Yawn...and then some...

So I needed rest. After the hard rockin' Pesta Malam Indonesia... damn... hell yeah I needed to recover. Lama da tak enjoy concert camtuh. Nak harapkan konsert tuh nih, ada je yang tak bagi saying it's too sexy... too wild... too.... (fill in the blanks here).

But... as usual.. I'm starting off all wrong.

Today was quite relaxed. While awaiting news of the budget presentation of Project R, aku siang tadik ajak Juan singgah Suria FM tuk gi lunch skali ngan Julia. Skali skala kan, lepak ngan kengkawan nak catch up... nak gosip... I mean... erm... nak intellectually debate...matilah... so it's just idle gossip lah. So sue me!

Anyhoo, before and also after lunch, aku kaco ler kehidupan seseorang nih. Sapa lagik kalao bukan taiko sana, Engku Emran Engku Zainal Abidin (motif sampai letak nama penoh?)
Yes, as you can see, Emran was very hard at work.



Merasalah sibuk with that thing Between My Legs (ewwwwww!!!!). Erm... if you bothered to click that link, tuh ler blog dia. But one thing ler... dia sibuk ngan blog dia pun berfaedah.

Sebab Emran for one, who is also the vice-president of the association of local radio stations Commercial Radio Malaysia (CRM) is one of the few who have dared vocally voiced out his opinions AGAINST the 90:10 quota proposed by Karyawan to DICTATE what people should hear on local radio.

CLICK HERE if you want to read what Emran thinks on the issue, plus, also he has some interesting bits (jenuh aku baca tau... sampai juling mata aku panjang gila babas karangan dia). INCLUDING a chat with Amy Search which I found quite insightful... mind you ni the guy which was painted by the media as the head of the mob leading the witch hunt against the Indonesian music scene infiltrating our shores gitu.

Respek gak ngan Emran nih sebab walaupun there are a lot of SNIVELLING COWARDS out there in the form of artists and management, here is one man who speaks his mind. FINALLY!
Few have spoken out on this issue because they think it's not going to go anywhere (let's face it - it's all about political mileage anyway for some). But damn..

CLICK HERE to read my previous post on the issue and what I thought.

And since I am on that topic, just wanted to add some insightful thoughts (insightful ke?)
Anyway - Emran - cheers to you for being proud of what you have between your legs (leh tak aku rename my blog Di Celah Kangkang Aku?) cause you sure have 'em for speaking out. Even though you find it hard to keep your word bila kata nak call ke time ajak minum (matilah akuuuu... lariiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!)

Isn't it strange that MOST acts here don't compose or write their own tunes when the ones they lambast in the Indonesians do?

And remember in the 80s and 90s industry kecoh kata DJ kena sogok (sebab time tuh DJ semua mainkan lagu pilihan sendiri konon syok sendiri dan tak hormat selera pendengar. Matilah da tukar format pun nak carut katakan screw the listeners, the should be listening to what we dictate.

Panjang lak ceramah aku tiap kali bukak bab nih.

Moving on... anyhoo pas lunch, dropped by back Bangsar nak bagik makan sugar glider aku yang tercayang tuh. Merasalah masuk hari keempat tak stock makanan dia. Baby aku tuh mesti kebulur. Singgah to buy some apples from TMC, and then picked up tea.

Yummy! Lama tak camni ok. Just some pics.. korang layan jer la...




Yeap, bought EVERYTHING you saw in the pics above. But bukan aku makan sorang. Ada geng nolong. When was buying stuff, spotted these!



Forgot totally dah Hungry Ghost month, which also brings about the Lantern Festial da. Ah... memories of childhood when I would raze off the eyebrows of at least two of my cousins while sustaining third degree burns on myself when lighting up these dastardly contraptions of fiery doom. Yes, I was a horror even back then. Childhood memories can be so fascinating when you're not feeling the actual pain of it.

