Made in Nusantara: Studies in Popular Music 9780367428464, 9780367428471, 9780367855529

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Made in Nusantara

Made in Nusantara serves as a comprehensive introduction to the history, sociology, ethnography, and musicology of historical and contemporary popular music in maritime Southeast Asia. Each essay covers major fgures, styles, and social contexts of genres of a popular nature in the Nusantara region including Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, and the Philippines. Trough a critical investigation of specifc genres and their spaces of performance, production, and consumption, the volume is organised into four thematic areas: 1) issues in Nusantara popular music; 2) history; 3) artists and genres; and 4) national vs. local industries. Written by scholars working in the region, Made in Nusantara brings local perspectives to the history and analysis of popular music and critically considers conceptualisations developed in the West, rendering it an intriguing read for students and scholars of popular and global music. Adil Johan is a research fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Mayco A. Santaella is an associate professor and head of the Film and Performing Arts Department at Sunway University, Malaysia.

Routledge Global Popular Music Series Series Editors: Franco Fabbri, Conservatorio di Musica Arrigo Boito di Parma, Italy, and Gofredo Plastino, Newcastle University, UK

Te Routledge Global Popular Music Series provides popular music scholars, teachers, students, and musicologists with a well-informed and up-to-date introduction to diferent world popular music scenes. Te series of volumes can be used for academic teaching in popular music studies, or as a collection of reference works. Written by those living and working in the countries about which they write, this series is devoted to popular music largely unknown to Anglo-American readers. Made in France: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Gérôme Guibert and Catherine Rudent Made in the Low Countries: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Lutgard Mutsaers and Gert Keunen Made in Turkey: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Ali C. Gedik Made in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Shelley Brunt and Geof Stahl Made in Greece: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Dafni Tragaki Made in Taiwan: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Eva Tsai, Tung-Hung Ho, and Miaoju Jian Made in Poland: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Patryk Galuszka Made in Hong Kong: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Anthony Fung and Alice Chik Made in Yugoslavia: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Danijela Š. Beard and Ljerka V. Rasmussen Made in Germany: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Oliver Seibt, Martin Ringsmut, and Davil-Emil Wickström Made in Ireland: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Áine Mangaoang, John O’Flynn and Lonán Ó Briain Made in Finland: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Toni-Matti Karjalainen and Kimi Kärki Made in Nusantara: Studies in Popular Music Edited by Adil Johan and Mayco A. Santaella

Made in Nusantara Studies in Popular Music

Edited by

Adil Johan and Mayco A. Santaella

First published 2021 by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 selection and editorial matter, Adil Johan and Mayco A. Santaella; individual chapters, the contributors Te right of Adil Johan and Mayco A. Santaella to be identifed as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafer invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Adil Johan, editor. | Santaella, Mayco A., editor. Title: Made in Nusantara: studies in popular music/edited by Adil Johan and Mayco A. Santaella. Description: [1.] | New York: Taylor & Francis, 2021. | Series: Routledge global popular music series | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifers: LCCN 2020043342 (print) | LCCN 2020043343 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367428464 (paperback) | ISBN 9780367428471 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367855529 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Popular music–Southeast Asia–History and criticism. | Popular music–Social aspects–Southeast Asia–History. Classifcation: LCC ML3502.A785 M34 2021 (print) | LCC ML3502.A785 (ebook) | DDC 781.630959–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020043342 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020043343 ISBN: 978-0-367-42847-1 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-42846-4 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-85552-9 (ebk) Typeset in Minion Pro by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India

For Rose, Tawan, Nabilah, Asha and Ashman

Contents

List of Figures Preface Acknowledgements

ix xii xvi

Introduction: Popular Music as a Means of Conceptualising the Nusantara

adil johan and mayco a. santaella

Part I: Issues in Nusantara Popular Music 1

1

23

Revisiting the “Traditional” and the “Popular” in Maritime Southeast Asia: Towards a Nusantara Popular Praxis

25

2

Colonialism and Identity: A Short History of Popular Music in the Philippines

35

3

Te (De-) and (Re-) Mythifcation of OPM: Decentring a Popular Music Sign

45

4

Popularising Malaysian Cultures through the Music Industry and Music Education

55

mayco a. santaella

felicidad a. prudente

krina cayabyab

shahanum mohd. shah

Part II: History 5

63

Revisiting Post-Cultural Imperialism: Singing Vernacular Modernity and Hybridity through the Lagu Melayu in British Malaya

65

Acoustic Epistemologies and Early Sound Recordings in the Nusantara Region: Phonography, Archive, and the Birth of Ethnomusicology

75

7

Bodabil Music in the Rise of the American Empire

83

8

Songs for and of the Youth: Mapping Trends in Philippine Popular Music, 1900–2000

92

tan sooi beng

6

melê yamomo

arwin q. tan

verne de la peña

vii

viii • Contents

Part III: Artists and Genres 9

Singapore Arts Icon or Malay Nationalist?: Mobilising Zubir Said Across the Causeway

adil johan

101 103

10 Te Popularisation and Contestation of Dangdut Koplo in the Indonesian Music Industry

114

11 KL Sing Song: Alternative Voices in the Kuala Lumpur Singer-Songwriter Circuit (2000–2009)

123

12 Hijrah and the Rise of Nasyid Kontemporari in Malaysia

137

Part IV National vs. Local Industries

151

13 Branding the Nation through Ahmad Nawab’s “Malaysia Truly Asia”

153

14 Te Indonesian Popular Music Industry: Navigating Shadows of Politics and Cultural Uncertainty

164

15 More than Mimicry: Alternative Modernities in the Birth and Development of Iban Popular Music

172

16 Transcultural Commodities: A Comparative Analysis of Sama-Bajau Popular Musics in Maritime Southeast Asia

184

michael h.b. raditya

azmyl yusof @ azmyl yunor

raja iskandar bin raja halid

shazlin amir hamzah

citra aryandari

connie lim keh nie

bernard b. ellorin

CODA: Global Movements, Local Sounds: Nusantara Music and Artists Overseas

195

Aferword: Bercerita (Sharing Stories) with M. Nasir, Joey Ayala, Dwiki Dharmawan, and Pra Budi Dharma on Nusantara Popular Music

210

Notes on Contributors

220

Selected Bibliography

224

Index

232

paul augustin and adil johan

raja iskandar bin raja halid and mayco a. santaella

Figures

0.1 P. Ramlee (right) and Rahayu Efendy (lef), at the 19th Asian Film Festival, Singapore, 1973. Utusan Filem & Fesyen (Film and Fashion Messenger) magazine cover. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 0.2 Film stars Jin Shamsudin (lef) and Emelia Contessa (right) at the 19th Asian Film Festival, Singapore, 1973. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 0.3 Film stars Dicky Zulkarnaen (lef) and Sarimah (right) at the 19th Asian Film Festival, Singapore, 1973. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 0.4 Film stars Latifah Omar (lef), Ratna Timor (centre), and Dayang Sofa (right) at the 19th Asian Film Festival, Singapore, 1973. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 0.5 Front sleeve of Sanisah Huri and the Hooks, Baju Hijau EP, EMI, 1968. (Personal collection of Adil Johan) 0.6 Back sleeve of Sanisah Huri and the Hooks, Baju Hijau EP, EMI, 1968. (Personal collection of Adil Johan) 0.7 Side One disc label of Sanisah Huri and the Hooks, Baju Hijau EP, EMI, 1968. (Personal collection of Adil Johan) 0.8 Side Two disc label of Sanisah Huri and the Hooks, Baju Hijau EP, EMI, 1968. (Personal collection of Adil Johan) 0.9 Front sleeve of Freddie Aguilar’s Kenangan Ayah (Memories of my Father) album sleeve and record disc labels, Philips-Polygram, 1979. (Personal collection of Adil Johan) 0.10 Back sleeve of Freddie Aguilar’s Kenangan Ayah (Memories Of My Father) album sleeve and record disc labels, Philips-Polygram, 1979. Te album’s lyricist Mohd. Nasir @M. Nasir is featured prominently. (Personal collection of Adil Johan) 0.11 Side One disc label of Freddie Aguilar’s Kenangan Ayah (Memories Of My Father) album sleeve and record disc labels, Philips-Polygram, 1979. (Personal collection of Adil Johan) 0.12 Side Two disc label of Freddie Aguilar’s Kenangan Ayah (Memories Of My Father) album sleeve and record disc labels, Philips-Polygram, 1979. (Personal collection of Adil Johan) 0.13 Front sleeve of Carefree’s debut album, Kebebasan (Freedom), EMI, 1979. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

ix

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16

x • Figures

0.14 Back sleeve of Carefree’s debut album, Kebebasan, EMI, 1979. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 0.15 Side A disc label of Carefree’s debut album, Kebebasan, EMI, 1979. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 0.16 Side B disc label of Carefree’s debut album, Kebebasan, EMI, 1979. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 0.17 Sweet Charity, Pelarian (Refugee) album cassette sleeve, WEA 1980. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 0.18 Search, Fenomena album sleeve, compact disc reissue, Pawana Records 2017, orig. BMG Pacifc 1989. (Personal collection of Adil Johan) 1.1 Conceptualising the continuum for the popular in maritime Southeast Asia 11.1 Front album sleeve of Voices From Next Door, compact disc compilation, Troubadours Enterprise, 2006. Tis is the frst and only documented attempt at compiling the works of singer–songwriters based in Malaysia from the period. (Personal collection of Azmyl Yusof) 11.2 Back album sleeve of Voices From Next Door, compact disc compilation, Troubadours Enterprise, 2006. (Personal collection of Azmyl Yusof) 11.3 KL Sing Song 2009 poster. Te fnal three-day KL Sing Song showcase from 30 October to 1 November 2009 was held at Te Annexe Gallery, Central Market, Kuala Lumpur. (Personal collection of Azmyl Yusof) 11.4 KL Sing Song 2009 promotional fyer. (Personal collection of Azmyl Yusof) 12.1 El-Surayya taken in 1970 with Ahmad Baqi, standing fourth from the lef 12.2 Te Kumpulan Nasyid Kompleks Budaya Negara (KBN) won the National Nasyid Competition in 1979. (Courtesy of Fauzi Majid) 12.3 Front sleeve of the DVD edition of Raihan’s debut album Puji-Pujian (Praises), Warner Music Malaysia. 1997. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 12.4 Back sleeve of the DVD edition of Raihan’s debut album Puji-Pujian (Praises) Warner Music Malaysia. 1997. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 15.1 Front sleeve of Christopher Kelly’s Mar Mudah Mesti Di-Uji (Hard or Easy, You Have to Try) EP (accompanied by Te Royalists band), South East Asia Radio & Records, c.1970. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 15.2 Back sleeve of Christopher Kelly’s Mar Mudah Mesti Di-Uji (Hard or Easy, You Have to Try) EP (accompanied by Te Royalists band), South East Asia Radio & Records, c.1970. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 15.3 Side One disc label of Christopher Kelly’s Mar Mudah Mesti Di-Uji (Hard or Easy, You Have to Try) EP (accompanied by Te Royalists band), South East Asia Radio & Records, c.1970. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 15.4 Side Two disc label of Christopher Kelly’s Mar Mudah Mesti Di-Uji (Hard or Easy, You Have to Try) EP (accompanied by Te Royalists band), South East Asia Radio & Records, c.1970. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 17.1 Front sleeve of vinyl LP record reissue of Sheila Majid’s sophomore album, Emosi (Emotion), Universal Music, 2019 (orig. 1986). (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

17 18 18 19 19 32

129 130 132 133 140 141 145 146 179 180

181

182 197

Figures • xi

17.2 Back sleeve of vinyl LP record reissue of Sheila Majid’s sophomore album, Emosi (Emotion), Universal Music, 2019 (orig. 1986). Includes a new version of her hit song “Sinaran” (“Radiant”) recorded in Japan. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea) 17.3 Paul Ponnudorai performing at the Penang Island Jazz Festival, 2007. (Photo by Michael Lee, courtesy of Penang House of Music, Malaysia) 17.4 Asian Spirits compact disc cover of their concert in Seoul, South Korea. (Courtesy of Penang House of Music, Malaysia) 17.5 Poster of Asian Spirits Concert in Seoul, South Korea. (Courtesy of Penang House of Music, Malaysia) 17.6 Bob Aves and Grace Nono at the Penang Island Jazz Festival, 2007. (Photo by Michael Lee, courtesy of Penang House of Music, Malaysia) 17.7 Farid Ali at Penang Island Jazz Festival, 2005 (Photo by Michael Lee, courtesy of Penang House of Music, Malaysia) 17.8 Farid Ali and shamisen player Chie Hanawa at the Penang Island Jazz Festival, 2005 (Photo by Michael Lee, courtesy of Penang House of Music, Malaysia)

198 199 204 205 206 206 207

Preface

Can we conceptualise popular music(s) as characteristically Nusantara? We decided to set sail on the journey of exploring the many answers to this question, unfolded within the pages of this book. Here, we reveal the fuid maritime connections and shared Nusantara histories linked to the development of popular music in the region. Within the recent post-colonial (and largely post-national) condition of both scholarly and musical endeavours, this indigenous designation continues to expand in meaning with both historical and contemporary identity signifers. Parallel to diferent ethnic conceptions and assimilations, kingdoms, colonies, 20th-century nation-states, and regional entities such as ASEAN, Nusantara sustains indigenous sensibilities and idiosyncratic logics and approaches towards cultural forms, aesthetics, and practices. Part of the challenge lies in the academic imperative of defning felds, terminology, and genres. Just like the plural nature of identity in Southeast Asia given considerations like ancestry, ethnicity, language, status, nationality, race, and gender, among others, so is there a multiplicity of understandings of Nusantara popular music. Locale, practitioners, genres, instrumentation, audience, sound, and movement, among other factors, shape the nature of Nusantara popular music. However, agency is crucial to understanding, conceptualising, and producing popular music characterised as Nusantara. Popular music comprises numerous forms from the region and abroad, including traditional and folk genres popularised at the provincial and/or national level, pop, rock, jazz, and new national genres such as dangdut, to name a few examples. In this sense, the “popular” does not mark boundaries as the “traditional” might. Te inclusivity, adaptability, and versatility of the “popular” is analogous to that of the “Nusantara”, an identity umbrella that serves as both refuge, if needed, and as point of departure. Despite recent 21st-century developments of English scholarship in the region through new publications, journals, and dissertations, many regional studies are ofen excluded from anglophone canons of ethnomusicology and popular music studies developed in western academia. An example is a recent interdisciplinary publication titled “Producing Indonesia: Te State of the Field of Indonesian Studies” (Tagliacozzo, 2014) written almost entirely by western scholars covering mostly western sources. Besides works written in national languages such as Malay, Tagalog, and Indonesian, sources in indigenous languages such as Kadazan, Minangkabau, and Sulod may ofer alternative understandings and conceptualisations of the region. With this volume, we hope to revert the power dynamics of knowledge production from global – that is, mostly western-governed – unidirectional academic attitudes to consider, instead, how Nusantara popular music may help redefne regional approaches and, possibly, those of other regions as well. Importantly, this publication addresses a lacuna on the shared afnities and interactions of popular music performance, production, and consumption found in a historically fuid

xii

Preface • xiii

Nusantara region based on current case studies presented by scholars working in the region. Tis book’s exploration of “local” music within and across the Nusantara hopes to challenge the common assumption that popular music emanating from the Anglo-American music industries were widely transmitted to the global south to be reproduced and consumed by local populations. As the book reveals, such popular music was in fact adopted and adapted to localregional styles, aesthetics, and social-cultural contexts to form entirely new practices, economies, and expressions of popular culture. More so, we believe that the fuid connections and cultural diversity revealed through this volume’s study of the Nusantara region will remind relevant educators, scholars, and practitioners of the global afnities and local particularities of popular music as practiced, performed, produced, and consumed in a world of dissonant and consonant relationships of power and cultural exchange. Organisation Te structure of this volume is fourfold with themes that revisit the conceptualisation of popular music within the region. Te frst theme, issues in Nusantara popular music, evaluates popular music as a feld and discourse considering its applications for and in the Nusantara region. Te chapter by Mayco A. Santaella revisits emic/etic conceptualisations of the “traditional” and the “popular” in the Nusantara region through an investigation of the popularisation of indigenous forms and the indigenisation of global and national genres. Considering popular performance genres rather than anglophone diferentiations of music, dance, and theatre (see Santaella 2019), the chapter proposes a look at a Nusantara praxis within national and regional alternative modernities. Based on her musical journey and experience, Felicidad Prudente’s chapter presents a brief history of popular music in the Philippines using OPM and its various correlated Pinoy genres to analyse the assertion of Filipino identity(-ies). In turn, Krina Cayabyab’s chapter scrutinises the term “OPM” and its signifers with a discussion of sociocultural impacts, political nuance, and historical relevance which redefne nationalism and identity of Filipino artists specifcally and the country at large. Shahanum Mohd Shah’s chapter reviews the national music industry in Malaysia and investigates the largely understudied confuences of popular music and music education. Te second theme, history, investigates the development of popular music in the region during the 20th century. Tan Sooi Beng’s chapter highlights the vernacular modernity and agency of musicians in the Malay archipelago of the early 1900s by challenging the common analysis that cultural imperialism led to an erasure of indigenous music genres. Considering international, regional, and local forms during the frst half of the 20th century, the author reveals the agency of bangsawan artists who, through their gramophone recordings of lagu Melayu (Malay songs), gave voice to alternative interpretations of an imposed colonial modernity refective of a Nusantara identity. Continuing the focus on the frst half of the 20th century, in an investigation of early sound recordings in the Nusantara region, Yamomo analyses the embodied and mediated acoustic technologies that shaped sonic epistemologies considering both regional and colonial archives and a globalising recording industry in its incipient stages. Arwin Tan’s chapter interrogates the transculturation of vaudeville (bodabil) in the Philippines as popular public entertainment epitomising a cultural shif of Filipinos both adopting and negotiating American culture under the US colonial era. Te last chapter under this theme by Verne de la Peña takes the reader on a musical journey through the 20th century and explores the relationship of trending songs and the youth in Philippine popular music. De la Peña considers infrastructures, the mass media, and the national music industry that shaped a uniquely Filipino auditory culture.

xiv • Preface

Artists and genres comprise the third theme and looks at specifc infuential fgures, musical styles, and trends focusing on biographies, local and global infuences, and their impacts on specifc genres and music eras. Adil Johan’s chapter examines the context, positionality, and works of Zubir Said across the Malaysia–Singapore causeway as an embodiment of a Nusantara hybrid identity. Te author positions the composer as a Minangkabau from Bukittinggi, born in pre-independence Indonesia amidst the gestation of Sumatran anti-colonial and nationalist ideals, who moved to Singapore and was recognised as an illustrious citizen afer composing the national anthem, and who grew to become an icon of Malay identity and nationalism in Malaya. Te following chapter looks at the evolution of dangdut koplo considering artists, groups, and the mass media. Michael Raditya’s examination posits three eras for the iconic Indonesian genre from its inception within an East Javanese regional industry until its national development and dissemination in Jakarta’s popular music industry. As co-artistic director and co-founder of Troubadours Enterprise, Azmyl Yusof discusses the urban music scene in Kuala Lumpur by charting his group’s annual “KL Sing Song” showcase of Malaysian singer–songwriters. Te chapter presents an unprecedented analysis of the event that challenges the conceptualisation of popular music eras and anglophone popular culture discourses. Tis theme is wrapped up with a seminal chapter by Raja Iskandar that discusses the concept of Hijrah as not only physical but also spiritual mobility among individuals and groups of nasyid kontemporari in Malaysia. Te genre is germane to this volume as it examines a form popular throughout the Nusantara, characterised as “contemporary”: an adjective that widely depicts current approaches, popularity, and an indigenous present, while highlighting the inherent fuidity of identity in the region. Te last theme, national vs. local industries, provides a critical investigation of local genres and aesthetics subsumed under or in contestation with nationally bounded spaces of production and consumption. Te analysis considers how interactions and disjunctures between the state and local expressions of popular music might intersect with regional and global contexts. Te chapter by Shazlin Amir Hamzah inaugurates the theme at the national level by discussing the use of popular music for nation branding and government campaigns in Malaysia, all common phenomena throughout the Nusantara. Continuing at the national level, Citra Aryandari’s chapter investigates the politics of Indonesian popular music via a critique of top-down religious and politically motivated state laws, bans and censorship that have afected and continue to impinge upon the music industry. Te chapter by Connie Lim introduces a case study of a local industry by delving into the very understudied development of Iban popular music in Sarawak. Departing from an Iban alternative modernity within the Malaysian nation-state, the analysis demonstrates the negotiation between an ethnic pre-modern warrior identity and the representation of a modern Sarawakian during the time that the state became part of the Malaysian federation. Bernard Ellorin’s chapter examines the Sama-Bajau sangbai as a popularised music genre and a transcultural commodity in east Malaysia and the southern Philippines. Pertinent to this volume as a transnational community and genre, the study is placed within a historically vibrant region conceived as the “Sulu Zone” by James F. Warren (2007), and looks at the Sama-Bajau as marginal and divided at the periphery of modern nation-states, as a single ethnic minority group operating under diferent hegemonic majorities of peninsular Malays and lowland Christian Filipinos in Malaysia and the Philippines respectively. Te volume concludes with a discussion of Nusantara popular music by musician, Penang Island Jazz Festival director, and Penang House of Music (Resource Centre and Gallery) founding director, Paul Augustin. Tis “coda” presents an analysis of Nusantara popular music outside the region as well as the production of new music within the region performed at international festivals. Last but not least, the volume closes with an aferword that consists of three interviews with Singaporean-Malaysian singer–songwriter, composer, and producer M.

Preface • xv

Nasir, Filipino singer–songwriter Joey Ayala, and two members of the Indonesian jazz-fusion group Krakatau: keyboardist, composer, and producer Dwiki Dharmawan and bassist Pra Budi Dharma. Te interviews of renowned performers and composers provide their conceptualisation of Nusantara popular music closing the volume with a conversation that calls for new rhetorics. Notes on Names, Spelling, and Translations Te ethnic and religious diversity of the Nusantara results in a mixture of naming conventions appearing throughout the book. Malay names are patronymic; however, many artists have “stage names” or abbreviated versions of their longer Muslim names. For example, the Malaysian artist known as Sheila Majid is Sheila binti Abdul Majid; M. Nasir is abbreviated from Mohamad Nasir Bin Mohamed; and Zain Azman’s name is Abdul Aziz Majid. For well-known artists such as the ones above, this volume refers to such individuals by their commonly known stage names unless clarifed by individual authors. In terms of referencing, the volume considers patronymic naming conventions by citing the frst names of the authors in text and writing out their names in full in the bibliography. For example, Shazlin Amir Hamzah is cited as “Shazlin” and Azmyl Md Yusof is cited as “Azmyl”. Exceptions are made for Malay or Indonesian authors that cite themselves by their “second” names, e.g. “Izharuddin” for Alicia Izharuddin, “Burhani” for Ahmad Najib Burhani, and “Setiyono” for Budi Setiyono. Where Nusantara artists and authors have Spanish or Christian names such as Freddie Aguilar and Paul Augustin, the standard western conventions apply in citation of their surnames: Aguilar and Augustin. Importantly, the reader will have no issues in cross-referencing authors names in text with the bibliography provided at the end of each chapter. All authors within this volume have endeavoured to provide accurate English translations of texts in Malay, Indonesian, Tagalog, and other languages that are the subject of their study. Where indigenous languages are presented in the form of song titles or song lyrics, authors have provided English language translations in parentheses or alongside the quoted text. For example, Connie Lim’s chapter provides English translations alongside the lyrics of four songs in the Iban language cited at length in her chapter. Adil Johan and Mayco A. Santaella Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 23 May 2020 References Santaella, Mayco A. 2019. “‘Doing Rano’ Among the Kaili of Central Sulawesi: A Choreomusicological Analysis of the Body as Cultural Locus of the Sound-Movement Continuum.” Asian Music 50(1), 33–57. Tagliacozzo, Eric. 2014. Producing Indonesia: Te State of the Field of Indonesian Studies. Ithaca: Cornell University. Warren, James F. 2007. Te Sulu Zone, 1768–1898: Te Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery, and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State, 2nd ed. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the series editors Franco Fabbri and Gofredo Plastino for providing us the opportunity to contribute to this pathbreaking Global Popular Music Series. We are equally grateful to Matthew Sansom and Donald Bowyer for their initial endorsement and continuous support throughout this project. It has provided a much-needed space for both young and established scholars from this region to explore a burgeoning area of academic inquiry. With that said, we are most indebted to all the contributors of this volume, close colleagues, and collaborators, of whom we hope to see more related cross-disciplinary research in the felds of ethnomusicology, popular music studies, and Southeast Asian studies following the publication of this book. Editing a volume of this breadth is no small task, and we greatly appreciate the entire production staf, editorial team, and copyeditors from Taylor & Francis. Mahalo to Ricardo D. Trimillos for reviews on a chapter and mahalo to Wayland and Desiree Quintero for their thorough reviews, comments, and suggestions. We also acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their useful and constructive feedback. Terima kasih and salamat to M. Nasir, Joey Ayala, Dwiki Dharmawan, and Pra Budi Dharma for their time, generously sharing their stories in the Aferword of the book. Kamsahamida also to Kim Mijung and the archive team at Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea for permission to reproduce images from their Nusantara popular music collection. Funding for the research and writing of this book was provided by the National University of Malaysia Young Researcher’s Encouragement Grant (GGPM-2017-079) and Sunway University’s Collaborative Research Fund 2019 (STR-RMF-MRU-003-2019) for this Made in Nusantara project. Tis book was mostly written and edited during the trying period of the COVID-19 pandemic, while Malaysia was under a nationwide lockdown called the Movement Control Order. Amidst tending to crying babies, teaching online classes, and meeting other professional deadlines, both editors would not have been able to complete this project without the enduring support and patience of their family members. Adil Johan and Mayco A. Santaella Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya Malaysia

xvi

Introduction

Popular Music as a Means of Conceptualising the Nusantara Adil Johan and Mayco A. Santaella

Buka Panggung – Setting the Stage Made in Nusantara serves as a broad introduction to the history, sociology, ethnography, and musicology of popular music in the extended Nusantara region. Each essay covers major fgures, styles, and the social contexts of popular Nusantara genres in the area including Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, and the Philippines. Trough a critical investigation of specifc popular music and their spaces of performance, production, and consumption, the volume is organised into four thematic areas: 1) issues in Nusantara popular music; 2) history; 3) artists and genres; and 4) national vs. local industries. Tese are broad categories for chapter content that signifcantly intersect across topics. Chapters provide a historical context for their areas of inquiry and discuss artists, genres, as well as their related cultural practices, music industries, and economies of production and consumption. Crucially, as this volume deals with regional popular music spaces, we have explicitly avoided groupings of chapters by nation-state. More so, chapters should be read as dialogues between and across each other. Te cultural and geopolitical histories of each nation and their people are intricately intertwined through fuid pre-colonial and colonial-era relationships fostered within a maritime-oriented world (Andaya 2006) across connecting water spaces and the post-independence national boundaries imagined by popular music artists and fans of the Nusantara region. Tis volume ofers insights on how the porous borders of this region are contained by national or regional genres, as well as how such borders might be challenged via the aesthetics and the social and cultural contents of the various popular music cases explored. We hope that this book provides a valuable contribution to the study of popular music in this region as well as global studies on popular culture that have consistently sought to question the imaginary lines of nation states that ofen obscure our understanding of humanity. However, we also believe that expressions of popular music in the region are uniquely Nusantara; based on complex social histories of interaction within and between the Malay Peninsula and the archipelago of islands that comprise the Nusantara region. Conceptualising the Nusantara Popular music in the Nusantara region highlights shared and interactive cultural, historical, political, geographical, and sonically mediated spaces of maritime Southeast Asia which includes “the totality of cultures and societies of a region encompassing the present nation states of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and (tangentially) Singapore” (Trimillos 1

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2017, 3). On an artistic and aesthetic level, however, we consider this shared space to resonate more inclusively with the term “Nusantara”, as understood by local communities and their artists. It is an indigenous term that references cultural diversity and complex exchange networks, contestations and afnities that occur within and between the borders of these nation-states. Te endonym “Nusantara” appropriately contextualises a complex history of inter-regional networks through the historically predominant Malay as lingua-franca (though related variations and dialects proliferate) amongst the region’s population, which is then expressed in the region’s popular culture1. Te term Nusantara is historically associated with the Majapahit empire in its broader sense, which included peninsular Malaysia, coastal Borneo communities, as well as the southern Philippines. Te empire did not have “borders”, but rather functioned as a Mandala (see Wolters 1999) with Java as its centre (Negara Agung) and peripheral communities serving diferent centres of power. Te region developed economically during maritime Southeast Asia’s “age of commerce” (Reid 1990) from the mid-15th century until the end of the 17th century, with distinct (yet linked) vibrant economic and cultural complexes such as the straits of Malacca, the Riau Islands, the Sulu Zone (Warren, 2007), and the Maluku Islands. Exonyms have linked the Nusantara with other areas in the region. Te sinocentric appellation Nanyang (southern seas) grouped the Nusantara with mainland kingdoms and lands south of Yunnan. Te applicability of the term was further validated by hybrid local cultural communities known as babanyonya, peranakan, or parianon established afer earlier Chinese migrations. Te anglophone term “Southeast Asia” (which developed signifcantly as a feld of study afer WWII) grouped the Nusantara with Myanmar, Tailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Tis latter group of countries are at times described as mainland Southeast Asia (earlier known as Indochina) while Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, and the Philippines are grouped as Island Southeast Asia (also known as insular/maritime Southeast Asia) with Malaysia placed at the nexus of the two regions (with its peninsular and eventually island states). Te 20th century resurgence of Nusantara in Philippine, Malaysian, and Indonesian literature, particularly nationalist works, highlights the shared experiences, cultural cohesiveness, and modern-day relevance of the indigenous term. Lastly, the 1963 (post-independence) short-lived “Ma-Phil-Indo” project based on Jose Rizal’s ideals of regional unity continued to highlight the foundations and logics of this region. As such, Nusantara simultaneously signifes pre-colonial heritage, shared colonial struggles, and post-colonial indigeneity. Initially, the term derived from the Sanskrit nusa meaning “island” and antara meaning “in between” or “including”, and was found in ancient 14th- and 15th-century manuscripts and “copperplate inscriptions dated 1305 from Java” (Evers 2016, 4). Evers notes that the term consequently reappeared in lefist inter-regional Malay independence movements in the 1950s that envisioned a unifed “Melayu Raya” state “comprising the Netherlands Indies and the Federated Malay States” (Evers 2016, 7). However, the most enduring organisation to use the term is Organisasi Sasterawan Nusantara, a collective of Malaysian, Indonesian, Bruneian, and Indonesian poets, writers, and politicians that was formed in 1973 and held its thirteenth meeting in 2015 (Evers 2016, 7). In more recent times, the term Nusantara is predominantly used in Indonesia, where the infuential religious movement of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), for example, promotes their brand of “Islam Nusantara” as “an interpretation and implementation of Islam that features a harmonious integration between Islamic teachings and local cultures”, with an expressed aim “to counteract radicalism and terrorism” (Burhani 2018, 2). In a sense, while the term here is used within the Indonesian context, it does denote an inclusivist and tolerant ideological approach to Islam that is cognisant of its local syncretic roots (Burhani 2018, 3–13) and analogous to their national motto “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” (roughly, “Unity in

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Diversity”). “Islam Nusantara” includes the southern Philippines as part of the “Land Below the Winds” (south of East Asian typhoons), also known as “bilad al-Jawi” (roughly “Muslim Jawi state/region”) and constitutes one of the eight world “religious-cultural Islamic domains” (Azra 2015). Nusantara is also used by Malaysian musicians who initiated a revival of traditional and folk music integrated with modern pop in the 1990s called Balada Nusantara, to be discussed in more detail below. Te inclusion of the Philippines in the Nusantara scope follows both historical and modern rationales. Historically, the Nusantara region included Mindanao and the extended Sulu Zone with trading networks into the Visayas and as far north as Luzon, particularly through foreign Chinese traders and local Bajau/Sama sea-dwelling communities that also reached southern territories of east Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi (Santaella 2013). During the 20th century, the Nusantara was redefned through popular performance genres and the Philippines became a crucial contributor to the development of popular music across the entire region. Te study of Nusantara provides an inclusive epistemological approach to considering a shared space of cultural expressions and interactions. It is also an attempt to decolonise nation-state boundaries that denote distinct legacies of European empires in the region. Te Nusantara focus diverges from hegemonic ethno-nationalist politics of Malaysia and associated ideas about the “Malay world” that source Malay-ness in 15th-century Melaka as well as the extensive reach of the Srivijaya empire. Tis volume’s approach decentres exclusive Indonesian adoption that is tied to the archipelago of islands that form the nation-state, especially considering that Malaysian musicians in the peninsula were adopting the term to claim a regional and cosmopolitan sense of “Malay-ness”. Tis book also acknowledges early colonialcosmopolitan Spanish and Anglo-American musical encounters and experiences of Filipino musicians who were instrumental in the dissemination and hybridisation of new music with local practices through commercial and diasporic routes of popular music dissemination throughout the region from the turn of the century until the postwar period. A recent monograph by Keppy (2019) on popular music in Southeast Asia resonates well with our approach, examining side by side the musical biographies of Filipino bodabil musician Luis Borromeo, popularly known as Borromeo Lou, and Indonesian keroncong star Miss Riboet, both active at the turn of the 20th century. While the two artists did not necessarily meet amidst their storied musical journeys they intersected in spaces of performance through technologies of popular music recording and dissemination, as well as in the expressions of burgeoning anti-colonial sentiments in their songs, all during the cultural zeitgeist of Southeast Asia’s jazz age (Keppy 2019). Made in Nusantara adds further to this multi-subject approach by encapsulating, in inclusivist terms, how popular music may be contextualised within a complex regional space of historical and cultural relationships and interactions. Tus, it is within and between this maritime space of fuid identities, afnities, and contestations that popular music is made in the Nusantara. Consequently, popular music narrates the circulation, exchanges, and shared consumption of ideas, genres, artists, recordings, and media that comprise the focal point of this volume. Popular Music in the Nusantara From bodabil (Filipino vaudeville) to OPM (Original Pilipino Music),2 the Philippines serves as an important “point of entry” for popular music in the Nusantara. Te development of popular music culture in the Philippines, and by extension the Southeast Asia maritime region, is intimately linked to Spanish colonialism, Roman Catholicism brought by Spanish colonists, and American colonialism. Colonialism was central in the import, adoption, and adaptation of

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Figure 0.1 P. Ramlee (right) and Rahayu Effendy (left), at the 19th Asian Film Festival, Singapore, 1973. Utusan Filem & Fesyen (Film and Fashion Messenger) magazine cover. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

Western musical practices and instruments into the wider Nusantara region. As “the world’s frst global city”, Manila served from the 16th century as a diverse entrepôt of people, products, and ideas (Irving 2010, 19). Such an environment enabled the “worldwide difusion of musical commodities… (as) a vital element in the simultaneous cultivation of certain shared musical repertories or performance traditions”, whereupon “the meeting of mutually alien cultures ofen determined the identities of the opposing voices that would engage in the most sustained and complex contrapuntal dialogue” (Irving 2010, 45). Such “complex contrapuntal dialogue” forms the basis of the regional development of artistic practices and popular culture, as established through the colonial counterpoints of musical encounters between local, colonised populations with colonial agents and their accompanying musical commodities (Irving 2010, 45). However, these exchanges were nuanced and fuid, and

Introduction • 5

Figure 0.2 Film stars Jin Shamsudin (left) and Emelia Contessa (right) at the 19th Asian Film Festival, Singapore, 1973. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

developed in novel ways over time, for the “colonised” ofen embodied diverse indigenous and hybrid identities. Te case of Filipino music icon Borromeo Lou, for example, reveals a 20thcentury tale of a pianist of Chinese-Filipino descent from Parian (a historical district of Chinese traders in Cebu City) who would go on to play ragtime (jazz) piano in the United States, and then return to Manila in 1921 to start a uniquely Filipino style of vaudeville repertoire and stage performances called bodabil or vod-a-vil (Keppy 2019, 19, 60, 64; also see Arwin Tan’s chapter). Te legacy of Anglo-American acquired musicianship such as the ability to play European instruments and repertoire and read and write Western music notation resulted in the export of Filipino musicians to other parts of colonised Southeast Asia. During the British Colonial Administration, the state of Selangor hired sixty-four Filipino musicians to form a state band. One of these musicians was the father to Malaysia’s “Father of Jazz”, Alfonso Soliano, who was born in Singapore in 1925 (Low & Syahir 2015). As a talented bangsawan theatre performer,

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Figure 0.3 Film stars Dicky Zulkarnaen (left) and Sarimah (right) at the 19th Asian Film Festival, Singapore, 1973. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

jazz pianist, and composer, Soliano would helm the frst Radio Malaya Orchestra (later, Radio Televisyen Malaysia [RTM]) in the mid-1950s, just afer the declaration of independence for the Federation of Malaya, leaving behind a legacy of jazz, orchestral, and pop compositions (Low & Syahir 2015). Of Filipino descent, Soliano was born in the Straits Settlement of Singapore and died a revered Malaysian music icon. In fact, Soliano’s legacy in popular music draws the threads of connections from the Philippines’ vod-a-vil history, past OPM (as he was not a participant in Philippine nation-making) to RTM. It was the context of British colonialism and postwar independence in the Malay Peninsula that would foreground Soliano’s experiences as a popular music artist. Aside from enduring threads of connections across time and space, Nusantara relationships can also be seen in the historical conficts between the nation-states of the region. Adil’s chapter, for example, considers the contested yet shared history between Malaysia and Singapore.

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Figure 0.4 Film stars Latifah Omar (left), Ratna Timor (centre), and Dayang Sofa (right) at the 19th Asian Film Festival, Singapore, 1973. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

Additionally, for all Nusantara nations, the historical and political context of European and Anglo-American colonialism plays a particularly important role in the way ideas about national and ethnic boundaries were and are shaped in the post-World War II era onwards. However, no post-independence confict between the nations within this region can overshadow the Konfrontasi3 (Confrontation) between Malaysia and Indonesia from 1963 to 1967 and the unique role of popular music in this war. Tis period of Konfrontasi gave birth to many popular songs with the theme Ganyang Malaysia (Crush Malaysia) which were broadcast across the Indonesian national radio. Farram (2014) highlights the major contradiction that despite Soekarno’s policy against Western infuences many of these ganjang songs were done in a 1960s rock ‘n’ roll style. On the other side of

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Figure 0.5 Front sleeve of Sanisah Huri and the Hooks, Baju Hijau EP, EMI, 1968. (Personal collection of Adil Johan)

the new national borders, Malaysia experienced an increase of popular patriotic songs broadcast on the airwaves. Tese songs were more militaristic and departed very far from the rock ‘n’ roll style. Many of these songs were actually written by an Indonesian composer based in Malaysia named Saiful Bahri whose most famous work is still sung today, a militaristic song called “Perajurit Tanahair” (“Warriors of the Homeland”) (Saidah 2017, 229–231). Tis song is still popular and easily recognised amongst Malaysians of diverse backgrounds, broadcast on national media for patriotic events, and sung by school children for sporting activities (Adil & Shazlin 2019, 180–181, 186). Saiful Bahri and his compositions best represent the polar opposite of rock ‘n’ roll ganjang songs in Indonesia. He was an Indonesian citizen who was actively working in Malaysia to write patriotic songs for national broadcast during the Konfrontasi period. While he was appreciated by many, he also experienced much antagonism from certain colleagues due to his Indonesian nationality (Saidah 2017, 231). However, his personal attachments to Malaysia (he married two wives there) and the copious number of musical contributions

Introduction • 9

Figure 0.6 Back sleeve of Sanisah Huri and the Hooks, Baju Hijau EP, EMI, 1968. (Personal collection of Adil Johan)

indicate the fuidity of Nusantara musical personalities especially during the period when national boundaries were newly drawn. While tensions could be discerned from some musical relationships within the Nusantara, many musical afnities and intimate connections characterise the development of popular music in the region especially during the 1970s to 1990s. Te popular culture industries and their talents were eager to renew amicable relations in the early 1970s. Te Malaysian entertainment magazine Utusan Filem & Fesyen (No. 34) published in June 1973, features on its cover the Malay flm-music icon P. Ramlee next to Indonesian flm star Rahayu Efendy at the 19th Asian Film Festival in Singapore (Figure 0.1). Te issue served as a memorial for P. Ramlee who had just passed away on 29 May the same year. Te flm festival was the last major event he had attended, held earlier during the same month of his death. Te magazine printed a photo of him at the festival dated 18 May 1973 (Utusan Filem & Fesyen, June 1973, 4). Noting that many flm stars were also pop singers with record deals, this particular issue of the magazine demonstrates how popular music icons and flm stars from the region represented their nations as de facto ambassadors within the region’s popular culture industries. Te magazine also features full-colour spreads of Indonesian, Malaysian, and

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Figure 0.7 Side One disc label of Sanisah Huri and the Hooks, Baju Hijau EP, EMI, 1968. (Personal collection of Adil Johan)

Singaporean flm stars posing together: Jins Shamsuddin (Singapore) with Emelia Contessa (Indonesia) (11, Figure 0.2); Dicky Zulkarnaen (Indonesia) and Sarimah (Malaysia-Singapore) (Utusan Filem & Fesyen, June 1973, 47, Figure 0.3); Latifah Omar (Malaysia), Ratno Timoer (Indonesia), and Dayang Sofa (Singapore) (Utusan Filem & Fesyen, June 1973, 14–15, Figure 0.4). In doing so, the magazine appears to present an intimately linked constellation of Nusantara popular culture stars. An article in the magazine titled “Hubungan Semakin Erat Antara Artis-Artis Malaysia-Indonesia” (“Increasingly Close Relations Between Malaysian and Indonesian Artists”) includes the views of two iconic popular music singers, MalaysianSingaporean Saloma and Indonesian Beng Selamat (a.k.a. Bing Selamat), which indicates a waning Malaysian flm industry in comparison to the fourishing Indonesian industry at the time (Utusan Filem & Fesyen, June 1973, 36).4  Te examples cited above also depict symbiotic relationships between the flm industries of the Nusantara and the region’s popular music industry. Malay language flms produced in Singapore from as early as the 1930s until the late 1960s, aside from sourcing capital from East Asia and directors from South Asia, also provided employment for production, acting, and musical talent across the Nusantara (Uhde & Uhde 2010; Barnard 2010). Early Malay flm

Introduction • 11

Figure 0.8 Side Two disc label of Sanisah Huri and the Hooks, Baju Hijau EP, EMI, 1968. (Personal collection of Adil Johan)

composers and musicians included cosmopolitan individuals such as Zubir Said who, like many of his counterparts, emigrated from Sumatra and other parts of the Malay archipelago to work in the bustling entertainment industry of Singapore. Te continuity between Malay flm music and the bangsawan theatre heritage can be seen in the incorporation of the ronggeng music and dance repertoire of the Malay world. Tis flm industry also employed Filipino directors for select flms, such as Lamberto V. Avellana for the flm Sergeant Hassan (1958) which featured P. Ramlee in a starring role singing and composing the flm’s featured song “Tunggu Sekejap” (“Wait for a While”) (Adil 2018, 76–77). Here, an important Nusantara exchange can be heard. Unlike Malay flms prior to this, Sergeant Hassan stands out in its explicit use of a leitmotif from the song’s melody that is heard throughout the flm’s score. “Tunggu Sekejap” is also one of the most lushly orchestrated songs in P. Ramlee’s repertoire from the period (Adil 2018, 81). In many ways, the use of Western-styled orchestration and leitmotif was infuenced by the flm’s director, Avellana, who drew from an aesthetic sensibility already apparent in his own and many other Filipino flms. Tus, the motifs and sounds of Western-Filipino flm music made an indelible mark on the consequent development of popular music mediated en masse via flms in the Nusantara.

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Figure 0.9 Front sleeve of Freddie Aguilar’s Kenangan Ayah (Memories of my Father) album sleeve and record disc labels, Philips-Polygram, 1979. (Personal collection of Adil Johan)

From the mid-1960s to the late 1970s a very diferent musical sensibility benefted from this popular music and mass media relationship in the Nusantara – rock ‘n’ roll. Rock bands infuenced by Beatle-mania in Indonesia were banned on public airwaves for allegedly succumbing to cultural imperialism from the West specifcally during the Soekarno era in the 1960s. Bands such as Koes Bersaudara faced imprisonment until Soekarno’s regime was ousted (Baulch 2016, 93 cit. Setiyono 2001; Farram 2007; and Aryandari’s chapter). However, while met with ambivalence and reservations by the older generation, rock ‘n’ roll in the Malay Peninsula, known as pop yeh yeh, thrived during this period. Te waning Malay flm industry of Singapore produced rock ‘n’ roll-themed flms such as Muda Mudi (Te Young Ones, 1965, dir. M. Amin) and A-Go-Go ’67 (1967, dir. Omar Rojik), in attempts to retain older viewers and attract younger audiences. Such flms therefore “mirrored the rise of the Malay popular music record industry that would be more pervasive than flms from the late 1960s to the late 1970s” (Adil 2018, 220). Te musical director for A-Go-Go ’67, Kassim Masdor, would move past the closure of Shaw Brothers’ Malay Film Productions Studio to be a full-time manager and record producer for the EMI label’s Malay music division based in Singapore (Adil 2018, 222).

