Transcript of interview with Nickie Biondi (conducted by Amanda Lee), 16 January 2017, 11 am, Orchard Library.
Nickie is a 24-year old male Malay Singaporean who works as a video editor and sound engineer. Nickie likes English rock music and likes bands like the Beatles and Foo Fighters. He listens to pop music just to gauge what is trending nowadays. He thinks that there is a cultural connection, as people in Singapore consume the same English pop music as the people in US and UK do. Nickie listens to Western classical music once in a while and thinks that this music is still relevant as it is used in movies and video games today. He thinks that it is part of global culture but not very much part of Singaporean culture, as Singaporeans do not really listen to classical music. Nickie does not listen to Malay pop rock music but knows the ones that are popular and commonly played. He thinks that this music is very much influenced by the classic Malay pop rock music of the 70s and 80s and sounds very similar to it. Nickie does not listen to traditional Malay music but has heard of it. He listens to it to appreciate it rather than to see if it is enjoyable or not. He thinks this music takes him back to what it was like before. He does not think either genre expresses him better as a Malay person. Nickie does not listen to Chinese pop rock music but has heard it playing here and there. He has the same impression of it as he has of Malay pop music; in that the rhythms, melodies, and chords are always the same. Nickie finds that traditional Chinese music sounds a lot sharper than Western music. Nickie has heard of Chinese crossover music and thought that it made traditional Chinese music easier to digest for the average pop music consumer. Nickie did not particularly like the extract of experimental Chinese music. He found it hard to connect with as it was quite abstract. He thinks that one would listen to this music for the story in the music, and that one has to listen to it in its entirety to appreciate it. Nickie does not think that it expresses contemporary culture as it does not have much traction with people today. Nickie has played in several bands since secondary school. He plays the keyboard, drums, and percussion. He has been in his current band – a percussion group – for six years now. They perform original songs and they find it easier to write an original than to play a cover, as they would have to put a new spin on the sound for the cover. Nickie’s band has previously received support from NAC to perform at overseas festivals. Nickie thinks that NAC can further support bands by creating more venues for performing and rehearsing as venue options are limited at the moment. Nickie does not think that bands in Singapore need to do anything to get support from Singaporeans, as they are musicians who should not bend over backwards to make people listen to their music. Nickie thinks that Singaporeans associate bands with noise and a waste time until they need these same bands for entertainment purposes. Nickie thinks that bands in Singapore are more of an entertainment act and less of an art form.
“It could be like modern stuff like Foo Fighters. It could be old stuff like, er, like really classic – not really classic lah, really, really old things like the Beatles – stuff like that. So, ya. So it kind of goes – it – it kind of depends, lah. I will usually – usually I will listen to pop music as a – just as a gauge to see what is “in” nowadays.”
“I’ll listen to the production side of [rock music] because – as a – for the rock production side, there is a ... there’s a certain sound to it. So as like a sound engineer you kind of have to pinpoint, just to learn. It’s like a – it’s more of like study – study kind of thing.”
“Once you listen to rock music, it’s – you are set in a story. So you kind of go with it, lah. So that’s what you enjoy about rock – so that’s what I enjoy about rock music. It is not just a very flat thing – you listen to it, put it in your background. It’s like reading a book.”
“In the US and UK, what’s the [topic trending] these days, it’s the Top 40s that kind of stuff. Then suddenly you hear it on the radio. Then when you hear it on the radio, the radio DJs know that, “Okay, these people are listening to this kind of music.” So they’ll keep playing it over and over and over again. And eventually it becomes a ... it becomes like part of the culture in Singapore, lah.”
“[Western classical music] still kind of relevant sometimes. Like you watch movies, you would hear like small, small parts of it. Like, um, even in pop culture there are like games and stuff that still use classical music. Like recently there was a game that used, er, Clair de Lune (1890) as like their main like selling point – the motive. So it’s still relevant lah, I still listen to it.”
“[Western classical music is] a global thing because it’s – you wouldn’t say that – okay, classical music is – sorry, you wouldn’t say Singaporean music is built off of classical music. It’s not like Chinese music which is based off – a lot of Chinese music is based off of traditional Chinese kind of stuff.”