Dapat call dari Faz to meet up as promised so we scooted over to Rasta kat Damansara nak melantak. Damn! Lepak dari something like 6pm to I think about 11pm. Faz and PA dia si Jue ciao then but Juan and I didn't, sebab

Wanda and Vee drop by. Konon nak berinterview tapi last last jadik sesi gosip.



And we went on and on I think about almost 1am. Merasalah aku da masa tuh mengantuk nak doze off da. Headed back home and finished this entry. Got some pictures that made me laugh my ass off.

Guess who is this Erykah Badou (matilah Erykah Badut) lookalike.

Erm... playing London Bridge?


Bootylicious? NOT!


Oooh... you better work... COVERGIR! PUKE!


Guessed who it is yet? If you don't know I think the names under the queen in question (in that hideous flowy floral ensemble) should pretty much tell you.

But if you still NEED to know who it is, CLICK HERE!

Me? Going to sleep...

Read More

Goddamn musical Nazis!

Yes, people! Let's start burning books! Or more accurately let's start burning foreign music albums. Sorry... statement emo. Saja je. Sebenarnya tak emo pun, tapi nak tunjuk kebodohan sesetengah pihak yang tunjuk belang betapa uneducated perangai meka walaupun nak orang hormat meka sangat.

So take note, this entry, yang akan panjang berjela, tidak akan mempunyai gambar artis ke haper, cuma luahan perasaan aku mengenai industri muzik negara kita.

I want the focus to be on the points after open forum Karyawan tadi yang talked about the memorandum meka nak hantar kat kementerian demanding the current quota of 60:40 of local content versus foreign, be changed to 90:10 for the sake of survival of the music industry.

So before we start, let's have the disclaimer.



So do I agree with the memorandum? Generally... yes. I want to see the survival of the music business here, and the rejuvenation of it so hopefully at some point, we bounce back to being the musical powerhouse we were decades ago.

But smalam, panas tul hati aku bila ada yang stok bodoh bangang ni yang besuara.

The issue : lagu luar.

Tapi tetiba ada yang sebut Indon maid la... dan sebagainya. I am a proud Malaysian. But I want to be proud of all things Malaysian, not by putting down others.

Here is a collection of some points that ran thorugh my mind, as well as 'tercirit' dari mulut aku about the whole Malaysia against the world (specifically Indonesia) when it comes to music.

DO WE HAVE ENOUGH MATERIAL?
Walaupun kita punyai ramai artis, to force 90% quota is almost worrying. Aku cakap ni sebab at the end of the day, it's for sure yang stok sampah yang tak layak on air pun sibuk nak promosi lagu memasing memeningkan kita.

With lesser competition among local artists, aku bayangkan yang sora sombang, lagu bosan dan production tahap rakam dalam bilik air pun leh masuk radio sebab nak cukupkan quota.

QUALITY?
Which brings us to issue of quality. Apa definition of what is quality. We have a lot of singers, who should most probably look for alternative employment, but they insist they have something to offer.

What is the far reaching impact of crap demanding air time now that there is more space to play with.

DEFINITION
What makes a song a lagu luar? The artist? Camtuh The Lima for one patut takleh kuar lagu la. Ke nak ikut definasi AIM yang meka yang sign to Malaysian label kira Malaysian?

Abih lagu yang ditulis komposer luar tapi sung by our artists? Sebab kalao ikut definasi atas yang di keluarkan AIM, not eligible gak. But tuh tuk competition and this is airplay. Still... amazing how rules can differ can without standards for this music industry...

The more rules, the more the definitions needed....so tiresome.

ENFORCEMENT
Skang pun quota 60:40 takde enforcement. Kat forum tadi ada yang bising pasal Hot FM yang main culprits dalam isu membanjiri market with and ramai yang bertepuk dan bersorak tanda menyokong.

Kalao benar ada radio station yang tidak mengikuti syarat ni, kenapa tak wat something to enforce it?

What is the difference? Baik enforce yang ada skang sebelum nak up kan quota lagik.

NO WAY OUT
Kenapa ramai bising, lupa lak yang station macam x-fresh meka pandang remeh sedangkan x-fresh mainkan 100% lagu Malaysia.

