We had a good time playing at the WPFD at Central Market. The first time we have ever played at CM too. Me, Fendi and our new drummer Bullet are all regular lepakers at the Central Market back in the late 80s and early 90s. The band was basically formed there! There’s so much memories and it would be too sentimental for me to write all of that and bore you people.
from: star-ecentral.com
Making inroads
By DARYL GOH
As far as music policy is concerned, there have been accusations that the KLPac in Sentul West in Kuala Lumpur is nothing more than a upper middle class preserve for schmaltzy musicals and sponsored piano recitals. You probably needed to own Versace stitches, and not a ratty Dinosaur Jr T-shirt to feel a sense of belonging there.
No disrespect to these high brow entertainment genres, but the nation���s fully dedicated performance arts venue did promise to make things accessible for the masses. On the agenda was a mission to adopt an inclusive outlook to embrace all kinds of Malaysian music.
To some extent, the venue did live up to its word last Saturday when it hosted the first full-scale indie rock gig indoors at the Pentas 2 hall. Organised by the Ipoh-based independent outfit BodySurf Music, the show unleashed 15 bands to coincide with the launch of the label���s Radio Malaya compilation.
The Star
Monday February 6, 2006
Various Artistes
Radio Malaya
(Bodysurf Music)
A DISC compiling the definitive sounds from the Malaysian indie resurgence of the last couple of years? Sure, why not? It’s actually much more exciting than whatever the kitsch reality TV establishments are passing off for quality entertainment these days.
Radio Malaya has a list of celebratory instances. The unveiling of rare recorded material by the now-defunct Sgt Weener Arms (sounding every bit like Malaysia’s reply to Australia’s My Disco with their contribution, Trago) opens the curtains of insight into what could have been for one of the circuit’s most exciting live outfits in recent memory.
more pictures here:
Pictures by Joe, fendi & Jay Free Love
and here:
Pixs by some kids we found on the net. Thanks to the authors
Reunion: The underground scene’s magnificient seven
featured in The Star on August 3rd 2004
The original underground scene made a one-off reunion in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday. DARYL GOH relished the return of the bands that broke boundaries and built the Malaysian non-mainstream.
A short review: one of the best shows we’ve played for quite a long while. 11 songs with the new tunes shocking some people for it’s very different nature to the “old” Dung style.
Prior to us getting on stage, F.O.R. played and our singer Alak went stage-diving (even when there’s not much of a stage to begin with!) and so nobody caught him. Alak bumped his head on the floor and was knocked out cold for a good ten minutes. We had to revive him by dousing his face with buckets of iced water.
Anyway he recovered in time for us to play and for him to sing. And he sang all the 11 songs nicely and dandy. Funny thing was, once we were done, Alak said he can’t remember anything, even the part where he was singing! “Did I sing?,” he asked. We had to show him the video a few days later to finally convince him.
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An unfinish review in ricecooker:
Friday evening 26th March: We were preparing to go rehearse at our usual (Bakri’s @ Sri Hartamas), Fendi circled his car around and stopped in front of my house and something dropped out of his car’s engine! What was it? The hell if we know! We all looked at it and scratched our heads. Looked like something that’s usually used for pulleys, round like a ball-bearing holder. Nope, not in the field of our expertise this thing. The car started fine and Fendi managed to drive back to his house in PJ but the plan for us to go Ipoh in his car was no longer viable. Fuck that, lets take a bus instead.
Saturday morning 27th March: It was a Transnasional bus and the ride was a non-stop affair, three hours north but it was comfy and nice. I’ve always liked taking buses during the day, I can catch up on my reading and have my mp3 CD walkman spinning. Fendi and Alak shared a couple issues of Reason To Believe (a very good and regular free HC punk zine from the UK) and my nose was in the glossy, expensive and latest Mojo magazine, reading about the early days (daze) of Velvet Underground, John Cale and Nico.
We arrived in Ipoh a lil over 12.30 noon, and F.O.R.’s singer Faizal was already there waiting with another friend in a Kancil. They drove us straight to the BodySurf Studio, a nice third-floor loft, above a small sundry stall, where most of the Ipoh scenesters would hang-out and rehearse since the mid-90s. It’s pretty well-kept but I noticed that their shelf of local DIY tapes and CDs for sale is not as abundant as before. It’s quite bereft of new stuff, and that’s like a small picture of what’s happening in Ipoh nowadays. There are bands there but not as many as before and there’s less output. But the studio is healthy, the BodySurf kids are doing shows in Ipoh again and that should keep the scene going.
