local music is......
- Thread starter roninriot
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AgingYouth
New member
I have to agree with dhaliff.
Cuz talk does not cook rice. While I understand forums are a great way to hang out and have discussions on topics, if everyone just comes in and let out some steam and comes up with theiir Business Plan 101 to save the local music industry without seeing anything thru. It's just bloody hot air to me. And God knows how humid it is recently.
It's easy to sit at home in front of your PC and bitch about how your band don't get no love from the market, gig organisers and fans. It's even easier to see bitch about why the public doesn't like local music.
I think it's much more constructive if all this talk can be channeled to something positive. Go out and organise your own gigs. Start a fanzine. Go out attend more gigs. Start a new forum. Do anything that you think you can help and improve the local scene physically.
Don't talk about it and sit there.
dhalif said:
Cuz talk does not cook rice. While I understand forums are a great way to hang out and have discussions on topics, if everyone just comes in and let out some steam and comes up with theiir Business Plan 101 to save the local music industry without seeing anything thru. It's just bloody hot air to me. And God knows how humid it is recently.
It's easy to sit at home in front of your PC and bitch about how your band don't get no love from the market, gig organisers and fans. It's even easier to see bitch about why the public doesn't like local music.
I think it's much more constructive if all this talk can be channeled to something positive. Go out and organise your own gigs. Start a fanzine. Go out attend more gigs. Start a new forum. Do anything that you think you can help and improve the local scene physically.
Don't talk about it and sit there.
rottenramone
Active member
..
Yup. that's punk for you.
Yup. that's punk for you.
rottenramone
Active member
..
I somewhat disagree with the small geographics bit.
for example jamaica has a even smaller population, so why is reggae popular all over the world? And don't say ganja. :lol:
the local culture and the socio-economic conditions of jamaica created reggae as a unique voice to express or to escape from their daily grind.
i wonder if the pioneers of reggae made a decent living out of their art.
I somewhat disagree with the small geographics bit.
for example jamaica has a even smaller population, so why is reggae popular all over the world? And don't say ganja. :lol:
the local culture and the socio-economic conditions of jamaica created reggae as a unique voice to express or to escape from their daily grind.
i wonder if the pioneers of reggae made a decent living out of their art.
AgingYouth
New member
Re: ..
Hahah, well, for starters, there ain't X-Box and PS2 back then! :wink:
rottenramone said:
Hahah, well, for starters, there ain't X-Box and PS2 back then! :wink:
AgingYouth
New member
Re: ..
Hahah, doode. Cannot say like that lah.
The mid-skool (not old yet, definitely not new either) guys which started out in the early to mid Nineties... like Plain Sunset, Stoned Revivals, Astreal etc. all started out with huge punk roots which came straight from the old skool guys like Fugazi, Black Flag, etc... The strong sense of camaradrie and community (not to forget DIY ethics) was very strong. You still see that now when they organise their own gigs.
It's just the current batch of punk-rock lovers have a different mindset. They are exposed to the MTV style of punk like Good Charlotte, Blink 182 where the image takes a greater precedence over the music. Not saying that image was never part of the punk appeal (hey, look at the Ramones! I never see them other than in leather jackets!).
It's just a different mindset. I talked to several indie acts (the mid-skool ones lah) for the last few months... They used to organised all those gigs which I went for when I was much younger (ard a decade ago, ahem). I found out that they were only 14-18 back then when they did those gigs.
If those guys back then could do it, why not the current generation of punks? Why can't anyone do it?
Don't just talk, massage your ego and do nothing about Business Plan 101...
rottenramone said:
Hahah, doode. Cannot say like that lah.
The mid-skool (not old yet, definitely not new either) guys which started out in the early to mid Nineties... like Plain Sunset, Stoned Revivals, Astreal etc. all started out with huge punk roots which came straight from the old skool guys like Fugazi, Black Flag, etc... The strong sense of camaradrie and community (not to forget DIY ethics) was very strong. You still see that now when they organise their own gigs.
It's just the current batch of punk-rock lovers have a different mindset. They are exposed to the MTV style of punk like Good Charlotte, Blink 182 where the image takes a greater precedence over the music. Not saying that image was never part of the punk appeal (hey, look at the Ramones! I never see them other than in leather jackets!).
