Here's something worth reading...

DO IT YOURSELF

By Joe Kidd

On Aug 8, writer Paul Zach once again pointed out that this is "the only country in the world where radio plays almost anything but music by its own artistes." A week later reporter Tommy Wee cautioned readers not to be so quick to blame the DJs and said that radio stations are run like businesses and that to get into the game, indie bands should wise up and start playing to the broadcasters' bottom dollar. Now, JOE KIDD, Malaysian punk rocker and DIY guru, says you don't have to play the game - go the DIY way, stay true to your heart and passion and, most of all, build up your own musical community. Totally un$ingaporean...

I just don't see what's the argument about. No airplay? So what? That's to be expected these days unless you wanna play the game. But would I want to listen to a band which plays the game?

Nope. I would go to great lengths NOT to support them. Why? Because the industry is full of shit and to be a part of that industry is to eat shit and produce shit. For what? Money? What money? Fame? Okay-lah, Fame but is that so vital to your life-support system? Fame covered in shit? People know, you know. And those who are too blind to see the shit are just plain ignorant and usually ignorant people do not care about the scene anyway.

And to be a part of that industry is also to ignore, condone and even support the blatant exploitation that has been going on for aeons in the local music industry - artists being paid shit all the time for something which they put out with their blood, sweat and tears. You wanna talk about "fair record deals" in this age? In this region? You must be joking. P Ramlee died a very poor man with mountainous debts. His son is now a City Hall coolie, sweeping the roads you trod on. Amy Search, Awie Wings and all those so called "rock stars" ate shit for years and when they woke up, they had to go to the courts to fight for what they were worth. And when they were freed, the industry refused to support them anymore. You don't eat shit, you die.

People have to wake up. You don't need to eat shit. In fact, you'd be better off that diet. Do it DIY stylee. Get off that whole oppressive value system which sees success in terms of sales figures, airplay, publicity and chart-placings. That's all bullshit. Nobody with the right mind should fall for that.

People in the media also know jack shit. And that's the whole story. They don't know what the **** they are writing about. There's no passion in what they do, nor love or even respect. Unlike the musicians themselves, who see their worth through their art and they know that they do not need validation from the media to see their self worth.

What you need is a community. In Malaysia we have that community. This community doesn't care shit about the industry. Or the media. We go along with what we want and how we want to do it. No airplay? We'll do our own CD-R compilations and spread it around at RM5. No media coverage? We do our own zines and websites and forums. No gigs? We do our own gigs and bring all the bands we like to come and play.

Expensive studio hours? **** that. Record live on a MiniDisc recorder at a rehearsal studio, clean it up with your pirated audio software on your cheap PC and burn it and sell it at the gigs and have it on your site. If the community likes it, it will lap it up anyway. Over here, you can get recording studios for RM35 an hour or even less! $ingapore bands should stop whining and come over and record, master and even press those damn CDs.

No support from the public? That's also a huge bundle of shit. There's always support. It's small maybe but it's a community of supporters. Build that community. It may start small but we have nowhere to go apart from bigger and bigger and that's what's happening over here. Don't fight over petty bullshit which you people always do. Put out regular zines. Have CD-R samplers with those zines. organise gigs and get people to come together on the basis that we are all against the bullshit that's going around in the part of the world which we love and that we are here to build our own niche our own way. A place where we can do what we want without those dirty hands which actually don't have anything to offer anyway apart from shit covered with a very thin layer of Petaling Street imitation gold. Make the scene hip, not on the mainstream terms but on the sheer fact that we are doing it our very own way and staunchly anti-mainstream.

As for BigO, go back to basics. Back to the Xeroxed days when it was all about the local scene and that it has nothing to do with the industry. I started having problems with BigO when ******* Phil Collins graced the cover. What's that? Yeah, if it's about Genesis I wouldn't mind so much but Phil Collins the solo artist? Whoa! Something's very wrong here.

Outside of the mainstream media and those radioshow's token slots which you talked about, there are lots of great $ingaporean bands of whatever persuasion. And we know. We had them over. We buy their CDs. Their CD-Rs. We buy their T-shirts. We talk to them. We slam to them and we love them. Again, the mainstream media coverage is not the yardstick. It never has been. Things are happening in the scene, bigger and better than before. It boils down to whether you are in touch or not. Whether the passion is there or not. And if you have the passion for it, you'll be in touch with it. As the Malays would say, "Tepuk dada, tanya selera." It's there if you want it. Reach out and be prepared to be showered with real gold.