While hanging out at the BodySurf, we called the Kuchalana gang who were driving from KL. Apparently, one of the three cars they were traveling in broke down on the highway somewhere near Tanjung Malim. The engine’s gone totaled due to water seeping into the system and they were waiting for a tow truck under the hot sun. Lucky the bassist’s father-in-law lives nearby, so they borrowed his car to continue on the trip. We sighed a collective relief as our drummer is also their drummer and he’s in one of the cars! And my guitar too.
Right after that we all went to have lunch at a Malay restaurant downstairs from the studio. The place had hot ayam sup with potatoes and I’ve been missing that for ages. The only problem was that they didn’t have anything salty, I mean, I need my telur masin or at least fried ikang kering with my nasi and that yummy sup but what to do? Makan jugakla. While we were there, gradually the congregation grew as we were joined by quite a few kids from around there and also Free Love’s bassist Hana and her friends who traveled up to Ipoh a day earlier. Our bassist Fendi (who’s from Taiping via Batu Gajah) was gabbing with the others about the various dialects Perak has. Yeah, it’s not that terribly big an area but it has tonnes of different dialects originating from Javanese Malays and such; and they’re pretty hilarious words, not that I remember them in detail though.
An hour later we were all back in the BodySurf hangout/office and I had a very brief but refreshing nap. I have this new habit which going to be disastrous on the shape of my belly, and it’s having a nap after a big meal. I’m doing that a lot now and it’s like building up fatty reserves in my body as I snooze with a full belly. Not very rock’n'roll that.
October 2002, I was invited to do a talk on the “underground music scene” at the Yayasan Kesenian Perak, Ipoh. This is the first time I’ve ever done this sort of thing. Pretty scary really, but in the end I thoroughly enjoyed it especially when several parents of scenesters talked to me about their worry and concern and that how the talk had changed their minds on certain misinformation the had about the scene.
16. 10. 2002
Ekskavasi ‘Bawah Tanah’ Bersama Joe Kidd
by Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin for kakiseni.com
Buat pertama kalinya, wacana perihal budaya underground berjaya menerobos dinding Yayasan Kesenian Perak. Pada petang 20 Julai 2002 bertempat di Rumah YKP, acara ‘Gebang Seni Bersama Joe Kidd’ menjadi arena kepada kira-kira 40 orang peserta yang majoritinya terdiri daripada anak-anak muda yang terlibat dan punya minat dalam bidang musik khususnya genre musik independen/alternatif, selain daripada kalangan pelajar seni dan tenaga profesional.
Perkataan ‘underground’ lazimnya membawa konotasi yang menyentuh rasa musykil yang membimbangkan; selalu dikaitkan dengan tindak-tanduk gerombolan berhaluan kiri berciri subversif, radikal dan anarkis, yang menyangkal sistem-sistem otoritatif sesebuah komuniti atau peradaban, dan sering dilabel anti-establishment. Namun dalam konteks seni musik pula, underground music menyentuh pelaksanaan kreativiti dan bakat yang terhasil secara independen tanpa seratus persen bergantung kepada elemen-elemen kapitalisme perdana yang membabitkan orang tengah, khususnya segelintir syarikat rakaman besar dan parasit seni, yang sering mengambil kesempatan ke atas hak-hak artis rakaman yang memungkinkan popularitinya meletup dalam sekelip mata dan merudum juga dalam sekelip mata.
Joe Kidd, satu nama yang amat sinonim dengan musik underground lokal, berkongsi jiwa dan pemikirannya tentang senario dan peranan undergrounders di Malaysia. Dilahirkan di Terengganu 37 tahun lalu, Joe, seorang graduan jurusan kejuruteraan dari sebuah politeknik tempatan, memulakan kerjayanya sebagai penulis yang membuat liputan musik alternatif tempatan untuk akhbar The Star dan The Sun sekitar pertengahan 90-an. Pada awal tahun 1992, Joe Kidd menyertai beberapa orang teman di dalam kumpulan musik Carburetor Dung (nama asalnya Stormfish) yang menjunjung pegangan musik punk rock.