It's just a different mindset. I talked to several indie acts (the mid-skool ones lah) for the last few months... They used to organised all those gigs which I went for when I was much younger (ard a decade ago, ahem). I found out that they were only 14-18 back then when they did those gigs.
If those guys back then could do it, why not the current generation of punks? Why can't anyone do it?
Don't just talk, massage your ego and do nothing about Business Plan 101...
AgingYouth
we cannot "Just Do It" anymore else it will become another passing phase and everyone will run out of steam..
"More" doesn't mean better.
When the market is small, too many offering of the same product dilutes the market share and everyone eat congee. (Mediacorp/SPH or DBS/POSB)
Yes, everyone can set up a provision shop. But can they compete with 7-Eleven, Prime and not to mention NTUC or Cold Storage!
There are many individuals in this little local music scene doing their own thing. Organisers, labels, websites, forums ... I know everyone does it for the passion. But without proper co-ordination between individuals, our effect is so little.
Honestly, when you guys started the web-zine, I was like "wtf! these stuff are commercial standard! AgingYouth will be along side with FHM or Her World."
The next thing that hit me was, "Where will they get all the funding? Will they be able to sustain?" But I am glad that you guys have been producing a nice zine for coming to 1.5 years now?
Point is, “There is a way to make it happen”. We all know it but just do not have enough ‘power’ to accomplish it.
Ghengis Khan’s mum gathers all the children and passes them each a chopstick. With little effort, they were all able to break the chopstick. Next, she band a dozen of chopsticks together. None of the children were able to break the bunch.
we cannot "Just Do It" anymore else it will become another passing phase and everyone will run out of steam..
"More" doesn't mean better.
When the market is small, too many offering of the same product dilutes the market share and everyone eat congee. (Mediacorp/SPH or DBS/POSB)
Yes, everyone can set up a provision shop. But can they compete with 7-Eleven, Prime and not to mention NTUC or Cold Storage!
There are many individuals in this little local music scene doing their own thing. Organisers, labels, websites, forums ... I know everyone does it for the passion. But without proper co-ordination between individuals, our effect is so little.
Honestly, when you guys started the web-zine, I was like "wtf! these stuff are commercial standard! AgingYouth will be along side with FHM or Her World."
The next thing that hit me was, "Where will they get all the funding? Will they be able to sustain?" But I am glad that you guys have been producing a nice zine for coming to 1.5 years now?
Point is, “There is a way to make it happen”. We all know it but just do not have enough ‘power’ to accomplish it.
Ghengis Khan’s mum gathers all the children and passes them each a chopstick. With little effort, they were all able to break the chopstick. Next, she band a dozen of chopsticks together. None of the children were able to break the bunch.
AgingYouth
New member
Hey James,
Thanks for your kind words about our web-zine!
It's still a far distance from professional music websites like NME Online and Pitchfork. The level of writing is superb and there's little bad grammar and typos as well. Ahem...
I understand both you and Anthony are driving for an united vision where most local musicians work out under an umbrella. That's cool and probably gathers critical mass and provides manpower for gigs, events, etc. I love what you guys did for Rockin' Resolution. GrimBrody wanted to do something. He didn't sit on it. He had an open discussion on the forum and went out to organise and execute it with help from many forum members.
My point is that either you start something out on your own... or you join an existing group of people to help out and execute events, projects, etc. Either way, you will be contributing to the scene..
Thanks for your kind words about our web-zine!
It's still a far distance from professional music websites like NME Online and Pitchfork. The level of writing is superb and there's little bad grammar and typos as well. Ahem...I understand both you and Anthony are driving for an united vision where most local musicians work out under an umbrella. That's cool and probably gathers critical mass and provides manpower for gigs, events, etc. I love what you guys did for Rockin' Resolution. GrimBrody wanted to do something. He didn't sit on it. He had an open discussion on the forum and went out to organise and execute it with help from many forum members.
My point is that either you start something out on your own... or you join an existing group of people to help out and execute events, projects, etc. Either way, you will be contributing to the scene..
hey ho let`s go!!!!!!!
