Final Thoughts On Singapore’s Music Scene

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I’m pretty much closed for business in Singapore. Between now and when the removalists come to pack up The Sugar Shack, my studio here, I will only be doing my regular The Society For Film podcasts and finishing off my album, You Can’t Deny What’s Inside.

So, this will be my final post regarding the Singapore music scene. I leave with very mixed feelings about my time here. But, I’m thankful for the opportunity to work in this place, to meet locals artists and managers and to improve my craft, day to day.

A City Of Two Tales

When it comes to music in Singapore I find myself telling two parallel stories. One tale is about the musicians themselves, the other is about the role of the government and the infrastructure of music in this place.

The musicians inspire and surprise me. Singapore has an amazing ability to produce singer-songwriters and a remarkable number of bands. When I first moved here I had my concerns, but I’ve been impressed with how the influence of MusicMatters, the creation of sgmuso and other initiates have helped foster more professional and outward looking attitudes.

But, the story is very different when it comes to the government. The difficult experience I (and others) have had setting up music-related businesses here shows part of the flaw in the current plans to support music. Like other countries, Singapore’s government is trying to provide support. The focus is on music made by locals, which in a subtle but crucial way, is not the same as locally made music.

With Friends Like These

This isn’t just semantics. Funding programmes in other countries, like Australia and Canada, make it easier for people who’ve recently settled, or non-local artists or companies working in close collaboration with locals, to benefit from subsidies and support, or at least not to put at risk the eligibility of locals for support.

And, let’s not forget the organisation behind a lot of the music funding is also the one that recently brought in, sweeping and controversial rules aimed at online media. It’s an alarming contradiction given the need to encourage more, not less online support of an commentary upon music. Consider, for example, these lines from the Australia Councils 2012-14 Music Sector Plan,

“We will support research that increases the skills and capacity of our artists and organisations to engage with online audiences. We will support projects that present music to online audiences in new and innovative ways.”

Personally, I don’t need government support to do my work, but I do need an environment that protects freedom of expression. Music needs to reach online audiences. Music needs innovation, investment and entrepreneurship not just in the delivery of music online, but in helping online audiences discover new music. And, for a country like Singapore, with a tiny domestic market, finding support online for music is essential.

But, if these new rules stifle blogs and news sites and if they breed self-censorship, either in the reporting of music, or the work of the musicians themselves, then it could undermine the whole music industry here and rob artists of their authentic voice.

The Talent Question

I’m always being asked whether I believe the local bands and acts have “talent.” It’s an understandable question given the importance placed on meritocracy in Singapore. But, it’s also a bit of a misguided question.

I remember musicians who were phenomenally talented in their younger years but long ago gave up making music. While some of the folks I know who’ve made a lifelong living at music were nothing special in the latent stakes back in their teens or early 20s.

And, one of the best jazz musicians I know was booed off stage at his first gig!

Talent impresses your friends and family, might help you win competitions or obtain degrees, but it’s the application of talent over a period of time, with intense focus and determination, that will get you somewhere in music, or any other creative field.

Do I have talent is not the most important question. Do I have drive, determination, passion, a willingness to make sacrifices, or be unpopular, or misunderstand, will I stick at it, work hard, put in the hours and keep learning; these are the questions that matter.

And, perhaps the most important question of all is – what makes me unique?

Do It Again?

The most surprising obstacle here hasn’t been the government or the obsession with talent. It’s been the struggle to find collaborators.

My studio here is the best space I’ve ever created for writing and making music. I designed everything with collaboration and songwriting in mind. Everyone who has visited has been really impressed. I’ve created what is easily my best work in years in this space.

But, generating interest, even curiosity in my studio has been tough. I’ve heard it over and over again; it’s hard to gain people’s trust, hard to find collaborators, hard to break through. In some ways that’s kind of true everywhere.

And, yet, the really great music scenes all over the world and throughout history, London, New York, Berlin, Seattle, Nashville, Los Angeles are or have been known for their ability to attract and integrate talented outsiders.

To be honest, I don’t care much for flags, politics or nationalism. I believe in music. I believe in art. I believe in freedom. As long as I can live in peace with my family and be surrounded by creative, passionate, collaborative people, in a vibrant city, it’s all good.

The Flame

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In the past few weeks I’ve been fighting an emotion we seldom talk openly about these days, perhaps because it is so unfashionable and misunderstood in our current cultural moment.

