nama yang sama dengan mereka. Jadi aku tukar nama menjadi Nervhous, dan mengekalkan sebutan perkataan tersebut. Tapi ramai pula yang menyebutnya ‘Nerve-House’, issh. Seperti kebanyakan record label DIY, Nervhous Records adalah ‘syarikat’ yang tidak didaftarkan dengan SSM. Kami hanya beroperasi dalam bilik tidur kami. Kebanyakan stok barangan kami disimpan di bawah katil kami. Segala urusan designing kulit sesebuah keluaran hingga ke pembungkusan barangan untuk dipos kepada pembeli dilakukan di dalam bilik tidur kami. Itulah pejabat kami dan stor kami. Bila tiba hari untuk ke gig, kami akan bawa CD, kaset dan zine yang sesuai mengikut jenisan muzik dan band yang beraksi pada hari tersebut.
Nizang
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Berikut aku senaraikan antara keluaran terhangat (syok sendiri) dari kami, haha! Ner 02: Jellybelly ‘Waiting For The Last Semester’s Vacation’ Kaset- Walaupun bunyi raw gila. Bak kata lecturer aku, “Sound macam record atas kapal terbang” dan mak kawan aku kata “Suara penyanyi bunyi macam lori.” Kaset ni dicetak sebanyak 550 keping, dijual, trade dan bagi free. Aku dapat lihat, zaman awal 2000an ni, kalau kaset kulit bercetak pro dan press di kilang memang pasti laku. Jadi tak hairanlah. Ner 20: Dum Dum Tak ‘Hentikan Penindasan’ CD–Ini adalah kugiran aku yang aktif kini. Political hardcore punk yang menggunakan sembilan puluh sembilan peratus bahasa ibunda. 1000 keping CD ini licin terjual dalam masa dua tahun. Not bad untuk keluaran DIY yang dikeluarkan pada tahun 2009 (era download muzik dari internet). Terima kasih label kawan-kawan seluruh Malaysia dan rangkaian DIY yang banyak membantu. Ner26: Various Artist ‘Senandung Pawer-Kord’ CD–Ini merupakan projek kompilasi dari buah fikiran Amert. 13 kugiran punk rock dan indie merakam semula lagu-lagu pop Melayu 80an mengikut cara mereka sendiri. Kompilasi CD ni memang laku macam goreng pisang panas. Sekarang hanya berbaki 2-3 keping pada aku dan mungkin beberapa salinan pada Amert. Label Pissart dan Red Ink turut membantu dengan projek ini. Ner 27: Always Last ‘Antidotes’ CD–Beberapa ulasan dibuat tentang album 15 lagu ini mengatakan hasil bunyi album ini bertaraf luar negara. Menampilkan lagu-lagu punk ala Fat Wreck/Epitaph dan lirik political/emotional untuk album ini. Dah pun sold-out dari kami tapi masih boleh didapati dari ahli Always Last sendiri atau label lain yang turut bekerjasama untuk mengeluarkan CD ini iaitu Pissart Records (Shah Alam) dan Embrace Records (Johor Bharu). Toxictoy 28: Toxictoy ‘Amazingly Realistic Puke!’ CD–Formula muzik pop punk Jepun tapi yang ini hasil dari kilang Jerantut. Ada kuasa magis dalam mini album 7 lagu ini yang membuatkan pendengar mahu ulang-ulang dengar CD ini. Masih tinggal lebih kurang 7 atau 8 salinan dari kami. Ner 37.5: Always Last/Dum Dum Tak –‘In Defense Of Pop Punk’ CDR–Dicetak dengan sangat terhad iaitu hanya 50 salinan untuk dijual. Dalam masa tak sampai seminggu, semua salinan sudah terjual. Tapi kini boleh didownload di blog altaraksara.blogspot.com. Ini merupakan promo atau teaser untuk split album yang bakal dikeluarkan pada tahun 2012 jika tiada aral melintang. Nizang
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Antara keluaran yang penting dari kami juga adalah siri kompilasi Bollok Wok. Sebenarnya projek ini dimulakan oleh Ronin Distro untuk siri pertama. Kompilasi ini dikeluarkan untuk mendokumentasikan band-band independent dari negeri Terengganu. Nervhous mula bekerjasama sejak vol. 2. Dan paling baru, vol. 4 dikeluarkan oleh Crysis Records dan Nervhous. Antara gig yang kami anjurkan, yang terbaik buat aku secara peribadi adalah ‘Dialectical Boredominism’ pada tahun 2003 di Blue Planet, KL. Kami anjurkan bersama Kak Esah Entertainment. Selain itu, gig ‘3 Chords and the Truth’ di MCPA Hall pada tahun 2008 juga gig yang tidak akan terlupakan kerana sungguh padat dengan pengunjung. Gig paling besar pernah kami anjurkan adalah No Use For A Name (USA) di KL Live bersama Red Ink Entertainment, Gegey Music dan Permatha Pathah. Secara kebetulan, ketiga-tiga gig tersebut menampilkan Plague Of Happiness yang juga disukai oleh isteri aku. Nervhous turut menganjurkan gig untuk beberapa buah band luar yang lain seperti Backyard Surgeons (Australia), Repoman (Australia), Scum System Kill (Australia), Bad Omen (Filipina), Nudist Island (Indonesia), Argies (Argentina) dan The Casualties (USA). Selepas mengeluarkan CD ‘Senandung Pawer-Kord’, ‘Antidotes’, ‘Amazingly Realistic Puke!’ Nervhous Records & Family ada mengadakan tour kecil-kecilan di beberapa negeri di Semenanjung Malaysia pada tahun 2010. Hasrat kami untuk melawat setiap negeri di seluruh Malaysia namun akhirnya hanya berjaya menyinggah ke tujuh tempat iaitu Ipoh, Melaka, Johor Bharu, Batu Pahat, Kota Bharu, Temerloh dan Paka. Segala kenangan dan sambutan baik dari tuan rumah dan penganjur gig di setiap tempat sangat kami hargai dan tidak akan melupakannya. Macam-macam kejadian berlaku; yang pahit, manis, masam dan kelat. Pelbagai aktiviti sampingan kami lakukan seperti menyinggah ke kenduri kahwin, melawat dan mandi sungai di Taman Negara (Pahang), berkelah di Telok Kalong (Kemaman), sesi BBQ yang tergendala kerana hujan turun dengan lebatnya dan banyak lagi. Dalam pada itu, kami juga mendapat kawan-kawan baru dan melihat tempat serta cara hidup di tempat lain. Antara bab kehidupan kami yang takkan terlupakan begitu sahaja. Selain itu, aku juga selalu mengadakan siri gig di kampung aku, Kuala Ibai sekitar 2005 hingga 2008. Bertempat di 60’s Studio, aku ambil inisiatif untuk adakan gig di situ kerana susah untuk mencari venue gig yang lain. Siri giggig ini dinamakan ‘Nasik Dagang Raya Jam’ untuk musim cuti Hari Raya dan ‘Tengkujuh Jam’ pada musim tengkujuh iaitu juga cuti semester aku dulu semasa masih bergelar pelajar sepenuh masa. Nizang
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Untuk tahun 2012 ini, Nervhous Records bercadang untuk menyiapkan projekprojek kami yang tertangguh pada tahun lepas. Pertamanya, kompilasi ‘Give And Take’ yang menampilkan band-band Nervhous dan kawan-kawan. Kedua adalah split CD Dum Dum Tak dan Always Last. InsyaAllah jika tiada aral melintang CD-CD ini bakal berada di ‘pasaran’. Begitulah secara ringkasnya cerita tentang Nervhous Records. Oh ya, Amert juga ada menubuhkan label clothing bernama Skullitica yang mencetak baju band-band Nervhous dan kawan-kawan. Kami juga ada mengambil tempahan membuat button/pin satu inci untuk band-band dan projek-projek DIY dan independent. Untuk info lanjut sila layari: nervhousrecords.blogspot.com dumdumtak.blogspot.com
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#projekbuku
Music As A Career? You Gotta Be Kidding Me! by OJ Law
OJ Law is the brains behind local pop band OJ Law. 325
The immediate advice that comes to mind for those who think they want to have a career in music-making is DON’T DO IT. But for those of you who have music in your soul and who aren’t so easily swayed, (i.e. me when I was a teenager), let me ask you a very simple question: How much do you really love music? The reason I ask is because you have to understand that there is very little money for you to make in this industry. You know the cliché about the poor, starving musician? There’s a reason why such stereotypes exist! Outside those in the mainstream (those who have “made it”) or those lucky enough to have wealthy benefactors, there’s the rest of us. People who are doing what they love and being paid very little (or nothing) to do it. So what do we do? Answer: we have other jobs. Some might have jobs that are music-related, but the reality is that many musicians have typical, unglamorous office jobs. And that money we earn from that goes into funding the thing we really want to do, the thing we really love: our own music. Once you commit to it, you realize that everything is expensive. OJ Law
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Music gear is expensive (trust me, you’re going to want more). Rehearsals cost money. Recording music costs money. Making CDs costs money. Sometimes even doing gigs can cost money! And at the same time, the public’s perception of the value of music is at an all-time low, to the point that selling a CD or an mp3 can be a struggle. Many people would rather illegally download your music rather than pay for it. That’s just how it is in the digital age. You’ve got no choice but to accept it. I have real respect for all musicians, doing what they do. Doesn’t matter what I think of their music, they’re all essentially doing the same thing as me. Sometimes it feels like you have two jobs… except you’re doing one of them for free. Then there’s another important issue: life. At some point, most people are likely to consider settling down, having a family and kids. How then, do you divide up your money? Unless you’re a complete asshole, you retire from the music and you have a family. (Please, don’t be an asshole. Family first!) This is kind of where I am now. I’m at that infamous crossroad in my life where I’m reflecting back at what I’ve done so far and I wondering where I want to go. Ever since I first strummed a guitar, I knew that I wanted to make music. And it’s taken me years of soul searching, denial, alternate paths to come to the conclusion that this is what I want to do. I don’t know if I’m going to feel the same way in ten year’s time. But I don’t want to look back when I’m 50 and wonder why I never released an album, or played more live shows, or didn’t write more songs. But sacrifices have to be made, no doubt. This is just a gentle warning. Music is a wonderful thing. I believe the world is a better place with music. And everyone indulges in it in some way: listening to the radio, learning an instrument, karaoke with friends, seeing a gig. Music is all around us. But if you’re actually thinking of making music as a career choice, make sure you know what you’re getting into. Honestly, you’d have to be completely insane to want to do it. Ready to join the asylum?
OJ Law
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#projekbuku
Sufferage: The Time When Direct Action Truly Matters! by Piesay
Piesay was the editor of influential hardcore/punk fanzine, Sufferage. 328
We were never good in writing. Which is far from the fact of how a lot of people were seeing us, these zine editors or whatnot? So moving through these pages, some of the writings have not been written in the order that they need it to be, they are mostly there for a reason. Those are reasons that we do not have to justify on except for their own existence. They are merely there derived from their own perspectives. The editors at Sufferage were not born to be a writer or an editor but at that particular time there seemed to be an urgency to write as how we saw it. What we saw and went through was the mere justification of why there was a need to flow those words into pages. When I was asked by Adly Syairi Ramly to do an article on bedroom editors, I was in the state of disbelief. It is pretty unbelievable that we were asked to write again of what we started 16 years back. It was in a time where there was close to zero internet for everyone and all that Piesay
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we depended on was the trusty snail mail which sounds very Jurassic in these days. Perplexed with the invitation, I sat in awe realising that there was a need for younger generations to understand what we did and where we came from. We were a bit dwarfed seeing the list of the contributors here, it made me personally believe that we do not really deserve to be here in #ProjekBuku. Alas, we pushed ourselves as we believe there is something that we thought worth to be shared and read by the youths of today. Nothing inspiring or revolutionary, just a few notes that we hope to pour upon these pages. I started this by calling Hazman, another editor of Sufferage who lives near my house but with the current hectic lives that we are living along with family commitments, we have not been hanging out lately. So obviously, it has not been easy and in short to get this cranky old brain to suddenly recall and think of the stuff that needs to be translated into this writing, was a mean feat by itself. Luckily, we pushed ourselves this far and we will probably be doing this for the last time....the very last one. The following is a collective of what we both are able to share as zine editors back in the day.... Sufferage, a zine that we created to which its name derived from a name of a song by a band called Fear Factory. Why did we choose the name? I wish I had an answer myself but at that time, it seemed so cool to portray yourself living in that kind of situation. We were young and were a bit naive on things that revolved around us. We were nothing more than three young kids (Moc being the other guilty party in this) who wanted to express on what we believed in at that particular time. We never really cared about making anything from the zine, or probably a few dollars to cover the shipping and our trip to gigs in Kuala Lumpur. But in the end we loved it and were quite surprised by the reception it received after its release. In time, we learned to grow with the name and somehow as the years went by, the name seemed more and more relevant to us. I knew Adly back when we were communicating through letters back in the day on when emails, Facebook, Twitter or even Friendster was unheard of. He was doing a zine by the name of Piss of Mine and my two friends and I were doing Sufferage zine. He was also a UITM student like me and being the fact that we were both from Johor, made the communication a whole lot easier. And we were the select few zines that helped to put the Johor scene on the Piesay
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underground map of Malaysia. Few others would be Chronically Donut, 90s Choice, Pang, Gamelan, Resolution Apache and others. I remember coming into the scene in late 1992 and seeing a lot of kids from different backgrounds, race, age and ideals sharing the same passion for music if not just ideas. Even Hardcore was a small minority of people until it grew into what it is today. Even when we started, we realised that there was always a communication breakdown and there is hardly any medium of communicating between bands and people at that particular time. We were inspired by Maximum Rock and Roll, Profane Existence, Aedes and other zines at that time. We were three young angry kids who wanted to be heard and shared our frustrations on the current state of politics or economics at that time through this medium. I believe we were beyond our age to question anything that seems questionable in our eyes. We were in short, religiously believing in what we were doing. To these kids nowadays, it is pretty impossible to think of how we published our zines back then and maybe to emulate it would be easier by creating websites or Facebook pages, but back then everything was Do-It-Yourself. A term coined by the infamous Ian Mackaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi, The Evens, Teen Idols) and was an epitome of doing everything on your own without the help of the corporate world and others. We made zines, demos, t-shirts, flyers and even shows on our own. Simply put we were empowered by our own community. So coming back on being an editor, it was no easy feat. Practically all of the process to put writings into the final pages is being done by you. And when I say by you it includes everything end to end from writing your article drafts or gig reviews by hand, editing the text, typing it out, your own photography for your articles, creating layouts, making the photocopies and binding the pages, always sending a copy to fellow editors for review in their zines, accepting orders and delivering through snail mail not only locally but also overseas, travelling to the next shows for that next review for the next issue, and most of this (except the travel to shows) was done on a trusty motorcycle in both rain and shine. This was a time before Photoshop or any other software besides Microsoft Word. It sounds so ridiculously difficult these days but that was the only option at that time. To me, that even puts a deeper mark on what we have done. Piesay
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Being in Johor Bahru, I think we were pretty much influenced by the Singapore underground scene which was miles ahead of us in terms of maturity. We looked up to people like Suhaimi from Stompin Ground (who not only played great music but was also vocal on ideals and principles), plus the many zine editors there like Faizal of Flammable Sheet, Joe Kidd of Aedes, Nazri of Heartcore and others. The hardcore scene there was very strong alongside the punk and skinheads which was something we admired at the time on how well they synergised together. This was something that the JB scene in particular adapted, to which we always had a strong bond between all the different genres of music that existed then. We all stood together and supported each other no matter what; our gigs were always diverse and each punk or skinhead would be there together in the mosh pit when a hardcore band played, and vice versa. This we think is pretty much close to non-existent in today’s underground scene. So the close bond in the community also supported the zine where not only did everyone buy our zine, they also helped to sell them especially during gigs. We were also somewhat responsible to keep track of bands popping up in the scene, ensuring they be included into any scene reports which other zine editors sometimes require. So in other words, local bands looked up to us to help promote their stuff and hopefully to get invitations from outside of Johor to perform in gigs. For those lucky enough to record a demo, we’d also help to provide a review in our zines as a form of promotion. I’m not sure if the reason why everything seemed easy at the time was due to the small volume of people in the scene or maybe because of how close knit we were. Almost without hesitation, a helping hand was always there when anyone needed it. I can go on and on about the differences between then and now but hopefully with #ProjekBuku, the good ideals of then can be adapted to today’s scene. There’s clearly more support towards local bands today which I find interesting seeing the facts back then that there was hardly any support on local English music scene. Seeing bands and individuals carving their names in this music scene puts a lot of smiles especially for us who loves music. It is interesting to see how much further that we will progress from here. I hope to be here in future time in order to attest to that statement.
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I do hope with the inspirations shared in #ProjekBuku, someone will actually pick up a pen and write something. I love music more but again, there are times that music looks awkwardly naked without lyrics though some are good at doing these. Instead what we have seen here in #ProjekBuku is some brilliant musicians putting their thoughts and minds in describing whatever is/was important in their lives. As I see it, writing and thinking is an empowerment in itself. You do not have to be a self-born editor or writer to write something. Writing itself can be a lot more moving than some other form of arts. Start writing now, you do not know how many lives will be absorbed by your words and hopefully, twenty years down the road someone will ask you to participate in writing for #ProjekBuku II. The article above was written by Piesay or Khairul Faizi Yusof as I am known the real world with the assistance of Hazman Badrudin or Man. I currently run my own blog under the name of Shattered Existence at piesay.blogspot.com which mostly talks on my obsession on vinyl and music. For the assistance on something sounds alien to you, I have added some acronyms for your further reference. Hardcore : hard core, the members of a group or movement who form an intransigent nucleus resistant to change or is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. [1] The origin of the term “hardcore punk” is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A. may have helped to popularize the term with the title of their 1981 album, Hardcore ‘81. Hardcore has spawned the straight edge movement and its associated submovements, hardline and youth crew. Hardcore was heavily involved with the rise of the independent record labels in the 1980s, and with the DIY ethics in underground music scenes. It has influenced a number of music genres which have experienced mainstream success, such as metalcore, grunge, thrash metal, emo and post-hardcore. Straight Edge : Straight edge grew out of the hardcore punk in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and was partly characterized by shouted rather than sung vocals. Straight edge individuals of this early era often associated with the original punk ideals such as individualism, disdain for work and school, and live-for-the-moment attitudes. Straight edge sentiments can be found in songs by the early 1980s band Minor Threat, most explicitly within their song “Straight Edge”, first wave English punk band The Vibrators song “Keep Piesay
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It Clean” and Jonathan Richman’s early band The Modern Lovers 1980s song “I’m Straight”, which rejected drug use. As one of the few prominent 1970s hard rock icons to explicitly eschew alcohol and drug use, singer/guitarist Ted Nugent was also a key influence on the straight edge ideology Zine : A zine (an abbreviation of fanzine, or magazine) is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier. A popular definition includes that circulation must be 5,000 or less, although in practice the significant majority are produced in editions of less than 1,000, and profit is not the primary intent of publication. Zines are written in a variety of formats, from computer-printed text to comics to handwritten text (an example being Cometbus). Print remains the most popular zine format, usually photo-copied with a small circulation. Topics covered are broad, including fanfiction, politics, art and design, ephemera, personal journals, social theory, single topic obsession, or sexual content far enough outside of the mainstream to be prohibitive of inclusion in more traditional media. The time and materials necessary to create a zine are seldom matched by revenue from sale of zines. Small circulation zines are often not explicitly copyrighted and there is a strong belief among many zine creators that the material within should be freely distributed. In recent years a number of photocopied zines have risen to prominence or professional status and have found wide bookstore and online distribution. Notable among these are Giant Robot, Dazed & Confused, Bust, Bitch, Cometbus and Maximum RocknRoll.