“But in Singapore, not really that much because we don’t really follow modern classical, er, we don’t really follow [Western] classical. We kind of follow pop. So ... back then, er, like let’s say in the US and the UK right, they would listen to old stuff, and they base it off of that. But for us we listen to the new stuff, we base it off of that. That’s what I believe lah, that’s why Singapore music tends to have a very modern kind of pop-alternative feel.”
“It’s very, very, very common to hear that same drumbeat. Like in all the Malay [pop] songs. It’s a very basic kind of stuff. Because these people are used to that sound. They know that sound kind of sells. So why not – why – when – experiment when you know your – we know your niche is for that, lah.”
“[Malay pop rock music is] very influenced by the old music. So the music you hear nowadays sounds very similar to the music [of] like the 70s, 80s. Which is not a bad thing ... but tends to get boring.”
“So when I listen to that kind of [traditional Malay] music, I don’t really listen to it – whether it’s enjoyable or not. If it’s enjoyable then – ya lah, it’s easier to appreciate. But ... you listen to it more [for] a traditional, cultural thing. Like it kind of takes you back to what they were before, lah.”
“Just the – [Chinese pop rock music] the same as Malay [pop], lah. It’s the same – as in my – my – my impression of it is the same impression I have of Malay music. It’s the same. It’s – they’re always – it’s the same few – same few melodies, same few chords, same few rhythms. Even though it’s modern, it’s still the same.”
“[Traditional Chinese music is] nice but if you want to talk about Eastern kind of music, I prefer Japanese, lah. Chinese music sounds very Chinese.”
“[Chinese crossover music] sounds like a YouTube cover. Sorry. It’s ... okay lah, when it comes to playing covers and this kind of thing where you are covering another – you are playing another style of music with certain kind of – with a different kind of instrument, there’s a certain disconnect to it unless you do it well. But for them – they made it easier to digest, lah.”
“If you get like younger people to listen to this kind of [Chinese crossover] music, er, like traditional Chinese music – they can’t – it’s really hard. They find it very hard to connect to it. But this kind of music, it kind of, er, like – what you said lah, what you said – it’s a crossover genre. So it makes ... makes it easier for ... people who aren’t familiar with the genre to accept the genre.”
“So [experimental Chinese music] might not be musical, but you are still telling a story with sound effects and stuff like that. Like it’s as if each instrument is kind of like a certain personality. So ... you are kind of telling a story by explaining what each person – each artiste is doing and stuff. So it’s the kind of thing where you cannot just come in halfway and expect to understand it.”
“Not that [experimental Chinese music] particularly but – okay lah, have to find one that is nice, lah. First of all, one that I can connect with. Because that was one quite abstract. Plus I’m not there so it’s a bit hard to experience something when you’re there specifically, you know.”
“Art forms are not always – they’re not always very understood by people. So not really, no. [Experimental Chinese music] takes awhile to understand. Even like – even if you listen to – like – that’s why experimental – experimental music doesn’t really have much traction.”
“We started playing percussion. Then slowly it progressed over the years, we started to be more modern. We phased out the samba instruments but we – because we started off as samba-percussionists, we had that kind of mindset to writing our music. So ... ya lah, we had – we just wrote around whatever we were comfortable with, lah.”
“When you play –when you play covers, you have to kind of give your own sound to it. But when you write an original, you are writing from scratch. So we find it easier to write an original – an original than to play a cover. Then that was what – that’s what we believe lah – anyway, lah.”
“I kind of prefer writing with other people. Because when you write – it’s basically somebody else writes the story, you paint the picture for them. I prefer doing that, lah.”
“It’s a waste of time until [Singaporeans] need a performing act. Then we are a waste of money, basically. No lah, say – musicians in Singapore, we’re more of entertainment. It’s – it’s more of an entertainment kind of thing. It’s not just a ... it’s not so much an art form as it is in other places.”
“More avenues for – for bands to thrive, lah. I mean, because right now the only – the – the thing about performing in Singapore is either you go big or you just stay small. The smallest space that is worthwhile to go out is at Aliwal [Arts Centre]. And one step from Aliwal is already Esplanade. There’s no – there aren’t any places to play.”
“I don’t see why the bands should be doing much [to get more support from Singaporeans]. It’s not what – the bands go to people’s houses go clean-up their house, go clean-up for them? The musicians are musicians. So it is your craft, you should let people enjoy your craft, lah. You shouldn’t really like bend – bend over backwards just because – just to make people listen to your music.”
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