Welcome back to my blog.
It has been a while, a long while of silence from a person who once had a lot to say. I have been gone from the scene, from the country for so long, but now, I've got my third eye, I've got another voice to use to connect me with ongoing issues that still live within the KL music scene - issues that a lot of people bring up but never do anything about it. Perhaps somehow, someday, my words are being read and discussed and made to fix what's now dying in the scene.
When it all comes down to one thing, that's the fact that people now fear.
People now fear to go to gigs, because they fear getting bored of the same bands, getting sick of the rude, inconsiderate crowd, getting scared of going into the moshpit because it is now a platform to "impress", no longer to express. People who once showed their faces every weekend at One Cafe, Noisy Studio and the long gone haunts of the scene, have now resorted to YouTube videos and once in a while shows because the good bands have all hidden away, paled out and replaced with a hundred mini-Bring Me the Horizons.
Where is the scene leading us down now?
Rarely now we find gigs that hold a different mix of music. Hardcore bands only play hardcore gigs. Metalcore bands only play metalcore gigs. So on and so forth. The unity within the crowds and musicians have dissipated into the throngs of judgmental opinions and non-constructive criticisms. All the new kids in the scene go to gigs to follow trends, not to go purely for the music. They think that making a band that sounds 100% like another famous band is creative. How many more bands with the same genre and same styles will he needed? Music where songs are not written to pass a message, but just for making a song with no particular emotion attached to it.
And I must say I am disappointed in the members of bands I once looked up to and looked forward to watching. Maybe some of them have moved on with life. Maybe some of them are too busy with other things. But the ones that have died down and stayed silent because they no longer can be bothered with the scene... what happened to the spirit and the soul of making a difference? If the scene's now shit, why not make a community that still puts out gigs worth going to and music worth listening to?
It's so hard now to go to a gig and find a band actually worth staying in the crowd for. How long has it been since you've seen a gig flyer and gone "Oh my gosh, I want to catch these bands!" rather than "Let's go to this gig just because it's a gig and there's nothing else to do."?
And on the subject of crowds? What happened to expression and enjoyment? Now, the pure moshers stay out of the moshpit because all the kids think moshing is to show who's the strongest, the most violent, the most obnoxious. Ten points if you shove a person, twenty if you kick somebody in the shoulder, fifty points in the face. When somebody falls in the pit, nobody now gives a shit, they trample over them, ignore them, no more friendship and unity of picking the person up, laughing at the fact that you shoved him by accident, and cheer on the band on stage. Gone are those days of pure bliss.
Sorry kids, but if you think being the way you are is contributing to making the scene a better place for everybody, take a walk down the streets, put on your headphones and beat up a random bloke, it would be similar.
With Love,
KL Mosher
Monday, October 1, 2012
Friday, November 18, 2011
Waking up
Hello again!
It's been a while, I have been away from KL for months now and re-visiting in January. Not much of a KL Mosher now, but a KL Mosher in heart anyway.
I have been communicating with friends from the music scene back in Malaysia to update on what's been going on gig-wise and generally the movement and progress of the music scene. And to be fair, after all that I have heard; not much is going on.
It seems like the scene left with me. All the gigs seem to have lessened, the bands have dissipated, the gigs are all monotonous and generally uninteresting. When I was back in KL, we had local gigs that were the hype of the month, the must-go. Now it seems like the only ones people look forward to are the international bands coming over to Malaysia.
Aside from Shock & Awe launch parties and the usual Laundry nights, what exactly have the music scene been doing to progress itself? It seems like many of my friends have said "I haven't been to a gig for a long time" which to me, is a definition of "There is nothing worth going to."
I was hoping to see the scene sparkle from far and hear of it growing and better itself whilst I'm gone, but I don't think that will ever happen.
I wonder what it will be like when I go back in January.
----------
With Love,
KL Mosher
It's been a while, I have been away from KL for months now and re-visiting in January. Not much of a KL Mosher now, but a KL Mosher in heart anyway.