Di dalam kesibukan memperjuang kesinambungan genre musik alternatif tempatan sebagai editor kolum ‘Blasting Concept’ akhbar The Sun, pengedar produk musik melalui Alternative Garage Entertainment (AGE) dan promoter gig, Joe Kidd turut menerjunkan diri ke dalam cabang-cabang seni yang lain: bermula dari penerbitan secara DIY zine ‘Aedes’, pembikinan soundtrack filem ‘Dari Jemapoh ke Manchestee’, persembahan di pembukaan pameran ‘War Box Lalang & Killing Tools’ (oleh artis visual Wong Hoy Cheong, Raja Shahriman dan Bayu Utomo), persembahan di Gwangju Bienale dan sebagainya. Pernah dilabel oleh majalah Klue sebagai ‘the grandfather of Malaysian punk rock’, beliau telah lebih 20 tahun mengabdikan seluruh masa, tenaga dan materialnya demi sub-kultur underground; bermula dari persekitaran Central Market kemudian ke Brickfields dan akhirnya di Bukit Ceylon. Kini, beliau masih setia menatang idiom-idiom punk rocknya sebagai promoter musik independen melalui beberapa siri gig seperti Unclogged serta Chow Kit Fest di Kuala Lumpur dan turut mengeksplorasi bakat kreatifnya dalam bidang rekacipta grafik untuk mengumpul modal bagi ekstensi perjuangan musik undergroundnya.
Beliau berpendapat apa sahaja penciptaan seni tidak seharusnya dibiarkan campurtangan oleh pihak luar. Ia semestinya lahir dengan jujur tanpa apa-apa bentuk sekatan yang mengongkong kreativiti dan ekspresi seseorang seniman. Pandangan negatif ke atas senario underground yang banyak dimanipulasi media dan pihak-pihak tertentu untuk kepentingan serta agenda masing-masing tidak seharusnya dijadikan alasan untuk menyekat perjuangan insan-insan seni. Fundamental inilah yang dianuti oleh kelompok undergrounders bila mana konsep DIY (do it yourself) menekankan unsur-unsur dan semangat mandiri setiap individu. Justeru, produk-produk seni yang terhasil dengan keringat dan usaha independen akan menjadi lebih bermakna dan memberi kepuasan total kepada mana-mana seniman itu (walau pun pulangan komersial mungkin tidak seberapa).
Antara topik yang hangat dibincangkan adalah berkenaan pengharaman gig yang bertitik tolak dari kekalutan reaksi latah sesetengah pihak terhadap musik black metal. Isu ini sengaja diperbesarkan dan banyak pihak telah tersilap membuat tafsiran melulu tanpa kajian yang mendalam. Black metal sering dianggap sebagai gejala yang merosakkan; pengikutnya dikaitkan dengan amalan syirik dan ritual pemujaan syaitan, membakar Al-Quran, konsumer korban darah kambing dan pelbagai alasan-alasan karutmarut kadangkala membuat kita tidak kering gusi. Akibat dari satu peristiwa yang tidak sahih yang diuar-uarkan dengan penuh sensasi serta dengan kedangkalan masyarakat umum di dalam memahami kultur ‘bawah tanah’ anutan anak watan, terbantut dan terpendamlah kreativiti anak-anak muda yang ketagihkan gelanggang atau platfom untuk meluahkan ekspresi diri yang tercetus dari aliran adrenalin yang sedang melonjak. Maka tidakkah penggubal hukum dunia ini terfikir atau risau mengenai ruang alternatif lain yang bakal diterokai para belia yang tidak berpeluang ber‘gig’ sebagai pilihan berkreatif, selain dari acara-acara riadah ‘rakan muda’ yang dipantau dari semua sudut dan segi? Dan keadilan terus dituntut bila timbulnya persoalan mengapa gig untuk genre musik lain seperti hip hop, disko dan dangdut mendapat lampu hijau sedangkan kemelut masalah sosial terang-terangan dapat dikesan di dalam arena-arena tersebut.
Isu black metal, seperti juga kontroversi punk sedekad yang lalu atau polemik hippi dan flower-power serta kegelisahan Woodstock sekitar tahun 60-an dan 70-an, hanya bakal menjadi bahan lelucon yang dimomok oleh generasi baru tentang sikap double-standard pihak atasan yang mengutuk dan mencerca golongan undergrounders dan belia sub-kultur tetapi masih bergelek dan berkhayal di celah-celah kemontokan GRO di kelab-kelab eksklusif hingga dinihari. Adilkah dihadang secara total unsur-unsur ekspresi diri anak-anak muda yang pada realiti hidup moden ini ada nilai-nilai positif? Kedangkalan akal, ketohoran pemahaman dan kekalutan kemelut identiti pihak berotoriti bakal meresahkan lagi kekecamukan jiwa anak-anak muda yang cuba mencari kelainan dalam ‘pesta demokrasi’.