It really hit me after coming home from my last visit to Japan and announcing my upcoming move to Tokyo. I should have been feeling joy and excitement at the prospect of a fresh adventure, a chance to live in a truly great city. Certainly the comments from friends and acquaintances were all positive. But, still, there it was.

I felt angry.

My ability to laugh off the small absurdities and annoyances of day to day life evaporated over night. I could sense in myself a deep moodiness. I was suddenly not fun to be around. Alarmingly, I was less motivated to exercise, struggling to sleep well and managing my time really poorly.

Where did this anger come from?

How Did I Get Here?

Moving to Singapore was, for me, all about making music. I felt Singapore had an emerging music scene with lots of musicians, bands and songwriters. In fact, I still believe in the potential here and I’m constantly amazed by the steady stream of musical talent this place produces.

But, setting up a studio business here and finding collaborators proved a lot harder than I expected. In the end I managed to create a great space, with a fine little project studio at the heart of it. And, I believed that in time, I’d put the difficulties behind me and start creating lots of great work with the artists here.

But, when we finally set a date on moving to Tokyo, it was like a steel door slammed shut on that optimism. This is it. There’s no more time to redeem the move, to turn it around, to find a happy ending.

The worst kinds of feelings, of failure, of missed opportunity, even of regret, seems to rain uncontrollably down on me. Pretty soon the sense of disappointment morphed into feelings of anger.

The Power Of Fire

“Our inward power, when it obeys nature, reacts to events by accommodating itself to what it faces – to what is possible. It needs no specific material. It pursues its own aims as circumstances allow; it turns obstacles into fuel. As a fire overwhelms what would have quenched a lamp. What’s thrown on top of the conflagration is absorbed, consumed by it – and makes it burn still higher.”
Marcus Aurelius

All too often we underestimate the creative power of anger. Perhaps we too easily assume that all rage is blind rage. But, anger can, if we take the time to reflect upon it, have tremendous clarifying power.

When I look back at the most life changing periods in my life, the times when I do the kind of work that defines me, that helps me express my true voice, there is always a period just before the creative season that was marked by disappointment, frustration and anger.

This anger I now felt helped me clarify what really mattered between now and when I board my flight out of Singapore. Packing up a home and moving to a different country can feel very complicated. But, when I sat down, with a good glass of wine, to write down what really mattered to me in this current moment, the list was surprisingly short.

I believe Marcus Aurelius was right; our creative urges can turn obstacles into fuel. I was angry because it suddenly felt like I had run out of time to burn down the obstacles I was facing here.

But, of course, when I look at what my circumstances do allow, there are some important things I can finish in the weeks that remain. And thus, slowly, the fire is coming under control.

MusicMatters 2013 – The Showcase

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Faber Drive

Last week I posted a review of this year’s MusicMatters conference. Now, it’s time to focus on the live showcase, which this year was bigger than ever. MusicMattersLive took over the main square and six venues in Clarke Quay for three nights of original live music, featuring bands from Asia, Europe and North America.

Unlike previous years, I didn’t try to see every band and made an effort to catch more full showcases. Unfortunately, it was a little hard, because the programming didn’t spread some of the artists around, locking a few into early time slots on every night. And, some venues ran well behind schedule, making it hard to plan one’s night.

Still, it was an impressive showcase, with some great music on display and a fantastic chance to meet musicians from around the world. You can catch some of the live clips here on YouTube.

The Sam Willows

Singapore’s own local scene was well-represented this year. Sadly, I missed seeing Natalie Hiong, whose voice has won me over on the recordings I’ve heard. But I did catch an excellent set from Nicholas Chim at the opening party and some great performances from The Sam Willows, who recently recorded with Steve Lillywhite, These Brittle Bones, winning over the MainStage crowd at the tender age of 14, Kevin Lester, who always rocks the house over with his Hip-Hop style and Sarah Cheng-De Winne, whose graceful vocals really impressed me.

Sarah Cheng-De Winne

Male-fronted power rock bands seem to dominate these kinds of showcases and it was true of MusicMattersLive again. Thankfully, a number of them were quite good. I was impressed with Faber Drive (Canada), Fairchild (Australia), Fluorescent Hearts (UK) and Trash (Taiwan). All had powerful, well written songs (Faber Drive in particular were very catchy) and it’s easy to imagine them going onto bigger and better things outside their home countries.

