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Monthly Archives: April 2017

The Singaporean (mis/)conception of musicians

April 27, 2017 by Sasha M
Musings
career, conception, cover music, covers, industry, local, misconception, music, originals, perspective, profession, professional, release, Singapore

On Tuesday, Kevin Mathews (longtime musician, artist, music journalist and main man behind Power of Pop) posted this on his Facebook wall (excerpt taken from private post, used with permission):

“Where are you playing?” is a common question I get when I mention that I am a musician to an new acquaintance or even an old one. This query demonstrates the general public’s understanding of what a musician does in Singapore i.e. playing cover music at some local pub or club. It’s not their fault, that (mis)conception is actually true and as long as 99% of music being made in Singapore every day of the week are covers, our music scene will continue to lag far behind the local film and theatre scenes[…]

His post really struck me, as someone who has been doing music and carving out a name for himself for many years, still experiences the same attitudes towards music from people around him as I do, even though I’m just starting out.

I know what he means when he says most of the music being made in Singapore are covers, though. Most musicians don’t write original music (I can even speak from experience on this). And those who do, still need to perform covers to get a slot in a bar gig, or so that people will listen to their YouTube channel.

Let me get this straight, though. This post isn’t about whether or not there is original music in Singapore. There are tons of original songs released by Singapore artists and bands. But I may only know them because I’m a singer myself. This post is about the general conception of music in Singapore by people who are not in the music scene, who may not even realize there’s tons of original music out there, and that the local music scene isn’t all about cover bands playing nights at bars.

On this specific topic of people’s conceptions, I can share some comments people have said to me in the past:

—

“Where are you playing?” (Surprise, surprise!)

“You should sing those oldies, classics, songs everyone knows and can sing along to”

“You’re doing music as a career? How long are you giving yourself to make it?”

“What did you study in school? Oh, you went to university??”

“You know what you should do, you should sing Chinese or Malay songs, then you can really make it”

“You don’t have a nice voice, how are you going to become a singer?” (This was MY MOM btw)

“Your voice is so good! You really sound like [Selena Gomez / Shakira / whichever person’s song I’m singing at the time]”

“Oh, you love singing, right? We have the perfect event for you to showcase your talents. There’s no pay, but you’ll get a stage to perform!”

“We know as an artist you’re looking to take your career to the next level… that’s why we’re offering you the chance to perform for free at our international events. If you join us and pay us membership fees”

—

Now I’m not trying to diss the people who said these, I know they said it with the best of intentions (well, some of them at least). But I’m also painfully aware of the vast difference in perspective they and I have towards making music.

On a positive note, though, I have received a few very encouraging comments. Some people said they would support me in my music (and they aren’t even musicians, bless them). Others, who are from a different country than Singapore and apparently have an understanding that being a musician is something professional, asked me things like “How long do you rehearse your singing every day?” or “What are your next plans?” I’m really grateful to people like these, who give my profession credibility and make me think that I could give it more credibility too, lol.

By the way, I also write original music, I just haven’t released them yet. Releasing new music isn’t something you do just like that! But I did perform an original somewhat recently:

Me performing my original “Inner City” at the MISI showcase last month

If you’re a musician too, what are some of the funny comments you’ve received from others? Feel free to share them in the comments below! 🙂

P.S. I finally set up a Mailchimp account! So now you can subscribe to my mailing list 😀 You’ll notice the sign up forms on the sidebar, and also on my homepage. Just for now, I’ll include it right here for your convenience too. It’s for important updates only, so if you want to make sure you’re updated about upcoming performances, music releases and other exciting things, do sign up yea! Thank you so much! ♥

Fire Save Us collaboration showcase – Music, Photography and Writing

April 26, 2017 by Sasha M
Stories
album, collaboration, discussion, epic music, events, exhibition, facilities, Fire Save Us, gathering, music school, panel, tour, Yong Siew Toh

Last Saturday, I had the honour of being invited to the FIRE, SAVE US event which is this:

The team behind this initiative did a project which was something like Humans of Singapore, gathering people’s stories about their struggles in various aspects of life, then posting them online as a smorgasbord of various human experiences.

At the event, they put up all these stories and photos in a mini exhibition:

Who’s that?!

They also had a panel discussion with four very cool people, all of whom do different things (music, sketching, animal welfare, and string theory). Very, very different things. And they had wonderful conversations about collaborations (and how various disciplines lend themselves differently to this), contributing to social capital through the pursuit of their passions, transcending politics through their work, dealing with bad press and keeping to your core identity, and many other topics which were very interesting. They also answered audience questions with much insight and maturity. I came away feeling impressed by the panelists’ depth of knowledge and maturity of experiences.

They also had a delicious reception. Very worth noting. I enjoyed it tremendously. 😀

After the event, Stasha (organizer) gave us a tour of the Yong Siew Toh music facilities… the school has fantastic facilities. Makes me wonder why I hadn’t applied to study at Yong Siew Toh… hahaa

And here are some Instastory snippets of the day~

Okay let’s not forget that FIRE, SAVE US is culminating in an EPIC MUSIC ALBUM composed by the mega talented Iliya Zaki, and it is set to hit digital stores pretty soon. PLUS I’ll have a track on that album too! Sooo watch out for that!!! 😀

Climbing an Active Volcano (Krakatau)

April 21, 2017 by Sasha M
Stories
adventure, boat trip, camping, discovery, exploration, hiking, Indonesia, snorkeling, travel, volcano, weekend

Hey, it’s been so long since I last blogged! My apologies for the silence. I’ve been doing some freelance video work (yes I’m a freelance videographer!) and writing new music. I also have a new music collaboration that I’m very happy about, it’s very hard to find people you work well with and I’m super glad to have clicked with this person. But more info on that next time 😉

Meanwhile, I am here to entertain you with random stories with a reeeeally tenuous link to music, ha ha. Over the Easter long weekend, some friends and I went on a trip to climb the volcano, Krakatau (Indonesia, between Java and Sumatra).