Sebenarnya meka nak yang bebetul ada 'coverage' in Era dan Hot.

But someone forgot why these stations naik in the first place. By giving their listeners what they want - which includes some popular Indonesian songs.

BLAME
Yang disebut lagu luar. Tapi ada malaun asik sebut lagu Indonesia, artis Indonesia.
I mean honestly. Kenapa asik nak salahkan Indonesians?

Dulu meka agungkan artis kita, sampai pihak berkuasa wat perangai sama cam sesetengah orang sini skang, nak kurangkan lagu Malaysia di radio Indonesia.

Tapi tetap Search dan Wings menjadi inspirasi ramai rockers masa tu di seberang.

They learnt. And grew.

Kira tak syok sendiri like some people here, and almost two decades later, kita da ketinggalan.
Pas ni nak salahkan sapa?

Singapore da mula masuk tapi takde yang bising? Ahli Fiqir, Imran Ajmain, Taufik batisah, Hady Mirza, Aliff Aziz.... Nak tunggu meka ni dominasi dulu baru nak kecoh?

Lepas ini nak salahkan siapa?

Nak tunggu ada Pesta Malam Philippines?

Cuba kita salahkan diri kita sendiri sebab muzik kita ketinggalan dan anggap sebagai cabaran tuk memperjuangkan reformasi dalam muzik Malaysia.

GROWTH
Aku pelik kenapa orang cepat sangat salahkan especially muzik Indonesia. Kalao bukan kerana Indonesian bands opening the door to the more to appreciate another brand of rock selain rock kapak dan rock leleh, ada ke anak muda kita leh appreciate bands like Meet Uncle Hussein, Hujan or even Estranged, all of which cross over from the indie or underground scene.

Kids today learnt to appreciate another brand of rock thanks to these influences.

WHO LOSES?
Siapa yang rugi dalam bab nak main close market kita pada orang luar. Kang orang balas balik kat kita close up market kat kita camna?

Album pun takleh jual sini... A top artist dari negara kita leh jual something like 50,000 plus ngan heavy promotion and lots of hits. However when they take their product to Indonesia, they can sell about more than double there.

Sampai bila nak kita jadik juara kampung ni nak gaduh pasal market kita yang nan ado? nih?

WHO DO WE REALLY BLAME?
I would blame recording companies. Dulu masa kita ok, syarikat rakaman keluarkan memacam artis sampah yang nan ado sora atau bakat.

Then pastu malas lak. Tanak cari pembaharuan. Semua nak tiru format orang lain asalkan orang lain pernah berjaya.

Tu sebab ingat tak time Siti meletop, ramai lak klon yang muncul tetiba pasaran kita penuh ngan sora semua ala ala Siti jerk.

Hasil perangai meka sendiri, skang nak raung akibatnya.

RELEVANCE
The problem with this industry is ramai yang syok sendiri. Aku salute dan respect setiap orang dalam industri ni because everyone ada sumbang something to the growth and development of it.

But without naming names. Kalao muzik seseorang tu, 20 tahun tak berubah, pastu kalao orang nak beli nak marah lak kata orang tak menghargai.

Dude! Kalao Elvis was alive pun silap silap dia pun da wat hip hop!

So the bottomline is some artists da tak relevan masih nak demand tempat di hati peminat. Justify it, bitches!

Aku respect people like Siti Nurhaliza, M. Nasir yang evolve dan berubah mengikut peredaran zaman walaupun maintain pendirian meka, as well as their sound and flavour.

WILL THE 90:10 HELP OUR INDUSTRY?
I doubt it. Radio menentukan ke trends? Some people think so. Tapi how many songs do you know yang play over again yang ko suka, tapi kena repeat sampai rasa telinga nak melecet (leh ker?)

You know what I mean. Played to death sebab hit sangat kononnnya.

Lagikpon, aku tau ada artis yang lagu berapa ketul yang hit abih punya lagu, tapi jualan album nan ado!