Gurrumul

But, MusicMattersLive wasn’t all about power and volume. I’ve already mentioned Gurrumul in the main conference review and his performance during the SoundsAustralia showcase was a moment I will remember for the rest of my life. He was joined by Katie Noonan for a truly magical duet and Noonan’s own performance the next night on the MainStage, with a string quartet was one of the most captivating performances I’ve seen in three years of MusicMattersLive showcases here in Singapore.

Of course, both Gurrumul and Noonan are established, award-winning artists in their home country. That’s part of the magic of this showcase, because you get to see artists up close who are well known in their home country or region, but have yet to establish a following here in South East Asia. So we were treated to great sets from SID (Japan), Little Boots (UK), Prata Vetra (Lavia) and Indus Creed (India).

SID

In fact, the latter’s MainStage performance was a highlight for several people I spoke to. Indus Creed are a band with a rich heritage and while their set started moderately, they ended with a rousing display of the technical and prog-ish brilliance they are known for.

They were not the only band whose pure musicianship impressed. Guntzepaula from Taiwan delivered some technical fusion rock and The London Souls, especially in their final set at The Beer Market really laid down some wonderfully rootsy rock improvisations. An inventive two piece band, with some similarities to The Black Keys, they delivered one of the bluesiest and most soulful sets I can recall seeing at MusicMattersLive.

The London Souls

And, it was good to see some Hip-Hop on the programme. I’ve already mentioned Kevin Lester and we also had The Kid Famous, a true showman from Canada, who was backed up for his entertaining sets by local turntablist, DJ KoFlow and also some scintillating live looping and beat-boxing from Dub Fx (Australia). And, it was great to see Famous’ manager, D.O. Gordon again, I remember he threw down a scintillating set at the first MusicMattersLive showcase, back in 2010 in Hong Kong.

It’s hard to pick out the best moment from all these performances. Though the highlight for me was probably right at the end of the final night of MusicMattersLive as Boyce Avenue took to the MainStage. One of the YouTube stars I mentioned in the last post, Boyce Avenue clearly had a lot of fans and they flooded the centre of Clarke Quay, singing their hearts out and cheering the band back for an encore.

It was a wonderful moment, the kind of artist and fan unison that makes live music so memorable. But, as the set closed, I wondered if this moment was something more than just one band and their fans. Boyce Avenue are, after all, pure products of the digital age. DIY musicians who release under their own label and have grown their fan-base through smart use of online video and strategic social media – they are role models for the future of music.

Watching Boyce Avenue close out the showcase I felt this wasn’t just three musicians onstage connecting with their audience – rather, I was watching everything I have wished for in the music industry coming true. It was a beautiful moment and a wonderful end to a week of great music.

The Kid Famous

Just In Time

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Yesterday, the Media Development Authority announced radical new measures that could have a major impact on digital and online communications here in Singapore. The proposal is aimed at regulating online news sites, requiring them to obtain a license, put up a SG$50,000 (U$39,400) bond and commit to take down within 24 hours, any item deemed inappropriate by the government’s Media Development Authority.

The new rules are aimed at sites with high traffic, those “visited by at least 50,000 unique IP addresses from Singapore each month.” The sites currently identified as coming under the phase of regulation are all well known news sites. And the press release, along with this report from Reuters, suggest the government is not looking to regulate blogs, at least, not yet.

The MDA said the new regulation did not apply to blogs, though adding: “If they take on the nature of news sites, we will take a closer look and evaluate them accordingly.”

In fact, when you consider the definition of what might be classified as news reporting, for the purposes of this regulation, it is alarmingly broad.

“…any programme (whether or not the programme is presenter-based and whether or not the programme is provided by a third party) containing any news, intelligence, report of occurrence, or any matter of public interest, about any social, economic, political, cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific or any other aspect of Singapore in any language…”

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, you had a successful blog, maybe with a focus on music and photography, and you chose to post an article a month on culture and the arts in Singapore. Well, under this new regulation you would find yourself needing to fork over $50,000 just to stay in business!

Of course, I’m nowhere near reaching 50,000 unique views a month solely from Singapore-based readers. That’s theoretically about 1% of the population. But, what if they drop that number? Or, include global readership? Or use some other metric that adds social media reach? After all, I have a bigger twitter following than some of the news services currently being regulated.

