Transcript of interview with Deborah Emmanuel (conducted by Amanda Lee), 16 January 2017, 6 pm, Skype.
Deborah is a 28-year old female Eurasian-Malayalee Singaporean who is a writer and performer. Deborah rarely listens to English pop rock music. She is open to listening to it if the music were made by good artistes, or if she appreciated the artiste’s message or style. Deborah is not so sure if there is a cultural connection but thinks that there is an influence through English pop rock music. Deborah listens to Western classical music by Tchaikovsky and Chopin. She finds that the music stimulates her and calms her. Deborah thinks that this music is global culture as they are played in major cities all over the world in five-star hotels. She does not think that people need to actively preserve this music as it is popular and still widely appreciated. Deborah does not listen to Malayalee pop music but used to listen to it when she was younger. She liked that music as it was dramatic. Deborah has listened to traditional Malayalee music before. She listens to the Coke Studio sessions and enjoys their music as it is a combination of old and new influences. Deborah prefers traditional Malayalee music as there are less elements of Western pop music in it. Deborah does not listen to Chinese pop music. She has heard some traditional Chinese music and likes the slower, falsetto-style songs. She does not know if traditional Chinese music expresses a cultural connection of Chinese Singaporeans with mainland China as she does not fall into either category. Deborah liked Chinese crossover music and appreciated that they were using traditional instruments to perform a modern pop song. She thought that it had more of a Chinese influence as the sounds coming from the instruments are not familiar to a Western ear. Deborah liked experimental Chinese music and liked the parts where there were more conventional sounds. She considered it to be good music as she thought there was artistry involved and because she could feel the flow of the song as they were performing it. Deborah does not think it expresses contemporary culture as the instruments come from a traditional background. Deborah likes bands and artistes from the Syndicate label in Singapore. Besides those acts, she does not appreciate the music made by other Singaporean bands or artistes as they lack originality and new artistic visions. She thinks that there is no Singaporean musical style as a lot of the influences are borrowed from Western pop music. However, she has noticed that the local rap artistes bring Singlish into their music and it is something that is distinctively Singaporean. Deborah thinks that Singlish comedy songs can represent Singapore on the global stage if the music was done tastefully. However, she does not think that there are any good Singlish comedy songs at this point in time. Deborah thinks that National Day songs can help Singaporeans get in touch with their patriotism, and are useful to help them feel connected to Singapore. However, she does not think that they are great music. Deborah does not think that there is a musical genre that represents Singapore as it is too young to have an identity, and because the present Singaporean identity is a combination of lots of other identities. Deborah is the front woman and lyricist for her band. Deborah started a band as she was interested in poetry and singing, and she wanted to create music with meaning. The band plays dub, reggae, jungle, and psy-trance music. The band was formed as they enjoy making music and they wanted to make music that had positive energy and could fight oppression. They do not have much difficulty finding opportunities to perform. Deborah’s band has had sponsorship from the National Arts Council for an appearance at the Eclipse Festival and for the production of their EP. Deborah thinks that NAC can further support bands by offering workshops for young musicians to explore and be exposed to diverse genres of music, as well as campaign to have young people make original music. She thinks bands can get more support from Singaporeans if they were to get better at talking about their music, and by creating music with purpose and sincerity. Deborah does not think that there is a unique Singaporean band culture, unless it is the culture of cover bands.
“I don’t really think that, er, genre is so much what matters to me. Er, it’s more about the quality of the artiste, or the album that decides or determine whether or not I choose to listen to it. Like it’s not really, er, a genre-related except for something like symphonic death metal.”
“I’ll totally be open to listening to English pop rock if it was a good artiste that was making it. Or if I appreciated the artiste’s message, or style, or voice or, er, competitions, ya.”
“I guess if [English pop rock music] comes from there, ya. I mean, if you’re talking about like pop rock music that’s made in the US, UK, Australia, and then it’s played here then ... I guess young people here will be influenced by it. Ya. I don’t know about connection, er, as much as I think influence.”
“I really like Tchaikovsky ... and Chopin.”
“I guess a build in my chest sometimes. Like – like a tightness in my chest, er, when – when it reaches, er, moments of crescendo.”
“I guess [Western classical music is] global culture. Because it’s – it’s, er, distinctive. Um, and played in lots of places. Every major city has like a five-star hotel, and I guess in a lot of Western-owned five star hotels like Hilton or Four Seasons ... like the music you’re going to hear is – is close to Western classical music.”
“I don’t speak Malayalee either. Like it’s ... it’s like my heritage but I’m completely, um, I’m separated from – from the language, I guess. When I was growing up [Malayalee pop music] was always played around my house though. But, um, but I don’t really live with my aunt – so – my family – anymore so, I don’t have that influence.”
“[Malayalee pop music] was dramatic, er, it also made me feel stuff. Er, like – I – I love the – the sound of classical ... classical singers. Like classically-trained Indian singers. They can do things with their voice, um, that other performers in other traditions can’t really do. Um, so I really appreciate the sounds that they make.”