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Figure 0.10 Back sleeve of Freddie Aguilar’s Kenangan Ayah (Memories Of My Father) album sleeve and record disc labels, Philips-Polygram, 1979. The album’s lyricist Mohd. Nasir @M. Nasir is featured prominently. (Personal collection of Adil Johan)

Te performance and practices of modern women highlight concomitant ties across the Nusantara. While women were increasingly included in popular media, music debates arose regarding the appropriateness of more physically revealing fashion as well as intellectually and sexually liberated women who were freeing themselves from traditional social restrictions (Lewis 2009; Weintraub 2014; Izharuddin 2018; 2019). However, while female artists took to the stage and recorded as modern women, at times they also reproduced tropes about masculine nationalism. Interestingly, popular rock ‘n’ roll-styled songs where women sang in adoration of soldiers patriotically defending their nation-states can be seen across the Nusantara. While the all-girl Indonesian band Dara Puspita “was ofen photographed in military uniform”, their counterpart Lilis Suryani created a hit with the rock-styled song “Si Baju Loreng” (“Camoufage-Shirted Guy”) in tribute to Indonesian servicemen (Baulch 2016, 94–95). Just a year later in 1968, EMI released Sanisah Huri & Te Hooks’ “Si Baju Hijau” (“Green-Shirted Guy”), recorded in the pop yeh yeh style of most Malay hits of the era popular in Malaysia and Singapore (EMI EGEP.658, 1968, Figures 0.5–0.8). Te romanticisation

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Figure 0.11 Side One disc label of Freddie Aguilar’s Kenangan Ayah (Memories Of My Father) album sleeve and record disc labels, Philips-Polygram, 1979. (Personal collection of Adil Johan)

of the male soldier, a potent symbol of national identity and patriotism in Nusantara popular music, aptly signals the era’s period of emergent nationhood, post-colony, and post-interregional separations and confrontations whereby distinct national spaces were being expressed. However, the fuidity of the Nusantara still emerges in some of these popular expressions. “Si Baju Hijau”, in particular, was performed by a Singaporean band and singer and enjoyed by a Malaysian audience. Rock, and eventually heavy metal,5 across the Singapore–Malaysia–Indonesia border would be a prominent popular music articulation from the 1970s until the 1990s. No other group than Singaporean-based Sweet Charity, fronted by Ramli Sarip, would exemplify this tripartite connection better. Te group’s hit song “Kamelia” released in the album Pelarian (Refugee) was a rendition of an Indonesian singer–songwriter’s song “Camelia 2” (WEA Q40 93223, 1980, Figure 0.17). However, the band performed the song in the “heavier” manner of a guitar-bassdrums rock band while also initiating the recording with an extended instrumental introduction strikingly similar to the opening section of Dee Dee Bridgewater’s version of Elton John’s “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word” (Elektra 6E-119, 1978).6 Te Singaporean band Sweet

Introduction • 15

Figure 0.12 Side Two disc label of Freddie Aguilar’s Kenangan Ayah (Memories Of My Father) album sleeve and record disc labels, Philips-Polygram, 1979. (Personal collection of Adil Johan)

Charity, regarded as pioneers of the thriving Malay rock scene in the Malay Peninsula, was also a huge infuence on consequent Malay bands such as Wings, Lefhanded, and Search. Te Malaysian band Search which was active in the 1980s and 1990s was best known for the hit song “Isabella”, which speaks of a doomed relationship between lovers separated due to diferent cultural backgrounds (“terpisah kerana adat yang berbeza”). Yet, the poetic separation expressed in the song contrasts starkly with its reception in Indonesia. If ganjang songs and patriotic popular music expressed the hostilities between Indonesia and Malaysia during the confrontation years, Malay rock perhaps served as a musical reconciliation between the two countries and included a Singaporean presence. “Isabella” was released in the record-breaking album, Fenomena (Pacifc Music Corporation/BMG Pacifc PMC/MAL 1033, 1989, Figure 0.18),7 which sold over twohundred-and-ffy thousand units in Malaysia and over one million units in Indonesia, a commercial sales feat for a Malaysian group at the time (Riadz 2019). Te group’s popularity in Indonesia culminated in a flm titled Isabella (1990, dir. Azmi Mohammad and Boyke Roring) starring Nia Zulkarnaen @ Venya as the title character and Suhaimi Abdul Rahman @ Amy, the frontman of the band, along with the other members of the band playing themselves in a

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Figure 0.13 Front sleeve of Carefree’s debut album, Kebebasan (Freedom), EMI, 1979. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

fctional story about a romantic relationship between Amy and Isabella. Released in the same year, the Malaysian flm Fenomena (1990, dir, Aziz M. Osman), starring Amy as himself again and Ramona Rahman as the lead character Isabella, features a slightly diferent story about a female lead character that has an incurable but mysterious illness sourced in Malay magic (jampi). However, the romantic relationship in this flm is between Isabella and a character portrayed by M. Nasir, the songwriter and producer behind the success of the Fenomena album. Te Singaporean producer and songwriter was much sought afer by many Malay rock groups and played a major role in the promotion and development of a new brand of Nusantara music in the 1990s that would precede the popularity of rock bands. While all the examples thus far have indicated the intricate connections between various popular music genres and artists between the region’s many national borders, none explicitly employ the term “Nusantara” itself. Te use of Nusantara in the region’s popular music can be found in the genre Balada Nusantara, popularised by Malaysian producer and musician Manan Ngah in the 1990s, who had produced music for artists such as Francissca Peters, Sudirman, and Sharifah Aini (Zawawi 2016, 14). His future recordings and other contemporaries such

Introduction • 17

Figure 0.14 Back sleeve of Carefree’s debut album, Kebebasan, EMI, 1979. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

as Pak Ngah, S. Atan, and M. Nasir would experiment with musical adaptations of folk and traditional music with musicians from across the region. Zawawi observed that the new genre “was… an attempt to ‘intensify’… (a) ‘traditional’ feel in contemporary Malay music”, drawing from Malay folk genres such as “Dondang Sayang, Nasyid, Ghazal” while also being aware of such local musics’ syncretic and “hybrid” links to “Hispanic, European, Arabic, Indian and Chinese origins” (Zawawi, 33, citing an interview with Manan Ngah in Zawawi 1995, 5). However, while the genres of folk music can be found in Malay regions of Indonesia, Malaysian Nusantara artists adapted such genres to champion a commercially successful anti-West and pro-Malay agenda in the nation-state’s popular music industry. Alternative brandings and claims of a Nusantara popular music, particularly during the 1990s in Malaysia and Indonesia, are intricately challenged by the cultures and scenes that fall in between if not outside of these stark boundaries of genres and localities. However, connections in popular music are also present in less overt ethno-cultural relationships. Wallach’s (2011) observations about heavy metal across Malaysia–Singapore–Indonesia provides a useful conceptualisation of “scenic infrastructures” that “sustain regionwide networks of cultural and

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Figure 0.15 Side A disc label of Carefree’s debut album, Kebebasan, EMI, 1979. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

Figure 0.16 Side B disc label of Carefree’s debut album, Kebebasan, EMI, 1979. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

Introduction • 19

Figure 0.17 Sweet Charity, Pelarian (Refugee) album cassette sleeve, WEA 1980. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

Figure 0.18 Search, Fenomena album sleeve, compact disc reissue, Pawana Records 2017, orig. BMG Pacifc 1989. (Personal collection of Adil Johan)

musical exchange involving touring musicians and the wide circulation of musical and textual artifacts” (88). As Wallach reveals, many heavy metal bands form mutually benefcial touring circuits between the three countries. Amy Search still benefts greatly from his band’s success in Indonesia, as he was recently engaged to sing at a surprise performance with a busker, initially disguised as a crowd member, to promote the launch of the new Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)

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service in Jakarta in 2019 (Zaidi, Berita Harian, 2019). Furthermore, while M. Nasir seems to focus on a more Indonesia–Malaysia conception of Nusantara, he was previously the lyricist for Filipino singer–songwriter Freddie Aguilar’s Malay-language album that contained his regional (and global) hit-song “Anak” (Philips 6455511, 1979, Figures 0.9–  0.12). Te Filipino hit was so popular, it even yielded other Malay versions within the same year, such as the one penned by Malaysian pop star Sharifah Aini, performed by the group Carefree (EMI EMGS 5532, 1979, Figures 0.13–  0.15) and the song “Dosa” (“Sin”) in the Alleycats’ frst Malay album (Terima Kasih, Philips 6455505, 1979). Such examples of mutually supportive “scenic infrastructures” (Wallach, 88), however, should be understood as the distinct afnities and connections across the Nusantara that have emanated throughout the region’s history and its engagement with colonialism, nationalism, and the commercial economies of regional and global popular music production and consumption.    Notes 1 2 3

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For an overview of the historical development of Malay across the region and globe, see Collins (2018), Malay, A World Language. For more on OPM see Prudente’s and Cayabyab’s chapters in this volume. Te Konfrontasi was a three-year hostility between Malaysia and Indonesia, mainly fought in skirmishes along the East Malaysian state border with Indonesia in the island of Kalimantan. It was sparked shortly afer Malaysia’s frst Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman announced the formation of the Federation of Malaysia that would include Singapore and the states of Sabah and Sarawak that bordered Indonesia and were located on the island of Kalimantan. President Soekarno of Indonesia at the time “was convinced that the formation of Malaysia was a neo-colonialist plot that would allow the British imperialists to maintain economic, political and military infuence and was thus a threat to Indonesia’s sovereignty” (Farram 2014, 3). Upon the fall of Soekarno’s Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI: Indonesian Communist Party) in 1965, the confrontation was ended with an agreement made between the two countries on 16 August 1966 to “normalize relations between the two countries” (Farram, citing Mackie 1974, 322). Te article also reveals the close relationship between Saloma, her husband P. Ramlee, and Beng Selamat. Beng Selamat would visit them “ofen for meals and exchanges of ideas” (“seringkali mengunjungi mereka untuk makan-makan dan bertukar-tukar fkiran”) (36). Overall, this magazine issue, drawing on the interviews and photos taken at the 19th Asian Film Festival, highlights the close Indonesian–Malaysian–Singaporean connections of popular media icons and the flm industry during the post-Konfrontasi era (afer 1967), which included important Nusantara popular music personalities P. Ramlee, Saloma, and Beng Selamat. For an overview of the development of the Malay rock kapak genre in Malaysia see Ferrarese (2016). Unfortunately, limitations of space in this chapter do not allow for extended discussion of heavy metal, which was equally crucial in the articulation of Nusantara popular music. Existing studies of the genre include: heavy metal in Brunei (Amalina and Zawawi 2017); the death metal scene in Bali, Indonesia, and its broader regional connections (Baulch 2003; Baulch 2007); Malaysian policing of heavy metal in the late 1990s and early 2000s (Azmyl 2010); multicultural heavy metal scenes in Penang (Ferrarese 2014); a comparison of heavy metal music between the cultural politics of Malaysia and Singapore (Liew and Fu 2006); the afnities of heavy metal scenes across Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore (Wallach 2011). Tis connection was relayed to Adil Johan by Raja Iskandar Raja Halid (Personal Communication, Penang, 1 May 2019). Te song was produced by M. Nasir, with lyrics by Bob Lokman, and keyboard parts by Ramli M.S.

Bibliography Adil, Johan. 2018. Cosmopolitan Intimacies: Malay Film Music from the Independence Era. Singapore: NUS Press. Adil, Johan, & Shazlin Amir Hamzah. 2019. “Malaysian Popular Music and Social Cohesion: A Focus Group Study Conducted in Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Klang Valley.” Kajian Malaysia, 37(2): 173–195. Amalina, Timbang, & Zawawi Ibrahim. 2017. “Malay Metalheads: Situating Metal Music Culture in Brunei.” Situations, 10(2): 7–26. “Anak” in Kebebasan album, Carefree, 33 ⅓ RPM Vinyl Disc, EMI EMGS 5532, 1979. https://www.discogs.com/C arefree-Kebebasan/release/10061494 “Anak” in Kenangan Ayah album, Freddie Aguilar, 33 ⅓ RPM Vinyl Disc, Philips 64455511, 1979. (Personal collection of Adil Johan).

Introduction • 21 Andaya, Barbara Watson. 2006 “Oceans Unbounded: Transversing Asia across ‘Area Studies’.” Te Asia-Pacifc Journal, 64(4): 1–22. Azmyl Md, Yusof. 2010. “Facing the Music: Music Subcultures and ‘morality’ in Malaysia.” In Media, Culture and Society in Malaysia, edited by Yeoh Seng Guan, 179–196. Abingdon: Routledge. Azra, Azyumardi. 2015. “Islam Indonesia Berkelanjutan.” In Opini Kompas nasional.kompas. Barnard, Timothy P. 2010. “Film Melayu: Nationalism, Modernity and Film in a pre-World War Two Malay Magazine.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 41(1): 47–70. Baulch, Emma. 2003. “Gesturing Elsewhere: Te Identity Politics of the Balinese Death/Trash Metal Scene.” Popular Music, 22(2): 195–215. Baulch, Emma. 2007. Making Scenes: Reggae, Punk and Death Metal in 1990s Bali. Durham: Duke University Press. Baulch, Emma. 2016. “Genre Publics: Aktuil Magazine and Middle-class Youth in 1970s Indonesia”. Indonesia, 102: 85–113. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2018. Islam Nusantara as a Promising Response to Religious Intolerance and Radicalism. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing. Collins, James. 2018. Malay, World Language: A Short History (3rd ed.). Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. “Dosa” in Terima Kasih album, Alleycats, 33 ⅓ RPM Vinyl Disc Philips 6455505, 1979. (Personal collection of Adil Johan). Evers, Hans-Dieter. 2016. “Nusantara: History of a Concept.” Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 89(310): 3–14. Farram, Steven. 2007. “Wage War against Beatle Music! Censorship and Music in Soekarno’s Indonesia.” RIMA: Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Afairs, 41(2): 247. Farram, Steven. 2014. “Ganyang! Indonesian Popular Songs from the Confrontation Era, 1963–1966.” Bijdragen Tot de Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde, 170: 1–24. Fenomena album, Search, Audio Cassette, Pacifc Music Corporation/BMG Pacifc PMC/MAL 1033, 1989. https://ww w.discogs.com/Search-Fenomena/release/5501824, Retrieved 4/11/2020. Ferrarese, Marco. 2014. “Kami Semua Headbangers: Heavy Metal as Multiethnic Community Builder in Penang Island, Malaysia.” International Journal of Community Music, 7(2): 153–171. Ferrarese, Marco. 2016. “Southeast Asian Glamour: Te Strange Case of Rock Kapak in Malaysia.” In Global Glam and Popular Music: Style and Spectacle from the 1970s to the 2000s, edited by Ian Chapman and Henry Johnson, 232–244. London: Routledge. Irving, David R.M. 2010. Colonial Counterpoint: Music in Early Modern Manila. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Izharuddin, Alicia. 2018. “Te New Malay Woman: Te Rise of the Modern Female Subject and Transnational Encounters in Postcolonial Malay Literature.” In Asia in Transition: Vol. 6. Te Southeast Asian Woman Writes Back, edited by Grace V.S. Chin and Kathrina Mohd Daud, 55–70. Singapore: Springer. Izharuddin, Alicia. 2019. “Te New Malay Woman’s Jiwa as a Postcolonial Structure of Feeling.” Journal of Intercultural Studies, 40(4): 491–503. “Kamelia” in Pelarian album, Sweet Charity, Audio Cassette, WEA Q40 93223, 1980. Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea. Keppy, Peter. 2019. Tales of Southeast Asia’s Jazz Age: Filipinos, Indonesians and Popular Culture. Singapore: NUS Press. Lewis, Su Lin. 2009. “Cosmopolitanism and the Modern Girl: A Cross-Cultural Discourse in 1930s Penang.” Modern Asian Studies, 43(6): 1385–1419. Liew, Khai Khiun, & Kelly Fu. 2006. “Conjuring the Tropical Spectres: Heavy Metal, Cultural Politics in Singapore and Malaysia.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 7(1): 99–112. Low, Ling, & Syahir Ashri. 2015. Play It Again: Te Music of Alfonso Soliano. https://poskod.my/features/play-it-again -the-music-of-alfonso-soliano/). Reid, Anthony. 1990. Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450–1680: Volume One: Te Lands below the Winds. New Haven: Yale University Press. Riadz, Radzi. 2019, April 21. “Fenomena 30 Tahun.” Harian Metro. https://www.hmetro.com.my/rap/2019/04/44 7092/fenomena-30-tahun Saidah, Rastam. 2017. Rosalie and Other Love Songs, 2nd ed. Petaling Jaya: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre. Santaella, Mayco A. 2013. “Te Kakula of Central Sulawesi as the Southernmost Point of a Lineage: Current Practices and Cultural Links.” Musika Journal 9. UP Center for Ethnomusicology, Manila, 49–62. Setiyono, Budi. 2001. “Ngak Ngik Ngok”. Pantau, Tahun II 18: 38–47. “Si Baju Hijau” (Green-shirted Guy), Sanisah Huri dengan Te Hooks, 45 RPM Vinyl Disc, EMI EGEP.658, 1968. (Personal collection of Adil Johan).

22 • Adil Johan and Mayco A. Santaella “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word” in Just Family album, Dee Dee Bridgewater 33 ⅓ RPM Vinyl Disc, Elektra 6E-119, 1978. https://www.discogs.com/Dee-Dee-Bridgewater-Just-Family/release/759938, Retrieved 4/11/2020. Trimillos, Ricardo D. 2017. “Understanding Performance in Maritime Southeast Asia: Rethinking Paradigms and Discourses, an Introduction.” In Sounding the Dance, Moving the Music: Choreomusicology in Maritime Southeast Asia, edited by Mohd Anis Md Nor and Kendra Stepputat, 1–12. New York: Routledge. Uhde, Jan, & Yvonne Ng Uhde. 2010. Latent Images: Film in Singapore. 2nd ed. Singapore: NUS Press. (Orig. pub. 1999). Utusan Filem & Fesyen (No.34), 1973. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad. Wallach, Jeremy. 2011. “Unleashed in the East: Metal Music, Masculinity, and ‘Malayness’ in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.” In Metal Rules the Globe: Heavy Metal Music Around the World, editied by J. Wallach, H. M. Berger, & P. D. Greene, 86–107. Durham: Duke University Press. Warren, James F. 2007. Te Sulu Zone, 1768–1898: Te Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery, and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State, 2nd ed. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press. Weintraub, Andrew N. 2014. “Pop Goes Melayu: Melayu Popular Music in Indonesia, 1968–1975.” In Sonic Modernities in the Malay World: A History of Popular Music, Social Distinction and Novel Lifestyles (1930s −2000s), edited by Bart Barendregt, 165–186. Leiden: Brill. Wolters, Oliver W. 1999 History, Culture, and Region in Southeast Asian Perspectives. Ithaca: Southeast Asia Program Cornell University Press. Zaidi, Mohamad. 2019, April 13. “Samaran Amy di Jakarta Tarik Perhatian.” Berita Harian. https://www.bharian. com.my/hiburan/selebriti/2019/04/552573/samaran-amy-di-jakarta-tarik-perhatian Zawawi, Ibrahim. 1995. Popular Culture at the Crossroads: Malay Contemporary Music. Kuala Lumpur: Universiti of Malaya Press. Zawawi, Ibrahim. 2016. “Disciplining Rock and Identity Contestations: Hybridization, Islam and New Musical Genres in Contemporary Malaysian Popular Music.” Situations, 9(1): 21–47.

PART

I

Issues in Nusantara Popular Music

Part I introduces the reader to broader issues that inform and contextualise the study of popular music in maritime Southeast Asia. As central to the articulation of modernity in the region, the resonances of the colonial era and the development of nationalism feature prominently. Tus, despite the agencies that are present in unique Nusantara expressions of popular music, the historical context of European colonialism in the region has lef an indelible mark on how cultural and national identity is imagined, created, practiced, enforced, and even policed. Tis section therefore provides a conceptual “compass” on how to navigate the complexities of Nusantara popular music studies in both its historical and its contemporary contexts. A myriad of musical developments from the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, and the Philippines are explored in this section, while also highlighting social and national contexts in which such music is produced and consumed as popular culture. Te frst chapter of this section, written by this volume’s co-editor, sets the conceptual “stage” for popular music studies in the Nusantara. To study popular music in a region that is inherently interconnected, complex, and diverse in pre- and postcolonial cultural practices and belief systems requires an understanding of how notions of the traditional, as imagined by formal state and ethnic structures, are complicated by the practices of popular culture. Trough a broad yet incisive overview of specifc Nusantara genres that oscillate between traditional and popular aesthetic approaches, Santaella ofers a continuum of analysis for music that indigenises the popular and music that popularises the indigenous. Tis chapter thus serves as a conceptual foundation to understanding the popular music cases presented throughout the volume as fuid negotiations of “what is indigenised and popularised in the … region as alternative modernity” and why such practices should be regarded as “inherently Nusantara”. Prudente’s chapter continues the discussion about the indigenisation of popular music by providing a brief history of popular music genres in the Philippines from the 1970s to the early 2000s, specifcally focusing on otherwise global-Western popular music genres that asserted a “Pinoy” identity in both content and nomenclature (e.g. Pinoy Ska, Pinoy Jazz, and Pinoy Hip-Hop). Tis marks a consistent narrative in Nusantara popular music, inherently bound to “Western” music, yet also expressing postcolonial agency in the formation of national styles. Te following chapter remains in the Philippines but ofers an important critique on how certain national genres of popular music in the region are mythifed to reinforce a national narrative. Cayabyab takes issue with the mythical national status of Original Pinoy Music (OPM), popularised in the 1970s, that occupies a position of national popular music par excellence. Te case of OPM provides the author a means to dissect the concept of popular music myth-making, while also de-mythifying its status through a detailed analysis of Filipino popular culture. Lastly, Shahanum’s chapter

24 • Issues in Nusantara Popular Music

ofers a rare insight into mainstream popular music and its role in the Malaysian education system. She highlights the pervasive role of global popular culture in infuencing the musical tastes of Malaysians, which in turn results in a wealth of popular music content being learnt in educational institutions and music schools. Tis snapshot of a popular music milieu in the Nusantara reveals larger contexts of mass consumption of both global and local popular music in the region.

1

Revisiting the “Traditional” and the “Popular” in Maritime Southeast Asia Towards a Nusantara Popular Praxis Mayco A. Santaella

Tis introductory chapter investigates regional and national performing arts genres as the popularisation of indigenous and indigenisation of popular forms (Sutton 2002) that are both product and producers of alternative modernities (Gaonkar 2001) in maritime Southeast Asia. While local popular performance genres developed both before and afer national independence, national popular genres were largely a post-independence experience under new national industries that helped defne the character of national boundaries. Revisiting western conceptualisations of “popular music” as a feld and its global applications, the chapter considers alternative experiences of popular performance genres including the analysis of “popular traditions” supported by regional industries, the prominent role of dance and movement, as well as Southeast Asian aesthetics that shape the production of such genres. Te examination also considers cross-border infuences and 21st-century developments. Following a decentralisation process and within a post-national performing arts era in maritime Southeast Asia (Santaella 2014), the analysis examines the popular as a process and an experience that negotiates the “traditional” and global genres producing new forms that continue to carry aesthetics, sensibilities, and afect features hereby conceived as inherently Nusantara (see Trimillos 2016). Te feld of popular music has been defned and redefned as both the discourse and new genres have developed in Europe and the United States. Williams (1976) highlighted the “people-oriented” nature of the term and its Latin roots. Adorno (2001) posited that the study of popular music, in contrast to serious music, is a refection of communal experiences and that the inclusion of popular music to the curricula of higher education institutions is analogous to the development of ethnomusicological studies. Simon Frith analysed popular music aesthetics produced by the industry, which discusses “not what… popular music reveal(s) about ‘the people’ but how… it construct(s) them” (Frith 2004, 36). Te study of “world music” and “hybrid formations” as categorised in Rojek (2011) included non-western discussions of globalisation and localisation (Ho 2011) and deterritorialisation of place and identity (Connell and Gibson 2011). Such global trends that conceptualised popular music against serious music as well as emerging rhetorics that linked popularity to inferiority (Rojek 2011) highlight a western bias. Shuker acknowledged a geographical “Anglo-American” and “English language centric” nature of cultural and media studies (Shuker 2017, 3). Fabbri and Plastino’s “made in” series has paved the way for indigenous conceptualisations of national genres and experiences (Shin and Lee

25

26 • Mayco A. Santaella

2017) as well as negotiations with western forms focusing on local aesthetics (Mitsui 2014) in East Asia. Considering these pivotal developments and with a focus on maritime Southeast Asia, this chapter presents analytical strategies towards the “popular” through a historical overview, alternative conceptualisations, and fnally the rationales for a Nusantara popular praxis. Popular Music in Maritime Southeast Asia Te development of popular music in maritime Southeast Asia is characterised by a historical experience defned by shared musical periods in the region. Pre-existing and newly created genres developed synchronically following common external infuences of colonialism, regional exchanges, and the advent of global genres. Tese shared experiences resulted in a diachronic emergence of collective popular music eras and in the modifcation of existing forms and styles as well as the creation of new ones. Te diachronic development of genres considers social forms during seven identifed time periods: colonial era (19th century and early 20th century), musical changes in theatrical productions (early 20th century), the evolution of jazz (frst half of the 20th century), the development of flm music genres (1950s–1960s), the importation of global popular genres (1950s–1980s), the development of national popular genres (1970s–1990s), and the spread of post-colonial world beat (1990s–2000s). Tese seven eras were not isolated, but rather served as felds of continuity from which musical seeds planted in every era have evolved into new styles and new genres until the present day. Te early presence of the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and British in maritime Southeast Asia was driven by an economic impetus to control the spice trade in Eastern Indonesia and the trade in the straits of Melaka, and to eventually control their colonies. Te presence of Europeans established several musical legacies such as church music in Eastern Indonesia, with early 16thcentury traditions by the Portuguese and Spanish including Ambrosian and Gregorian music traditions (Sylado 1998), and in the Philippines under the Spanish, with a strong centre in Bohol in the Visayas having Baclayon as the cabezera and strong centre of musical ontogenies (IñigoChua 2010). Military music lef numerous legacies including marching bands (orkes barisan, mosiko) and their indigenous versions (musik bambu, mosikong frumfrong), and infuenced the development of new repertoire and traditions such as the Filipino kumintang (war song) and the Minahasan maengket (folk dance). Classical music was another legacy of the Europeans with new vocal genres conceived during the 19th century and early 20th century such as the kundiman (love song) in the Philippines and seriosa (art songs) in Indonesia, both of which developed sentiments of resistance against the Spanish and the Dutch respectively. New music genres with Portuguese and Spanish infuence included string instruments. Te term keroncong alluded to the lute in the 19th century (Yampolsky 2013) linked to the Portuguese cavaquinho, and presently it commonly makes reference to the ensemble (guitar, cello, cak, cuk, and melodic instruments such as fute, violin, and voice), the performance, and the repertoire of this genre. Te music was originally accompanied by pantun (extemporaneous verses in quadratic form) although it eventually developed into song form with diferent styles. A historical centre lies in Tugu, a village close to the port and north of Batavia (Jakarta) populated by mardijkers (freed slaves) where a Creole version of Portuguese was spoken. As social music, keroncong was popular in many urban centres, sung in the Malay language, and enjoyed by many including the Chinese Peranakan (of mixed-race heritage in local communities). Keroncong was also prominent in Melaka, a historical centre of trade in Malaya with both a Portuguese settlement and a Peranakan community (see Tan 2019). Te ronggeng was also a popular genre of social music and dance from the straits of Melaka. Te instrumentation includes two frame drums (rebana) that provide the characteristic rhythm

Revisiting the Traditional and the Popular • 27

for each dance, a violin that provides melody in addition to the vocal melodic line used for the extemporaneous exchange of pantun verses by the participants, and a gong that provides punctuation. Te generic dance repertoire begins with a buka panggung, followed by the lagu mak inang, the senandung/gunung sayang, and the lagu dua. Dance genres that developed from this repertoire include the graceful inang, the elegant asli, and the fast-paced joget. Joget is performed in 6/8 meter and is infuenced by the Portuguese branyo which is still performed nowadays by the Portuguese community in Melaka (see Sarkissian 2000). Te term “ joget”, which also means “to dance”, is a foating term commonly used across the archipelago and ofen maintains celebratory and firtatious connotations present in ronggeng and earlier forms of keroncong through the exchange of pantun verses. In the Philippines, the rondalla is a popular ensemble of plucked strings that include the banduria, laud, octavina, guitar, and bajo de uñas (bass). With Spanish roots, the rondalla evolved with new instruments, repertoire, and performance contexts. Te ensemble is associated historically with love songs and the harana (serenade). Te rondalla developed to include folk songs, dance, popular songs, new compositions, and existing classical repertoire, making the ensemble a versatile and all-embracing symbol of the Philippines. Te repertoire of dances from the Spanish colonial era includes the habanera, jota, pandanggo, polka, and cariñosa, among others. Similar to keroncong in Indonesia, the ensemble does not have a specifc ethnic identity, but rather a national one (with colonial roots) that incorporates songs from the existing repertoire and melodies from a number of diferent genres. Social music and dance genres such as ronggeng and keroncong were not only performed during wedding ceremonies and other communal events, but were also incorporated into bangsawan, a theatrical performance that developed in Penang and the Straits of Melaka. Bangsawan (Malay for “nobleman”) stories centred on a royal fgure from Malay, Chinese, Indian, Javanese, Arabic, and western stories. Scene changes included “extra turns” where numerous music genres (generally with an accompanying dance) were performed including the ronggeng repertoire as well as localised global genres such as rumba, waltz, foxtrot, and tango, among others (see Tan 1993). A similar theatre form and structure developed in Surabaya (East Java) known as komedie stamboel (Istanbul comedy) infuenced by wayang parsi Indian theatre troupes (see Cohen 2006). Te theatre form also included performances between acts that infuenced radio programmes to include an extra melajoe (Malay extra) for an Arab-based musical performance or a lagu extra (extra song) for a repertoire played by the orkest kacapi (a Sundanese music ensemble). Songs of the stambul genre had a repertoire associated with the theatre form and developed particular chord structures. Keroncong music was originally part of the stambul umbrella and repertoire but it evolved into a genre of its own. Yampolsky proposes that keroncong was “urban folk music” until the 1920s while stambul became popular music before WWI (Yampolsky 2013). Filipinised Hispanic theatrical forms also developed in the Philippines such as the sarsuwela (Spanish zarzuela) which included music and dance, the senakulo, a dramatisation of the life events of Jesus Christ that includes the pasyon recited verses during Lent, and the komedya (moro-moro) in the Christian regions of the Philippines which included music, dance, and theatre portraying the confict between the Christians and the Muslims (see Irving 2010). However, new Anglo-Saxon forms soared under the US colonial era (see Joaquin 1978) such as bodabil (Vaudeville) performances and paralleled the evolution of bangsawan in Malaya and stambul in Java during the frst half of the 20th century (see Keppy 2019). During this period, slapstick comedy gained popularity and bodabil performances included global genres of music and dance such as the foxtrot, rumba, and ragtime, as well as the Filipino kundiman during the jamboree presentations in between acts, similar to the extra turns of bangsawan theatre. Short

28 • Mayco A. Santaella

performances of bodabil were also incorporated in full-length sarsuwela (Fernandez 1993 and 1996) and eventually took over in popularity. Changes in the music and dance of bangsawan, stambul, and bodabil during the 1920s coincided with the development of jazz in maritime Southeast Asia as part of the “popular” alongside other music and dance genres. As popular music, jazz was not only enjoyed as performance, given the advance of the radio and flm industry during the 1930s, but also served as a platform for collaborations with other genres such as keroncong. Jazz (very much like keroncong) allowed the inclusion of a number of global genres such as tango, rumba, and Hawaiian songs. Jazz had a strong infuence on other popular forms that included music, dance, and theatre because many of the musicians participated in diferent groups and genres. During this time, Filipino musicians were hired by the British and brought to Malaya, establishing stronger musical links and shared experiences in the region. Te jazz era was also infuential for traditional music performance and compositions. Te infuential and respected Javanese gamelan musician Ki Wasitodipuro participated in the jazz scene as a drummer (Notosudirdjo 2001). Rather than a genre, jazz served as a performance medium in maritime Southeast Asia, very much like the keroncong and rondalla ensembles. Te post-WWII and western colonial era experienced the development of a flm industry infuenced by theatrical forms such as bangsawan, stambul, and sarsuwelas. Performances, literature, folk stories, and legends were adapted to the screen with singers and performers becoming screen actors. Famous production companies such as the Shaw Brothers in Malaya and Sampaguita Pictures in the Philippines released numerous flms that included popular music genres and scenes from traditional theatrical genres. Sampaguita Pictures released Sa Isang Sulyap Mo Tita (Just Your Single Glance Dear, 1953), a milestone musical movie starred by the acclaimed couple Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran. In Malaya, Shaw Brothers released Seniman Bujang Lapok (Te Tree Worn Out Actor Bachelors, 1961) with the acclaimed couple P. Ramlee (Penang-born musician, singer, songwriter, actor, director, and producer) and singer and actress Saloma (see Adil 2018; Heryanto 2014). Like traditional theatre forms, these flms incorporated both local genres such as asli, inang, joget, and kundiman, as well as global genres such as Hawaiian song, Latin American dance forms, and jazz. Te 1950s saw a global wave of rock ‘n’ roll, with famous musicians and bands emerging from the US and the UK. Given the continuing US colonial infuences in the Philippines, a number of musicians performed popular US standards and became Asian imitators, such as Eddie Mesa, who was known as the “Elvis Presley of the Philippines” or the band Koes Bersaudara (Koes Brothers), known as the “Everly Brothers of Indonesia”. Te Beatles also had a strong infuence across maritime Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, Te Beatles infuenced the new pop yeh yeh genre (based on the famous Beatles song “She Loves You”), with songs sung mostly in Malay. However, anti-colonial sentiments targeted western culture and English language songs, which led to the ban of rock music by Sukarno (frst president of Indonesia) at the end of the 1950s. A similar reaction took place in Singapore when government ofcials took action to ban events such as Tea Dances in the 1960s deemed as expressions of “yellow culture” (Adil Johan, Pers. Comm.). Aside from rock, country music and ballads were long-lasting infuences on popular music in the region. During the 1970s, national music industries developed in the economically thriving capital cities of Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore. With support, sponsorship, and relative oversight by the national government, new music drew on national genres and traditions. Tis nationalisation period in maritime Southeast Asia coincided with the Marcos regime in the Philippines, the Suharto regime in Indonesia, Tun Abdul Razak’s pro-Malay National Economic Policy (NEP) and National Cultural Policy (NCP) in Malaysia (following the 1969 riots), the withdrawal of British troops in Singapore, and the reinforcement of religious

Revisiting the Traditional and the Popular • 29

orthodoxy. Amidst this context, folk music and ballads became prominent popular music genres, categorised in the Philippines under the industry’s Original Pilipino Music (OPM) umbrella (see Castro 2011). Filipino singers like Joey Ayala incorporated traditional music instruments and musical styles into their new songs. In Malaysia, singers like Noraniza Idris, known as “the queen of ethnic pop”, performed modern popular versions of traditional genres such as ghazal, joget, and zapin. In Indonesia, pop melayu (Malay pop) and dangdut, with roots in the orkes melayu (Malay orchestra), fourished as a genre (see Baulch 2014). Te world beat era of the 1990s and 2000s grew out of the 1970s movement for new music that was representative of local traditions, and was infuenced by the global “world music” or “world beat” phenomenon. Te ubiquitous use of the synthesiser in the 1970s was replaced with traditional instruments, the guitar, and traditional vocal qualities and embellishments in the 1990s. While national genres continued to thrive, the 1990s saw the rise of regional music industries and genres in Indonesia such as pop daerah (regional pop) associated with specifc ethnic groups. In Malaysia, musicians such as M. Nasir produced new songs with traditional melodies, rhythms, and music instruments. M. Nasir was conscious of both traditional Malaysian music and that of the Nusantara region, conceptualised as such in his konsert akar – manifestasi akustika (roots concert – acoustic manifestation) which closed with the song piece titled “Nusantara”. Song competitions such as the Anugerah Industri Musik award and the TV3 song competition in Malaysia supported the development of larger musical umbrellas such as irama Malaysia (Malaysian beat), pop etnik (ethnic pop), and etnik kreatif (creative ethnic) (see Tan 2005). A similar concept gave rise to the Metro Manila Popular Music Festival, also known as Metropop, in the Philippines including the development of pop songs sung in regional languages such as Tausug, Cebuano, and Ilokano. Likewise, a number of television-sponsored song competitions fourished in Indonesia including the recent D’Academy Asia, which focused specifcally on dangdut singers of the Nusantara region. Te development of popular performance genres in maritime Southeast Asia exhibits three distinctive parallels to the global and western experience. First, while the mass media played an important role in the dissemination and consumption of music at the beginning of the 20th century, popular performance predates this era with the prevalence of folk theatre forms, social music and dance, music scores, and strong oral traditions throughout the region. Secondly, the English terms “pop” and “popular” in terms of use, rhetoric, and relationships for maritime Southeast Asia difer from their use in the Anglophone West. While the term “pop” generally refers to a post-independence experience, the term “popular” did not come into wide use until the 21st century. Tirdly, the realm of the popular is not part of the western distinctions with “art music” and “traditional music”. Te Filipino kundiman shares aspects of the Western categories of “popular music”, “art music”, and “traditional music”. Similarly, the jazz experience in maritime Southeast Asia does not engage in the western dyadic discussion of categorising jazz as “classical” or “popular” but regards it as within the realm of the popular. Te diverse and fuid cultural landscape of popular music and culture in the region calls for alternative rationales. Conceptualising the Popular Te conceptualisation of “popular music” as such in maritime Southeast Asia is a 21st-century experience strongly infuenced by Anglophone discourses and approaches to this feld of study. Te use of English loanwords for categories in national languages, such as popular na musika sa Pilipinas in the Philippines and musik populer in Indonesia and Malaysia, poses, at times, challenges to the examination of “popular experiences” in the region. Even though scholars such as Yampolsky (1994) translated the term “popular music” into Indonesian at the end of the

30 • Mayco A. Santaella

20th century, “pop” as a genre has developed in various directions since the 1960s such as pinoy pop (Philippines), pop yeh yeh (Malaysia), and pop daerah (Indonesia). Pop as a genre received support from the Indonesian government in the 1970s, as evident in the “Festival Lagu Populer Tingkat Nasional” (“National Level Popular Song Festival”), and gained popularity through a number of television contests and programmes broadcast in mass media. Pop genres in maritime Southeast Asia were largely a post-independence episode and an ofshoot of “popular experiences” that took many shapes following the colonial period. Te development of popular forms and experiences since the colonial era was largely propelled by external infuences and the indigenous responses in the negotiation of performance practices and their conceptualisations. New genres refected a process that both “popularised the indigenous” and “indigenised the popular”. Te focus on process, rather than product-oriented foci, considers the fuid identity of musical ensembles and genres that as platforms allowed for the inclusion of diverse musical elements, both intra- and inter-local. Expanding upon Sutton’s (2002) investigation of Indonesian genres that incorporate “local” and “traditional” elements to “western-style pop music” (and vice-versa), the following discussion proposes fve possible degrees along the “popularising the indigenous” and “indigenising the popular” continuum. National Renditions of Global Genres Tis degree considers global genres, largely western-infuenced, performed in maritime Southeast Asia. Examples of national renditions include jazz and Latin American genres during the beginning of the 20th century, pop and rock in the post-independence era, punk and heavy metal, and rap and hip-hop from the end of the 20th century onward. Lyrics are both in English and national languages, using conventional rhythmic and melodic features specifc to the genres while incorporating the occasional traditional melodic/rhythmic ornamentation. Bands have multiple style identities as do musicians who may perform contrasting genres, such as jazz and punk. Apart from a few cases of musicians who have managed to perform professionally abroad, most groups and musicians fnd their successful visibility and continuity in the region. National Genres Based on Global Popular Musics Te infuence of global genres, iconic bands, and instrumental developments resulted in national genres with standardised rhythms, chord progressions, singing styles, and aesthetics that became characteristic of the Nusantara region. Post-independence national genres developed along with the national industry and were sung largely in the national language although occasionally in English. An example of a national genre based on a global popular music form is kugiran, short for kumpulan gitar rancak (lively guitar group), which was infuenced by the rock ‘n’ roll craze of the 1960s and the electric guitar (the music consisted of a lead guitar, a rhythmic guitar, a guitar that acted as the “bass”, drums, and keyboard). During this time, pop yeh yeh (referencing the Beatles hit) developed in the Malay peninsula and was sung mostly in Malay, although bands of this genre bore English names such as M. Osman and the Mods and Kassim Selamat and the Swallows, among others. Another style that appears as ubiquitous in the Nusantara region is the balada (derived from the slow thirty-two-bar ballad of the west), at times distinctive as a genre (as it happens in Eastern Indonesia) but ofen a style of pop, as evident in numerous Indonesian bands of that genre such as Ebiet G. Ade, Ari Lasso, and Peterpan. Others drew upon the styles of western rock bands and spinofs, such as the rock kapak groups of the 1980s in Malaysia and Singapore, which sang in Malay and were infuenced by the balada style (see Ibrahim 2016).

Revisiting the Traditional and the Popular • 31

National Popular Genres of the Nusantara Region Tis degree considers new national genres that developed afer independence and were largely supported by national industries that fourished during the 1970s. A classic example is dangdut in Indonesia. Dangdut was popularised by Rhoma Irama based on the orkes melayu (Malay orchestra), a form with roots in the ronggeng repertoire and ensemble and with infuences from popular genres of the 1950s such as Indian, Latin, Arabic, and Malay, primarily their melodies and rhythmic structures (particularly the orkes melayu Deli in Medan, north Sumatra). In 1970, with the group Soneta, Rhoma Irama added the electric guitar (infuenced by rock) and the electric organ (replacing the accordion) which paved the way for the development of dangdut music (Irama 2011). Another national phenomenon with regional renditions was pop daerah (regional pop) which comprised pop songs sung in the languages of specifc ethnic groups, and at times included the addition of traditional melodic and rhythmic ornamentation. In Malaysia and the Philippines, popular rock and folk musicians (largely guitar players) incorporated traditional instruments and musical idioms (such as M. Nasir and Joey Ayala, mentioned above). Popularised Traditions (Extrinsic) Tis degree considers social genres, ofen both music and dance, sung in the national language (occasionally in regional languages), and popularised by the national industry via new composers and performers. Tis process began largely with the development of new songs for the 1950s flm industry, as stated above. Te orkes melayu also served as a platform for the performance and composition of new songs based on traditional genres and disseminated through the radio. However, both the 1950s flm industry and the orkes melayu included regional musicians who were well-versed in local social music and dance forms such as ronggeng and keroncong. Te development of the music industry during the 1970s produced new repertoires that were based on traditional genres such as joget, inang, asli, ghazal, dikir barat, and zapin, among others. In 1970, Malaysian singer Orchid Abdullah released “Penawar Rindu” written by Attan Ahmad (with a synthesiser playing the melody, characteristic of the decade) and recorded with the ghazal ensemble “Orkes Sri Kenangan Batu Pahat” from Johor. Over time, a number of singers including Noraniza Idris and Siti Nurhaliza released modern renditions of traditional genres. Te late Pak Ngah (Datuk Suhaimi Mohd Zain) was a prominent composer and exponent of Irama Malaysia music, an illustrative genre of extrinsically popularised traditions. Popularised Traditions (Intrinsic) Closest to the popularisation of the indigenous in the proposed continuum (see Figure 1.1) lie popular renditions of traditional forms largely sung in regional languages and infuenced by aesthetics of regional industries. A notable infuence is the use of the keyboard to add melody, harmonic accompaniment, and rhythmic background to new genres such as campursari in Central Java (played with gamelan instruments). Dero developed among the Pamona in Central Sulawesi based on the ende circular movements traditionally accompanied by a gong and drum. Te sangbai, with extemporaneous lyrics that are accompanied by a keyboard, is also a popularised genre among the Bajau in East Sabah and the Southern Philippines based on traditional melodies and rhythms of the gabbang (wooden xylophone) and the kulintangan (gong-row) ensemble. Tis type also considers genres such as ronggeng, popular as social music and dance, as well as dikir barat, a tradition in Kelantan (Malaysia) that is popularised through competitions and popular singers in the region.

32 • Mayco A. Santaella

Figure 1.1 Conceptualising the continuum for the popular in maritime Southeast Asia.

Te proposed continuum does not assert fxity of what is considered “popular” or “traditional” (both signs and at times signifers of Anglophone origin), but rather presents a negotiated fuidity of what is indigenised and popularised in the extended Nusantara region as alternative modernity. Te indigenisation of global popular genres underwent a nationalisation process through a conscious adaptation, standardisation, and performance practice that considered and invoked local aesthetics within the industries of production. Simultaneously, the development of new national genres considered the incorporation of music elements from traditional music ensembles and social music and dance genres that served as a national alternative modernity to largely global genres. At the other end of the continuum, the popularisation of indigenous forms served as a regional, ofen ethnic, alternative modernity with a specifc cultural site of production that developed regional industries. Regional popular forms negotiate three strata of modernity (the global, the national, and the regional) and construct, in situ, distinctive popular experiences. Denouement as Segue: Popular Praxis in the Extended Nusantara Region Tis concluding section proposes to regard the characterisation of popular praxis as inherently Nusantara. Te experience of the popular in the extended Nusantara region of today is characterised by similar negotiations during the colonial era, shared post-independence evolutions, and the emergence of genres that operated between indigenous forms and global infuences. Te idea of Nusantara denotes both a historical region and a contemporary indigenous concept that highlights socio-cultural features that transcend nation-state boundaries in maritime Southeast Asia. Popular praxis references performative logic and intrinsic traits in the production and execution of popular performance genres. Te use of the larger umbrella term “popular performance genres” is intentional for the investigation of dance (as a genre) and movement (as participation) as a cohesive experience propelled by “popular music” (see Santaella 2019a). Te development of popular forms in the region has historically been associated with movement, from the “extra turns” of earlier theatre forms, dance genres in flm music, indigenisation of global music such as pop yeh yeh, popularisation of traditional/social music-dance genres, and development of new ones such as dangdut. Movement largely infuenced the standardisation of music genres by new popular artists. Despite new melodic adaptation, ornamentation, and instrumentation, popularised genres such as joget, inang, and asli were largely defned by their characteristic rhythm and tempo that are based upon the kinetic experience. Te introduced umbrella term of irama Malaysia (Malaysian beat) refects such signifcance. Similarly, dangdut, an onomatopoeia for the recurring rhythm played by the tabla, emphasises the signifcance of the genre as a participatory dance form with diverse melodic arrangements. Te presence and negotiation of material culture highlight common features and shared practices. Te inclusion and use of western instruments such as the violin and the guitar during

Revisiting the Traditional and the Popular • 33

the colonial era in social music-dance genres constitute early examples for the region. Te prominence of the piano at the beginning of the 20th century for jazz, earlier uses of the electric guitar in kugiran (before the arrival of the electric bass), the sound of the synthesiser during the 1970s and the Yamaha Electone and other keyboards for the popularisation of indigenous forms are examples of regional negotiation and incorporation of new musical instruments. Te forms of distribution refect shared experiences towards the popular through theatre performances, radio, television, audio cassette tapes, and the VCD industry that provided visuals and led to a karaoke experience with local music. Popular music situated in local food stalls, markets, and music shops continues to function as a social and communal medium while at the same time the MP3 and the mobile phone signifcantly individualise the experience. Lastly, a Nusantara popular praxis includes performative logics that are region-wide. Te voice, a common instrument across all communities, serves as a useful point of departure. Singing is ofen part of ceremonies, celebrations, and social music and dance. Te exchange of extemporaneous pantun in ronggeng and earlier versions of keroncong is an example of the prominent role of song and lyrics. Modern amplifcation, the karaoke, and the keyboard continue to support participatory singing during celebrations. Te “standard” performance practice of singing two songs, clapping afer the frst verse line (which ofen reveals the title of the song), and the inclusion of non-semantic syllables are also examples of a Nusantara popular praxis. Ultimately, as a visceral and felt experience, singing allows the utterance of words and phrases that may not be culturally sanctioned by discursive speech, allowing the extraordinary delivery and reception of sentiment within the social setting. Te analysis of music and dance as a single emic structure (see Trimillos 2017; Santaella 2019b), the use of material culture, and the investigation of performance and afect for popular performance genres argue for a popular praxis that is characteristically Nusantara. Revisiting the conceptualisation of the popular as a continuum that both popularises and indigenises not only highlights Anglophone hegemonic discourses of the feld including western rhetoric and frameworks, but also privileges a focus on emic perspectives and the provocative concept of “local genius” (kearifan lokal) current in regional performance discourses. Te examination of the shared historical degrees of colonialism, independence, nationalism, and the development of both national and regional industries in the Nusantara region highlight alternative modernities and Southeast Asian redefnitions of the loanword and time-specifc exonym “popular”. Similar to pop yeh yeh, kundiman, and dangdut, negotiating and reevaluating global, national, and regional discourses of popular performance genres can ofer alternative canons for Nusantara as a cohesive cultural complex. References Adorno, Teodor W. 2001. Te Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture. London: Routledge. Baulch, Emma. 2014. “Pop Melayu vs. Pop Indonesia: New Interpretations of a Genre into the 2000s.” In: Sonic Modernities in the Malay World: A History of Popular Music, Social Distinction and Novel Lifestyles (1930s −2000s), edited by Barendregt, Bart. Leiden: Brill, 187–218. Castro, Christi-Anne. 2011. Musical Renderings of the Philippine Nation. New York: Oxford University Press. Cohen, Matthew I. 2006. Te Komedie Stamboel Popular Teater in Colonial Indonesia, 1891–1903. Athens: Ohio University Press. Connell, John and Chris Gibson. 2011. “World Music: Deterritorializing Place and Identity.” In: Popular Music Volume 4: Cultures and Subcultures of Popular Music, edited by Rojek, Chris. Los Angeles: Sage, 267–290. Fernandez, Doreen G. 1993. “Zarzuela to Sarsuwela: Indigenization and Transformation.” Philippine Studies 41: 320–343. Fernandez, Doreen G. 1996. Palabas: Essays on Philippine Teater History. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.

34 • Mayco A. Santaella Frith, Simon. 2004. “Towards an Aesthetic of Popular Music.” In: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies, Volume IV Music and Identity, eds. Frith, Simon. London: Routledge. Gaonkar, Dilip P. 2001. Alternative Modernities. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Heryanto, Ariel. 2014. Identity and Pleasure: Te Politics of Indonesian Screen Culture. Singapore: NUS Press. Ho, Wai-Chung. 2011. “Between Globalization and Localization: A Case Study of Hong Kong Popular Music.” In: Popular Music Volume 4: Cultures and Subcultures of Popular Music, edited by Rojek, Chris. Los Angeles: Sage, 235–252. Ibrahim, Zawawi. 2016. “Disciplining Rock and Identity Contestations: Hybridization, Islam and New Musical Genres in Contemporary Malaysian Popular Music.” Situations 9(1): 21–47. Iñigo-Chua, Maria Alexandra. 2010. “Philippine Music in the Context of Hispanization and Christianization.” Diagonal: Journal of the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies 4. Regents of the University of California (International Publication E-Journal). Irama, Rhoma. 2011. “Music as a Medium for Communication, Unity, Education, and Dakwah.” In: Islam and Popular Culture in Indonesia and Malaysia, edited by Weintraub, Andrew. New York: Routledge, 235–256. Irving, David R.M. 2010. Colonial Counterpoint: Music in Early Modern Manila. New York: Oxford University Press. Joaquin, Nick. 1978. “Pop Culture: Te American Years.” In: Filipino Heritage: Te Making of a Nation, Volume 9, edited by Roces, Alfredo R. Manila: Lahing Pilipino, 2732–2744. Johan, Adil. 2018. Cosmopolitan Intimacies: Malay Film Music of the Independence Era. Singapore: NUS Press. Keppy, Peter. 2019. Tales of Southeast Asia’s Jazz Age: Filipinos, Indonesians and “Popular Culture”, 1920–1936. Singapore: NUS Press. Mitsui, Toru (Ed.). 2014. Made in Japan Studies in Popular Music. New York: Routledge. Notosudirdjo, Franki Raden S. 2001. Music, Politics, and the Problems of National Identity in Indonesia. PhD diss. Madison: University of Wisconsin. Rojek, Chris (Ed.). 2011. Popular Music, Volume 1: History and Teoretical Traditions. Los Angeles: Sage. Santaella, Mayco A. 2014. “Tradition, Kreasi Baru and Ethnotainment: Tree Representational Kakula Spheres Among the To Kaili of Central Sulawesi.” Malaysian Music Journal 3(2): 66–83. Santaella, Mayco A. 2019a. “Popularizing the Indigenous as an Alternative Modernity: Te Development of Dero in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.” In: Proceedings of the 5th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Performing Arts of Southeast Asia (PASEA). Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, Sabah Museum. Santaella, Mayco A. 2019b. “‘Doing Rano’ Among the Kaili of Central Sulawesi: A Choreomusicological Analysis of the Body as Cultural Locus of the Sound-Movement Continuum.” Asian Music 50(1): Summer/Fall, 33–57. Sarkissian, Margaret. 2000. D'Albuquerque’s Children: Performing Tradition in Malaysia’s Portuguese Settlement. Chicago. IL: University of Chicago Press. Shin, Hyunjoon and Seung-Ah Lee (Eds.). 2017. Made in Korea Studies in Popular Music. New York: Routledge. Shuker, Roy. 2017. Popular Music: Te Key Concepts. New York: Routledge. Sutton, Anderson R. 2002. “Popularizing the Indigenous or Indigenizing the Popular? Television, Video and Fusion Music in Indonesia.” Wacana Seni/Arts Discourse 1: 13–31. Sylado, Remy. 1998. Musik bacaan dan bacaan musik dari perlintasan budaya Barat yang berlangsung di Indonesia semenjak 1536 tarikh Masehi. Unpublished paper presented at the Seminar of Pekan Komponis. Jakarta. Tan, Sooi Beng. 1993. Bangsawan: A Social and Stylistic History of the Malay Opera. Singapore: Oxford University Press. Tan, Sooi Beng 2005. “From Folk to National Popular Music: Recreating Ronggeng in Malaysia.” Journal of Musicological Research 24: 3–4, 287–307. Tan, Sooi Beng. 2019. Eclectic Cultures for All: Te Development of the Peranakan Performing, Visual and Material Arts in Penang. Malaysia: USM Press. Trimillos, Ricardo D. 2016. “Introduction.” In: Religious Festivals in Contemporary Southeast Asia, edited by Alcedo, P., S.A. Ness and H.M.J. Maier. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 3–220. Trimillos, Ricardo D. 2017. “Understanding Performance in Maritime Southeast Asia: Rethinking Paradigms and Discourses, an Introduction.” In: Sounding the Dance, Moving the Music: Choreomusicology in Maritime Southeast Asia, edited by Nor, Mohd Anis Md. and Kendra Stepputat. New York: Routledge, 1–12. Williams, Raymond. 1976. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. New York: Oxford University Press. Yampolsky, Philip. 1994. Musik Populer Indonesia: Kroncong, Dangdut, Langgam jawa (Album Liner Notes). Bandung: MSPI. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10083620. Yampolsky, Philip. 2013. Music and Media in the Dutch East Indies: Gramophone Records and Radio in the Late Colonial Era, 1903–1942. PhD diss. University of Washington.