In a way, this is also a profoundly anti-entrepreneurial decision. The impulse to regulate mainstream and political news will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Singapore. But, $50,000 is a huge barrier to entry for anyone aspiring to create a high traffic site or blog aggregator in arts, culture or education. And, it could have significant implications for any business, or successful entertainer, who wants to add a blog or comment section to their site.

Update

There has been a lot of commentary about this new policy, both locally and internationally. The following are some quotes I added to this post on May 30th.

“This new regulation is a mistake, and reinforces the perception that Singapore is a repressive place — which is precisely the wrong message to be sending to a globalised and networked world, when you are trying to build an innovative and creative economy where freedom of thought is so essential.”

Siew Kum Hong former general counsel for Yahoo! Southeast Asia – Why Singapore’s crackdown on online news reporting is a mistake

“And there are already signs more regulation is underway. Speaking to local reporters following the announcement of the new licensing rule, Yaacob revealed the Broadcasting Act will be further amended next year to include overseas-based news sites targeting the Singapore market. This will enable the government to apply the licensing framework on these sites, he said.”

Eileen Yu from ZDNet commenting on statements by Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim – Singapore’s online licensing rule a sign of more to come

“It’s the ambiguity, the lack of clear specification of what is objectionable that is worrying,” said Terence Lee, an assistant professor of political science at National University of Singapore. “It is very unclear what form or type of content could be seen as violating these standards.”

Shamim Adam and Sharon Chen reporting with Bloomberg News Singapore’s Licensing Rules for News Websites Spark Criticism

“In the MDA’s case, it will not always be easy to draw a line around what it considers “news websites”. It is simple enough to say that a website carrying news that is run by a news organisation should be a “news website”. But what about the rest? What about aggregators, blogs, forums, social networks, online classifieds and everything in between?”

From AsiaOne News The trouble with trying to control the Internet

“It’s hard not to see how this is another attempt to control media—local and international—by the Singapore government,” said Bob Dietz, Asia program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, a U.S.-based journalism watchdog. “Its justification used in the past that strict media controls are necessary to squelch violent political dissent is simply no longer valid,” he said. “It’s hard to argue with Singapore’s economic success. But the disconnect between its economic freedom and media freedom seems to be growing too large.”

Chun Han Wong reporting for the Wall Street Journal Singapore Tightens Grip on Internet News Sites

MusicMatters 2013 – The Conference

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Last week we had the MusicMatters conference here in Singapore. Actually, the conference has grown so big, it now goes by the name of AllThatMatters and this year there were five main components, MusicMatters, MusicMattersLive, the MusicMatters Academy, DigitalMatters and the newly added YouTubeFanfest.

I won’t bore you with numbers, but it was an expansive programme and some parts of it were very successful indeed.

The YouTube Buzz

Every year one theme seems to stand out and dominate the programme. This year it was YouTube and the growing success of independent video creators. The week started with the YouTubeFanfest, a two night live-streamed showcase, that drew fanatical fans to the live venue and over 20 Million online viewers to the free webcast.

Sadly, none of my personal favourites (Felicia Day, Chase Jarvis and Ze Frank) were featured. But, the YouTubers who came were every bit as impressive. I doubt there’s a middle or high schooler in Singapore who hasn’t heard of Ryan Higa, for example. His YouTube channel boasts 8.4 Million subscribers and close to 1.5 Billion views. And, many of the kids who tune into channels like his, prefer to watch YouTube over regular television programming.

Ryan Higa Being Interviewed

DigtialMatters

The talk about YouTube’s commercial and cultural success permeated the rest of the week and was a kind of critical filter for much of the DigitalMatters programme. DigitalMatters was a one-day programme this year, drawing speakers from television, advertising, internet services and video production.

If that sounds kind of broad, well it is. The DigitalMatters day was informative, with, knowledgable insiders, researchers and industry heavyweights. But, as a programme it lacked focus.

One highly publicised part of the day was a live Google Hangout with Amanda Palmer. I’m not a fan of interviews via video at conferences, but I am a fan of Amanda Palmer. However, with the programme running late and with the preceding talk, which had started well but soon descended into a protracted advertorial, dragging on, we were left with the amusing farce of Palmer tweeting her impatience for her segment to start.