Krakatau eruption in 2008. What a dramatic photo! (Photo from Wikipedia)

Quick intro: In 1883, the volcano Krakatau exploded, blowing up its neighbouring volcanic islands and leaving only half standing where three stood previously. It also caused a tsunami that was massive and killed 36,000 people. 50 years later Anak Krakatau, a smaller volcanic island, emerged. Apparently it’s been growing 4m every year. It’s very much active and the last activity was just last month. Anak Krakatau is where my friends and I hiked and camped overnight on this trip.

We had a tour guide arrange everything for us, and I must say he did an excellent job. He had us picked up from the airport at 11pm, and after the 3h+ drive to Carita where he stays, it was 3am and he let us sleep in his house, on mattresses. His wife even served us tea/coffee and some homemade banana fritters in the morning. Such a kind family!

Samsoel looking for a way to hack a path in the jungle for us to trek

This is our guide, Samsoel. He took care of everything for us and made sure we were well provided for. You have no idea how much you’ll appreciate having soft tissues at hand until you’re stuck on an island with no modern amenities.

Rakata Island

Our first stop was Rakata Island (1.5h from Carita by boat). Once also a volcanic island, it’s now dormant, and really only half of it is left after the massive Krakatau explosion that blasted off its other half and the other two volcanic islands as well. Now Rakata is covered in lush greenery and a thriving ecosystem thanks to the nutrients from the lava flows.

There were tons of mushrooms, like these ones

Nice (and old) trees

And some important inhabitants

Samsoel brought us to see cool stuff on the island, like lava boulders and charcoal walls.

Samsoel at a lava boulder

I lava seeing stuff like these

Charcoal is cool too. Until it’s used to start a fire. Then it’s hot

If you look closely, there’s a tree in the background totally covered in bracket fungus

Cute shrooms on a log

Cute fruit you should probably not eat

After the nature walk, we went back to the beach and had lunch. There, we saw some other friendly island inhabitants.

Like this charming old monitor lizard

This monitor lizard was so old, he couldn’t even find the chicken bones my friend threw to him. They ended up getting found by another younger monitor lizard. At least they didn’t go to waste!

Leaving Rakata

Next, we headed to Anak Krakatau.

Approaching Anak Krakatau

This volcanic island is called Anak Krakatau, or ‘Child of Krakatau’, because it emerged from the spot where the original Krakatau was. Kind of easier than thinking up a new name for it too, I suppose.

One thing’s for sure: Anak Krakatau is beautiful.

Black sand and white pebbles. This island is so beautiful.

Writing on the super fine sand made of volcanic ash is the most satisfying feeling ever

More pebbles

Samsoel’s crew set up a KITCHEN and started cooking!

First thing they served were these yummy tapioca chips with ketchup and chili sauce

After playing around a lot, jamming on a ukulele and a kompang (Indonesian hand drum) (I told you this post was related to music! !!), and napping, it was evening. Like 30 minutes before sunset, we decided we would hike up the volcano.

“Just wear your slippers, it’s okay,” says our guide cheerily. We all wore slippers (that’s flip-flops, btw). As we went up, we passed an earlier group – all wearing hiking shoes. Wonderful.

Crater rim!

We didn’t make it to the crater rim because it’s too dangerous to go there now. People are only allowed to hike there when the volcano isn’t very active. And it’s been active very recently, as I mentioned.

Also, it was getting dark really fast… so we had to slip-slide our way down very fine ash particles with increasingly poor vision. In slippers. What an adventure.

We did get a beautiful sunset, though!

Happily, on our return we were rewarded with a most deliciously cooked meal by Samsoel and his crew.

The best dinner you’ll ever have on a deserted volcanic island

We ate like kings. And slept in tents on mattresses. Subsequently getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. (We did bring insect repellant, but…)

Oh, another discovery we made was that there was a SPRING WATER SHOWER on the island. So we could bathe in mineral water! It was super cool. No pics of bathing, tho, sorry.

The next morning we took another quick hike up the volcano to see a massive tephra boulder, and a seismic activity recorder, neither of which I photographed because I was just dying of heat. After packing up camp, we took a boat ride around the island, and hit some snorkeling spots (actually we went to one on the first day too – tons of snorkeling).

One of the snorkeling spots was a place where hot water was emerging from the sand! (Photo by me)

At another spot, aside from tons of beautiful fish, we also saw plenty of starfish (which were way less camera shy) (Photo by Bruno TomTom)

We had to dive down pretty deep to see this strange thing (Photo by Bruno TomTom)

Anak Krakatau, as seen from the boat trip

It was a really awesome and fun trip (especially with friends). Samsoel especially was an excellent guide, if you’re interested in doing this trip too you can contact him through his website. Go in a group so it’s cheaper per pax.

I have to say though, camping on an island with no amenities isn’t for everybody, some might find it a bit too rough. For us, we all enjoyed it, but we were super grateful also to check into a hotel the next day and have a good shower and a nice bed to sleep in!

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