2

Colonialism and Identity

A Short History of Popular Music in the Philippines Felicidad A. Prudente

Te term “popular music” is used in the Philippines to refer to music created by Filipinos in the country and disseminated through mass media such as radio, television, recorded music, video, flm, and printed sheet music including digital platforms. Popular music correlates with commodifcation in various forms and technologies such as records, tapes, compact discs, and music scores including music streaming services such as Spotify. Within the Philippine context, a discussion of popular music requires a socio-political and cultural perspective that considers the impact of colonialism in the country. Te colonisation period of about three hundred and ffy years under Spain (1521–1898) and later under the United States of America for almost half a century (1898–1946) imprinted legacies on its local population. Te search for a Filipino identity became persistent afer gaining independence with considerable discussions among nationalists, intellectuals, and artists. Tis chapter provides a historical overview of popular music in the Philippines in the context of the Filipino experience. I witnessed the growth of popular music in the Philippines as a Filipino living in the country. Tis essay has a self-refexive approach based on varied experiences from my years as a teenager until adulthood as a music professor and musician. My memory of popular music connects me to my younger days during the 1950s when imported popular music was ubiquitously played on the radio, phonograph, and television. Jam session parties in the 1960s were dominated by American and British popular music such as that by Elvis Presley (1935–1977), Clif Richard (b. 1940), Te Ventures, and Te Beatles. I also recall playing top tunes on the piano of mostly American music such as “Blue Moon” and “Take Five” as well as singing karaoke while hanging out with friends in the 1970s. From the 1980s until the 2000s, I immersed myself in academic work teaching Philippine music wherein I included studies and performances of Filipino popular music created by Asin, Eraserheads, Local Brown, Grace Nono, and others. I relate these experiences as a glimpse into the production of popular music during the second half of the 20th century in the Philippines. Filipino Identity in Music Filipino musicians strived to diferentiate themselves sonically from imported popular music particularly from American and British pop music. Local musicians’ familiarity with western music, along with their talent and creativity, became the foundation in the making of Filipino popular music or OPM, an acronym for “Original Pilipino Music”. Te name OPM was derived

35

36 • Felicidad A. Prudente

from a non-proft organisation of singers and songwriters formed in 1986 called Organisasyon ng mga Pilipinong Mang-aawit. It is synonymous to “Pinoy music” today. Te word “Pinoy” is a colloquial term coined in the 1920s by Filipino Americans that referred initially to Filipinos born or living in the United States but later included Filipinos in the Philippines as well. Te label “Pinoy music” emerged in the early 1970s as a marker of Filipino identity in popular music. Tagging the word “Pinoy” in musical genres and styles such as “Pinoy pop”, “Pinoy jazz”, “Pinoy rock”, “Pinoy punk”, “Pinoy ska”, “Pinoy reggae”, “Pinoy hip-hop”, and “Pinoy rap” signifes Filipino creation and Filipino identity. “Pinoy music” underscores hybridity (Canclini 1995) wherein imported musical forms and styles are shaped and localised following Filipino aesthetics and sensibilities.1 Pinoy Pop Pinoy pop or P-pop is a broad term that refers to various types of songs such as ballads, novelty songs, and inspirational songs. Distinctly, Pinoy pop uses the Filipino language and other local languages such as Tagalog, Ilocano, and Sebuano. It also uses the English language including the fusing of English and Tagalog words referred to as “Taglish”. By the 1950s, Filipino popular music was produced by local recording companies that later became member organisations of the Philippine Association of the Record Industry, Inc. (PARI). PARI was established in 1972 and is a non-proft and private trade organisation that aims to promote and develop the Filipino music industry. Before the emergence of the name Pinoy pop in the 1970s, early popular songs were identifed by their local genre such as kundiman, balitaw, and danza while Filipino vocal forms were generally known as awit. By the turn of the 20th century, American companies such as Columbia Records and Victor Talking Machine recorded local music by well-known singers like Socorro Santiago, Maria Evangelista Carpena (1886–1915), and Atang de la Rama (1902– 1991) (Villasquez 2019, 46). Early Filipino movies drew their stories and music from Spanishderived music theatre (sarswela) like Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden) written by Hermogenes Ilagan with music composed by Leon Ignacio. Dalagang Bukid was flmed and directed by Jose Nepomuceno in 1919 using the same stage cast led by actors Atang de la Rama and Marceliano Ilagan. Although a silent flm, it was a box-ofce hit released with subtitles in English, Spanish, and Tagalog and was accompanied by the live music performance of actress–singer de la Rama who rendered its featured song “Nabasag ang Banga” (“Te Clay Pot is Broken”) at every flm screening accompanied by musical instruments (Africa 2016, 5). Filipino songwriters played a vital role in the fourishing of Pinoy pop. Early songwriters composed with similar expressiveness of the kundiman. Well-known composers were Santiago Suarez (1901–1964), Constancio de Guzman (1903–1982), Mike Velarde, Jr. (1913–1986), Restituto Umali (1916–1998), Leopoldo Silos, Sr. (1925–2015), and George Canseco (1934–2004). Te prolifc poet and songwriter Levi Celerio (1910–2002) wrote the lyrics to about four thousand songs such as “Saan Ka Man Naroroon” (“Wherever You Are”), “Kahit Konting Pagtingin” (“Even Just a Glance”), and the favourite Tagalog lullaby, “Sa Ugoy ng Duyan” (“Swaying of the Hammock”). Celerio was given the country’s highest honour as the National Artist for Music and Literature in 1997. Likewise, Ernani Cuenco (1936–1988) known for his sentimental songs was posthumously awarded the National Artist for Music in 1999. Outside of Metro Manila, Yoyoy Villame (born Roman Tesorio Villame, 1932–2007) from Cebu City stood out with his distinct folk style and comedic lyrics fusing Tagalog and English in “Magellan” and “Magexercise tayo” (“Let’s Exercise”). Max Surban (b. 1939) also from Cebu City recorded ballads and novelty songs in the Sebuano language.

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Te desire to create Filipino songs in local languages became even more pronounced afer the Philippines gained independence from the United States in 1946. Te next generation of Filipino songwriters such as Wilfredo “Willy” Cruz (1947–2017), Freddie Aguilar (born Ferdinand Pascual Aguilar, 1953), Rey Valera (born Reynaldo Valera Guardiano, 1954), and Venancio “Vehnee” Saturno (b. 1954) stood out with their poetic songs mostly about love. Aguilar recorded “Anak” (“Child”) in 1977 and became popular both in the Philippines and abroad with about 30 million record copies sold worldwide. Cruz’s “Bituing Walang Ningning” (“Star Without a Sparkle”) composed in 1985 and “Sana’y Wala Nang Wakas” (“Hoping Tere Is No End”) in 1986 were both theme songs in box-ofce movies. Valera, a prolifc songwriter and record producer, was a favourite because of his romantic songs suitable for soap operas. Saturno was credited with about eight hundred songs to date such as “Wala na Bang Pangibig” (“Is Tere No More Love?”) and “Sana Kahit Minsan” (“Hoping Even Once”). He was awarded an OPM Lifetime Achievement by My Only Radio Pinoy Music Awards in 2018. On the other hand, the endearing songs of Jose Mari Chan (b. 1947), mostly written in the English language, also gained popularity such as “Deep in My Heart” (1969) and “Can We Just Stop and Talk Awhile?” (1973). Chan’s Christmas song titled “Christmas in Our Hearts” (1990) from his album of the same title sold over twenty million units in 1995 and continues to be heard during the Christmas season. A pillar of OPM, National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab (born Raymundo Cipriano Pujante Cayabyab, 1954) wrote Pinoy pop songs in English and Filipino for flm, theatre musicals, and special events. His hit songs included “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika” (“How Beautiful Is Our Music”) which won the grand prize at the First Metro Manila Popular Music Festival in 1978, “Iduyan mo” (“Swing My Cradle”), and the Christmas song “Kumukutikutitap” (“Flickering Lights”). Te succeeding generation of songwriters such as Gary Granada (b. 1960), Ogie Alcasid (born Herminio Jose Lualhati Alcasid, Jr., 1967), Mike Villegas (1973), Jungee Marcelo, and Trina Belamide explored broader topics on Filipino life and culture as refected in their song titles. Granada’s song “Salamat, Salamat Musika” (“Tank You, Music”) and “Mabuti pa Sila” (“Tey’re Better Tan Me”) both won grand prizes at the Metro Manila Pop Festival in 1984 and 1998, respectively. Alcasid’s top tracks included “Nandito ako” (“Here I Am”) and “Mahal Kita, Walang Iba” (“I Love You, No One Else”). Te inspirational song “Tell the World of His Love” by Trina Belamide was chosen to be the theme song for the World Youth Day during Pope John Paul II’s visit to the Philippines in 1995. Similarly inspirational was Jungee Marcelo’s “Salbabida” (“Lifesaver”) which won the grand prize at the Tird Philippine Popular Music Festival in 2014. Lito Camo (b. 1972) is best known for his funny novelty songs such as “Boom Tarat-tarat” and “Otso-Otso” while Mike Villegas’s (b. 1973) song “Bayani” (“Hero”) ranked as one of the top ten songs in the Himig Handog competition. “Hawak Kamay” (“Hold Hands”) by Yeng Constantino (born Josephine Eusebio Constantino-Asuncion, 1988) was recognised as best theme song by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Award (FAMAS) in 2007 and at the 32nd Metro Manila Film Festival. As pop groups became trendy in the United States and Great Britain, the Philippines did not escape the formation of its own local pop groups. Te multi-awarded APO Hiking Society which began as a high school singing group in the 1960s emerged as a successful trio. Te group lasted for three decades with about twenty albums and hit songs such as “Pumapatak ang Ulan” (“Trickling Rain”), “American Junk”, and the historical “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo” (“Gif of the Filipino to the World”) which celebrated the 1986 People Power Revolution that ended martial law. Tere were many Pinoy pop bands that hit the airwaves with romantic ballads such as Side A, True Faith, and South Border. An all-female group, the SexBomb Girls, emerged in 1999 and became associated with sexy novelty songs, particularly “Spageti Song” (“Spaghetti

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Song”), performed with choreographed suggestive movements. In 2007, the group was awarded “Hall of Famer” by the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation, Inc. SexBomb Girls was re-launched in 2014 with a new set of members and renamed SexBomb NewGen. Pinoy Rock Pinoy rock encompasses diverse styles and subgenres such as pop rock, folk rock, punk rock, hardcore punk, heavy metal, and alternative rock. American and British bands served as models and became a springboard in the creation of local rock music. Relatedly, radio stations played a key role in the development of Pinoy rock led by Boss Radio DZRJ 100.3 which was started in 1963 by businessperson and musician Ramon “RJ” Jacinto. Years later, NU 107, with its tag line “Home of New Rock”, began airing in 1987 under the Progressive Broadcasting Corporation. NU 107 honoured local talented Filipino rock bands with the NU Rock Awards from its inception in 1994 until it signed of in 2010. In 2014, NU 107 was reformatted under a new name, Wish 107.5, and unveiled the frst mobile FM radio booth in a bus called Wish FM Bus where OPM artists and Pinoy rock bands performed live. In 2015, Wish 107.5 opened a YouTube channel which gained almost seven million subscribers by 2019. Te founder of radio station DZRJ, Ramon “RJ” Jacinto (b. 1945), is considered the pioneer of Pinoy rock music. Himself a musician, Jacinto introduced rock music to Filipino listeners in the 1960s. Known for his band “RJ and the Riots”, DZRJ initially played the latest rock music from abroad. Te legendary Pinoy rock group, the Juan de la Cruz Band, was formed in 1968 and performed at the Antipolo Rock Festival in 1970, reminiscent of the American Woodstock festival of 1969. Te Juan de la Cruz Band later regrouped with Wally Gonzales, Joey “Pepe” Smith (born Joseph William Feliciano Smith, 1947–2019), and Mike Hanopol (b. 1946). As a trio, they premiered, in 1973, their original song “Himig Natin” (“Our Hymn”) which became a catalyst in the emergence of Pinoy rock (Caruncho 1996, 123, 258). Te name “Manila sound” emerged in the 1970s and was identifed with songs composed by Te Hotdog. Te Hotdog gained popularity because of its light and catchy melodies, lively rhythm, and how it ofen mixed English and Tagalog as in the songs “Manila” and “Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng Buhay ko” (“You Are the Miss Universe of My Life”) which serenaded the contestants of the Miss Universe beauty pageant held in Manila in 1974. Te Hotdog gave the local music industry a boost that captured a wide listening audience. Manila sound likewise followed global trends in disco music of the late 1970s exemplifed by foreign groups like the Bee Gees, ABBA, and singer Donna Summer. Local groups with allmale members, namely the Boyfriends, VST and Company, and Hagibis were at the forefront of Pinoy disco music. Te Boyfriends hit songs included “Dahil Mahal Kita” (“Because I Love You”) and “Sumayaw, Sumunod” (“Dance, Follow”) while the VST and Company disco hits were “Rock Baby, Rock” and “Isasayaw Ko” (“I Will Dance”). Hagibis, consisting of fve macholooking men wearing black leather jackets and boots, were best known for their song “Katawan” (“Body”). Another Manila sound pop group was Cinderella with lead vocalist Yolly Samson (1957–1997) who popularised “T.L. Ako sa ‘yo” (“I Am Your True Love”) composed by multiawarded songwriter Snafu Rigor (1946–2016). Cinderella songs were ofen in Taglish, mixing Tagalog and English in combination with street jargon and rendered in cool sof voices about puppy love like “May Crush Ako sa ‘yo” (“I Have a Crush on You”). Te merging of folk elements in Pinoy rock became predominant during the martial law years (1972–1986) as expression of nationalism and protest. Te fourteen years of military rule under then President Ferdinand Marcos was a time of intense creativity among Philippine citizens. Performances of activist musicians and folk rock bands animated street

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demonstrations and protests. Students, academics, and members of cause-oriented groups patronised Pinoy folk rock songs that told about the abuses of martial law, cronyism, and the exploitation of people and the environment. Te Jerks, formed in 1979 by Chickoy Pura and guitarist Jun Lopito, made a mark on the Pinoy rock scene with their nationalistic song “Reklamo ng Reklamo” (“Complaining Incessantly”) which won the 1998 NU Rock Awards for Best Album and the 1998 Katha Award for Best Rock Song. Heber Bartolome (b. 1948) and his band Banyuhay played bandurria and sang “Tayo’y Pilipino” (“We are Filipinos”) at protest meetings. Songs critical of the Marcos-led Philippine government were mostly produced independently by activists and/or the artists themselves. Recording companies shied away from producing these albums due to limited profts aside from sufering the consequences of military rule. Te integration of folk music instruments such as the horizontally-laid gongs (kulintang), bamboo jaw harp (kubing), and two-stringed lute (faglong/kudlong) into rock bands signifed Filipino identity. Te group Asin (meaning “salt”) was formed around 1976 by Mike Pillora, Jr. and Cesar Bañares, Jr., later joined by Lolita Carbon and Pendong Aban, Jr., and explored the playing of the kulintang in their song “Ang Bayan Kong Sinilangan” (“Te Country Where I Was Born”). In 1990, Pendong Aban, Jr. and his wife Chat Coloma-Aban formed their own folk rock band named Ang Grupong Pendong and released two albums entitled Panahon (Season) and Dito Sa Lupa (Here on Earth) which won the “Best in world music album” given by Katha, an association of composers and songwriters in the Philippines. Even afer the lifing of martial law in 1986, local rock bands and artists continued creating more relevant songs such as Local Brown, formed in 1988 by record producer Ed Formoso. Local Brown sang about Filipino values, social ills, and the problem of Filipino colonial mentality. Songs included “Tis Is Not America” and “Wishing You Were Brown” rendered in English and various Filipino languages such as Ilocano, Tagalog, and Kapampangan. Te band, led by Joey Ayala (born Jose Iñigo Homer Lacambra Ayala, 1956), and called Joey Ayala at ang Bagong Lumad (Joey Ayala and the New Native), was formed in 1982 in Davao City in the southern Philippines. Tey prominently used indigenous instruments of Mindanao in combination with electric guitars, synthesisers, and a drum set. Years later, singer Grace Nono (b. 1965) launched her self-produced album Salidummay around 1994 followed by several more albums containing repertories inspired by traditional music. Nono collaborated with the late composer and jazz musician Bob Aves (d. 2019) who also advocated Filipino music. Nono’s vocal timbre, learned from indigenous chanters, made her diferent from other local singers. Pinoy rock bands prevailed in the mainstream music scene and airwaves in the 1990s. Te Eraserheads, formed in 1989 and led by Ely Buendia, stood out as the most infuential and multiawarded group. Teir controversial debut album Ultraelectromagneticpop!, stickered with parental advisory by PARI due to foul words in the songs, was a smash hit in 1993 and was even given the NU Rock Awards Album of the Year in 1994. Many more awards followed and the group was honoured with the Hall of Fame award at the NU Rock Awards in 2003. By 2005, Ely Buendia formed a new group named Pupil. Te video for Pupil’s initial song “Nasaan Ka” (“Where Are You?”) was recognised as Best Rock Video by MTV Philippines in 2006. In 2008, Pupil garnered two Awit Awards for Wild Life as Album of the Year and “Monobloc” as Best Music Video. Another multi-awarded band is Parokya ni Edgar, formed in 1993. Led by vocalist Alfonso “Chito” Miranda, Jr., their song “Mr. Suave” (“Mr. Debonair”) earned three Awit Awards in 2004: Record of the Year, Best Music Video Performance, and Best Novelty Recording. Local media called Parokya ni Edgar “Pambansang Banda ng Pilipinas” (“Te National Band of the Philippines”). Sharing the same title of national band was Rivermaya, which released their frst self-titled album in 1994 containing their most remembered song, “Awit ng Kabataan”

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(“Song of the Youth”). Rivermaya’s popular songs included “Himala” (“Miracle”), “Kisapmata” (“Blink of an Eye”), “Liwanag sa Dilim” (“Light in the Dark”), and “Your Song.” Te group was given the MYX Magna Award in 2019 for their contribution to OPM Rock band history. Te Filipino rock band Aegis, formed in 1993, made its reputation in Japan and signed a contract with Alpha Records in Manila in 1998. Teir pop rock songs like “Mahal na Mahal Kita” (“I Love You Very Much”), “Sinta” (“Love”), and “Basang-basa sa Ulan” (“So Wet with Rain”) were revived in the longest-running musical titled “Rak of Aegis” which portrayed the challenges of an urban community ravaged by foodwaters. All-female rock bands that emerged in the 1990s were Keltscross, formed in 1992, with an album Revenge of the Fishlips, and Tribal Fish which issued a self-titled album in 1994 that featured edgy raucous sound and harsh voices like “Wag Kang Baboy” (“Don’t Be a Pig”). Pinoy rock bands proliferated around the country such as Te Dawn (1985), AferImage (1989), Rizal Underground (1994), Siakol (1994), Itchyworms (1996), Sponge Cola (1998), Sugar Free (1999), Urban Dub (2000), and Callalily (2006). Unique to Silent Sanctuary (2001) and Gracenote (2008) is the integration of classical instruments such as the cello and violin into the band. Pinoy punk rock was infuenced by the punk movement in the United States and Great Britain. Early Pinoy punk acts can be traced to visual artist Romeo Lee in the early 1980s with his performances of “Wild Ting” from the British garage band Te Troggs. Local Pinoy punk rock groups in the 1980s included Tird World Chaos, Philippine Violators, Te Wuds, Urban Bandits, and George Imbecile and the Idiots. Loud and critical of society, their debut albums were recorded under the Twisted Red Cross label. A Tird World Chaos album titled New Move for Error was considered the frst Pinoy punk rock record in 1984. Underground gigs were common practice among punk groups as a step towards landing a recording contract like the group Te Youth. Formed in 1989, Te Youth played sold-out shows with a big following because of their irreverent humour, high energy, and impromptu performances. Tey signed a major contract with Universal Music in 1993 and released an album titled Album na Walang Pamagat (Album Without a Title) which contained their carrier single “Multo sa Paningin” (“Ghost in Sight”) that became an instant hit. Te local band Razorback began in 1990 by playing cover hits of metal bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Teir album Beggar’s Moon went platinum, which included hits like “Payaso” (“Clown”) and “Ikot Ng Mundo” (“Turning of the World”). Teir third album, Star, contained the award-winning song “Voodoo, Who Do?”. Yano, formed in 1993, was a folk/punk band led by poet and musician Dong Abay (born Westdon Martin Abay, 1971) who rendered political and social commentaries such as “Tsinelas” (“Slippers”), “Banal na aso, Santong kabayo” (“Pious Dog, Saintly Horse”), and “State University.” Bad Omen was considered one of the longest active punk bands, forming in 1989 and releasing their latest single titled “Pinas Lang” (Philippines only) in 2019 as a critique on the government’s current controversial campaign against illegal drugs. More Filipino rock bands surfaced later in the 1990s playing hardcore punk rock and heavy metal with more aggressive sounds and voices, yelling and growling to express opinions for social change. Te local band Wolfgang formed in 1995 was popular with hits like “Halik ni Hudas” (“Kiss of Judas”), “Natutulog Kong Mundo” (“My World Is Sleeping”), and “Mata ng Diyos” (“Eyes of God”). Teir fourth album, Serve in Silence, won frst place for Album of the Year and the Listener’s Choice award from the NU107 Rock Awards in 1999. Heavy metal band Slapshock formed in 1997 and took their cue from American east coast hip-hop. Teir great hits included “Sigaw” (“Shout”) and “Cariño Brutal” (“Brutal Afection”). Teir seventh album, titled Atake (Attack) and released in 2017, fused rap in the songs “Atake” (“Attack”), “Tukso” (“Temptation”), and “Huling Gabi” (“Last night”). Slapshock was named Best New Artist in

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2000 by the NU Rock Awards. Kamikazee formed in 2000 and was known for hardcore punk. Teir lead vocalist, Jay Contreras, spoke cuss words and danced sexually suggestive movements during their live shows. Kamikazee’s hit songs were “Huling Sayaw” (“Last Dance”) and “Martyr Nyebera” (“Sufering Lover”). Other hardcore and metal bands included Salamin, Valley of the Chrome, Dahong Palay, and Greyhound, to name a few. Pinoy Ska Pinoy ska began to be popular in the local scene in the 1980s. Te Skalawags, formed in 1986, was a pioneer group in playing at clubs and music bars around Metro Manila. Te syncopated rhythm with accents on the second and fourth beats plus the incorporation of brass instruments into the band made the group distinct from other local rock groups. Te Skalawags recorded only one song, titled “Tank You, America”, about the problem of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases acquired from American soldiers stationed at the US military facility in Pampanga Province. Te song was part of a compilation album called “Paalam, Uncle Sam” (“Goodbye, Uncle Sam”) which featured various artists under the label Musika and was released in 1990 in time for the turnover of the US military base to the Philippine government in 1991. Pinoy ska became mainstream with the band Put3ska, formed in 1993 (Caruncho 1996, 209). With its name, taken from “putris ka” (“damn you”) and “ska”, the group’s self-titled album carried its hit single “Manila Girl” which earned a gold record award in 1994. Today, there is a long list of ska bands in the Pinoy Ska Archive on Facebook. In addition, the Philippine Ska Community was founded in 2017 to organise musicians and ska music enthusiasts as well as to promote ska music. With about four thousand members, the community supports activities like the Philippine Ska Festival. Philska Radio Online, through Facebook, started streaming live ska music in 2018 hosted by Noel Salonga. Pinoy Reggae Pinoy reggae music gained attention in the 1980s. Inspired by the songs of Bob Marley of Jamaica, Pinoy reggae bands have been paying tribute to the reggae icon by holding the Bob Marley Festival Manila since 2014. However, unique to Pinoy reggae songs is the incorporation of local folklore and beliefs, Filipino humour, and the use of Filipino languages. Cocojam was recognised as the pioneering Pinoy reggae band, formed in 1980. Teir hit song “Lakambini” (“Princess”) injected rapping accompanied by reggae rhythm as an ostinato. Tropical Depression became known in the 1990s, led by the late vocalist and guitarist Dominic “Papadom” Gamboa (1965–2013). Teir hit songs included “Kapayapaan” (“Peace”) and “Bilog Na Naman ang Buwan” (“It’s Full Moon Again”). From the northern region of Luzon, Badjao Roots asserted their Cordillera cultural heritage with the song “Kalinga Dreadlock Rastaman” fusing traditional instruments and a song called “Salidummay” to reggae beat. Around Metro Manila, Pinoy reggae bands included Eurasia, Brownman Revival, and Hemp Republic. A wellknown solo reggae artist was Joseph Amoto Formaran (1969–2016), better known as Blakdyak, whose performance acts and rapping like “Ang Modelong Charing” (“Te Model Charing”) were ofen hilarious. His album, titled Noon at Ngayon (Past and Present), earned a platinum record award in 1997. Reggae bands from the Visayas region included Junior Kilat and Enchi while those from Mindanao included Doppstarz, Jayson in Town, Sud-anen Tribe, and Nairud sa Wabad which meant Durian sa Dabaw (Durian in Davao) spelled backwards. Most of their songs tell about Filipino life and society.

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Pinoy Rap / Pinoy Hip-Hop Pinoy Hip-Hop, also known in the country as Pinoy rap, started becoming popular in the 1980s. It was rendered in English, Filipino, and other Philippine languages such as Bikolano, Ilocano, Sebuano, and Chavacano as well as Taglish, or a mix of English and Tagalog. Igorot rap in the northern Philippines used Ibaloi spoken in Baguio City and Benguet. Delivered in a half-spoken and half-sung rhythmic manner, Pinoy rap tackled varied themes from seemingly trivial topics to serious ones especially about love and sex. Rendered in a storytelling style, Pinoy rap was characterised by irreverent yet humorous wordplay accompanied by a rhythmic ostinato, and repetitive harmonic progressions. Other times, familiar popular melodies were appropriated to serve as points of interest. For example, the tune of “Yellow Submarine” by Te Beatles was appropriated in a Pinoy rap entitled “Sinabmarine” by Andrew E (born Andrew Espiritu, 1967). Te earliest recorded rap, titled “Na Onseng Delight” (“Scammed Delight”), was attributed to Dyords Javier (born George Javier) and released by WEA Records in 1980. Another pioneering rapper, Vincent Dafalong, released an Alpha Record album entitled Okay sa-rap (Okay with Rap) featuring “Mahiwagang Nunal” (“Miraculous Mole”) which talks about Filipino beliefs on moles. Pinoy rap entered the mainstream through matinee idol Francis Magalona (1964–2009) with his debut rap album, titled Yo!, which included “Mga Kababayan ko” (“My Countrymen”) as an expression of love of country. Te Yo! album was a big success and was followed by another hit album titled Rap is FrancisM in 1992. Te contents of the album addressed social and political problems such as “Mga praning” on drug addiction and “Tayo’y mga Pinoy” (“We Are Filipinos”). A multi-talented artist, Magalona received the Pioneer Hall of Fame Award from Empire Entertainment at the 1st Annual Philippine Hip-Hop Music Awards in 2005 as well as the Presidential Medal of Merit in 2009 for his musical contribution. Another early exponent of Pinoy rap is Andrew E who gave Filipino listeners blunt yet funny advice in “Humanap ka ng Panget” (“Look for Someone Ugly”). By mid-1995, Andrew E founded a rap recording label called Dongalo Wreckords where he produced new talents like Salbakuta with a debut single titled “Stupid Love”. Female rappers also rose in popularity like MC Lara, Lady Diane, and Julie Ann San Jose (b. 1994), who was paired with Elmo Magalona (b. 1994), son of pioneering Filipino rapper Francis M. Gloc 9 (born Aristotle Pollisco, 1977). Magalona is undeniably the most highly acclaimed Filipino rapper in the country today. An award-winning artist, he paid tribute to his mentor Francis M with “Alalay ng Hari” (“Tribute of the King”) in 2012. Gloc 9 songs tackle social issues such as poverty, corruption, and patriotism. Rap contests were much-anticipated events and known as “fiptop battles” among local rappers. Coming from the word “fip”, rap battles were meant to toss back insults between competitors and to discredit each other’s viewpoints with ofensive words and vulgar phrases. Rap recitations were unaccompanied and therefore more fexible in rendering. Local rappers generally used the Filipino language while English was employed when competing with international participants. Fliptop audiences laughed, jeered, and clapped as the battle progressed. A referee maintained order during the competition. At the end of a rap battle, each member of the judging panel explained how he or she voted. A fiptop website named Fliptop Battle League was founded in 2010 by rapper Anygma, born under the name of Alaric Riam Yuson. Pinoy Jazz Jazz came to the Philippines during the American colonial period (1898–1946). American nationals and returning Filipinos brought with them the phonograph and fat disc records of

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American music such as the foxtrot, blues, and jazz (Quirino 2004, 12). American Tin Pan Alley songs gave inspiration to Filipino composers like M. Nazario, who wrote “Manila Boxing Rag” in 1914 and Jose Estella with his songs namely “California: March” in 1899, “Germinales” in c. 1908, “Manila Carnival Rag” in 1914, and “Visayan Moon” in 1922 (Walsh 2013). Noted composer Francisco Santiago was obviously infuenced by the music of the time when he wrote “Balintawak: Filipino Fox-Trot” in 1920. Local orchestras and big bands formed as early as the 1920s and were patronised by foreigners in the country and afuent Filipino families. Moreover, an important singer around this period was Catalina “Katy” de la Cruz (b. 1907–2004) who specialized in jazz vocals and torch songs. By 1914, she was hired in Manila theatres to sing in-between movie screenings from which developed the local vaudevilles (bodabil). She was known for the song “Balut” (“Duck Egg”) rendered in fast-paced jazzy tune with vocal improvisation or scat singing. Pianist Luis Borromeo (b. circa 1879) of Cebu came home in 1921 afer six years of musical stints in vaudeville theatres in the United States. His concerts in Cebu, Iloilo, and Manila featured a mixed repertoire of early jazz and classical songs including Filipino art songs (kundiman). Eventually, he formed his own vaudeville troupe named “Borromeo Follies of 1924” which presented an amalgamation of music, dance, plays, and comedies. Borromeo dominated the local cultural scene which earned him the title “King of Jazz” in the Philippines (Quirino 1996, 16). Big bands playing in dance halls and hotels for social events fourished in the 1930s. Among the favourites were the Pete Aristorenas Orchestra, the Tirso Cruz Orchestra, and the Mesio Regalado Orchestra. Radio became the medium to air jazz music where local artists performed live at broadcast time. Mike Velarde, Jr. (1913–1986), composer of the popular “Ugoyugoy Blues” in the mid-1930s, was a featured musician in weekly radio shows. He sang and played jazz arrangements on the piano and later formed a jazz band named “Mike Velarde’s Jazztocrats”. Exequiel “Lito” Molina (1930–1998), dubbed the “Father of Philippine Jazz”, started playing professionally with various bands in the 1940s. By 1955, Molina formed the Jazz Friends which were active in the concert scene until the 1980s. Angel Peña (1921–2014), a music stalwart of both jazz and classical music, was a composer, arranger, and bass player. His jazz piece “Bagbagtulambing” made a mark in the local repertoire when it was performed in 1956 for a university fraternity annual concert. Likewise, his “Concerto for Jazz Quartet and Orchestra” premiered in 1981 at the seventy-ffh anniversary of the Filipino presence in Hawaiʻi and exemplifed the fusing of two contrasting genres of jazz and classical music into a composition. Bobby Enriquez (born Roberto Delprado Yulo Enriquez, 1943–1996) was undeniably the most exciting Filipino jazz piano virtuoso of his time. A child prodigy, he was self-taught and started playing jazz professionally at the age of fourteen. He lef home and travelled to pursue a music career in Manila, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. Eventually, he settled in the United States where he achieved international recognition as “the Wildman”. Te Katindig clan and the late Eddie Katindig (1937–2017) were well-known jazz artists. A major proponent of Pinoy jazz was Bob Aves (1955–2019) who embarked on rediscovering Philippine indigenous music in the 1990s and fused this with jazz resulting in the groundbreaking albums Translating the Gongs (2006) and Out of Tradition (2014). A young breed of musicians who perform Pinoy jazz today are former members of the University of the Philippines Jazz Ensemble led by Raymundo “Rayben” Maigue (b. 1957). Others include Bond Samson (b. 1965) of Ugoyugoy Band, Edwin Lumanug (b.1974), RiaVillena-Osorio (b. 1980), and Jesper Colleen Mercado (b. 1988). Te Jazz Society of the Philippines or Jazzphil was established in 2003 with the aim of promoting jazz in the Philippines and fostering camaraderie among jazz musicians, music collectors, fans, and musicians.

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Conclusion Colonialism contributed in the rooting of Western popular music in the Philippines. Te import of new knowledge and modern technology from Europe and the United States efected the growth of Pinoy popular music. Te country’s music infrastructure was nascent during its early years in the 1900s but eventually fourished greatly due to agencies created by Filipinos themselves. Local initiatives of songwriters, singers, musicians, businesspeople, and various organisations including award-giving bodies were key agents in the growth of Filipino popular music or OPM. Te process of hybridisation gave birth to local music genres that subverted colonial culture and asserted Filipino identity. Following Bauman’s idea (Berger and Del Negro 2004, 131), Filipino identity is constructed in action and deeds embodied in the creation and performance of OPM, being expressive portrayals of how Filipinos view themselves and how they are imagined or understood by others. Te establishment of local organisations such as the Organization of Professional Filipino Singers (OPM), the Organization of Filipino Composers (KATHA), the Association of Filipino Musicians (AMP), the Philippine Association of the Record Industry, Inc (PARI), and the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Inc. (FILSCAP), as well as interest groups, were instrumental in the production of Pinoy popular music. Song-writing competitions became important vehicles for drawing local talents to create and perform their own music. Tese competitive events include the Metro Manila Popular Music Festival, better known as “Metropop”, Himig Handog (Song Ofering), and the Philippine Popular Music Festival or Philpop. Moreover, incentives for Filipino artists include the many award-giving bodies like the Awit Awards of PARI, the KATHA Award, the NU Rock Award, the RJ Jacinto Pinoy Rock and Roll Award, and the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Award (FAMAS) that continue to spur growth in the music industry. Te role of mass media in promoting OPM gained further signifcance afer martial law ended in 1986 when Executive Order no. 255 was signed by then President Corazon Aquino in 1987 requiring all radio stations with musical programme formats to broadcast at least four original Pilipino musical compositions at every clock hour. Local recording companies and independent music producers with the support of radio stations, television networks, and the power of the Internet continue to be vital for OPM as an expression of Filipino identity in the global world. Note 1

Pinoy popular music genres mentioned in this chapter are available on YouTube.

References Africa, Antonio. (2016). Expressions of Tagalog Imaginary: Te Tagalog sarswela and Kundiman in Early Films in the Philippines, 1939–1959 (Doctoral dissertation). Manila: Te Philippine Women’s University. Berger, Harris & Del Negro, Giovanna. (2004). Identity and Everyday Life: Essays in the Study of Folklore, Music, and Popular Culture. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. Canclini, Nestor. (1995). Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Caruncho, Eric. (1996). Punks, Poets, Poseurs: Reportage on Pinoy Rock & Roll. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc. Quirino, Richie. (2004). Pinoy Jazz Traditions. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc. Villasquez, Gloria Rosario. (2019). Globalizing and Commodifying Music in the 20th Century: Te 78-rpm Recordings in the Philippines, 1900–1950s (Doctoral dissertation). Manila: Te Philippine Women’s University. Walsh, Tomas. (2013). Tin Pan Alley and the Philippines: American Songs of War and Love, 1898–1946, a Resource Guide. Lanham, MD: Te Scarecrow Press, Inc.

3

Te (De-) and (Re-) Mythifcation of OPM

Decentring a Popular Music Sign Krina Cayabyab

In 1978, a new record company called JEM Records began placing a category on the shelves of record outlets to distinguish their locally produced Long Play vinyl records (LPs) from the others. Disc jockeys took notice and began including these marked records on the playlists of their radio programmes. Tis marketing strategy launched the name “OPM”, Original Pilipino Music, as a classifcation of records that transformed into everything and anything made by Filipinos. OPM generated a consciousness of cosmopolitanism and nationalism within the popular media-driven music cultures of Manila in the 1970s. It became an anachronistic signifer for diverse associations of music in the decade from the Hotdog-initiated sonic brand of Manila Sound to the thickly orchestrated winning songs of the Metropop Festival including the contrasting chart-topping hit by Freddie Aguilar, “Anak” (“Child”); from the Filipino translations of English covers to the newly fashioned rearrangements of folk songs and popular songs from the past decades; from the Vicor vs. OctoArts vs. JEM company mainstream record conficts to the alternative radio station DZRJ and its programme Pinoy Rock and Rhythm; from the cultural policies surrounding radio airtime to payola being raised in the senate; and from Jingle Chordbook Magazine’s political commentaries to the martial law regime during the Presidency of Ferdinand Marcos and the protest songs that came along with it. Even today, OPM is still linked to the 1970s highlighting those social, political, economic, and technological disruptions that buttressed mainstream and underground tastes of the decade from “Tagalog syndrome” (when songs/flms in Tagalog seemed hard to sell) to “Tagalogmania” (when Filipino slang or colloquial lyrics became the trend); and from “plakang-plaka” (exact cover versions) to new song compositions and arrangements. Tese occurrences have built up a myth that captures an ideology of quotidian expressions in the decade’s recorded sounds. OPM became a metaphor for this diferentiation – an identity, a community, and to some extent an ethnocentric sentiment. OPM grew into a dominant cultural value that became engaged in a process of modernist reformism (Turino 2000, 15) and as a form of cultural capital in the country’s music history. OPM became a myth in and of itself. While the veneration of OPM as a turning point in the Philippine record history surged, it became conditioned as the slogan for the country’s popular music scene. Consequently, in the last four decades OPM has developed into a cultural value that dictated a nationalist ideal that has sustained an inconvenience. Writers, patrons, and makers of OPM’s history and heritage have catalysed a canon of works, personalities, and practices that in efect became its emblems that continue to be of use at the present. Tis direction has caused the consequence of exclusion

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rather than its presumed inclusivity. When one says, “Te 1970s was the Golden Age of OPM and the songs of the following decades do not match its glory”, does this not ignore a culture’s unstable state through time? When there is certainty in describing OPM as everything and anything Filipino, has there been enough recognition and opportunity for works outside Metro Manila to be embraced across varied intermediations? Furthermore, can the alternative ethos that the music and the practices produced be fully considered to be part of what was supposed to be an encompassing range of OPM? Te term “OPM” seems to have obtained a divine state hovering through Philippine popular music history as a myth. A bourgeois myth to be more accurate. Looking at OPM in this perspective, an unaware Filipino who cares about national unity and identity “might pass over history entirely and buy into a mythical history instead, removed of all specifc historical context and signifcance” (McKagen 2017). And so OPM bulges with multiple meanings and unresolved interpretations. It has become a myth that requires a political language to subvert the naturalised and accepted illusions that are merely celebrated without seeing the “distorted realit[ies] hidden” (McKagen 2017). Tis chapter problematises the OPM myth to expose the contradictions in its process of meaning-making, representation, marketing, and consumption by deconstructing or demythifying OPM itself. I proceed to discuss the myth-making process and why myth-making is important in conceptualising a cosmopolitan nationalism. I end by exploring an idea of remythifying OPM as a substitute for contextualising popular music cultures in the Philippines. OPM as a Myth Te deconstructed interpretations of OPM would frst require defning it as an exclusive stable centre (Cobusen 2002) of national popular music and as a myth. How does OPM as a centre and focal point of national popular music “attempt to exclude, ignore, repress and marginalise ‘[an] other’” (Marcel Cobussen 2002, 9) to be a “standard” representation of Pinoy popular music? How have ambiguous songs from the past and present suggested new representations of OPM? How does OPM as a myth serve to create truths about the socio-historical moments and cultures of the times? Tis centring of OPM presupposes a great national mono myth and either reinforces a “positive validation of our being or as touchstones for demythologizing – perhaps repudiating the monomyth – and reifying a new myth” (Scheurer 1991, 5–6). A common Filipino mono myth in the context of popular music is that Manila’s exposure to traditional western classical music and American popular music in the early 20th century enabled Filipinos to produce records that were stylistically similar to those of the colonisers. Tis myth has reinforced the impulse of some “nationalists” to distinguish an “authentic” Filipino popular sound. Tus, for example, when OPM as a myth becomes relatively understood with a sign (Barthes 1972),1 such as hearing Juan de la Cruz’s “Himig Natin” (“Our Songs”) as a signifer, the idea or image of Pepe Smith is signifed. Tis associating impulse becomes a denotation2 of the sign “Pinoy Rock”. In this second order of signifcation, Pinoy Rock becomes the connotation of the myth of OPM. In other words, Pinoy Rock became valued as the sonic impetus to the culturally naturalised idea of OPM. Eric S. Caruncho (1996) described what has come to be “the way things are” (Chandler 2014) for the beginnings of Pinoy Rock, which may also be embraced as a myth of OPM: Luckily, when history fails, there’s always popular mythology, and the legend that makes the most mythic sense is that Pinoy rock sprang full grown from Joey “Pepe” Smith’s chemically enhanced cortex when he composed “Ang Himig Natin”… Here was the precise moment of self-defnition, and one can only imagine what a fash of revelation it was for audiences to

Te (De-) and (Re-) Mythifcation of OPM • 47

hear the Juan de la Cruz Band perform it in public for the frst time. It had always been our music. But now our music had a name… “Himig Natin” was the anthem ushering in the Seventies and the classic era of Pinoy rock.” (Caruncho 1996, 258) But in keeping with the defnition that myths are culture-specifc and also attached to personal, ideological, and emotional associations, do all participants of OPM have this same natural refection about the term? Aren’t myths supposed to “reconcile or resolve confict and contradiction” (Scheurer 1991, 7), maintaining a certain belief system that consequently becomes a transcendent evocation of a nation’s popular culture? Another resounding myth of OPM is its signifcant association with the Metropop Music Festival. Touted as the country’s pioneering songwriting competition chiefy supported by Teodoro Valencia and then dictator Ferdinand Marcos’s daughter Imee Marcos, its main objective was to construct an occasion for the development of Filipino music. Two thoughts may be raised: 1) haven’t the winning compositions from 1978 and onward demonstrated the pompous, symphonic “to win it” rousing quality of instrumentation, exemplifying a kind of manufactured way of “authenticating” a popular sonic quality of the time?; 2) doesn’t this event, which was patronised by the Marcos government, pose a challenge for artists, producers, and audiences to indiscriminately absorb and consume the depoliticised reality of the martial law regime? Tis myth making has sparked the problem of defning OPM across all Pinoy cultures, media, intermediations, spaces, and times. Some meanings have dominated, but as articles, papers, and other media about the defnition and position of OPM have curated, Filipinos and academics alike not only gain knowledge of more varied interpretations of the label. We also fnd “semantic undecidability and deferred meaning[s]” and a “multiplicity of realities” (Fox 2014) that allow a disregard for any means of control or authority over OPM. To demythify the popular myth of OPM as the two quotations immediately above does not mean the invalidation of OPM. Te inclusion of several voices and constructs to recognise OPM as contextual with an “infnite chain of texts from the starting point of any signifer” (Fox 2014) might aid in bringing about a sense of resolution to the unstable nature of meanings. OPM “Author[s]”:3 Recognising a Limit to Knowledge, Deviating from Deterministic Constructs We continue by puzzling over some penned truths of OPM. In recent years, a few university undergraduate theses have discussed OPM where defnitions were laid out and have certainly displayed diferent interpretations. One begins by directly equating OPM to “Philippine popular music” thereafer enumerating the intermediations of various musical and social practices that afect the quality, creation, production, and reception of a song in terms of song style, singer, production, audience, physical media, and circulation through the decades (Ferrer 2016). Te study’s limitations pertain to the recording output of the giant company Vicor Records, now Viva Records, which is presented as a preliminary archive and discussion about the material technologies utilised by the company. Additionally, these recordings were encapsulated in general decadal descriptions as defned by a practitioner (composer and singer) within this world (author’s italic emphasis) of OPM. Jim Paredes summarises the 1960s as the “Aspiration Era” where “the masses aped the upper class and longed to have an American experience in the local popular scene” (Ferrer 2016, 10). Te 1970s was labelled as the “Age of Relevance” because “people wanted something diferent, something that applied to them directly” (Ferrer, 11). For the 1980s, Paredes highlighted the infuence of MTV in the lowering of local gold and platinum

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awards based on album sales. Te 1990s was seen to have “reverted back to copying foreign artists” (Ferrer, 15). Tis lens that is framed in a somehow idiosyncratic “turning-point” approach and evolutionism, which are ofen based on mainstream record sales and commercial radio choices, has been a common writing direction of newspaper, magazine, and popular online articles. Tese articles mark a sonic and creative change in popular music-making, as refected in Norma Japitana’s (1977) writing: Te acceptance of the new type of Philippine pop songs marks the formation of a new breed of Filipino composers. Tis even points to the fruitful search for identity in Philippine contemporary music which will fll the gap between the traditional composers and the new group of songwriters. Te comparative approach of writing about the “old and the new”, the “local and the international”, and the “high and the low” are utilised to portray the current and distinct Philippine popular sound. Tis essay was followed by the programme fow of the concert with the heading “Final Portion: Popular” for a state event at the Folk Arts Teatre. In a publication for a diferent audience published three years later in 1980, socially and politically engaged Jingle magazine released an article entitled “Why Local Pop Music Can’t Get It Up: An Inquiry Into the Current State-Of-Te-Slump” (1980) where the dismay of record producers and radio personalities about the year’s slack production of original music was displayed. “Tere is no excitement in the current music scene” (Azarcon 1980, 71), Vic del Rosario of Vicor-Blackgold describes. Snafu Rigor of P&D Records observed, “Tis is the groping stage” (Azarcon 1980, 71). An article written in the 1990s by Danny Yson in the book Te Recording of Pilipino Music4 states the problem of the recording industry of the decade in numbers: “Te reason why sales of the industry [have] become stalled at between P 130 to P 150 million annually for the past ten years (1975–85) is because the Philippine market had never really expanded” (Yson, n.d.). Recent media interpreted OPM in a similar vein with titles such as “Who Killed OPM?” (Replente 2017), “Now and Ten: Is OPM Going Extinct?” (Santos 2012), “Original Pilipino Music in Crisis” (Ballaran 2012), “OPM Fighting for Survival” (Bercasio 2016), “Original Pilipino Music (OPM) Is Still Vital Today” (Lirios 2017), “Te Fall and Rise of Philippine Music” (bworldonline 2018), and “OPM: Rising Tru Streaming” (Business Mirror 2019). Tis writing lens of maturity/decline based on revenues establishes the myth of OPM in the economic and ecological system of the mainstream record industry. Furthermore, this delimits the restricted sonic qualities accepted within the industry’s conventions. In terms of production slips in the perspective of the industry, the surveying of wide-ranging events in the country that may have afected this “state-of-the-slump” must be considered. Te mythifcation of OPM indeed has a strong reference to recorded music made in Metro Manila that is broadcasted across the country. Going back to 1978, the Metropop Songwriting Competition amplifed this dominant centre of production to build up and propagate a Filipino identity and artistic uniqueness through a pop music aesthetic. Te efect of songwriters aiming for their songs to have a novel quality recalled by listeners, the efect of the competitions to upheave the most efective songs that impacted a so-called national consciousness, and the arrangements of the competition’s song entries refected this nature of engaging musical prowess. As briefy mentioned above, the songs of the frst few years of Metropop took up forms, melodic contours, harmonic progressions, and expansive ranges that favoured a dynamic development of expressing drama, climax, radiance, and bravura. Leading with this aesthetic are “Kay Ganda Ng Ating Musika” (“How Beautiful Our Music Is”) composed by Ryan Cayabyab and interpreted by Hajji Alejandro, “Pagdating Mo” (“When You Arrive”) composed by Nonoy

Te (De-) and (Re-) Mythifcation of OPM • 49

Gallardo and interpreted by Celeste Legaspi, and “Narito Ako Umiibig” (“Here I Am, Loving”) composed by Nonong Pedero and interpreted by Maricris Bermont. Against this template stood “Anak” (“Child”) by Freddie Aguilar, a song that immediately achieved international distinction post-factum, and remains a classic in the Nusantara region. Te song’s impassioned lyric against a modest yet stirring musical arrangement has become a proposition for a demythologised standard of producing hit songs. Looking closer now at the rationality and mythologisation of the acronym itself, direct and indirect speculations have been laid out by a few studies. In one introduction, OPM was spelled out as “Original Philippine Music or Original Pinoy Music” (Esquivias 2014, 10). Te choice of words may have been prompted by the avoidance of an error or of the political nuance that “Pilipino” has. According to Article XIV Section VI of the Philippine Constitution of 1987, “Te national language of the Philippines is Filipino. As it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.” Post-Hispanic political and pejorative terms raise nuances in the use of “Filipino”: In the new constitution using “F” instead strengthens the nationalistic expression not only of the language, but also of the peoples and cultures of all regional and ethnolinguistic groups of the country (Agoncillo and Manuel 2015). In the 1940s, the language of the Tagalog groups was the basis for “Pilipino” being established as the ofcial term for the national language. Indeed, “F” was a foreign letter to the exclusive Tagalog. Te Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (KWF) or Commission on the Filipino Language clarifed that “F” actually exists in the northern Philippine Ifugao and southern Philippine B’laan languages, to name a few. Te transition to using “F” rather than “P” was already mandated in the 1973 Constitution but was only strictly reformed and followed by the majority in 1987. Tus, in this context the problematic “OPM” only refers to Tagalog songs made by Tagalog participants (see this reiteration in the terms “Tagalogmania” and “Tagalog syndrome” in the 1960s to the 1970s mentioned above). Te danger of this “Tagalog Nationalism” (L.P. Dacudao 1988) myth used by the State has segregated other ethnolinguistic groups which has spurred various controversies across social, cultural, and political arenas through the years. A stronger resistance to the use of “P” is transparent in another thesis as a response to the enigmatic exclusivity of the label OPM. Jason Paul C. Laxamana (2012), ethnically Kapampangan, expressed how even during this era’s mainstream music scene the diversity of Philippine languages is not well represented in various media platforms. During the time of his writing, there were fewer than ten songs in other languages that successfully penetrated Metro Manila (considered synonymous to national) reception. Many communities of this archipelago’s ethnic groups naturally utilise the Filipino or English languages rather than their mother tongues. Paradoxically, this inclusivity of all ethnolinguistic groups to the “Filipino” language enables a diglossia system, weakening fuency and devotion to one’s mother tongue. Te aim of Laxamana was to “aid other ethnolinguistic communities in the Philippines in representing themselves in what the letter P stands for in OPM” (Laxamana 2012, 7). Until the present day, a radio listener from Ilocos, Cebu, or Davao would be aware of the top artists and songs that have become hits in Manila since the 1970s. But it was not until the 21st century that pop hits from Visayas and Mindanao became more noticeably aired on Manila’s radio stations, not to mention on online platforms as well. Tis cross-border transmission and media fow did not come unaccompanied by the urgency of Southern Philippine local music communities to have their pop music expressions heard on a larger scale. As one participant of the Philpop Songwriting Competition shared in 2018, “It means so much for me to be able to tell my own story in my own language because there are some things that I cannot say in Filipino or English but [which I] can really express in my own language” (Garcia 2020). Nevertheless, BisRock or Bisaya rock has been around since the 1980s and is widely considered as a subgenre