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#projekbuku
Knocked Silly by Radhi-O
Radhi is OAG. 335
Year 1991. Location Central Market, Restoran Kari Kepala Ikan, Hameed’s underground HQ. Music lover bersatu gathering duduk semeja bertukar idea. Fanzine and demo tak kira genre dari rock keris, metalkarat, punkok, hardkorek, hindiestan, dangdutdeath dan Michael Jackson awh! Ingat lagi masa tu umur aku baru jer setingkat remaja 14 tahun, masih suci yeah. Time tu selain traditional 70s punk rock aku memang gila-gila layan band indie dari Manchester, UK, atau lebih dikenali as Madchester scene. Favourite band obvious Joy Division, The Smith, New Order, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays dan juga band-band indie sekitar UK seperti Teenage Fanclub, Ride, Neds Atomic Dustbin, etc. Selain tu aku layan band US R.E.M, Mudhoney, Pixies and obvious fav dari Seattle… Nirvana. Wrong idol yang lead aku pada substance yang terlarang. Kuat gila influence dia tapi bukannya sangat musically pun tapi lebih pada tingkah laku yg destructive. Lain-lain band yang influence aku pada time tu paling nyata dalam song writing lagu OAG sebenarnya ialah The Beatles and The Velvet Underground. Ok kalau wanna cerita pasal musical influence memang sampai tahun 2020 tak habis… Aku sebenarnya wanna story pasal first experience recording dengan first band aku iaitu Flop Poppy untuk kompilasi album titled “A Circle of Friends” yang telah dibuah fikirkan oleh Joe Kid and friends. Kompilasi yang menggambarkan semangat kuat juang D.I.Y and UNITY pada zaman itu. Radhi-O
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August 1990. Meet and greet with Andy (guitar, MetalRock oriented), Syed Waya (guitar, G’n’R Slash influence), Vijay (guitar, Pink Floyd fan), dan Kiko (drum, Napalm Death fan.) di Restoran Hamid. Then we decided to start our own band, an indie band, sebab majority time tu banyak band metal dan band indie ada dua, tiga kerat jer like Deflowered, Spiral Kinetik Circus… dan us Flop Poppy! Kitaorang start jamming and writing dengan gitar kapok di banglo parents aku, the so-called 241 Jln D’sara crib till we upgrade jamming di studio Stairway Komplek Wilayah KL. Studio bawah tanah yang di jaga abang rawk seluar skinny kulit rimau, rambut krinting hairspray, duduk atas kerusi hisap Gudang Garam tenung dinding dan collect money. Ingat lagi, cool giler. Thanks brudda! First song we wrote was called “Knocked Silly,” musically by the band and lyrically by me. First attempt to learn English by writing lyrics! Yet today me Ingelish is still brokening… Masa first time dapat cipta lagu cam tak caya tapi layan jer ah. And for info aku tak pernah minum alkohol dan ambik dadah lagi time tu, hisap rokok pun cover line. So meaning I need no extra substance untuk berkarya dan tulisan lirik memang straight forward honest budak teenage nye cerita pasal cinta tah apa apa ntah! But it became an addiction to go on writing and writing… till the day I… (dapatkan buku biography akan datang radhiOAG “Seksa, Dada & Rawkendcrawl” untuk story lanjutan!) So first day kitaorang jumpa Joe Kid tempat biasa di C.M. Discuss, discuss, tiba-tiba dia cerita dia baru buka indiependent label called Sonic Asylum Entertainment dan plan nak buat compilation album dengan band yang bersatu bawah satu bumbung at Central Market. Sludge, Carburetor Dung, Soulwound @ Splatters, Spiral Kinetik Circus, Against Racism of Today @ A.R.T (my fav), Deflowered, Subculture Society, etc. Hari weekdays recording venue at Studio brudda Eddie Hamid (Halimah Jongang fame) di Sentul. Memang mujahadah kitaorang naik bas mini ramairamai, tambang 50 sen, bawak gitar, bass, pedal drum dan etc. dari bus stop Kotaraya. Sampai studio kitaorang jumpa band-band lain yang tengah tunggu turn nak record. Biasa la, budget line nak kena siap cepat. So Flop Poppy last band sampai kena la tunggu. At last our turn. Hari pun dah malam dalam pukul 8. But show must go on… alamak tak gi sekolah la aku esok? Pegi mesti pegi, the school must go on…
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Record guide live. Mula record guide music untuk Kiko drummer follow tempo sebab dia memang tak boleh ikut click sebab tak pernah guna click hikhik! 1st track drum. Memang mujahadah la record drum cos first time Kiko masuk studio lepas baru jer belajar pegang drum stik 3 bulan yg lepas. Drummer lain 3 tahun grade baru boleh masuk recording. Memang punkrawk habis session. Rekord drum dia sorang 7 jam hahaharghh tapi it was fun and funny! 2nd track bass. Vijay part main bass memang cool. Petikan satu jari settle. Kejap jer tak sampai setengah jam. 3rd track guitar. Andy menstrumming jingling riff intro sampai la ending dengan sikit touch of line. 4th track guitar. Syed Waya menyolo kan ala Slash, dengan rokok memang lekat kat mulut 24/7. 5th track vocal. At last my turn masuk vocals. As first timer memang excited giler, dan vocalist influence aku masa tu Ian Brown Stone Roses. Dapatkan “A Circle of Friends” dalam bentuk CD kini di pasaran… Bottom line of the story is UNITED WE UNDERSTAND TO START A BAND! Contohnya kalau kitaorang organize gig boleh gather semua band-band dari different genre tak ada hal la. Wanna join sekali dalam satu showcase yang penting SERIOUSFUN! So ini lah yang aku nak info when it comes to music. Politics put aside just play your music. Fast forward from the day aku first recording till today, semangat D.I.Y tu wajib ada dalam setiap musician untuk terapkan solid belief dalam diri bila berkarya. Jangan ambik pusing apa orang nak cakap cos aku pernah experience, because of mulut orang band berpecah. Yang penting dalam band mesti ada communication dan sharing di antara band members. Kalau ada masalah make sure settle among the band itself dulu. Jangan sekali bawa masalah keluar cos trust me, through experience, memang akan mengundang konflik besar inna future. So FYI today aku sekarang berada di Rumah Pengasih, sebuah drug rehab center untuk ku melalui treatment clean up. So far dengan sokongan dan kefahaman yang diberi oleh Presiden Rumah Pengasih, Datuk Mohd Yunus Pathis Mohd, aku dapat meneruskan karier dan kini sudah mula buat recruitment musician Radhi-O
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generasi baru OAG yang consist grade students dari Akademi Seni Kebangsaan (ASWARA). Dan kami sekarang dalam proses mengenali diri masing-masing dan intensive jamming lagu-lagu lama OAG. Yang paling penting, arranging lagu single terbaru “PengaseH” yang diramalkan release awal 2012 Insyallah. Bottom line, kenapa aku harus terus berkarya hingga hari ini adalah rasa kesyukuran dengan bakat yang Tuhan pinjamkan pada aku di dunia sementara ini adalah untuk aku sharing pengalaman-pengalaman lepas untuk dijadikan teladan bagi kehidupan yang lebih cerah di masa yang mendatang. Buckle up people!
Radhi-O
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#projekbuku
The Future by RDZ
RDZ (pronounced “Arr Dee Zii”) or as the streets call him, Zii, is a Malaysian Rapper and Music Producer. 340
Hip Hop Music in Sarawak Every past and present leads to a future. From the days of Razzmataaz, 79 Troops, Masta Chubbiez, and Kum Lun Clan in 1995, to the final days of Kuching Connexion (KC), CTMC and Thugsta Clique in 2005, Hip Hop was a wave that stormed Sarawak. Groups from other parts of the state such as Homiez and Bomb Threat also did their part in making sure that the culture was alive. To this very day, hip hop has helped the state to produce successful rappers, music producers, businessmen, professional dancers, writers and musicians. During the early years, youths in Sarawak were looking for alternatives to entertainment. It was a relief that hip hop was there. It gave a platform for the youths to express themselves via rap performances and b-boying. Due to the notoriety of Bone Thugs & Harmony in 1991 and Wu-Tang Clan in 1993 around the world, hip hop came to the shores of Borneo through these groups’ influence. Hip Hop parties similar to block parties in the US were the trend back then. It was held every weekend all over the state especially in Kuching City and the hype went all over to Sibu and Miri. From covering hip hop songs from the US, the groups felt that it was necessary for them to make their own songs relating to happenings around them. Home RDZ
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studios started to emerge among friends as their passion for hip hop music has flourish. Performers were then wanted for school proms and events. Not long after, bigger companies and event organizers started to call for these performers to entertain at their events. The decline of Hip Hop as an alternative form of entertainment for Sarawak youths occurred in 2005 as it became not as popular among the youths anymore. Even though so, the Hip Hop scene in Sarawak in its own way has helped the Malaysian Indie Rock phenomenon in 2006 to grow even further with the existence of M.I.X and HUJAN. Recently, Illa Damia has caught the attention of Malaysians. Infamous for anchoring the song “Malaysian Boy” and a Kartel Records’ artiste, this lass is a product of the Hip Hop scene in Sarawak. From her humble beginnings in an all female group, Lil Morphia, she is a talent that has a bright prospect for the future. Maintaining presence of Hip Hop in Sarawak today are the likes of noNo, Celciusz, Asyraf Hardy and Caynie De.
Music Sampling in Malaysia At the times of DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaata, balling rappers and hip hop businessman was unheard of. It was the days of two turntables and a microphone. DJs having a ready collection of samples and drum breaks were mandatory for a block party. Breaks were looped as it is the most interesting part for people to dance to, as sounds were then added; and to keep the crowd moving, simple rhymes were created. Through this small portion of history, sampling in Hip Hop was given birth to. Regarding the issue of music sampling, using someone else’s song (be it of a small portion of a song) to create a new song is stealing if done without permission. Before one can get sample clearance, the new song using the sampled part must be recorded so that the record label/publisher or whoever that owns the master, can see how it is being used. Not only do they simply want to make sure they are okay with the song, they also want to see how much you use the original recording. This helps them determine the price they will charge you for using the recording. In the US, there are terms of fair use of samples where no clearance is actually required but the owner of the new song must automatically give a 20% publisher’s rights to the original owner/publisher of the song. To reduce RDZ
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complications and other legal issues in Malaysia, the terms of fair use are definitely preferable in ensuring the creative process of Malaysian musicians are not withheld by any man-made legality issues. Here in Malaysia, the perfected art of Hip Hop sampling was not that popular. The fact that only a handful made it big with Hip Hop, everyone in music was at the same level in the early 90s. Even Pop musicians were still new at that time, thus sampling each other’s work was a compliment. Fast forward to the third generation of music artists, the first generations are now either big businesses, unpopular or dead. The unpopular and dead are no more in the radar, but the ones who made it as big businesses are unprepared or just got cocky with their new found wealth and are acting like sharks. Rules are made and bent to profit their own corporations. Politics, as proven by history, is once again utilized in order to rake in all possible monetary gains without even thinking about the implication towards Malaysian artists as a whole. This is when the big shark gobbles up the small fishes. The funny fact is that some of the so-called big sharks don’t even have in-house lawyers! Acting like law-makers, they put legalities and actions into their own hands through “prestigious” events and associations led by their own men. This is a war we are fighting, to maintain a balance between creativity and business. I’m calling for all Malaysian music lovers to support this cause for a better future of Malaysian music. I have always believed that inspiration is God’s gift to mankind; by halting and stopping this divine process, one is going against God. Let the creative juices flow and let everyone involved in making the artwork gain. Intellectual property is the property of our Creator and should not be copyrighted whatsoever. Even so, it is an ongoing battle worldwide in utilizing samples as new laws are made on a constant basis to protect copyright owners. Elevate the Malaysian music scene with knowledge from the business sense, artists’ rights, management, publishing to royalty collecting and one day, at a point of similar level of knowledge, I could only imagine what type of music Malaysians can produce to show the world.
Good Music x Good Marketing Good music is just that. Good music. If you want to be living as a musician, good music is not enough. Business and music must mix properly in order to get a wholesome balance. This is where the street meets the corporate. RDZ
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A harmonious blend of the two is the most important factor in heading for success in the music business. Constant progress must be thought and made on a daily basis. It’s like a mind exercise and experiment. Trying new things everyday, having discussions and brain-storming sessions with comrades is also crucial in order to achieve better results. What is already done till now in the Malaysian music scene, should not be emulated. Consumers are spoilt for choice, so why should they choose you? Why should they buy your product? These are the questions artists should ask themselves everyday. The basics like a good product, online presence, and availability to the masses are the foremost basic and important things. Everyone says they are different and are of better quality from other bands/ artists out there. They take this as an important factor to sell. Now, if everyone’s differentiating factor is being different, what’s the difference? If everyone goes for quality, who is going to buy since supply is of such abundance? What you have to offer must be properly presented to consumers so that they can precisely understand what is offered. Such questions on why they should buy your product would then disappear from their minds. Personally, I have always been a product-first person. The products must always be known first before the person making it. As a result, you would know who your customers actually are. Focus on your target market and be off with the others! As an ending note, “Do what you do and keep it at your best bet” and “Ayuh kita mula langkah!”. Peace.
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#projekbuku
Tips For The Uninitiated by Reza Salleh
Reza Salleh is a singer/songwriter and organizer of the Moonshine series of gigs. 345
Practice. Practice your ass off. Spend a few hours a day honing your craft. Bring yourself to a point where no one can doubt your skill and talent. This will be the ultimate thing you need to develop and be strong in. People can question and doubt you as a person all they want but if you’re good at what you do, no one can deny that. Reach out. Get out there and play your songs to different people. Playing to the same 20 individuals all the time will get you nowhere. You need to constantly put yourself out of your comfort zone, whether it’s playing to people who are not familiar to you or by learning different kinds of songs that force you to play different styles as you try to look for your own. A wise singer-songwriter once told me one hour on stage is equal to ten hours in your room and that my friends, is the truth. Always remember that there is someone better than you. Whenever you think you’re the bomb or you got it made, try to keep this in mind as it’s a good way to keep that head of yours out of the sky. There has been so many times where I find myself complacent and comfortable just to be blown away by some awesome act I saw. Makes me either wanna hang up my guitar or go home and practice like crazy. It’s a great motivator and a constant reminder that we should never stop learning in hopes of improving ourselves. Reza Salleh
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Criticism. Be prepared for it. Every Tom, Dick and Harry will have something to say about your work. Some of it’s good, some of it you can do without. Who should you listen to? Well, that depends. Try your best to think about what you are comfortable with and what you like in terms of the field you’re in. Trust your gut and your instinct when being given advice. Listen to everything, but apply a filter, don’t be afraid to try something and ultimately, believe in yourself. In the end you control what you want to do. A good tip for any band is to record yourself raw and listen back to what you sound like. Sometimes you might find a lot of things you might want to change that you never realised you were doing before. Talk to people. Most things to do with the creative arts are built around communities of individuals. Find them. Go to shows, hang out, build relationships. More than half of the things I’ve managed to achieve as a musician have come about purely from friends helping each other out in the scene. Build honest, genuine relationships and the kind of help you might get in the long run can be invaluable. An example would be how I met my band. I met my session guitarist by going to shows and he introduced me to my bassist. She was housemates with the person who would eventually be my drummer and is also best friends with my keyboardist and ex-uni mates with my violinist. I’ve been backed up by the same band for the past six years and without their help a lot of what I do wouldn’t be possible. So yeah, talk to people. Initiative. When you’re an independent musician the most important thing you need to know is that you’re on your own. You are your biggest supporter. You need to be passionate about what you do, don’t wait around for something to happen, throw that ego out the window and get out there. Most of the time things don’t get served on a silver platter to you and you’ll quickly realise that when you put in that extra effort bigger things tend to come your way. Initiative, hard work and a lot of hustling has brought me to the door of some incredible opportunities. Don’t ever take anything for granted and stay hungry. Chill out. There will always be people who will give you crap. Maybe they don’t like your music, maybe you said something one time way back when, maybe they just don’t like your face. Trust me, it will happen especially if you start to actually get somewhere with your music. Try not to take these things to heart and try to lessen the emotional attachment you might have towards yourself and your work. Being in the public eye means that you can be a target, so learn to expect this. It may hurt and sting but always keep a cool, clear head and never react when you’re emotional. In fact, sometimes, no reaction is the best reaction. Reza Salleh
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Engage your audience. Personally I love watching a performer who is able to capture the attention of the audience and bring them to a point where they hang on your every word. Some people are born entertainers who do this effortlessly and those who aren’t (like me) take a long time to get comfortable enough on stage to even attempt that. The keyword here is comfortable. Once you’re comfortable enough on stage you throw out fear. Once you throw out fear it’s easier to be yourself (or whoever it is you’re trying to be on stage). Speak into the mic, take your time, don’t mumble. Look straight into the crowd and not constantly to your band mates like you’re expecting them to come rescue you from your stage fright. This is all of course very subjective. If you’re the type of act that wants to do the exact opposite and that works for you, then by all means do so. Also when I say engage your audience that doesn’t necessarily mean talk till the cows come home. Sometimes less is more and crowds are different all the time. Engage your audience offstage as well. Use the tools of your time to do everything you can do to bring your music and what you do to the people. Whether it’s a Facebook page or a twitter account or a website, do it all but do it honestly and genuinely. People can smell social media fakes a mile away. If you’re gonna just send tweets every time you have a show there’s a big likelihood people won’t bother following you after awhile. If you’re not sure how to go about it try following some people you like and try to think about why it is you like following them. Once again, don’t forget to practice and be proactive. Never underestimate the small things you do in life as they might surprise you. Hope the above helps. Good luck!