I have been communicating with friends from the music scene back in Malaysia to update on what's been going on gig-wise and generally the movement and progress of the music scene. And to be fair, after all that I have heard; not much is going on.
It seems like the scene left with me. All the gigs seem to have lessened, the bands have dissipated, the gigs are all monotonous and generally uninteresting. When I was back in KL, we had local gigs that were the hype of the month, the must-go. Now it seems like the only ones people look forward to are the international bands coming over to Malaysia.
Aside from Shock & Awe launch parties and the usual Laundry nights, what exactly have the music scene been doing to progress itself? It seems like many of my friends have said "I haven't been to a gig for a long time" which to me, is a definition of "There is nothing worth going to."
I was hoping to see the scene sparkle from far and hear of it growing and better itself whilst I'm gone, but I don't think that will ever happen.
I wonder what it will be like when I go back in January.
----------
With Love,
KL Mosher
Friday, August 5, 2011
Gibson Les Paul Studio 1997 FOR SALE
Dear readers,
I have now moved to UK hence the reason why I no longer update my blog. But don't worry, I'm not dead yet, every so often, I will get news about the scene and maybe you might just find a new post here every do often, like now!
Someone's looking to sell his guitar.
You can take a look at the pictures on this Facebook album (actually I hope it's not on private or anything): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150742332980355.722801.553035354&l=076cf370ec&type=1
or below:
Information:
Gibson Les Paul Studio 1997
Selling for RM3500 (negotiable)
Original parts, good quality w/ Hardcase
Call 0122815361 (Moe) or FB contact @El Moe Hussaini / @Celine Belli
Serious buyers only.
-------------
With Love,
KL Mosher
I have now moved to UK hence the reason why I no longer update my blog. But don't worry, I'm not dead yet, every so often, I will get news about the scene and maybe you might just find a new post here every do often, like now!
Someone's looking to sell his guitar.
You can take a look at the pictures on this Facebook album (actually I hope it's not on private or anything): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150742332980355.722801.553035354&l=076cf370ec&type=1
or below:
Information:
Gibson Les Paul Studio 1997
Selling for RM3500 (negotiable)
Original parts, good quality w/ Hardcase
Call 0122815361 (Moe) or FB contact @El Moe Hussaini / @Celine Belli
Serious buyers only.
-------------
With Love,
KL Mosher
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Appreciate it, Malaysia.
So this is where we are.
A deadbeat. A scene falling into ashes. Everybody's just giving up.
Giving up their bands, giving up their gig-going, giving up their music, giving up their passion, giving up the phase of their life that would be considered the happiest in their entire lifespan.
Giving up.
That's the problem in this country isn't it? The problem we never escape from because everybody just loses their initiative to make something grow. This whole music scene thing? It's a joke. It's a complete joke. Only a handful takes it seriously and the rest of these kids? They just come and go, but they don't do so in a way that's even worth respecting.
They come, find faults, pick sides, judge, criticize, boycott, get bored and then, they go.
What we need, is a change, a new movement of the OLD folks, who have been passionate all their life, to find the opportunities to make more worthy shows. Our scene nowadays is filled with shows that lack in catching the crowd's eyes. They have quantity (say over 15 bands for a day), but they have no quality.
They start late.
Over ambitious.
Pricey entries.
What do you expect when you see an empty venue?
Who went to my birthday gig in October 2010 at Noisy Studio? It was small scaled. It was cheap. I provided free food & drinks. It was accessible. I had a good line up - a little too many I suppose, but at least I canceled just a few than tire everybody out by ending super late. And most importantly, at least everybody enjoyed it. So many people came, the studio couldn't even FIT everybody.
My point isn't bragging. My point is: if you want to do shows, know how to do it.
There is also no point in doing a show that's meant to be exquisite, without a big budget to fall on when profit never shows. One thing, guys, for a fact, is that all the nicer places are usually inaccessible. Again, how can you expect more than a handful if you spend loads of cash on an event with nice sound and equipment and quality yet the atmosphere and choice of performers do not reach the standard?