“In the same way as pop rock, like if it was an amazing musician, I’ll be listening to it for sure. I’ve listened to, er, the Coke Studio sessions on YouTube quite a bit. And sometimes there’s, um, Malayalee performers on there. But their – so their performers were trained in, um, traditional, er, instruments.”
“I prefer traditional [Malayalee] music. Er, because there are less elements of Western pop music in it. I’m – I’m – I really don’t appreciate, um, the four chords. Like – ya.”
“I enjoy [traditional Chinese music] for sure. Um, especially kind of like slower, um, falsetto-style songs. Like you know how I was talking about how the Indian classical singing, it has very specific register, and that kind of thing. And definitely in traditional Chinese music, the – the women that sing have like a real quality to their voice that you can’t really get anywhere else. And I appreciate it.”
“I guess that’s what I appreciated about [Chinese crossover music]. That like they were still using kind of old school instrumentation, um, with a modern twist.”
“I mean, clearly [Chinese crossover music] a combination, right? But what you’re asking whether or not I think it’s more one than the other, right? Um, er, I guess I would say that like it’s still Chinese. Ya. It’s still Eastern. Because like the sounds that you’re hearing are not – are not familiar to a Western ear. It’s only the song structure that’s familiar.”
“I liked [experimental Chinese music]. There were parts of it that I definitely liked more than other parts. And they tended to be the parts that had more of a – a conventional sound to them. So ... ya. But I liked it, ya, I enjoyed it.”
“I thought there that was artistry involved [in experimental Chinese music]. And I thought that the musicians knew how to use their instruments really well. Um, and I felt the flow of the song while they were performing it.”
“No [experimental Chinese music does not express contemporary culture]. Er, because all the instruments that were being played were more of a traditional and Chinese background. I think that they could be appreciated on the global stage, but they very much are clearly – more Chinese-centric, ya.”
“There’s a couple of, er, acts that I really appreciate. I really appreciate, um, Vandetta and .gif, and they’re all part of the Syndicate label. So anyone on the Syndicate label, I’m – I’m into it.”
“But most – most music that comes ... out of [Singapore] has got nothing that I really appreciate in terms of originality or ... new artistic visions. Like – or experimental anything. Ya. I mean, there’s – ya, there’s – there’s, um, there’s some acts that I would like go out of my way to see. But they’re – they’re not – they’re not anybody who’s on the radio, or anybody that’s like famous.”
“Like artistry is about exploration and about creativity. And what I don’t really appreciate about most of the music that I hear on Singapore radio is that it’s, er, formulaic. Like a kind of a ... a kind of take on something that is like a non-Sing – non – non-Singapore centric genre.”
“The rap artistes really like kind of bring in Singlish in that – and I guess it’s like something that is like super distinctively Singaporean, right? Um, but besides that, no, I don’t think there’s a particular [musical] style. I think all of the style – well, a lot of the style is often borrowed. Ya. And – and we – we have a really diverse music theme.”
“Maybe if the [Singlish comedy songs were] good, why not. I think, er, ya, as long – if – if was done like, um, tastefully, why not. It’s possible. But I guess mostly, no.”
“I think that [National Day songs] can help you get in touch with your patriotism for sure. But I think that sometimes they’re a bit like propaganda. Mm-hmm. Um, ya. I don’t – I won’t listen to them on my own time because they’re not like – not great music. But – ya, I guess they’re – they’re useful to help you feel connected to Singapore.”
“I don’t think there’s one that represents [Singapore] authentically. Because we – we’re too young to have an identity. Like our identity is a combination of lots of other identities. Ya. So in the same way like ... our music scene is a combination of lots of other identities as well.”
“Writing poetry and ... and, er, singing. And, er, creating music that has meaning. Like I wanted to create music that had meaning because I felt like a lot of the music that I heard around me didn’t have a lot of depth other than what was obviously – yeah.”
“We just like to make music. Ya. It makes us happy. And especially like because the music that we were making was dubbed and kind of like reggae, which is a – it’s music to – to fight oppression. Like music to encourage equality and happiness and peace and love.”
“We don’t really, um, work so hard [finding opportunities to perform]. Like – but in – this year, we’re – we’re applying to a bunch of music festivals because we just put our first, um, studio, er, album out. So ... so we’re ... gonna try and create more opportunity. And that involves like – ya, sending in applications to music festivals, and see whether, er, they would like us to perform there.”
“I think something that would be interesting is for [the National Arts Council] to consider, um, offering like series of workshops that could help like young musicians explore and be more exposed to diverse types of music. Um, that would be one way. I would say like ... step up the – the, um, the campaigns to like have young people making original music.”
“I think [bands should] be good at talking about your music? I think be good at explaining what it’s about. Be good at creating music that has some kind of purpose. Um, because I believe that people can feel sincerity and honesty.”
“Unless you mean like the [unique Singaporean band] culture of cover bands. [Be]cause I feel like – ya, everywhere you go, there’s a cover band. Er, and maybe that’s the way it was in other parts of the world too.”
“I go into like a – a bar or a music venue, like I don’t really hear someone playing someone else’s music. Like I hear people playing their own music. Er, so I guess – ya, I guess I would say that in Singapore it feels like, er, everybody plays covers. Um, and so I – I guess that – that seems quite particular and I question it.”
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