Reza Salleh
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#projekbuku
The Day We Grrl Grew Balls by Rina Omar
Rina Omar was the drummer for all-female punk band, Intoxicated. 349
The year was 1994. We stood on that stage, nervous, a little afraid – and very much intimidated. It was our very first gig—the Tribute to Nirvana gig in Life Centre (or KL Live as it is known now)… … and the first time we had ever BEEN to a gig, believe it or not. We had no idea what to expect. And neither did the audience, apparently. This would also the first time the Malaysian underground would meet its allgirl band, and needless to say, the years of being a completely male-centric community, where the women in the scene were relegated almost exclusively to the roles of girlfriend or groupie resulted in some pretty, well, neanderthal sexist bullshit. As were were setting up our instruments on that huge stage, the catcalling began. Rina Omar
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Wolf-whistles and mousy-squeaks were easily ignored – but the front row of Mats decided to take it to the next level when they realized we were not roadies helping a band to set up—but THE BAND itself. “Adik larat ke nak pegang gitar tu ke? Tak berat ke dik? “Eh, reti ke nak main muzik cik adik?” “Meh abang tolong mainkan gitar tu…” And it went on, ad nauseum, peppered with laughter. We just continued doing our thing, although inside we were just getting even more and more pissed off. The world of boys that had so welcomed us in jamming studios, school talentime shows and battle of the bands—were a stark constrast to this sea of misogynist cavemen facing us now. Look, we were a bunch of giggly 15 year-olds back then, coming from a sheltered middle-income suburban Petaling Jaya neighborhood who still rode bicycles to school and each other’s houses—so imagine how shocking (and frankly, pretty damn scary) it was to be on that stage. We looked at each other, our eyes speaking determination, giving each other strength. I’ll be honest and say that I was so glad to be behind the drums because it was incredibly intimidating to be on a stage and face a hostile audience who had judged you even before you could do what you came to do. My respect for Nora, my best friend and front-woman, really grew so much that day. She was right in front, Fender Strat strapped across her body, taking the brunt of the sexist insults that were thrown our way. And then we heard it – “Hey, toksah lah pegang gitar tu – kalau adik pegang penyapu, lagi baik!!!” some donkey yelled out over the hullaballo. Everyone roared with laughter. “Balik lah!!!” “Apa nak main gig ni? Masuk dapur masak lagi elok!” All the intimidation and fear gave way to a raging anger. Rina Omar
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You can belittle our musical abilities, you can be a sexist asshole – but god help the donkey who tries tell us we don’t deserve to be on this stage as much as everyone else on this lineup! “FUCK YOU!” Nora’s voice boomed, cutting across the cacophony of male stupidity. For a split second the entire place was silent; and I can imagine the reverse in intimidation when all eyes were on a guitar-slinging teenage girl giving the offensive crowd the middle finger they so deserve. Nora turned to us and yelled “ONE TWO THREE FOUR!!!” And we rocked the stage as hard as we could. And by the time we were halfway through our set—the crowd that had given us so much hostility—were cheering us on, giving us love and support—and most importantly… respect. In the nine years that followed IntoXicated were a force to be reckoned with in the scene, playing countless gigs and concerts, three nationwide tours, and part of the compilation that won the first ever Best English Album in the AIM which helped pave the way for more independent acts to be part of our music industry. We recorded our own demos on cassette tapes which we posted to fans around the country, later moving to professional studios when we signed a record deal with Positive Tone, and then went back to DIY for our swan-song Outtro album when we left the record label who wanted girls who were more commercially viable in looks and music style. I have nothing but pride for the nine years of amazing experiences we have had, growing as musicians, performers and even more importantly, as part of an amazing community of people passionate about music and the desire to share that with the world. Imagine if we had chickened out on that fateful day in 1994, and let negativity get the best of us. Imagine what we would’ve missed out on, or what we would’ve been—or never been—today.
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Don’t let anyone tell you who you are, and who you aren’t. We came to play music – not to gain popularity, or boyfriends, or make money—and that’s exactly what we did. And we’ve never regretted a moment of it ever since.
Rina Omar
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#projekbuku
Things I Wish I Knew 15 Years Earlier About The Electric Guitar by Rithan Vijay
Rithan is the frontman for metal/rock band Deja Voodoo Spells. 354
These are my favourite letters in the alphabet: G, U, I, T, A, R. This is my favourite word in the dictionary: ‘guitar’. The guitar is my favourite instrument in the universe. My name is Rithan, and I am a guitar junkie. I have been getting high on the coolest instrument in the universe for about 17 years now, and I will never be sober. The very first time I laid eyes on an electric guitar, it was intoxicating, explosive and it gave me wood. The electric guitar put a spell on me for life. It’s the sexiest instrument in the universe: its lean neck, its graceful contours, the feeling you get when it rests against your body while it vibrates frequencies to your soul as you caress it with your fingers. It is like Cupid’s arrow piercing the hearts of lovers. The guitar has taught me the essence of being humble, as I have tried countless times to master it, but there is always a new level of courtship, and she keeps on seducing me. I would like to share with you some of my experiences and knowledge I wish I had known 15 years earlier about the guitar... *insert air guitar pose here* Rithan Vijay
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Wood Tonality Different guitars are made of different kind of woods and different woods give off different sounds to your guitar tone, its durability, and ambience. This perhaps is the most important factor when choosing a guitar. Here is a brief explanation. Ash • Bright • Long sustain • Hard • Available in two types Northern (hard) and Southern (soft) • Swamp Ash has a warmer feel then Hard Ash, popular for 50’s era Fender guitars Alder • Light weight • Excellent clean tone • Lots of Stratocasters are made from this kind of wood Maple • Popular with guitar necks • Bright tone • Biting • Durable • Good sustain Mahogany • Mellow • Warm tone • Popular with Les Pauls Rosewood • Heavy form of wood • Very warm • Dampens high frequencies • Usually made for fret boards Basswood • Very light wood • Soft
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• • • •
Warm My favourite Ages well Lighter then alder
Ebony • Commonly used on fret boards • Heavy • Bright • Good sustain • Better durability compared to bass wood
Intonation Intonation is probably the most important factor in making a guitar sound good. Guitar intonation is the need for notes to sound at the correct pitch when the strings are fretted. Playing a poorly intonated guitar will make a veteran guitar player sound bad and is the main cause for beginners to quit playing the guitar. Think about it this way. The notes that are fretted on a guitar are like the constructions of words. When these words are not pronounced properly you would not be able to make people understand what you are saying. In music you would be out of tune. Now you’re saying, but I just bought this guitar for five thousand dollars from a reputable guitar maker, why would it not be tune? Intonating a guitar is a tedious process. Manufactures would not have the time to set it up for every guitar it makes, and it’s just too costly. The tip here is, when you get a new guitar, send it to a guitar Luther. Let an experienced Luther intonate it for you, and your guitar will sing like a bird. This is something that I had to learn the hard way, and it’s a piece of valuable advice I wish I had when I was starting out!
Pickups Pickups are those square things you see on the guitar body. In a nutshell, think of them as your microphones, or like your CPU’s motherboard. There just so many on the market and so many to choose from. When you are starting out, the easiest way is to find out what your favourite guitar player is using and start from there. What are guitar pickups? Pickups are essentially magnets. Pickups create a magnetic field, and when a string vibrates it disrupts this field. This disturbance Rithan Vijay
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creates an electric signal by your pickup, transferred to your guitar electronics which reaches your amplifier. The three main magnets are Alcino II, Alcino V and Ceramic. Types of pickups: Single Coils • First pickups created • Twangy sounding • Bite • Noisy as tendencies to pick radio frequencies, with a buzz sound • Led to the creation of the humbucking pickup Humbuckers • Two single coils sharing a large magnet base • Created to ‘buck the hum’ created from a single coil • Louder sound • Warmer • Good for distortion Passive Pickups • Passive sounds more warm and genuine • Microphonic Active Pickups • Articulate • Quiet • Sounds sterile Also the magic of setting your pickup heights is breath taking. You would be amazed how much different your guitar can sound when it is set at the right height. Knowing the right height will come with time, but always keep this at the back of your head when chasing tone. For example, setting the height of your pickup a little bit higher on the treble strings will make it bite when comping some funk riffs or soloing in high notes. Research and experiment! Keep in mind these descriptions are just a point of reference and there is no right or wrong. It is best to go out and try them and see what these sounds mean to you.
Pickup Selector When using your pickup selector on your guitar, explore the tonalities, from Rithan Vijay
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bridge position to neck position. There is an arsenal of tone in them. Is your guitar a three way pickup selector or five way? How would you use them in a musical context? Basically the pickup selector makes your guitar brighter and warmer. My guitar are all in five way pickup selectors, when I am doing a heavy riff it’s always on my bridge pickup, when I do my solos it’s on the neck. If let’s say I was doing a solo on my neck pickup and needed a little bite on my phrase I would switch to my bridge pickup. Experiment!
Frets It’s funny how a lot of us guitar players never take the time to think about our frets. It’s the most touched place on the instrument but least known about. At least that was the case for me. Different types of frets do feel and arguably sound better. A little knowledge in this department can go a long way. Fatter fret wires equate with fatter tone. I learnt this from players like Stevie Ray Vaughn and Kenny Wayne Shepard. When studying the blues from these players what really floored me was their ability to have an amazing soulful vibratos. When studying their guitars I realized they preferred the much wider fret then the conventional narrow “vintage” gauge fret, which makes a lot of sense as the wider frets are indeed easier to bend, vibrate without choking out. Narrow frets however are more precise and have more harmonics to them. Determining the right fret will compliment your playing style tremendously. Also not forgetting, a regular fret job, i.e. crowning, levelling etc, is important from time to time to ensure good intonation when playing. As I am writing this I am actually looking for a luthier to change all my frets on my guitar to stainless steel. It’s something which I learnt from Van Halen as he swears by it. What I gather is that stainless steel frets last longer then the conventional material in the market out there. Like I said before, there is always something new to learn and try. Probably by the time you read this I would be able to give you a full review. Research and give it a try!
Picks Man, the amount of shapes and sizes out there in the market is amazing, but sometimes confusing. Just because it looks cool doesn’t mean it’s GOOD! There is a science behind it which is meticulous. There are many sizes for different applications, let’s look at it generally. Rithan Vijay
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Thin Picks • Use them for rhythmic strumming • Offers a percussive timbre compared to a thicker pick • I often use them when I record an acoustic strumming track Medium Pick • More sustain • Less percussive sound • More solid performance Heavy Pick I love this size. I use a really thick pick as I like the control it gives me. My picks are handmade in the Netherlands from a guy called Michel Wegen. His picks are really thick and not available commercially. I swear by this picks. Check out www.wegenpicks.com. • Killer attack • Precision • Not flimsy • The downside is creating dynamics as the picks do not produce a nice rhythmic attack, but I love this feel so much that I learnt how to control my right hand when I need to recreate a thin pick sound when playing live. Get to know your picks. It’s the best thing I did for my playing and my right hand.
Volume knob The volume knob has so many possibilities on tone! The dynamics offered on the volume knob is second to none. We tend to have a pedal to switch from clean to distortion, but being able to set an amp on the loudest gain setting and controlling the your clean and distortion from your volume knob is amazing. It’s ol skool! But it’s yummy to be able to control the breaking points of a tube amp! Or even in a fuzz pedal. Try it!
Guitar Cables Good guitar cables are very important! They are your sound transmitters. Getting good cables for your guitar and pedal board is important for getting good tone. Try to save up to get good quality cables, even if you are on a budget. Learn how to maintain your cables. Get a soldiering kit, check the points from time to time. It is really frustrating getting to a soundcheck or playing show with hiss when your cables are not set up properly. Learn how to take care of your cables. Rithan Vijay
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There are so many more things I would like to write about, but it would take so much space. I hope this helps guitar players just starting to discover and unlock it secrets. I would like to leave with something I hear from time to time: “You know, there are so many talented guitar players overseas that just play on the streets. So terrer, I see also I scared ah, I don’t even try to challenge.” Here is my take. Music is not a competition, music is art. There is no right or wrong, it’s all just a matter of taste. Remember not everyone likes the colour black, so it’s subjective. Follow your heart and be the best you can be. Also if you ever see a good guitar player who is better then you, make friends with him/her, buy him coffee and try your best to learn from him/her. Respect the art that comes out from someone that is trying to express themselves and learn from it. You will always keep on learning. Music is a lot of hard work: it’s 99 per cent hardwork and 1 per cent talent, especially if you are doing it yourself. Stay humble. To quote the legendary Frank Zappa: Just shut up and play your guitar!
Rithan Vijay
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#projekbuku
Sayangi Band Kegemaran Anda Hari Ini Kerana Esok Mereka Mungkin Tiada by Ronnie Khoo
Ronnie Khoo is the frontman of local rock band Furniture. 362
Before venturing into music I was a fan of many Malaysian bands active during the late 90s. Most of those bands are not around anymore, they have officially or unofficially disbanded, imploded, moved on with life. Naturally a good band is expected to mature and evolve over the course of many years, many gigs and many albums. So it is a pity that few bands and their fans in local independent music ever get to forge such long lasting relationships, as most bands seldom outlast a brief season of activity. Track the current buzz and you’ll find the face of local music changes every few months. There are some constant fixtures while the rest are names and personalities who come and go through the revolving door of the local music scene. At a glance, something you thought familiar suddenly becomes unrecognizable in a very short time. It is an impermanence that extends to organizers, labels, retailers, magazines, websites, venues; almost every aspect of independent music is in constant flux. Unfortunately, some of our best musicians end up not being musicians. The majority of the scene is made of “hobby bands”, that is, bands fuelled by passion with members who are not full-timers. Given that some promising music comes out of this arrangement, we can only speculate how much better it could be if our bands dedicated themselves completely to the task of making Ronnie Khoo
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music. But perhaps independent music was never meant to be a full-time profession. Perhaps it loses some charm if seen as a career choice. Perhaps it is best for musicians to have a foot in music and another somewhere else. It is a fragile compromise that takes its toll on a band’s longevity, as after a while the path of least resistance always seems to lead away from making music. Realities set in, distractions are aplenty, a child is on the way, religious awakenings, amateur film making is more exciting, the company requires travel, that band mate is always stoned and late, watching football beats carrying amps up 3 flights of stairs (why are jamming studios always on the highest floor?). These are the cumulative death knells that have marked the end to many bands. So enjoy your favorite obscure local band because you never know if their next show could be the last in a long time. If there is one unyielding constant in Malaysian music, it is the manufactured anti-underground coverage that periodically get press space in the mainstream media. I’ll end this piece with that thought.
