Transcript of interview with Afiq Yusof (conducted by Amanda Lee), 15 January 2016, 7 pm, Skype.
Afiq is a 26-year old male Malay Singaporean who works in film production. Afiq likes rock bands like 30 Seconds to Mars and likes pop music in general. He thinks there is a cultural connection to some extent as Singaporeans and Asians can connect with universal themes like love but not with themes like drinking. Afiq listens to a little bit of Western classical music but does not have a favorite piece. He thinks that it is the foundation of pop rock music and punk rock music. Afiq thinks that it is global culture as it is mainstream and has influenced many contemporary musicians’ works. Afiq likes Malay pop rock music by bands like Wings and likes traditional Malay music by P. Ramly. Afiq identifies better with Malay pop rock music as it is more contemporary, and thinks that his parents will identify better with traditional Malay music. Afiq knows some Chinese pop songs but does not know much about the genre. Afiq has heard traditional Chinese music through his secondary school Chinese orchestra. He does not think that traditional Chinese music expresses a cultural connection as he thinks that Chinese Singaporeans are not so interested in traditional Chinese music. Afiq liked and found Chinese crossover music interesting. He thought it sounded more Chinese than Western. Afiq thought that experimental Chinese music was something that he needed to use his imagination to try to understand the story in the music. He does not think that it is global culture as it expresses only the Chinese culture best. Afiq thinks that Singapore music draws influence from international sources since it is a globalized country. Afiq thinks that Singlish comedy songs cannot represent Singapore, as people might think that Singaporeans cannot speak proper English. Afiq thinks that older National Day songs created an authentic feeling of group belonging but not the newer songs. Afiq is the bass player for his band, Gilded Edge. He has been playing in the band for two years. He got interested in the idea of playing in a band when he saw a few rock bands playing when he was younger. Afiq thinks that one does not just invest time and money in one’s band, but heart and soul as well. Afiq’s band finds opportunities to perform through networking and by performing as much as they can to get word of their band out. Afiq thinks that more support can be given to Singaporean bands depending on the specific help that they need.
“Through the years they actually have ex – experimented with their sound, and like – ya, you get the current 30 Seconds to Mars. And even that – with the current line-up they – they did not lose the essence of – you know, er, their idea of – of rock music.”
“I think for – for English pop rock music, or for pop music – you know, er, how – how – how it – how, er, how well the – the connection is just established between the – the musician and the audience – the listeners is lyrics.”
“You know, people just relate to [English pop rock music], you know. But – you know – some of them can actually take it as metaphors at the same time. Ya. So ... yes and no – you know for – that’s why when certain Asians listen to English music – you know – they can just shut it down and say it’s trash, that kind of thing.”
“I don’t have a favorite piece [of classical music]. I used to teach – I use to freelance – I use to teach music in a – in a music school so – you know – when – when the piano teachers, you know when they – they – their – ya, they, um, teach their students – you know – all these pieces right, I – I get to hear it lah.”
“For classical music especially, it’s probably the fundamentals or the roots of pop rock music. Ya, as funny as it’s – it may sound but you know, classical music – and then when you get like modern pop rock, you know, punk rock, it’s – it’s all related to classical music.”
“The [Western classical] pieces – you know, er, have reached – you know, er, globally, whether you hear it directly or indirectly, or subconsciously, actually you’re getting influenced by – by it, right? It’s – and then – when – when, er, when somebody else tries to actually compose their own music, you know, they tend to actually fall – fall along the same, er, the same kind of structure.”
“I guess like one of my favorites, er, my – my – my favorite Malay artiste – singer – it’s ... it’s a – it’s this Malaysian band – they’re called Wings. Er, the singer – his – ya, er, is Awie. His name’s Awie, ya, actually – I don’t know if you heard of it. A-W-I-E.”
“[P. Ramly is] phenomenal, you know. I – I – I would – like some of hi pieces – I mean ... I have forgotten which year he was, er, active in the film and music industry. But – ya, er, he’s – he’s that kind of artiste where only after his passing, where the Malay community actually – they – they look back at all his works and they’re like, “Oh,” “Wow, er, like what a legend he is.”