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of Pinoy Rock in the Cebuano music scene. It is the lack of national representation that became the primary motivator for a movement like this as a songwriting platform based in Visayas indicated. Before becoming an accepted label for a campaign that empowers the Visayan language in the region’s pop music as well as propelling a songwriting presence on a national level, VisPop was a song competition in 2012 conceptualised by Jude Gitamondoc in 2009. Te Visayan Pop Music Festival was not only a competition but also a workshop space to fesh out new songs with efective writing and music production practices. Years and disputes later, the term VisPop became a genre that references mainstream Visayan popular music. Similar to this mission is that of MinPop, described by its creators as a collective term that refers to pop music created by Mindanaoans through the annual songwriting competition which began in 2019. Some of the recent national hits of VisMinPop and BisRock include “Ha-Ha-Ha Hasula” (“Ha-Ha-Ha Hassle”) by Kurt Fick, “Sa Akong Heart” (“In My Heart”) by Von Saw, “Lame” (“Delicious”) by Midnasty, “Cebuana” by Karencitta, “Bisan Pa” (“Even If”) by WetSlipperz, and “Duyog” (“Accompanied”) by Jewel Villafores. With the same desired efect of enriching and deepening one’s nationalism through his or her ethnolinguistic and regional roots, the competitions and workshops enabled a re-mythifcation of OPM. Furthermore, news articles emphasised a call for inclusion, for revolt against social divides, as well as for support of the semioclasm of “OPM”. Tese were written in titles such as “OUR Pinoy Music” (Poblete and Ly 2012), “Sa Ikauunlad ng Bayan, OPM ang Kailangan!” (“For the Success of the Nation, What We Need Is OPM!”) (Santiago 2012), and “No To the Term OPM! Yes to Filipino Music” (Manitoba Filipino Journal 2015). In the striking cry of “OPM is Dead, So Sue Me”, Leroy Claudio (2012) utilises OPM as an allegory of the country’s ignorance in fostering its socio-political climate. Tese perspectives that take up issues of confict (Abad 1991) extend towards another myth of OPM. In the response “Long Live Local Music!”, Katigbak (2012) wrote that “‘P’ practically [stood] for ‘Popular’”. Katigbak further clarifes it by writing, “When someone says OPM IS DEAD, he or she really means ‘Te local music I like is not popular.’ When someone says OPM IS NOT DEAD, it means ‘Te local music I like exists (and in fact, is in many ways thriving)’” (Katigbak 2012). In this rewriting of myth, the music scenes and materials of genres such as Pinoy-made punk, alternative, hardcore, hip-hop, jazz, and “people’s music” are consciously taken into account. In 1996, Caruncho published a compilation of his newspaper and magazine articles from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s entitled Punks, Poets and Poseurs. Critically writing as a music fan, Caruncho in his articles substantially contributes to the popular cultural heritage in Philippine music, articles that are very similar to Jingle Magazine’s “ambag sa eksena” (“contribution to the scene”). Caruncho’s overarching theme and problematisation are refected in the article “Forging Filipino” (1990) where he writes: Te trouble with most of what we call – for lack of a better term – Original Pilipino Music is that there is little in it that is original, and still less that is “Pilipino”… To fnd Filipinoness – we must look outside the confnes of commercial music to the work of a handful of struggling artists creating what we might call “alternative music”. (Caruncho 55) With this statement as with all the articles in his book, Caruncho proposed that popular music cultures not bounded by the “misnamed OPM” are defly defnitive of becoming Filipino. In another article called “Troubadours for Troubled Times” (Caruncho 1996), he wrote to make sense of what “alternative” is in the Filipino context, coming up with the question that if the status quo of the music industry is “dictated by the international (read Western) recording

Te (De-) and (Re-) Mythifcation of OPM • 51

companies, wouldn’t that make all Filipino artists ‘alternative’?” He continued that it is popular music, “being of, for and about the people,” (Caruncho 76–77) that is bent on a nationalist perspective. As a brief yet sharp semioclasm of OPM, fracturing the myth becomes a complete alternative. Te Re-mythifcation of OPM in 21st-Century Spaces Tis framework of mythologising OPM engages a political language that allows one to contextually reinvent its validity through time. Yet how far can one go into thinking of utilising the acronym and redefning its inclusions? Will it still be a myth if there are no established limitations? If anything and everything made by a Filipino is mythically accepted as OPM, then live music-cultures re-mythify OPM, once linked to records only. Musical spaces such as bars, underground venues, and informal stages like open mics where bands and singer–songwriters can play their penned repertoires portray how original music can happen elsewhere too. Tere are originals-only nights, busking in the streets, performance collaborations, rapping and singspeaking with backing tracks, and production gig nights with a variety of genres. Additionally, all these new possibilities can be transmitted and intermediated through online media and other forms of digital documentation. On social media, OPM artists can be infuencers such as Bullet Dumas. Aside from being distinguished for his attractively unrefned natural voice, choices of guitar playing styles, and brazen musical themes and texts, Dumas places his personifcation on and translates his performativity over social networks. He sets his online third wall on Twitter with idiomatic statements of subtle relevance and clever thoughts, keeping his followers engaged. He demonstrates his agape aesthetic and mindfulness as he stirs up his feeds fashionably, making his intimate performance space a rather digital coliseum, and consummately interpreting the world for his Filipino audience. Armed with an ethos of protest, Filipino consciousness, and artistic will, Dumas has taken the popular alternative route successfully tread by Joey Ayala, Yoyoy Villame, Gary Granada, and Grace Nono about three decades ago. Akin to this ethos is the DIY culture that all these artists maintained as their convention of making music. As artistic iconoclasts, these music artists became trailblazers of alternative songwriting content and aesthetics that further stimulated more musical choices. Te current “indie” label had quite a similar confrontation with “mainstream” as “alternative” had with the latter in the early 1990s. “Mainstream” is described by Alison Huber (2013) as a “conceptual tool that illuminates the ways in which certain kinds of music come to temporarily dominate everyday life at certain times and in certain places” (Huber, 11). Today, any form of musical data blown up on the cloud that disrupts and foods Internet search feeds will momentarily garner a range of participative levels from diferent groups of people. When the numbers reach millions of hits and followers, an imagined mainstreamity is attained. Pinoy “indie” has become an industry-based genre (Negus in Nordgård 2016) with conventions that include “simplicity, austerity, technophobia, and nostalgia” (Fonarow in van Poecke 2017, 8). Furthermore, instrumentations usually include acoustic guitars, multiple voices and harmonies, egalitarian stage set-ups, the downplaying of musical virtuosity and soloing, and the use of metaphor and polysemy in language (van Poecke 2017). Overall, mainstream operates in the “participatory culture” framework of music-making, aesthetics, and production. From being an unsigned and starting indie band to becoming one of the most popular bands now, the members of Ben&Ben have shifed into working full-time in the group focusing on the production, creation, and performance of their music. Ben&Ben joined the Philpop Songwriting Competition in 2016 winning third place. Considering the competition’s feature of being

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commercially produced, the audience reach of the band has spilled out from digital media. Afer 2016, the band has been producing stand-alone concerts with a following that has reached more than two million monthly listeners on Spotify. Te group was eventually named as one of only two local artists in the top ten Spotify charts in 2018. Testifying to their superior audience reach would be their mall concerts where audiences of close to one thousand people boisterously sing along to their songs. Te vivacity in the entire mall is overwhelming. With a number of covers of their songs uploaded on YouTube and by being on top of the listenership of the local Spotify channel, Ben&Ben has achieved ample audience approval. In this context of the term “indie” as more of a genre rather than a practice, Ben&Ben has been aided by the talent management company Sindikato, while their music is being distributed by the record label Sony Music Philippines. Despite being managed by Sindikato, the musical and creative choices in writing and producing their songs are taken through the collective agency of the band’s members. Tis is an example of a current “alternative mainstream” practice, or platform, in a music industry where bottom-up production and top-down distribution converge (van Poecke 2017). Conclusion As we have seen from revisiting its origin, OPM began as a diferentiation that transformed into an identifcation. Trough the anchoring efect of mythologising, OPM became a national descriptor that has developed diverse meanings for diferent people. In the 21st century, OPM is a label that represents the popular music of the 1970s, an ethereal and ambiguous defnition for music made by Filipinos, and it is a term that is either avoided or politicised. Here, the demythifcation of OPM results in a contemporary re-mythifcation to continuously distort and vitalise history. Every attempt of re-mythifcation requires an act of “collaps[ing] history – past, present, future – into that moment” (Scheurer 1991, 13) to critically observe the myth’s present position. Te tradition and heritage of OPM continues to be rewritten, augmented, and reduced in the urge to reinforce intertexts of myths that represent a nation. Tese intertexts can never be frozen. Tey are infnitely dynamic, aimed to sequester and interweave diferences. Is it necessary to have a telos of the nationhood in the context of OPM? OPM is still sustained by the participations of and collaborations between diferent media, bodies, and art forms. OPM is still an interplay of power dynamics and socio-cultural urgencies and continues to be an assortment of belief systems, ideas, and aesthetics. It progresses in transition, seeping through people’s sonic quotidian experiences, online, ofine, and in retrospect. OPM remains a sign of multiple-layered associations in the world of Philippine music. Inevitably, it is necessary to constantly re-mythify the concept of OPM across time and space because a truth about its myth is that OPM will continue to be a construct for people whose nationhood and identity matter. Notes 1 2

3 4

Following Roland Barthes’s semiological system of myth: the signifer which is an object produces an idea that is signifed. When the relation between the two creates an idea that is recognisable to a person, it becomes a sign. Discussing Barthes’s denotation, connotation, and myth, Chandler explains that denotation is an “obvious” meaning of a sign that consists of a signifer and signifed. Tis denotation in turn becomes the signifer that brings about the second order of signifcation, which is the connotation. Combining denotation and connotation results in an ideology that can be embodied by myths whose “function is to naturalise the cultural – in other words, to make dominant cultural and historical values, attitudes and beliefs seem entirely natural, normal, selfevident, timeless, obvious… and thus objective and ‘true’ refections of ‘the way things are’” (Chandler). Taken from Barthes’s “Death of the Author”. A copy of this book has not yet been found by the author.

Te (De-) and (Re-) Mythifcation of OPM • 53

Bibliography Abad, Ricardo. 1991. “Sociological Perspectives in the Study of Philippine Popular Culture”. In: Reading Popular Culture, edited by Soledad Reyes. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University. Agoncillo, Bea and Manuel, Melvin. 2015, August 1. “What the ‘F’: Kung Bakit ‘Filipino’, Hindi ‘Pilipino’ (What the ‘F’: Why It is ‘Filipino’, not ‘Pilipino’).” news.abs-cbn.com. Arceo-Dumlao, Tina. 2014, March 19. Filipino Musicians, Artists Demand Support from Gov’t People. https://busines s.inquirer.net/166464/flipino-musicians-artists-demand-support-from-govt-people. Arceo-Dumlao, Tina. 2017. Himig at Titik: A Tribute to OPM Songwriters. Philippines: Philippine Daily Inquirer. Azarcon, Pennie. 1980, June. “Why Local Pop Music Can’t Get It Up: An Inquiry Into the Current State-of-theSlump.” In: Jingle Chordbook Magazine, Chapter 70. Quezon City: Jingle Clan Publications. Ballaran, Joanna. 2012, September 9. Original Pilipino Music in Crisis. https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/ manila-times/20120909/281479273601412. Barthes, Roland. 1972. Mythologies, Translated by Annette Lavers. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux: Te Noonday Press. Baumann, A.E.M. Explanation of ‘Myth Today’ from Roland Barthes’ Mythologies. https://www.academia.edu. Bennett, Pete and McDougall, Julian. 2017. Popular Culture and the Austerity Myth: Hard Times Today. New York: Taylor and Francis. Bercasio, Joey Mae. 2016, October 8. OPM Fighting for Survival. https://smartboxph.wixsite.com/arts-culture/opm-f ghting-for-survival. BisRock. 2020, February 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BisRock. Business Mirror. 2019, February 17. OPM: Rising thru streaming. https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/02/17/opmrising-thru-streaming/ Caruncho, Eric S. 1996. Punks, Poets, Poseurs: Reportage on Pinoy Rock and Roll. Mandaluyong: Anvil Publishing. Chandler, Daniel. 2002. Semiotics: Te Basics. London: Routledge. Chandler, Daniel. 2014. Denotation, Connotation and Myth. http://visual-memory.co.uk. Claudio, Leloy. 2012, August 28. OPM Is Dead, So Sue Me. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/opinion/content/27 1491/opm-is-dead-so-sue-me/story/. Cobusen, Marcel. 2002. Deconstruction in Music: Music as Text. htttp://deconstruction-in-music.com. Coke Studio, P.H. 2020, January 24. Showcases Original Pilipino Music. https://outofownblog.com/coke-studio-ph -showcases-best-of-original-pilipino-music/. Colbey, Paul. 2014. “Te Deaths of Semiology and Mythoclasm: Barthes and Media Studies.” Michelle Anne P. Esquivias, OPM Is Not Dead: A Hypermodal Analysis of the Websites Radio Republic and Pindie Music as a Means of Promoting OPM. Undergraduate thesis. Quezon City: University of the Philippines. Cultural Reader: Article Summaries and Reviews in Cultural Studies. n.d. http://culturalstudiesnow.blogspot.com/p/ cultural-studies-reader-is-what-i-am.html. Eugenio, Anne Marielle. 2019, June 10. How Philpop Bootcamp Nurtures the OPM Scene One Song at a Time. https://in sidemanila.ph/article/635/how-philpop-bootcamp-nurtures-the-opm-scene-one-song-at-a-time. Te Fall and Rise of Philippine Music. 2018, December 14. https://www.bworldonline.com/the-fall-and-rise-of-phili ppine-music/. Ferrer, Riva. 2016. Technology and the Production of Original Pilipino Music (OPM) in Viva Records, 1960s-2015. Undergraduate thesis. Quezon City: University of the Philippines. Fox, Nick. 2014. “Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism.” In: Te Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior and Society, edited by William C. Cockeham, Robert Dingwall, and Stella R. Quah. New Jersey: Wiley. Garcia, Annabella. 2020, February 6. Meet the Philpop 2018 Semi-Finalists from Visayas and Mindanao. https://www .rappler.com/entertainment/music/209012-list-philpop-2018-top-30-songwriters. Gitamondoc, Jude. 2019, March 3. My Vispop Journey. https://www.facebook.com/notes/jude-gitamondoc/my-vispo p-journey/10156223108391375/. Hall, Stuart. 2011. Notes on Deconstructing the Popular. http://culturalstudiesnow.blogpost.com. Harvey, Sandor. 2016. Semiotic Perspectives. London: Routledge Library Editions. Huber, Alison. 2013. “Mainstream as Metaphor: Imagining Dominant Culture.” In: Redefning Mainstream Popular Music, edited by S.A. Bennett Baker and J. Taylor. New York: Routledge. Japitana, Norma. 1977. “Te Acceptance of the Filipino ‘POP’ Music.” In: Sandiwa: National Music Festival. Manila, PH: Folk Arts Teatre. Johan, Adil. 2018. Cosmopolitan Intimacies: Malay Film Music of the Independence Era. Singapore: NUS Press. Katigbak, Luis. 2012, August 30. Long Live Local Music! https://www.spot.ph/entertainment/51836/long-live-local -music.

54 • Krina Cayabyab Khanna, Monica. n.d. Reinterpretation and Subversion of Mythical Stereotypes in Indian Literature. http://www.fortell .org/content/reinterpretation-and-subversion-mythical-stereotypes-indian-literature. Laxamana, Jason Paul C. 2012. Regional OPM: Breaking Trough the National Mainstream. Undergraduate thesis. Quezon City: University of the Philippines. Lirios, Jose K. 2017, September 26. Original Pilipino Music (OPM) Is Still Vital Today. http://www.philippineasiannews today.com/frontpageslider/original-pilipino-music-opm-still-vital-today/. Madrid, Aurelio. 2014. Barthes, Foucault, and Derrida. http://aureliomadrid.wordpress.com. McKagen, Leigh. 2017. What Are Contemporary Myths? http://blogs.lt.vt.edu/emckagen. Medel, Meryl. 2019, September 13. How Coke Studio Is Helping Shape Today’s OPM Industry. https://8list.ph/how-coke -studio-is-helping-shape-todays-opm-industry/. Mxxxbebop. 2016, July 13. Te Status of Original Pilipino Music (OPM) and the Youth Subculture. https://mxxxbebop .wordpress.com/2016/07/13/the-status-of-original-pilipino-music-opm-in-the-21st-youth-subculture/. No to the Term OPM! Yes to Filipino Music. 2019. Manitoba Filipino Journal, 29(3). https://flipinojournal.com/no -term-opm-yes-flipino-music/. Nordgård, Daniel. 2016. Determining Factors on Digital Change in the Music Industries: A Qualitative Analysis of the Kristiansand Roundtable Conferences. Dissertation for PhD in Popular Music Performance. University of Agder. OPM. 2019, February 17. Rising Tru Streaming. https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/02/17/opm-rising-thru-str eaming/. OPM Music from the Philippines Has Passed 10bn Spotify Streams. 2019, October 4. https://musically.com/2019/10/ 04/opm-music-from-the-philippines-has-passed-10bn-spotify-streams/. Poblete, Arielle and Ly, K. 2012, October 1. OUR Pinoy Music. https://thelasallian.com/2012/10/01/our-pinoy-music/. Policarpio, Allan. 2013, February 20. New Movement Launched to Promote OPM. https://entertainment.inquirer.net/ 81881/new-movement-launched-to-promote-opm. Replente, Terence. 2017, July 30. Who Killed OPM? https://newsbits.mb.com.ph/2017/07/30/who-killed-opm/. “Roland Barthes—Myth Today—Criticism”. 2012. Cultural Studies Now. https://www.academia.edu. Santiago, Katrina S. 2012, October 25. Sa Ikauunlad ng Bayan! OPM ang Kailangan! https://www.gmanetwork.com/ news/lifestyle/content/279631/sa-ikauunlad-ng-bayan-opm-ang-kailangan/story/. Santos, Tomas. 2012, May 13. Now and Ten: Is OPM Going Extinct? https://varsitarian.net/circle/20120513/now:and _then_is_opm_going_extinct. Scheurer, Timothy E. 1991. Born in the USA: Te Myth of American Popular Music from Colonial Times to the Present. USA: University Press of Mississippi. Tolentino, Rolando B. and Devilles, Gary. 2015. Kritikal na Espasyo ng Kulturang Popular. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press. Turino, Tomas. 2000. Nationalists, Cosmopolitans, and Popular Music in Zimbabwe. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. van Poecke, Niels. 2017. Pure Taste in Popular Music: Te Social Construction of Indie-Folk As a Performance of PolyPurism. PhD Research Project. Erasmus University Rotterdam. Visayan Pop Songwriting Campaign. 2020, February 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visayan_Pop_Songwriting_C ampaign. What Is MinPop? 2020, February 6. https://minpop.com.ph/about-minpop/. Wikström, Patrik. 2013. Te Music Industry: Music in the Cloud, 2nd edition. Cambridge: Polity Press. Yson, Danny. Te Recording Industry at a Glance. www.pari.com.ph.

4

Popularising Malaysian Cultures through the Music Industry and Music Education Shahanum Mohd. Shah

Popular music both constructs and refects the society of the time and evolves according to global and national developments. Whilst the term “popular” typically refers to commercially oriented music, in Malaysia, popular also references music that has been popularised in some way or another. With the advent of technological advances, new styles have emerged as well as new ways of listening to music. Te way people worldwide consume music has changed dramatically in the past years. Malaysia was not spared from this phenomenon, where popular music has been developing since independence and continues to be the predominant musical form that has pervaded all levels of society through media exposure. Tis chapter has a twofold purpose. First, it examines what constitutes popular culture in the Malaysian music industry covering the infuences and characteristics of popular genres including events and technologies that afected the styles and songs that changed the face of the Malaysian popular music industry. Second, it examines the infuences of popular culture on the Malaysian education system, specifcally in the music curriculum and co-curricular music activities. Popular culture can be defned as the products and “forms of expression and identity that are frequently encountered or widely accepted, commonly liked or approved, and characteristic of a particular society at a given time” (Delaney 2019). Popular is what the masses want, and popular is the culture of the people which involves the aspects of social life most actively involved in by the public. It is determined by the interactions between people in their everyday activities and is also informed by the mass media (Brummet 2018). Music is one experience of popular culture due to its mass accessibility and general appeal. Popular culture has infuenced the Malaysian music industry in many ways and refects what is happening in the country. Malaysia is a multiethnic country with diverse musical heritages given the infuence of many foreign cultures. Western colonisation had a wide impact on Malaysian music cultures and colonialists introduced their own heritages and music to the people. According to Chopyak (2017), the frst infuence of foreign culture on Malaysian music can be traced to the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century. Te Portuguese introduced the violin and guitar in the region. Tese two instruments were used in the keroncong ensemble. Originally, the keroncong song was performed by the African-Portuguese known as Mardijkers accompanied by guitars and violins. Tese instruments were eventually incorporated in other music ensembles as well as in bangsawan theatre troupes (Matusky and Tan 1997, 343). However, Chopyak (2017) also states that the colonial impact on the local music scene formally began with the advent of the British in what was then called “Malaya” along with the

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arrival of European military wind bands. Tese bands served as entertainment for colonial ofcials with band members mainly from the Philippines and India. Te band members eventually settled in the country and formed dance and cabaret ensembles that also provided background music for bangsawan (Chopyak 2017, 3–4). Following colonial infuences, a globalised syncretic Malaysian popular music scene can be traced as far back as the 1930s with genres such as keroncong, ghazal, and the asli music and dance genres (Pillai 2013). Te bangsawan theatre and the joget dance halls were considered popular culture with the music amalgamating a multitude of Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Tai, Western, and East Asian rhythmic styles (Matusky and Tan 2004, 8). Fusion took place with many intercultural music infuences in early popular music and these infuences are recognised as a seminal part of Malay popular culture (Lockard 1998, 1–2). Tis assimilation of music infuences was rooted in a foundation of traditional Malay rhythmic patterns that incorporated folk themes and tonalities (Lockard 1998, 1–2). Since the 1930s, music in Malaysia has developed signifcantly. With globalisation and the advent of technological advances, new ideas, styles, and trends have emerged as well as new ways of listening to music. Popular music developed signifcantly since independence in 1957 and continued to be the predominant form of music consumed by all levels of society through media exposure. Technological developments since the advent of the radio to the present day Internet and digital platforms have also played a major role in changing the landscape, accessibility, and consumption of music in Malaysia. Popular Culture in the Malaysian Music Industry Te Malaysian music industry is constantly shifing and as such there are several popular cultures that have predominated over the past three decades. According to composer and music director Faizal, popular songs have reverted to simple melodies since the 1990s, i.e., what catches the ears of mainstream listeners (Interview with Faizal, Selangor, Malaysia). Songwriters are mostly making songs that focus on mass appeal and commercialisation and at times borrow melodies from existing songs and rearrange them based on current trends. Tis includes the use of major and minor scales without venturing into more complex harmonies. Some examples include Aiman Tino’s “Permata Cinta” (“Jewel of Love”), “Menahan Rindu” (“Holding on to Longing”) by Wany Hasrita, and “Di Mata Mu” (“In Your Eyes”) by Sufan Suhaimi. According to Mohd. Azhar Abu Bakar (chief judge of a national song competition who goes by the name Azmeer), ballads and electronic dance music (EDM) are still popular genres among young audiences (Interview with Mohd. Azhar Abu Bakar, Selangor, Malaysia). Despite the lack of compositional developments to songs or music in these genres, Malaysians mainly from Generation Y (born between 1980 and 1994) and Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2015) still consume these genres. Songs in the ballad genre include “Lelaki Teragung” (“Te Greatest Man”) sung by Dayang Nurfaizah, “Tergantung Sepi” (“Hanging Loneliness”) by Haqiem Rusli, and “Aku Cinta” (“I Love”) sung by Syameel and Ernie Zakri. DJ Goldfsh and DJ Blink are two popular DJs who spin EDM music in Malaysia and play solo acts or as a duo that goes by the name Goldfsh and Blink. Another compositional method used is the production of “beats” using repetitive loops. Te purpose of a music loop is to create a simple melodic line for the chorus while someone raps on top of a percussive beat. Music with loops consist mostly of programmed drum patterns and music samples sustained throughout the song. “Bunga” (“Flower”) by Altimet; Alif, Sona One; “Berserah” (“Surrender”) by Ismail Izzani and Zizan Razak; “Mimpi” (“Dream”) by K-Clique;

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and “Sampai Jadi” (“Till It Happens”) by Joe Flizzow are examples of songs and artists that use music loops. Tere are numerous popular culture platforms, a primary one being the mass media, especially flm, television, radio, video games, and the Internet. Te media has a strong infuence on popular culture and the ability to make a song and/or artist popular. Due to the unevenness of media coverage, i.e. TV and radio, local musicians and singers remain relatively underpaid. Musicians have turned to social media to build their reputation and branding and to advertise their performances following recent DIY trends in Malaysia and throughout the Nusantara region. Te recording industry has also changed signifcantly largely due to the Internet. Global streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music have all contributed to the demise of CDs and physical albums. On-demand music purchasing or streaming platform subscriptions are the norm today. As a result, the meaning of the word bintang (star) is being redefned through online platforms with Facebook likes, YouTube views, and Instagram and Twitter followers, among others. During the mid-2000s, the introduction of the reality television concept revived public interest in music entertainment. Since then, there has also been a signifcant growth in the number of Malaysian reality TV shows of the “talent” genre following programmes that started in the United Kingdom and the USA. Te audience became excited with the idea of choosing their own stars by sending text messages through handheld phones and becoming involved in the making of a celebrity. Tese reality shows are largely Malaysian versions of American Idol-type programmes, the frst being Malaysian Idol. Te contest determines the best young singer in Malaysia; the viewing public votes to decide who the winner is. Malaysian Idol was broadcast to Malaysian viewers via terrestrial television stations 8TV and TV3 and lasted for two seasons from 2004 to 2005. Afer Malaysian Idol, the next Malaysian reality competition show was One in a Million, the frst reality singing competition to ofer a RM 1,000,000 prize to the winner. In May 2006, the show began airing on 8TV. Having a similar purpose of discovering the best young singer in the country through several auditions held nationwide, the prize money provided the winner high quality production and marketing resources. One in a Million was also the frst reality singing competition that allowed viewers to vote in as well as vote out the contestants. Te show featured two judges who critiqued the contestants’ performances and facilitated the voting. Te judges were former singer and music lecturer Syafnaz Selamat and Paul Moss, the brand manager for 8TV. Te show’s airing lasted from 2006 to 2009. Akademi Fantasia (AF) is Malaysia’s frst reality television show in which a number of contestants enter as students to compete for the winning title and a chance to start a career in the entertainment industry. Te frst season premiered June 2003 and was one of television network Astro Ria’s highest rated shows. Te format of the show was taken from La Academia which originated in Mexico. Malaysia was the frst country in Southeast Asia to have its own version of the show. Akademi Fantasia subsequently went on for thirteen seasons. A fnal competition of Akademi Fantasia featured selected contestants in 2018. Mentor is yet another reality singing competition that presents established artists as mentors to guide their respective protégés who are themselves the contestants. Mentor began in 2005 airing on TV3 for two seasons and subsequently returned in 2009 to the present except for 2013. Te contestants are divided into two groups. Each contestant competes against each other in their respective groups during the early stages of the competition. Scores are determined by the jury (30%) and viewer votes (70%). Bukan Sekadar Rupa (Not Just Appearance / Not as it Seems) is a television singing competition aired by TV3. Te show was introduced in 2011 with the purpose of identifying talents

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based on their vocal abilities and not on their physical looks. In the show, a jury panel assesses the contestants who sing behind a curtain without seeing them during the competition. Results are based entirely on the marks given by the permanent and guest judges. Only afer singing do the participants expose themselves at the concert. Te winner of season one was Norhasmidar Ahmad (Asmidar) while Mohd Yusof Ahmad (Uchop) was the winner of season two. Te singing reality show Gegar Vaganza aired by the television network Astro presents twelve seasoned or experienced professional artists of the Malaysian music industry competing against each other. Te frst season aired in 2014 on Astro Ria (104) and on Astro Ria HD (123), the second season beginning in 2015. Te current trend in the Malaysian music industry involves capitalising on what is termed “Budak Baru Nak Up” (BBNU) or New Arising Young Talents. Te concept of BBNU started with online media such as YouTube, where youngsters with looks, style, and some singing ability post videos to promote themselves. Te reality show Big Stage by the media network Astro capitalised on this by scouting young popular new talents from the current millennials on the show. Te frst season in 2018 was only for Malaysian singers but the second season in 2019 has opened its doors to participants from Indonesia, Tailand, Brunei, and South Korea. Te show appoints two permanent judges and invites one jury every week. A professional singing teacher is appointed to guide the contestants. Without auditions, the production scouts for these BBNU contestants and selections are based on the number of YouTube viewers and subscribers that potential contestants have accumulated. Some of the currently trending BBNU are Sarah Suhairi, Arif Bahran, Andy Bernadee, and Ismail Izzani. Idola Kecil (Small Idol) by TV9 (2008), Bintang Kecil (Small Star) by Radio Television Malaysia, and Ceria Pop Star (Cheerful Pop Star) by Astro (2019) are three other singing reality shows currently showcasing children. Te Internet has also infuenced the music industry where becoming a celebrity and going viral go hand in hand. Breaking into the industry may be easier nowadays with a YouTube account and uploaded homemade songs which are then played alongside those of label artists, thus blurring earlier boundaries with recognised artists. Some start with cover songs while others work with professional producers, composers, or songwriters to work on singles that are then shared on a YouTube channel. Sufan Suhaimi, Aiman Tino, Wany Hasrita, and Khai Baha are examples of current artists who were discovered via this medium. It is also increasingly common to be one’s own agent, producer, or manager in line with regional DIY trends. New talents are in charge of their own persona, marketing, and distribution, posting their music on social media and selling their own songs on streaming platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, or Jook. Listeners are seemingly satisfed with local content that is authentic and “raw” (such as Lo-Fi) rather than polished. Popular Culture in Music Education Te curriculum developers of the Ministry of Education in Malaysia have taken a step in the right direction by including a variety of traditional, classical, and popular music genres in the formal school music curriculum, either in the history or performance categories. Te emphasis on Malaysian traditional music is important for the preservation of cultural heritage and for cultivating cultural identity. Mohammad Amin and Santaella (2014) indicate that a community is able to establish identity imprints through learning and experiencing songs from their own cultural and generational backgrounds. Te Malaysian school music curriculum emphasises an intercultural approach to music education in order to recognise the diversity of cultures within the country (Johami 1993). All music genres have a legitimate place in the school music curriculum, although some are emphasised over others.

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Tere is considerable interest in organising music competitions and festivals for school children learning to play traditional music instruments that require that one of the pieces performed be borrowed from the popular music repertoire including a combination of traditional instruments from Malaysia. In so doing, it is now commonplace to hear pieces with diferent instrumental ideas including the combination of instruments from diferent ethnic groups, emphasising multiculturalism. Some music teachers of traditional ensembles such as the gamelan or the caklempong are incorporating a variety of instruments from other traditions. Te gamelan is an ensemble that originated in Indonesia typically featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs while the caklempong comprises traditional musical instruments belonging to a small family of gongs. Te caklempong is usually played with the accompaniment of other instruments such as the fute. With the popularisation of new arrangements, techniques other than the ones used to play traditional pieces are being used. Tis is seen in the way instruments are played both stylistically and technically, as well as in the way traditional instruments are being used to explore sonic possibilities in terms of range of colour, melody, tonal ability, and expression. New playing techniques for gamelan include variations in the way instruments are struck or damped, and the use of double mallets or diferent types of mallets intended for a particular instrument. Some teachers are also experimenting with the use of new tone colours such as using instruments not typically found in an ensemble, for instance, the human voice or a group of voices, ethnic and Western percussion instruments, electric guitar, electric bass, violin, and fute. Compositions or arrangements also include combinations of diferent music instruments while collaborations refect the cultural diversity of Malaysia. Popular culture in the form of popular music has also made its way into Malaysian music education. Te wide dissemination of popular music, the status of music in the school curriculum, and the perception of most Malaysians towards music are infuencing most Malaysian youth and shaping their preferences regarding music knowledge in general and popular music in particular through informal music education (Shahanum 2006). As accessibility to popular music is greater than accessibility to music classes in schools, most youth are growing up mostly knowing the popular repertoire. With regards to popular music in the school curriculum, ofcially it appears that popular music is not a primary feature in the formal music curriculum except in the aesthetic appreciation category. However, fexibility is given to allow the use of popular music in the musical experience category of the curriculum (singing and instrumental playing activities and ensembles) although it is not known how extensively popular music is actually used. Although its use is restricted to Malaysian popular music at the primary school level, popular music at the secondary school level is taught on a wider scale to include an array of genres. Te strong infuence of popular music is also refected in the choice of repertoire performed by music groups in schools. Tis is seen in activities such as the Ministry of Education’s annual concert and student performances inside and outside the school that tend to primarily feature popular music. Malaysian-featured popular music includes genres such as pop, rap, hip-hop, rock, rhythm and blues, and heavy metal. Te private fee-paid music class taught by private teachers or at music schools is another music education platform in Malaysia that allows access to the study of popular music. Students that learn music at music schools follow the music syllabus set by the particular examination board that they register for. Te most common of these examination boards in Malaysia are those set by the Royal Schools of Music, the Trinity School of Music, the Guildhall School of Music from England, and the Yamaha Music Schools. Changes have been made to Western music examination systems to include popular music (such as Rock School under ABRSM and

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Rock & Pop under Trinity). Terefore, students who study instruments such as the keyboard, guitar, and drums may have an increased exposure to popular music through the school’s performance repertoire. Popular culture is also evident at the higher education level in Malaysia. Most of the universities, public and private, ofer programmes that either incorporate popular music elements or programmes in popular music performance, composition, popular music studies, or popular music production. Public universities such as Universiti Teknologi MARA, University of Malaya, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Sultan Idris Education University, University of Science Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, and private universities such as Sunway University, UCSI University, and the International College of Music (ICOM), ofer music programmes in popular music or music programmes with popular music elements. While there are many variations in the curriculum of these programmes, popular music is typically found in similar courses such as Music Appreciation and Popular Music Studies, and in vocal/instrumental instruction and ensembles. Similar to schools, the infuence of popular music is also refected in the music ensembles ofered in universities such as pop music ensembles and the choice of repertoire performed by music groups. Popular music is not only played by pop music ensembles or pop orchestras in the respective universities but also by traditional music ensembles. Te use of non-traditional compositional or performance techniques as previously discussed are popular practices incorporated at a higher level than that of the national schools. It has become commonplace to hear compositions using a mix of traditional and Western instruments and musical elements. Conclusion Music and culture fow simultaneously and musical changes are a manifestation of the constant shifs taking place in the world and of contemporary society’s worldview. Popular culture has sparked a number of developments in the Malaysian music industry and music education. Globalisation, the Internet, and other media of transmission have intensifed the fow and consumption of popular culture. Due to technological advancements, popular music has become digital, faster to download or stream, and easily accessible. In addition to technological changes there has been a shif in the content of popular music as seen in a myriad of music styles, the media, the increase in reality/competition shows, and the focus on new young talents. In music education, popular culture can be seen increasingly through the use of non-traditional playing, arranging, and compositional techniques. Music is inextricably linked to the context it is produced, consumed, and taught in, developing an intimate relationship between music, society, and culture. Due to the aforementioned technological advancements, Malaysians are growing up immersed in the world of social media, YouTube, and the music video industry. Artists are using social media to cultivate their online presence allowing them to communicate with their fans. Te Internet also allows accessibility to artists and music genres beyond conventional 20th century mainstream platforms. As such, popular culture in Malaysia follows global mainstream developments. What is unique to Malaysia are the areas that popular culture has infuenced, advancing developments in the music industry and music education. Te rise of reality shows and the focus on the search of young, rising artists is prolifc even to the extent of sidelining quality of singing ability in favour of popularity and appearance. Reality shows and to some extent the media tend to focus on the Malay market over the English language and Western markets in the search for local artists and music.

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One of the main reasons attributed to Malaysian listeners’ preference for popular music is that the popular music education they receive outside the school setting is signifcantly stronger than the music education quality inside the school. Malaysian youth receive music education outside of the formal, traditional school setting, as only a handful of students have the opportunity to learn music in schools. Familiarity and preferences for popular music are supported by easy accessibility and exposure while lack of exposure and familiarity make other styles of music less popular (Shahanum 2006). In addition, government policies have a signifcant impact on the development of popular music within the education system. Similarly, mass media policies have a major impact on the social status of music and thus on the role of music in education. Popular culture has largely infuenced the development of the music industry and music education in Malaysia during the 21st century. While weak in certain pedagogical approaches, popular culture may present advantages for the improvement of Malaysian music both in the industry and in educational institutions. With globalisation and technological advancements, the nation has learned and absorbed more knowledge about music performance and production while simultaneously creating its own music culture identity. Bibliography Abdullah, Johami. 1993. Pendidikan Muzik Semasa. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. And the Music Plays On. 2019, July 24. https://themalaysianreserve.com/2019/07/24/and-the-music-plays-on/https:// themalaysianreserve.com/2019/07/24/and-the-music-plays-on. Brummet, Barry. 2018. Rhetoric in Popular Culture, 5th ed. Tousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing. Chopyak, James. 2017, August. “Globalization, Westernization and Islamic Infuence in Music in Malaysia.” In: Conference on Music in the world of Islam. Assailah, 8–13. Delaney, Tim. 2019, July 24. Pop Culture: An Overview. https://philosophynow.org/issues/64/Pop_Culture_An_Over view. Lockard, C.A. 1998. Dance of Life: Popular Music and Politics in Southeast Asia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Matusky, P. and Tan S. B. 2004. Te Music of Malaysia: Te Classical, Folk, and Syncretic Traditions. Aldershot, Hants, UK; Burlington, VT: Ashgate. Mohammad Amin, A. and Mayco Santaella A. 2014. “Early Music Identities Among the Kaili: An Educational Approach to Applied Ethnomusicology in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.” In: Sustainability in Music and the Performing Arts: Heritage, Performance, and Education, edited by Clare Chan Suet Ching and Jean Penny. UPSI Press: Tanjung Malim. Pillai, Shanthini. 2013. “Syncretic Cultural Multivocality and the Malaysia Popular Musical Imagination.” Kajian Malaysia 31(1): 1–18. Seneviratne, Kalinga. 2012. Countering MTV Infuence in Indonesia and Malaysia. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing. Shah, Shahanum. 2006. “Popular Music in Malaysia: Education from the Outside.” International Journal of Music Education, 24(2), 132–139. White, Cameron and Susan McCormack. 2006. “Te Message in the Music: Popular Culture and Teaching in Social Studies.” Te Social Studies 97(3): 122–127, doi:10.3200/TSSS.97.3.122-127.

PART

II

History

Part II delves into specifc historical case studies of Nusantara popular music in pre-independence Malaya, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Te context of colonial rule and the creative agency of the colonised – as expressed by Nusantara popular music artists and practitioners – is elucidated through the historical cases presented in this section. Tan Sooi Beng’s chapter begins Part II, delving into her well-established work on 78 RPM recordings from the Malay Peninsula. She analyses select recordings of the commercially produced Lagu Melayu (Malay song) genre from the 1900s to the 1940s, highlighting how colonial subjects in the region expressed agency through a “vernacular modernity” that was both rooted to local traditions, while also being uniquely hybridised, drawing from Nusantara’s cultural diversity. Chapter 6 provides an insight into the sonic history of the Nusantara region, discussing how early European sound recordings from the 1900s to the 1930s contributed to the establishment of comparative musicology in Europe. Te author examines the ethnomusicological phonograph recordings of Jaap Kunst that were accessed from the Berlin Phonogrammarchiv (Berlin Phonogram Archive) and Lautarchiv der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (Berlin Sound Archive). Tis chapter provides a unique historical context for Nusantara popular music studies that invites readers to “listen to subaltern voices” enabled by early sound recordings stored in archives, while also considering how such audio capture “technologies enable and continue to enable agencies of various people … from the Nusantara region”. Te next chapter examines the history of bodabil, a localised version of American vaudeville in early 1900s Philippines, in line with the adoption of imperial culture and the agency of cosmopolitan artists. Te author views the era of bodabil not as a “simple exhibition of mimicry” but as a “framed fuency” of an imperial (American) art form that allowed for an “intercultural” and “reciprocal exchange of cultures” to materialise in the Nusantara. Tis conceptual view of musical exchanges in the historical context of colonial/imperialist power dynamics suitably applies to popular music studies throughout the Nusantara region. To end this section, the cases presented in Chapter 8 are oriented toward contemporary popular music contexts, by mapping youth popular music trends in the Philippines from the 1900s to the 2000s; from the cabaret jazz interpretations of Tagalog folk songs, to the emergence of Pinoy rock in the 1970s, to the proliferation of Pinoy hip-hop from the 1990s to 2000s. Te diachronic mapping of popular music genres in the Philippines presented are refective of similar genre developments across the Nusantara region.

5

Revisiting Post-Cultural Imperialism

Singing Vernacular Modernity and Hybridity through the Lagu Melayu in British Malaya Tan Sooi Beng

Apa pulak handak di-chari / Kronchong “Singapora” nama bistari Lain lain negri bawak kemari / Tidak jemu sehari-hari Ini Kronchong “Pulau Jawa” / Paling agus timbangan jiwa Dalam majis banyak-nya lawa / Mana dengar senyum tertawa What else is there to look for / Kronchong “Singapore” is the learned name Brought from another country / We are not bored [singing it] everyday Tis is Kronchong “Java Island” / [It is] very good and suitable for the soul In get-togethers it is beautiful / Whoever hears it will smile and laugh Penghiboran Hati [Entertaining the Heart] (HSL1924) Popular music song texts that were compiled by the Peranakan Chinese and published in songbooks such as Penghiboran Hati (HSL 1924) ofen referred to Singapore, Jawa, and other parts of the Nusantara or Malay Archipelago in the early twentieth century. Similarly, the song titles of recordings by well-known Malay singers of the gramophone era were not confned to the Malay Peninsula but also incorporated locations throughout the region. Some examples include “Embon Acheh” (“Dew of Acheh”, Che Norlia, His Master’s Voice [HMV], P. 12910), “Singapore Rumba” (Che Ainon and Kassim’s Orchestra, P. 12905), “Gendang Bandong” (“Drums of Bandong”, Miss Julia and Lincoln’s Orchestra, HMV, P. 12906), and “Selasih Bali” (“Passion Fruit of Bali”, Che Norlia, HMV, P. 12916). Te song lyrics and titles illustrate that the people from the islands of the Nusantara including the Peranakan Chinese shared a common musical repertoire in the frst half of the twentieth century. Known as Lagu Melayu, the songs refer to the frst popular music in the Nusantara, sung in the Malay1 language but which incorporated Malay, Western, and other musical elements and instruments from the local communities of the region. Lagu Melayu was disseminated to audiences in the Nusantara through live travelling shows such as the bangsawan theatre or Malay opera. Te Malay opera musicians and singers came from and performed in the islands of the Malay Archipelago in the frst half of the twentieth century (Tan 1993; Cohen 2006). Furthermore, Lagu Melayu became popular among the people of the Nusantara as it formed the main repertoire of the gramophone2 records made in Singapore that were marketed across

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the Dutch East Indies and British Malaya (Tan 2013a; Yampolsky 2010a, 2010b).3 Te Malaya Tribune (11 July 1934) reported that Chap Kuching4 (Cat Brand) recordings were sold in “the most remote parts of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Java”. Te Straits Echo (24 May 1934) further emphasised that “thousands of gramophone owners throughout Malaya and the Dutch East Indies” were “enabled to enjoy the unique records of the Chap Kuching stars”. HMV catalogues of the 1930s that were published in Singapore contained information on the singers and songs from both British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. Trough the study of the musical style and content of the Lagu Melayu of the frst half of the twentieth century, this essay attempts to appraise the cultural imperialism framework that predicts the demise of local and indigenous genres of music and music-making as they are being homogenised or substituted with mass-mediated popular music from the United States and Europe (Adorno 1994). In his book Orientalism (1978), the postcolonial scholar Edward Said emphasised that cultural imperialism can be seen as a form of cultural hegemony of a colonised country. Te British not only controlled the politics and economy of Malaya but also transmitted the English language, values, and cultures to the masses through education and the mass media. However, did cultural hegemony wipe out local music-making? In response, post-imperialist researchers emanating from cultural studies have suggested that local cultures and identities do not disappear so easily. Rather, globalisation as a process that began with the voyages to and the establishment of colonies in the New World in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has resulted in cultural diversity and diference as well as a variety of emergent identities at the local level. In particular, Stuart Hall (1997, 38–39) has highlighted that “the aesthetics of modern popular music is the aesthetics of the hybrid, the aesthetics of the crossover, the aesthetics of the diaspora, the aesthetics of creolization”. Even though Hall is addressing the postcolonial subjects, his question of what constitutes vernacular hybridity and modernity is pertinent to our historical study of popular music. Te premise here is that hybridity does not only represent the mixing of cultures but can be understood as a “disjuncture” between the local and the global as well as tradition and modernity (Appadurai 1996). As Babha (1992) illustrates in his article entitled “Of Mimicry and Man”, hybridity provides an avenue for local people to challenge dominant imperial cultures and aesthetics. A critical reinterpretation of the sonic history of the Nusantara shows that Malay music was mixed, dynamic, and ambiguous during the colonial period. Te Malays of the region referred to this kind of local “hybridity” as kacukan (Andaya 2019; Weintraub 2014). Further, the new technologies and mass media provided Malay musicians with new genres, sounds, styles, and ways of making their own hybrid music (Tan 1993; Barendregt 2014). I argue that the popular musicians were constantly creating new sounds to be modern in their own way. Te bangsawan and Chinese Peranakan musicians who recorded Malay songs were able to voice their own interpretations of modernity that difered from those formulated by the colonial powers. Tese musicians not only combined Malay and Anglo-American pop elements but also included the music of other communities such as the Chinese, Indians, and Arabs with whom they interacted. Furthermore, the song lyrics promoted reform and exposed the problems of the common people as they adapted to social change and colonialism. Te interaction of diferent cultures in pre-World War II colonial Malaya resulted in a fusion that Bakhtin (2001) describes as an “organic hybridity” which led to the formation of a “new language” or “world view”. Musical blending illustrates the ambivalences in binary oppositions such as West/East, modern/tradition, and hegemony/resistance that dominate cultural imperialism discourses. Studying the Lagu Melayu permits us to question assumptions about national boundaries and identities that prevail in state-dominated histories (Harper and Amrith 2012). Tis study provides the historical context for the chapters in this volume as it examines the musical culture

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of a period that has shaped much of the modern popular music of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Musical examples and annotations of Lagu Melayu by the author can be found in Gibbs et al. (2013). Local Hybridity and Crossing Boundaries Popular music in British Malaya developed in tandem with socio-political transformations resulting from colonialism in the early twentieth century. Rapid economic development attracted Chinese, Indian, and Indonesian immigrants who provided labour for the tin mines, rubber estates, and the construction of roads and railways. By the early twentieth century, port cities and towns had been created and an urban multiethnic population had emerged. Various Malay-speaking Muslims who worked as merchants, traders, religious teachers, journalists, and artisans also inhabited the colonial cities.5 Tese Malays travelled throughout the region and recognised themselves as part of a greater Malay world which they referred to as Malaya Raya, Indonesia, Malaya, or Nusantara. Tey interacted with other Malays and non-Muslim immigrants using the Malay language as a lingua franca and formed an emerging cosmopolitan urban middle class (Kahn 2006). Tis diverse population constituted the performers and audiences of the Lagu Melayu; they comprised the market for the popular music, live theatre performance, and recording industries. Not only did the musicians actively advocate a broader type of Malayness through intercultural blending and fexibility in their music, they also experienced this openness in their lives. Te majority of the pre-World War II recording artists were bangsawan performers who came from a variety of backgrounds. Tey originated from, performed in, and travelled all over Malaya, Southern Tailand, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. Tey interacted with and married into the many and varied ethnic groups of the archipelago, spoke and performed in various languages and dialects, and they were part of and identifed with a diverse and mobile group of people living in the greater Malay world. Many were of mixed parentage. Tey exchanged knowledge and learnt from one another and from performers from China, India, the Middle East, Europe, and the Philippines who joined the Malay opera groups (Tan 1993, 2013; Cohen 2002). Accordingly, hybridity (kacukan), fexibility, and the mixing of cultures were part and parcel of being Melayu in the colonial period. Crossing boundaries prevailed in the popular imagination of the people living in the region. It is therefore not surprising that Lagu Melayu was neither Malay nor Anglo-American but a mixture of both. What makes it diferent from other Anglo-American pop is that it not only combined Malay and Western elements but other musical elements from other communities and was constantly evolving and adapting to the times in the colonial era. As such, it had mass appeal in many islands of the Nusantara. Articulating Vernacular Modernity through Hybridity and Change Te musicians of British Malaya appropriated Western technology, media, instruments, and musical elements to create a new popular musical idiom, which was “modern” (moden). Tis modern music included the recreation of Malay folk social dance music as well as adaptation of the jazz and the dance band hits of the day. Modernising Malay folk social dance music Malay folk social dance and entertainment music that was performed at social occasions such as weddings, live theatre, and at amusement parks in various parts of Malaya formed a large

68 • Tan Sooi Beng

part of the recorded Lagu Melayu repertoire. Te genres included the asli, inang, joget, dondang sayang, zapin, masri, and kronchong where vocalists sang Malay verses or pantun to the rhythms associated with specifc folk dances or songs. Te vocalists were accompanied by a violin, one or two Malay frame drums called rebana, and a Malay gong. Beginning in the 1920s, bangsawan musicians transformed these dance songs into modern popular genres by adapting to the AngloAmerican dance band arrangements. Te bangsawan musicians added the piano and replaced the frame drum with the Western drum kit. Te ensemble was enlarged with a plucked bass, extra violins, and other instruments of the Western dance band. However, the newly arranged songs retained their local folk character by using the rhythmic patterns associated with each dance or song and the alternation of Malay pantun verses (see Tan 1993, Chapter 6). “Linggang Mak Inang” (sung by Che Norlia, HMV, c.1930) and “Dondang Sayang” (sung by Tijah and Dean, Pt. 2; Chap Kuching, NG 2, c.1930) exemplify this new folk social dance music style. Te former is accompanied by a violin, a piano, and a rebana while the latter is accompanied by a violin, a piano, and a plucked bass. Although new Western instruments are used, the inang and asli sound is maintained. Te extra violin and the treble part of the piano still play in heterophony with the voice, while the bass part of the piano and plucked bass produce the characteristic rhythmic pattern of asli songs and replace the gong. Although vertical triads are played by the piano, vocal, and instrumental lines remain fairly independent. Te singer uses the traditional style of singing with a nasal and fairly narrow and tense vocal width. With the addition of the piano, bass, and drum kit, as well as harmonic triads, these recordings became more “modern” compared to the 1904 recordings made by Fred Gaisberg (Lagoe Serampang, Tambi Kecik, Te Gramophone Co. 1904, GC 12903). Lagu Melayu also difered from other Anglo-American pop as well-known singers such as Temah, Tijah, and Dean ofen incorporated Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Indian elements to the Malay–Western mix. While “Mas Merah” (Temah, HMV, GC-12-13169, c.1920) uses the typical Chinese pentatonic scale with characteristic minor thirds, “Aladom” (City Opera, Beka 26408, c.1930) is based on the masri rhythmic pattern that resembles the rhythms used in belly dancing in the Middle East. “Tandi Tandi” (Che Tijah, HMV, P 16489, c.1930) exemplifes Indian infuence. Te inclusion of a short unmetered introduction (alap) by the harmonium and voice and vocal ornamentations (such as slides between notes and vibrato at melismatic phrases) link the song to Indian folk and light classical singing. As in other recorded ronggeng music of the 1930s, European instruments such as the piano were added to the harmonium and tabla while the piano bass played an oom-pah-pah beat reminiscent of a waltz. Modern jazz, dance band, and flm music Following the dance craze in Europe and America, Malay songs based on European ballroom and Latin American dance rhythms were in vogue and formed the other part of the recorded Lagu Melayu of the gramophone era. Compared to the modernised folk social dance-songs, Anglo-American pop elements predominated in this category of songs. Te songs had catchy melodies superimposed on waltz, foxtrot, tango, and rumba rhythms. Western dance bands known locally as the orkes Melayu, or Malay orchestra (comprising the violin, trumpet, trombone, fute, clarinet, piano, double bass, guitar, saxophone, drums, maracas, claves, and woodblock), accompanied them. Te Hawaiian guitar was added when Hawaiian music hit the market in the 1920s and 1930s. Te well-known musicians performing this type of repertoire included Soliano, D’Cruz, and Martinez who were, in fact, Filipinos earlier recruited to Malaya to form British music bands. Te orkes Melayu performed at dance halls, in amusement parks, in the bangsawan shows, and at other festivities.