Rocking Resolutions 2005 was a BIG step 4 us coz we made a DREAM came true!!bands played in that gig coz they wanted to b heard....they want others to know that they do exist n they do play good music.....BUT the problems we`re facing is ORGANIZERS!!!y must every gig have the same bands?!?!?!ANSWER:coz they can bring in more crowd....BUT y dun they try to have a few more new bands???y wouldn`t they try???i faced the problem when we`re supposed to play in a fund-raiser gig...but became `the back-up band` coz the organizer called in another band just to have more crowd to attend the gig....it`s unfair in a way....bcoz in the end there wasn`t any much difference!!!
it`s great that the bands that were playing in RR2205 got recognized after that!!!BUT as aging youth said...things won`t happen if u sit on it....it wasn`t an easy thing to do....people speak up their minds during the meetings..but nothing came up....when there`s tons of things to do...everybody kinda became BUSY....IRONIC huh???
so unless the bands WAKE UP....WORK HARDER....BE OPTIMISTIC....we can yak abt this topic for the next 10 to 20 yrs...n trust me...nothing will change....
dun blame the crowd or public coz we`re just NOT delivering want they wanna hear....everybody`s good at pointing fingers....
SO TO ALL THE BANDS.......HEAR ME OUT.....THIS IS NO BULLSHIT!!!THESE R THE PROBLEMS WE`RE FACING TOGETHER......things won`t happen if we don`t wake up.....
:supz: :supz: :supz: :supz: :supz:
Rocking Resolutions 2005 was a BIG step 4 us coz we made a DREAM came true!!bands played in that gig coz they wanted to b heard....they want others to know that they do exist n they do play good music.....BUT the problems we`re facing is ORGANIZERS!!!y must every gig have the same bands?!?!?!ANSWER:coz they can bring in more crowd....BUT y dun they try to have a few more new bands???y wouldn`t they try???i faced the problem when we`re supposed to play in a fund-raiser gig...but became `the back-up band` coz the organizer called in another band just to have more crowd to attend the gig....it`s unfair in a way....bcoz in the end there wasn`t any much difference!!!
it`s great that the bands that were playing in RR2205 got recognized after that!!!BUT as aging youth said...things won`t happen if u sit on it....it wasn`t an easy thing to do....people speak up their minds during the meetings..but nothing came up....when there`s tons of things to do...everybody kinda became BUSY....IRONIC huh???
so unless the bands WAKE UP....WORK HARDER....BE OPTIMISTIC....we can yak abt this topic for the next 10 to 20 yrs...n trust me...nothing will change....
dun blame the crowd or public coz we`re just NOT delivering want they wanna hear....everybody`s good at pointing fingers....
SO TO ALL THE BANDS.......HEAR ME OUT.....THIS IS NO BULLSHIT!!!THESE R THE PROBLEMS WE`RE FACING TOGETHER......things won`t happen if we don`t wake up.....
:supz: :supz: :supz: :supz: :supz:
rottenramone
Active member
..
what i meant was as long as the passion and spirit is there, half the work is done. agree with you that there are other ways to apply work ethic to fuel this.
and mr soft, you're doing a great job in galvanizing the scene, btw.
what i meant was as long as the passion and spirit is there, half the work is done. agree with you that there are other ways to apply work ethic to fuel this.
and mr soft, you're doing a great job in galvanizing the scene, btw.
AgingYouth
New member
Re: hey ho let`s go!!!!!!!
Actually, we are as guilty of this as the other organisers. But I'll like to go public on our stand with this. Several of the acts we keep repeating are due to the fact that they have albums already out. More gigs mean more exposure for them. And usually, we tend to repeat the acts if 1) we LOVE their music and 2) they are fantastic live musicians.
Usually, they are extremely nice folks as well. They were not late for soundchecks. They gave us assurance through their conduct that they were serious and professional. No rock star attitude. Some acts we have dealt with before were late for soundchecks for an hr. Which really pisses everybody off from the soundman to us.
Of cuz, crowd-drawers are a consideration. We'll be trying to move into the 'new act vs established act' line-up in the future...
Dirt said:
Actually, we are as guilty of this as the other organisers. But I'll like to go public on our stand with this. Several of the acts we keep repeating are due to the fact that they have albums already out. More gigs mean more exposure for them. And usually, we tend to repeat the acts if 1) we LOVE their music and 2) they are fantastic live musicians.