Ronnie Khoo
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#projekbuku
Cameras Don’t Lie, Period by Shimy Latif
Shimy Latif is a TV Producer. 365
20th December 2003. It was Rock The World IV, held at the Open Air Car Park, KLCC. 8TV went on air for the first time ever on that day, bringing the Malaysian rock concert straight to people’s homes. I was their first, and only intern they have at the time. Though there were nearly a dozen of people in the broadcast control room, only 3 were from 8TV. Seated on the director’s chair was my boss at the time Michael Simon, who gave us, in my opinion one of the most eyeopening shows in the 90s called ‘Alternatif’, and next to him was Edwin Raj, the 8TV Urban Content Creation Group Producer who has since became one of my best friends, and me, the intern who was freaking out looking at the monitors strategically arranged in front of us. What do you expect from a 20-yearold who had just started his internship exactly 7 days earlier? I was excited, overwhelmed and nervous all in one. Michael was directing the whole show, and Edwin was the assistant director, helping him with the shots. And I was the VT operator. For those who don’t know, a VT operator is responsible for playing the show’s montage every time we went to and came back from commercials as well as pre-recorded video playbacks throughout the live show. Our hosts on that day were on-air debutants Marion Caunter and Rina Omar. They were going around everywhere INTERVIEWING everyone, from members of the audience to the rocking performers onstage. To my recollection, everything went quite smoothly through out the entire show. When all was said and done, I went home like a zombie. But what an unforgettable learning experience it Shimy Latif
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was. 7 years has passed. Since that day, I’ve worked on, produced and directed numerous TV shows from various genres. Along the way I’ve worked with and interviewed dozens of people from a variety of fields, musicians included of course. They came from different scenes, from the underground to the mainstream, newbies to seasoned veterans, and even those on the streets. Most of the time, the most common problem I have to face was, or should I say is, ON-CAMERA COMMUNICATION SKILLS. This happens a lot to the newbies, mostly those who’ve been in the industry for less than 3-5 years. Some are too shy, some are ‘too cool’ (that’s sarcasm in case you didn’t get it) and some are absolutely clueless! From my observation, here are a couple of basic things that one can work on in order to make him/herself look better in TV interviews. For starters, some might argue that they’re not used to talking to the camera. They’re shy and unsure of the things they should say. I have two words for you, RESEARCH & PRACTICE. I’d say watch more TV but what the heck, get online! There are loads of online shows filled with entertaining interviews by various artists. And bear in mind I’m not just talking about international artists. WE HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH FINE EXAMPLES WHO ARE BORN AND BRED RIGHT HERE IN MALAYSIA. Some of my current personal favourites would be Monoloque’s Loque, They Will Kill Us All’s Edwin, Pop Shuvit’s Moots!, Joe Flizzow, One Buck Short’s Rahul, Love Me Butch’s Syarul, Yuna and Liyana Fizi. Look at some of the interviews that they’ve done and observe how they handle questions in their own unique way. Take notice of when they keep their eyes on the interviewer and when they turn to look at the camera. Looking at the camera has a bigger impact than most people think. It is a lot more PERSONAL. The viewers will feel more connected to you. But then again, don’t look at the camera the whole time. PICK YOUR MOMENTS. For example, when you’re announcing a show and urging your fans to come, telling them to buy your albums, thanking them for their support, and others along those lines. These are the times where you should be looking directly into the camera. In general, viewers and fans love to be or feel ‘involved’ with what you’re doing or talking about. And EYE CONTACT IS THE BEST AND SIMPLEST way for you to achieve that. From the research that you’ve done, try to remember what sort of questions that the media usually asks. The best way? JOT DOWN SOME OF IT. It may sound uncool but I’m telling you, it does make a difference as the basic media questions are never that far in between. And don’t just stop there, PRACTICE! There’s nothing wrong about practicing something in order to be better at it, regardless of how old or young you are. I still do that sometimes if I’m about Shimy Latif
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to meet a very important client. And I’m not even an artist! Other than trying my best to practice good PR, sometimes I’d rehearse my questions prior interviewing someone as I’d like to have my interview subjects to be most comfortable with me so that I’ll be able to get the best answers from them. If you feel stupid practicing in front of the mirror alone, get someone to help you out. The best is to get someone who can be totally honest with you, the ones that have the balls to say you suck if you really are that bad. They should also be the ones who would suggest to you what you could work on in order to get better. In my opinion, true friends are the best guinea pigs. And I thank God that I am blessed with real friends. You know who you are. There are also some who like to play the ‘I’m too cool for this’ attitude, which is in my honest opinion, is A LOT OF BULL. You want to share your music and sell your CDs but you’re too cool to give a proper interview? There’s a fine line between ARROGANCE and CONFIDENCE. If you’re too much of an ass and can’t help yourself from playing the arrogant card, you better be smart enough to back it up with relevant justifications. If not, you’re just going to end up on the wrong side of the fence. My suggestion? Be humble. Throw a smile here and there. Don’t lie (too much). If you want to make a joke, make sure it’s funny or at least, witty enough to crack a smile on someone’s face. In other words, BE PRESENTABLE. That’s one way of earning not only your fans, but also your fellow artists’ admiration and respect, which would only lead to bigger and better things for you. And if you think one-liner answers will make you sound cool, YOU’RE WRONG. It only helps in reducing your credibility as a singer, musician, entertainer or whatever you want to be known as. People might just go “bodoh gila dia ni…” instead of “cool siot dia ni…”. Trust me, I’m a fan myself. Another aspect I’d like to briefly touch on would be LANGUAGE. I’m pretty sure some would disagree with me but like it or not, in my opinion, having a good command of the English language could bring a lot of benefit and is definitely, a plus point for any artist. Nevertheless, in whatever language you decide to converse in, whether its Engish or Bahasa, if you mess it up, still akan hancur. Try your best to be smooth and maintain your composure. Remember, CONFIDENCE. Also, try to minimize the ‘aaaaa…’ & ‘uummm…’ in your sentences (do you know that TV & video people HATE that?). Other than looking uncertain, you’ll also sound like our local football commentators. Another thing, NOT EVERYONE CAN GET AWAY WITH BEING SPONTAINEOUS. If you can hack it, great. If you can’t, then take a bit of time in structuring the sentences in your head before voicing them out, as you won’t win awards for giving out the quickest answers. If you didn’t get the question the first time, ask Shimy Latif
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your interviewer to repeat it. Jangan main boh je… DO NOT BE A DOUCHEBAG WHO LOST THE PLOT. Like it or not people, APPEARANCE is also another factor that you should take into account whenever you’re appearing on any show, be it TV or online. I’m not suggesting that you need to have branded goods all over you but what’s important is that it is visually interesting. Ada yang aku tengok pernah datang show & recording dengan selipar budak asrama pakai nak pergi mandi and baju tak gosok stock kedut macam beanbag 8 tahun tak basuh… How la...? I witnessed this before and until today I hope that I’ll never come across such an incident ever again. First of all, you would look like an idiot on screen and secondly, the show would look cheap! Both parties yang rugi. Plus, how do you expect to get any sort of sponsorship from any major companies if you are not presentable in the first place even if you are playing good music? Yes unfortunately this is how some big corporations work. They are attracted by what they see, not what they hear. Having said that, I’m happy to say that we don’t really have this problem anymore nowadays as our local talents’ fashion sense and mindsets regarding appearance have improved immensely over the last few years but then again, you never know. Try and look at it this way, if you look the part AND nail the interview, wouldn’t everyone be happy? Lastly, DO NOT FEEL INTIMIDATED BY YOUR INTERVIEWERS. What harm can we do? We are mere mortals too. How can we make you look good if you’re too scared to utter even a single word? For example, recently I’ve had a youngster who was literally shivering in front of the camera, and I only asked him for a two-liner soundbite. He almost looked like he just snorted something up his nose and was about to kickstart the trip of his life! Macam mana nak perform dekat show-show besar kalau macam ni? Show besar-besar sure ada selit interviews punya sini sana. And as for the shivering dude, in the end I had to cut his part out of the show and he lost his 30 seconds of individual fame. Siapa yang rugi? I mean, we appreciate the gesture of respect that you have for production people, but not up to that extent. I still want my content! And please bear in mind that most of us aren’t out to get you nor make you look bad on TV (although I am aware of a long-running TV tabloid show that tends to do that on a weekly basis, disrespecting the privacy of our local celebrities through extreme provocation and not knowing where to draw the line). As for me, I always want to make artists look good on my shows as well as maintain a great content flow. The way I see it, WE NEED EACH OTHER. Everything that I’ve shared with you comes from my experience working in the TV industry. To be a bit more specific, I have always been involved in projects Shimy Latif
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catered for the urban market. I AM NOT speaking on behalf of the media that caters for the MASS (some say that they can be quite evil). Having said that, I do apologize if some of my opinions and suggestions are a bit too upfront and honest. It comes from the heart. Kalau nak terima, eloklah. Kalau terasa, cuba fikir kenapa. I look at it this way—we need good content for our shows, and you could use the exposure. So, why not make the best of both worlds and do the best that we can to benefit both parties? In the end, everyone goes home happy and satisfied. Just like that line from Allahyarham Tan Sri P.Ramlee’s Seniman Bujang Lapok movie that goes:“Dia punya nasi dia makan, kita punya nasi kita makan, apa salah kita makan sama-sama?” Singh, Studio Jalan Ampas’s security guard
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#projekbuku
Dari Peminat, Blogger Ke Wartawan, Apa Yang Mereka Cari Sebenarnya? oleh Sultan Muzaffar
Sultan Muzaffar is one of the very few respected critics in Malaysian entertainment industry. 371
Dari peminat, blogger ke wartawan, apa yang mereka cari sebenarnya? Aku rasa aku antara manusia bertuah yang dapat peluang untuk melihat dan merasa dunia seni dari pandangan yang berbeza. Pandangan aku jadi berbeza kerana aku lalui banyak fasa, dari seorang peminat hinggalah menjadi seorang blogger dan kini ada akses sebagai wartawan. Fasa yang aku lalui itu secara tidak langsung telah mematangkan buah fikiran aku tentang dunia seni. Bagi aku, sebagai peminat mereka hanya melihat luaran dunia seni, blogger pula melihat pertengahannya dan wartawan melihat dalamannya. Maka lengkap fasa tersebut aku lalui. Timbul tak rasa menyesal? Sikit itu adalah, tapi aku sudah pilih jalan itu, maka aku perlu teruskan. Aku dapat rasa indahnya dunia penuh gemerlapan itu sebagai peminat yang memandang dari luar kelompok yang dikatakan elit itu. Namun sebagai peminat aku hanya membaca apa yang dihidangkan untuk aku menerusi majalah, televisyen dan filem (termasuk sedikit teater). Sekitar tahun 2002, aku dapat rasa dekatnya dengan dunia penuh gemerlapan itu sebagai blogger yang sekadar melihat sinarnya dan mencuit bintangbintang yang ada. Sebagai blogger kau patut tahu apa yang aku inginkan Sultan Muzaffar
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dulu. Kalau bukan kerana program realiti, aku pasti akan terus kekal sebagai peminat. Memang berubah sekelip mata. Baru-baru ini, aku dapat pula rasa kelatnya dunia yang penuh bintang itu sebagai seorang wartawan. Kelat kerana baru aku mengerti kehidupan sebenarnya dalam dunia itu. Tidak semuanya indah sebenarnya. Sebagai peminat atau blogger mahu pun wartawan, apa yang mereka cari sebenarnya?
Peminat (1986-2002) Seperti yang aku katakan di awal tadi, sebagai peminat aku hanya melihat dan merasa luarannya sahaja. Kehidupan aku menyebabkan aku hanya terdedah pada kisah-kisah artis popular sahaja yang ingin aku ambil tahu. Selain daripada itu “ada aku kisah?”. Contohnya, sejak kecil aku membesar dengan lagu Sheila Majid. Maka, Sheila Majid sahajalah yang aku kejar. Aku pergi ke setiap konsertnya, di Stadium Negara atau di Stadium Merdeka (termasuk Tapak Pesta Pulau Pinang sekitar tahun 1990an). Pasti ada artis yang lebih bagus dari Sheila Majid, tapi tidak aku ambil peduli kerana sebagai peminat aku hanya ambil tahu siapa yang aku minat. Tapi itu tidak bermakna hati aku tertutup untuk meminati artis lain kalau mereka ada sesuatu yang mahu mereka tawarkan. Sebagai artis, mereka perlu melakukan sesuatu untuk mengumpan minat peminat artis lain. Maksudnya mereka perlu ada satu tarikan untuk buat peminat artis lain meminati mereka. Tidak kisah lah apa cara sekali pun. Kalau berusaha dan menghasilkan produk yang bagus, pasti peminat akan nampak dan hargai. Yang pasti peminat seperti aku akan hanya menyerap apa yang dihidangkan pada mereka menerusi medium yang ada. Tambah pula pada tahun tersebut, internet belum begitu meluas, yang ada hanya akhbar, majalah dan televisyen. Peminat sekarang sudah ada internet, Facebook, Twitter dan segala macam media sosial yang memudahkan perhubungan artis dengan peminat. Gunakan! Peminat suka bila artis update perkembangan terkini mereka. Be human. Jangan terlalu formal bila update promo album baru atau ringback tone baru. Hard sell selalunya tidak menjadi. Sultan Muzaffar
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Blogger (2002-2007) Aku harus mengaku yang aku sebagai blogger merupakan seorang yang oportunis. Bernaung pada nama @sultanmuzaffar, tiada seorang pun yang kenal dulu. Hidup lebih selesa. Aku boleh tulis apa saja yang aku mahu. Lebihlebih lagi bila blogger itu menggunakan nama samaran dan tidak menyerlahkan diri mereka. Ya! Memang aku bermula dengan blogger anonymous. Permulaan aku sebagai blogger, aku hanyalah seorang peminat yang mempunyai blog, iaitu medium untuk aku berkongsi pandangan aku tentang dunia seni. Aku tulis review filem, album dan teater. Kalau aku tengok televisyen, aku rasa drama yang aku tengok itu bagus, aku tulis. Kalau aku tidak tulis pun tidak mengapa sebenarnya. Tapi aku mahu berkongsi pandangan aku. Orang baca dan orang suka. Mereka suruh aku tulis lagi dan lagi. Tiada masalah. Aku cuma perlu keluarkan duit aku untuk beli album, tengok filem dan teater. Tapi itu dulu, di awal aku sebagai blogger. Selepas program realiti Akademi Fantasia meletup, hidup aku berubah. Orang sudah mula kenal. Aku tulis saja suka-suka sebenarnya kerana minat aku dalam bidang muzik. Seronok pula ulas cara nyanyian orang, tambah lagi wujudnya drama dalam program realiti itu. Bila muzik digabung dengan drama memang havoc jadinya. Peminat A kecam aku, peminat B puji aku. Peminat C nak berkawan dengan aku. Macam-macam. Tiba-tiba orang anggap aku macam dewa. Apa kes? Sebagai seorang blogger yang oportunis, aku ambil kesempatan itu. Aku boleh katakan aku berjaya kerana mereka pernah sebut, “If you can’t beat them, ask them to join you.” LOL! Bila blog popular, iklan masuk macam jumlah SMS yang dihantar untuk juara program realiti. Itu saja yang aku mahukan. Blogger tidak kisah pada apa yang akan berlaku pada industri muzik. Aku tidak kisah sekiranya berlaku lambakan penyanyi yang muncul macam cendawan tumbuh selepas hujan. Apa kesannya pada industri muzik, “ada aku kisah?” Pada seorang blogger, dalam kepala mereka hanyalah pengiklanan. Perkara lain mereka tidak kisah. Aku hanya nampak apa yang di pertengahan saja. Ke dalam pun tidak, ke luar pun tidak. Tengah-tengah. Aku sudah nampak. Perkara yang sama ada pada blogger sekarang. Blogger hanya mahukan berita Sultan Muzaffar
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panas untuk melonjakkan pageviews blog mereka. Bila pageviews tinggi, iklan masuk! Bila iklan masuk, duit pun masuk. Simple! Penting pada blogger untuk dapatkan cerita panas tentang artis A berkahwin dengan VVIP berbanding mengulas album MonoloQue kerana pageview untuk dua artikel tersebut macam langit dengan bumi. Timbul sifat “buat apa buang masa, let’s concentrate on hot news only!”. Itu yang menyedihkan. Macam aku dulu, bila aku ulas tentang program realiti Akademi Fantasia, pageview melambung-lambung berbanding bila aku ulas tentang filem ‘Gubra.’ Aku harap bila orang baca tentang budak Akademi Fantasia, mereka akan turut terpengaruh untuk menonton filem ‘Gubra.’ Sebagai artis, kau kena tahu apa yang mahu kau kongsikan dengan blogger. Kau juga perlu jelas yang blogger hanya mahu cerita panas. Kalau album kau pun suam-suam kuku, blogger tidak hairan. Lama-lama sebagai blogger dan kemudian dipelawa untuk ‘join them,’ aku terima. Aku anggap ia batu loncatan untuk aku melihat dari dalam. Memang bila berada di pertengahan, ia lebih membuatkan aku mahu tahu lebih mendalam. Untuk tahu lebih mendalam, sudah tentulah aku kena masuk ke dalam.
Wartawan (2007-2011) Damn! Lengkap transformasi dari seorang blogger ke wartawan meja hiburan. Aku yang dulu di luar sekarang sudah mula terjerumus ke dalam dunia hiburan untuk mengetahui akan segala yang indah dahulu sebenarnya semuanya palsu belaka. Macam-macam hal dalam industri mula terbongkar. Aku sudah nampak macam-macam perkara. Bila sebagai wartawan aku nampak macam-macam perkara. Antaranya bagaimana huru-haranya persatuan artis, bagaimana kacau-bilaunya majlis anugerah, bagaimana payahnya untuk mendapatkan lagu dimainkan di stesen radio, bagaimana susahnya mendapatkan tajaan untuk konsert dan segala macam masalah. Sebagai wartawan, aku akan terdedah dengan pelbagai jenis pengkarya, baik muzik, filem, teater dan sebagainya. Kalau dulu aku hanya kenal Sheila Majid, hari ini aku mula kenal pengkarya-pengkarya yang memperjudikan nasib mereka dalam bidang seni.
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Cuma aku harap mereka tidak putus asa dan terus berkarya. Apa yang aku cari sebenarnya? Wartawan juga cari berita. Tapi wartawan juga perlu menganalisa berita. Wartawan tidak sepatutnya melihat secara luaran. Mereka patut melihat lebih dalam. Peluang berada dalam industri patut digunakan untuk membongkar isi dunia hiburan. Bila berada di dalam inilah masa untuk kita menilai setiap perkara yang berlaku di depan mata kita. Apa saja, politiknya, glamornya, apa saja. Sebenarnya aku masih lagi menilai dan masih lagi mencari apa yang ada di dalam dunia seni ini. Aku harap satu hari aku dapat bertemu dan melihat perubahan itu.
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#projekbuku
Seni Pekak oleh Syafeeq Rahim
Syafeeq Rahim is Lelaki Melayu Terakhir. Jokes aside, He really is. 377
#nowplaying Nirvana ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ “Te… ne… ne… ne… ne… ne… ne… ne… ne… ne… ne… ne… ne… ne… net…” Begitulah bunyi petikan gitar dalam intro lagu favourite wa dari album Nirvana “MTV Unplugged in New York.” Album ni, kalau lu orang nak tau, adalah antara faktor besar bermulanya kisah “AKU DAN MUZIK” Album ni jugak lah antara kaset pertama yang wa beli dari kedai kaset Sensasi kat Klang. Mengikut lagenda, banyak kaset yang wa beli masa tu adalah hasil rengekan wa kat Mak dan Pak wa. Wa yakin kejayaan wa menge-pau diorang adalah kerana Mak ngan Pak wa tak boleh handle dengar anak jantan dia merengek-rengek nak beli kaset. Perkenalan wa ngan Nirvana telah mendorong wa untuk membaca sikitsikit pasal band-band yang sejalur ngan diorang—wa sampai hari ni yakin huruf-huruf abjad tak suka wa sebab tiap kali wa cuba membaca, diorang macam menari-menari mengejek. So jangan salahkan wa bila wa lebih selesa Syafeeq Rahim
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tengok gambar dari membaca—dan cuba berjinak-jinak dengan band-band “underground” yang lain. Dari Nirvana, wa mula dengar band lain macam Rancid, NoFX, Pennywise, Propaghandi, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer dan beberapa band pop punk lain yang demi menjaga maruah pihak-pihak tertentu, adalah lebih baik kalau wa tak payah sebut kat sini. Anyway, camtu la serba sedikit kisah macamana wa mula menjadi “pendengar” muzik. Nothing fancy, tapi meaningful buat wa, nonetheless. #nowplaying Poison The Well ‘Nerdy’ “Sleep on portraits painted as perfect as you, Why have I been given the chance to fly, When I’m not with you I feel lesser alone, Why have I been given the chance to fly, away? Haa… kat atas tu, petikan daripada lirik lagu kegemaran wa dari album Poison The Well ‘The Opposite of December’. Tahun 2000 merupakan titik permulaan zaman “I’m fucking emo and I want to die” wa. Ala… you know, jenis-jenis lagu yang mempunyai lirik bak puisi indah yang dinyanyikan ala kerongkong tengah di siat kejam. Untuk membuktikan ke-true-an wa sebagai budak emo, dinding bilik wa dihias dengan poster-poster band macam Walls of Jericho, Norma Jean, Mineral dan pastinya Poison The Well. Dedikasi wa pada “agama” emo dan metalcore ni time tu umpama darah yang mengalir dalam tubuh badan ini. Pendekata, inilah muzik yang “I Want To Die With and For.” Dari seorang pendengar muzik hanya kat rumah, wa berhijrah menjadi pendengar muzik di pentas luar. Perjalanan wa bermula dengan gig RM5 kat Plaza Metro Klang. Walaupun sound system bunyi macam besi kena hentak dengan besi, wa masih mampu menggoyangkan kepala dan menghayati irama yang di hasilkan oleh band-band yang perform. Pengalaman suci ni, menyedarkan wa yang wa amat minat dengan lagu, walaupun wa pekak sejak azali.