Then, once she was streaming for a while, the connection broke and we were left with only a few minutes of her time. However, the brief interview did leave me with one of the most challenging insights of the week.

Palmer talked about how her musical journey had also been an adventure in finding and connecting with people. However, since she has built such a big following through blogging and social media, the passion for making music wasn’t what it once was. The penny dropped for me, because I’ve often struggled with the fact that blogging and social media gives a kind of immediate feedback and connection you can’t always get with music, especially if, like me, you are a studio-bound musician.

MusicMatters

The rest of the week was taken over my the now three-pronged MusicMatters. Even within the two days of the conference itself, there were plenty of extra workshops, industry roundtables, breakfasts and lunches. And, like most people, I had meetings tee’d up during the event and any downtime was spent catching up with acquaintances or making new ones.

Over the last two years, the programme itself has been tweaked quite a bit, with fewer panels and more one on one interviews and keynote speeches. There still plenty of time on the programme for in depth discussions of ticketing, live music, radio, music synchronisation and major trends in Asia, especially Japan and South Korea.

Gurrumul Yunupingu

And, thankfully, there’s still plenty of music in MusicMatters, with six engaging performances, from girl groups Spica (South Korea) and Me N Ma Girls (Myanmar), entertaining rapper The Kid Famous (Canada), YouTube sensations Boyce Avenue (USA), electro-pop songstress Little Boots (UK), pop-punk rockers Faber Drive (Canada) and the brilliant, blind indigenous artist Gurrumul Yunupingu (Australia). The later being, for many people, the musical revelation and highlight of the week.

You can also read my review of the MusicMattersLive showcase including some photos of the best of the music I heard there.

The Saviour

This was my fourth MusicMatters and every year it seems something is held up as a potential saviour for the recorded music industry in Asia. In 2010 it was dial-back ringtones. Then it was streaming services and last year, everyone was abuzz with locker services.

See the pattern?

This year, the knight in shining armour was iTunes arrival in Asian markets, along with other global services, like Deezer. I’m not sure I’ve heard the word extrapolate used so many times in a music conference, but it was there again and again, in speaker after speaker – apparently, if we extrapolate from iTunes success in other markets, we will see a dramatic growth in digital music sales in Asia.

This was most evident in Sandy Monteiro’s brief survey of recorded music sales in Asia, which turned out to be something of a mea culpa for the major labels’ failure to see the writing on the wall, in terms of changing consumer preferences. We don’t yet know if Asian consumers will jump on the iTunes bandwagon the way they have in other regions. But it’s fascinating nonetheless to see industry heavyweights admitting the proud prognostications of only a few years ago were fundamentally wrong.

Reality Matters

The conference’s best moments were wonderfully realistic. There were two remarkably frank and inspiring one on one interviews, with Rob Wells President of Global Digital Business for Universal Music and with Johnny Wright, the manger behind Justin Timberlake, Akon and the Jonas Brothers (and formerly Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys).

Ralph Simon Interviews Johnny Wright

There also very solid individual speeches, including an excellent summary of global trends from CEO of IFPI, Frances Moore, a witty and entertaining analysis of recent hit songs by acclaimed songwriter (and songwriting coach) Ralph Murphy and an excellent (and much needed) presentation on Direct-To-Fan sales by Benji Rodgers, founder and head of PledgeMusic.

Benji Rogers PledgeMusic

Australia Reaches Out

One noticeable feature of this year’s conference was the size of the Australian contingent; with more bands, industry representatives, press and musicians making the trip from Down Under than in any previous year. There was even a panel focussed on opportunities for collaboration between Australia and the rest of Asia (and some great Australian experiences were also shared on the radio panel).

I’ve been increasingly impressed with the efforts of Sounds Australia and the other groups supporting the development and export of Australian music. But, this year there was a definite buzz around the Australian contingent.

MusicMatters Academy

At each MusicMatters I’ve attended, there has been sessions aimed at musicians. It’s a feature the organisers have increasingly put more emphasis on. This year, in collaboration with sgMuso and Coalition Music, the MusicMatters Academy was born. A three day programme, run in parallel with MusicMatters, the Academy gave musicians a chance to attend mentor sessions, hear private seminars and get schooled on the fundamentals of building a music career.