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In the 1950s, this type of dance band music developed in close association with the Malay flm (flm Melayu) that reached its peak then. Malay flms were produced by Chinese-owned companies such as Malay Film Productions (Shaw Brothers) and Cathay-Keris Productions (Ho Ah Loke and Loke Wan To). Tese companies employed Indian directors who relied on local actors and actresses such as Yem, Sharif Medan, Suki, Kasma Booty, and Siput Sarawak and choreographers from the bangsawan theatre. Well-known bangsawan artists became flm stars as they could earn higher incomes in the flm industry (Tan 1993). To an extent, Malay flm music took on a life and meaning of its own that was independent of the cinema. Audiences became familiar with flm songs via the radio, dance halls, and live shows at the amusement parks. Film music was also marketed separately as records. Pathe in particular not only distributed flms but produced and pressed records of flm stars such as Che Asiah, Jasni, Zaharah Agus, Miss Noormadiah, and Jamaliah Sharif. Columbia also featured its own flm luminaries such as Miss Lena, R. Azmi (known for his Hindustani songs), Jasni, and A. Rahman. Film celebrities who sang for HMV included Momo Latif (formerly from the Dardanella Dramatic Company), Rubiah, and P Ramlee, the flm director, actor, and icon of Malaysia. Consequently, a new flm studio musical style emerged characterised by swing or big bands, which played “sweet” style jazz (compared to a more Black-derived variety of jazz). Te big band music incorporated lively (rancak) and modern dance rhythms such as the waltz, tango, foxtrot, rumba, kaparinyo, paso doble, swing, mambo, bolero, samba, beguine, conga, and cha cha. Songs with jazz-tinged harmonies that were categorised as swing were also recorded.6 Compared to the pre-World War II period, more Western instruments were added and the studio orchestra became bigger. Besides the trumpet, trombone, clarinet, saxophone, fute, violin, accordion, piano, plucked bass, drum, and other percussion instruments, the electric guitar was introduced at the end of the 1950s. Tere was a trend towards orchestration and less improvisation. Aside from its ability to fll dance halls with sound, the key to big band music was the concept of sectional writing for contrasting instruments in which distinct trumpet, trombone, and saxophone sections would play interlocking, responsorial lines. Contrasting instrumental timbres and long instrumental interludes were ofen employed. Te songs were basically in the diatonic scale while the tuneful melody was supported by triads built on fundamental degrees of the diatonic scale. Te use of the microphone resulted in a type of crooning style of singing. Ofen the Malay text was the only Malay element found in these songs. Te songs “Nasib Di Bunga” (“Fate in the Flower”, Lena, Yusof B Orchestra, Film: Lupa Daratan, Columbia, GEM 201, c.1950) and “Lihatlah” (“Look”, Asiah, A Jaafar Orchestra, Film: Bahagia di Singapura, Pathe, PTH 181, c.1950) exemplify the cha-cha-cha and swing styles of the 1950s respectively. At the same time the flm songs continued to employ Malay folk social dance music but increasingly used more Western musical elements. Terms such as joget baru (new joget) and masri moden (modern masri) were ofen utilised by recording companies to diferentiate these songs from those of pre-World War II times. Band leaders expanded traditional linear lines with brass and reed instruments such as the trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and clarinet as well as the Western trap set. Tere was also a tendency towards using Western instrumentation that replaced all traditional instruments. Singers used the crooning style and added more vibrato as they adapted to the use of the microphone. Te singers and instrumentalists harmonised with one another while the plucked bass and piano played primary triads. Despite greater stylistic homogeneity the flm style remained eclectic. Te asli song “Tudong Periok” (“A Kind of Sea Fish”, P. Ramlee and Saloma, Film: Sumpah Orang Minyak, Parlophone, DPE 8073, c.1950) incorporated characteristic phrases using minor third intervals in the typical Chinese pentatonic scale. Middle Eastern-derived rhythmic patterns such as zapin and

70 • Tan Sooi Beng

masri were employed in the P Ramlee flm songs such as “Maafan Kami” (“Pardon Us”, Film: Pendekar Bujang Lapok, Parlophone DPE 8093, c.1950) and “Nasib Si Miskin” (“Te Fate of the Poor”, Film: Antara Senyum dan Tangis, Parlophone, DPE 8050, c.1950) respectively. Songs with a Hindustani favour (irama Hindustan) by Zainab Majid, Zainal Alam, and Asiah were also popular. Some ghazal melodies sung to Malay pantun and accompanied by the Indian harmonium and tabla, Middle Eastern gambos, and Western violin, guitar, maracas, and tambourine were recorded in the 1950s. Modernity through Song Texts about Progress and Agency Te musicians of the pre-Independence period created a kind of colonial modernity that was based on the values of European “liberal humanism” as well as reformist Islam. Tis type of modernity emphasised the “advancement of humanity”, “individual autonomy”, and “an inner moral universe” (Foulcher and Day 2002; Hooker 2000). Trough their songs, the bangsawan performers and recording artists contributed to contemporary discourses about how to create a more progressive or advanced society, issues that were being debated in the Malay press and other literature by modernist reformist Muslims and Malay nationalists during the 1930s and 1940s in British Malaya and throughout the greater Malay world (Kahn 2006; Milner 1995). To capture the attention of listeners, musicians created lyrics about reform and how Malay society could best “move forward”. To sound modern, the songs used catchy melodies superimposed on upbeat dance rhythms such as the waltz, foxtrot, tango, and rumba. For instance, the HMV and Chap Singa (Lion Brand) singer Ahmad CB called on audiences to “wake up from sleep” and to “pursue knowledge”. In an interview with the author, Ahmad CB stressed that as he “travelled from island to island… while earning a living, he was educating the young... [and] educating the community so that they could move forward”.7 He declared that his performance group staged many songs and stories that called on children to “wake up” (bangun anak-anak). He sang the following song to me, which he had recorded with Chap Singa (personal communication, Ahmad CB, 17 April, Kuala Lumpur 1986): “Bangun Anakku” (“Wake Up My Child”) (Ahmad CB, Chap Singa, 1938) Bangun anakku dari tidurmu / Semua kawan-kawanmu sudah menunggu / Jikalaunya sudah, segera berpakaian / Menuntut ilmu, jangan-jangan dilupakan / Ini semua demi masa depan. Wake up my child from your sleep / All your friends are waiting / If you have woken up, quickly get dressed / Pursue knowledge, do not forget / All this is for the future. Tere was a considerable increase in song texts about virtuous behaviour through the 1930s, as if to convince listeners to change for the better. Keywords pertaining to values which were used in the new Malay prose were ofen used in the HMV advertisements, catalogues, and song lyrics. Showing sympathy (belas kasihan) to the less fortunate and to women and generosity to the needy were ofen presented in recorded songs. Te song “Kesian” (“Pity”, Che Aminah, HMV, P. 13186, Lagu Melayu) advised audiences to pity and help the poor: Orang kaya bersuka-suka / Membuang wang tiada berhingga / Kesian miskin apakah daya / Tiada makan tiada blanja. Rich people like to enjoy themselves / Waste their money endlessly / Pity the poor who do not have the means / Who have no money even for food.

Revisiting Post-Cultural Imperialism • 71

Comic Songs about the Common People and Social Inclusion New types of comic songs began to appear in the recorded repertoire of HMV and its subsidiaries in British Malaya during the 1930s until the 1950s. Tese songs explored topical issues such as the plight of taxi drivers and trishaw men, and included comments on poverty and the problems of ordinary people in Malayan society. Tey also criticised the weaknesses of local people, for example, their gambling and womanising. Tese songs were ofen enlivened by humour in the tone of voice and in the lyrics. Tese songs cut across ethnic lines combining Chinese, Indian, and Western elements, and used upbeat dance rhythms such as rumba and tango. Sung in diferent dialects, the songs dealt with the experiences and problems of all the ethnic communities in Malaya in a comic way. Tey helped the audiences make sense of the new colonial world they were living in and the changes in lifestyles of people living in the cities. Comic songs ofen used bahasa pasar (market or colloquial Malay) which juxtaposed diferent languages spoken in the daily lives of ordinary urban folk. Tey added phrases in English, Tamil, Hindustani, and even some Chinese dialects to comment on personal, ethnic, and social problems, or to appeal to the social conscience of the audience. Comical songs such as “Yam Choi Chow” (“Drink Alcohol”, Mohd. Yatim, HMV, NAM 13, c.1950) and “Kling Mabok” (“Te Drunken Indian”, Aman Ballon and Leiman SS, HMV, P 22900, c.1940) incorporated Cantonese, Tamil, and Malay texts, and commented on the consequences of drinking alcohol. Comic songs that concerned ordinary working people of all races and their troubles were also popular. “Saudagar Minyak Urat” (“Te Nerve Oil Merchant”, Aman Ballon King Clown Nooran Opera & HMV Orchestra, HMV, P 13078, 1948), “Che’ Mah Dengan Tukang Becha” (“Che’ Mah and the Trishaw Man”, Aman Ballon, P 13179, c.1940), “Kesah Tok Bomo” (“Te Story of the Medicine Man”, Aman Ballon, HMV P 22788, c.1950), and “Uncle Murtabak” (“Pan-Fried Bread Uncle”, Mohd. Yatim, HMV, P 22945, c.1950) describe the hardships faced by the Malay nerve oil merchant, the Chinese trishaw puller, the Malay medicine man, and the murtabak seller respectively. Te small businesspeople such as the murtabak seller were inevitably harassed by the police: Uncle Murtabak tersalah cakap / Mata gelap datang tangkap Kena masuk dalam lokap / Central polis tiga tingkat. Uncle Murtabak said the wrong words / Te police came to catch him He had to enter the lock up / [In the] third foor of the Police Central. Wak Kasban Belajar (Mohd. Yatim, HMV, NAM 13, c.1950) pokes fun at the common man who tries to learn Western dances such as the tango and foxtrot and Western instruments such as the violin and saxophone as was fashionable at that time. Wak Kasban (named afer Wak Ketok, the comic fgure in the Malay newspapers) created such a din at the cabaret that the manager threw him out. He made so much noise playing his instruments until late at night that the neighbours reported him to the police. Tese comical songs provided an insight into signifcant social changes in the Malayan cities and formed a tradition that prevailed in the songs of other post-Independence musicians such as P. Ramlee (1960s and 1970s), Hang Mokhtar (1990s), and Rampa (1990s). Nationalist and Patriotic Songs In tandem with the rise of nationalism, songs about the love of the country and diferent races living together such as “Lagu Malaya” (Chap Singa, QF 87, Ahmad CB, 1935) were composed.

72 • Tan Sooi Beng

According to the flm magazine Filem Melayu (l May 1941), Mem Tuan Hemsley, the wife of the Manager of Sharikat Record Chap Singa (Lion Brand Record Company), wanted to record a song that praised the beauty of the country and the diferent races living in it. Te article continues to say that Ahmad C.B. was commissioned to write the tune and the Malay text and the song contained the “voices of many including Malays, Chinese, Indians, Eurasians, Manila [Filipinos], Portuguese and English”. Patriotic songs that encouraged youths to unite and work towards achieving Independence (Merdeka) were also recorded by songwriters such as Zubir Said and Ahmad C.B. during the post-war period (see Tan 2013 and Adil Johan in this book): Pemuda Melayu (“Malay Youths”) (Ahmad C.B. and Osman Ahmad Orchestra, HMV, N 238, 1950s) Pemuda mesti berbakti / Membela ibu pertiwi Marilah bersama bertegak bersatu / Merdeka tetaplah Merdeka Youths must be loyal / Uphold [our] motherland Let us together stand upright and unite / Independence [is] defnite Concluding Remarks Revisiting the post-imperialist framework, this chapter shows that British cultural imperialism in the pre-Independence period did not lead to the disappearance of local music and musicmaking. Rather, local agency was central in the production and reception of the Lagu Melayu in British Malaya. Te pioneering popular musicians experimented with their diverse local cultural resources along with new Anglo-American music and technology to create hybrid and modern music that was made in and for the Malay Archipelago. Te music artists reworked traditions and generated vernacular modernity through cultural mixing and song texts about progress, reform, and nationalism. Tey used Western instruments and musical elements but the language, texts, vocal styles, and other folk elements made the music their own. By including the musical elements of the other communities such as the Chinese, Indians, and Arabs, the performers were able to attract audiences of listeners who crossed boundaries of ethnicity, religion, generation, gender, and class. Teir idea of diference and hybridity was ambivalent and elucidated a type of intercultural blending that was localised. Just as the Malay language was the lingua franca of the wider Malay world, the Lagu Melayu was the popular music, which was mediated between social classes and the diverse Malay and other ethnic groups. Lagu Melayu formed the pan-regional music of the Malay Archipelago prior to the formation of nation states. Tis music was fexible and always changing to suit the tastes of the listeners and there was a constant exchange of musical styles and performers in the region. Folk songs such as “Rasa Sayang” (“Feeling of Love”), “Terang Bulan” (“Bright Moon”), and “Lenggang Kangkung” (“Swaying Water Spinach”) were sung and enjoyed by diverse peoples of the region. Te recording in Malay and Hindustani of “Rasa Sayang” by Lata Mangeshkar (HMV, N 53573, c.1950), the famous Bollywood flm playback singer, is testimony to how Malay folk songs crossed colonial, national, and regional boundaries. Acknowledgements Tis essay is based on my long-term research on the 78 RPM gramophone recordings of British Malaya, a small part of which has been published in Tan (2013). I would like to thank Jaap

Revisiting Post-Cultural Imperialism • 73

Erkelens, David Murray, and Naina Merican for the use of their recordings for analysis and Ahmad CB for the oral interview in 1986. Notes 1

2

3

4 5

6

7

Malay or Melayu has been the medium of communication and writing among the diverse Malay peoples in the Malay Archipelago and is marked by “heterogeneity” (Foulcher and Day 2002). In this article, diferent spellings of specifc Malay words are used, especially in the titles of songs and quotations from newspapers. I have followed the spellings as found in the newspapers, record catalogues, and record labels quoted. For instance, keronchong, kronchong, and krontjong are all used, following the various printed versions. Tere was no standardisation of the spelling of Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Melayu in the early twentieth century. Te gramophone era lasted from 1903 till the early 1960s when vinyl records became the new recording technology. Gronow’s seminal work on the gramophone recording industry in Asia gives an account of the diferent companies that were active in the region during this period (Gronow 1981). Te English gramophone companies were predominant in the colonies of India and Egypt, German companies in China, Turkey, and the Dutch East Indies; the French companies were most active in North Africa, and the North American companies in Latin America and the Philippines. Philip Yampolsky (2010a and 2010b) has estimated that about 27,805 recordings were made in British Malaya (including Singapore) and the Dutch East Indies from 1903 to 1942 (prior to World War II). A total of 18,451 records were made for the Dutch East Indies, while 6,944 Malay and 2,410 Chinese records were produced for British Malaya. Chap Kuching (Cat Brand) and Chap Singa (Lion Brand) are sister companies of the Gramophone Company or HMV. Recordings were made in Singapore but were pressed at the HMV factory in India. Te local company distributed and sold the recordings in Malay and the region (Tan 2013). Te Malay-speaking Muslims included the Minangkabau, Mandailing, Kerinci, Achehnese from Sumatra; different groups from the Riau archipelago, Java, and Madura; Bugis from Sulawesi, Banjar from Borneo; “pure” Malays from the port cities and estuarine towns of British Malaya, Sumatra, and Borneo; Kelantanese and people from the Patani district of southern Siam (Kahn 2006,174–5). Tan (1993, 2013) and Jones (2001) show that the Malays in the Malay Archipelago and Chinese musicians in China respectively experimented with popular jazz styles in the early twentieth century at the same time as the musicians in Europe and America. Barendregt, Keppy, and Nordholt (2017) discuss the frst popular music stars and the development of jazz-style music in Batavia, Singapore, and Manila in the 1920s and 1930s. “pulau ke pulau jalan sambil cari makan sambil kita bimbingan anak-anak, bimbing masyarakat supaya boleh maju sikit” (personal communication, Ahmad CB, 1986).

Bibliography Adorno, Teodor W. 1994. “On Popular Music.” In: Cultural Teory and Popular Culture; A Reader, edited by John Storey, 197–209. Essex: Pearson Education Ltd. Andaya, Leonard Y. 2019. “Te World of the Southern Malays.” In: Performing the Arts of Indonesia, Malay Identity and Politics in the Music, Dance and Teatre of the Riau Islands, edited by Margaret Kartomi, 40–57. Copenhagen: NIAS Press. Appadurai, Arjun. 1996. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Bakhtin, Mikhail. 2001. Te Dialogic Imagination; Four Essays. Ed. Michael Holquist, trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. [First published in 1981.]. Barendregt, Bart (Ed.). 2014. Sonic Modernities in the Malay World, A History of Popular Music, Social Distinction and Novel Lifestyles (1930s–2005). Leiden: Brill. Barendregt, Bart, Peter Keppy and Henk Schulte Nordholt. 2017. Popular Music in Southeast Asia: Banal Beats, Mute Histories. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Bhabha, Homi K. 1992. “Of Mimicry and Man: Te Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse.” In: Modern Literary Teory: A Reader, 2nd ed., edited by Philip: Waugh Rice, Patricia. London: E. Arnold. Cohen, Matthew Isaac. 2002.“Border Crossings: Bangsawan in the Netherlands Indies in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries.” Indonesia and the Malay World 30(87): 101–115. Cohen, Matthew Isaac. 2006. Te Komedie Stamboel: Popular Teater in Colonial Indonesia, 1891-1903. Athens: Ohio University Press. Foulcher, Keith and Tony Day (Eds). 2002. Clearing a Space; Postcolonial Readings of Modern Indonesian Literature. Leiden: KITLV Press. Gibbs, Jason, David Harnish, Terry E. Miller, David Murray, Sooi Beng Tan and Kit Young. 2013. Essays and Annotations in Longing for the Past, the 78 RPM Era in Southeast Asia. Atlanta: Dust-to-Digital.

74 • Tan Sooi Beng Gronow, Pekka. 1981. “Te Record Industry Comes to the Orient.” Ethnomusicology 25(2): 251–284. H. S. L. 1924. Penghiboran Hati [Entertaining the Heart]. Penang: Criterion Press. Hall, Stuart. 1997. “Te Local and the Global: Globalization and Ethnicity” In: Globalization, and the World-System: Contemporary Conditions for the Representation of Identity, edited by Anthony D. King, 19–40. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Harper, Tim and Sunil S. Amrith. 2012. “Sites of Asian Interaction: An Introduction.” Modern Asian Studies 46(2): 249–257. Hooker, Virginia Matheson. 2000. Writing a New Society; Social Change Trough the Novel in Malay. Sydney: Asian Studies Association of Australia in Association with Allen & Unwin and University of Hawaii Press. Jones, Andrew F. 2001. Yellow Music; Media Culture and Colonial Modernity in the Chinese Jazz Age. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Kahn, Joel S. 2006. Other Malays, Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism in the Modern Malay World. Singapore: Asian Studies Association of Australia in Association with Singapore University Press and NIAS Press. Milner, Anthony. 1995. Te Invention of Politics in Colonial Malaya; Contesting Nationalism and the Expansion of the Public Sphere. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Said, Edward. 1978. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books. Tan, Sooi Beng. 1993. Bangsawan; A Social and Stylistic History of Popular Malay Opera. Singapore: Oxford University Press. Tan, Sooi Beng. 2013. “Negotiating ‘His Masters Voice’: Gramophone Music and Cosmopolitan Modernity in British Malaya in the 1930s and early 1940s.” Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 169: 457–494. Weintraub, Andrew N. 2014. “Pop Goes Melayu: Melayu Popular Music in Indonesia, 1968–1975.” In: Sonic Modernities in the Malay World, A History of Popular Music, Social Distinction and Novel Lifestyles (1930s-2005), edited by Bart Barendregt, 165–186. Leiden: Brill. Yampolsky, Philip. 2010a. “Te Record Industry in Indonesia/Malaysia/Singapore; the Mechanics of an Estimate of Quantity, Part 1: 1903–1920.” In: Te Lindström Project, Volume 3, edited by Pekka Gronow and Christane Hofer, 181–193. Vienna: Gesellschaf für Historiche Tonträger. Yampolsky, Philip. 2010b. “Te Record Industry in Indonesia/Malaysia/Singapore; the Mechanics of an Estimate of Quantity, Part 2: 1920–1942.” In: Te Lindström Project, Volume 3, edited by Pekka Gronow and Christane Hofer, 194–212. Vienna: Gesellschaf für Historiche Tonträger.

6

Acoustic Epistemologies and Early Sound Recordings in the Nusantara Region Phonography, Archive, and the Birth of Ethnomusicology meLê yamomo

When sound recording technology was invented in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a new sonic world opened that would shif how we understand music and sound. Te ability to register sounds and play them back would pave the way for two avenues through which music researchers were to form our understandings of the diferent auditory cultures today. Tese technologies would, on the one hand, allow the capturing of “musics” from diferent communities and distribute them around the world. Te same technology would also give birth to the Eurocentric academic feld of “comparative music studies”, the progenitor of “ethnomusicology”. Hence, the felds of “world music” and “ethnomusicology” would emerge from the arrival of sound technology dispositif1 and the sound cultures of the Nusantara region would be consequentially intertwined with the history of these acoustic epistemologies tied to the colonialist project. In this chapter, I will look at two of the earliest sound archives where some of the earliest sound recordings from the Nusantara region are still stored. Both of these archives are located in Berlin, Germany: the Berlin Phonogrammarchiv or the Berlin Phonogram Archive and the Lautarchiv der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, which I will refer to here as the Berlin Sound Archive. Te Berlin Phonogram Archive contains collections of traditional music from diferent parts of the world including musical cultures from Southeast Asia. Tese music recordings would become the basis for the development of the academic feld “comparative musicology”, which would later become what we now call “ethnomusicology”. Te Berlin Sound Archive, on the other hand, primarily contains linguistic recordings of war prisoners interned in Germany during the First World War created within the context of the Royal Prussian Phonographic Commission. Te main discussion in this essay will cover musical recordings from and about the Nusantara region at the Berlin Phonogram Archive, particularly recordings made by the “father of ethnomusicology”, Jaap Kunst. A Phonographic Discourse When the talking machine, the frst iteration of the phonograph, was commercially released in 1899, inventor Tomas Edison was convinced that the machine’s rightful place was in the 75

76 • meLê yamomo

ofce and not for the commercial recording and distribution of music. Te audio storage devices of the phonograph, as media scholar Kathrin Dreckmann points out, “were not produced to distribute acoustic media content commercially, but rather to dissect the acoustic material and evaluate it scientifcally” (Dreckmann 2018, 62).2 From a scientifc point of view, the creation of the phonograph paradigmatically shifed the way we understand sound and acoustics. For Dreckmann, the phonograph “[a]s a ‘scientifc measuring device’ […] was used to compare repetitive acoustic sound events” and enabled the recorded sounds to be broken down for analysis (Dreckmann 2018, 61). 3 Te phonograph’s technological a priori would be utilised in linguistics and would be crucial to the emergence of new felds of music research. It took several years before the technology would be utilised for what would become the commercial music industry. In listening to the extant sound and musical recordings from the Nusantara region this chapter examines how recording media and the ability to play back sounds formed new understandings of music and its popularisation. Ofen less analysed in popular music research is the history of how the sound recording constructed a system of categorising and archiving music knowledge, and how the practice of ethnomusicology inevitably became intertwined with the history of the popular music recording industry. Tis essay explores the myriad ways in which a particular imagining of the global world in the early twentieth century was audifed through wax cylinders. In the frst four decades following the invention of Edison’s phonogram, the enthusiasm to capture the world in sounds also brought about scientifc fervour in an emerging feld of sound archiving. Te cylinders and discs of the “exotic” and “foreign” sounds from around the globe needed to be housed somewhere. Many of these recordings went to Berlin for safekeeping. With the new steamship technology and the opening of the Suez Canal in the second half of the nineteenth century, the global world would once again be reconfgured in terms of time and space. Te Asia Pacifc would by then be a mere forty-day ship journey from London – the closest the two continents have ever been in terms of travel time. Chinese opera troupes, Siamese phiphat ensembles, and Javanese gamelan orchestras would come to world expositions in Europe. Tourists, missionaries, and expatriates – who also travelled to the colonial territories, brimming with enthusiasm – would record speeches and folk songs on their portable phonographs. In this attempt to collect sound materials, the sonic imagining of a multicultural world was animated and resounded through the spinning of wax cylinders. Between 1900 and 1950, ethnomusicological and commercial musics recorded on wax cylinders were stored in colonial archives or were distributed to an early globalising music market. Te need to examine history within sound and media historiography remains urgent particularly in developing critical methodologies in colonial and post/decolonial historiography. Rosalinda Brung and Rinella Cere observe that the “development of postcolonial studies so far has […] concentrated on the circulation of narratives and representations of ‘other’ colonized cultures and paid relatively little attention to popular culture and contemporary media practices” (Brunt and Cere 2011, 3). Cultural anthropologists Bart Barendregt and Els Bogaerts, writing about music in colonial Indonesia, refect on how “[m]usical practices cast a light on the customs of both colonizer and the colonized, and the very fabric of everyday life in those days; matters that otherwise might be difcult to untie” (Brunt and Cere 2011, 3). Tey also point out how “[m]usic’s meanings, in absence of ‘any denotative back-up’ need to be constantly established and thus may be instrumental in hiding the traces of representational violence; even more so than the literary or visual arts” (Brunt and Cere 2011, 3). Listening to the colonial resonances in sound recordings in the archives provides a way to consider the material sources for this examination.

Acoustic Epistemologies in the Nusantara • 77

Listening to the Archives Today, the Berlin Phonogram Archive contains one of the biggest collections of musical feld recordings from the early twentieth century. Nearly eleven percent of these recordings come from the Southeast Asian region. Aptly, the very frst recordings that would eventually instigate the creation of the archive was made in 1900 when Carl Stumpf, professor of psychology, recorded the performance of “Kham Hom” by a Siamese phiphat ensemble visiting Berlin in September of that year. Te Berlin Phonogram Archive would later include recordings from other parts of Southeast Asia. With the ambition to collect diferent musical cultures from around the world, European colonial expats, missionaries, and travellers could be issued portable phonograph recorders. Teir wax cylinder recordings were then submitted to the Phonogram archive. Below is a table of music recordings made in the Nusantara region between 1907 and 1939 that are in the Berlin Phonogram Archive.4 Te frst column of Table 6.1 shows the year(s) of the recording. Te second column indicates the place of recording – some areas are specifc (name of island, region), some are generally labelled (name of country in general). Te fourth column indicates the recordist/collector, and the last column shows the number of cylinders. If the third column is empty, this means that the collector/recordist cannot be ascertained. Table 6.1

Wax Cylinder Collection from the Nusantara Region at the Berlin Phonogram Archive5

Year

Place of Recording

Collector

No. of Cylinders

1907 1908 1908–1909 1908–1912 1909 1910 1912 1922–1923 1924–1925 1925 1925 1927 1928 1929 1929 1929 1934 1937–1938

Bali Sumatra Sumatra Borneo Java Sumatra Indonesia Java Malacca Java Bali Bali Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia Philippines Moluccas

Lenore Selenka Alfred Maas Hermann Schoede Ernst Rudel Ernst Rudel Max Moszkowski Odo Deodatus Tauern Jaap Kunst Paul Schebesta

13 3 19 96 18 2 87 18 36 8 15 4 8 24 18 327 43 90

1938 1939

Celebes Philippines

Jaap Kunst Paul Wirz Ernst Vatter Ernst Vatter Ernst Vatter Jaap Kunst Jenö von Takács Forschung Institut für Kulturmorphologie, Frankfurt am Main S.J. Esser Matthias Müller

54 14

Tese wax recordings that comprised the archive would become the basis for the establishment of Vergleichenden Musikwissenschaf or comparative musicology.6 For the Berlin Phonogram Archive’s frst directors Carl Stumpf and Erich von Hornbostel, what the replayable sound recordings provided was a means for better transcription of the “foreign musics” into the European notation system.

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Until well into the twentieth century in Western Europe, imaginings and practices of globalisation were governed by the logic of European empires. In an essay, Stumpf intended to raise support for the archive and wrote in Wissenschafdiche Wochenschrif für Wissenschaf, Kunst und Technik in 1908 that: Te new Reich is proud of its colonies and does everything in its power to exploit them materially. It is our duty to combine this with scientifc exploitation, i.e. the research into nature and the native culture of the new territories. Other colonial empires have not shirked this “nobile ofcium”. We too have made an excellent start but wherever the culture of the indigenous [sic] peoples is to be described exactly, comprehensively and scientifcally in a scholarly work, phonographic records should not be lacking. And then what? Are they just to be squandered and destroyed? No, of course they must be collected and stored. Such an institution is a corollary of our colonial aspirations, in the highest sense. (Stumpf 2000, 83–84)7 Tis colonial ambition of the archive also intertwined with how the early theoretical project of the archive was constructed based on evolutionary theory premised on pitch and intervallic organisation in music (Ames 2003, 303). Tese sound recordings, as Germanist and media scholar Eric Ames points out, became technological evidences for Stumpf’s notion of musical evolution (Ames 2003, 316). In his essay, “Te Sound of Evolution”, Ames argued how the phonograph was employed as “a discursive technique for rendering evolution audible, a technique, that is, for dissecting ‘primitive’ songs and rebuilding them into evolutionary narratives” (Ames 2003, 299). Te second archive, the Berlin Sound Archive, consists of more than one thousand speech samples and song recordings of prisoners of war (POWs) interned in German internment camps during the First World War. Te recordings were implemented under the Royal Prussian Phonographic Commission established in 1915 under the supervision of Carl Stumpf and Wilhem Doegen. One of the biggest POW internment centres and the site of most of the sound recordings was the Halfmoon camp located in Wünsdorf in the suburb of Berlin. During the war, European countries and kingdom states would bring their colonial subjects from territories in Southeast Asia and Africa to deploy as foot soldiers in the war in Europe. Tis would explain the range of geographic and cultural origins of detainees in these camps. Merely forty kilometres from the German capital, the camp provided an ideal site and conditions for conducting scientifc research efciently and systematically with constant supply of high-quality recording equipment. Te Phonographic Commission intended to build an encyclopaedic collection of sounds through recordings of the recitation of numbers, vocabularies, folktales, prayers, anecdotes, riddles, and jokes as well as singing of folk songs. Included in these recordings are the voices of the soldiers from Southeast Asia: Luciano Sase8 (Khmer/Cambodia); Nguen van Tiep9 and Nguen van Tao10 (both Annamites); and Muhamed bin Hadji Abdurrahim (Malay).11 Muhamed, who took the nickname Erik Flower while in Europe, was born in Johor, Malaysia and was twenty-seven years old when he was recorded on 27 April 1917.12 For this session, he recited three pantuns (recorded on shellac discs). He sang an unannotated dance song that was labelled generally as nari on the transcript. On another wax cylinder, he also played a traditional song (generally labeled lagu) on a European violin.13 Te metadata of the recordings at the Berlin Sound Archive are available on the website of the institute. However, the contents are accessible only by making personal requests to the archivists due to the ethical concerns with regards to the nature of how the recordings were made.14

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Within the framework of European imperialism and its claim for Enlightenment rationalism, European music served as the primary logic through which sound production, organisation, and consumption were framed globally. On the one hand, universalist conceptions of music and the function it served in the service of the empire are fraught with inconsistencies and are the source of epistemic violence in the cross-cultural negotiations between the colonisers and the colonised. On the other hand, as evidenced by the preliminary hypothesis of Carl Stumpf and his progenies, the universality of a European understanding of music propelled the gathering and scientifc study of “musical” practices in diferent cultures around the globe. Almost a century later, this theme would still be a point of criticism in Radano and Bohlman’s analysis of the intersection of music and race. Radano and Bohlman’s incisive observation – the possession of “the objects containing the music, one acquires the power to own and control the ways in which music bounds the group for which it has meaning” (Radano and Bohlman 2000, 6) – lends us several points of consideration in the evaluation of the collections of the Berlin Phonogram Archive and the Berlin Sound Archive. Inventing “Ethnomusicology” and “World Music”? Between 1919 and 1934, the Dutch musician and colonial administrator in the Dutch East Indies, Jaap Kunst, made an extensive collection of musical recordings from Bali, Java, and Sumatra. Kunst, a trained lawyer and violinist, arrived in the Dutch East Indies in 1919 as the violinist in a touring quartet that also comprised a pianist, soprano, and singer. His encounter with the performance of a gamelan orchestra at the palace in Yogyakarta made him decide to stay in the Dutch Indies to conduct research on the music in Java. He found a government post in Jakarta and later in Bandung. Outside his ofce hours, Kunst made recordings of and studied the diferent music traditions in Java. Around the same time, Mangkunegoro VII, the ruler of the Central Javanese principality of Mangkunegaran, was involved in the establishment of the Java Institute which was an organisation committed to the preservation of Javanese culture. Mangkunegoro VII was its honorary president. Kunst found the institute’s vision an apt platform to realise his own music research ambitions. He would also become friends with the Javanese prince who would assist with his ethnomusicology enterprise.15 Between 1930 and 1931, Kunst was an ofcially appointed government musicologist who, in his own words, functioned as a “civil servant for the systematic research into Indonesian music” (Djajadiningrat and Brinkgreve 2014, 195).16 Trough this appointment Kunst was able to conduct his research and sound recordings as his main occupation. Based on the musical recordings that Kunst made and collected, he wanted to develop his own research discipline. Tinking that the prevailing term of the time, “comparative musicology”, did not capture the musical research methodology that he was developing, Kunst combined the prefx “ethno” with “musicology”, and coined “ethno-musicology” which would later become ethnomusicology. Te term was intended to indicate that the study was of the music of the races of man.17 In the early inception of this discipline, Kunst did not consider Western and popular music. Developing his music theories based on the Balinese, Javanese, and Sumatran musical practices, Kunst consulted the director of the Berlin Phonogram Archive, Erich von Hornbostel. Von Hornbostel developed the theory of the cycle of blown ffhs and Kunst used some of von Hornbostel’s ideas in his work in the Dutch Indies. Troughout Kunst’s work in ethnomusicology, he kept an extensive correspondence with von Hornbostel. Kunst sent his wax cylinders to von Hornbostel at the Berlin Phonogram Archive where the institute developed a technology to preserve the wax cylinder by creating copper positives. Von Hornbostel sent Kunst empty cylinders and advised him on the technical aspects of the recording equipment (Van Lamsweerde

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1994, 8). As fttingly described by Ernst Heins, the feld of ethnomusicology was thus developed together by “both scholars […] one behind the desk study, the other in the feld” (Heins 1976, 98). Jaap Kunst’s position as ethnomusicologist “in the feld” also brought him in contact with commercial music companies recording in Indonesia. Being the European knowledgeable in the music practices in Java meant that he would serve as an intermediary between the recordists and local musicians. In 1925, Odeon Records sought the advice of Kunst who would then be involved in the organisation of the recordings and the recruitment of interesting musicians (Van Lamsweerde 1994, 44). Kunst also had an interest to learn about and utilise the more recent sound technologies that these companies brought with them. During the 1928 recording trip of Odeon in central Java and Bali, Kunst also consulted the company on this matter (Van Lamsweerde 1994, 44). Music historian Tim de Wolf opines that Kunst would have also been involved in the series of gramophone recordings of a gamelan orchestra of Mangkoenegoro VII by Columbia Records in Solo (Wolf 2011, 7). However, this would have transpired indirectly as Kunst’s appointment and funding as a government musicologist had already been terminated by 1931. For the 1928 recording in Bali, ninety-eight gramophone titles were made and released by Odeon and Beka labels for local distribution (Gronow 1981, 274). Out of these ninety-eight titles, fve were included in the album Musik des Orients (Music of the Orient) under Odeon and produced by the Carl Lindström Company. Te tracks for the anthology were selected by von Hornbostel who also wrote its accompanying twenty-six-page booklet. Music historian Pekka Gronow notes that the recording companies’ ambitions to develop an indigenous market in Indonesia failed. Reasons for the failure included local disinterest in the expensive technology, “especially when there was a world of live performances happening daily in the thousands of temples and households throughout the island” (Gronow 1981, 274). Tis intersection between the early commercial recording and the beginnings of ethnomusicological interest for documentation was refected in Jaap Kunst’s work. In Ethno-Musicology: A Study of Its Nature, Its Problems, Methods and Representative Personalities, originally published in 1955, Jaap Kunst commented on the necessity for recording companies to work with experts: Tis measure would not only safeguard a correct and varied choice of recordings but also ensure a greater likelihood of the records turning out truer to reality. To give an example of this latter point: existing records of Javanese gamelan music which include the vocal element ofen allow the voice to be far too prominent, as if it were a solo with accompaniment, while in reality the solo- and choral voices are nothing more than equivalent elements in an otherwise instrumental tonal texture; in other words the singer ought not to have been placed in front of the microphone. By utilizing the knowledge and advice of a musical specialist it will also be possible to prevent the titles on the records from containing such an annoyingly large number of spelling mistakes. (Kunst 1955, 30) However, Kunst was aware of separating his academic interest from the commercial interests of recording companies. He expressed his disappointment in how the gramophone companies, “being run as they are on a purely commercial basis, have not rendered so much service to ethno-musicology as could be expected” (Kunst 1955, 30). In tracing the intersection of the academic and commercial interests in “exotic” musics, we might also consider the historicisation of the notion of “world music”. Te category “world music” in the recording industry may have only ofcially appeared in the 1980s to market musical recordings of non-Western traditional music. In academic discourse, Bruno Nettl argues

Acoustic Epistemologies in the Nusantara • 81

through Philip Bohlman that the beginnings of the idea of world music began as far back as the eighteenth century through the thinking of Johann Gottfried Herder. In “Stimmen der Völker in Liedern” (1778–1779), Herder “proposed that each people has its music – that there is such a thing as folk song, Volkslied, which is peculiar to each people, but some of whose characteristics all peoples have in common” (Nettl 2013, 29). I would, however, argue for situating development of the idea within the dispositif of sound recording technology that made legible the sounds of the “Other” and also enabled the capturing and commercial distribution of these sounds. A century since the recording and anthropological analysis of the auditory cultures in Nusantara, contemporary discourse now critiques ethnomusicology’s colonialist knowledge-making inasmuch as “world music” is a capitalist logic of neo-colonialism. If media and technology allowed the perceptibility of the human voices, how can we listen to subaltern voices stored in the archives and phonographs? Perhaps more importantly, how did sound technologies enable and continue to enable agencies of various people whose voices were captured, including the ones taken from the Nusantara region? Tis volume hopefully amplifes voices and musical cultures made in Nusantara long afer the age of colonial phonography. Archives Consulted Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv / Te Berlin Phonogram Archive Lautarchiv der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin / Te Sound Archive of Humboldt University of Berlin Notes 1

2 3 4

5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

“Dispositif” is a term used by the French philosopher Michel Foucault to refer to the various institutional, ideological, and epistemological systems that structure and maintain the power relationships within social systems. Elaborating that Foucault’s concept of dispositif goes beyond the notion of “discourse”, economic and social historian Matti Peltonen summarises it as “historically specifc totalities of discourses and practices” (206). English intellectual historian David Macey, who translated many of Foucault’s works to English, translated dispositif as “the grid of intelligibility”. My translation. My translation. See: Susanne Ziegler, “Liste Der Walzensammlungen Des Berliner Phonogramm-Archivs / List of the Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv’s Cylinder Collections”, in Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv 1900–2000: Sammlungen Der Traditionellen Musik Der Welt / Te Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv 1900–2000: Collections of Traditional Music of the World, ed. Artur Simon (Berlin: VWB – Verlag für Wissenschaf und Bildung, 2000), 228–264. For further information also see: Susanne Ziegler, Die Wachszylinder Des Berliner Phonogramm-Archivs: Textdokumentation Und Klangbeispiele, Yearbook for Traditional Music (Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, 2006). For a concise and biographical summary of how Carl Stumpf and Erich Moritz von Hornbostel developed Vergleichenden Musikwissenschaf as an academic discipline at the University of Berlin see: Dieter Christensen, “Erich M. von Hornbostel, Carl Stumpf Und Die Institutionalisierung Der Vergleichenden Musikwissenschaf / Erich M. von Hornbostel, Carl Stumpf, and the Institutionalization of Comparative Musicology,” in Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv 1900–2000: Sammlungen Der Traditionellen Musik Der Welt / Te Berlin PhonogrammArchiv 1900–2000: Collections of Traditional Music of the World, ed. Artur Simon (Berlin: VWB – Verlag für Wissenschaf und Bildung, 2000), 141–150. Te original German article appeared on Wissenschafdiche Wochenschrif für Wissenschaf, Kunst und Technik on 22 Feburary 1908. See fle number PK 218. See fle number PK 1393. See fle number PK 1394. See fle number PK 851. PK 851–1. PK 852–2. Te archive’s website has recently been updated and now has an English version: https://www.lautarchiv.hu-berlin.de/.

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16 17

For further information regarding the friendship between Mangkunegoro VII and Jaap Kunst, see: Madelon Djajadiningrat and Clara Brinkgreve, “Chapter 8. A Musical Friendship: Te Correspondence Between Mangkunegro VII and the Ethnomusicologist Jaap Kunst, 1919–1940,” in Recollecting Resonances: IndonesianDutch Musical Encounters, ed. Bart Barendregt and Els Bogaerts, trans. Aletta Stevens-Djajadiningrat, vol. 4, Southeast Asia Mediated (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2014), 179–201. Quoted from his letter to Mangkunegoro on 9 January 1930. See: Ibid., 195. See: Jaap Kunst, Musicologia (Amsterdam: Uitgave van het Indischle, 1950), 7. 24 Felix Van Lamsweerde, “Jaap Kunst’s Field Recordings,” in Indonesian Music and Dance: Traditional Music and Its Interaction with the West: A Compilation of Articles (1934–1952) Originally Published in Dutch, ed. Ernst Heins (Amsterdam: Royal Tropical Institute/Tropenmuseum, 1994), 8.

Bibliography Ames, Eric. 2003. “Te Sound of Evolution.” Modernism/Modernity 10(2): 297–325. Barendregt, Bart, and Els Bogaerts. 2014. “Chapter 1. Recollecting Resonances: Listening to an Indonesian-Dutch Musical Heritage.” In: Recollecting Resonances: Indonesian-Dutch Musical Encounters, edited by Bart Barendregt and Els Bogaerts, 1–30. Southeast Asia Mediated. Leiden: Brill. Brunt, Rosalind, and Rinella Cere, editors. 2011. Postcolonial Media Culture in Britain. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. Christensen, Dieter. 2000. “Erich M. Von Hornbostel, Carl Stumpf und die Institutionalisierung derVergleichenden Musikwissenschaf / Erich M. von Hornbostel, Carl Stumpf, and the Institutionalization of Comparative Musicology.” In: Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv 1900-2000: Sammlungen Der Traditionellen Musik Der Welt / the Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv 1900-2000: Collections of Traditional Music of the World, edited by Artur Simon, 141– 150. Berlin: VWB - Verlag für Wissenschaf und Bildung. Djajadiningrat, Madelon, and Clara Brinkgreve. 2014. “Chapter 8. A Musical Friendship: Te Correspondence Between Mangkunegro VII and the Ethnomusicologist Jaap Kunst 1919–1940.” In: Recollecting Resonances: Indonesian-Dutch Musical Encounters, edited by Bart Barendregt and Els Bogaerts, translated by Aletta StevensDjajadiningrat, 179–201. Southeast Asia Mediated. Leiden: Brill. Dreckmann, Kathrin. 2018. Speichern Und Übertragen: Mediale Ordnungen Des Akustischen Diskurses. 1900–1945. Paderborn: Wilhelm Fink. Foucault, Michel. 2003. “Society Must Be Defended.”: Lectures at the College de France, 1975–1976. Edited by Mauro Bertani and Alessandro Fontana, translated by David Macey. New York: Picador. Gronow, Pekka. 1981. “Te Record Industry Comes to the Orient.” Ethnomusicology 25(2): 251–284. Heins, Ernst. 1976. “On Jaap Kunst’s Music in Java.” Ethnomusicology 20(1): 97–101. Kunst, Jaap. 1950. Musicologia. Amsterdam: Uitgave Van Het Indischle. Kunst, Jaap. 1955. Ethno-Musicology: A Study of Its Nature, Its Problems, Methods and Representative Personalities to Which Is Added a Bibliography. Te Hague: Martinus Nijhof. Nettl, Bruno. 2013. “On World Music as a Concept in the History of Music Scholarship.” In: Te Cambridge History of World Music, edited by Philip V. Bohlman, 23–54. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Peltonen, Matti. 2004.“From Discourse to Dispositif: Michel Foucault’s Two Histories.” Historical Refections 30(2): 205–219. Radano, Ronald M., and Philip V. Bohlman. 2000. Music and the Racial Imagination. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Stumpf, Carl. 2000. “Das Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv / Te Berlin Phonogrammarchiv.” In: Berliner PhonogrammArchiv 1900-2000: Sammlungen Der Traditionellen Musik Der Welt / the Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv 1900-2000: Collections of Traditional Music of the World, edited by Artur Simon, translated by Rosee Riggs, 65–84. Berlin: VWB - Verlag für Wissenschaf und Bildung. Van Lamsweerde, Felix. 1994. “Jaap Kunst’s Field Recordings.” In: Indonesian Music and Dance: Traditional Music and Its Interaction with the West: A Compilation of Articles (1934–1952) Originally Published in Dutch, edited by Ernst Heins, 36–48. Amsterdam: Royal Tropical Institute/Tropenmuseum. Wolf, Tim de. 2011. “Een Verkenning: Fonografsche Activiteiten in Nederlands Indië, 1903–1950.” De Weergever, Informatieblad van de Vereniging van Verzamelaars van Oude Geluidsapparatuur en Geluidsdragers 33(1): 1–24. Ziegler, Susanne. 2000. “Liste Der Walzensammlungen Des Berliner Phonogramm-Archivs / List of the Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv’s Cylinder Collections.” In: Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv 1900-2000: Sammlungen Der Traditionellen Musik Der Welt / the Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv 1900-2000: Collections of Traditional Music of the World, edited by Artur Simon, 228–264. Berlin: VWB - Verlag für Wissenschaf und Bildung. Ziegler, Susanne. 2006. Die Wachszylinder Des Berliner Phonogramm-Archivs: Textdokumentation und Klangbeispiele. Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz.