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Dah la pekak, ego sebesar gajah pulak tu. Ego macamana lu tanya? Wa ni jenis yang nak jadi orang yang pertama dengar sesebuah band tu kat kampung wa. The first to discover bak kata orang putih. Biasalah, budak kecik macam wa, kalau nak nampak cool time tu haruslah buat benda-benda yang macam ni. Kena la jadi tastemaker. Dalam proses nak jadi tastemaker ni, banyak jugaklah sedara mara muzik metal yang wa belajar dengar. Ada yang wa suka dan ada yang wa pura pura suka. Biasa la bro, wa kena la maintain coolness level wa. Macam la lu tak biasa buat. #nowfeeling ‘Bunga-Bunga Cinta’ Lepas sekolah, wa masuk UiTM. Tak lama, seminggu je, sebab wa rasa UiTM tak mampu nak mengembangkan tahap wa punya coolness. Lagi pun sejak wa sekolah lagi, majalah KLue telah menanam persepsi dalam kepala wa yang kolej adalah lebih cool dari UiTM. So, lepas lari dari UiTM, wa sambung belajar kat kolej yang paling cool kat Malaysia ni. Zaman menjadi kolej student juga merupakan zaman bermulanya era “AKU DAN KAMU” dan terkuburnya zaman “AKU DAN MUZIK.” Wa dah mula belajar bercinta. Wa dah mula ada seorang kekasih. Wa dah ada “The One I Want To Grow Old With.” Hidup memang indah time tu. Selain si dia, semua benda lain tak memberikan apa-apa point dalam hidup wa. Muzik? Apa tu? Rubbish! Wa tak perlu muzik. Wa tak perlu dengar lagu yang wa suka. Wa tak perlu beli CD yang wa memang nak beli. I don’t need all these rubbish. Wa ada cinta. Cinta bro. You know, love. L O V . . . . Syafeeq Rahim
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E Tu lah, bak kata orang, kita mampu merancang akan tetapi Tuhan yang menentukan. Selepas enam tahun memadu kasih, si Dia yang “I Want To Hold Your Hand Til I Die” telah memusnahkan pelamin angan wa dengan sekelip mata. Bukan pelamin je musnah. Wa pun turut sama musnah berderai bersepai untuk beberapa bulan. Time tu, wa yakin, hanya Awie yang faham situasi wa. #nowplaying Radiohead ‘Exit Music’ “Wake… from your sleep, The drying of your tears, Today we escape, we escape…” Sewaktu wa menjadi debu-debu cinta, wa punya first love perlahan-lahan datang balik ke dalam hidup wa. Jujur wa cakap wa malu, tapi first love wa tetap terima wa tanpa sebarang rasa prejudis. “I’m sorry muzik. Wa pernah curang dengan lu, tidak akan lagi” Pelan-pelan wa punggah balik koleksi wa dan geledah balik external hard disk wa. Makin banyak wa dengar balik muzik, rasa sober semakin menebal dan luka kena tinggal pun pelan-pelan terubat. Time ni la wa sedar, unlike cinta, muzik takkan boleh buat wa sedih, habis kuat pun muzik hanya boleh buat wa bad mood, lagi-lagi kalau album baru band favourite wa berbunyi macam anjing kena sodomy. Dalam proses pengerasan dan penjituan diri balik, wa tak boleh lari dari fakta —wa masih manusia yang mudah tersentuh. Ada satu hari ni, dalam perjalanan pulang dari kerja, wa TER-dengar lagu Mariah Carey ‘We Belong Together’. Wa tumpas. Hari tu Lebuhraya KESAS telah menjadi saksi kepada rebahnya seorang jejaka Syafeeq Rahim
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pekak, berbaju Municipal Waste yang terpaksa berhenti tepi jalan, untuk menangis teresak-esak, kerana dilukakan cinta. Selepas wa gagahkan diri untuk terus memandu, wa buat konklusi yang peristiwa tersebut telah mengukuhkan lagi fakta yang muzik mempunyai impak yang amat kuat pada diri wa. #nowplaying Super Furry Animals ‘Juxtapozed With U’ As hari berlalu, wa semakin nekad untuk study harder pasal music. Wa nak belajar pasal muzik dengan lebih mendalam lagi. Umpama disentuh bidadari dari neraka, wa diketemukan dengan satu Brader Hensem kegilaan setiap wanita. Wa tau dia pernah tulis fanzine. Wa jugak tau dia pernah menulis untuk satu magazine yang aku selalu baca masa sekolah dulu. Apa yang wa tak tau adalah, disebalik kehenseman brader ni, dia literally hidup dengan dan untuk muzik. Serious dowh, wa yang selama ni ingat wa seorang mat metal tebal telah ditololkan tahap maksimum oleh Brader Hensem ni. Dari lagu yang paling ganas dekat dunia sampai lagu pop paling lembut dekat dunia aku belajar dari Brader Hensem ni. Thanks bro, I love u too… Di bawah ni adalah dialog perbualan rutin antara aku dengan Brader Hensem ni Brader Hensem: Lu dah dengar belum album baru band ni? Wa: Belum lagi dowh. Apsal best ke? Brader Hensem: Kimak betul. Lu memang poser kan. Lu cakap lu fan, takkan tak dengar lagi kot Wa: Lu siot tak share dengan wa kan! Brader Hensem: Tak dapat. Lu nak lu cari sendiri. Wa malas nak layan poser cam lu. Dalam proses pembelajaran ni wa jumpa ramai pendekar-pendekar dan kawan kawan yang ada minat sama dengan wa. Diorang ni buat wa rasa normal walaupun diorang ni boleh diklasifikasikan sebagai spesis pukimak. Kena gelak pasal wa tak pernah dengar sesebuah band tu benda biasa. Pernah sekali wa dihalau keluar dari kereta sebab wa dengan selamba dan bodoh sombongnya keluar statement yang wa tak suka band Foals.
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#nowplaying Various Artists ‘Rabak’ (sebuah mixtape hasil kerja Brader Hensem) Hari ni, sebagai pendengar muzik yang pekak, wa berani cakap yang wa mendengar muzik dengan lebih wholesome dari kebanyakan lu orang kat luar sana. Sebab apa? Sebab wa dah faham kenapa muzik ni something yang wa perlukan hari hari untuk teruskan hidup. Sebab wa dah faham kenapa muzik ni something yang kena ada untuk wa menstabilkan perasaan. Sebab wa dah faham kenapa muzik ni something yang mempunyai hubungkait yang amat rapat dengan hati dan perasaan kalau kita betul-betul jujur minat kat dia. Sebab wa dah faham kenapa muzik ni something yang makin banyak kita dengar, makin kemas, bijak dan valid penilaian kita. Sebab wa dah faham konsep semakin terbuka minda kita dalam menghayati rupa dan bentuk muzik yang bersepah-sepah kat luar sana, semakin luas perspektif kita. Wa dah faham yang kalau semua ni lengkap, lu orang tak payah nak terpekik terlolong sini sana nak bagitau semua orang yang lu suka muzik. Lu buat pekak je macam gua, kalau lu mampu la.
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#projekbuku
The KNUKE Experience by Syatirah Safran
Syatirah Safran is KNUKE and KNUKEAST Co-founder. 384
Malaysian students overseas have often used music as a link to home. Indie music, in particular is a genre that many students can relate to, and to some, aspire to get into. As a way to pass time, many students form bands, and oftentimes, perform at Malaysia-centric events such as the Malaysia Nights across many universities. What was also thriving was the UK Malaysian gigs circuit in particular The Sheffield Gig. Regarded as the first Malaysian gig, became an annual event and one that is anticipated greatly by the Malaysian community there. Since its inception in the early 90s, many other gig circuits were established in other parts of the country. Inspired by this, and being music lovers and some, musicians themselves, is what gave KNUKE its wings. Wanting to be different, a group of guys studying in the UK decided to do the extraordinary and looked into inviting a Malaysian band to perform for their university’s Malaysia Gig. With a connection between the boys in Cardiff University and the then-upcoming indie band, HUJAN, Kugiran Hujan ke UK Foundation was formed. What started at first with them only to perform in Cardiff University, the word got out to other universities and everybody wanted in on the action. This tour then expanded to other cities and became a four city tour for Hujan, aptly named The HUJAN Tour. Syatirah Safran
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The pride of having a Malaysian band to perform in UK, the passion and love for our local music scene and the response that Hujan had received in the UK has stirred bigger dreams for us and since then has stated KNUKE, Kugiran Negara ke UK Enterprise. With the desire to showcase the talents of Malaysia, KNUKE has since organized tours for Estrella, Seven Collar T-shirt, Couple, Monoloque and Altimet through the years. It was never an easy ride for us. People were sceptical and naysayers were criticising our work but we kept on going. The towel has been threatened to be thrown many atimes. But the support from our UK counterparts and the passion to see our local music given a global platform was hard to resist. That has been the main drive of KNUKE. The core of our operation and a big part of how KNUKE operates has always been the passion and drive of these people. Every year, a number of enthusiastic students will write to us asking about our progress and which act will we bring. They would even volunteer to help us out and eventually they became our UK correspondents. Although, KNUKE has been operational for four years now, every year poses a different challenge for us. Often times, the hurdle of getting the tour up and running smoothly, gets more and more difficult. When organising a tour, it is never just deciding on where to go and getting the performers to the venue, but it goes way deeper. We not only have to ensure that our performers obtain the right papers to perform legally, but most importantly, getting the right people to help make the tour possible as well also securing sponsorships to make sure the tour can move. Many restless nights and leave days were used (all KNUKE members have gruelling day jobs) that were spent to ensure that we have all of what the acts require and also to make sure that venues and accommodations are booked, marketing efforts are at its max, as well as making sure that everybody was well fed and not bored by organising city tours are all part of the plan for the tour every year. Everybody and everything needs to work smoothly, or the tour will encounter many problems that would at the end be But this is all made worth it when we see the joy in the faces of our performers when they perform on stage for the people, and to see our audiences’ faces of happiness to see the band perform. It is in these tours where you will see how music can really connect people. This is where Malaysians living overseas, be it to study or to work, coming together to enjoy the music and can be proud that our country can produce quality music, those just as good as the musicians from the UK or US. Overseas, is where we see the boxes of race diminish, and Syatirah Safran
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the unity as Malaysians, flourish. We are always surprised when we see that not only Malaysian students in the audience, but also locals and seeing everybody equally having a good time. Not only that, it excites us even more when we hear that people are interested in seeing our bands perform international, as it only validates what we all think—our bands have the calibre to perform in the international scene. At the end of the day, although our tours are organised at on modest means, but the togetherness of people coming together to make sure that music is the message at the end of the day has made it worth it. From the friendships that were formed, to the relationships that were nurtured, has made organising the tour every year something that we look forward to as each year passes by. It is in these tours where you will see how music can really connect people. This is where Malaysians living overseas, be it to study or to work, coming together to enjoy the music and can be proud that our country can produce quality music, those just as good as the musicians from the UK or US. Overseas, is where we see the boxes of race diminish, and the unity as Malaysians, flourish. Has KNUKE been a success you ask? We define success not in terms of how many people show up or how much money we made over the years—but mainly the connections and relationships we have forged and the experiences we gained. What started out as an idealistic and fantastical notion to bring a little local band called HUJAN to come to the UK has developed into a feet on the ground grassroots initiative that will keep on going and keep on fighting— just like our music scene. KNUKE plans to continue on as long as the music keeps playing. Despite all the hardships and hurdles to be overcome every year, the want to expose Malaysian music overseas and the desire to fulfil the need to connect to home will continue to give meaning to the existence of KNUKE as we strive to bring more quality MALAYSIAN Music out to the world. We also would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman Rani—for his willingness to listen and support KNUKE from the very beginning as his support has helped KNUKE bridge our local bands with their fans across the pond. Also to everyone who has supported us in any way—big or small. Thank you KNUKE Co-founders: Ahmad Shakiran (@ahmadshakiran), Iedil Putra (@iedilputra), Rashdan Harith (@rashdanharith), Syatirah Safran (@syats)
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The Answer You All Have Been Looking For Is Here by Terrina Hussein
Terrina Hussein was a music critic. 388
In all my years writing about the Malaysian music industry, I’ve realised only ONE truth: The only thing that sells good music … is good music. At the end of the day, strip off all the gimmicks, the momentary popularity, the intellectual BS, the cons, the ploys, the tricks and crap, take it all down to the core, and what do you have? Music.
Terrina Hussein
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So What Is Your Story? by Uzair Sawal
Uzair Sawal is a travelling creative content creator currently based in Kathmandu, Nepal. 390
“Dude, you still have the footage from the gig right? My friend is working on the new season of Homegrown and he might need it for his show.” That was Jana, the organizer of MYHC (Malaysia Hardcore) Festival. He called me in October 2008 asking for the footage, almost a year after I shot the event for him.
The Beginning A couple of other things before we continue; I moved to Kuala Lumpur in 2006 to study after I dropped out of matriculation college. During my first year, I developed an interest in documenting the local music scene by either writing about it on my blog or taking videos. I have always been curious about what the local fringe music scene has to offer. When I was growing up in Miri, we have no high-speed Internet and lack of exposure of local acts from the fringe music scene on mainstream media. Most of the independent releases never reach this side of Malaysia except and we have to rely on friends or relatives who were studying or working in West Malaysia to get stuff for us: t-shirt, shoes, magazines, CDs, skate videos. However, there are few independent releases managed to get their way to Uzair Sawal
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our shore though, like Carburetor Dung 1999’s The Allure to Manure—the first cassette I bought with my own money. “If you have to buy this at the normal music stores: pay no more than RM9.” That album taught me that punk rock is more than just patches on denim jacket and Mohawk hairstyle. Punk rock taught me the DIY ethics. I started to take actions and get things done by whatever means instead of waiting. I was 12 years old and about to sit for my UPSR exam. Back to Jana and his MYHC Festival. Late 2007, I agreed to document the event for him since there were no wellproduced videos from the local hardcore scene at that time, even until today. Unfortunately, due to my hectic life as a final-year broadcast student I totally forgot to back up my footage and the hard disk that I used to store it… crashed. I certainly learn my lesson from that incident: always have a back up or duplicate. Despite all that loss, I managed to save several edited videos, which can be viewed via my channel on Vimeo. Google it, don’t be lazy. Almost a year later, Jana called and told me about his friend producing the new season of Homegrown—a local television show that featured acts from the local fringe music scene and segments with tips helping out independent musicians. I immediately went to my Facebook and look for the producer: Edwin Raj. I asked him if I can join the production team as an intern and he welcomed me on board.
Taking The DIY Spirit Into A TV Show So I started my career in television production by assisting Edwin producing the show and I still remember our conversation about this particular television show, If you are not going to do it, who else? Yeah, who else is going to do it if we are not going to take action? Would you rather wait and let it rot or take the baton and run with it? At that time, they weren’t many mainstream media who actually give a fuck about the local bands. Few years back, when I was a student trying to learn about television production, we were asked to come up with an idea for a show and I submitted my proposal Uzair Sawal
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of a show with similar concept as Homegrown and my lecturer said that no television station would be interested in such idea. There are times I wish I can meet her again and say, “fuck you, most of the bands I mentioned in my proposal are featured on the television”. I am grateful that I get to learn from Edwin. Ever since Homegrown Season 3, he has taken me under his wings and I have the opportunity to work closely with him. From interviewing rock bands, we worked on a documentary called State of Mind where we gathered stories of nightlife culture featuring the electronic dance music scenesters, from DJs to event promoters. It was something new to me. I get to know more about what is happening in Kuala Lumpur music scene. At that time I realized that there are more talents out there doing all sort of cool shit, waiting to be discovered and their story will go to waste if nobody is going to immortalize it. In 2010, I got involved in an interesting project by a local radio station: “XFM Xgig Xtended”. For this project, the station invited around 40 non-mainstream music acts to a recording studio and we shot them performing their songs live. It was fun and tiring. Most of the acts have no proper videos of them performing live or even a music video. Mid 2011, Edwin asked me to join him producing a show called Music Video Grant. The premise is really simple, the television station we are working with will provide the grant and if you get enough online votes, you will get a music video. I am pretty sure the main man himself will tell you all about it in the next chapter. I am a firm believer of the DIY spirit but hey, if you have the awesomeness to convince those with power and money to support your cause, why not? If you can’t, just keep working on it and don’t wait for others to offer you a walking stick because all of us can stand on our own feet.
Next Episode? “It is very important for this music to be documented especially for the younger generation. Currently, the youth or any music enthusiasts have no single place to go to read about or listen to Malaysian music that was recorded throughout the years.”—Karyawan president Freddie Fernandez. The quote above was taken from Adly’s article originally published in the nowUzair Sawal
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defunct Weekend Mail on Sept 1, 2007. Documentation is important. Write a blog, grab your family’s camcorder and shoot something, gather like-minded individuals and get them to contribute to a compilation of writings, whatever, stop bitching and just get it done! As an individual, I may be insignificant to the Malaysian music industry but I believe everybody has a story to share and I believe all these little stories will leave a powerful impact when combined. It is my personal mission to explore Malaysian music and document stories that otherwise, wouldn’t be told. Just like what Edwin said, If you are not going to do it, who else? I’m telling you all this as if it’s a story, with a beginning, middle and an end. And it is a story, I suppose, because everyone’s life is a story, isn’t it? But it is not the sort of story that has an end. It doesn’t have an end yet, anyway. I’m 24 years old as I’m writing this and we still have a long way to go. It is going to be the middle of the story for a long time, as far as the eye can see, and I’m pretty sure there are lots of twists and turns to come.
