The Strongest Survives

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

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.

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With Love,
KL Mosher

Left wing, right wing, you can stuff the lot

It may be true that actions speak louder than words, but people forget nowadays that the real influences come from what we say. Lyrics, quotes from famous/favourite people, quotes from films. Jokes, riddles, stories, rumours... all these words that stick to our heads and stay because they left an impression on us. How many people have used, re-used, changed and edited the quote "To be or not to be", for example?
Words. Nothing more, nothing less. I do not care how many people read my lyrics, my poems, my prose on things that matter to me, but as long as I know I've managed to express myself, that's enough. Isn't it?

Violence? Forthright actions? What do you gain from it, except hurt, anger and enemies?
Many say they want to fight the oppression and injustice of the right wing, political, racist violence by fighting back with their own,
but hey, doesn't that make you the same as them?
You're lining yourself up in the same boundaries as the ones you hate and that makes you no better.
It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, when you act the way your enemies do, you're equal to them.
You call yourself a leader but you're just another carbon copy of the ones you despise,
because your actions speak no louder than the ones you victimize,
I'm not saying we should pity the ones who cause us all this headache,
I'm not saying we should listen to the politically minded who try to change our ways.

Sometimes it's true that anger takes a toll and you can't help yourself, but if you can't help yourself, do you think anyone else can? Do you think you can change?

When you read the news, you shake your head, but then you go and do something just the same,
and you're always the one pointing fingers,
like you do not dare to blame yourself for your own actions.
So who is the coward, you or them?

When you act with violence, you show a weak mind, and with a weak mind comes a loss of respect and pride from those by your side, and you end up standing alone with nobody to turn to.
Of course I believe in standing your own ground, but I won't want to stand my own ground if I did things I'm ashamed of.

All I am saying is if they fight us with control,
we fight them with restraint.

No use shouting profanity and ruining what they own,
when we can silently compile our thoughts and make a movement grow,
through speeches, through ideas we can rise against
not through violence, not through threats, not through physical provocation.

I believe strongly in determination, and if we are determined to change things, we can do it, but there is no need for all the hatred and all the angry actions that you will look back on and regret. We should start a sort of weekly gathering, where we can share our own ideas on an individual topic, and come up with ways to make it better. Without a rash mind, without irritation, just pure, civilized, sophisticated discussions.
We don't need to be part of a group, part of a class, part of anything materialistic and tangible to share our ideas, we just need to have the same minds, the same passion, the same determination.

Propagandas, zines, banners, poems, placards, flyers, blogs, websites, lyrics... all these form of expression we can use to get our words out there to the world, to the ones we want to attack, without physically attacking them.

As they aimlessly opress us, we stand and sing,
then we'll see in the end who's side will win.

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With Love,
KL Mosher

An education on unity

Hello everybody, I'm back from the long break I needed.

Back to the scene, back to reality, and I'm opening my eyes and seeing nothing but conflicts. I feel I should take on this in a less aggressive tone. I want to talk to you guys. I want you guys, you music-lovers, you giggers, you musicians, to read what is in my mind.

"Where have all the kids gone?"

Ever noticed how the crowds in our gigs have minimized? A venue that used to be jam-packed now result in handfuls. Ever noticed? No, probably not, because you didn't attend the last gig.

I understand, going to gigs every week is a tough thing to keep up if you're busy and have another life to live. But there are many people who can juggle their personal and music life, even combining both together. Why? Because they love, truly love music.

I'm not pointing fingers, and saying those who do not attend all the gigs are not music-lovers. But the ones I'm truly disappointed in are the ones who claim to be "a total gigger" or "budak gig/hardcore/punk", but never bother to attend the shows. Those who say "I love you, (band name), I want to see you live!" but never attend the band's gigs.

Mahal la, jauh la, tak de semangat la... Hm. Is that really passion? Think for yourselves. I know a vocalist of a band *name disclosed*, who has achieved a masters degree, working, going into full adulthood and playing in a band. There are many like these. How do they manage it? Because they want the scene to survive.

without you, without us, the scene will not exist.

Come back, kids. Don't talk about "a music scene" if you're not contributing to it.

Another thing that has always lacked in our Malaysian scene: girls. I think girls only take up about 15% of the whole scene? Girls that rock out, I mean.