7

Bodabil Music in the Rise of the American Empire Arwin Q. Tan

On 10 April 1980, the Philippine Educational Teater Association (PETA) premiered Canuplin: An Improvisation on the Life and Performances of a Filipino Comedian. Tis play written by Manny Pambid is about the life of one of Manila’s most popular vaudeville superstars during the American colonial period. Te play chronicles the success and popularity of Canuto Francia (1904–1979), a.k.a. Canuplin, when bodabil (the Filipinised version of American vaudeville) reigned as the most prolifc public entertainment form in the Philippine Islands during the 1920s until the eventual collapse of Canuto’s stardom afer the Second World War. As a young boy, Canuto’s impoverished origins from the poor region of Tondo compelled him to work as an errand boy for the owner of Banda Aguila in order to help bring food to his family’s dining table. Te eventual death of Canuto’s mother when he was eleven years old worsened his destitute situation. To bring joy into his desolate childhood, Canuto saved a few cents occasionally so that he could sneak inside movie houses to watch his favourite American flm star, Charlie Chaplin, whose moves he imitated. Donning a Chaplin-like suit, Canuto won the competition for the most imaginative costume at the annual Manila Carnival in the late 1910s which opened the opportunity for him to work at the circus. Initially working as a barker, Canuto learned a few tricks from the carnival’s master magician, Blas Angeles, and became his assistant. Eventually, he met Luis Borromeo, a.k.a. Borromeo Lou, a returning Filipino performer in 1921 who had spent fve years in the USA and Canada as a vaudeville performer. Borromeo invited him to join his circuit and named him “Canuplin”, Chaplin of the Philippine Islands. He became one of the most bankable stars of the Philippine bodabil scene whose famed act featured him as a “pathetic clown, a magician whose tricks frequently failed or were revealed to the audience” (Maniquis 2017, 559). As a bodabil superstar, Canuplin earned a hundred and twenty-fve pesos (about sixty-two US dollars) while others were paid only seven pesos a week (Pambid 2015, 355). Despite the gradual shif towards a new form of entertainment in the 1930s, the talking movies, Canuplin’s popularity soared. Afer the Second World War, the rising prominence of flms obligated Canuplin to migrate to the new art form. He appeared in and directed a few movies but the frequency of his performances was limited. In his attempt to revive his career as a bodabilista (vaudevillian), Canuplin continued to perform his signature acts – unchanged from his pre-war exhibitions – in the struggling bodabil theatres afer the war. However, these did not receive a similar level of appreciation by the new generation of theatre audiences whose taste for

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entertainment had changed to the new media technologies, particularly sound movies (Keppy 2019, 116). Audiences also preferred newer imitations of younger American singers who were featured in the new material marker of a modern household, the television (Fernandez, Chua, and Zafra 2017, 127). In one play, the following poignant words uttered by Canuplin provide a glimpse of a bodabil star’s valuation of his work and acceptance of his career’s impending end: Te limits of what I knew,… my talent,… my strength,… of what I was capable of! It is all I know,… [and] do: to mimic. But the public accepted it. Tey embraced me. Tey laughed when I performed. Tey enjoyed my impersonations. And I was able to get by because of them. We lived like royalty. But they didn’t just give me money. Tey showered me with their awe, with their applause. Now, I’m old. I’ve slowed down. And like what you said, nobody cares about me anymore. I’m a has-been. (Pambid trans. by So 2015, 362) Te story of Canuplin is a nostalgic remembrance of the glorious days of bodabil productions, during a time period when Filipinos “greeted, with open arms, the invasion of American products, the American way of life” (Pambid trans. by So 2015, 339). Te 1920s was also a period when the efects of capitalism – introduced in the late nineteenth century under the Spanish colonial government – had transformed the social, cultural, and economic conditions of the Islands. Te burgeoning middle class of the late nineteenth century expanded to include Western (mostly American)-educated Filipinos who were eventually employed in the colonial bureaucracies of the American Insular Government (Barendregt, Keppy, and Nordholt 2017, 19). Tis new social group appropriated a “cosmopolitan orientation and a modern consumer lifestyle” (Keppy 2019, 14) that refected their taste for what was American – wearing fannel scarves, silk shirts, and wide bell-bottoms, speaking in slang, dancing the Charleston, watching vaudeville, and attending the carnival, among other things – which refected modernity and progress (Joaquin 1978, 2735–2736). As Filipino historian Resil Mojares argues, “contact with America nourished an appetite for urbanity and cosmopolitanism” (2006, 20). Canuplin’s life story demonstrates how the popular music industry capitalised on the marketability of “stars” who were considered “popularisers” of American culture, mimicking successful American superstars, following the belief that “they could not ‘make it’ unless they were copies of an American original” (Fernandez et al. 2017, 127). Bodabil’s prioritisation for marketable acts obligated stars to work hard, to constantly try to outdo themselves through introducing new acts, songs, or dances, and to surrender to the tedious itinerary designed by impresarios whose main intention was to generate more profts. Jacques Attali, in his landmark work Noise, argued that stars could make a fortune through the practice of popular art and posited that these earnings allowed for the fulflment of the working class’s dreams for social advancement (1985, 77). Canuplin’s story shows how Filipino bodabilistas responded to the emerging popular culture industry which created a space for social mobility as their mastery of American ways gave them power to negotiate their ambivalent status as colonial subjects (San Pablo and Mae 2008, 31). Tis was at a time when the US was solidifying its empire in the Islands and Filipino music and talent were utilised to produce commodities that were consumed in the realm of music printing, music recording, and especially live performance. Bodabil was an important genre of live performance that eventually dominated popular public entertainment and became an infuential agent in the distribution and consumption of new commodities.

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In establishing the American Insular Government in the Islands, the US introduced “American ideals and the American way of life through a nationwide educational system, then later through the print and broadcast media and via flm” (Fernandez 2000, 1). Naturally, the use of English was instituted and represented the language of modernity for colonial subjects. Te Americans were determined to educate Filipinos in English and expose them to American culture in order to infuence their taste for popular entertainment and theatrical forms (Tofghian 2008, 82). Tis Westernisation of taste and consciousness was a necessary prerequisite for the acceptance of everything that the American government intended to advance: concepts of democracy and progress, consumer goods, education, and governance (Fernandez 1983, 10). Tis chapter interrogates the transculturation of vaudeville in the Philippines as popular music, focusing on how Filipino musicians responded to the capitalist imperatives of a growing market and audience while maintaining a space for the negotiation of relations between the divergent cultures of the hegemonic empire and the colony. Departing from cosmopolitanism as conceptual framework, the discussion examines the emergence of popular culture in the Philippines in an attempt to contextualise the articulation of local expressions in appropriating American vaudeville, considered “pop cosmopolitanism par excellence” (Keppy 2019, 28). Consequently, I posit the following queries: in its heyday, how did bodabil contribute to the circulation of popular music in the Philippines, specifcally as a venue for adopting new methods of advertising and selling songs, sheet music, and other commodifed forms of music? How did bodabil provide a space for social mobility among colonial subjects, particularly entrepreneurial musicians who participated in popular cultural production as a mark of modernity? Cosmopolitanism is defned as “an orientation, a willingness to engage with the Other. It is an intellectual and aesthetic stance of openness toward divergent cultural experiences, a search for contrasts rather than uniformity” (Hannerz 1990, 487). Gilbert and Lo reiterate cultural cosmopolitanism as “a practice of navigating across cultural boundaries” (2007, 26). Keppy loosely defnes cosmopolitanism as “receptiveness to alien cultures” (2019, 7) and links it closely to the idea of modernity, which he explains as “ideas and practice associated with progress and individual freedom” (2019, 7). Moreover, borrowing from the application of Henry Jenkins and Joel Kahn in their individual studies, Keppy posits that both of them “see [the] roles of nonelites in actively shaping and engaging in cosmopolitanism and modernity without associations of high culture and elite manipulations” (2019, 7). He highlights the pivotal role of Luis Borromeo, a middle-class Filipino, “who helped to create a pop cosmopolitanism and popular modernity” (2019, 8) in the Philippines by “reworking the modernist meanings and texts of the elites on the one hand, and constructing meanings for the masses on the other” (Kahn in Keppy 2019, 8). Bodabil also exhibits the specifc processes that characterise Turino’s (2000) view of cosmopolitanism “as the interaction of local cultural practices with ‘global’ processes” (2000, 4). Turino’s perspective is summarised as “a negotiation of the external with the internal; the foreign adapted to the native; the global in interaction with the local” (Adil 2019, 476). Te mixture of many local cultures within an established American form in the bodabil productions of the mid-1920s displays what Adil Johan explained as the cosmopolitan cultural practice of “articulating two or more contrasting identities simultaneously… [which may] not necessarily [be] divergent, but interactive [and are] the result of active aesthetic agency” (2019, 476). It also signals the intention of cosmopolitan agents to attain competence and a sense of mastery of the culture of the Other, initially alien to local culture (Hannerz 1990, 488). Te short but dynamic period of bodabil’s popularity in the Philippines afrms the cosmopolitan interconnectedness of divergent cultures through interaction and forged social relations, representing how Filipinos appropriated American cultural institutions to negotiate their position in the empire (Enriquez 2008, 6–7).

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Vaudeville in the Philippines Vaudeville was brought to the Islands in the early years of America’s imperial project to entertain American troops assigned in the colony and featured foreign entertainers, mostly from the US mainland. Vaudeville was a showcase of popular culture from the US and featured a potpourri of songs, dances, comedy skits, magical acts, contortionists, animal tricks, fre and sword eaters (Tiongson 2017, 10), and many other fascinating acts that enthralled audiences. As a mixture of entertainment acts, this genre has been present in the Islands as early as the late nineteenth century, albeit not labelled as “vaudeville” and not American. Under the vibrant Spanish theatre tradition, theatre star Valeriana Mauricio, a.k.a. Chananay, ventured as an entrepreneur and established Compañía lírica-dramática-coreográfca in 1885. Tis company combined four performance felds (cuadro de compañía) which featured the singing of arias, dances, and gymnastic performances. By 1897, Teatro Circo Filipino along Calle Echague in the Santa Cruz district featured a regular schedule for its Compañía acrobática, cómica, gimnástica y pantomímica, signifying that there was a stable patronage for productions of such variety shows. Due to the shif in colonial control of the Philippines from Spain to the US in the early twentieth century, many foreign vaudeville troupes came to perform in the new and slowly “Americanising” colony. Among the earliest troupes to visit the Islands were the American Lilliputians in 1901, the Russian Baroufski Imperial Circus in 1902 (Cayabyab 2018, 328), and Levy’s Australian Vaudeville Co. in 1903. Te Australian company inaugurated the newly renovated Orpheum, formerly Teatro Filipino, on 9 September 1903 to a full house (Te Manila Times [TMT], 10 September 1903). Te Orpheum was envisioned to open continuously and run “on the lines of the vaudeville houses in the States… [and] it is intended to make the Orpheum the home of vaudeville in Manila” (TMT, 10 September 1903). A marketing innovation introduced at the Orpheum a month afer its inauguration was the presentation of an “amateur night” that furnished fresh talents and acts, contributing to its popularity and crowd-drawing infuence (TMT, October 19, 1903). Te freshness and the variety ofered by the discovery of new performers paved the way for vaudeville competitions that attracted more audiences. In 1918, Leonard Nelson, the manager of Savoy Teatre’s vaudeville company, organised a competition that allowed candidates to perform “any class of act they liked” that was suitable for the stage (TMT, 14 March 1918). Te winner was awarded one hundred pesos, a contract at the Savoy Teatre, and a possible tour to the leading theatres in Australia, New Zealand, India, and China (TMT, 14 March 1918). Vaudeville productions prior to its localisation in the 1920s helped develop a taste for American popular culture. Fernandez mentions that there was an eminently receptive Filipino custom that embraced American culture which unquestionably made it become part of Filipino habits and frames of reference, partly due to the consideration that the conqueror’s culture was superior to his own (1983, 2). In addition, Fernandez asserts that in vaudeville’s heyday, it was the venue by which American musical culture entered painlessly, pleasurably, and almost unnoticeably into Philippine life at every level, “producing generations of Filipinos who sang of their feelings and thus thought of and analysed them in American terms” (4). Transformation of Vaudeville to Bodabil Eforts to localise this popular American genre were initiated by a few artists such as Domingo “Sunday” Reantaso and John Cowper (Keppy 2019, 72–74). However, Borromeo Lou is credited for establishing the localised bodabil. His shows featured a mixture of American popular

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songs with local genres such as the kundiman (Tagalog love song) and a number of newly composed dance pieces by Filipino composers (Barendregt et al. 2017, 31). Borromeo innovated and revitalised the theatre tradition in the Philippines and “transformed the older, elitist Hispanic cosmopolitanism into a Filipino pop cosmopolitanism for the masses” (Keppy 2019, 16). By assuming a cultural brokerage position, Borromeo’s successful contribution to the creation of a popular cosmopolitanism was attributable to his entrepreneurial skills which gave a high premium to “stars” and the advantageous utilisation of established capitalist infrastructure in the distribution of popular culture in the Philippines. In his shows, Borromeo featured local mimics of American “stars” and he is widely revered for having discovered, developed, and promoted local Filipino talents. A few of these Filipino artists became the “stars” of bodabil: Katy de la Cruz, Diana Toy, Canuplin, and Atang de la Rama, among others (Schenker 2017, 554). Tese local entertainers did not simply imitate their American originals. Tey appropriated the popular music culture of American vaudeville but, at the same time, creatively marked their performances with elements that portrayed local sensibilities and traditions. Other performers even went beyond the limits of stereo-typifying traditions by providing an alternative modernity such as the case of Katy de la Cruz’s ditties. De la Cruz was regarded as the “Queen of Bodabil”, singing with a big, raspy voice that earned her the stature of a “torch singer” (Ancheta 2017, 335). In her rendition of Jerry Brandy’s “Balut” (fertilised duck egg embryo), de la Cruz challenged “the institutional authority of the Philippine church, schools, and family units as purveyors of morality” (Ancheta 2017, 336) by emphasising “the aphrodisiac aspect of [balut]. Tis is a topic that would certainly have been met with embarrassed titters because the sexual is not supposed to be spoken about in polite society” (Ancheta 2017, 338). In defying the traditional notion of a virtuous and modest Filipina in her performances, de la Cruz posited a new image of a freer-moving woman, emancipated from the confnes of conventions and not embarrassed to put forward issues about sexuality and female empowerment. Te stages of the bodabil stand as witnesses to the emergence of a cosmopolitan image of the Filipina providing a proof that the colony was a space where alternative modernities were exercised. Similarly, Canuplin’s inclusion of “pathetic” magic tricks into his act mimicking Charlie Chaplin was an innovation that increased his saleability to the ticket-buying public. As political debates on the readiness of Filipinos to assume sovereignty of the Islands escalated in the late 1920s, the display of their capacity to be equipped with modernity was an important requisite imposed by the Americans. Te Filipinos’ inherent adeptness for mimicry signalled to the imperial government that they were ready for independence (Gonzaga 2019, 80). In a study of migrant Filipina taxi dancers in the continental US, Lucy San Pablo Burns asserted that colonial mimicry is the “strictest form of ideological disciplining… [and] the ultimate corporeal evidence of the ‘success’ of the American imperial project” (San Pablo and Mae 2008, 27). In the entertainment spaces of the bodabil, mimicry was not a simple emulation of a hegemonic icon but an understated articulation of patriotism, hinting at resistance towards imperialism. Canuplin’s mimicry of Chaplin, although in the light tradition of humorous entertainment, displayed a sense of mastery of the culture of the Other and probably ofered a way for the locals to construct meanings in their colonial engagement with the US. In addition, Borromeo Lou and other impresarios attempted to elevate Bodabil’s status as a legitimate theatre production. Producers grappled with improving bodabil’s reputation which was marred with vulgarity, loose morals, and cultural erosion (Barendregt et al. 2017, 26). A particular move that aided Borromeo’s goal to raise bodabil’s legitimacy was to include highly respected and popular stars of the earlier Hispanic theatres, e.g., Honorata “Atang” de la Rama (Keppy 2019, 112–114). Another method employed by Borromeo was to make his shows socially relevant. He incorporated short plays and comedy skits that slowly became permanent features

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of bodabil. Early on, Borromeo also experimented in adopting short comedies from European operas and Spanish zarzuelas to capture the attention of upper and middle-class theatre patrons (Keppy 2019, 109). Borromeo’s shows “evolved from a classy musical revue… into an eclectic Filipinised format [that combined]… music, dance, and drama,… with a short play [that included a social-issue-driven content at its core] around which other acts… were arranged” (Keppy 2013, 452). In the short plays, bodabil presentations tackled issues such as the plight of professional female taxi dancers (bailerinas) in Manila’s cabarets, the modernising attitude of young Filipina maidens, and the troubled private lives of bodabilistas, among others (Keppy 2013, 452; Keppy 2019, 106–107). Bodabil and the Music Market Te popularity of Bodabil in the 1920s coincided with the transformed taste for American products by the colonial population. With their improved economic condition, Filipinos adopted a modern lifestyle marked by their preferences for imported commodities. In Gonzaga’s study on consumerism in Manila’s commercial streets from the 1930s to the 1960s, the author argues that Filipinos encountered “modernity as a disorienting situation, in which they confronted unfamiliar realities without having the knowledge or capability to do so” (Gonzaga 2019, 82). It was necessary for Filipinos to depend on American and other imported products that fooded the luxury shopping street of Escolta in Manila to express their eforts in assimilating into modernity, accentuating their transcendent newness, and awkwardly altering their appearances, behaviours, and attitudes (Gonzaga 2019, 82). Te immense audience reach of Bodabil made it an ideal space for advertising. In Borromeo’s case, his business connection with the boxing promoters and co-owners of the Olympic Stadium induced him to include boxing training stunts in his shows to assist in advertising the weekly boxing bouts at the same entertainment arena (Keppy 2013, 451). In addition, bodabil became a venue to introduce consumer goods such as toothpaste of various brands (Keppy 2019, 72) and cinematographic flms (Keppy 2013, 451). Similarly, bodabil was an efective venue to advertise new compositions, banking on the star appeal of the chosen interpreter. Bodabil introduced new compositions to the fast-developing domestic music-making market comprised of pianoowning middle class Filipino families who became the established audience market of printed sheet music, mostly dances (Tan 2018, 335). Filipino composers grabbed the chance to write music that was marketable in order to participate in the business of music commodifcation. For Filipino composers, it was necessary to attain a stylistic versatility in order to reach a wide range of consumers. Te burgeoning popular culture of the 1920s favoured the modern sound of jazz music that shared the same space with the foxtrot, the tango, and the Charleston. Te lucrativeness of publishing popular dance music – regarded as cheap, light, and mere imitation (Santiago 1957, 15–17) – enticed composers such as Francisco Santiago and Nicanor Abelardo who were trained in the Western classical idiom propagated by the newly established University of the Philippines Conservatory of Music. Te University of the Philippines opened its Conservatory of Music in 1916 and aimed to be the principal breeding ground of classical composers of the Philippines focusing on the development of a nationalist Filipino music (Santos 2005, 4). Despite his classical training, Abelardo exemplifes the cosmopolitan Filipino musician who knew how to manoeuvre within Manila’s bourgeoning music market and capitalised on the commodifcation of music. He combined his work as a young music professor at the Conservatory with his salon playing at the Santa Ana Cabaret to augment his income (Santos 2005, 6).

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Abelardo’s composition, “Naku … Kenkoy!” (1930) with text by Romualdo G. Ramos and labelled as a foxtrot, is a short song in two sections, both in the key of C Major and set in duple meter. Te song describes a comical character created by Tony Velasquez – Kenkoy – who donned “an oversized white cotton suit with his hair slicked back with pomade … [and spoke] in broken English” (Gonzaga 2019, 82). Te text of the song is narrated from the point of view of a third person. Te frst verse tells of the inescapable likelihood of meeting Kenkoy everywhere with his notorious attire, transformed (colonial) attitude, and pathetic attempt to speak English. Te second verse describes Kenkoy as a popular entertainer present in all celebrations playing music with his ukulele, dancing with exaggerated moves, and howling uncontrollably. Te song’s foxtrot rhythm characterises the refrain with the following text: His forehead shaved, his movement, his walk transformed He sings while walking, in English with no letters (with ukulele, too) Greet him “how are you?” And the answer you receive, watch out! “Hey! Tagalog, mi no habla” Oh my, oh my Kenkoy! (Abelardo-Ramos 1930) [translation mine] It is only in the second to last line that the character of Kenkoy sings, declaring that he does not speak Tagalog with a short Spanish line, “mi no habla”. Tis displays the character’s attempt to appear assimilated to the hegemonic culture of a coloniser, but in so doing erroneously exhibits his adeptness to that of Spain despite being described in the song as having been Americanised. Regardless of the seeming confusion, Kenkoy’s short answer in a foreign language reveals a preference for the ways of the Other while neglecting his own, accentuating his attained culture of modernity and highlighting his cosmopolitanism and colonial integration. In this comical song, Abelardo emphasised the difculty of the locals in responding to the shifing colonial control of the Islands from Spain to the US as it meant adapting to diferent lifestyles, culture, and language. Kenkoy’s short and apparent spontaneous reply in Spanish hints at his incomplete cleansing of a deep-rooted inculturation of the previous coloniser’s culture while he struggles to adapt to American ways, a comical representation of a serious early-twentieth century Filipino reality. Conclusion Te immense popularity of vaudeville among Manila’s theatre-going public in the 1920s fortifed its power to promote the consumption of music, particularly its commodifed form. Te established infrastructure of Manila’s music market enabled musicians to manoeuvre their way towards economic afuence by using their labour to generate income and the established distribution network to reach a wide range of customers in order to accumulate more proft. Te capitalist imperative of competition gave rise to the ideology of “the star”, hit songs, and boxofce success, all of which converge through the potent appeal of the popular, a marker in the ramifcation of successful cultural industries. By tracing bodabil’s proliferation in the 1920s and bringing to the fore the cases of a few of its stars, an understanding emerges for how the concept of cosmopolitanism may be applied to examinations of cultural interaction and negotiations within imperial and colonial circumstances. Bodabil in the Philippines shows how capitalist infrastructures applied by popular culture industries were open for exploitation particularly by those who were willing to engage with the culture of the Other, shaping a modernity that highlighted an individual’s free agency.

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Tose who possessed the cosmopolitan attitude, i.e., entrepreneurship, gained access to the industry and made it possible to manoeuvre within the highly divided social spaces of colonial societies, allowing entrepreneurs to navigate fuidly in the transforming mode of cultural productions during the second half of the twentieth century. As the most prominent popular entertainment form of the 1920s, bodabil ofered social mobility to those who captured the essence of cosmopolitanism. Tose who were not fuid enough were lef out when new technologies such as talking movies, television, and radio were introduced. More than its economic benefts, bodabil’s transculturation in the Philippines opened an avenue for musical expressions that surpassed mere imitations of American popular music. Filipino composers as agents of cosmopolitanism negotiated with the imperial culture by employing US forms as foundations for musical expressions that were slowly becoming recognised as markedly Filipino. In their compositions and eventual performances, this framed fuency in the imperial language cannot be confned to a simple exhibition of mimicry that was devoid of meaning. Rather, bodabil performances became the medium for intercultural realisations where a reciprocal exchange of cultures transpired. Bibliography Abelardo, Nicanor. 1930. Ay Naku . . . Kenkoy! Manila: Ed Velasquez. Adil, Johan. 2019. “Cosmopolitan Sounds and Intimate Narratives in P. Ramlee’s Film Music.” Journal of Intercultural Studies 40(4), 474–490. Ancheta, Maria Rhodora G. 2017. “Te Rise of the Naughties: Humor in Katy de la Cruz’s Bodabil Songs.” In Philippine Modernities: Music, Performing Arts, and Language, 1880–1941, edited by José S. Buenconsejo, 331–359. Quezon City: Te University of the Philippines Press. Attali, Jacques. 1985. Noise: Te Political Economy of Music. Translated by Brian Massumi. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Barendregt, Bart, Peter Keppy, and Henk Schulte Nordholt. 2017. Popular Music in Southeast Asia: Banal Beats, Muted Histories. Te Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press. Cayabyab, Cristina Maria P. 2018. “Bodabil and its Masters.” In Saysay Himig: A Sourcebook on Philippine Music History, 1880–1941, edited by Arwin Q. Tan, 326–333. Quezon City: Te University of the Philippines Press. Enriquez, Elizabeth L. 2008. Appropriation of Colonial Broadcasting: A History of Early Radio in the Philippines, 1922–1946. Quezon City: Te University of the Philippines Press. Fernandez, Doreen G. 1983. “Philippine-American Cultural Interaction.” Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 1(1): 1–11. Fernandez, Doreen G. 2000. “Philippine Teatre in English.” World Literature Today; Norman 74(2): 318–322. Fernandez, Doreen G., Apolonio B. Chua, and Galileo S. Zafra. 2017. “Bodabil.” In CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Volume 9-Teater, Second edition, edited by N. G. Tiongson, 124–127. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines. Gilbert, Helen and Jacqueline Lo, eds. 2007. Performance and Cosmopolitics: Cross-cultural Transaction in Australasia. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. Gonzaga, Elmo. 2019. “Consuming Capitalist Modernity in the Media Cultures of 1930s and 1960s Manila’s Commercial Streets.” Te Journal of Asian Studies 78(1): 75–93. Hannerz, Ulf. 1990. “Cosmopolitans and Locals in World Culture.” Teory, Culture and Society 7: 237–251. Ira, Luningning B. 1978. “Two Tickets to the Vod-a-vil.” In Filipino Heritage: Te Making of a Nation, Vol. IX, edited By Alfredo R. Roces et al., 2507–2510. Manila: Lahing Pilipino Publishing. Joaquin, Nick. 1978. “Pop culture: the American Years.” In Filipino Heritage: the Making of a Nation, Vol. IX, edited by Alfredo R. Roces et al., 2732–2744. Manila: Lahing Pilipino Publishing. Keppy, Peter. 2013. “Southeast Asia in the Age of Jazz: Locating Popular Culture in the Colonial Philippines and Indonesia.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 44(3): 444–464. Keppy, Peter. 2019. Tales of Southeast Asia’s Jazz Age: Filipinos, Indonesians and Popular Culture, 1920–1936. Singapore: NUS Press. Te Manila Times (September 10, 1903; October 19, 1903; and March 14, 1918). Maniquis, Malou L. 2017. “Canuplin.” In CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Volume 9-Teater, Second edition, edited by N. G. Tiongson, 559. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Bodabil Music and the American Empire • 91 Mojares, Resil B. 2006. “Te Formation of Filipino Nationality Under U.S. Colonial Rule.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Special Issue: Tree by Mojares (March 2006) 34(1): 11–32. Pambid, Manny. 2015. Canuplin at iba pang mga akda ng isang manggagawang pangkultura. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. San Pablo, Burns, and Lucy Mae. 2008. “‘Splendid Dancing’: Filipino ‘Exceptionalism’ in Taxi Dancehalls.” Dance Research Journal 40(2): 23–40. Santiago, Francisco. 1957. Te Development of Music in the Philippine Islands. Quezon City: University of the Philippines. Santos, Ramon P. 2005. Tunugan: Four Essays on Filipino Music. Quezon City: Te University of the Philippines Press. Schenker, Frederick J. 2016. Empire of Syncopation: Music, Race and Labor in Colonial Asia’s Jazz Age. Doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Schenker, Frederick J. 2017. “Borromeo, Lou.” In CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Volume 7-Music, Second edition, edited by N. Tiongson, 554. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines. Tan, Arwin Q. 2018. Music, Labor, and Capitalism in Manila’s Transforming Colonial Society in the Late Nineteenth Century. Doctoral dissertation, University of the Philippines. Tiongson, Nicanor G. 2017. “Philippine Teater.” In CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Volume 9-Teater, Second edition, edited by N. Tiongson, 2–21. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines. Tofghian, Nadi. 2008. “José Nepomuceno and the Creation of a Filipino National Consciousness.” Film History, Experiment in Film before World War II (2008) 20(1), 77–94. Turino, Tomas. 2000. Nationalists, Cosmopolitans, and Popular Music in Zimbabwe. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

8

Songs for and of the Youth Mapping Trends in Philippine Popular Music, 1900–2000 Verne de la Peña

Turn on the radio at any time, anywhere in the Philippines, and chances are you will tune in to a radio station catering to the musical tastes of the Filipino youth – that is, music performed by the youth for the youth. In both AM and FM bands, only about two radio stations are dedicated to other styles of music such as classical or mellow tunes from “yesteryears” (the 1940s, the 1950s, and the 1960s). Tis is not to say that older listeners do not enjoy pop, rock, r&b and hip-hop, and whatever newer genres come out intended for younger audiences. Te radio waves in the country are dominated by popular music, a kind of music that fnds its beginnings in the development of a distinct cultural group: the Filipino youth. Tis “tribe”, like other cultural communities, share common expressive codes and systems and occupy shared milieus and domains for the production and consumption of culture. It is a group that is self-aware – one that possesses a conscious and articulated sense of collective identity as heard in the hit song “Kabataang Pinoy” (“Filipino Youth”) by the band Itchyworms from 2006: Ang barkada namin may pangarap Na nais abutin Pangarap namin magtagumpay Sa lahat ng gagawin Iba na tayo ngayon Walang di nagagawa Sabihin mo, sabihin nyo, Kaya natin to Kabataang pinoy pagbutihan mo Pag-asa ka ng buong mundo Kabataang pinoy kayang kaya mo Pinoy ako, pinoy tayo!

Our gang has a dream Tat we want to reach We dream to be victorious In all that we do We are diferent now Tere is nothing we cannot achieve Say it one, say it all, We can do this Pinoy Youth, do your best You are the hope of the entire world Pinoy Youth, you can really do it I am Pinoy, we are Pinoy

When and how did this one sector of the population come to be so dominant? How was this infuential music culture of the Filipino youth established? If one were to look into the traditional cultures in the Philippines, one will not fnd this intermediary generation between children and adults. Among indigenous communities, various types of ceremonies and rituals

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mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. Tese rites of passage occasion a person’s full acceptance as a member of the society, ready to accept the responsibilities of a mature individual. In short, these individuals cross from the juvenile stage directly into maturity without going through a transitional phase, or youth, as we know it. One may reasonably surmise that the culture of the youth in the Philippines is an invention of the 20th century. Forming and separating itself as a distinct cultural group, the kabataang Pinoy (Filipino youth) sprouted along with urbanisation and the secularisation of education in the American colonial period (1898–1946). During this time, the autonomy of the youth expanded and veered away from the control and infuence of their parents and vested themselves with their own cultural capital. Soon they would possess a consciousness of their own imagined identity, construct their own exclusive expressive forms and symbols, and occupy their own spaces for cultural interaction. Tis phenomenal birth and growth of the kabataang Pinoy sector parallels youth movements in the west, but would later come to trace its own trajectory. In the early years of the 20th century, American models became valued as marks of modernity. Vaudeville and stage shows, cabaret and jazz, along with the dance styles popularised by Hollywood took a foothold as Filipino audiences discarded the outmoded products of the Spanish era (1521–1898). Consequently, traditional song forms such as balitaw and kundiman began to symbolise a bygone age. Popular music artists from the late 19th century to the beginning of the new 20th century remained relevant by successfully transitioning to the new forms. Zarzuela actresses Maria Carpena (1886–1915) and Honorata “Atang” de la Rama (1902–1991) ventured into recording under Victor Records and Columbia Records when these US companies established ofces in the Philippines. It was Katy de la Cruz (1907–2004), however, who would rise to fame as the “Queen of Bodabil”. Bodabil refers to the local incarnation of vaudeville entertainment performed in packed theatres such as the Savoy and Palace and dance halls called kabaret in Manila in the 1920s and 1930s. With her sultry, jazzy renditions, de la Cruz was also known for challenging ultra-conservative norms of society with her sexually suggestive numbers such as “Balut” (“Duck Eggs” – known for their aphrodisiac quality) and “Ang Buserong Si Mang Gusting” (“Old Man Gusting the Peeping Tom”): sa gabi gabi pagsapit ng dilim aali-aligid si matandang Gusting sa silong ng bahay tingin siya ng tingin at hawak ang kanyang batutang maitim,

At night, when darkness comes Old man Gusting comes hovering Constantly gaping from beneath the house Clutching his dark truncheon

Another fne example of de la Cruz’s signature style is her jazzed up versions of Filipino folk songs such as “Magtanim ay di Biro” (“Planting Rice”), recorded under the RCA Victor label. Tis track included English translations for the purpose of reaching wider audiences in the USA, attesting to the cosmopolitan inclination of the times. Te zarzuela (later known as “sarswela”) would also fnd its way to the silver screen starring the same actresses who performed it on theatre stages. At about this time, local composers began weaving the western popular musical idiom into original Filipino ballads such as “Dahil sa Yo” (“Because of You”, 1938) and “Silayan” (“Glimpse”, 1939) by Mike Velarde (1913–1986). Early radio stations such as KZEG, KZIB, and KZRM, along with the Philippine flm industry, played a major role in popularising these singers and songs. World War II would put these developments on hold when popular styles were banned as decadent during the Japanese Occupation (1942–1945). Te presence of the American military afer liberation brought a new surge of western popular songs and their subsequent local

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adaptations. “Inday Bayle Ta” is a Cebuano adaptation of “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön” (1937) by the Andre Sisters who in turn adapted it from the Yiddish “Bei Mir Bistu Shein” (1937) by Jacob Jacobs. Te adapted text paints a picture of the hard life during the post-WW II period when rice was scarce and cassava (root crop) was the common substitute: Inday, bayle ta Di ko kay kapuy Amon pamahaw bulanghoy Amon panihudto bulanghoy nga puto Amon panihapon bulanghoy gihapon.

Inday, let us dance No, I am tired Our breakfast was cassava Our lunch was cassava cake Our supper was still cassava.

Te 1950s to the early 1960s saw the full emergence of a truly distinct youth identity nurtured by the stability of the years afer the war known as “peace time”. Te movement began among young people from elite families whose lifestyles mirrored Hollywood culture’s dances, fashion, and cars. Te musical experience also increasingly became mediated by recording, radio, and television technologies as capitalists apprehended the viability of the emerging market. It was radio that gave birth to the frst Filipino teen idols in radio programmes such as Tawag ng Tanghalan (Call of the Stage). Tis weekly singing competition produced countless stars, the frst one being the so-called “Perry Como of the Philippines”, Diomedes Maturan (1940–2002), with his hit “Rose Tattoo” (1958). So popular was the track that it spawned a movie with the same title starring Maturan himself and inspiring several spin-ofs thereafer. Meanwhile, as television sets became more afordable many radio shows migrated to the new medium. Popular music and the latest dance crazes became fodder for teen-oriented shows such as Jam Session (1960), Night Owl (1961), Darigold Jamboree (underwritten by a popular evaporated milk brand introduced in the country in 1957), Dance O’ Rama, and Student Canteen. Te mad search for the next teen idol continued. New bankable names emerged such as Bobby Gonzales, Manila’s version of James Dean with his boogie-woogie beat of “Hahabol-habol” (“Always Chasing”), and Eddie Mesa, the “Elvis Presley of the Philippines”, singing rock and roll covers such as “Roll Over Beethoven” with his band the Hi Jacks. “Hahabol-habol” typifes the rock and roll playboy archetype: O ang babae pag minamahal May kursunada’y aayaw-ayaw Pag panay ang dalaw ay nayayamot Wag mong dalawin, dadabog-dabog Wag mong suyuin ay nagmamaktol Pag iyong iniwan, hahabol-habol

O when a girl is in love She is interested but plays hard to get Call on her ofen and she is annoyed Don’t pay her a visit and she throws tantrums Don’t woo her and she sulks Leave her behind and she comes chasing you

While “Hahabol-habol” and several other singles were written in Tagalog, the more standard commercial practice was to write English songs such as the famed “A Million Tanks to You” (Alice Doria Gamilla and Luis Trinidad) recorded by the celebrated Pilita Corrales. Tagalog, Cebuano, and Ilocano lyrics were relegated to the styles of the past and associated with the older generation and their memories of a bucolic life in the county side. Popular songs, movies, and dances on the other hand depicting the vibrant urban life of Manila’s elite became the obsession of the general public. Tey looked to these youth of the upper class as lifestyle trendsetters whether in the latest fashion, motor trends, or musical choices. Te members of the wealthy class, however, maintained their separation from the rest by forming exclusive and competitive social cliques widely referred to as “gangs” with names such

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as “Mohawks”, “Apaches”, and the notorious “Lo Waist Gang”. Te latter was comprised of scions of the old rich families and included movie stars. One of these scions, Joseph Estrada, would later enter the world of politics to fnally become the country’s president in 1998, only to be deposed for corruption in 2001. Te mode of production occupied not just the airwaves but also prestigious school events, nightclubs, and hotels. Te elite’s glitzy parties were festooned by live band music – combachero groups that specialised in Latin dances in the 1950s and the rock and roll combos of the 1960s and the 1970s. Tis new cultural groups further underscored their imagined identity and exclusivity by evolving their own jargon. Apart from other markers such as age, social class, and taste, insiders were able to distinguish who belonged and who did not according to their linguistic competence. Te group language consisted in the beginning of terms borrowed from the west – cool, guys, dolls, cats, chicks, wheels, etc. – typical of speech heard in Hollywood movies and in foreign pop songs. Local colloquial terms based in the Filipino language soon emerged. One code system consisted of words read or pronounced backwards or shortened and embellished: pogi from gwapo (handsome), yosi from sigarilyo (cigarettes), dehins for hindi (no), tsikot from kotse (car), and erap for pare (mate or buddy). Tese expressions found their way into popular music such as Bobby Gonzales’ “Pogi Dehin Goli” (“Handsome But Doesn’t Bathe”) adapted from Dave Clark Five’s “Tabatha Twitchit” (1967) and issued by Mayon Records. On the other hand, the formula of adapting western popular music with Filipino lyrics became quite lucrative, particularly among audiences from the lower classes who lacked the linguistic competence to fully appreciate the originals. Tese ditties with comic, sometimes ribald lyrics and a preference for country music styles would come to be labelled by the industry as novelty songs. Fred Panopio (1939–2010), a part-time actor who was packaged as a yodelling cowboy, released several recordings the most notable of which was “Pitong Gatang” (1960) or seven gantas (unit of measure for grain), a song associated with the movie of the same title. Panopio would remain active in the music scene many years afer. “Ang Kawawang Cowboy” (“Te Pathetic Cowboy”) from 1977 is his novelty hit adapted from Glen Campell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy” (1975): Ang kawawang cowboy May baril walang bala May bulsa wala namang pera Ako nga ang cowboy Palaging nag-iisa Ang kabayo ay walang paa Ang aking brief ay butas pa

Te pathetic cowboy Owns a gun with no bullets Has pockets with no money I am the cowboy Always by lonesome Whose horse has no legs And whose underwear has holes

Te most iconic artist, however, under the novelty tag is Yoyoy Villame (1932–2007), a former soldier and bus driver who rose to fame with his witty, thickly accented English renditions of his own compositions and adaptations. Based in the southern island of Bohol, Villame’s frst blockbuster was “Magellan” (1972), a comical interpretation of national history. His “Butse kik” (1980) on the other hand contained Chinese-sounding nonsense syllables which Villame constructed by stringing together names of shops in Chinatown set to the tune of Dee Dee Sharp’s “Baby Cakes” (1962). From the mid-1960s to the 1970s, youth identity spread from the elite to the lower economic stratum as secular tertiary education became accessible to more Filipinos. Tus, sub-cultures began to emerge distinguishing the upper rung sosyal (socialites), comprised mostly of students from prestigious schools, from the lower stratum bakya crowd (literally wooden slippers), made up of students from public schools as well as the unschooled youth. Te former preferred

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the sophisticated cultural spaces of concert halls and discotheques while the latter took over the more commercially driven television and movie houses. Te standard bearer for the bakya crowd was Nora Aunor (b 1953) who began her career as a singer afer she bagged the championship in the radio show Tawag ng Tanghalan in 1967. Raised in poverty in the countryside, Aunor rose to fame as a singer with early covers such as “Pearly Shells” (1971), said to be the biggest selling single in the Philippines to date. Her popularity rose to greater heights in tandem with on screen partner Tirso Cruz III, a “love team” known by the moniker “Guy and Pip” whose collaboration extended to recordings. Cruz himself came from a family music band, Joe Cruz and the Cruzettes, a mainstay in the hotel entertainment circuit that specialised in Latin, soul, and funk music as exemplifed in their album Lahat ng Araw (All the Days) issued by Plaka Pilipino in 1976. Live music performers such as the Cruzettes would later be called Filipino “showbands” who would fll the demand for hotel entertainers all over Asia. Aunor on the other hand would hone her acting skills to become one of the most respected names in Philippine cinema in a career that spanned four decades. Yet another subgroup to arise were the rock music listeners who pursued iconoclastic ideals that shunned the pretence that they saw among the sosyal whom they branded as burgis (petit bourgeois). Following the hippie counter-culture movements in the west, this subgroup frst patronised American and European rock groups until local bands began to write their own compositions that would come to be known as Pinoy rock. With their huge hit “Ang Himig Natin” (“Our Music”, 1971), considered the anthem of Pinoy rock, the Juan de la Cruz Band paved the way for a generation of prolifc blues-rock groups such as Maria Cafra (Kumusta Mga Kaibigan, 1978) and solo female rock acts like Sampaguita (Bonggahan, 1978). Tis subgroup, also known as the “ jeproks”, placed a premium on being real and in the experiential dimension referred to as the “happening”. For this reason, the use of psychedelic drugs for the enhancement of experience became a marker of the subgroup. Meanwhile, the exclusive lingo of upper-class college girls marked by code switching Filipino and English, or Taglish, would be appropriated by songwriters who churned out pop-style love songs. Te Manila sound, as the genre has come to be known, bridged listeners from the sosyal to the bakya groups and were on constant loop in both AM and FM airwaves. Te Hotdog’s phenomenal hit “Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng Buhay Ko” (“You Are the Miss Universe of My Life”, 1975) managed to capture the other preoccupation of Filipinos – beauty contests. Also crossing social boundaries, the Apo Hiking Society, whose roots are in an elite school where the band was formed, produced songs that appealed to youth from various sectors. “Pumapatak na Naman ang Ulan” (“Rain is Falling Again”, 1978) used colloquial words to describe the typical life of teenagers: Ang araw ko’y nabubusisi Ako ang nasisisi Bakit ba sila ganyan, Ang pera ko ay di magkasya Hindi makapagsine at ayaw naman dagdagan

My day is scrutinised I get to be blamed Why are they like that? My money is not enough Can’t go to the movies, and they refuse to give more

Te development of Pinoy rock and the Manila sound was briefy interrupted when Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972 whereupon all radio stations came under the control of the state. More severely afected where the long-haired rockers who were seen as the antithesis of the new image of the youth that the repressive state wanted to promote. One of the frst public spectacles in fact staged by the state was the fashion show Bagong Anyo (New Look) which conscripted celebrities as models, albeit now clean-cut and “presentable”. Marcos appointed his daughter

Songs for and of the Youth • 97

Imee to head the Kabataang Baranggay, the government youth organisation, of which all citizens eighteen years old and below were mandated to be a member. Imee Marcos also became one of the chief proponents of the Metro Manila Popular Music Festival or Metropop, a songwriting competition held annually from 1978 that ofered lucrative cash prizes and recording contracts. More importantly, Metropop promoted a kind of popular music culture that the state saw as benefcial for the youth and for the country: Filipino, musically current, and yet always with positive and even didactic content. Te frst championship was bagged by “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika” (“What a Beauty Our Music Is”) composed by conservatory-trained Ryan Cayabyab, who would remain productive in the world of popular music decades thereafer and who would fnally be conferred the National Artist for Music award in 2018. Metropop produced a number of other iconic compositions such as Charo Unite’s “Lupa” (“Earth”, 1979) sung by Rico J. Puno and Nonog Pedero’s “Isang Mundo, Isang Awit” (“One World, One Song”, 1980) sung by Leah Navarro. A further action of the state to nationalise the airwaves came with the passing of a resolution by the Broadcast Media Council (BMC) mandating all radio stations to play two original Filipino works every hour. With this promulgation came the blanket term “Original Pilipino Music” (OPM) which has since been the name used for the broad category of popular styles – rock, ballad, pop, jazz, folk – composed and recorded by Filipino artists. Metropop combined with the OPM resolution thus became a major impetus for the surge of popular music from the late 1970s and into the following two decades. Te recording industry fourished as companies diversifed into varying labels specialising in diferent styles and market niches. Nationalism and social consciousness continued to grow in segments of the youth, particularly among university students as well as the labour class and the peasantry. Critical of the pervasive colonial infuences, songwriters wrote texts that focused on identity and social justice, if not subtly anti-establishment. Heber Bartolome and his band Banyuhay fused the traditional sound of the banduria (a fourteen-stringed tremolo lute) into their rock ballads such as “Tayo’y Mga Pinoy” (“We are Pinoy”, 1978): Tayo’y mga Pinoy, Tayo’y hindi Kano Wag kang mahihiya Kung ang ilong mo ay pango.

We are Pinoy We are not Americans Do not feel ashamed If your nose is small

In the same year, the group Asin came out with “Ang Bayang Kong Sinilangan” (“Te Land of My Birth”, 1978) which became one of the biggest hits of another genre labelled as Pinoy folk. Tis style spread among artists who began their careers as folk singers in establishments known as “folk houses” where American country and folk music were the staple. Te more prominent Pinoy folk artists included Florante (“Ako’y Pinoy”, “I am Pinoy”, 1977), Coritha (“Sierra Madre”, 1980), and Freddie Aguilar who penned the all-time favourite “Anak” (“Child”, 1978). Te latter song, also a product of Metropop, would later be translated into various languages for release to many parts of Asia (see Augustin and Adil’s chapter). Despite the repressive Marcos dictatorship, student activism expanded and street protests became alternative venues for cultural production. Protest songs produced outside the commercial music industry were disseminated via DIY cassette albums within the progressive movements. Such was the case for the album Pagpupuyos (Blaze, 1981) by the female duo Inang Laya and Nagbabagang Lupa (Smoldering Earth, 1985) by the Patatag, a singing group active in protest theatre. Towards the 1980s, teen idol sensations continued to dominate radio, television, and movies as production companies competed intensely to dominate both the recording and flm industries.

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Sharon Cuneta, who released her frst single “Mr DJ” in 1978 at the height of the Manila sound craze, would later dominate all media outlets and be dubbed “the Mega Star”. Her song “Bituing Walang Ningning” (“Star With No Brightness”) written by Willy Cruz and released by Vicor was produced by Viva Films as a motion picture with the same title in 1985 starring Cuneta herself. Local dance crazes, initially fuelled by the blockbuster American movie Saturday Night Fever (1978), spawned local bands in the mould of the Bee Gees – VST and Co. (“Awitin Mo at Isasayaw ko”, “Sing and I Will Dance”, 1979), Te Boyfriends (“Sumayaw, Sumunod”, “Dance, Follow”), and Hagibis (Lalake, Man 1980), the latter inspired by the American group the Village People. When the dictatorship was fnally toppled by the People Power Revolution in 1986, there was widespread optimism and celebrations of unity among members of the various sectors in their triumph to achieve a common goal. Constancio de Guzman’s “Bayan Ko” (1928), which had become a rallying song during the Japanese occupation (1942–1945), became the anthem of the streets as rendered by Freddie Aguilar. No other song, however, captures the euphoria and perceived unity of various groups than the song “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo” (“Te Filipino’s Gif to the World”, 1986) penned by Apo Hiking Society’s Jim Paredes. Te song’s music video featured various artists from diferent genres including Inang Laya, Lester Demetillo, Celeste Legaspi, and the Apo Hiking Society. A renewed sense of nationalism cut across musical styles and social classes. Even Pinoy rap music, the latest variety to be heard on the radio airwaves, contributed to the conversation with Francis M’s “Mga Kababayan Ko” (“My Countrymen”, 1990) as well as his hip-hop version of Heber Bartolome’s “Tayo’y Mga Pinoy” which became even more popular than the original. On the other hand, Joey Ayala, a native of Mindanao island, introduced his neo-ethnic styled compositions with his band Bagong Lumad (New Native) in the group’s album Magkabilaan: Contemporary Music of the Philippines (1988). A diversity of musical styles blossomed in the last decade of the 20th century as youth groups diversifed and expanded with their varied lifestyles and concerns. Social stratifcation continued as new groupings formed and new category labels emerged: the yuppies (young urban professionals), the jologs (urban poor youth, replacing the jeproks), the promdis (country bumpkins), and the coño kids (pretentious upper class replacing the burgis). Sophisticated young bands who grew up listening to rock and jazz emerged with the likes of Neocolours (“Tuloy Pa Rin”, “Still Going On”, 1990) and Side A (“Forevermore”, 1995). Te Pinoy hip-hop market fourished with blockbusters like Andrew E’s “Humanap Ka Ng Panget” (“Look for An Ugly Guy”, 1990) which generated a movie. Dance music remained lucrative with Gary Valenciano’s song and dance routines such as “Hataw Na” (“Hit It”, 1993). A new generation of rock enthusiasts preferred the grungy sounds of alternative rock such as that of the Eraserheads in their bestselling album UltraElectroMagneticPop! (1993). Te phenomenal Aegis Band, which dominated the C, D, and E markets, closed the decade with the quadruple platinum album Halik (Kiss, 1998) which included the megahit “Basangbasa sa Ulan” (“Drenched in the Rain”). Te 20th century witnessed the development of Philippine popular music alongside the growth and expansion of Filipino youth groupings. Capitalist infrastructures that included radio, television, and flm companies recognised and invested in the market potential of the youth early on, resulting in a highly productive and dynamic entertainment industry. While geo-political entanglements introduced and shaped the path of popular culture, adaptability and versatility forged an auditory culture uniquely Filipino. Amidst all of these elements, it was technological development that acted as the main catalyst of the music economy. It is thus ironic that technology would also play the primary role in the collapse of the recording industry in the new millennium as the age of the Internet and digital platforms commenced. Unable to cope with losses incurred from unabated fle-sharing and piracy, recording companies shuttered.