CHANGE
I think a lot has to do about attitude. Ramai orang dalam industri kita emotional dan bising tak abih abih. Tapi usaha tetap takde.

What was the last CD you bought of a local artist? How many do you have in your collection?
Think about it.

Aku kalao bebetul koleksi lama aku ada banyak. Ella, Sheila Majid, Ning Baizura, Ekamatra, BPR, Febians dan sebagainya.

The current batch? Malas nak sebut tapi a handful yang aku sanggup kuar duit sendiri je.

DICTATORSHIP
So what happens when orang nak paksa korang dengar apa meka nak ko dengar?
Will you layan anyway? Or will you change the station atau layan medium lain saja tuk dapat apa ko nak?

WHO GAINS
Siapa yang untung dari hal ni. Meka yang gain dari royalties from airplay la. Dalam kes ni, sure a few people will make more money. But will it benefit people in this business as of whole?
Entahlah...

PROFESSIONALISM
Kenapa la fokus tak lebih pada being professional in this field?
Sini, artis dieksplotasi cam sial... kesian lak tengok. Ko tengok la sana sini show free... tour tuh ni la.. by radio stations, TV stations, papers dan sebagainya.

Artis dibayar murah atas dasar promosi.

Tapi ikut jer takot kena gam.

Masa tu tak bising lak nak bersuara hak artis. Kalao nak lawan 'orang luar'; berani lak bersuara.
Pastu da la bayar murah bersepah, kalao di tayangkan TV live event, takde lak special broadcasting arrangement for bayaran lebihan. Sehinanya artis Indonesia pada sesetengah orang kita, meka lebih profesional because mereka sehati sejiwa dan sepakat memperjuankan hak mereka.

Artis kita banyak yang takut nak fight for anything atas dasar, 'let someone else fight for it'.
So many issues, and they pick the one that perhaps, should not exactly be a priority with perhaps the least results.

BUSINESS
Cakap punya cakap, semua nak jaga kepentingan sendiri. Yes... it's a business. But why should people care about just your needs. Radio stations need advertisers, and advertisers need listenership.

Bottomline semua nak pikat pendengar.

Dan kalao apa yang diberikan dikehendaki pendengar, kenapa orang lain lak nak rasakan meka nih berhak untuk memaksa orang mengubah selera.

EDUCATION
People always talk about how orang kita kena ubah mentality.

I say our music community kena ubah mentality. Times change. You change with it, or get left behind. That's a fact. Grow up... accept it.

Popshuvit takde pun publisit meluas kat radio, tapi antara artis kita yang paling berjaya nun di luar sana.

Artis cam Nicholas Teo dan Fish Leong yang orang kita sendiri tak kenal. But they have more fans and sell lots of albums. Kenapa artis yang spoon fed everything pun nak bising instead of making an effort.

I could go on and on, but bottomline is this - WE HAVE TO CHANGE. Not force others to. Make music people love. Not force people to love what you choose to put out.

A producer once told me - kalao nak buat music tuk puaskan diri sendiri, then record dan layan sendiri jerk. Kalao nak wat album, make sure it sells.

The ideal would be able to make music you love and people love. But hey... nothing's perfect.

Deal with it.

So anyway, what's my stand after all that?
Tujuan aku tulis panjang lebar is not to antagonize anyone. Even though kat forum aku tau ada golongan yang tak puas ati ngan apa aku katakan.

Thank you those like Faizal Tahir,Dayang Nurfaizah and even M. Nasir yang talked to me among others. Not all my points everyone would agree on. But I know that they know too most of what I say above has weight and has to be considered.

We are all fighting for the same thing - but maybe in different ways. Bottomline is - let's save the Malaysian music industry!

My stand at www.klubbkidd.com is that we have to support our music. But let's not lose everything in doing it.

Don't cut your nose to spite your face.

Letih jari... more tomorrow...

PS - This is not my longest entry ever... tapi letih nak naip. Pala berat pikir orang kita nya attitude towards change. So many fear change, and so many won't let go of their past successes. So how do we move on to the future?

Read More