It's all about knowing what you are doing - starting small before taking out the big guns. You cannot learn to run before you learn to walk.
Have people perhaps thought of joining all these low budgeted/no-budget-at-all organizers (say Dyslexia, UxF, Nervhous, Vokill, etc...) and make one BIG organizing community?
And don't go "ew, communities" because that's just the biggest bullshit I can hear. If you call yourself hardcore or punk or whatever you say you are, you think you're 'individual'? Don't be fooled, you're part of a subculture, which is part of a group and is part of a community.
All I am saying is, since everybody now tries to do good shows without much budget, then failing and losing even MORE money, why don't everybody collaborate, split the costs and share profits? The shows then become more diverse regarding genre, places, crowd, bands, concept. At least with every show there is one organizing label that takes the higher stool depending on what type of event it is (Concert / International / Punk / Post-rock, etc).
Sure, many of the kids nowadays think the real musicians are not materialistic and dedicate solely to music. But you still need to understand business if you're going to want your music to get OUT THERE. Do you think Butterfingers just sat around waiting for their luck to come? Or OAG, or Pop Shuvit or Love Me Butch or Hujan or Yuna? No. They went out there, strategically, to find ways of branching their music out and pulling their money in.
'Tapi diaorang mainstream la...' - Honestly speaking, not really. Not all. And even if the successful ones are mainstream, they deserve it because their effort is there. I honestly am not much of a fan of a band called Bunkface but I have my small respects to the boys for doing it DIY with effort until they reach the top, top enough to charge ridiculous amounts for booking them. And then Sam starts the Azenders which is a completely different story.
I've strayed off topic, haven't I? Anyway. I'm just trying to say, there are so many bands with potential to make it big and so many organizers that can help the bands. With bands by your side, the organizers can go from just organizing gigs to being booking agents and work with other projects. Opportunities are there when you seek it.
The important thing though, is for everybody to appreciate and accept all the different genres in the scene. You don't have to enjoy them but there will never be progress if we always condemn each others' efforts and work. 'Ew, band indie'. Padahal band2 macam Thy Regiment bukan indie? Punk bands like Carbon4teen isn't indie? They're all Independent right? They aren't Indie Rock, but they ARE indie. Learn your terms well and know your definitions, because you only look a fool.
The scene is not about canalising and separating. There are no protocols or rules to music. If organizers themselves jeer at bands from other genres, they will never be exposed or mature enough to understand the purpose of creating platforms such as gigs for musicians to showcase their talent, whatever sounds they originate from. It's not about what u can or can't listen to. In order for the Malaysian scene to stay alive, everybody has to start supporting everybody.
You diss a shuffler for wearing a trash metal cap. So what? A techno-lover cannot enjoy hardcore? Are we so anal we have the right to stop people from coming close to our genres and scene? Aren't we, as musicians, organizers, scenesters, suppose to open our arms to all who want to venture?
Sure, a lot of these kids aren't passionate and don't stay for long, but everybody has the right to put their share, however little.
It is time we start to slash out all the negatives, use our common sense and gameplan and proper plotting to set the scene back on its feet. I'm leaving the country for over a year. I'd expect good changes whenever I return for vacation.
----------------
With Love,
KL Mosher
A deadbeat. A scene falling into ashes. Everybody's just giving up.
Giving up their bands, giving up their gig-going, giving up their music, giving up their passion, giving up the phase of their life that would be considered the happiest in their entire lifespan.
Giving up.
That's the problem in this country isn't it? The problem we never escape from because everybody just loses their initiative to make something grow. This whole music scene thing? It's a joke. It's a complete joke. Only a handful takes it seriously and the rest of these kids? They just come and go, but they don't do so in a way that's even worth respecting.
They come, find faults, pick sides, judge, criticize, boycott, get bored and then, they go.
What we need, is a change, a new movement of the OLD folks, who have been passionate all their life, to find the opportunities to make more worthy shows. Our scene nowadays is filled with shows that lack in catching the crowd's eyes. They have quantity (say over 15 bands for a day), but they have no quality.
They start late.
