Independent or aka Indie means bands that are not controlled by companies
in Malaysia,
The Malaysian underground music scene (also known as the Malaysian independent or urban music scene, with the term "urban" introduced in the late 90s)
The first signs of a underground music scene, as in real bands and original recordings, in Malaysia actually started in the city of Kuala Lumpur in the mid 1980s.
Musicians involved in the underground scene are usually guitar-driven bands with inclination towards rock music, although there are a number of acts with differing musical influences such as Folk, hip-hop, electronica and dance music. The current rise of singer-songwriters in the acoustic or folk vein in the underground scene. The first wave of singer-songwriters who have established and gained reputation in this genre include Meor Aziddin Yusof, Sherry and Kit Lee (now known as Antares). The new generation of singer-songwriters include Pete Teo, Azmyl Yunor and Shanon Shah.
They were those in the scene who practically refused to play the mainstream music industry game due to the lack of transparency and fair-play in the dealings of the music companies, including one-sided and exploitative recording deals which they see as grossly unfair.
The underground scene in Malaysia used to be a strong and unified community, especially from its birth in the mid-80s to the mid-90s. Bands or acts of different persuasions, such as punk, hardcore, Oi!/street punk, metal and ska usually performed together. The scene became less united by 1996 when most hardcore punk bands then started to apply a more staunch anti-corporate and DIY ideals into their activities.
It was also the days when fascist and right-wing elements started to rear its head via gangs of "chaos punk" and some skinhead bands. Metal bands had also removed itself from the usual multi-genre gig circuit, preferring to play only with other metal bands. Anti-corporate DIY punk bands, with anarchist ideals also started to be on their own, cutting off all ties to the others; building their own network and starting small bistros and labels. On the other hand, bands who originally started in the underground scene such as Butterfingers and OAG began to work with major label-affiliated record companies; which was seen by some as a betrayal of the DIY underground spirit.
This resulted in the break-up of the larger scene into smaller pockets which refused to acknowledge the other. The scene essentially split into two larger camps, on one hand the mainstream-friendly bands and the other, a deeper underground scene alienating themselves from the larger picture or any form of media exposure apart from their own fanzines.
Lately, major shows features bands from the mainstream hardcore scene with established bands (Cassandra, Love Me Butch) and also from the burgeoning folk singer-songwriter scene with established performers such as Azmyl Yunor.
[edit] Punk
Famous Malaysian punk bands include the anarcho punk Carburetor Dung and streetpunk/oi! A.C.A.B..The first punk rock scene in Malaysia started in Terengganu in 1978/1979. It started in the small town of Dungun by a group of friends influenced by British music magazines such as NME, Melody Maker, Sounds and Zig Zag, as well as their brothers and friends studying or living in the more modern West Coast cities who would pass them the magazines and music.
It was known as the Malaysian capital of punk rock throughout the late 1979 and the 1980s but there were no bands then as the punks were too poor to afford the equipment. The scene then was more a covergence of pioneering punk rockers trading pre-recorded music and fanzines acquired from pen-pals and friends from overseas while dabbling in home-made DIY punk fashion.
Most of the trading material came from friends studying overseas, friends living in the West Coast cities and also punk rockers from UK, Europe and US who sent tapes and magazines. Irregular trips were made to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (and Georgetown, but rarely as it was too far) to dub punk rock records at the music stores or buy pirated tapes.
Some fishing villages would have the most punks and thus became the center of activities. The main two villages were Kampung Mengabang Telipot (an hour north to the city) and Kampung Tanjung (right at the mouth of the city's river system). In Mengabang Telipot, there was a small punk community library with fanzines, magazines and music, which the kids would share. This library was actually a wooden cupboard situated at one of the punk rockers' houses, it was called as "logen".
The first Malaysian punk fanzine came out from this scene. It appeared in 1986 with the title of Huru Hara (meaning "chaos"); it was written in Terengganu slang by editor Mamat Hitam but never distributed on a large scale. The first fanzine to do that was Aedes, which lasted until 1996.
Bands like The Pilgrims, Carburetor Dung, The Bollocks, A.C.A.B and A.R.T were playing in the underground gig circuit 90's around Kuala Lumpur, sharing the same stage with other bands playing different genres. The Oi! scene was also popular with street punk music by bands like A.C.A.B, The Official & Roots N Boots, with the look of the mods and skinheads. Joe Kidd (Carburetor Dung), who was a journalist from Malaysia's The Sun newspaper, wrote his column called 'Blasting Concept' which reviewed most of the records and demo released by D.I.Y bands in the 1990s. There was also reviews of concerts and shows all around Malaysia. Joe Kidd now owns a D.I.Y shop called 'The Ricecooker' which is located in the heart of the Malaysian underground scene, Central Market.