Usually, they are extremely nice folks as well. They were not late for soundchecks. They gave us assurance through their conduct that they were serious and professional. No rock star attitude. Some acts we have dealt with before were late for soundchecks for an hr. Which really pisses everybody off from the soundman to us.
Of cuz, crowd-drawers are a consideration. We'll be trying to move into the 'new act vs established act' line-up in the future...
to me local music is nothing special. but people like stef sun, m nasir(the smartest fella), papa rock ramli sarip, hetty sarlini. they r special..and they r not in d band.
one more thing..singapore bands cant even rock our neighbouring countries and top up their charts..its always them who rock our land.
one more thing..singapore bands cant even rock our neighbouring countries and top up their charts..its always them who rock our land.
reyrey
New member
Re: ..
i'm on audio's [above post] side...jamaica has small population,thats true,why they are famous? coz reggae is something that we never hear before,its their originality which make them famous...
but try to compare singapore and jamaica...mostly singapore player always go for malmsteen and those fancy stuff,they keep playing and saying this 'do i sound like blablabla?' or 'do i immitate him perfectly?' [no offense for malmsteen fans,just using him as an example]
playing like ur idol wont make ur music recognised,if u want something real,try to go down to jb and visit some of the pubs,they'll laugh at u when they see u play...sad to say that singapore's neighbouring country,like indonesia and malaysia, have better player,better equipment,better market,better ear and in terms of originality,singapore are lotsa steps behind them
let me share with you one of my bad exp, that time i tried out with one band which has a female singer,mainly they sing avril songs,i dun really like avril but i just go for it,i was hoping for an ok" band,not that baaaaad...
guess what i see when we jam,the lead guitarist was sitting down,looking at the tabs that he wrote on a4paper,i was damn pissed off that time,summore all the things he play not accurate and he never prepare at all,thats the worst attitude i've ever seen....first,the guy cant play anything...second,he's not willing to do any sh!t about it,can u imagine playing avril song with metalzone?and he never set it properly,make it sound like empty can being kicked around
and the other guitarist keep playing other song like sweetchild intro in between the break,showing that he wanna show off or he's not interested in avril's song,sorry to say la,those two guitarist always strum out of tempo 1 and play damn unclean with stupid setting,the worst sound of guitar i've ever heard
that kind of musician,wont contribute anything to local scene and im very sad to see that they're HAPPY with their standard of playing,like everything goes alright, i wonder how many of these people who brand themselve 'musician' exist in singapore...after seeing them i tell myself 'no wonder singapore's music scene have a hard time showcasing themself'
im not trying to say that singapore's band are that bloody bad,some are really good,but the 'easily satisfied' attitude is the 1 that hold most of the band back,they're happy with their music,then keep playing on the same standard for dont know how many years -_-
ok,just my 2 cents, i apologise if i offended any of u,just trying to voice out my oppinion
rottenramone said:
i'm on audio's [above post] side...jamaica has small population,thats true,why they are famous? coz reggae is something that we never hear before,its their originality which make them famous...
but try to compare singapore and jamaica...mostly singapore player always go for malmsteen and those fancy stuff,they keep playing and saying this 'do i sound like blablabla?' or 'do i immitate him perfectly?' [no offense for malmsteen fans,just using him as an example]
playing like ur idol wont make ur music recognised,if u want something real,try to go down to jb and visit some of the pubs,they'll laugh at u when they see u play...sad to say that singapore's neighbouring country,like indonesia and malaysia, have better player,better equipment,better market,better ear and in terms of originality,singapore are lotsa steps behind them
let me share with you one of my bad exp, that time i tried out with one band which has a female singer,mainly they sing avril songs,i dun really like avril but i just go for it,i was hoping for an ok" band,not that baaaaad...