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However, 21st-century advancements induced new musical forms and formats native to the new technologies. To the Kabataang Pinoy this juncture was merely an opportunity to press the reset button. Bibliography Cultural Center of the Philippines Encyclopedia of Philippine Art. Second Edition Volume 7 Music. 2017. Cultural Center of the Philippines in Cooperation with the Ofce of the Chancellor. Manila: University of the Philippines Diliman. Tan, Arwin Q., editor. 2018. Saysay Himig: A Sourcebook on Philippine Music History 1880–1941. Manila: Te University of the Philippines Press. www.discogs.com

PART

III

Artists and Genres

Part III focuses on selected artists and genres of the Nusantara region. Considering the fuid nature of both popular music and individual identities presented in Part II, the authors in this section delve into specifc case studies that help to defne and challenge categorisations. Te discussions reveal intricate positionalities of musicians, composers, and producers as they defne their genres, and the genres begin to shape their image and creative outputs. In all cases, artists and genres negotiate ethnic, religious, and cultural identities while navigating cultural policy, Islam, and government politics that continuously redefne the parameters within which the industry operates. Te analyses review inter- and intra-regional migrations across diferent states and national borders, as well as spiritual migrations. Tis section highlights the embodiment of a Nusantara hybrid identity that characterises each artist and genre. For artists, Nusantara signifes genealogy, social histories, and interactions of individuals, families, and communities across maritime Southeast Asia. For genres, it emphasises heritage, material culture, and performance traditions that indigenise popular music. Nusantara embodiments negotiate cultural norms, religious expectations, and gendered privileges that validate specifc genres and artists and at times challenge counterparts. Nusantara artists and genres may also challenge boundaries established by the state through cultural policies, mediated festivals, and a restrained media (with delicadeza, syempre). Tis section begins with an analysis of musician, composer, and national icon Zubir Said. Born in Indonesia of a Minangkabau family, Zubir lived most of his life in Singapore and became an emblematic fgure of the Malay community. Te composer exemplifes a Nusantara identity that infuences his works and validates his recognition in Singapore specifcally and the Malay world at large. Chapter 10 looks at dangdut koplo, an Indonesian national popular music genre that exemplifes Nusantara contestations of cultural, religious, and gender norms. Te chapter presents three eras addressing specifc artists to discuss musical approaches and the context of production and consumption. Chapter 11 examines a specifc music showcase that both supported and was shaped by the music, DIY philosophy, and character of the singer-songwriter circuit. Te analysis challenges conceptualisations of artists and genres, as well as music eras of popular music in the Nusantara region. Chapter 12 wraps up part three with an analysis of a characteristically Nusantara genre, nasyid kontemporari, considering the spiritual journey of artists supported by indigenous popular music movements.

9

Singapore Arts Icon or Malay Nationalist? Mobilising Zubir Said Across the Causeway1

Adil Johan

Everyday hundreds of thousands of Malaysians commute from Johor to Singapore for work via the Singapore–Johor causeway. Built in 1923, the Johor-Singapore Causeway links the Woodlands Customs and Immigration Quarantine (CIQ) Complex Checkpoint (connecting to Singapore’s Bukit Timah Expressway) to Johor Bahru’s Sultan Iskandar Building in Malaysia. A second bridge known as the Tuas Second Link and completed in 1998 connects Singapore’s Ayer Rajah Expressway to Malaysia’s Second Link Expressway. Te term “across the causeway” is commonly used among Singaporeans and Malaysians to describe each other’s relative locations and has manifested beyond geographic meanings, i.e., nationality, ideology, politics, and racial hegemony. Aside from cultural and historical links, both countries remain mutually dependent for labour and natural resources as the physical utility and conceptual notion of a causeway of exchange is central to the Singapore–Malaysia relationship. Tis chapter explores this common and complex Nusantara relationship through an ethnography of events that commemorated one of Singapore’s most prominent icons in popular music and the arts. Zubir Said (1907–1987), a Minangkabau–Indonesian–Malay–Singaporean who composed Singapore’s national anthem, “Majulah Singapura” (“Onward Singapore”), was commemorated for his musical contributions to the nation in a series of events in 2012 sponsored by the National Arts Council of Singapore. In 2009 his name was immortalised in the street name “Zubir Said Drive” where the prestigious Singapore School of the Arts is located. Te following pages investigate issues of Malay nationalism and minority cultural politics in Singapore through an ethnography of public events held in 2012 that commemorated Zubir Said’s musical contributions to Singapore. I argue that Zubir Said as a Singaporean arts icon is mobilised by the minority Malay community to claim a stake in a majority Chinese nation despite eforts by the Singaporean government to promote him as an icon of the island-state’s multicultural and merit-driven society. Te politics of Malay identity in Singapore must also be understood in relation to Malay ethnonationalism across the causeway that separates the island-city from Peninsular Malaysia. Te mobilisation by the minority Malay community of Zubir Said also serves as a reminder of Singapore’s precarious geopolitical position in the Malay-speaking Nusantara region (Rahim 2009). Zubir Said was a popular music icon in the production of Malay-language records and flm music but his cumulative accolades in music also led him to become one of Singapore’s most prominent national icons – especially for its Malay community. Tus, the fnal section of this chapter reveals that the acts of commemoration mentioned above were also part of the ruling People’s Action Party’s response to a shockingly

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less dominant electoral win in 2011. Tat election saw a backlash from Singaporean citizens against rising costs of living and an ever-increasing immigrant population that resulted in an ongoing dilution of national culture. Tese acts of commemoration sponsored by the Singaporean state served to reassert a sense of national identity through the arts. Tese acts also framed Singapore as a land of opportunity for people of diverse national backgrounds, unlike neighbouring Malaysia, which champions special privileges or afrmative-action policies – depending on the critical perspective – for its indigenous Malay majority population (Goh et al 2009; Noor and Leong 2013). However, such authority-sanctioned initiatives also ignore the postcolonial context of Singapore’s ethnic and class divisions in which the Chinese community form the economic and ruling elite. Te following pages unravel these contestatory discourses through an ethnography of three public events: a book launch, a flm festival, and a concert in tribute to Zubir Said. Tese events are also framed against Zubir Said’s own views on Malay nationalism in the arts written in a post-World War II period when neither Malaysia nor Singapore existed as a distinct nation state. Before examining Zubir Said’s views on Malay music, it is necessary to outline the geopolitical context of the nation state of Singapore in relation to its Nusantara neighbours. Singapore in the Nusantara A 1959 painting by Chua Tia Mee titled “National Language Class” depicts Singapore approaching independence from colonial rule during the 1950s to 1960s. It centres on a Malay language class, in which students of various ethnicities learn the basic phrases “Siapa nama kamu?” (“What is your name?”), and “Di-mana awak tinggal?” (“Where do you live?”). It is an apt opening reference and cover illustration for Lily Zubaidah Rahim’s (2009) book, Singapore in the Malay World: Building and Breaching Regional Bridges. Rahim’s study draws attention to the precarious geopolitical position of Singapore, surrounded by Malay-speaking nations Indonesia and Malaysia. Singapore’s shared colonial and political history with Malaysia is even more fraught with tension. Te two states along with Sabah and Sarawak merged in 1963 forming the Federation of Malaysia. Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Malaysia was to be led by a majority Malay and Muslim coalition that would assert afrmative action economic policies for citizens deemed indigenous to the land. Lee Kuan Yew’s Chinese majority island, however, believed in a meritocratic “Malaysian Malaysia”. Tese diferences were not to be reconciled. In Singapore, racial riots erupted between ethnic Malays and Chinese in 1964. Due to these communal and political diferences, Singapore was expelled from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965. Since 1965 Singapore has experienced tremendous economic growth despite its lack of natural resources and limited land. Te People’s Action Party (PAP) government has ruled since 1965 in an authoritarian and state capitalist fashion while also being very open to global markets and foreign labour. Many observe that this is the model of governance that has brought economic and developmental success to the island state with reduced emphasis on developing and supporting cultural activities and heritage (Chong 2010, 132, citing Peterson 2001, 11; Chua 1995, 59; and Koh 1989, 736). However, despite its merit-driven ideology, economic and political dominance is still enjoyed by a majority Chinese ruling elite. Te ofcial narrative of the nation is articulated through Lee Kuan Yew’s (1998) “Singapore Story”, which begins with the founding of the island by the British imperialist Stamford Rafes and proceeds to become further developed by industrious Chinese and Indian labour and capital. Absent in this narrative is the island’s pre-colonial Malay past, which according to Rahim

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has been “relegated to the realm of myth” and part of a systemic process of “forgetting and remembering the island’s Malay heritage”, thus whitewashing the tumultous and controversial aspects of the state’s formation (Rahim 2009, 2). Rahim aptly asserts this point by questioning why the government-sponsored “Malay Heritage Centre” (“Taman Warisan Melayu”) isn’t just called the “Singapore Heritage Centre” instead (Rahim 2009, 22). However, the Malay language remains an important foundation of Singapore’s national identity. While only few non-Malay citizens now speak Malay or understand it, Malay is one of four ofcial national languages alongside Tamil, Mandarin, and English. Importantly, it is the language sung in Singapore’s national anthem, “Majulah Singapura” (“Onwards Singapore”), composed by Zubir Said. While Singapore’s pre-colonial Malay past may be buried in the Singapore Story narrative, Zubir Said’s position as a popular national icon, along with his clear Malay nationalist views on the arts, has provided a rallying point for contemporary Singapore–Malays to claim a stake in Singapore’s history of nation-making. Malay Nationalist or Singaporean Arts Icon? Zubir Said was a paragon of the fuid Malay cosmopolitanism during the 1950s. Born of Minangkabau descent in Bukit Tinggi, Sumatra, he became a bangsawan musician in 1920s Singapore and eventually became a citizen in 1967 two years afer the formation of Singapore. In the 1940s to 1950s he, 1) composed music for Malay language flms, 2) was a talent scout and artist and Repertoire manager for His Masters Voice (HMV) records in Jakarta, 2 3) was a freelance photographer, and 4) managed the Indonesian Club in Singapore (Rohana Zubir 2012, 74). In 1957, he was even invited to write the national anthem for the newly independent Federation of Malaya. However, all three of his submissions were rejected (106–107). Zubir Said’s composition “Majulah Singapura” ofcially became Singapore’s state anthem in 1959 and proceeded to become the national anthem upon the state’s expulsion from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965 (Rohana Zubir, 3–19). Leading up to this expulsion, however, Zubir Said was no stranger to the vibrant political exchanges of the Malay community in Singapore. During the post-World War II period he held weekly informal group meetings with his peers of Minangkabau descent who became important Singaporean-Malay fgures. Tese included Singapore’s frst president, Yusof Ishak,3 the prominent journalist Abdul Rahim Kajai, and author Zainal Abidin Ahmad @ Za’aba (Zubir Said 1984, Reel 12). It is highly likely that Malay nationalist ideas about language and culture were exchanged in these meetings with ideas from Zubir Said’s more politicised peers having a direct impact on him and his consequent work. Riding on the wave of emerging nationalism leading up to Malayan independence from British colonial rule, Zubir Said passionately advocated for Malay nationalism in music by composing numerous patriotic songs and writing nationalistic articles (Rohana Zubir 2012, 102–120; Zubir Said 1956/1957, 1967, 2012a, 2012b). One of his most explicit Malay nationalist views on the arts was expressed in a publication the same year he became a Singaporean citizen in 1967. Te article cites a paper that Zubir Said presented in 1957 for a congress on Malay literature and the arts. He noted a decline in standards of the Malay language compared to the “glorious days of the Malay Sultanates (zaman gemilang Kerajaan2 Melayu)” (Zubir Said 1967, 20). Under courtly patronage in pre-colonial times, musicians and artists were highly valued while “Malay singing and songs occupied a good position in the feld of arts” (Ibid). He observed that in modern times such a decline in Malay authenticity and integrity in the arts was “due to the intrusion

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of foreign elements (akibat kemasokan unsor2 asing)”. He then proposed three actionable steps to remedy this cultural decline in Malay arts including the following: 1) Unsor2 kebangsaan hendak-lah di-tanamkan sa-banyak mungkin ka-dalam nyanyian Melayu bagi memelihara keperibadian-nya. 2) Unsor2 asing yang merosakkan hendak-lah di-hapuskan dan yang membawa kebaikan boleh-lah diterima. 3) Penggubah2 lagu serta biduan2 hendak-lah mempunyai pengetahuan yang se-layak-nya tentang bahasa dan jalan bahasa. 4) Sistem pengajaran nyanyian dengan tulisan musik hendak-lah di-adakan di-sekolah2. 1) Nationalistic elements must be planted as much as possible in Malay songs to preserve their (Malay) character. 2) Foreign elements that are detrimental must be destroyed and those that are benefcial may be accepted. 3) Music composers and artist (singers) must have adequate knowledge about the (Malay) language and its usage. 4) A system for teaching singing and music notation must be run in schools. (Zubir Said 1967, 20) Te formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1957 heralded an extensive discourse in Malay writing on the formation of a national culture that aligned with the opinions of prominent musicians such as Zubir Said who had been active in the region’s entertainment industry. In imagining and creating a nation out of the complex and diverse communities of indigenous groups from the Nusantara, the need to articulate a discourse of decline and preservation was necessary to narrate a history of a pre-colonial, if not primordial, Malay nation. Tis would form the basis of the new postcolonial Malay nation that exists within the larger constellation of Nusantara states. Many Malay nationalists thus refer to the unquestionable sovereignty of Malay sultanates or “kerajaan” as a bearer and patron of authentic Malay culture (Milner 1982). Tis political sentiment and strategy is clearly echoed in Zubir Said’s article. However, in retrospect Zubir Said’s Malay nationalist position is also complicated by his fuid attachments to multiple spaces and identities between islands of the region. He was a citizen of the Dutch East Indies, born on the island of Sumatra before migrating to Singapore to earn a living. Prior to World War II, he travelled frequently to Jakarta as an HMV talent scout for Indonesian recording artists. Tis inter-island mobility thus situates him in the complex and contradictory socio-cultural politics of nation-states and citizenship in the Nusantara. While he subscribed to a strong patriotic attachment to the idea of a Malay nation, Zubir Said ultimately wrote the national anthem of a state that stood apart from neighbouring Malay nations. Singapore became a “non-Malay” state in denial of its pre-colonial Malay past surrounded by the Malay world (Rahim 2009). How then, does the Singaporean state reconcile its shunning of its pre-colonial Malay past with its Malay nationalist icon? Tis query should not ignore the social erasures of other ethnic communities from national narratives, such as indigenous proto-Malay settlements, sea-dwelling Orang Laut, or other diasporic groups such as the Peranakan, who have long-standing precolonial histories in the Malay Peninsula. However, for the purpose of this chapter, I unravel the paradoxes and disjunctures specifc to Malay minority politics and Singaporean cultural nationalism by providing an ethnography of recent events that were held in tribute to Zubir Said.

Singapore Arts Icon or Malay Nationalist? • 107

Mobilising Zubir Said: Book Launch, Film Festival, and Concert Te following ofcial events that paid tribute to Zubir Said articulate the intricately linked history and politics of ethnicity that connect Malaysia and Singapore. All these events occurred in 2012, an especially signifcant year for commemorating Zubir Said and his work. Tat year a flm festival on Zubir Said’s flm music was held at the National Museum of Singapore featuring Malay flms from the 1940s to 1960s. In conjunction with this event, a tribute concert for Zubir Said featuring performances of his extensive repertoire of popular songs was held at Singapore’s Esplanade Teatres. Tat same year, Zubir Said’s daughter, Rohana Zubir, released a comprehensive and personal biography of her father, titled Zubir Said: Te Composer of Majulah Singapura. Rohana Zubir launched her book in Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) and proceeded to launch her book in Kuala Lumpur on 21 October 2012. Te Malaysian launch was attended by the Malaysian Minister of Information, Communication, and Culture, Rais Yatim, the Singapore High Commissioner to Malaysia, Ong Keng Yong, and the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Badawi (Sinar Harian 21 October 2012). All these events indicate that Zubir Said’s iconicity moved beyond the causeway that divides and connects Singapore’s island state from and to the Malaysian Peninsula, thus making him a “bi-national” cultural icon (or “tri-national” if counting his Indonesian origin). His cultural iconicity is contested, promoted, and remembered through diferent notions of Malay ethnicity, Singaporean nationalism, and the divergent political positions regarding such issues in both nations. While the reach of his iconic status is limited in Malaysia, it must be noted that his Singaporeborn daughter and biographer is a Malaysian citizen and is also decorated with the national honorifc title, “Puan Sri”.4 Her book was sponsored and published by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), a Singapore-based institute. Furthermore, the title of the biography explicitly positions Zubir Said as the composer of Singapore’s national anthem, thus highlighting his role as a national cultural icon for his adopted country. I view these modes of remembering Zubir Said as articulating a “causeway” to a complex and entangled national, cultural, and musical history. At the Malaysian book launch both the Malaysian Minister and the Singaporean High Commissioner concurred on the need to actively cooperate in exchanging the historical resources of their shared national history (Sinar Harian 21 October 2012). However, beyond these diplomatic niceties greater tensions are apparent particularly in Singapore, with regard to the mobilisation of Zubir Said as an ethnonational icon. “Long Live the Malays!” Te tribute concert at the Esplanade, for example, was performed to a packed concert hall and predominantly Malay audience. It had a very “Malay-centric” yet Singaporean nationalist atmosphere. It was as if Zubir Said was the galvanising icon for the Malay minority’s cultural stake in Singapore, a country in which Malay is an ofcial national language but whose majority of non-Malay citizens hardly speak and understand the language (Rahim 2009, 1–2, citing Te Straits Times, 19 August 2006). Tis mobilisation of Zubir Said as an ethnonational icon is clearly expressed by the concert’s artistic director: Tonight we celebrate one of the heroes of our race, culture and country. Zubir Said was an artist who carved the soul of the nation with his steadfast talent and upholding tradition through his art… Tonight we are proud to present his compositions… [and] songs that have been arranged in a way so as to tell the story of the life of Pak Zubir himself… the pioneer Singapore artist. (Zizi Azah & Amri 2012, 8)

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What is discernible in Zizi Azah’s message is an ethnic-minority voice that mobilises Zubir Said’s iconic status as a hero of “our race, culture and country”. It is telling that the possessive “our” is used as well which assumes an exclusive racial demographic of the concert’s attendees. Indeed, the concert was defnitely more of a Malay ethnonational event than a multi-ethnic national event for Singapore. Te “our” in the artistic director’s statement also indicates a political position of authorship in presenting a display of Malayness to non-Malay Singapore. Moreover, Zubir Said is positioned as “the pioneer Singapore artist” who contributed not just to the Malay minority community but more so to the establishment of Singaporean national–cultural identity as a whole. Te concert thus articulated the complex polarisation of Singapore’s multi-ethnic society and also amplifed the underlying sense of displacement felt by its Malay minority population. Te musical contributions of Zubir Said, a Malay national icon, are projected as the pride and joy of the Singaporean-Malay community as crucial to the formation of the Singaporean nation-state, while serving as a reminder of the state’s precarious geographic position in a surrounding Alam Melayu (Malay world). As discussed in the introductory chapter, the physical and conceptual boundaries of Malayness within the Nusantara are complex and contested in diferent nation-state contexts across the region. Ethnographically, in my observation of the concert, the contested relations of power between the state and the concert’s participants were initially subtle but became more apparent towards the end of the performance. Crucially, my position as a Malaysian-Malay researcher aforded me a unique perspective to observe the disjuncture of Singaporean Malayness and nationalism in the concert. However, the most poignant moment of the concert did not occur during the course of a multi-generational performance by various Singaporean and Malaysian artists of Zubir Said’s repertoire of songs. Indeed, the crowd consisted of young and old fans of Zubir Said’s music and it was clear that the nostalgic and nationalistic aims of the event were achieved, evident in the generous applause by the audience at the end of each song. Te most interesting moment occurred at the end of the concert when all of the performers were invited on stage along with their most honoured guest, Rohana Zubir, to sing the national anthem, “Majulah Singapura”. Everyone rose dutifully and sang the anthem loudly and clearly and at the end of the song, amidst the sustained and thunderous applause, I heard a young Malay man a few seats behind me exclaim in jest, “Hidup Melayu! Hidup UMNO!” (“Long live the Malays! Long live UMNO!”). With great irony, UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) had been the ruling party of Malaysia since the nation’s formation until 2018. Its ruling mandate was based on championing afrmative action (or special privileging) policies for Malays and indigenous Malaysians, a policy directly in opposition to Singapore’s PAP-led meritocratic principles. Even more controversially, some accounts have pinpointed UMNO instigators as the source for Singapore’s 1964 race riots: It was reported that on the eve of the riots, leafets urging Malays to kill Chinese were distributed in the city… Tese leafets were said to have borne the label “Singapore Malay National Action Committee”. Tis body, set up earlier in July was sponsored by members of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the dominant party in the multi-racial coalition which controls the Federal Government of Malaysia. Indeed, there is reason to believe that prominent fgures in UMNO, including its secretary-general, have been actively engaged in a campaign of agitation among Malays in Singapore with the ostensible object of securing special benefts for their co-religionists. It would probably be nearer to the truth to say that these activities were part of a deliberate design to embarrass, if not remove, the

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Chinese-dominated People’s Action Party (PAP) government in Singapore which is regarded by many in UMNO as a threat to continued Malay pre-eminence in Malaysia’s political life. (Leifer 1964, 1115) While UMNO may be linked to a violent and socially divisive riot in the history of Singapore, it remains an important link that Singaporean-Malays have to a sense of autonomy from the Singaporean state, at least in ideological terms. Recollections of the riots still resonate with a combined memory of ethnic and religious sentiments (Low 2001, 439–442). Many SingaporeanMalays present during the 1964 riots link these to the religiously fuelled Nadra (Maria Hertogh) riots in 1950 (Low 2001, 442; Aljunied 2009). However, the Singaporean state through ofcial narratives in the media and national education programmes use recollections of the riots to further state policies related to national cohesion especially among the younger generation. Tese ofcial narratives are used to legitimise “the need for a Singaporean national identity and as a means of extending the discourse of ‘being Singaporean’”, contrasting the “unruly plurality of popular memories” (Low 2001, 452). Such “popular memories” are manifested intimately in poignant “inside jokes” like the one blurted out by the Zubir Said concert attendees above (“Long Live UMNO!”), which encapsulate the paradoxes and historical continuities of contemporary Singaporean-Malay identity. Te act of remembering Zubir Said, while instilling national pride, also reminds Singaporean-Malays of their marginal and controversial position in the history of Singapore’s nation-making. Onwards Past the 2011 General Elections By contrast, the more overtly state-sanctioned event commemorating Zubir Said and his works in the National Museum’s flm festival, MAJULAH! (ONWARDS!), attempts to subdue the racialised tensions that were apparent in the tribute concert. Te social climate afer the 2011 general elections, which saw signifcant and unprecedented dissatisfaction with Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), resulted in increased government attention on Singaporean-Malay heritage and local arts to promote a greater sense of national culture. However, government representatives, institutions, and their agents also justify the increasing infux of foreign labour – a point of resentment among citizens – by highlighting Singapore’s multicultural inclusivity as an integral component of its national culture. Tis is done by perpetuating a less ethno-centric and more “inclusive” nationalist discourse: Zubir Said’s life epitomises the story of the many thousands of Singaporeans who originated elsewhere but found roots in Singapore and gave this country unreservedly their life-time’s work, heart and soul… Zubir Said’s music should help us recall the time in which we were energised by a singular hope and sense of purpose for the nascent country that was being born. Tat the anthem is written in Malay by a composer from Bukit Tinggi reminds us of Singapore’s place in the Malay world, but also of the inclusive multicultural basis on which our society is built. Tis society asked not where one had come from, but what one had come to give (and what one would bear). (Lee 2012, 12–13) Te foreward to the booklet for MAJULAH! by Lee Chor Lin, the National Museum’s Director at the time, implies a more racially inclusive vision of Zubir Said as a national icon. However, this overlooks his explicit historical role in the propagation of Malay-nationalist ideas. Lee acknowledges that Zubir Said’s Malayness “reminds us of Singapore’s place in the Malay world”, but

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stresses in a somewhat overcompensatory manner the inclusivity of Singapore’s “multicultural” society (Lee 2012, 13). Considering his positionality as indigenous to the region, Malay or nonChinese, a nationalised as opposed to ethnicised promotion of Zubir Said’s iconicity efectively washes over any possibility for ethnic sentiment in claiming a stake to Singapore’s nation-making. Singapore in its inception is envisioned as a diverse cosmopolis in which anyone from any background could contribute to the national project, provided they contributed signifcantly. Tis idea is very much in line with the narrative of success encapsulated by the majority Chinese population of the island. Markedly, Zubir Said’s afliation to the regional Malay nationalist ideas of the 1950s is downplayed to promote a vision of a cosmopolitan nation-state comprised of dedicated citizens from diferent backgrounds. By stating his origins as being “a composer from Bukit Tinggi”, the National Museum director actually detaches Zubir Said from his political and ethnonationalist Malay afnities. Te MAJULAH! flm festival thus articulated Zubir Said’s cosmopolitan history and music but also downplayed his role in envisioning Malay nationalism in his music. It efectively subsumed the representation of his works as “a site for the performance of multicultural fantasies” envisioned by Singaporean state cultural policies (Chong 2010, 137-139). In line with this, Low Zu Boon, one of the organisers for the festival, informed me that the festival was part of a general “mandate from the top… in terms of cultural policy” that was seeing an increased emphasis on “local content” in 2012 (Low 2012). Low (2012) informed me of a shif towards more local cultural content in government organisations that occurred “quite recently… post (2011) general elections”. Low curated the flms and conducted research for the festival. He admitted that Zubir Said was not that well known among many (non-Malay) Singaporeans prior to this. He also admitted that the festival organisers’ artistic and historical intentions were a convenient ft with the National Heritage Board’s ofcial mission statement “to preserve and celebrate our shared heritage” by “safeguarding and promoting the heritage of our diverse communities, for the purpose of education, nation-building and cultural understanding” (Low 2012, with reference to National Heritage Board 2012–2013). Importantly, all these initiatives for promoting national culture occurred in the wake of the 2011 general elections in Singapore. Te ruling PAP saw a marked reduction in the majority of its votes in the election and a signifcant loss of voters to the Singapore Workers Party (SWP). Some of the cultural issues that contributed to discontent towards the ruling party included a sense of deteriorating local culture and the increase of immigrant labour (Ortmann 2011, 153). Perhaps what contributed to a shif in interest to Malay icons in the arts was the publication of a book containing interviews of Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore’s very frst prime minister), Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going, in 2011 that had “served to upset Malay voters” by stating “that all religions and races except Islam could be integrated” into Singapore’s national fabric in the long term (Chong 2012, 290). Lee Kuan Yew’s statement reads: I think we were progressing very nicely until the surge of Islam came, and if you asked me for my observations, the other communities have easier integration – friends, inter-marriages and so on – than Muslims… Muslims socially do not cause any trouble, but they are distinct and separate. (Lee 2011, 228) Across the causeway, Malaysia’s then former prime minister (who briefy reassumed the country’s prime minister role from 2018 to early 2020) commented with the following: Now Kuan Yew is urging Muslims not to hold to the teachings of Islam too strictly. Most Muslims are in breach in their practice of Islam. But it is not for others to tell the Muslims

Singapore Arts Icon or Malay Nationalist? • 111

that they should renege on their practice of Islam to facilitate integration in Singapore. In Malaysia we try to live with our diferences. Our integration is not perfect because we are sensitive to the sensitivities of our people. We do not ask people to forsake their religious practices so we can integrate. (Mahathir Mohamad 2011, http://chedet.cc/?p=505) Of course, a comment from Lee Kuan Yew’s de facto rival in Malaysia would aptly fuel the sentiments of discontent among Singapore’s Malay population. However, Lee and his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong were quick to apologise to the Singaporean public. By March 2011, Lee Kuan Yew resigned himself to be “corrected” about his views by Malay and non-Malay Ministers from PAP at the time (Te Online Citizen 2011). Te public apology from Lee Hsien Loong was even endorsed by the current, Malay president of Singapore, Halimah Yacob (Te Online Citizen 2011). Tus, amidst all the pre-election controversy involving the Malay community, Zubir Said was indeed a convenient ft for the new national culture initiatives of the ruling PAP government, serving to cool the fames of resentment incited by Singapore’s frst Prime Minister. To this end, the state needed to actively promote local Malay icons and their history while also reminding its citizens that immigrant labour is what made Singapore in the frst place, thereby legitimising the ruling “immigrant” Chinese elite presence as well as the continuous (and necessary) infux of foreign labour. Further, the state needed to shif the narrative of hostile, Muslim Malays beyond the 1950s and 1960s communal riots and as a group of people who were supposedly not well integrated into Singaporean society, by reclaiming a popular Malay-nationalist music icon as an active contributor to the nation’s multiethnic workforce and cultural economy. Reconciling Singapore’s Relationship with the Nusantara Tis chapter provided an overview of Singapore’s contentious geopolitical position in the Nusantara, discussed Malay nationalist ideas related to music, and provided an ethnography of events dedicated to remembering the musician, flm composer, and arts icon Zubir Said. Te events included in this chapter highlight Zubir Said’s cosmopolitan life and his musical contributions to national culture including the paradoxes and disjunctures of his iconicity in the national and ethnonational context of Singapore. It was revealed that Zubir Said was actually a staunch advocate for Malay nationalism as evidenced in his writings on the preservation and development of Malay musical arts, albeit written during a period of intense postcolonial nation-making in the region. Zubir Said’s music, particularly his composition of Singapore’s national anthem, is a pertinent reminder of the Malay minority’s presence and relevance in a Singapore that has over the years distanced itself from a Malay national identity. Across the causeway, Zubir Said is remembered as an important contributor to a shared Malay musical heritage between Malaysia and Singapore and importantly, since the 2011 general elections in Singapore, there has been a greater emphasis on Malay content in the state’s cultural institutions. Tus, as the MAJULAH! flm festival has shown, greater attention has been paid to Zubir Said beyond his commonly remembered role as the composer of the national anthem. However, in line with Singaporean state policy, these events actively downplay his role as a Malay nationalist and instead represent him as a paragon of Singapore’s inclusive and multicultural citizenry; an idealised vision of the island-state that ignores its tumultuous political past and precarious relationship to the surrounding Malay world and its own Malay minority citizens.5 Te Singaporean state has always displayed sophistication in its attempts to reconcile its complex position in the Nusantara, while also managing a multicultural citizenry. Te most

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recent act of reconciliation towards the Malay community can be seen in its appointment of the nation’s frst Malay president in forty-seven years, Halimah Yacob (Lee 2017). In addition, the state is currently revisioning its nation’s “once lopsided” history by recognising its precolonial Nusantara past in conjunction with Singapore’s Bicentennial which marks two hundred years since its “discovery” by British colonial agent Stamford Rafes (Adil 2019, 461–472; SG Bicentennial n.d.). However, beyond these political and historical initiatives, this chapter has drawn attention to how music and music icons in particular are instrumentalised by the state and its citizens to advance political interests in the context of an inherently complex and interconnected Nusantara nationalism that oscillates across fxed state boundaries. In this, the conception of a metaphorical “causeway” (or network) across Nusantara borders of continual exchanges in artistic and political expressions is crucial in understanding Singapore in relation to its regional neighbours. Notes 1

2 3 4

5

A version of this chapter was presented at the 9th EUROSEAS Conference 2017 held at the University of Oxford on 16–18 August 2017, in a panel organised by the author titled, “Contestations of Performing Arts Within and Across Southeast Asian Borders”. Additional research for this chapter was supported with funding from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Geran Galakan Penyelidik Muda (GGPM-2017-079). Other important talent scouts from the period in Indonesia include Said Abdullah, a composer of Arab descent who popularised local genres such as keroncong to promote nationalist ideas (Prihandoko 2018; Yampolsky 2013). For more on Yusof Ishak, see Norshahril (2015). Dr Rohana Zubir retired in 1992 as an Associate Professor and Deputy Dean at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. Her honorifc title, “Puan Sri”, was conferred to her late husband, Tan Sri Dato Dr. Hj Abdul Hamid Hj Abdul Rahman, who was also the Vice Chancellor of the National University of Malaysia (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) from 1984 to 1993. For more on diverse origins, history, and contemporary origins of “Malayness”, see Barnard (2004); Andaya (2008); Milner (2008); Maznah and Aljunied (2011).

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Te Popularisation and Contestation of Dangdut Koplo in the Indonesian Music Industry Michael H.B. Raditya

Introduction Tis chapter presents a reading of three popular eras of dangdut koplo within the Indonesian music industry in 2003, 2013, and 2017. Trough an investigation of the construction of a genrebased music industry, the discussion begins with Inul Daratista’s dangdut koplo (2003), proceeding then to the Cesar’s dance phenomenon (2013), and to a new style of dangdut koplo from Pantura Melayu orchestras and various singers, such as Via Vallen, Nella Kharisma, and Ratna Antika (2017). Considering the relation between central and regional popular logics, the examination of the three eras discusses the cultural context of dangdut koplo with an emphasis on power negotiation within the Indonesian popular music industry. Dangdut koplo, which signifes dangdut music from East Java, gained popularity in the Indonesian national music industry on several occasions. As a variant of dangdut created at the regional level, dangdut koplo originated in an area known as Jarak Street in Surabaya during the early to mid-1990s1 and is characterised by a drum pattern with a fast tempo that initiates the song. Te fast-tempo music accompanied prostitutes while they were in the act of servicing their clients in Surabaya 2 during the 1990s. Tere are two innovators associated with this rhythmic pattern, namely, the Waryo drummers (from the group M.O. Armega) and Slamet Rudi Hartono (from the group M.O. Palapa). Tey are ofen credited as the musicians who popularised the style of drumming known as koplo (Weintraub 2013, 168). Tis fast-beat music is also associated with an illegal drug that was famous in this area and sold with a cheap price known as “koplo pills”, a hallucinogenic drug (Raditya 2013, 5). During the frst era of dangdut koplo, the fast tempo and kendang (drum) beats became signifers of prostitution and drugs. Dangdut koplo music was eventually disseminated through the inter-provincial national highway pantura (Pantai Utara or North Javanese Coast highway) and via pirated VCDs. When examining dangdut koplo, the history of this Indonesian popular genre cannot be separated from the lead fgure Inul Daratista. Various discussions by Faruk and Aprinus Salam (2003), Ariel Heryanto (2008), Andrew N. Weintraub (2010, 2013), Darajat (2017), and Raditya (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) discuss the Inul Daratista phenomenon. Te popularity of dangdut koplo during the frst period soared with the controversies surrounding Inul Daratista in 2003.

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Inul is a female singer of dangdut koplo from Pasuruan in East Java, who started performing at the village level. Society in East Java – with Muslim abangan (a syncretic version of Islam) villages – ofen have dangdut koplo during their events. In 2002, a video of her performance at a wedding in East Java spread widely, both in the region and beyond. Te popularity of the video was related to her tight clothes and sexy dance movements. As a result, dangdut koplo was banned as a vulgar and immoral performance, especially for the Jakarta audience that had never seen such rendition. However, this type of performance was not a new phenomenon in East Java where dangdut koplo was widely enjoyed and characterised by a music tempo and presentation context that difered from Jakarta’s dangdut. Musicians who played dangdut koplo would adjust the tempo and drum beat to enhance the dance (Raditya 2013, 83) with various movement references sung by the singer. Hence, Malay orchestras in East Java focused on live performances with dancers. Aside from East Java, scholars recorded that performers in other regions show a similar tendency. Ceres Pioquinto (1995) reported singer eroticism in Pasar Sekaten, Surakarta. Meanwhile, P.M. Laksono (1997) discussed analogous performance patterns in Purawisata, Yogyakarta. In the same city of Yogyakarta, Max Ricther described a similar experience: “I witnessed in 2001, organizers of Yogyakarta’s Sekaten Night Fair banned Dangdut music, costumes, and dance styles, only for some music groups to slip sexual display back into the proceedings through dangdut music and mannerisms” (2012, 13). Te “erotic” signifer became a pattern of dangdut koplo specifcally and a number of “regional” dangdut performances at large outside Jakarta. Controversy emerged when Inul Daratista’s performance was placed under a regulation in Jakarta following Rhoma Irama’s standard performance approaches. Inul Daratista’s “drill dance” made Rhoma Irama (known as the “king of dangdut”) very upset. As a strong and diligent Muslim, Rhoma Irama stated that Inul’s “drill dance” was not simply a dance, but also a moral threat to society. Rhoma Irama also stated that such “porn action” must be forbidden from being shown to the public. In fact, Inul Daratista’s earlier cassette titled “Goyang Inul” was banned by Rhoma Irama and PAMMI (Persatuan Artis Musik Melayu Indonesia – Indonesian Malay Music Artists Association). Heeren (2012, 165) recorded that “in 2003, new interest in an anti-pornography law was aroused by the enormous upheaval across the country caused by the erotic dance movements of the dangdut singer Inul Daratista”. Tis statement referenced Wiwik Sushartami’s (2012) who said that, “Te row between Inul and Rhoma Irama received wide exposure in the Indonesian mass media and divided Indonesia into pro- and contra-Inul camps”. Along with her popularity, the contestation between Rhoma Irama and Inul Daratista persists until the present day. Despite the controversy, Inul Daratista reached a popularity peak in 2003. Te video of her performance was widely disseminated which made her increasingly famous. She was invited to Jakarta regularly to sing, dance, and participate in talk shows. Jakarta’s music industry saw her as a proft opportunity. Rapidly, Inul’s full performance schedule resulted in high wages. Since the village beginnings of her career, she went from receiving Rp 10,000/15,000 (see Faruk and Aprinus 2003, 25) to hundreds of millions of Indonesian rupiah3 for a single performance at the national level. At that time, Inul became an icon of “new” dangdut music – a movement that developed standard approaches initiated by Rhoma Irama. However, Inul Daratista’s popularity did not manage to support a number of agents of the dangdut koplo ecosystem. Tis included Nabavenas – the orchestra led by Nur Ali that invited Inul to sing regularly for the frst time and M.O. (Malay Orchestra) Putra Buana, an orchestra that supported Inul’s development in East Java. As a result, dangdut koplo as a genre did not enjoy a long-lasting authority within the

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Indonesian popular music industry, compared to Inul Daratista. Within this context, I will now discuss the trajectory of dangdut koplo’s popularisation. Local Aesthetic Versus National Standard: Behind the Contestation Regional dangdut (dangdut daerah) depicts a similar phenomenon in many regions, such as the Minang saluang dangdut in West Sumatra, dangdut melayu in Riau, pongdut or dangdut jaipong in West Java, and dangdut koplo in East Java. Hatch (1985) and Philip Yampolsky (2001) defne the local popular music genre (pop daerah) as featuring the following: “(1) they are sung in local languages; (2) they have indigenous musical elements; and (3) they are produced in local recording studios for a local market”. “ʻLocal’ refers to musical practices of an ethnic or regional group in relation to the national level (for example, Minang, Javanese, Acehnese), representing local interests in the realm of culture” (2010, 19). Local musicians not only played dangdut music but also appropriated and adapted the national genre known as “Dangdut a la Rhoma Irama” and colleagues in PAMMI, and their musical references. Tis strategy proved compatible with local industries. However, dangdut koplo became a new national phenomenon through which the level of audience consumption shifed from the local to the national industry. From 2013 to 2017, dangdut koplo was the top genre in the Indonesian music industry. Te songs, musicality, and performances were imitated by local Melayu orchestras in many regions. However, dangdut koplo did not generate instant popularity especially during the Suharto era when Indonesia experienced social pressure and fears. Suharto’s military regime (1967– 1998) was “built on an excessively masculine power obsessed with control and women’s submission” (Wieringa 2003, 72). Dangdut koplo was supported by a new industry context in the mid-1990s characterised by a “changing landscape of politics and economics, greater access to technology, lack of enforcement on locally produced recordings, and the de-centralization of the music industry” (Weintraub 2013, 166). Te post-Suharto era stimulated a new condition of vulnerability, anxiety, and chaos, but also of hope and energy to explore something new. It also afrmed a freedom to conduct musical breakthroughs. Melayu orchestras played existing songs but with diferent tempos, drum beats, and arrangements. Te exploration of harmony and fast tempos became iconic of Malay orchestras in East Java while the success of dangdut koplo destroyed the hegemony of “dangdut klasik” (classic dangdut) and the national music industry. Rhoma Irama’s management went on to contact the leaders of orchestras, some of whom were in Jombang, East Java, alleging three things: frstly, their songs were played without permission; secondly, the song arrangement was changed; thirdly, the dances of dangdut koplo performances were problematic. In East Java, Inul’s dance was named “koplo dance” (goyangan koplo) (Faruk and Aprinus 2003, 275). However, the complaints were ignored by local Melayu orchestras. Dangdut koplo was favoured not only because of Inul but also due to the East Javanese arrangements, and the use of distinct local musical elements and performance patterns. Dangdut koplo created a local aesthetic that countered national standards supported by Rhoma Irama, PAMMI, and the national music Industry based in Jakarta, at the western side of the island. Te Popular Development of Dangdut Koplo: from Inul Daratista to Via Vallen For the discussion of dangdut koplo’s popularity, I present three peak moments in East Java marked by the spread and great attention from consumers. Tose three moments are: dangdut koplo’s nationalisation through popular music by Inul Daratista in 2003; dangdut koplo as popularised by Goyang Cesar in 2013; and dangdut koplo marked by the spread of Melayu

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Orchestras of East Java in 2017 and the popularity of singers such as Via Vallen, Nella Kharisma, Ratna Antika, and others. National Popularisation of Dangdut Koplo and its Contestation Te fast-tempo drumming, arrangement, as well as the dance of the singer became a standard formula of dangdut koplo since its inception until the height of its popularity in 2003. Te Pasuruan singer Inul Daratista became an icon and local favourite. Even though Inul Daratista was not the only agent of change for dangdut koplo, one cannot deny her contributions primarily through her dance recorded on VCDs which caught the attention of central Javanese communities and other regions. In the same year, Inul created an album entitled “Goyang Inul”. Following this, Inul’s “drill dance” resulted in the controversy with Rhoma Irama’s PAMMI, Elvy Sukaesih’s IKARDI (Ikatan Keluarga Artis Dangdut Indonesia – Indonesian Dangdut Association), and other Dangdut singers. Inul had also been mistreated by Rhoma Irama in various ways: 1. At a press conference Rhoma Irama attacked Inul’s dance on 19 April 2003; 2. At a meeting between Rhoma and Inul (following the fatwa from Rhoma), there was shouting and rude sentences uttered by Rhoma on 24 April 2003; 3. PAMMI – under Rhoma Irama – held a ceremony for Inul’s conversion on 27 April 2003 (Faruk and Aprinus 2003, 291–293); 4. Rhoma pointed at and humiliated Inul again when speaking about RUU Pornograf (Law on Pornography) in 2006 in the Indonesia DPR building (House of Representatives); 5. A negative image was created by PAMMI stating that dangdut koplo was not dangdut (Raditya, 2017). However, Inul Daratista was well-known and became a commodity of Jakarta’s popular music scene. Te “on-air schedule” increased in quantity afer Rhoma released the fatwa (nonbinding legal opinion) on Inul. Consequently, the national entertainment industry made Inul more popular while, in the eyes of Rhoma and his colleagues, Inul was guilty and shameless. Even though Inul worked hard to sustain the dangdut music path until the present and regularly serves as a judge of dangdut singing competitions held by the national television station Indosiar such as “D’Academy”, “Bintang Pantura” (“Pantura Star”), “Liga dangdut” (“Dangdut League”), etc., Inul cannot “pay of” the controversy in the eyes of Rhoma Irama and his dangdut regime. Until today, Rhoma Irama refuses to perform on the same stage with Inul. Even singers from Rhoma’s regime such as Ikke Nurjanah and Iis Dahlia argue with Inul at times. Te tension allows the construction of a view that society’s knowledge of dangdut koplo, from 2003 until today, and the popularity of the music are reduced to the dance and the controversy discussed above. While Inul has been subjected to humiliation, many parties defend her. Her defenders include Gus Dur and Guruh Soekarno Putra, and in communities in East Java there were demonstrations with participants holding posters that said: “Rhoma is forbidden in East Java” (Faruk and Aprinus 2003, 294). Even though East Java used to idolise Rhoma Irama, they forbid him to enter the region because of his attitude towards Inul. Tis shows that the music (read: power) of Rhoma Irama formed in the centre is “defeated” by Inul’s power (read: dangdut koplo) in East Java. Tey sacrifced dangdut’s idol for the new idol given that dangdut koplo is closer, both physically and emotionally, to the local society. Although the demonstration posters did not represent all the attitudes about Melayu Orchestras in East Java, the message can be interpreted as signifying a

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sense of belonging by local communities and the exercise of local tactics against central domination. Tey listened to Rhoma Irama’s dangdut, but do not fully “own it”. Tey have dangdut koplo because the performance is an organic musical product of East Java. Te contestation not only occurred from the centralised dangdut, but also through dangdut koplo’s response. Dangdut koplo is read as an alternative modernity. Te controversy surrounding Inul in 2003 was not only limited to Inul’s dance which was considered erotic, but also highlighted conficts of interest with Jakarta’s dangdut (centralised and part of the national music industry based in Indonesia’s capital) dominated by Rhoma Irama vis-à-vis the regional dangdut koplo. Tese two rivals are not only a product of regional issues, but also ideological ones. Popular developments at the centre highlight individuality4 – similar to the framework of modern music – while regional popularities encourage collectivity – similar to traditional music with communal transmission patterns. Jakarta’s music industry is individualised through the creation of a central fgure, star, or frontman as the popular symbol. Meanwhile, dangdut koplo uses collectivity logics where performance and popularity are connected when both orchestra players and singers are recognised. Even the names of Melayu orchestras in East Java are similar or as important as the singers such as M.O. Sonata, M.O. Sera, M.O. Monata, M.O. Sagita, M.O. Lagista, and others. Tis can be read as a symbiotic relationship where both elements cooperate with each other due to the success of dangdut koplo in performances, both live and recorded. As a result, the contestation between Inul Daratista and Rhoma Irama is also between the regional and the national; between local aesthetics and national standards. Local dangdut is read only as product variant, not as a logic or local strategy, in negotiation with the centre. Because it was popularised at the national level, dangdut koplo disrupted the stability and the scheme of national dangdut music – as well as Jakarta’s music industry – with distinct patterns from central or national to regional experiences. In fact, the presence of dangdut koplo represented a new scheme where regional genres had the opportunity to become dominant at the national level. Dimensions of the local and national are not only based on the quantity of support and popularity. With dangdut koplo, the logic of communities towards popular music is not a single unifed or centralised one. With a popularity focus on a central fgure, and not necessarily Inul Daratista, similar singers emerged such as Trio Macan, Dewi Persik, Annisa Bahar, and others. Te popularity of dangdut koplo during the frst phase focused on the singers with dance variants and fast tempos. Te songs produced during the 2003 democratic era refected opportunities for the freedom of lyrics and open forms of expression, speaking of love stories, afairs, and broken hearts in a blunt manner. Te National “Goyang Cesar” Phenomenon Te second phase of popularity of dangdut koplo at the national level began in 2013. Te television show Yuk Kita Sahur5 (“Let’s Sahur” – sahur is the early morning meal consumed before fasting) featured dangdut koplo as the music accompaniment with a man named Caisar6 who accompanied the theme song with his characteristic dangdut dance movements. Caisar’s energetic dance to the fast tempo dangdut koplo song supported the show that received the highest rating7 and eventually more air time was added with the show titled Yuk Keep Smile. Te new segment carried a similar format with Caisar’s dance accompanying dangdut koplo. Caisar illustrated the dance movements energetically responding to various dangdut koplo songs in front of the audience. Caisar’s dance became a hit on Indonesian TV but eventually he decided to move out of the entertainment world and concentrate on his studies and Islamic missionary endeavours.