A new generation picked it up again in the late 1990s with bands, DIY labels and intermittent gigs.
There are still a lot of active punk-influenced bands such as Dirty Divider and The Goodnight Goodies, and hardcore/experimental/trance Mad Monsters Attack.
Independent labels have a long history of promoting developments in popular music, stretching back to the post-war period in the United States, with labels such as Sun Records, King Records, Stax, etc.[1]
In the United Kingdom during the 1950s and 1960s, the major record companies had so much power that independent labels struggled to become established. Several British producers and artists launched independent labels as outlets for their work and artists they liked, but the majority failed as commercial ventures or were swallowed up by the majors.[1]
The punk rock era saw a plethora of independent labels.[1] The UK Indie Chart was first compiled in 1980, and independent distribution became better organized from the late 1970s onwards.[2]
In the late 80's Seattle based Sub Pop Records was at the center of the grunge scene. In the late 1990s and into the 2000s as the advent of mp3 files & digital download sites such as Apple's iTunes changed the recording industry, an Indie Neo-soul scene soon emerged from the urban Underground soul scenes of London, NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago & L.A., primarily due to commercial Radio & the major label's biased focus on the marketing, promotion & Airplay of Pop & Hip Hop music during this period. Independent Labels such as Dome Records & Expansion Records in the U.K. and Ubiquity Records in the U.S. and a plethora of others around the world as well as various "online stores" such as www.dustygroove.com, www.soultracks.com, etc, support the Nu soul movement today.
Internet technology allows artists to introduce their music to a potentially enormous audience at low cost without necessarily affiliating with a major recording label.[3] The design of digital music software encourages the discovery of new music. Sites with larger libraries of songs are the most successful. This, in turn, creates many opportunities for independent bands. Royalties from digital services could prove to be an important source of income. If an artist has already paid to record, manufacture, and promote their album, there is little to no additional cost for independent artists to distribute their music online.[4] Digital services offer the opportunity of exposure to new fans and the possibility of increased sales through online retailers. Artists can also release music more frequently and quickly if it is made available online. Additionally, artists have the option of releasing limited edition, out-of-print, or live material that would be too costly to produce through traditional means. No limit is the largest independent record company in the US with sales of over 75 million records.
Some independent artists have used the Internet (and an established fan base) to successfully fund new recording projects, relying on services like ArtistShare or using their own sites. For instance, singer-songwriter Jill Sobule released "California Years" in 2009, an album for which she'd raised nearly $90,000 online. Sobule explained her telethon-like fundraising approach thusly: "The contribution levels went from $10, which got you a digital download of the record, to $10,000, which gave you the chance to sing on the record." (One generous donor did contribute at the $10,000 level.)[5]
With the arrival of newer and relatively inexpensive recording devices and instruments, more individuals are able to participate in the creation of music than ever before. Basically, a so-called tracker music require no equipment, except for an ordinary home computer such as ZX Spectrum, Amiga or PC. Studio time is extremely expensive and difficult to obtain. The result of new technology is that anyone can produce studio-quality music from their own home. Even the software to do so is available for free: The Austrian band XBloome released the world's probably first album produced exclusively with free software (open source) in November 2010[6]. Additionally, the development of new technology allows for greater experimentation with sound.[7] An artist is able to experiment without necessarily spending the money to do it in an expensive studio.
Most artists maintain their own websites as well as having a presence on sites such as Myspace.com or Audimated. Technological advances such as message boards, music blogs, and social networks are also being used by independent music companies to make big advances in the business.[8] Some sites rely on audience participation to rate a band, allowing listeners to have a significant impact on the success of a band. This eliminates new talent search and development, one of the most costly areas of the music business. Other sites allow artists to upload their music and sell it at a price of their choosing. Visitors to the site can browse by genre, listen to free samples, view artist information, and purchase the tracks they want to buy.[9] Acts such as Wilco have chosen to make their new albums available for streaming before they are released.[10]
Many bands have chosen to forgo a record label and instead market and distribute their music only on the Internet. Digital marketing firms such as CDBaby, Magnatune and iTunes offer opportunities such as podcast creation and promotion and video hosting. In the case of digital distribution, musicians lend a company the right to distribute their music. The contract is often non-exclusive, and the rights to the music generally remain with the artist. The non-exclusivity of the contract allows many artists to have an online presence while continuing to sell directly through their local independent music stores.
A more recent trend is seen in artists who give their music away for free, such as the "record lable" Quote Unquote Records, featuring bands such as Bomb the Music Industry!, Radiohead, with their 2007 album In Rainbows,[11] The Go! Team with their single "Milk Crisis" and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails with the 2008 albums Ghosts I–IV[12] and The Slip.[13]
As for me
I think Indie is fun!