guess what i see when we jam,the lead guitarist was sitting down,looking at the tabs that he wrote on a4paper,i was damn pissed off that time,summore all the things he play not accurate and he never prepare at all,thats the worst attitude i've ever seen....first,the guy cant play anything...second,he's not willing to do any sh!t about it,can u imagine playing avril song with metalzone?and he never set it properly,make it sound like empty can being kicked around
and the other guitarist keep playing other song like sweetchild intro in between the break,showing that he wanna show off or he's not interested in avril's song,sorry to say la,those two guitarist always strum out of tempo 1 and play damn unclean with stupid setting,the worst sound of guitar i've ever heard
that kind of musician,wont contribute anything to local scene and im very sad to see that they're HAPPY with their standard of playing,like everything goes alright, i wonder how many of these people who brand themselve 'musician' exist in singapore...after seeing them i tell myself 'no wonder singapore's music scene have a hard time showcasing themself'
im not trying to say that singapore's band are that bloody bad,some are really good,but the 'easily satisfied' attitude is the 1 that hold most of the band back,they're happy with their music,then keep playing on the same standard for dont know how many years -_-
ok,just my 2 cents, i apologise if i offended any of u,just trying to voice out my oppinion
GrimBrody
New member
audio said:
i'm in a band not to rock our neighbouring countries first...
i wanna entertain the ppl who i live with over here
and m nasir was from a band(kembara) whilst ramli sarip(sweet charity)
they're special cos they dared and maybe at that point of time they had to make a career move to spread their wings
if we're talking bout local bands rocking other countries, i 'm sure we've had bands that have gone beyond borders to play at gigs and concerts... Impiety, Force Vomit, Electrico...and most recently Tiramisu's performance in London
and the topic of local music being discussed here
i believe local music has the potential to bloom given the right time and the time is now..
last year the local music scene felt a rumble in its depths as band competitions and gigs garnered huge publicity and attention along with several acts releasing albums and such..
we as fellow musicians, should never ever grovel at not being given a chance by the local audience cos to me, any crowd is a good crowd. word does spread around if you're good and slowly but surely the numbers will increase.
and for those who wanna offer a different perspective in music, dare to be different..DARE yourself to set greater heights and pursue those heights.
if you think that the local gigs are jst having bands that are playing the same genres over n over again..then strive to play something different, fuse different genres,ask opinions bout the music that u play..
and yeah...Business 101 needs execution
several bands are executing theirs...some are bearing results whilst some jst need to adopt another approach..
"what better place than here, what better time than now"
zach de la o
AgingYouth
New member
GrimBrody doode,
Hey new signature! :wink:
Anyways, if you notice, the bigger local acts in Singapore tend not to be any particular scene. Electrico is considered to be too mainstream by some indie kids. People spit on Pug Jelly for being not having pink ICs. The Observatory is just in a class of its own. Impiety and Rudra don't just play much of the local circuits anymore. However, they each have their own strategies to market themselves and reach out to a wider audience. For better or worse, all of them have succeeded on a different level.
Interestingly, they are not doing it to promote any Singaporean scene. They want to be judged on their own and to be held agst their counterparts overseas as well. Perhaps, that's the way it should be eh?
Hey new signature! :wink:
Anyways, if you notice, the bigger local acts in Singapore tend not to be any particular scene. Electrico is considered to be too mainstream by some indie kids. People spit on Pug Jelly for being not having pink ICs. The Observatory is just in a class of its own. Impiety and Rudra don't just play much of the local circuits anymore. However, they each have their own strategies to market themselves and reach out to a wider audience. For better or worse, all of them have succeeded on a different level.
Interestingly, they are not doing it to promote any Singaporean scene. They want to be judged on their own and to be held agst their counterparts overseas as well. Perhaps, that's the way it should be eh?
a friend of mine has played in sydney and LA...so? they r not recognised by other countries. still long way to go man. im toking bout, u know those taiwanese, malaysian and indonesia artists who came here? yeah im toking bout that kind of response.
too bad..what u guys need to aim is their charts man..numbers man..thats wat im talkin bout. and $$$$ too. bhumiband..we need more bands like dat. in fact, we need sellout bands
im toking bout making it big..not just a showcase of local talents for the local people..though its entertaining to watch..
too bad..what u guys need to aim is their charts man..numbers man..thats wat im talkin bout. and $$$$ too. bhumiband..we need more bands like dat. in fact, we need sellout bands
im toking bout making it big..not just a showcase of local talents for the local people..though its entertaining to watch..