Joe Kidd juga banyak menekankan peranan ibubapa dalam menentukan halatuju serta batasan pergaulan anak-anak merentang alur hedonisme yang menular. Beliau percaya, dengan sifat yang lebih terbuka dan bersikap cuba memahami serta mengambil tahu persekitaran sosial dan teman-teman anak mereka, keluarga tidak akan dikecewakan. Musik punk, black-metal, hip hop dan sebagainya hanyalah satu wadah musik kontemporari zaman kini seperti juga rock n roll, twist, cha-cha mahu pun joget lambak pada suatu masa dahulu. Cuma pengisian teori dan ideologinya di zaman ICT ini lebih padat dengan informasi dan manifesto lewat zine dan internet, menjadikan pengertian atau pengikutan bentuk-bentuk musik itu lebih kejap dan serius hingga kadangkala terbawa ke dalam kehidupan harian. Namun, dengan pantauan dan rasa saling menghormati, keluarga seharusnya tidak perlu risau. Ramai tokoh-tokoh yang dihormati masih setia mendengar jenis musik kegilaan zaman remaja mereka. Profesor Ungku Aziz misalnya tetap senang dengan desingan rock dan heavy metal, Dato’ Shahrum Yob setia dengan alunan dangdut dan pelukis Yusof Ghani berkarya berlatarkan musik Pink Floyd.
Semasa acara Gebang Seni, Joe Kidd juga terus-terusan menekankan peri pentingnya kelompok undergrounders untuk menambah ilmu dari pembacaan buku dan bahan-bahan penerbitan yang lain. Topik-topik tidak sepatutnya hanya berkisar tentang musik semata-mata tetapi mencakupi subjek-subjek lain; sejarah, sains, politik, budaya dan sebagainya. Dengan pengetahuan yang diraih hasil pembacaan, sedikit sebanyak mampu menjana minda dan bisa mengamati musik itu dalam konteks yang lebih luas. Justeru membantu penghasilan lirik-lirik lagu yang kukuh dan bermakna; tidak hanya berkisar tentang cinta, putus cinta, cinta, putus cinta, cinta dan putus cinta seperti yang sering dijaja oleh kebanyakan artis popular di dalam industri musik perdana tanahair. Lirik lagu yang disokong oleh musik yang menarik menjadi suatu jentera mekanisma penyampaian mesej kepada pendengar. Dengan kefahaman yang mendalam tentang ehwal semasa, polemik serta konflik yang dialami samaada dari segi sosial, budaya, politik dan penghidupan di sekelilingnya, seseorang seniman wajar untuk menghasilkan karya yang mampu menjana audiennya untuk membuat rumusan bijak dan intelek tentang sesuatu peristiwa.
Metallica dan Iron Maiden sering menghasilkan lirik-lirik lagu berlandaskan pemahaman yang utuh tentang sajak dan sastera klasik. Umpamanya, lagu “For Whom The Bell Tolls” adalah berdasarkan prosa Ernest Hemingway dan “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” pula diceduk dari sajak Samuel Taylor Coleridge; diadun dengan bahasa yang membawa impak yang patriotik, filosofikal dan mengkagumkan. Kini kumpulan musik keras tanahair seperti Cromok dan Amuk sudah sedikit sebanyak menjalankan peranan mereka sebagai figura-figura awam (public figures) yang mampu memberi ‘sesuatu’ kepada pendengar lagu-lagu dinamik mereka.
Semoga wakil kumpulan-kumpulan musik underground sekitar Ipoh yang hadir seperti Enthrone Falls, Muck, Pyron, Bloodymary dan lain-lain, mendapat manfaat dan ilmu hasil wacana yang diadakan serta mengambil inisiatif untuk memperkukuhkan underground scene dengan reputasi yang dihormati sejajar berupaya mencetus penghasilan karya-karya yang boleh menyumbang bukan sahaja untuk kepuasan materi tetapi juga spiritual pendengarnya. Etika DIY atau praktikum mandiri sewajarnya memupuk semangat yang mendisiplinkan diri ke arah kehidupan yang lebih positif dan bermakna.
Seperti pesan Joe Kidd, etika DIY yang digalinya dari falsafah punk rock merupakan satu attitude (sikap) yang bisa mengajar seseorang untuk punyai nilai self-empowerment dan berkeyakinan diri. Menurut beliau lagi, jaringan dan etika DIY bukan sahaja untuk golongan musik undergrounders, tetapi harus juga dianuti oleh kelompok-kelompok masyarakat yang lain, terutama yang menitikberatkan sikap berdikari, memiliki perjuangan marginal dan bergerak di bawah arus perdana tanpa senantiasa bergantung di atas suapan subsidi semata-mata.