Yes, we see many girls, but those girls are usually girlfriends to artists or girlfriends of the guys that mosh. How many girls to we see going crazy in the crowd? Not many. To be honest, most of the girls in KL who appear in gigs often... are all my friends. And that's pretty pathetic.

I want the girls that read this to know that it is not something menacing, our music scene is not a threat, it's not dangerous. Don't be intimidated to go to a gig to see your favourite band just because you think you might get trampled. It doesn't always happen that way. If you have the urge to rock out listening to a band on Facebook, you can have as much right to rock out at their shows. Show your faces, ladies. It's time we relive the grrrl power.

"Different genres, different tastes"

The amount of endurance we give to those who say "I am a hardcore fan only/indie fan only". Stop with that. Are you saying you have never grown up listening to Backstreet Boys? Never once head-banged to AC/DC, or never sung to Hujan? Be realistic.

You can prefer a certain type of genre, or band, but that shouldn't stop you from supporting other bands, other genres. The scene is not about pick-and-choose. It's about unity. It's about sharing with each other the different sounds we can create for each other. It's not about discriminating or judging or disliking. It's not about fighting in the crowds, it's not about getting annoyed at people who are jumping around too much at a band you don't like.

It's about being there to support. If you don't like the band, don't be an ass. Just walk away from the crowd and sit out until the next band. Don't you hate it when you're enjoying a band and there's someone beside you talking shit about the band? Well, don't be that person.

"Too much of the same doses"

Another reason perhaps: everybody's getting bored of the same line-ups, same places, same people. Understandable. But then again, if we never support the scene, how can the scene move forward, and change? If no new bands sprout out, if no one organizes/attends gigs, how can the line-ups and how can the scene vary?

If you're really a die-hard music supporter, you wouldn't be fussy over who's in the scene and who's performing. You should support whoever it is that's playing, playing for you. Like I mentioned earlier, be there for the ones you love, and respect those that you dislike; they are still musicians.

"We need the unity."

We can't continue living in a scene where there are all these people and communities who are against each other, or trying to create trouble amongst themselves.

We need a mixture, a mutual understanding, a crowd that has a choice to sit out or be part of enjoying the bands that perform. A good example is this year's KL BIG PARTY.

It was a mixture of bands. Indie, hardcore, metal, ska, everything. On one side, I see sooo many people attending, and it's great. It feels like there's unity.... until you go into the audience, and you see hardcore kids getting annoyed or taking the piss of the indie kids.

Guys, don't label yourselves. You're just... people. Humans. The whole point of these type of gigs is to allow everybody to have a chance to accept one another's music. It's frustrating that it's got to the point where we have to be taught to accept, when it should be automatic.

These gigs are meant to allow everybody to unite together and enjoy together.

If there's a ska band, come and skank and enjoy. Or just sit out. Don't stand in the crowd and complain about being shoved around.

If there's an indie band, come and pogo and enjoy. Or just sit out. Don't stand in the crowd and complain about being around overhyper people.

If there's a metal band, come and headbang and enjoy. Or just sit out. Don't stand in the crowd and complain about being knocked in the head.

If there's a hardcore band, come and release and enjoy. Or just sit out. Don't stand in the crowd and complain about being kicked in the face.

It is mutual understanding we need. You know how the crowds work for different sorts of music. It's cool that you want to check out the band playing, but you can't expect to be listened to when you say "Dude why the fck did you kick me!?" when everyone else in the crowd is kicking around. If you want to be safe, if you want to watch the band undisturbed... move away a little bit. This is just how it works. This will help create peace, help create a happy atmosphere in the gigs we go to.

And those who do enjoy and pogo/skank/headbang, etc etc... if you get mad at another person for hurting you... that's just... wrong. Before, we would accidentally bump a person, and end up being friends with them. Now, it's automatically, "Eh, babi la kau!"... Why?

Or those people who purposely kick and hurt people? I understand hardcore moves, I do, people go crazy. But whoever they hurt, whoever they touch, they don't do it on purpose. They don't purposely look for someone to hurt. It just happens because everyone is doing the same thing. Those people who try to hurt a certain person in the crowd, just get lost.......

Readers, whatever type of genre you listen to, I want you to know that the importance of music doesn't lie in the differences but the similarities. Music is melody, all sorts of genres are the same melody. One melody. Why should we keep up the conflicts and disputes, when we should be busy looking for better gig venues, new bands and contributing to a living scene?

Put away those angry emotions, and just come together to keep the scene very much alive.

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With Love,

KL Mosher