Comments on The Journey of a Decade: WE NEED SUPPORT FOR LOCAL MUSICIANS.....

seeing that i could not post everything that i int...

2010-05-27T16:50:09.035+08:00

seeing that i could not post everything that i intend to narrate here, i've posted a link where you could.

it will be lengthy, but hear me out.

http://misinterpret.posterous.com/19-726

better days ahead.

nice post. i listened to the padres, have the albu...

2010-02-04T00:09:07.488+08:00

nice post. i listened to the padres, have the album "night" too.

in my opinion, i think singaporeans are cultured in a way that they appreciate american-accented english music.

so sometimes it doesn't go down well with most listeners to hear local songs sung with a malay twang or chinese tongue.

next up, in an age of R&B and dance pop, guitar-driven music around the world is taking a huge blow. same goes for local guitar-driven music, considering we have tons of bands out there just struggling to get heard.

these days, the new media market is screwing things up a bit too. people are downloading stuff (for free most of the time), watching the good stuff they want to watch on youtube and all that. it's really tough for local bands to cut it.

the standards of musicianship (i.e. dumbed down pop music with dance or r&b flavour) and performance and aesthetics are raised so high it's really difficult for local acts to make a name for themselves.

the only critical mass of supporters you're gonna get are from the black skinny jeans-weaing, thick-framed spectacled lean-bodied indie youths.

support for local music has never been strong, even in the 90s. singaporeans are a tough crowd and aren't supportive on the whole. a local act will have to break their breaks many times over to win the over-rationalised singaporean's dollar and support.

hell, i'm a musician myself and i make guitar-driven band music, and i have lots of faith in my ability and songwriting craft. but i guess i'm just doing the wrong thing, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, in the wrong life. it hurts, so for consolation, just get all the paper qualifications i can get and chase the 5 c's, because i know that music may barely put food on the table and may do jack for a retirement plan.

Which is a valid, point, so does it mean language ...

2010-02-03T15:58:52.917+08:00

Which is a valid, point, so does it mean language and identity plays a part in support?

You just need to look at your own statement "Obser...

2010-02-03T15:56:02.547+08:00

You just need to look at your own statement "Observations from trips like Thailand, Indonesia and Japan tells me that locals there strongly support their own music."

Thailand = in Thai
Indonesia = in Indonesian
Japan = in Japanese

Singapore = in English/Mandarin

For English, the acts are competing with the likes from US/UK and pretty much the whole world, unless local musicians are up there, otherwise, supporting local music for the sake of doing it is pretty much futile