“Mm, so sorry I’ve, er, I’ve not. But Jay – Jay Chou. Er, ya ... I guess, you know, when – when you hear it on radio, er, it’s – it’s a catchy tune, “Hey, I know this song.” But – you know, ya, I just – but I just don’t know what it means lah, but you just know that song.”
“When I was in secondary school, you know, the school had a Chinese orchestra band. So they do – they do performances every now and then, for – for, ya. So ... it’s interesting actually, I mean like the size of the band, like – it’s almost the size of a choir. And ya, the – and then you know, um, other than that, I’ve – I’ve, er, I’ve heard of Chinese classical music, um, through local plays.”
“The Singaporean Chinese are actually very, er, they’re more ... you know, they’re more open to – to, er, to other things to – to so many other things. But not – but unfortunately not their – not their culture itself. Like, er, traditional Chinese music. I mean they would – for the young Chinese crowd they would – they would actually invest on – their time on, you know, er, on pop music.”
“Ya, I actually like [Chinese crossover music]. I – I – I do, I think the – it’s – it’s – it’s really interesting like how they use – you know – traditional Chinese instruments to actually do the leads for – for – for the song.”
“[Chinese crossover music] sounded really Chinese, actually. I thought it sounded more Chinese than it was Western. I mean, the only thing West – Western about – you know – the video was the fact that they were Adele songs. And – ya, and the titles, I guess.”
“No, I wouldn’t enjoy [experimental Chinese music]. But I can actually imagine something, you know. It – that kind of music is something that I have to use my imagination to actually – you know, er, ya ... at least try to understand it, lah.”
“You know, some of us are very Westernized you know, when it comes to – you know – how – ya, from song writing to even their way of living, or whatsoever. So we – the fact that we actually, er, we can engage ourselves to – to all these sounds around us, you know, it shows the potential of what Singapore music could – could actually be influenced – to be influenced by.”
“People might just look [at it] as if it’s a ... it’s somebody who’s trying to speak English, but they just cannot – it doesn’t come off right lah, doesn’t come out right. But for Singapore – Singapore itself, yes, it can be used to represent Singapore music. But on a global scale, they would take time.”
“In the past, yes. I believe – I would believe in the past, yes. But today ... the – for the – for the past few years, the National Day songs and community songs have not – I believe it has not – you know – served any justice.”
“I think 53A is a really good band, you know. For this year, they got their – I mean like – I thought they got their artiste right, but the song was just not right. So ... ya, and 53A is known for being a cover band, you know. And then suddenly they come off to represent an original tune, to be – you know – the National Day song, and it – it just, it just doesn’t fit in nicely.”
“When I was younger I saw a few rock bands playing. Er, like, er, I was listening to like rock music even as a kid. But only when I was a teenager, was when I was like “Hey, I – you know, I want to actually do that for a living,” that kind of thing.”
“When I first started playing for a band, you know, they are – not all journeys are smooth, so you know. You – you question at – at – at that points of – ya, at times where – you know – it’s covering a certain, er, er, is covering a certain artiste or a band more important than writing your own stuff? And then you know – at the same time, you know, the technical aspects also plays a part.”
“There was so much I depended on that band, er, you know, like I – I – I just musically I actually – not say I give my all, but I give what I could give, ya. And especially with – you know, with being in a band, it’s not just time and money as an investment, it’s actually yourself, your heart and soul. Because you – you put out – you put out what you can do out there.”
“I mean, we do send emails here and there and try to like make contacts, make friends, making sure that we – we actually – ya, we’re in touch with the right kind of people. So at anytime we wanna – you know – go out there and – you know – perform, ya, we ... we – we do have that opportunity still. The other is just to go out there and perform, keep performing and stuff.”
“For some bands I – I don’t think money is what they actually – you know – I mean, money is what we need but it’s not the kind of help certain bands, er, needed – that kind of thing. Maybe ya, certain – certain artistes they – they didn’t need the money, they just – they just needed like tools or – you know – manpower for that kind of – just to get an EP out, just to get their whatever recordings out.”
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