My understanding was 100 free passes were made available, to ensure as many locally based musicians as possible could attend (I wasn’t one of them, I’m a full-fee paying delegate). Sadly, the numbers didn’t seem to be anywhere near that, based on what I saw.

But, the quality of the programme and the impression it made on every musician I spoke to cannot be denied. Coalition Music are a modern management company who take artist development very seriously and espouse an Artist-Entrepreneur model (similar to Berklee and something I’ve written about before). The MusicMatters Academy has all the elements to transform a musician’s potential for success and I only wish something like this had been around when I was starting out.

The Future Of Music

When I came back to music full-time, in 2004, I immersed myself in the work of futurists like David Kusek and Lawrence Lessig. It seemed so obvious, even back then, that the recorded music industry was facing inevitable change and the internet was going to rewrite the rules of music consumption.

While the intervening years have been rough on the recorded music industry I still believe this is an extraordinary time to be a musician, or in any kind of creative field. The idea that you can, with a device that fits in your pocket, record music or video and share it with the whole world still blows my mind.

However, this is the reality we live with and I have to applaud the organisers of MusicMatters for again trying orient the conference towards our present reality. In the space of four years the conference has changed and evolved in a quite dramatic fashion. One can only hope it will continue to do so into the future.

MusicMatters Quick Update

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130521MusicMatters147

For the past two days I’ve been in conference and live music mode, attending the MusicMatters conference here in Singapore. Tuesday was a day of talks and panels about digital media and online video. Yesterday was a whole day of music industry talk, including an interview with Johnny Wright, manager of Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, Justin Timberlake and many others.

130521MusicMatters441

And, of course, there’s been a lot of live music. In fact, there are two more nights of music showcases, in Clarke Quay in Singapore. You can see the details here or tune into the YouTube live stream here.

And, if you want a sense of what is going on at the conference, you can follow the hashtag #matterstome or watch the live stream.

130521MusicMatters347

The Society For Film – An Update

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It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned by side-project, The Society For Film. This is a collaboration with Hong Kong based film reviewer, James Marsh, who is Asian Editor for Twitchfilm and programmes for Fantastic Fest and writes for Verite Magazine and Cathay Pacific’s inflight Discovery Magazine.

The core of the project is now regular (and now weekly) podcast. We’ve just uploaded our 32nd dispatch and you can listen to them on our site and also on iTunes.

We’ve also now built up over a hundred full reviews on the site, with everything from recent blockbusters to art-house classics and a fair bit of world cinema.

One of my favourite features is the “We’ve Been Watching” section, where we catalogue and make a brief comment on every film we catch. Although I stand no chance of keeping up with James’ prodigious viewing habits, it’s still a good discipline for me to make a note and add a reflection to all the films I see.

Interest in The Society For Film has been building slowly and I’m very pleased with how we’ve been developing. We already have plans for some improvements and new features for later in the year.

Perhaps the biggest thrill for me, apart from working with a knowledgable film critic like James, is being part of a regular podcast. I love podcasting as a platform and it’s fun technical challenge to make it work week after week.

In fact, doing this has given me an appetite to push further into the world of podcasting.

80s Music – Songs Of Disenchantment

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Fight The Power

My daughter is doing a school project dealing with music’s social impact. The students are being asked to pick a decade and research songs from that period, while looking at the social issues people faced at that time.

She chose to look at the 80s and her preliminary inquiry brought up the cold war, nuclear disarmament, apartheid and economic recession as major themes. Certainly not a bad start for a middle school project!

Of course, I was fascinated by her choice, since the 80s were the decade of my youth, or at least my high school years. I recalled with some fondness a few of the songs she had already unearthed on YouTube, like Nena’s 99 Luftballons and The Scorpions’ Wind of Change (OK, that’s technically a 1990 song, I know).

And, it was a lot of fun to share some other big hits she had not yet discovered, like Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2, The Police’s Invisible Sun, Sting’s Russians and Free Nelson Mandela by The Special A.K.A.

Although many people seem to imagine (or recall) the 80s as a decade of candy pop and silly hair metal (there was plenty of both), it was also a decade of remarkably thoughtful and even confrontational pop music. The same decade that gave us Wake Me Up Before You Go Go by Wham was also responsible for Blackened by Metallica and Fight The Power by Public Enemy.

The music video for the latter, shot by director Spike Lee, fascinated my daughter. She was intrigued by the idea of a music video set during a protest and the whole aesthetic of the clip felt far removed from what she was accustomed to in a music video.