Uzair Sawal
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How I Help Malaysian Hip-Hop by Victor Tan
Victor Tan runs malaysianhiphop.com, Malaysia premier hip-hop news provider. 395
How to support our local scene? Me, I maintain a blog. Back in 2006, the only popular hip-hop groups or artistes to me were Too Phat, Poetic Ammo, Teh Tarik Crew (TTC) and my hometown’s K-Town Clan. But what really sparked my interest in the local scene, particularly hip-hop was EmceeDavid’s “Just Listen LP”. I will always pop at his website Bazement.net (now defunct) and just listen to the tracks online (on his website) until Roshan (of K-Town Clan) borrowed me his copy, which I rip to the computer and the rest, is history. (EmceeDavid have since mailed me a copy which I am forever grateful for.) Fast forward 2007, after meeting Point Blanc in a show (when he was promoting Straight to the Point), I decided to do something for the local hip-hop scene. However, there was never a concrete idea of what can I contribute. I joined Voyeur Records Street Team (Point Blanc’s street team). Everything sparked off as an idea to start a blog called Malaysian Emcee then, which many thought was temporary and will eventually fail. Months later, I changed the blog name to Malaysian Hip-Hop (a name suggested to me by DJ Fuzz at Quiksilver Revolution 2.0 concert) later on to ensure that the whole hip-hop scene being included. But it was just an empty blog until Voyeurizm (Point Blanc’s clothing line) launch, where I met Altimet, KLG Sqwad and one particular person, Achmed Rauff, who really helped me to spark off the blog. Victor Tan
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My initial idea to start of the blog was to have a platform where everyone can come and find out about Malaysian hip-hop scene, be it MCing, DJing, dance, graffiti, and beatboxing. Initially it was hard, I started off with 30 unique visitors weekly for the first year or so. Then I gave up, for at least a month. There was however a sense of guilt, I came back on. What push me back on? The deep sense of responsibility towards the local hip-hop scene really drove me on to continue blogging. I could have walk away and not be bothered about the scene anymore, but if I don’t do it, who would? As much as this “is just music” or “is just entertainment” but the passion and love for the scene drove me on to continue blogging. I came back stronger, switching up a notch by putting Malaysian Hip-Hop on Twitter and Facebook. There are times people tell me what I am doing is a waste of time and people won’t appreciate. Somehow, they were wrong. That’s why it leads to the “reresurrection” of the local hip-hop music scene, particularly starting circa 2007-2008. The mentality of Malaysian towards local hip-hop music has to change (even if it ain’t hip-hop). “Oh local artistes, they don’t sound good-lah.” “Never heard of them also, why bother-lah, not good also…” “They rap what I don’t understand”. Malaysian music scene has much better music than some of the international music played on mainstream radio, let’s be honest. Hiphop was never meant to be about club music, mainstream of joyous rap about girls, sex and drinks. Hip-hop is knowledge. But what happened has changed mentality of the local people towards hip-hop. That was one thing I wanted to help change through the blog, by exposing what hip-hop is about. In Malaysia, there was no platform other than the internet to introduce new local hip-hop artistes to the masses. When I started setting up this blog, my aim was to show people what local hip-hop scene is capable of, what new rappers are good at and what they really sound like, which without this platform they never will be on local mainstream radio. Artistes like Karmal, Saphuan, just to name a few, were the new generation of MCs that were strongly supported by the blog to release their mixtapes, songs and album. Events like Bomb Shelter, Think You Got Skillz?, Raising The Bar, The Movemint Daily, etc, were being highlighted and promoted by the blog and social networks associated to the blog. The awareness of Malaysian Hip-Hop was the priority of the blog. Running the blog post brings a problem of timing. There are times I will have Victor Tan
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to wait to get somewhere to post up the latest updates on the blog. Other times, I would have been lucky to be on the computer when something drop and I will just post up the new releases. Sometimes the day has been so busy that I would only have time before bedtime to just sit and blog. That is why some posts feed into Twitter on the @Malaysianhiphop account times at wee hours in the morning as I’ll be up trying to get as many updates on the releases on the particular day as I can. The hardest part of running a blog is you would have to keep track of most artistes and their progress, in other words, collecting materials. Some artistes have this mentality that they are superstars (given that they only have one hit song or two), they will never inform you about what they are doing. Because of this “superstar” mentality, I would lose track of these artistes’ works and projects. Worst still is they expected to be blogged about, as they think they are now superstar. If I overlooked a release of their song (I don’t follow all of them on Twitter), they would get their fans, groupies, homies, etc to diss me on Twitter or some even email me demanding why I overlooked the release (I don’t owe anyone, anything). However, some veteran (being in the game for almost ten years or more), for instance, a legend we all know (I shall not name him due to the privacy he always wants to keep), will frequently update me on the progress of his coming album to keep the fans ready for what is to come. It’s not about how big you are, but how humble that you can get to reach out to the masses about your music. Having an “I am a superstar” mentality will bring less exposure to your music, worst still giving a bad reputation for the big ego and arrogance one possess. Having said that, many artistes still needs this platform to show their music to Malaysia, they will constantly email to update me about what they are doing this time round and what is their next plan as well as asking for feedbacks. Working with hip-hop cats brings one challenge, big ego. The self denial that some of these cats have like they think they’re from Brooklyn or the Queen, or even worst, “I can rap, I’m the best” mentality really at times puts a big struggle in the whole process. In Malaysia, we always say if we want to give criticism, we give “constructive criticism”. Many of these cats will want your “honest opinion” and become mad if you tell them, the song is bad. Hence sometimes is hard to tell them what they might not have, because they always expect “honest opinion” to be, “hey that shit is hot”. Sometimes the truth hurt, but the lie wouldn’t bring us anywhere. Sometimes I just don’t blog about a certain song (hence overlooking your email) because the song is bad. Given that, the persistence of spamming the mentions feeds on Twitter gets on the Victor Tan
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nerves as people just don’t get it. In the world of hip-hop there are always haters. Haters are the people that really push you either on or off the hip-hop scene. These haters can’t take it seeing people being successful. They really have green eyes seeing people being on top, and it hurts them so much they would do anything to steal the attention from others’ fame. For me, these haters (since the days I started) will only push me to continue striving harder. If I would have done this (the whole blog) for myself, I would have been blogging about me. The only reason I put up a little page on the blog titled “Vic Jamm” early this year (2011) is because cats don’t give props back and people don’t know who I was, or what was my role. People always think that bloggers are fans, or some instances, groupies. The mentality of when someone blogs about me, I’m cool, don’t need to thank him, he’s just a fan, I got another fan now, really drives me in simple words, nuts. Remember, the function of us is powerful. We, as bloggers are supposed to put what could help others into a collective for everyone to show to the world what we (the Malaysian hip-hop scene) is capable of. The Malaysian hip-hop music does not evolve around Malaysia only, but has fans worldwide (how I know, I got them emails asking about a particular artistes). Even that, sometimes you get disrespected by some of these artistes. They indirectly hate you (for no reason), even when you help their music or group getting exposure. I always remember the Malay saying “bagai kacang melupakan kulit” (which means people who are ungrateful for the good deeds of others) as the perfect way to say to these cats. But if I was a rapper I would have rap about it, but I’m not, hence I rant on Twitter or at times, a blog post and have a laugh about it later. The blog has helped a few artistes to really get exposure they need over the years. To name a few, Karmal, has used this platform to show Malaysia what he is about (I really like how Mal can be humble and hardworking, continue doing what he do best). SoneOne is another example of using the blog to blow him up (even though he did work his way up with Kartel, but the blog played a part in helping to put his XXII songs about a certain Ford car which took it too serious). I always am humbled by the way SonaOne carry himself in person, real humble but dope on the mic. MY Hip-Hop as the blog is named was actually meant to be as Malaysian HipHop. It’s MY hip-hop, it’s Malaysian’s hip-hop. Hip-hop always works as a collective to be successful. Remember hip-hop do not have the privilege like rock bands to perform first and drop the records later. Hip-hop will only get Victor Tan
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to do shows when they drop a hot record and blow people away. MY Hip-Hop is a platform to show one fan of an artist what the other artistes are doing. It’s never about one artist, it’s about many different artistes together on one blog, whether they love or hate one another. MY Hip-Hop would be the place for everything about hip-hop to be under one roof, who do it better? (shoutout to the Kartel fam). Running this blog has been blood, sweat and tears, nothing came overnight. To build the connection with all the hip-hop heads to the smaller starters is a challenge. Believe in what you love and fight for is probably the best advice I would give. For me, I believe in Malaysian hip-hop scene and I’m willing to run the blog out of passion and love, can you?
Victor Tan
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#projekbuku
In Pursuit of Happiness (and the Perfect Pop Song) by Warren Chan
Warren Chan fronts indiepop band Ferns. He used to write about music for a couple of local magazines. 401
There are a variety of reasons as to why one would subject oneself to weekafter-week of expensive jamming sessions, personality conflicts and sweaty venues, with a band. Some do it to pull imaginary droves of the opposite sex, some plain like the attention, and some—heaven forbid—actually enjoy the act of standing in front of a crowd and hoping not to be pelted with salted peanuts. I am certain, dear reader, that you or persons you are familiar with, may have gone through personal situations where it all ends up turning from gratification to frustration. As a passive-active, observer-participant in this local music scene, I can only offer a humble viewpoint based on my relatively meager experience as to why this occurs. I feel that it is quite possibly due to the failure of achieving a good band-life balance. To illustrate what I mean:
1 Ask yourself hard questions What are your priorities? Does your band have tattoos of each other’s names Warren Chan
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on their buttocks or would you rather be on the couch watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians? Has the band become a refuge from problems at home? Would you rather avoid a nagging wife to spend a few hours of noisy bliss in the studio? 2 Manage expectations, especially your own If you’re the main driver of your band, you have to realise that group implosions often stem from your dissatisfaction. Accept the fact that not everyone is going to be as excited as you about the next magazine photoshoot. If you can all at least come to a common understanding involving four chords and a backbeat, you’re good to go. Being in a band usually involves heightened levels of fantasy. Musicians rarely contribute meaningfully in economic, social, or even cultural terms, so it’s a good idea to dial down your sense of entitlement. Nobody’s really obliged to stop yakking away while you play, and whining about it certainly won’t gain you any new fans.
3 Know your audience and treasure them For every polka-dustrial / techno / folkstep artist out there, there is always going to be a few demented people who dig your stuff. If two nephews and a distant aunt like your music, that’s an audience too. Find out who they are and hang on to them. Often, they’re all you’ve got. Better to play to three people who appreciate your music than a few thousand casual Facebook likers. Understand the plain fact that the racket you produce stimulates endorphins in some individuals, which is more than most people can say. So appreciate the heck out of that. So what does all this have to the do with the perfect pop song? Well, I believe that once you have all of the above in order, that song will write itself.
Warren Chan
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The Meng Prophecy by Wing Meng
Wing Meng is the guitarist for local rock band Love Me Butch. 404
Some tips, FAQs & short stories to share with you guys:
1 Don’t be an idiot! Complete your studies no matter how serious you are with your music career. Always have Plan B & C in case your music career do not work out. Most bands that we started our career together a decade ago have all disbanded and moved on with their lives. 2 Always keep aside money for your future investments. Most if not all of our talent fees are safely kept in a company bank account which we would use to fund all business aspects of the band ie recording, band practice, merchandise, tours, promotions, music videos, crews salary & etc. Our passion funds itself. I don’t remember asking any money from the other guys for all of the above for the past 10 years of our career. 3 We do not depend on show money to survive. All of us have day jobs or business ventures/freelance works, though in a perfect world, we would want to be able to do music fulltime. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a viable career and some bands are already doing music fulltime. Mad respect to them! We play heavy music, and metal, post-hardcore and screamo are still niche genres in this country. Good news is, things are slowly changing so chin up, do whatever you have to do to survive. If you can’t stand the struggle, play music that will fit the mass market format. Wing Meng
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4 If a label offers to sign you as an artist, know that you are signing off your
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rights to them. You don’t own the master production, hence, you can’t reproduce or do anything about it, unless if you buy the rights back from the label. For example, our debut album, ‘Enter Posthuman’ is no longer in production. After our ex-label Posse Records (NSR’s ‘underground’ arm circa 2000) dropped us and closed down, we were left with no choice but sheer determination to do it ourselves. Because we signed to them as artists before, we do not have the rights to reproduce the CD now. That explains why you can’t find that particular album in stores anymore (unless if it’s bootlegged!). Don’t complain for not being able to play at Rock The World. It should not be your motivation to play music. A lot of bands think RTW is the ultimate achievement in their music career. Heck if you don’t do anything to get noticed, you will never get to play anywhere. So start asking yourself if you have done enough? Do you have a good single/EP/record out? Are people talking about it? How big is your fanbase? Do you have any music video out to support your single? Is your band tight and your drummer can play on time? If somebody tells you publishing is nothing, sever all ties with him/her. Don’t trust anyone who does shabu or better known as ‘Ice’. While writing good music and sheer hard work are your backbone, don’t forget to go out there and network. Most deals happen because one guy in the band is always out there making connections with people. It’s okay to party and get stupid sometimes. But if that one guy’s effort can be the whole band’s, contributing to the same cause, things will really happen. Arts and business need to go hand in hand, like boyfriend and girlfriend. If you have problems socializing, hire a manager to do that. Having your CD out in a foreign country is great! But who’s going to buy it if you don’t tell people it’s out there on the shelves? We had ‘This Is The New Pop’ released in the Philippines by MCA/Universal in 2007. Long before it hit the stores, I would travel to Manila alone first to meet people and did my sales pitch. Lucky enough, our Pinoy friends loved the music and even played ‘Hollywood Holiday’ & ‘Barricade’ music videos on MTV Philippines and MYX – both were pretty huge. Those songs ended up on the NU107FM charts and next thing that came in succession was a series of tour. Our fan base grew and the label put out the album to support the tours. In Thailand it was different due to the fact that not many people spoke English there. Our approach were mainly promos on magazines, flyers and shows to support the album released by Indy Pop Music who distributed Metal Blade Records releases in Thailand. A good friend and long supporter of the band by the name of Saranpong Sookpanon (sounds like a badminton
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player no?) aka Yos played a huge role in shaping our career and connecting us with the right people and festivals. MTV Thailand was a big help too. We toured with Brand New Sunset (now signed to Sony Music) and these guys converted me to Gibson guitars. It wasn’t Slash, Jimmy Page or Iommi - it was Chai from Brand New Sunset. I still remember playing our first show in Thailand. We were so nervous because these guys would walk into the hall with their full sleeve tattoos and their own Mesa or Marshall stacks and Gibsons—and these guys ripped the stage! Ask Edwin Raj. He would testify to that. The point of this? Get out from your comfort zone and play as many shows as possible on the international front. Always learn how other people do it. Get used to playing in front of different audience. This will be the best lesson ever! K If there’s one festival that you should try to get on is Baybeats in Singapore. We played some of our better shows at the festival for a few reasons. Firstly, soundcheck was on time, our monitors were crystal clear, we were really comfortable on stage, their sound crews accommodated to our requirements with no complains whatsoever and we sold a good number of merch. We had our first taste of professionalism from Baybeats 2005 and were thrilled to be called back for 2006 and 2009. Again, learn from people who had done it better. L Another festival you should play is Pulp Summerslam in the Philippines. There is actually a net right in front of the stage to protect musicians from being stoned or being thrown with bottles if they sucked. Most of the time, it happens to ‘pogi’ rock bands. ‘Pogi’ means handsome in Tagalog. They are the boybands of rock. We played to a crowd of 30,000 and the view of the crowd looked as if it was Mordor, ready to go to war. By nightfall, it would be raining with piss bottles! One of the craziest show ever! M If you have extra cash to spend, hook up with a band in Japan to help you out with some livehouse shows. There is no booking agent in Japan. You’ll have to rely on band connections or an indie label to help you with your tour. Japan is probably my personal favourite. Upon arriving at the livehouse, you will be greeted by the sound engineer to fill in a production form. Here, you will draw your stage plot, jot down your setlist, BPM and monitors requirements. Japanese are so systematic they even plan your lighting effects according to the BPM of your songs. Standard stage equipments are the JCM2000, Jazz Chorus 120, Ampeg SVT, Pearl/Tama drumset and a keyboard amp. These are the basics but most Japanese bands would bring their own rigs. I have to admit, it is very tough in Japan because there are just too many bands here and it’s really expensive. It is a very competitive market but every band should tour at least once in Japan to have a feel of it. Our CDs are sold in Tower Records for approximately RM80, so you can Wing Meng
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probably make back your investment via CD and merch sales in the long run. N So what differentiates you from the other ‘indie’ or ‘hardcore’ band out there? Ever occurred to you a lot of bands sounded similar nowadays? While it’s always cool to sound like your heroes, there will come a time you will need to break away from that. It could be the tonality of the recording, arrangement, vocal styles, guitar works etc…Find that voice. Be different. O Before recording, send your guitar & bass for setup and intonation, if they are not grounded, get your tech to copper shield it. This will eliminate any noise and interference problem. Amplifier noise is normal, but don’t mistake it for 60 cycle hum. I personally like some amp noise, it makes the recording dirtier. P I like JJ tubes. All my gears have JJs in it. They are dark and have smooth high end. Swap your stock tubes and try it out. Q All our bass tracks in the recording had a dirt channel to blend with the mic & DI tone. It cuts through better this way and you could hardly hear the distortion in the mix. Solo it and it will sound nasty! R If you screw up, tell them it’s jazz. S When we opened for Deftones in KL, I’ve had the privilege to talk to Stephen Carpenter’s guitar tech who used to tech for Seven of Slipknot. I had a tour of Stephen’s rig and found out they had 8 channels for his rig alone. He fed 2 Marshall JMP-1 to 2 x Marshall 9200 poweramp into 2 x 4x12 Marshall Cabinets. Both cabs had a pair of 57 & 414 mics. He had 4 x Countryman DI for Guitar Rig on a Macbook setup for the Diamond Eyes album and blended the amp and Guitar Rig tone according to his liking on stage. Chino had a vocal backing track that’s why he was always on pitch ;) T Most international bands have backing tracks to make them sound huge live. Most opening bands can only have 1/3 access of the overall volume. So don’t blame the opening band the next time they do not sound as good as the international band.