Over ambitious.
Pricey entries.
What do you expect when you see an empty venue?
Who went to my birthday gig in October 2010 at Noisy Studio? It was small scaled. It was cheap. I provided free food & drinks. It was accessible. I had a good line up - a little too many I suppose, but at least I canceled just a few than tire everybody out by ending super late. And most importantly, at least everybody enjoyed it. So many people came, the studio couldn't even FIT everybody.
My point isn't bragging. My point is: if you want to do shows, know how to do it.
There is also no point in doing a show that's meant to be exquisite, without a big budget to fall on when profit never shows. One thing, guys, for a fact, is that all the nicer places are usually inaccessible. Again, how can you expect more than a handful if you spend loads of cash on an event with nice sound and equipment and quality yet the atmosphere and choice of performers do not reach the standard?
It's all about knowing what you are doing - starting small before taking out the big guns. You cannot learn to run before you learn to walk.
Have people perhaps thought of joining all these low budgeted/no-budget-at-all organizers (say Dyslexia, UxF, Nervhous, Vokill, etc...) and make one BIG organizing community?
And don't go "ew, communities" because that's just the biggest bullshit I can hear. If you call yourself hardcore or punk or whatever you say you are, you think you're 'individual'? Don't be fooled, you're part of a subculture, which is part of a group and is part of a community.
All I am saying is, since everybody now tries to do good shows without much budget, then failing and losing even MORE money, why don't everybody collaborate, split the costs and share profits? The shows then become more diverse regarding genre, places, crowd, bands, concept. At least with every show there is one organizing label that takes the higher stool depending on what type of event it is (Concert / International / Punk / Post-rock, etc).
Sure, many of the kids nowadays think the real musicians are not materialistic and dedicate solely to music. But you still need to understand business if you're going to want your music to get OUT THERE. Do you think Butterfingers just sat around waiting for their luck to come? Or OAG, or Pop Shuvit or Love Me Butch or Hujan or Yuna? No. They went out there, strategically, to find ways of branching their music out and pulling their money in.
'Tapi diaorang mainstream la...' - Honestly speaking, not really. Not all. And even if the successful ones are mainstream, they deserve it because their effort is there. I honestly am not much of a fan of a band called Bunkface but I have my small respects to the boys for doing it DIY with effort until they reach the top, top enough to charge ridiculous amounts for booking them. And then Sam starts the Azenders which is a completely different story.
I've strayed off topic, haven't I? Anyway. I'm just trying to say, there are so many bands with potential to make it big and so many organizers that can help the bands. With bands by your side, the organizers can go from just organizing gigs to being booking agents and work with other projects. Opportunities are there when you seek it.
The important thing though, is for everybody to appreciate and accept all the different genres in the scene. You don't have to enjoy them but there will never be progress if we always condemn each others' efforts and work. 'Ew, band indie'. Padahal band2 macam Thy Regiment bukan indie? Punk bands like Carbon4teen isn't indie? They're all Independent right? They aren't Indie Rock, but they ARE indie. Learn your terms well and know your definitions, because you only look a fool.
The scene is not about canalising and separating. There are no protocols or rules to music. If organizers themselves jeer at bands from other genres, they will never be exposed or mature enough to understand the purpose of creating platforms such as gigs for musicians to showcase their talent, whatever sounds they originate from. It's not about what u can or can't listen to. In order for the Malaysian scene to stay alive, everybody has to start supporting everybody.
You diss a shuffler for wearing a trash metal cap. So what? A techno-lover cannot enjoy hardcore? Are we so anal we have the right to stop people from coming close to our genres and scene? Aren't we, as musicians, organizers, scenesters, suppose to open our arms to all who want to venture?
Sure, a lot of these kids aren't passionate and don't stay for long, but everybody has the right to put their share, however little.
It is time we start to slash out all the negatives, use our common sense and gameplan and proper plotting to set the scene back on its feet. I'm leaving the country for over a year. I'd expect good changes whenever I return for vacation.
----------------
With Love,
KL Mosher
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
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