Biar gelandangan fizikal, jangan gelandangan mental dan spiritual.
Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin
Kurator YKP
05. 03. 2002
Joe Kidd: Unclogging the Underground
by Jerome Kugan
For much of the past decade, the Terengganu-born 37-year-old Joe Kidd has dedicated himself to the KL music scene. First as a writer covering local music for The Star and The Sun, then as a guitarist/vocalist in punk bands Carburetor Dung and Shit Workers, among others.
That list also includes his role as a promoter of underground music through various shows, notably the Unclogged nights at No Black Tie. He also runs a small independent record label, Alternative Garage Entertainment (AGE), that last year put out the soundtrack to Hishamuddin Rais’s film Dari Jemapoh ke Manchestee that was presented at various international film festivals.
If effort alone does not warrant respect, what is wonderfully different about Joe’s approach is his staunch refusal to conform to the expectations of others. Anyone who has known Joe long enough would know of his strong opinions on just about everything that’s wrong with the profit-driven, sponsorship-polluted, artistically-stagnant local music industry.
“If you’ve been around as long as I have, you’d know about the awful things that go on in the music industry. I’ve had several meetings with major labels and the first thing they want to talk about is money. Never the music. These companies don’t care about cultivating the talent of their artists or looking after their welfare. Everything is about instant profit. I think there’s a better way.”
His irreverent attitude to the status quo also extends beyond the mainstream. Nothing delights him more than challenging the standards of underground music fans. Take for instance his flirtations with absurdity via the country and western spoof outfit The Famous Cowboys and his pseudo avantgarde electronica offering with a tiny Casio keyboard, rubber ducky and vacuum cleaner at Mejelis in January.
“A lot of the time I see musicians in the underground taking themselves too seriously. I like to take the piss out of the scene whenever I can.” Still, Joe remembers fondly playing punk gigs where fans in the mosh-pit swell would engulf the microphone and engage in mass karaoke sing-alongs, underground-style.
These days, however, building on his desire to challenge convention, Joe makes a bit more space for less aggressive (but no less mind-expanding) music. This takes its most obvious form in Unclogged, a more-or-less regular event featuring mostly acoustic performers.
Although Unclogged shares much in common with Acoustic Jam (the other acoustic night organized by Hassan Peter Brown), both were founded independently, under different circumstances. While Acoustic Jam began as an effort by Hassan to emulate acoustic nights in Britain, Unclogged became acoustic simply by virtue of Joe’s DIY approach to art and life.
“Back in 1998, when the idea to organise a regular show was brought up, we didn’t have any money to hire a proper sound system. So it was decided that the show would be acoustic. That way we would also be able to make it cheap for people to attend.” Needless to say, in its early days, the fans weren’t impressed by the quiet sounds.
Gradually, however, over seven Unclogged events, the series has attained its own following and significance, especially among up-and-coming local musicians who clamour to appear as billed acts on the show. It also has a more mature atmosphere compared to the gamut of other underground shows. Nevertheless, Joe advises Unclogged virgins to flush all expectations when they come.
“The great thing about Unclogged is that I never know what’s going to happen. It’s very unlike the other shows at No Black Tie, which are more musician-based. We have a very open, very simple approach. Bands formed the day before, bands that play one song for an entire hour. It’s really fun. But sometimes I have to step out myself for a bit of fresh air.” Enough said.
Postscript: Just when you thought the man had his hands full of work, the seemingly inexhaustible Joe is planning to record a full-length album with Shit Workers in between collaborating with Korean punk bands for a gig at the Kwangju Biennale (29 March to 2 April 2002) and being on the organising committee for the Chow Kit Fest (planned for 1 to 5 May, 2002).
If you want to stay informed of about the Unclogged shows you can join the mailing list by writing to dungpeople-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unclogged VIII
featuring Rai Koris (Kathmandu punk trio), Farmhouse, Couple, Monsoon and Libra Defect.
Date/Time: 9 March 2002, 9pm
Venue: No Black Tie, 27, Jalan Mesui, Bukit Bintang (off Raja Chulan, near Istana Hotel) (Tel: 2148 8110)
Check out Unclogged online at http://dungpeople.sevcom.com/unclogged