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#projekbuku
Underground Hip-Hop: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb Shelter by WordsManifest
WordsManifest is a music journalist/photographer and rapper for The Rebel Scum. 409
One of the best teachers I’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting in class for told me, “What art needs to have more of are spectacular failures.” I did not understand. I was going through a rough time in my academic work, and was not sure how this statement was supposed to incentivize me to do better. It did, anyway. I do not mean to take anything away by the metrics of cultural value from the work of Nikola Tesla, Vincent Van Gogh or Terry Gilliam, and indeed I cannot: these figures have changed the way we live life. But to change things as they were then, they could not belong in their own time. Their work brought with them gradual revolution, close to being evolution in an organic sense; but they had to exist outside of the confines of conventional norms to get it done. And while they were working, people gave them straight Fs. The Malaysian underground hip-hop movement is awash with people not knowing what the hell they’re doing, and that’s a good thing most of the time. It’s supposed to be that way, if you ask me. Soon after I participated in the local underground community, I joined a crew that was once described on a flyer – a physical flyer! – as, I kid you not, “Latino Melayu KL”. It was hilarious, but somewhat depressingly so, because it was kind of true. I was doing my best WordsManifest
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with the modest budget I had to look like a cholo. We performed Cypress Hill and Psycho Realm covers. And we substituted exclamations of “Wacha a ese” with “Apa barang itu baranggg?”. We watched Blood In Blood Out in large groups (on VCD), but the live commentary was always in Bahasa Malaysia. There is room for that tomfoolery in an underground environment; just as there is room for people to grow from it, learn from it, and expound on it later on in their involvement. Some people keep doing it, others stop; still others flip scripts and contribute in different ways. Video directors. Event managers. Bloggers. Twitterers. We adopted hip-hop music and made it our common vernacular, so whatever else we did, and on whatever level we did it, we’d be on the same page. I’m not sure if that’s hip-hop culture, but that’s certainly a culture with some hip-hop in it, and I’m cool with that. Underground hip-hop is like subsistence farming: low risk, low yield, long turnover. Music isn’t the hustle; the hustle is what you have to do in order to keep making music. You have to really, really love farming. You have to love it enough to put up with your day job, or better yet til you find another, profitable, thing to be passionate about and hip-hopify the hell out of that. Or consolidate: train hard, package yourself properly, make the push and make money making music on the open market. That’s underground, too. If you keep looking at ways to enable you to keep making your music, the methodology – not the method – falls in line. Not knowing what to do next is a universal experience in music; but you better figure out why you’re doing what you do quickly, because if you don’t someone’s going to utilise your drive and get you to do what they want you to do. Unless you’re fine with that. In which case you’d still be underground. After a fashion. I once made the massive mistake of equating the underground/mainstream dichotomy to the independent/commercial one. There’s no correlation, and those who hold on to this misunderstanding are just going to pile grief on themselves and anyone unfortunate enough to sit down with them for an extended amount of time at a mapley. Underground does not mean starving artist – just as mainstream does not automatically mean you’ll have a Bentley waiting outside the studio to take you by helicopter to your private island. “Underground” does not as a label guarantee quality, and “mainstream” does not assure fame and riches. They’re just different ways of making music, different ways of being pragmatic. For many, the underground is a place to learn the ropes and gather resources before venturing out into a larger world; for others, it’s a place to get back to from time to time as one gathers strength for another campaign. But WordsManifest
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there are also people who consider it home. Some hang their coats here grudgingly, because not everyone wants to spend the rest of their days in a farming combine, but there are still others who prefer a more communal, less transactional environment. You make something, you share it, you learn from the feedback your work gets you, rinse, repeat. It’s an excellent place to start out from, but it’s also a pretty neat place to settle down in, form a family, and cultivate a makeshift economy. Low risk, low yield, long turnover. It’s not so bad when more and more people survive on it and keep on doing it. This is not a call to arms or a defense of ideaology. Sometimes you just want to celebrate the fact that such a thing as a Malaysian underground hip-hop community exists. People wear t-shirts and caps designed, marketed and owned by underground rapheads. Aerosol art from and by this community is everywhere. People insult each other on stage in multiple languages and it all ends in hugs and mutual props. There’s an underground hip-hop head in every branch of the established media. Underground artists are winning national awards. And there’s so much music on the air and online from this community; I don’t know half of the people putting their songs out for public consumption these days, which puts me smack dab on square one again – and that’s awesome. And so many spectacular failures, in the best sense of the term. That’s what happens when everyone is trying to do something that hasn’t been done before, learning from it, and trying again. That people in the Malaysian underground won’t stop what they’re doing is a beautiful thing – but the fact that many of them can’t stop is what puts them on par with Tesla, Van Gogh and Gilliam. You see it, and you want to go get it. Get yours. We’ll all get ours sooner or later. Pakar pemusnah prasarana Mikrofon, piring hitam, ke pentas, di mana-mana Papa hip-hop kaya lirik, engkau papa kedana Ada ke rapper lagi power? Mana mana mana? Ni TV Pendidikan untuk kanak-kanak Dan budak hip-hop yang buat lagu macam nak tak nak Enam Penjahanam sampai mati bawah tanah Yang lain boleh isap ‘pala banar. (Oh. And you can curse in the underground, too. Which is always a plus.) … Haha
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#projekbuku
Tips For Being An Artist Manager In Malaysia by Yaniz Merican
Yaniz Merican runs YZ Entertainment, an artiste management company that manages Joe Flizzow, MizzNina and Pop Shuvit among others. 413
Adjusting to the Malaysian music industry coming from a Stateside-based system proved to be one of the biggest challenges in my life. Networking is mandatory in artist management. Being Stateside for over 15 years and coming back to a market I was not aware of was very challenging. Learning that there is a Malay and English market for all artists proved that I had to play catch up. But I happened to be blessed to connect with artists who had already ran their music independently. Here are a few tips from me for future artist managers out there:
Shows 1 When dealing with a potential event promoter, make sure you have a one page information sheet to send them so you can send them an appropriate quote. Keep it standard and in one word document for easy attachment. 2 Always find out the right liaisons for show production (especially when you have a band) so you know what’s provided. Sending your rider does not mean that you will receive items listed. Bringing your own front-of-house engineer (if you can afford it) is an added bonus. Awesome live performances are key to secure future engagements. Yaniz Merican
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By the way, Learn all your terms and abbreviations and memorise and identify every item on your artist’s rider. 3 Never confirm a show without a deposit.
Artist Relations 1 Trust is key. Your artist must feel secure that now have their music career (somewhat) in your hands.
2 Be systematic and disciplined in your work. If you succeed, this works wonders on tours.
3 Be truly as passionate as your artist with the music, and work your ass off. 4 Believe in your artists that they do come first. For example, for live shows, quit tolerating on ground productions who don’t have the courtesy to inform your band if they are running late. After all, why are heads-up only given to international artists? 5 Be involved in the entire creative process up to packaging and merchandising. This is probably one of my favourite aspects of the job. 6 NEVER STEAL FROM YOUR ARTIST. After managing at home for about seven years, I get hit up from other bands and solo acts to manage them and when I ask what the number one reason was for letting go their managers and the answer would always be that they found out their manager was stealing from them. 7 Share that same vision, set goals and keep shit moving. Always.
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#projekbuku
Finding My True Voice by Yuna
Yuna lost as a contestant in One In A Million but went on to many greater things. 416
This year will be my 5th year functioning as a singer songwriter in the music business. What have I learned within these 5 years? As cliche as it may sound, you have to be different to make it as an artiste. As much as I hate to admit it (coming into this I was always a believer that I could just be like any other girls, as long as I could sing I can be a singer, after 5 years of being in the industry I realized, everybody else thinks so too) But I know this perception is wrong. You sing, but when you do it, you do it with passion. Mean what you say, say what you mean. I started singing as early as 7 years old I realized I could sing after a Nescafe ad was played on TV and Ning Baizura was singing the jingle for that and I would secretly hum or singalong to it. Then I realized OH MY GOD. I could hit those notes, sing it exactly the way Ning did, the thrills, the pronunciation —everything. I remembered I perfected that and sang it to my parents and as soon as they found out, they chucked me into my first singing competition in Subang Parade, after being trained to sing ‘Curiga’ by Ning Baizura, I defeated the other kids and carried a trophy twice my height back home. And it’s still on the shelves where I keep my trophies. I remembered the MC announcing me as the winner “Our own, Ning Baizura” perhaps its because I sang exactly the same soprano style Ning did. That was my starting point. Yuna
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Then I went on to discover other types of music. I sang all types of songs. At the age of 9 I sang Siti’s songs and people said I sounded exactly like her. I would sing one of ‘Don’t Speak’ and friends would say I sounded like Gwen. And In high school I would sing Christina Aguilera’s songs and sing just like her. Which was cool, I could imitate all these voices and win people’s hearts, and also win competitions. Well you know what they say, fake it till you make it. For a long time I believed that singing was just that—singing and singing really good. I would send demo tapes to Positive Tone, emailing Ahmad Izham Omar and sending demos to other recording labels and never getting any replies from them. I can SING. I sound exactly like the original singer. Why won’t they hit me back? I guess my first reality check came when I auditioned for my very first reality TV talent show. I was only 18 when I auditioned and sang Christina Aguilera’s ‘Beautiful’. I didn’t get the green light from Fauziah Latiff, Paul Moss, and Roslan Aziz. I couldn’t understand why I failed. Why? I’ve won a lot of contests before, but why didn’t I get through this? Roslan said ‘We don’t need another Christina Aguilera. You’re too young and inexperienced and you’re not original. Gather some knowledge and experience, and come back stronger next year. I couldn’t accept it. What the hell was he talking about? I have talent. I can sing. Why on earth won’t they let me through the next round? Screw it. I told myself. They know nothing about my talent. Im taking this to somewhere else. But subconsciously, I guess, I did exactly as he said. I did more research and gathered more knowledge and experience. I was 19 when I auditioned for One in A Million, I had just donned the ‘tudung’ for 4 months. After years of watching American Idol, I realized one thing that would make the judges go WOW we have something here—originality. I never quite got the whole idea of originality yet, but this was me getting close to it. I decided, if I was gonna impress Fauziah Latiff and Paul Moss again (FOR THE SECOND TIME) I had to do something crazy, like singing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen. They bought it. See the key is, to let them listen to something thats almost yours. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is a famous song, its not mine, but how often do you listen to a girl singing that song? I’ve never heard a girl singing guys songs, so I would have to sing it with my own style, hence—originality. I get the formula now. If I would stick to singing songs by male singers, I will win this competition. And then after passing through 3 stages with flying colours, I chose a song that I could not carry, ‘Georgia’ by Ray Charles. I thought I could, but it was a huge flop. I got kicked out. Paul came to me immediately saying “WHY would you Yuna
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sing that song?” Because, Paul, I LOVE THAT SONG. (And also, sticking to my songs by male singer theory) “It’s not about singing songs that you love. It’s about singing songs that would represent you best. That suits your voice”. I went back from that show feeling down and defeated. I was going to stop singing. That was it. I was gonna abandon music and be a lawyer for the rest of my life. Wishing I was on stage under the spotlight singing to thousands of people, behind a desk filled with case files. Occasionally singing at dinner parties and company events. That’s not so bad. But what is this ‘originality’ that these people are talking about? How do I sound like me? How do I find a song that represents me best? That would suit my voice? The whole songwriting came a couple of months after I got kicked out of the show. Faizal Tahir had already lost to Suki in the finals, and I was still waking up at 5.30am for classes. I started to pick up the guitar and tried my hands on writing songs. After 3 horrible songs, I finally wrote ‘Deeper Conversation’. Not sure of how I should sound like, I just sang this song as though I was talking to myself. Kinda like a lullaby you would hum subconsciously. So it was just me, the guitar, and the mic. No Paul Moss. No contestants. No Roslan Aziz. After I recorded this song, I listened to ot over and over again and began to like how I sounded like in recordings. It wasn’t Norah Jones. It wasn’t Christina Aguilera. It wasn’t Corrine Bailey Rae. It wasn’t any other singer I’ve been imitating all my life. It was me singing as myself. Finally. After 20 years of singing, I finally get it. I see a lot coming into the industry trying to be the Malaysian version of Lady Gaga. Or a younger version of Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza, maybe a rip off of Avril Lavigne and Taylor Swift, or forming a KPOP group. It’s okay to be inspired, and it’s possible to carry on the same spirit as these household names, but like Roslan Aziz said, “We don’t need another _(insert a famous artiste name here)_” There should be an interesting twist to your music. I am not here to write about how I have found originality. I get inspired by a lot of things too, but I work really hard to give it a little twist, a little excitement. I’d like to think, if I work hard enough to bring something new, I won’t be the only person enjoying my music, other people will too.
Yuna
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Its my 5th year in the industry, Alhamdulillah, its my 20th year as a music enthusiast. And after all those years, I’ve finally found a voice that’s mine.
Yuna
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#projekbuku
Tentang Tentang! oleh Youk Jaafar
Youk Jaafar plays the bass for local rock band, Bunkface. 421
Dari apa yang aku tahu pasal rejection ni, ia adalah penolakan, tidak terima, menghalang, membantutkan, ketidakpuashatian dari sesuatu pihak. Tak kiralah orang-orang yang dekat dengan kita ataupun jauh. Benda ni memang selalu terjadi sebab bukan semua orang berfikir sama dengan kita. Bukan semua orang suka apa yang kita buat. Dari segi muzik pula, bukan semua orang boleh menerima idea dan muzik seseorang. Lagi-lagi zaman sekarang ni, ramai yang fikir industri muzik ni satu industri yang lemah, terutama sekali di Malaysia. That means tak semua orang tahu how the flow is like in this industry. Ramai yang tanya “Boleh cari makan ke bro main music ni?”, “Berapa lama boleh survive dalam industri ni?” dan macam-macam lagi lah. Rejection ni kalau nak nampak lagi jelas, aku samakan dia dengan konsep sambal belacan la. Kalau sambal belacan tak ada dalam makanan orang Malaysia, food tu memang tak akan rasa lengkap. So, sama la macam tentangan ni, kalau tak ada tentangan dalam hidup seseorang then life dia tak lengkap la. Sebab rejection ni buat kita belajar and improve diri kita. Memang betul industri muzik kita taklah sehebat US, Europe, Jepun, dan Korea. Memang susahlah nak pakai Lamborghini, ada mansion semua. Tapi sebenarnya benda yang patut kita fikir sekarang ni adalah kita boleh ke tak sampai tahap macam diorang. Bagi aku kita sama je dalam dunia ni, we are humans. Kenapa pulak kita tak boleh sampai tahap macam diorang? Kita Youk Jaafar
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boleh je jadi successful macam diorang tapi kita mesti buat macam apa yang diorang buatlah. Aku percaya bukan senang nak senang. Bukan kau ada band kau rockstar dah. Benda paling penting is you must think like an entrepreneur. Kau kena pandai mainlah dengan otak kau tu. Fikir luar dari kotak. Be creative. If korang ada influence dari luar, korang kena tengok macam mana strategi diorang sampai diorang boleh jadi big. Bukan follow bad attitude diorang. Kita hidup kat Malaysia so kita kena blend dengan Malaysia punya cara but in our own way. Apa pun, benda yang paling penting korang kena hadap ialah rejection from all aspects. Nak buat band ni, kita kena hadapi rejection dari parents, bandmates, friends, labels, radio, media, haters and banyak lagi la. Nak list satu-satu pun tak cukup space. So, senang cerita kalau nak buat band ni kita kena anggap macam nak buat satu company. Ini untuk sesiapa yang serious nak buat benda ni as periuk nasi la. If nak suka-suka ikut korang la. Ini persepsi aku. So kita start dengan parents dulu. Sebab apa pun kita buat, kita kena minta permission daripada diorang.
Tentangan Dari Ibubapa & Saudara Memang lumrah alam parents kita nak tengok kita berjaya dunia & akhirat. Kita pun nak jugak berjaya tapi kebanyakan parents nak anak-anak diorang jadi doctor, lawyer, pilot. Parents aku pun harap aku jadi pilot, parents Paan harap dia jadi lain dari musician ni and parents Sam pun harap dia jadi accountant. But dalam Bunkface ni memang Sam is our backbone lah. Passion dia dalam music ni tinggi, aku pun start belajar main gitar dari Sam. Masa tu sekolah lagi. And paling banyak challenge dalam band ni pun Sam lah. Kitorang bukan la dari family yang kaya-kaya. Kitorang sederhana je, gitar pun pinjam-pinjam je dulu. Masa kitorang create Bunkface ni kitorang still tengah study. Sam kat Sunway college, Paan kat Politeknik then tukar Aswara, aku belajar kat UITM and our former drummer Biak dekat Politeknik. After setahun kitorang as Bunkface, kitorang rasa nak make it serious. So, bagi aku if kau nak serious dalam apa-apa benda pun, mesti sacrifice la. Benda ni sama concept macam opportunity cost. To get something, you have to sacrifice another, so dari situ la semua benda berubah. Sam quit study, then aku, after that Paan pulak. If quit study tak kan parents happy pulak kan? Mesti diorang disappointed, so start dari situ Sam memang kena teruk sikit lah dari bapa dia. Macam aku, mak aku bising but abah aku cool, cousin aku pulak bising smpai cakap “Main muzik tu sampai bila tu? Nak jadi apa?”. But benda tu buat aku lagi tercabar. What I said to my mum was, “Mak, doakanlah Youk berjaya Youk Jaafar
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dalam apa Youk buat ni, insyaAllah maybe rezeki Youk kat sini. Buat apa nak compare Youk dengan orang lain, diorang lain Youk lain. I love to do this” (True statement). Bagi aku, apa benda kita nak buat pun kita kena minta permission and doa dari parents kita. Lagi-lagi dalam benda yang kita serious nak buat. Element paling penting is taking a risk. Macam aku cakap tadi, dia macam business juga. Korang yakin boleh, insyaAllah boleh, but give full commitment and effort. Selebihnya serahkan pada Allah SWT.