Her reaction to Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Two Tribes, was even more marked. Granted, this is a pretty in your face piece of work, but still, the idea of political leaders being mocked in a music video was shocking to her. “Isn’t this disrespectful” she asked, to which I could only reply, “yes, that’s the point.” Although we had talked about high art challenging authority before, the idea that a popular chart topping song could do so in such a graphic way was clearly a surprise.

We also looked at some songs that were not obviously social, but whose lyrics reflected the difficulties of the period, what we might call working class ballads, like Bon Jovi’s Livin’ On A Prayer or Billy Joel’s Allentown. Although my daughter was not familiar with Bruce Springsteen’s classic anthem, Born In The USA, but she did recognise the defiant timbre of his voice from Springsteen’s recent Wrecking Ball album. After all, each work reflects a period of economic upheaval.

I’m not sure the 80s were a better decade for music than this one. There was plenty of bad music then and there’s lots of good music today. But, when writers get political these days, it does tend to be the politics of individual identity, of gender, or identity, more than something larger and more social. Although today’s music still tries to shock, it doesn’t seem to have the same appetite to challenge that it once did.

TheStyle Council Walls Come Tumbling Down by The Style Council

You don’t have to take this crap
You don’t have to sit back and relax
You can actually try changing it
I know we’ve always been taught to rely
Upon those in authority
But you never know until you try
How things just might be
If we came together so strongly

Are you gonna try to make this work
Or spend your days down in the dirt
You see things can change
YES an’ walls can come tumbling down!

Governments crack and systems fall
’cause Unity is powerful
Lights go out
Walls come tumbling down!

Reflections On Relocating

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I’ve been surprised by the positive response to my upcoming move to Tokyo. It seems like there is a lot of love out there for my soon-to-be hometown. Amongst the usual well-wishes there’s been some heartfelt expressions of passion for Tokyo and plenty of stories shared from friends and colleagues about their experiences in Japan.

There’s also been plenty of questions, about the move, the impact on my life and home and my feelings on leaving Singapore. So, here’s a quick update of some the questions and answers about the move.

Too Soon?

When I moved to Singapore in 2011, I expected to be here at least four or five years and probably longer. As I’ve mentioned several times, I had a plan and I ran into bureaucratic problems which stymied that plan. I now have a (more modest) business set up here but, but I’m really still focussed on my own work. Recording and releasing my album and continuing existing projects has kept me busy for the first half of the year, but before the move came up, I was staring at an almost empty calendar for the second half of the year.

Ultimately life consists of work and love. The people we love and the work we do shapes our relationship to reality. When the person you love wants to move and the work you are doing is unfulfilling, it’s hard to justify staying put. The opportunity came and it’s time to be open to a new adventure.

The Glamorous Life?

While, moving to Tokyo may seem glamorous, exotic of something, right now it just feels like a chore. Packing your worldly goods into boxes is no fun. And, although I have few friends or acquaintances in this town, my daughter has some lovely neighbourhood friends (local and expat) she will sorely miss when we leave.

Material comfort and the thrill of an “exotic” new home is not to be taken lightly. But, I have a deep sense of dread about going through the process of moving again; the visa applications, closing down accounts here and figuring out how to get utilities connected in another country and the seemingly never-ending process of redirecting mail and other subscriptions.

The Creative Life?

If you had asked me ten years ago, I would have said expats are, by nature, more creative than those who choose to stay at home, as this UK newspaper article suggests. These days I’m not so sure. Living in Hong Kong and Singapore, I’ve been surprised (and occasionally alarmed) by how narrow and insular some expats can be and how tentatively they explore their new cities and the cultures within those cities.

Several people have pointed out how hard it can be to feel “at home” in Japan and how expats often feel like “outsiders.” Truth is, I’ve never felt like an “insider” at any stage in my life, so I’m not really focussed on that issue.

I’m far more curious about how life in Tokyo will change me. As I’ve written before, every move seems to shape me in a different way, something I see as essential to living a creative life and perhaps the greatest gift of all for those who live as expats, or anyone in fact, who has the opportunity to travel and explore our world.

10 Things I’m Looking Forward To At This Year’s MusicMatters

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These Kids Wear Crowns MusicMatters

Next week, Asia’s premier Music Industry conference hits Singapore again. As always MusicMatters promises to be bigger and better than ever. OK, they always promise that, but it certainly looks to be true again, as the conference continues to expand and diversify its programme.

This will be my fourth time at the conference and it has changed a lot since my first experience, in Hong Kong in 2010. Here’s a list of things I’m looking forward to this year.

The Music – I would not have kept going to MusicMatters were it not for the presence of fellow musicians, both at the conference and on stage at the various music showcases. A conference with only suits would not appeal to me and part of what MusicMatters does so well is blend many parts of the music industry together. There are excellent opportunities for musicians to attend the talks, workshop and mentoring events and performers are given an excellent showcase; big enough to be engaging, but small enough to let new voices shine through.

Free And Fast WiFi – I love live-tweeting from MusicMatters and although I was more low-key last year, I still found plenty of quotes and photo opportunities to share. I hope the WiFi is fast and abundant this year, because I suspect a lot of attendees will be filling Twitter with reports and comments from the conference (my conference list already has over 130 members!). The conference was a trending topic on Twitter last year and I expect the same again.

Singapore Updates – Last year The Singapore Music Society (sgmuso) was announced at the conference. I played a tiny role in helping them, by setting up their website and mailing list before the conference. Since then the society has grown and held a number of interesting events. I look forward to hearing them report back and seeing the reaction to Singapore’s music scene from conference attendees, especially those flying in from outside Asia.

No More Business Cards – I still have a stash of thick, somewhat expensive business cards with my Singapore contact details on them. These will be useless come July when I move. So, I hope to exchange them for lots of new, useful cards from people I meet at the conference. Sure networking kind of sucks, but it sucks less in a room full of people who are actually doing the stuff you do, love and enjoy!

Hong Kong Represents – my former hometown still has a place in my heart and I’m always keen to hear how the music scene is evolving there. There’s some Hong Kong music on offer in the showcase and a fair few delegates flying in for the conference. I hope they can forgive me for leaving Hong Kong.

Friends – At the risk of alienating some of my hard core musician buddies, I’ve made some friends attending these conferences – yes, even amongst the suits. MusicMatters has managed to change with the times and once you get through the doors, it is not (totally) dominated by the big end of the industry, but has people working at all levels of music. In amongst the networking, sessions and showcases I look forward to catching up with old friends and maybe making a few new ones as well.

No Lefsetz – Apparently you are either supposed to love or hate music industry blogger Bob Lefsetz. Well, I propose a third category; people who just don’t care. He was fine at last year’s conference, even running a good interview with Kenneth Parks of Spotify. But, it was droll walking into conversations about whatever Lefzetz did, or didn’t say, or seeing bands desperately covet a mention on his so-called “letter.”

More Coffee – The catering is pretty good at MusicMatters. The event is held in the Ritz-Carlton after all. But, last year it was real hard to get a cup of joe outside the major scheduled breaks. At a conference like this people are always coming and going from the talks and using odd times (and less relevant sessions) to schedule meetings. The lack of coffee sent people scampering to other cafes, or other parts of the hotel. Unplanned meetings over coffee can be one of the most serendipitous joys of a conference like this.

Gurrumul – In previous years MusicMatters has featured some great talent like Jason Mraz & Imogen Heap. This year’s lineup is really good, but one name really stood out for me. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, a blind Indigenous Australian singer is, quite frankly, a voice from the heavens. Already a star in Australia and acclaimed in Europe, being able to hear Gurrumul up close is more than a treat, it’s a privilege.

A Fond Farewell – With my upcoming move to Tokyo (and assuming MusicMatters stays in Singapore) the cost of attending the conference suddenly shot up. The realist in me thinks this might be my last MusicMatters, at least for a while. So, I really want to go out with a bang, have a great time, take plenty of photos and make lots of connections. These conferences have been an amazing experience for me and I hope one day I can give something back. But, for now, I want to say goodbye in style.

Previous MusicMatters Posts

Here’s a list of my updates and articles from previous iterations of MusicMatters.
MusicMattersLive 2012 – The Performers
MusicMatters 2012 – Day One
MusicMatters 2012 – Day Two
Musician’s Guide To Networking
MusicMatters 2011
MusicMatters Live (2011)
Live Concert Photography – Lessons Learnt
MusicMatters – The Conference (2010)
MusicMatters – The Music (2010)