Tentangan Dari Bandmates Apa yang selalu terjadi dalam sesebuah band? Pada peringkat permulaannya biasalah, setiap band ada cita-cita masingmasing, passion yang tinggi, semangat berkobar-kobar nak berjuang dalam muzik industri. Kalau boleh nak bagi semua orang dengar muzik kita. Then bila benda yang kita buat ini menjadi, lagu-lagu jadi hits, dah ada ramai fans, dah jadi famous, inilah masa penentu band. Boleh ke kita nak maintain dengan apa yang kita ada? Environment dah berbeza, dah tak macam dulu masa peringkat awal. Masa ini jugalah kita dapat tengok bandmates kita perangai macam mana. Ada yang jadi sombong, ada yang act like a rockstar, ada yang berkira pasal duit. That’s the difference between band and solo artiste. Percayalah benda-benda yang aku cakap ni mesti terjadi tak kiralah apa pun. Lagi satu benda yang terjadi dalam band selalunya yang membuatkan band tu shine bergantung pada vocalist nya. Then baru orang tengok bandmate yang lain. Yang selalu akan lupa diri kejap vocalistlah. Pasal apa? Pasal dia yang dapat attention lebih dari bandmate lain. Dialah backbone band, takde dia band susah nak hidup. But how about guitarist, bassist and drummer? Adakah diorang okay dengan keadaan macam tu? Takkan takde rasa jealous? Mestilah ada, mana ada orang yang suka rasa tempias-tempias. Lagi diberi perhatian lagi lah kita suka. Dari segi pembuatan lagu, adakah royalti dibahagi sama rata? Senang cerita, masa susah lain, dah senang lain. Mula-mula cakap bahagi sama rata tapi last-last tak dapat apa. So bagi aku ada banyak lagilah rintangan dan masalah yang boleh dihadapi, tapi apa yang penting ialah bagaimana kita nak hadapi masalah-masalah ni. Adakah kita nak buat situasi tu lagi teruk atau makin baik. Bagaimana nak hadapi? Kita dalam band ni, kita tak boleh nak predict kita punya journey macam mana dalam industri ni. ‘Kun fayakun’ jadi maka jadilah ia. Apa yang kita kena Youk Jaafar
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buat adalah bersedia menghadapi apa yang berlaku. Contoh kita dalam band ni memangla tak ada kapten atau presiden ke apa. Tapi kita tak boleh juga tak ada ‘kepala’. If ada bandmate kita yang keluarkan idea yang rasanya okay and boleh pakai, kita janganlah nak menolak. Senang cerita kena sebulat suaralah. Tak boleh nak ikut cakap seorang je. If kita rasa baik untuk band kita ikut, kalau tak okay, kita cakap. Based on my experience, mesti ada salah seorang bandmate yang nak orang dengar cakap dia. So, selalu punca band bergaduh or berpecah kat situasi nilah. Dia dah jadi tak sependapat. Tapi apa yang aku buat aku tegur elok-eloklah. Discuss dengan matang, if ada yang api, seorang kena jadi air. Tak bolehlah dua-dua api. Always tolerate. Fikir, ini periuk nasi kita. Jangan sebab benda boleh selesai elok-elok, kita pilih nak gaduh-gaduh. Put your ego away. Memang betullah sabar itu separuh daripada iman dan tak semua orang boleh sabar sepenuhnya. Bukannya bermaksud kita sabar kita ni mengikut, tapi kalau kita react ikut hati dan nafsu, kita akan menyesal. Bak kata Awie Wings (yang aku ingat sampai sekarang), “Jagalah band elok-elok, gaduh-gaduh tu biasalah, lama-lama okay balik.” Aku percaya bukan Bunkface je yang ada problem ni. Semua band ada problem yang sama, tapi macam mana nak hadapi dan selesaikan problem ni is always think one step forward. Jangan ikutkan hati.
Rejection Dari Label Bila fikir pasal nak serious dalam career artiste/band mesti fikir nak cari label company yang boleh manage dan buat promotion semua tu. Kalau boleh kita nak yang big label company la kan. Siapa tak nak? Bunkface dulu pun hampir nak sign bawah label, tapi atas sebab yang kitorang rasa diperbodohkan, kitorang tak jadi sign. Aku akui bukan senang nak bergerak secara indie. Apa yang labels buat kitorang kena buat sendiri. Tapi benda tu tak mustahil untuk korang buat. Banyak lagi band yang berjaya dengan usaha sendiri. Kitorang dulu dapat offer macam-macam. Janji manis indah tapi bila sampai contract jadi lain. Belum sign apa-apa diorang dah start jual produk kitorang. So start from there, kitorang rasa better gerak sendiri. Bukan nak kata jangan sign contract dengan label. Tak. But always be careful with their tricks. There are a few things yang kita kena fikir before sign dengan label ni. Antaranya:
• Jangan dengar sekali terus okay. • Dapat contract baca betul-betul, if boleh hire a lawyer lagi bagus or minta tolong kawan belajar law.
• Decide betul-betul with bandmates. • Don’t think things become easier when you sign with labels. Youk Jaafar
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Ini based on experience. Ada je teman band lain yang sampai sekarang collection diorang still tak dapat walaupun lagu hits gila-gila. Jadi nasihat aku, better survive sendiri. Sekurang-kurangnya tau pahit-manis perjalanan dalam industry ni dan banyak pengalaman kau boleh dapat. Kita sekarang ada banyak cara boleh promo band or muzik kita. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace dan banyak lagilah medium yang boleh kita guna. Lainlah kalau kita di era 80s. Masa tu mana ada internet semua tu. Dan yang paling best if kau buat sendiri, all the profit you make belongs to you. As long you do it the right way and be smart.
Rejection Dari Media Bila nak story pasal media ni, it’s too general sebab media ni ada banyak cabang. Kita ada radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, internet, dan macam-macam la. Artis dan media ni saling memerlukan. Tak ada media macam mana artis nak buat promotion kat orang ramai, Kalau takde artis macam mana media nak jual story. Media ni dia boleh naikkan artis dan boleh jatuhkan artis. Pasal bukan semua orang boleh puaskan hati diorang. Ada yang bengang dengan kita, ada yang baik ngan kita, ada yang pura-pura baik pun ada. MEDIA (PRESS) Macam Bunkface dulu bukanlah nak kata kitorang ni mesra dengan media. Tak. Kitorang tak tau nak ‘PR’ dengan media macam mana. Takde orang guide pun camne nak face media ni, media tu. Kitorang just cakap je apa yang kitorang rasa betul. So, year by year kitorang belajar dari pengalaman yang ada. But dalam masa tu adalah pihak-pihak media yang kurang senang dengan kitorang. Ada yang cakap kitorang ni sombonglah, main-mainlah, bajet rockstarlah. Then keluar news yang tak best pasal kitorang. Secara tak langsung nama band pun terjejas jugaklah. But bukannya kitorang saja je buat macam tu. Ada sesetengah media datang interview tak habis-habis pasal cinta, gosip, scandal and private matters. As an artiste, kitorang bukan nak kisah hidup kita dicerita kat orang. Kitorang nak seni dan hasil disampaikan kat orang ramai. And as a rock band, tak kanlah kitorang nak diinterview benda-benda macam tu? Apa persepsi orang ramai dekat kitorang? It’s different. Memang music kitorang mainstream, but not our dignity. We have our own style. Kitorang bergerak sendiri. Takde siapa yang control kepala kitorang. Kitorang start memang camni, so tak kan tiba-tiba nak ubah atittude pulak. Ini bukan semua media. Ada sesetengah je lah. Malaysia punya media ni ada yang sensitif, ada yang rasa diorang ni lagi besar dari artis, so kena respect and tunduk kat diorang. Kalau tak cerita buruk keluar, ada yang suka bermuka-muka. Macam-macamlah. So bagi aku, kita just jadi diri sendiri.
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Kalau dah sampai malas nak jawab ke apa, just cakap “no comment,” senyum dan jangan bagi orang take advantage kat kita. Biar orang tengok kita bagus kat atas pentas dari orang tengok kisah gosip semua tu. If diorang nak tulis buruk ke apa ke tulislah as long your fans and friends tau apa yang korang buat dan sayang korang. You want to be appreciated more than be glamorous. RADIO Bila nak cerita pasal radio, apa yang kita perlu buat kalau nak lagu kita boleh play kat radio station?
1 Lagu tu mestilah easy listening, melody catchy, music arrangement best dan macam-macam lagi. Genre bukan jadi penghalang. Kalau nak kata muzik pop je boleh masuk radio aku rasa tak betul. It depends on the strength and essence of your song. How did you produce it? Apa yang buat lagu tu catchy and ada hook? Contohnya Bunkface, kalau lagu Melayu, the strength is on lyrics and melody. If kita tengok stuff pop punk dari luar pun, diorang punya work banyak penekanan kat lyrics and melody. 2 That stuff must sound great. Lagu sedap tapi sound teruk tak guna juga. So if nak recording tu make sure it will sound great. Jangan nak main cepat siap. It’s important that you make sure the quality of your product is top notch. It shows how serious you are in this industry. Ni antara benda yang kita patut check dulu (for band) before kita nak lagu kita play kat radio. Because if your stuff sounds like shit, takkan radio nak play lagu kau? Fikir, banyak lagi band yang sound better dari kau, so you must compete with them. Kalau korang cakap takde duit la nak buat proper recording, mahal lah, tak mampu lah, tu semua alasan. Kitorang dah alami dah time tu dan aku rasa kitorang dah buktikan yang kitorang boleh buat. So aku rasa yang lain pun bolehlah. Kitorang bukan dari family kaya-kaya. We used our own pocket money. So back to the topic, if you have a good product, insyaAllah you can go further with it. Talking about radios, sejujurnya aku berterima kasih kat XFM sebab start dari situlah stuff Bunkface mula dimainkan. Itulah radio yang aku rasa permainan politik dia kurang or takde langsung dan itulah satu-satunya radio yang memainkan local stuff 100%. Kitorang try juga hantar kat radio-radio lain masa tu, but no response. Time tu lagu-lagu Indonesia tengah hot kat radioradio lain. Dan aku admit, bukan senang nak dapat play lagu kat radio. That’s why aku cakap korang kena make sure stuff korang best. It takes time lah. If nak kata ada tentangan dalaman ni aku rasa kita kenalah hasilkan karya bermutu. But if ada political issue dalam radio station, there’s nothing we can do. I think that we really need good radio stations such as XFM, BFM and others yang always give support kat local artistes. Oh ya, one more thing, please be careful with your lyrics. Youk Jaafar
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Don’t sing about our country’s sensational issues or use political words. Nanti lagu kena ban just like our song. RTM dah ban ‘Panik’ sebab ada sensitif word like ‘reformasi’ and I honestly don’t get it why that song got banned. But hey, let’s look at the positive side. If you do something that has not been done before, it will become a controversy. So it’s actually an indirect platform to make people mention your band and your issues.
Rejection Dari Haters As we know, not everyone loves you. There is a minor or major community that will hate you. It’s normal, if you have fans, you will also have haters. Haters ni selalunya akan mengutuk, sebar bad news dan ada je yang tak okay dengan korang buat. Macam Bunkface pun ada haters juga, ada page ‘We Hate Bunkface’ kat Facebook. Time perform dulu ada yang tunjuk middle finger, ada yang baling botol. But Alhamdulillah kitorang dapat rasa dan lalui pengalaman macam ni. Benda macam tu buat kita sedar yang bukan semua orang terima apa yang kita buat. It’s like a challenge for us to face situations like that. My advice is just be prepared and take it as a lesson to build up your spirit as a performer and an entertainer. Jangan korang give up if ada orang “boo” ke, baling botol ke, apa ke. It’s an experience. Asyik dapat applause je nanti bangga diri. Bila ada bendabenda camni, it helps us to ‘stabilize’ our attitude. Always be humble and be nice to other people. Take it as a positive vibe. And of course, dont play at the wrong gig, hahaha!
Rejection Dari Sponsor & Endorser It sounds cool bila dengar ada brand nak sponsor, ada brand nak endorse barang, and yeah, if you become an ambassador of a giant brand product you’ll make big money. Then you get a blast of promotion that makes your band’s name rise up in a short period of time. But one thing, make sure you make a good deal with the client. Make sure you are satisfied with the price and deal. Jangan tiba-tiba benda takde dalam contract diorang suruh buat juga. Also, please be alert if ada apa-apa yang client suruh buat that does not suit your band. Biar sama-sama puas hati. Jangan biar diorang buat kita macam patung. They have their style, we have our own style. Make it a win-win situation. Jangan biar diorang kacau image band or personality korang. Kenapa aku cakap macam ni? Sebab diorang buat bisnes, diorang letak modal tapi bukan tu bermakna diorang boleh control 100%. If they want you, they should cooperate with you until both sides are satisfied. Sometimes diorang tak faham or tak tau yang band ni mesti ada image yang diorang tampilkan, therefore you must speak about that. Jangan jadi clown. I think rejection will always appear in your life and it’s one of the steps in learning the way of life. Once you kena reject, then you buat lagi bagus. In this field and Youk Jaafar
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as part of a band, aku dah rasa kena reject by bandmates, had my dreams not supported by parents, got cheated by labels, and rejected by radio station. Some media think that we are not serious, and arrogant. We also get middle fingers by haters. But apa-apa pun I’m happy for what I am doing and you should just do what you want to do. As Deryck Whibley said, “Just make a perfect & good record for yourself and your fans. Fuck everyone else.”
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#projekbuku
Chasing The Rock ‘N’roll Dream : From The Stage, To The Pen To The Radio Console. by Zack Yusof
Zak Yusof fronts Free Deserters and can also be heard rolling out some essential indie tuneage on his weekly radio show 33rpm on BFM89.9. 430
First and foremost, for as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a rock star. I distinctively recall sitting on the stairs at my relative‘s house in Singapore and being utterly transfixed by my uncle jamming with his pals in some sort of makeshift band in the lounge. I knew my uncle could play a little and he always had acoustic guitars and keyboards around the house which he would let me fiddle around with but seeing him playing with his friends, I couldn’t believe the sound I was hearing. They were probably playing some cheesy Seventies tune but to me, they looked and sounded like the coolest thing I‘d ever heard in my young, impressionable life. From that point onwards, I was hooked with the idea of making music, of being involved in music. It was as if a light had turned on in my head that day and has been burning brightly ever since. I couldn’t have been more than six or seven at the time. Moving to the UK when I was 10 and being exposed to the world of Top of the Pops, the John Peel show, albums and seven inch singles just merely confirmed what I already knew that fateful day sitting on the stairs in Singapore. Music is my life. Full stop. Today, I’m a happily married man of 12 going on 13 years with a five year Zack Yusof
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old son living in a house crammed with CDs, musical equipment and other various rock paraphernalia all over the place. As I write this, I’m also mentally preparing for the night ahead of me which involves playing my band Free Deserters penultimate gig of the year. Going to try out a new tune so i’m still workshopping the lyrics in my head. After tonight’s show, we’ve got one more and then we are done for the rest of the year. 31 gigs, some decent studio recordings in the bag. Our first trip to Thailand. It’s been a good year. Not bad for a bunch of guys working full time anyway. Bring on the new year. And that’s how it’s always been with me and music—bring on the new year and the new experiences. I may not be the singer in U2 but I’m living the dream as far as I’m concerned because at an age when my most of my peers have taken up golf and going to the gym on regular basis, I’m still rocking. As long as I’ve got the support of my family and band mates, we’ll keep rolling on. Incidentally, I too have started going to the gym every week... With Free Deserters, we played 30 odd shows this year. It’s like, can we double that figure next year with a new album and a new website coming out? Maybe we could even go on tour to promote the record somewhere nice again? What about heading back to the UK for another jaunt? Can we afford it? How can we make it happen?These are thr things that keep me going, the urge to do more, to get our songs out there. I’m proud that Free Deserters managed to tour the UK back in 2010 without any industry hype or financial backing besides our hard earned band funds and some help from our then manager. I’m proud that six years on, the band is functioning better than ever, making better music and being better friends. But it’s not enough. I want more. I want to make that killer album. There are still so many places left to tour. More, more , more. Luckily for me, I met and married a great, smart woman who loved and understood rock ‘n’ roll almost as much as I did. My missus, she knew what she signed up for from the first day we met and dutifully indulges my rock dream, listens to my new songs and gives me sound financial and creative advice on a daily basis, like all good partners should. She’s the rock to my roll in our organization and the dream definitely wouldn’t have last this long without her unwavering support. I’d like to think it would have but inside, I know It wouldn’t have lasted anywhere as long as it has without her. It was Annie who got me back into music when in I had decided to jack it all in after returning to Asia in the late nineties from the UK without a penny to rub together, let alone a band or a record deal. The dream had soured badly in London after years of hard slog and all I had to show for my toils and troubles Zack Yusof
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was a bad back. So I wanted out back then and although I said similar things in the past many times, this time it felt real. But Annie was smart enough to know that it was just a passing thing and that I’d be back in the game once I got my second wind again with a bit of tender loving care and support. And right she was. The wife once said to me, “you’d be miserable if you didn’t have music to do” and she was right. I just didn’t realize it until it was gone from my life how key it was to my whole genetic make up. Music validates me as a person and gives me an identity and I need it as much as I need air to breathe or my family to live properly. Otherwise, i’m just going to be going through the motions of life. Which is no way to live in my book. So as soon as I got myself back on my feet with a regular paycheck coming in, one of the first things I bought was a four track recorder and a guitar and I was back in the game, albeit back at the very start at bedroom level once again. But hey, It didn’t matter that no one knew me or my music or that I was having to start from scratch. The important thing was that I was writing decent songs again. And the more songs I began to write, the stronger the urge it was to see how far I can take it. That’s how it always is with making music. It’s a wave that consumes you and you either choose to get out of its way or let take you to whatever it leads to. Without thinking twice, I had chosen to ride the wave again like deluded surfer and see how it can take me. Over the years, I’ve gotten involved in other sides of the so called music business like rock journalism, radio work, sporadic gig promotion—when my own band needed a gig usually—and even the occasional club deejay spot. All these I see merely as an extension of being regularly involved in music. Which is the thing that I do. It’s not because I’m more driven than others or more dedicated or any of that bullshit. I just always want to be involved in any way that I can. Hell, it’s not even that. I NEED to be involved. The wife says its the applause junkie in me that makes me this way. Whether it’s by writing about a new band I just discovered or organising a gig so that we can share the stage with this cool new band or making up the play list for my radio show every week, it’s all about the same thing to me. I just have this unquenchable passion to turn people on to music that turns me on and that keeps me going. That’s my whole ethos with deejaying too. I buy tons of music every month—not downloads but physical CDs—and I just love to play people my favorite music so why not get paid for it if you can. It’s that simple. I don’t chase deejay gigs but if they get offered to me, I rarely ever decline the invite. Zack Yusof
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At the end of the day, it all boils down to one thing: passion. You got have passion for what you do otherwise eventually you’ll run out of steam and quit. Annie met Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips last year after a show and after handing him a Free Deserters CD, she asked him what advice he might have for her ageing rock star wannabe husband and he basically told her the same thing: you got to really love what you do and everything else will fall into place. And that’s the thing with me. I really do love music. It’s been a constant in my life for so long, I can’t even remember what life was like without it. Now I really, really love football and Everton FC in particular but music is just something I can’t do without. I think I could manage without football. I’d miss it, but it wouldn’t kill me living without it. But no music? It just doesn’t bear thinking about. Recently, I was having a chat with a local musician friend and I asked him why his band, who were one my favorite local acts, don’t work harder and play more shows to promote their music. His answer was that unfortunately for him as band leader, some of his band mates were “jaded” and that glamour of playing gigs had faded for them. These were people much younger than me too. Anyway, i went home that night with my opinion of mate’s band considerable lowered thinking how utterly removed I was from these sorts of people and why that was so. Over two decades on from when I first fell in love with music, the fire is still burning so strongly in me. Is it an affliction, a sickness of some sort? Answers of a postcard please because I’d really like to know after all these years.
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