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Caisar’s phenomenal dance boomed because he listened to the orchestra that stimulated him to move energetically. It was M.O. Sonata, the Melayu orchestra from Jombang, that inspired Caisar to dance. Instead of using a backtrack, Caisar, who ofen watched VCDs of M.O. Sonata, brought the orchestra to the show Yuk Kita Sahur. “Caisar was asked by Soimah about his dance idea. Caisar then answered that M.O. Sonata was the one that inspired him. From this discussion, M.O. Sonata performed in three episodes of Yuk Kita Sahur” (Raditya and Simatupang 2018, 443). Edy Sonata, the manager, provided a diferent musical touch. Having worked in the dangdut industry since the 1980s, Edy brought his experience in dangdut music having also played in Trio Macan (2002) and New Trio Macan (2005), two popular dangdut groups in Jakarta. In 2011, Edy concentrated again on an album and new music with his orchestra. Consequently, the fast tempo was accompanied by bamboo instruments that became a standard and added colour to the East Javanese genre at the time. Te musical infuences of M.O. Sonata were popularised when they played on Yuk Kita Sahur and other national television shows. During this second era the popularity of television was crucial to the re-introduction of dangdut koplo at the national level. Once again dancing was a prominent feature of the popularisation of dangdut koplo and Caisar’s phenomenal presence generated a large exploitation potential. Te dance started to be choreographed and performed by large numbers of people. Te presence of Caisar also changed the earlier female erotic dance stigma of dangdut, becoming energetic, fun, and led by a man. Rather than the swaying and rhythmical movements of the Rhoma Irama, Cici Paramida, and Ikke Nurjanah era, the new movements followed the fast drum patterns and beat. Tis further enhanced the signifcance of participatory elements of dangdut koplo accompanied by a live performance as key to the success and popularity of the genre. Te second national popularity era of dangdut koplo led by Caisar’s dance in Jakarta also had an efect at the regional level. Te speed of drum patterns, fast tempo staccato breaks, and flled beats became a musical trend of orchestras in East Java. Furthermore, the television programme gave Melayu orchestras an opportunity to contribute in determining the musicality of dangdut koplo, and thus central dangdut. Afer M.O. Sonata played on national television in Jakarta some Melayu orchestras in Jakarta followed the musical patterns of orchestras from East Java. While at times this was done to cut the production costs of inviting Melayu orchestras from East Java, the musical elements of dangdut koplo Melayu orchestras afected the central form of dangdut. Tis era was characterised by a reciprocal relationship between the regional and central dangdut forms. Regionalising National Dangdut During the third phase, dangdut koplo caught the public’s attention in 2017. Unlike the two previous eras marked by dance movements, the new phase was marked by new talented singers, new musical elements, and lyrics that resonated with the people along with attractive performances. Te popularity was not instant but based on the foundations of previous orchestras and their regional popularity in Pantura and East Java. Some orchestras developed earlier ideas from M.O. Sonata, M.O. RGS, and M.O. Roneta from Jombang that added ethnic elements such as the calung bamboo xylophone. New groups began to perform dangdut music with a fast tempo and the inclusion of ethnic musical arrangements. M.O. Sagita, M.O. Zagita, and M.O. Lagista from Nganjuk with jandhut (jatilan dangdut, based on traditional music and dance) was also widely spread. Te emergence of M.O. Lagista was a product of earlier jandhut orchestras ofering modern jathilan renditions. M.O. Nirwana, and a group New GPS Sip, had a similar orchestra for its patrol dangdut. M.O. Sera became famous in 2013 with pop dangdut or reggae music similar to M.O. Monata and a male singer with a reggae style named Sodiq.8

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Singers from this new era received much attention. Via Vallen, a female singer from Surabaya, together with M.O. Sera became a new dangdut koplo star. Via Vallen had been widely known since 2013 because of her performances and voice which were distinctly diferent during Inul Daratista’s era. Similarly, a singer from M.O. Lagista named Nella Kharisma was also widely known because of her performances and unique voice. Other singers include Ratna Antika, Imelda Veronika, Tasya Rosmala, Jihan Audy, Irenne Ghea, and others who had diferent styles compared to dangdut koplo singers. Tese singers have a vocal style that mixes pop and other musical genres with a decreased Melayu timbre, strong techniques, friendly interaction, and fewer dance movements compared to Inul, and follow modern pop infuences with casual references to K-Pop. Although not all singers observe this pattern, a large wave of change in style among singers took place in East Java. As a result, in 2017 dangdut koplo became signifcantly diferent from the previous eras. Together with Melayu orchestras and new singers, dangdut koplo took on a new image that did not rely on dance anymore. Te King of dangdut, Rhoma Irama, went as far as to accept Via Vallen as his singing partner at the anniversary of Indosiar, “Konser Raya 24 Indonesia Luar Biasa” (Raditya, 2019). Other dangdut koplo singers such as Nella Kharisma also performed in the concert. Tis new popular era was also highly afected by social media. Since 2015, various videos of performances of the above-mentioned Melayu orchestras spread via social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Although these performances started in 2015, 2017 was very important and monumental. In 2017, the Melayu orchestras received increased attention and generated great popularity via social media: netizens supported their YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram postings. Video performances of Melayu orchestras were reposted by Indonesian netizens many times. Additionally, increased attention not only came from listeners or dangdut fans but also from listeners of other musical genres at the national level. In 2017 the orchestras and the singers of dangdut koplo music became famous once again at the national level with some media commentators stating that dangdut koplo marked the peak of the dangdut music evolution.9 Te media’s argument was that the popularity of dangdut koplo was very high and had become the reference source for dangdut music among fans and the community at large. Dangdut koplo songs ofen played in many places such as cafes, shops, food courts, ofces, supermarkets, sport centres, etc. Te artist Via Vallen won three awards: Most Popular Singer and Most Popular Dangdut Singer at the SCTV Music Awards 2017, and Most Popular Female Solo Dangdut Singer at the Indonesian Dangdut Awards 2017. Various Melayu orchestras from East Java were ofen invited to Jakarta not only as background music, but also to perform in televised singing competitions that focused on dangdut. Additionally, orchestra members became guest speakers on TV talk shows and produced their own concerts. Te popularity of dangdut in 2017 was unique in that it included the communal feature of dangdut koplo. In addition to the role of social media which provided the opportunity for anyone to gain popularity, the participatory style of dangdut koplo was also popularised. In 2003, the popularity focused on Inul Daratista and similar singers while in 2017 Melayu orchestras also had the opportunity to participate. Together, orchestras and singers dominated the centralised national music industry with increased demand for both dangdut koplo singers and the musical styles of Melayu orchestras. Although this combination did not enjoy as much popularity on television as in previous eras, dangdut koplo has been widely disseminated through social media in 2017 until the present day. Furthermore, there were new negotiations that afected regulations in the music industry and the new music market in Indonesia. Te popularity of dangdut koplo during the third phase shows that regional dangdut is able to negotiate and even dominate centralised versions of dangdut. Te music industry, the audience, the community, and even the “King of dangdut”, Rhoma Irama, adapted to this genre.

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Conclusion In considering the trajectory of dangdut koplo music especially marked in 2003, 2013, and 2017, the contestation between dangdut koplo and the national music industry was not only about the genre but also about diferent logics and power centres between the nation’s capital and what is considered “local” or “regional” and the potential to become “national”. Te popularity of dangdut koplo showed that Jakarta’s music industry is not homogenous. Distribution patterns were not unidirectional from the centre as patron to the local as client. Trough dangdut koplo, the centralised national music industry consisting of art, culture, economy, and power could not impede the development of local music at the national level. Te centralised national music industry’s hegemony needs to be critically addressed. Dangdut koplo represents a strategy to challenge rules and national systems of validation. Te regional challenged Jakarta’s music industry patterns via popular accessibility at the local level. Te national industry saw dangdut koplo as a “misleading pattern” in the Indonesian music industry, a view that was even included in a draf constitutional amendment about music (Rancangan Undang-Undang Permusikan). Te amendment sought to regulate music production and distribution following the rules of the music industry. However, I see that the “misleading pattern” is actually a creative misunderstanding (Lipsitz, 1994). Creative misunderstandings are a creative efort from agents who are unable to comprehend messages fully because of many factors, for example access, diferent patterns, and culture. In this case, dangdut koplo did not follow the Jakarta’s music production system but created an independent system of production and distribution for local artists and their music and dance. In this contestation the local became the “disrupter” of stability and rule of a centralised national music industry. However, the growing presence and popularity of dangdut koplo at the local level reversed the roles from disrupter to dominant player when dangdut koplo forced dangdut music, the central music industry, and the media to “follow” the narrative of dangdut koplo. Te rise of dangdut in the 21st century within the Indonesian music industry was due to the rise of dangdut koplo and not Rhoma Irama’s dangdut or other dangdut versions. As a result regional dangdut became the strong alternative to Jakarta’s dangdut and Jakarta’s music industry. Regional nuances through language, musical arrangements, and musicality became dominant especially with dangdut koplo songs echoing throughout the country. Dangdut koplo with regionalised and local aesthetics became the national standard. While the central music industry and national standards in the past alienated local aesthetics and artists, regionalised and local aesthetics created a similar efect alienating centralised forms. Notes 1 2 3 4

5

Referring to the interview of the leader of M.O. Sonata in Jombang in 2017 see https://indoprogress.com/2016/03/ kepikiran-dangdut-koplo-renungan-di-bus-antarkota/, https://tirto.id/di-bawah-kerajaan-dangdut-koplo-iman -kita-adalah-bergoyang-cAHA Gang Dolly is a name of an area of prostitution located in the area of Jarak, Pasar Kembang, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia. In this area, female prostitutes are “displayed” in a glass-wall room that looks like a storefront. However, in 2017, Dolly was closed by the Mayor of East Java, Tri Rismaharini. Look at https://mojok.co/red/rame/nafah/penghasilan-inul-daratista-yang-jauh-lebih-dahsyat-dari-via-vallen -dan-nella-kharisma/. Referring to the reading of Philip Yampolsky on popular music during the general lecture of “Musical Culture”, on 19 October 2017 at the Cultural Science Faculty, UGM. At that time, Yampolsky expressed the types of changes in traditional music since the 1970s. One of them was the star system, which idolised some favourite players and underestimated others. Yuk Kita Sahur is a sahur show on Trans TV in 2013. Te show is a transformation from the show Waktunya Kita Sahur in the previous year and then it was continued with the show Yuk Keep Smile. Tat show was popular because of Caisar’s dance.

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Caisar is Caesar Putra Aditya, known as Cesar Yuk Keep Smile. He was a dancer and television actor known as goyang Cesar or Cesar dance. https://archive.tabloidbintang.com/berita/polah/71511-yuk-kita-sahur-raih-rating-tinggi,-caesar-dibuatkan -program-baru.html. In 2019, Sodiq made a new orchestra named M.O. New Monata. See https://tirto.id/dangdut-koplo-puncak-evolusi-dangdut-cACw or https://beritagar.id/topik/republik-dang dut.

Bibliography Darajat, Irfan R. 2017. Irama Orang-Orang Kalah: Analisis Wacana Kritis Politik Dangdut Koplo Menggoyang Kemapanan (Master’s thesis). Yogyakarta: Kajian Budaya dan Media, Sekolah Pascasarjana, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta. Hatch, Martin. 1985. “Popular Music in Indonesia.” In Popular Music Perspectives 2: Papers from the Second International Conference on Popular Music Studies, Reggio Emilia, September 19–24, 1983, D. Horn (ed.), pp. 210– 227. Goteborg: IASPM. Heeren, Katinka van. 2012. Contemporary Indonesian Film: Spirits of Reform and Ghosts from the Past. Leiden: KITLV Press. Heryanto, Ariel. 2008. Popular Culture in Indonesia: Fluid Identities in Post Authoritarian Politics, pp. 1–36. London: Routledge. HT, Faruk dan Aprinus Salam. 2003. Hanya Inul. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Marwa. Laksono, P.M. 1997. “Budaya Yogyakarta Dulu dan Kini.” In Koentjaraningrat dan Antropologi di Indonesia, E.K.M. Masinambow (ed.), pp. 215–224. Jakarta: Yayasan Obor Indonesia. Lipsitz, George. 1994. Dangerous Crossroads: Popular Music, Postmodernism, and the Poetics of Place, pp. 158–170. London: Verso. Pioquinto, Ceres. 1995. “Dangdut at Sekaten: female representations in live performance,” RIMA 29(1 & 2): pp. 59–89. Raditya, Michael H.B. 2013. Esensi Senggakan pada Dangdut Koplo Sebagai Identitas Musikal. (Master’s thesis). Yogyakarta: Performing Arts and Visual Arts, Graduate School, Universitas Gadjah Mada. Yogyakarta. Raditya, Michael H.B. 2015. “Dangdut Koplo: Ketika Selera Lokal Menjadi Selera Nasional.” In Proceeding National Seminar Art Education. Fakultas Bahasa dan Seni (FBS) Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES). Raditya, Michael H.B. 2016. “Mencermati Pola Komodifkasi Musik Dangdut Koplo.” In Reinforcing the Performing Arts towards the ASEAN Economic Community: Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies. Proceeding of the International Conference of Performing Arts. Yogyakarta: Badan Penerbit ISI Yogyakarta. Raditya, Michael H.B. 2017. “Dangdut Koplo: Memahami Perkembangan hingga Pelarangan.” Jurnal Studi Budaya Nusantara 1(1): 23–41. Raditya, Michael H.B. 2018. “Irama Politik Rhoma Irama.” In Exhibition Songs for the People: Music and Politics in Indonesia, pada 3 March – 8 April 2018 di Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea. Raditya, Michael H.B. 2019. Duet Rhoma Irama-Via Vallen: Kekuasaan Meredup Perlawanan Menuai Titik Terang. https://geotimes.co.id/opini/duet-rhoma-irama-via-vallen-kekuasaan-meredup-perlawanan-menuai-titik-terang/ Raditya, Michael H.B. and G.R. Lono Lastoro Simatupang. 2018. “Negosiasi Kultural dan Musikal Dangdut Koplo pada Orkes Melayu Sonata di Jombang.” Jurnal Panggung 28(4): 433–451. Ricther, Max. 2012. Musical Words in Yogyakarta. Leiden: KITLV Press. Sushartami, Wiwik. 2012. Representation and Beyond: Female Victims in Post Suharto Media. (Doctoral dissertation). Leiden: Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands. Weintrab, Andrew N. 2010. Dangdut Stories. A Social and Musical History of Indonesia’s Most Popular Music. New York: Oxford University Press. Weintrab, Andrew N. 2013.“Te Sound and Spectacle of Dangdut Koplo: Genre and Counter-Genre in East Java, Indonesia.” Asian Music 44(2): 160–194. Wieringa, Saskia. 2003. “Te Birth of the New Order State in Indonesia: Sexual Politics and Nationalism.” Journal of Women’s History 15(1): 70–91. Yampolsky, Philip. 2001. Indonesian Popular Music: Kroncong, Dangdut, and Langgam Jawa. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Folkways.

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Alternative Voices in the Kuala Lumpur Singer-Songwriter Circuit (2000–2009) Azmyl Yusof @ Azmyl Yunor

Tis chapter serves as a historical overview of the fostering of communal spirit and networking amongst like-minded practitioners in the early development of the singer–songwriter circuit in the early to mid-2000s who leveraged their subcultural networking and knowledge outside the mainstream Malaysian music industry. Te discussion flls in gaps in the broader narrative of contemporary Malaysian music-making, which more ofen than not bypasses historical and subcultural contexts outside the insular music industry with the common narrative, marked by a sense of “sadness” (Astro 2015), that it peaked twenty years ago (Azalea 2019). Te overemphasis on economic data overshadows a holistic and historical understanding of the development of popular culture and its current state (or perpetual malaise) in Malaysia. Afer all, popular culture is a product of social processes and cannot be separated from society, politics, and the time period in which it exists (Lockard 1998, 4). Studying the development of popular music culture requires an engagement with its history in order to better situate and understand its contemporary status (Shuker 2016, 261). If one were to trace patterns on discourses about Malaysian music, there is an overemphasis on the “golden eras”, discrediting musical communities that still produce musical works and perform in the present. Te marginal non-mainstream music-gigging circuit has its own grassroots method of navigating music scenes not dictated by economic determinism and inadvertently produced some international indie “stars” such as Pete Teo and Yuna. However, issues such as economic sustainability still haunt most musicians and venues in Kuala Lumpur and the greater Klang Valley. Departing from musical popular memory as constructed through the interaction of a number of sites that mediate and represent popular music history (Shuker 2016, 261), this chapter examines written accounts, the wider music press, and personal experiences to trace the Malaysian singer–songwriter circuit from its early pub scene origins in the 1980s, to its resurgence via the underground music scene networks in the early 2000s, leading up to the inception of the showcase in 2005 and smaller open-mic related projects such as Troubadours, Troubadours-Open Doors, and Troubaganger. Given that the present-day discourse on “indie” has become commonplace, singer–songwriters make an interesting case study on independent networking and continue to have strong connotations of greater authenticity and “true” authorship (Shuker 2016). As musician and flmmaker Pete Teo indicates, “singer-songwriters work alone a lot, and ofen do as a matter of routine something most musicians are afraid of – play solo. Nowhere to hide. No one else to blame” (Teo 2019). 123

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Te People Rock ‘n’ Roll archivist and historian Joe Kidd had been playing in several bands since 1989 prior to the formation of Carburetor Dung in 1991. Te underground music scene mostly comprised of metal and punk bands in the late 1980s was still in its seminal stage and was informed by the DIY punk philosophy. Kidd began organising music performances at clubs around the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Kidd, as well as several other musician-cum-organisers who arranged a series of gigs around the same time, played a signifcant role in the development of the singer–songwriter circuit in the early 2000s leading up to KL Sing Song. As there was no ideological subcultural base from which the singer–songwriter Kuala Lumpur circuit operated from, most of the singer– songwriters eventually became organisers of their own shows and developed a niche audience base. Te 1990s is ofen alluded to as the era when the underground music scene blossomed and that which led to the birth of the indie rock scene via the popularity of American alternative and grunge rock bands. Musicians were empowered to compose and perform their own songs, something that did not happen in the mainstream music industry save a few exceptions. Back in the fringes at the turn of the millennium, singer–songwriter Peter Brown recalled that there were other organised performing platforms in the circuit and a thriving alternative rock band scene, but these band line-ups usually happened in the afernoon such as the one at the Picadilly disco (just outside of the city in Damansara Jaya), where the bar was curtained of and bands like Carburetor Dung and others could let go their energy and inspiration. (Brown 2019) Joe Kidd felt the spirit of punk attitude emanating from regional creators, namely Indonesian folk artists: When it comes to singer–songwriters, especially the “folky” kind, I have been a huge fan of the well-known, infuential artists overseas since the late 1970s. Afer school, I got into the whole Indonesian folk scene of the late to mid-1980s via Gombloh, Iwan Fals, and Doel Sumbang; which for me was the perfect embodiment of punk rock without the fashion, nor the loud, revved-up three chords, but a kindred, shared spirit dispensing the same lyrical approach and intent: music with an agenda, somewhat political but not overtly so. (Kidd 2019) While there were pockets of singer–songwriters earlier in the late 1970s and 1980s with performers such as Dr Wan Zawawi, Kit Leee (later known as Antares), Markiza & Peter (a husband and wife duo of Markiza and Peter Brown), and Rafque Rashid who performed original material in both English and Malay producing only a few released self-funded material (Barendregt et al. 2017, 94). Peter Brown was already actively performing in the 1980s circuit and noted one show organised by Rafque Rashid that gained some traction in bringing together dissenting voices from the fringes: I was older than these guys like Rafque and Paul Ponnudorai. Rafque helped us a lot. He put on Statements From the Musical Fringe in 1986, and helped Markiza and I put on a show the following year in the British Teatre. He played the bass for all the other musicians in the show and was very encouraging. Markiza did a solo act in a Musicians Union event around the same time as I was away in UK. (Brown 2019)

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Te aforementioned Statements from the Musical Fringe featured Rafque Rashid, William De Cruz, Julian Mokhtar, Kit Leee, Albert Sirimal, Zahid Ahmad, and Lee Hung Cheong performing their original songs that contained satirical lyric content that was visually represented in the programme booklet with humorous liner notes as part of the Kuala Lumpur Arts Festival in August 1986 at the Panggung Bandaraya (MY Art Memory Project). Dr Wan Zawawi, who released several solo albums independently, also achieved further mainstream success as a noted lyricist and songwriter for popular rock bands such as Search and collaborated with industry giant M. Nasir. During that time, singer–songwriter Amir Yussof also released his debut album in 1995 but by then the younger audience were attuned to the alternative and grunge rock coming from America. Rafque Rashid was known for his refusal to release any of his recorded solo works while Antares’s recorded works and performances, including his Akar Umbi ethnictrance-fusion project with Rafque, were available only if one sought Rashid’s works during this period in the 1980s and early 1990s (Antares 2014). Tis was a period when the production and distribution of recorded works were more expensive and limited. Joe Kidd observes the peculiar absence of the popular singer–songwriter fgure in Malaysia: I think Malaysia is pretty odd in terms of the development of a visible, quantifable singer– songwriter scene. Everywhere else in the Southeast Asian region you would easily encounter such creative practices existing since the late ’60s, but somehow here in Malaysia there’s nothing of that sort. I’m still wondering why we didn’t have local singer–songwriters taking a leaf out of the Vietnam War-era American protest-folk singers, or even Bob Dylan. It’s very odd indeed. Unless there were such artists but only undocumented and forgotten. I mean Indonesia, Philippines, and Tailand, and I bet Cambodia and Vietnam too, had their singer–songwriters addressing the times back when, but not here. (Kidd 2019) Te Spaces Te beginning of the twenty-frst century may be the period when the term “indie” emerged to identify music that did not belong to either end of the binary. Te punk scene stood its ground as open for musicians who did not ft anywhere else as opposed to the metal scene from the similar underground circuit. In 1998, Joe Kidd started a series of shows called Unclogged. As the 2000s dawned, Unclogged became a fertile ground for singer–songwriters to showcase themselves. Key players that enabled this series were venues associated neither with underground music shows nor with the pub scene. Amir Yussof ran a pub called X’tacy in Damansara Utama in the late 1990s that hosted singer–songwriters including Rafque Rashid. Te frst few shows were performed by Amid the Mimic and included this author’s frst time onstage as an unbilled acoustic performer. However, what was missing was a broader sense of communalism that was prevalent in the downtown Kuala Lumpur arts community that did not perceive music performances solely as entertainment. Furthermore, in the late 1990s what was also lacking was a sense of regularity of the curated events that would encourage new and upcoming performers to play and build their networks: Unclogged’s frst show was either at the Kapitan’s Club on Leboh Ampang or at the roofop of Le Masque on Changkat Bukit Bintang sometime in 1998 in downtown Kuala Lumpur. At the time I had a sabbatical from organising underground music shows, something which I have been doing since 1989. (Kidd 2019)

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Across town in Bukit Damansara, Peter Brown of Markiza and Peter began organising his own showcase for independent musicians: Acoustic Jam began in 2001. I was promoting my album Warm in the United Kingdom (mainly London) when I came across this open mic-er called Joe Wee. He told me he was Malaysian but living and working in London. But he said he went back to meet up with his family every year. So I said, if I can fnd a venue would you play a set? He was agreeable to this so we exchanged numbers. When I got back to Malaysia I thought about the venue and remembered folk artist Ian Durrant used to put on a regular folk night at the Commonwealth Club. I was already a member of it so that we could go swimming in a secluded place. So I enquired and booked the small room upstairs, thus Acoustic Jam was launched on 16 July 2001. (Brown 2019) Both showcase series shared the commonality of being held at spaces that weren’t commonly associated with music performances, something that was common in the fringes but not to the general public. Tan Sei Hon refected certain parallels with the visual arts scene: Tat was the time when alternative spaces were blossoming and very inclusive – you could do theatre, you could do music, you could do poetry recitals. Urbanscape also came afer. Te DIY thing and KL Sing Song didn’t just happen, you could contextualise it with the larger things going on in KL then, it was the spirit of the times. (Tan 2019) Joe Kidd concurs in hindsight of the period that came afer: I think 2007/2008 is where it was already peaking, really. It was a slow process but snowballed by the time we had spaces such as Rumah Air Panas, the Annexe at Central Market, and Lostgens. Tese independent and semi-independent spaces were important enablers for series such as KL Sing Song and Not Tat Balai, both very much a part of all those feverish activities. (Kidd 2019) Pete Teo, arguably the most high-profle Malaysian singer–songwriter pre-Yuna, had also just returned from working and living overseas: I only became active in KL late ’90s / early 2000s so I don’t know any venue or singer–songwriters active before then. Of course I [was] aware of the work and support given by Peter Brown to the scene. Joe Kidd – insofar as he was a punk musician and promoter – oddly gave me my frst gig in No Black Tie – so he was also part and parcel of the eco-system that introduced me to KL at that time. (Teo 2019) Unclogged would eventually move to No Black Tie which was by then run by Evelyn Hii where one could also see Rafque Rashid handling the sound and also performing: I’d like to think that it was Unclogged who introduced talented singer–songwriters such as you, Pete Teo, Reza Salleh, and a few more to the masses. Pete’s Songwriters Round came afer the several shows he played at Unclogged. I frst met him at a small dinner party at his

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house and saw lots of guitars, which triggered a lot of questions, and an impromptu audition of his original songs; thus a slot at one of the frst few Unclogged shows. (Kidd 2019) Acoustic Jam and Unclogged did not solely focus on acoustic singer–songwriter shows although at the beginning Unclogged did have strict programming. Te programming later expanded to include a myriad of genres and styles from electronic noise to edgy poets to louder hardcore and post-rock bands, sometimes sharing the same stage in one night, adding to the series’ eclectic, varied, and unpredictable outcomes. Aside from acoustic performers, Acoustic Jam also featured bands like Qings & Kueens which were less edgy than bands at the Unclogged series. Pete Teo eventually recorded his debut solo album in the 2000s and travelled abroad. One particular trip sparked an idea for his own series focused solely on singer–songwriters: Te frst Songwriters’ Round was in 2002 – afer I came back from performing at an indie music convention in New York – where I had the opportunity to visit the famous folk club Bitter End, and saw a “Songwriter Circle” in action. I was told it was a common performance format for songwriters in Nashville – and since it encouraged collaboration and interactions between performers onstage, I thought KL could do with one. Very little original music was being played in the scene then and scene politics was petty and tribal. (Teo 2019) At its old location a few lots up Jalan Mesui (a Rainforest Bed and Breakfast as of now, 2019), No Black Tie would prove to be an important site that led to KL Sing Song. Poets and artists came and promoted their shows with fyers in between the sets, and during one of the Unclogged series I literally bumped into Jerome. I met Sei Hon when we shared the bill for Unclogged when I was performing with my noise rock band Maharajah Commission. No Black Tie would also eventually host Songwriters’ Round and later Moonshine. From 2005 onwards No Black Tie moved to its current space with a series started by then-emerging singer–songwriter and gig organiser Reza Salleh who carried on the torch lit by Unclogged and Acoustic Jam. Te Voices Te frst KL Sing Song, titled “KL Sing Song 2005 – Te First Regional Singer Songwriters Dialogue & Workshop”, was hosted by the International College of Music (ICOM) in April 2005, presented by Artsee.net, and funded by a grant from Arts Network Asia (Izuan 2005, 16). Over two days, the daytime programme included workshops and talks while the nighttime programme included showcases at Pete Teo’s Songwriters Round series at Alexis Bistro & Wine Bar in Great Eastern Mall featuring participating artists. Tis instalment was the only one featuring regional artists which was part of the requirements of the Arts Network Asia grant. Te regional singer–songwriters who were featured included Oppie Andaresta (Indonesia), Kelvin Tan (Singapore), and Somsiri Sangkaew of Bear Garden (Tailand). Te featured local singer– songwriters included Pete Teo, Meor, Mia Palencia, Mei Chern, and myself. I also helped organise a preceding event at the famed underground music venue Paul’s Place entitled Troubadours featuring eighteen performers comprised of singer–songwriters and band songwriters/frontpeople). Tis event included the artists featured in the main KL Sing Song programme performing two songs each. Te show was sparsely attended compared to the Songwriters Round the following two nights. Nevertheless, the show went on undaunted and the shifing audiences remained appreciative throughout (Izuan 2005, 16).

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Tis event’s name eventually became the namesake of the company registered by myself and two others called Troubadours Enterprise, for the following KL Sing Song. Tis frst instalment was organised solely by Jerome Kugan and Tan Sei Hon. Te three of us formed Troubadours Enterprise sometime between late 2005 and early 2006 primarily as a vehicle to receive funding, to be seen as an enterprise, and to secure funding for the 2006 instalment from the Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Heritage. “I think this also allows us to meet other important people, not as individuals but more as a formal unit, so people have more confdence in us. We didn’t get as much funding as we hoped for” (Tan 2019). Te posters designed for KL Sing Song from 2006 to 2009 were also collaborations with local artists. I saw 2006 onwards as the natural trajectory of the momentum built by Unclogged, Acoustic Jam, and Songwriter’s Round from 2000 to 2004: Te frst one, a collaboration with ICOM, was more educational. Tis year we are focusing purely on home-grown artists. It’s for everyone, even if you don’t know the concept of singer–songwriters. Clearly we’re giving preference to people who are not signed or have major contracts. (Lohan 2006, 25) Te pool of talent widened from 2005 to 2006 with many young and emerging acts alongside more established acts from various genres. We personally invited young, emerging musicians based on our experience watching them or through recommendations from organisers or other musicians: KL Sing Song was basically to complement the scene then, to expand and (provide) opportunities to others and ourselves as well. Tere’s only so many shows and they don’t take place all the time, so if we open a platform, you’re providing a platform and opportunity for someone who probably would only play two–three gigs on average then (there were no open mic nights then). We also made the efort to look for new talents, we didn’t wait, and (personally) invite(d) them. We also featured those who had fallen on the wayside like the late Pak Pandir (Azmi Ali) – he was huge at one time (Juara Lagu 1992 Music Awards winner, Irama Malaysia category) but then he was really down when he was no longer with his label. We were very open. People like Mei Chern who had her own political views as well, we basically wanted to be open to as many as possible. But we were more specialised in so far as we only supported solos and duos, I think that was what set us apart. (Tan 2019) What also made Troubadours Enterprise “take a step further” (Te Star, 19 June 2006) and set us apart was a compilation we proposed. Compilations were a common format in the underground music scene by which artists leveraged the possibility of being discovered by listeners of other featured bands. In the proposal for the ministry funding that we received, we included a double disc compilation album to document the performers who were active in the circuit during the period. Voices From Next Door featured twenty-four artists and included one Singaporean and one Indonesian artist active and based in Kuala Lumpur at the time. Personally, I felt the compilation was also an opportunity to showcase the diversity of the acts of the time not represented on any compilations as indie/underground compilations were generally limited to genres or particular “tribes”. Te compilations also highlighted the works of two important singer–songwriters and buskers from the late 1990s whose works remained resonant and who were actively performing: Meor (Meor Yusof Aziddin) and

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Figure 11.1 Front album sleeve of Voices From Next Door, compact disc compilation, Troubadours Enterprise, 2006. This is the frst and only documented attempt at compiling the works of singer– songwriters based in Malaysia from the period. (Personal collection of Azmyl Yusof)

Sherry (Sharidir). Both artists’ Malay songs and lyrical grit transcended the usual demarcations of race and class. KL Sing Song and the compilation was our humble way of paying tribute to those who came before. Hosted by the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC), the 2006 instalment retained the workshop programme of the frst instalment with practical topics conducted by the late Pak Pandir (“Lyrics & Creativity”), Shelley Leong & Az Samad (“Singing with Style”),

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Figure 11.2 Back album sleeve of Voices From Next Door, compact disc compilation, Troubadours Enterprise, 2006. (Personal collection of Azmyl Yusof)

Shanon Shah (“Make It Live”) and Pete Teo (“Te Indie Path”). Te full roster of the diverse and featured performers were Pak Pandir, Mia Palencia (Best Solo Vocal nominee, Boh Cameronian Arts Awards 2005), Shelley Leong (best New English Artist nominee, AIM 2004), Reza Salleh, Arif Akhir, Fathulistiwa Soundscapes (Fathul from legendary pioneering underground band Infectious Maggots), Shanon Shah (Best Male Vocalist, AIM 2006), Pete Teo, Meor, Mei Chern (Musiccanteen.com’s Most Downloaded Artist 2005), Rhapsody, and Broken Scar. Te general reception was positive. Te event and Troubadours Enterprise received wide media coverage notably from the print and online media. Music journalist Daryl Goh, an instrumental fgure promoting independent music since the 1990s, had a radio show called Clash on Red FM and gave us signifcant airtime to promote the showcase and the featured artists including our own works: Every year when we did KL Sing Song (2006–2009), surprisingly we broke even and managed to pay everyone on the strength of the sale of the tickets. We even managed to save up enough funds to further help fund the production of two CD albums by Meor (2006’s Yang Terlintas Di Fikiran produced by Arif Akhir) and Sharidir & Nizam (2012’s self-produced Keramat 16). We did carry on to collaborate with KLPAC with smaller original music events [like] the Troubadours’ Open Doors series but that wasn’t as successful because I think it was a location problem. (Tan 2019)

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Troubadours collaborated with another organiser named Jasmine Low who independently organised a series called Doppelganger. Tis series catered to spoken word and poetry events that featured marginalised LGBTQ performers and audiences alike resulting in the fairly successful Troubaganger series at La Bodega in Tengkat Tong Shin in downtown Kuala Lumpur. Tis crossover series made the event bustling and diverse, not only in terms of musicianship but also types of performances such as spoken word and performance art across the gender spectrum. Performers were taking more artistic risks with edgier material that was political in nature yet marked by a certain individuality that the earlier generation might have felt was just a facet individualism. Nonetheless, such performances enthralled the generation that grew up during the general economic and social prosperity of the Mahathir era who were brought up discouraged to express emotions openly or political opinions. Te frst Mahathir era (1981–2003) was marked by the Ministry of Information’s strict control of the media and suppression of alternative or dissenting voices, which shielded the public from dissent through various legislative instruments like Te Printing and Presses Act, Te Sedition Act, Te Ofcial Secrets Act, and Te Internal Security Act (Azmyl 2010, 184). By the time the fnal KL Sing Song came around in 2009 (Figures 11.3–11.4), we moved venue from the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC) to the Annexe Gallery in Central Market where Jerome had begun work as a gallery manager. By 2006–2007 the Annexe Gallery had become the new “heart” of the arts community brimming with activity from talks, exhibitions, mini festivals, flm screenings, and music and theatre performances on the third foor. Under the helm of photographer and LGBTQ activist Pang Khee Teik, the Annexe Gallery gave the arts community a home in the capital for the frst time but one that became contentious with the Central Market management in the long run. On the frst foor Joe Kidd opened his record store Te Ricecooker Shop. Across from Kidd’s store, the political activist Hishamuddin Rais ran a café called Bau Bau Café. Performance spaces became commonplace by the mid-2000s and were incorporated into the sprouting café scene including Starbucks’s brief singer–songwriter showcases in their outlets for a couple of years with an ensuing deluge of open mic nights across town. So too did opportunities emerge to actually break through career-wise as a musician on one’s own terms as social media took over the traditional mainstream industry barriers and smoothened the subterranean edginess of the music underground. It is at this juncture that some refection on the political conditions of the prior decade may help contextualise the eventual professionalising of singer–songwriters. Tis professionalising made for a less than interesting experience for those seeking edgier material, as up-and-coming younger acts viewed showcases as ways to further their musical careers rather than as sites of contestation. Te Politics Te combination of the Asian economic crisis and the sacking of then-Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in the period of 1997–1998 created a fertile ground for dissent to emerge in the general creative and performing arts scene in Kuala Lumpur: If there’s such a political marker to be “blamed” for the triggering of more vigorous creative endeavours, I would go back to 1997/98 where there were those frst public rallies happening in KL over the economic downturn and the sacked Anwar factor. Parts of the arts communities were already responding to the events for sure, even though it was mostly done with rather politically vague works and activities; because it was still a testing time in terms of the risks involved. Tere were other arts-related activities or groupings which played a similar role, from the more upper-middle class voices in theatrical practices by groups such as Five

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Figure 11.3 KL Sing Song 2009 poster. The fnal three-day KL Sing Song showcase from 30 October to 1 November 2009 was held at The Annexe Gallery, Central Market, Kuala Lumpur. (Personal collection of Azmyl Yusof)

Arts (which started way back in 1984), to the DIY, anti-corporate punk rock scene of the late ’90s. New arts collectives began forming along with already established ones like the aforementioned Five Arts Centre pushing for more political theatre performances and the relatively small arts community began taking notes of each other’s practices and some of the common events these diverse artists would congregate [at] were live music events. (Kidd 2019)

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Figure 11.4 KL Sing Song 2009 promotional fyer. (Personal collection of Azmyl Yusof)

Tan Sooi Beng (2003) noted that in response to demonstrations calling for reformasi (reformation) in the late 1990s, alternative and fringe artists organised a multidisciplinary arts festival that featured alternative art exhibitions, poetry readings, and musical performances to express concerns (Tan 2003, 105). Although the particular festival was not mentioned in Tan’s article, the line-up of performances as listed (alternative art exhibitions, poetry readings, and musical performances) was to become a common programme of both fringe and mainstream festivals from the 2000s onwards. Tis produced a tendency to have singer–songwriter performances, some of which Troubadours Enterprise helped curate and at which they sometimes performed

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as individual artists, since grassroots organisers worked on a limited budget. Te same community of flmmakers, visual artists, and writers from the early 2000s began making headway in their felds. Parallels can be drawn with the blossoming independent flmmaking community that also saw the transition of Pete Teo from musician to flmmaker as the 1990s drew to a close. In the post-2008 election period when the ruling government lost its majority and street protests were normalised, artists were further emboldened with the opportunity to take a chance and reaching a wider audience was becoming a reality with social media. Political discourse too became more open and commonplace and exposed the limits of singer–songwriter events and other independently organised music events: there was a limit to how efective subcultures were in helping to make real political change – in the sense that we were seldom able to reach beyond our niche audience into the general public. Tis in fact was the reason why I began to make “Here In My Home”, “15Malaysia”, and other pop/viral videos. I remember feeling frustrated that the singer–songwriter subculture I occupied could do little more than “talk to the converted” even as the country’s politics deteriorated. I felt I had to fnd a way to reach a bigger audience. So for me, the decision to make those flms was very much a political decision based on the need to leverage bigger demographics and audience numbers in order to serve a cause I felt was important. Shows like KL Sing Song both refected and emboldened the zeitgeist of that time. Other than subcultural music events, this was also refected in the indie flms of that period – especially in the works of what would later be referred to as “New Wave Malaysian Cinema” – many of which won awards internationally despite their modest technical quality and budget. Tis reclaiming of public cultural space was aided (or indeed was made possible) by the emergence of social media as a vehicle of both sub-community building as well as distribution. (Teo 2019) Te Outro Te ffh and fnal KL Sing Song ran for three days from 30 October to 1 November 2009 and featured performances by a diverse selection of singer–songwriters: Melina William, Rendra Zawawi, Ray Cheong, Paolo Delfno, Nick Davis, Wani Ardy, Liyana Fizi, Karen Nunis Blackstone, Edwin & Albert, Slowjaxx (Singapore), Pete Teo, Meor, Sharidir & Nizam P., David Knight (US), Shanon Shah, Najwa, Otam, Yuna, Nik Jidan, and Izzy Mohamed. Reza Salleh’s Moonshine series would be the sole event from this period that carried on until 2016 becoming the longest running monthly music series in Kuala Lumpur and the greater Klang Valley. He had also ran a sister event called Feedback from the late 2000s until it ended its run as an open mic night at Te Bee until December 2018. However, Reza Salleh began organising singer–songwriter round-style nights at No Black Tie recently: Doing Moonshine as no-frills as possible allowed me to do it consistently for so long. I think I was just happy that I could maintain a platform for the scene for so long. Longevity felt more important, I saw Moonshine as one of stepping stones for acts, less of an end goal. Songwriters Round, Unclogged, and Acoustic Jam were more part of the initial prompt (in starting the Moonshine series in 2005) as by that time they didn’t run regularly anymore. Troubadours and Doppelganger though gave me that sense of brothers-and-sisters-in-arms and made me think “OK I can do this probably”. For me the highlights of the singer–songwriter era in the 2000s would be the combination of Songwriters Round and KL Sing Song. (Reza 2019)

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Sei Hon recalls the similar empowerment of being a singer–songwriter in hindsight: It’s very empowering, you write personal stuf, and you’ve got a platform to perform and sing. And some shows you got paid and that’s nice – in our country if you don’t [sing] in Malay or [do] Chinese cover songs (back then and even now) it’s very difcult. No Black Tie was very progressive during its time. (Tan 2019) Personally, I also pursued my own creative output. For the next fve years afer the fnal KL Sing Song I would go on to record and release albums annually. Touring and performing took most of my time. Jerome and Sei Hon would also pursue their own creative paths and careers but I felt that with KL Sing Song there seemed a possibility of returning. During one brief trip the three of us did go to Singapore in 2013 and contributed as much as we could. With the beneft of hindsight, 2009 was the right time to mark the fnal KL Sing Song. As noted earlier, careerism took over as social media gave artists the sole control as creators and to a certain degree most of the grit from the earlier decade had been slowly glossed over. As Joe Kidd refects: As for a certain period of the era, the highlight has to be the early shows of the Unclogged series. At the time there was an abundance of untapped talents not being given a chance to perform. So I had a pool of great stuf I excitedly wanted to see. But by the decade’s end, I fnd it hard to fnd fresh talents with the same passion, grit, and punky recklessness. New acts I saw around then, ones which would be ftting to the format, were not as good, nor were they as rough and edgy. Most were very polished, well-rehearsed, and very safe. Honestly, for me, the singer–songwriter scene then got pretty boring and predictable really. (Kidd 2019) To take of from where Lockard (1998) lef, Malaysian singer–songwriters were able to generate some degree of sporadic politicisation during the period leading up to the 2008 election. However, sustaining the sort of politicisation that singer–songwriters in Indonesia had done, and still do with a new breed of singer–songwriters, is still a pipe dream. A semblance of some form of “true mass-mediated protest music for consumption” (Lockard 1998, 260) outside of the underground music subculture is still unlikely. For a brief moment in the 2000s protest music peeked its head out through the work of singer–songwriters and then snuck back into the (under)ground. Bibliography Antares, Maitreya. 5 Nov. 2014. “Overview of the Malaysian music scene since the 1970s.” Magick River, http://www .magickriver.org/2014/11/overview-of-malaysian-music-scene-since.html. Astro, Awani. 21 Jun. 2015. ‘Te Malaysian Music Industry May End’ - Sheila Majid. http://english.astroawani.com/ entertainment-news/malaysian-music-industry-may-end-sheila-majid-63184. Azalea, Azuar. 24 Jul. 2019. “And the music plays on…” Te Malaysian Reserve, https://themalaysianreserve.com/201 9/07/24/and-the-music-plays-on. Azmyl, Md Yusof. 2010. “Facing the music: Music subcultures and ‘morality’.” Media, Society & Culture. Edited by Yeoh Seng Guan, 179–196. New York: Routledge. Barendregt, Bart, Peter Keppy, and Henk Schulte Nordholt. 2017. Popular Music in Southeast Asia: Banal Beats, Muted Histories. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Brown, Hassan Peter. Interview with author, Kuala Lumpur, 5 October 2019. “Dig the new breed.” 19 Jun. 2006. Te Star, Star Two 14. Izuan, Shah. 12 Apr. 2005. “Stirring up support.” Te Star, StarTwo, 16.

136 • Azmyl Yusof @ Azmyl Yunor Kidd, Joe. Interview with author, Kuala Lumpur, 14 October 2019. Kugan, Jerome. 27 Sept. 2005. “Singer-songwriters in Kl: A little history, a little hope for its sustainability.” Troubadours, http://troubadourskl.blogspot.com/2005/09/. Lockard, C. A. 1998. Dance of Life: Popular Music and Politics in South East Asia. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. Lohan, N. Rama. 13 Jul. 2006. “All about song.” Te Star, StarTwo, 25. Reza, Salleh. Interview with author, 4 October 2019 Shuker, Roy. 2016. Understanding Popular Music Culture. London: Routledge. “Statements from the Musical Fringe.” MY Memory Art Project. https://myartmemoryproject.com/theatre/1986/08/ statements-from-the-musical-fringe-1986/. Tan, Sei Hon. Interview with author, Kuala Lumpur, 23 September 2019. Tan Sooi, Beng. 2003. “Musical Exotica and Nostalgia.” Wacana Seni – Journal of Art Discourse, 2, 91–108. Teo, Pete. Interview with author, Kuala Lumpur, 1 October 2019.

12

Hijrah and the Rise of Nasyid Kontemporari in Malaysia Raja Iskandar Bin Raja Halid

Migration is one of the main reasons for the spread of culture including music. Tis idea of mobility and movement of people forms an important pillar of Islamic historiography. It is “intrinsic to the history and prescriptions of Islam, a religion whose zero year is measured not from the birth of the Prophet but from the migration from Mecca to Medina” (Flood 2009, 1). Te arrival of Islam to the extended Malay world was also the result of the movements of traders and missionaries across the Indian Ocean, which had been happening since the 13th century (see Drewes 1985, 7–19; Azyumardi Azra 2006, 1-25). In Malaysia, performances such as wayang parsi (later known as bangsawan), caklempong, and zapin were brought by migrants from India, Sumatra, and the Arab peninsula (Matusky and Tan 2004). In the early 20th century, jazz and Latin music became popular due to the infuence of musicians from Europe and the Philippines in Malaya (Augustin and Lochhead 2015). In this chapter, I look into the Muslim concept of hijrah, considering its multiple meanings and connotations. Mobility is an idea which is central to the history and demands of Islam, a religion with a calendar based on the hijrah or migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in present day Saudi Arabia more than fourteen centuries ago. Mobility is a continuous process of intra- and inter-regional movements of people across imagined boundaries as part of the idealised community of the ummah (supranational Islamic community), with a global reach and impact. Migrations – either for economic or religious reasons – brought about the spread and integration of cultures, artistic expressions, and forms. However, the concept of hijrah goes beyond the simple notion of a journey from one physical place to another and also incorporates the metaphorical idea of a spiritual migration. How did hijrah, both in the physical and spiritual sense, relate to the phenomenal rise and popularity of nasyid kontemporari (contemporary nasyid/Islamic song) in Malaysia during the 1990s and 2000s? Considering hijrah and its multiple meanings, this chapter explores individuals, groups, and this musical genre’s multifaceted relations to social and political dynamics prior to and during the 1990s and 2000s, locally and globally. Hijrah Hijrah, also known as hijra or hegira, is an Arabic term that literally means “to abandon”, “to break ties with someone”, or “to migrate”. It refers primarily to the Prophet Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD and marks the start of the Muslim lunar calendar

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in 639 AD which was initiated by Umar al-Khattab, the second caliph of Islam. Te term may be physical and non-physical, religious and secular in nature, or carry metaphorical connotations, for example the Malay hijrah (migrate), and the afxed berhijrah (migrating) and penghijrahan (migration). According to the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, “Te muhajir (emigrant) is the one who abandons what God has forbidden” (Sahih al-Bukhari). Hijrah can also be seen as a “transition from accommodating state authority to resisting it” and “emigration from a land where Muslims are in a majority but face poverty” (Eickelman and Piscatori 1990). Tis historical migration is celebrated in many parts of the Muslim world today. In Malaysia, it is celebrated as Awal Muharram or Maal Hijrah which marks a new Muslim year and awards are given to outstanding individuals in the service of Islam or the country as a whole. Spiritual Migration Apart from the physical hijrah or migration for largely economic reasons (in the case of musicians – fame and fortune), we have the spiritual hijrah. Te term hijrah has also become a buzzword in the Malaysian entertainment industry and used whenever a female artist wears a hijab (head cover) or a male rock musician turns into an ustaz (religious preacher). It refers to Muslim musicians doing a “180-degree” career change, either by abandoning their career entirely or choosing a diferent genre – usually spiritual or Islamic in nature, together with a change in physical outlook and image. Tis is termed by Kristin Deasy as the “Cat Stevens Efect”. Cat Stevens was a popular British singer who converted to Islam in the 1970s, changed his name to Yusuf Islam, and abandoned his musical career. However, he made a comeback in the 1990s beginning with recordings of children’s Islamic songs and became part of the global nasyid industry. Some traditional musicians performing wayang kulit (shadow puppetry) and mak yong (traditional dance/drama) in Kelantan are “spiritually migrating” and abandoning certain rituals deemed “un-Islamic”. I have met a few tok dalangs (puppeteers) who do not perform certain mantras and rituals and replace them with Islamic supplications. Te famous Malaysian singer Siti Nurhaliza, for example, is now wearing the hijab but has not abandoned her career. Hijrah has diferent degrees of “change” depending on the “readiness” or faith in the outcome of the decision. Tere are cases where artists who berhijrah and abandon their careers, return to the industry due to fnancial reasons. For famous singers, hijrah is a signifcant career decision that requires deep religious contemplation. But with a growing market for religious songs, the nasyid genre provides an alternative path. One such musician is Mustafa Mat Daud, popularly known as Tapai. He is a guitarist, songwriter, sound engineer, and producer from Kelantan. Former guitarist of rock group Zodiak, he worked as a studio technician at Booty’s Studios in Kuala Lumpur and has recorded and performed with some of the biggest artists and producers in the country. He was the lyricist for Siti Nurhaliza’s song “Kau Kekasihku” which won TV3’s Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL) competition under the “Balada” category in 2000. He was also the lyricist for “Puncak Kasih” sung by Zian Zain in the fnals of AJL 1999. Te following is an excerpt of Tapai’s Facebook status regarding his hijrah and the reasons behind his decision to return to Kelantan. Excerpts from his post are translated as follows: Hijrah? According to norms, life is like a wheel, you’re on top for a moment and at the bottom sometimes… According to the Syariat (Islamic teachings)… life is a temporary journey… towards a diferent world, hijrah is a demand (in Islam) in striving towards goodness and Allah’s blessings. (Tapai 2016, translation mine)

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Tapai told me that although he has achieved fame and fortune (which didn’t last long), there was a void (kosong) in him, a feeling of emptiness. He tried doing odd jobs but ended up doing what he does best, writing songs and playing music. But this time around, he decided to write and perform only spiritual songs for the current nasyid genre, especially in Kelantan. Similar stories were told by artists such as Akil Hayy, a former rock singer, who did berhijrah and became an ustaz while recording nasyid or Islamic-themed songs. Pop singer Aishah, who was once with the New Zealand dance band Te Fan Club, on the other hand, did berhijrah to join Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), an Islamic political party. However, she still occasionally performs and recently won a major singing competition. Many of these artists are now regular guests on Islamic TV programmes and at public lectures, sharing their hijrah experiences. Islam and Nasyid Islam was brought to the Malay world by daei’s (missionaries), Sufs, traders, and travellers from South Asia and the Middle East since the 13th century. Te subsequent migration of Muslims also resulted in the introduction of performing arts such as the nobat, zapin, and nasyid. Nasyid or insyad is derived from the word nasyada (to look for, to search). Te term ansyada also means to recite poetry and is connected to singing (Matusky and Tan 2004). Te earliest nasyid was sung during the Prophet Muhammad’s hijrah in the 7th century when he was welcomed in Madinah (Medina) with the song “Tala ‘al Badru ‘alaina” (“Te Moon Has Risen Over Us”). Nasyid spread in the Middle East and was popular among university students in Egypt in the 12th century. Nasyid developed in Malaysia during the 1940s–1960s and was performed as accompanying acts for Musabaqah or Qur’an recitation competitions (Matusky and Tan 2004.). In Indonesia, indigenised Arab music developed in the early 12th century in the form of orkes gambus, played by local Yemeni communities in East Java. Tese migrants from Hadhramaut brought with them the gambus (short-necked, pear-shaped fretless lute) and used it with various other Arab, Indian, and Western instruments to form the orkes gambus. Tis ensemble’s repertoire includes a mixture of Arab, Hindustani, and local songs and is played at weddings and other communal celebrations (Weintraub 2010). Although performed by Arab-Indonesian Muslims, the orkes gambus’ purpose within the Islamic “da’wah” context is still ambiguous and “is viewed within two frameworks: either as Islamic-themed music or as ethnic/entertainment music” (Berg 2011, 222). However, its Arab aesthetics and Islamically nuanced music permeated into the general Muslims’ consciousness to further develop the “musik Islami” genre. In the 1960s nasyid, also known as qasidah, developed afer the fall of the Communist Party in Indonesia following the mass killings of its leaders and supporters in 1965. In the early 1970s qasidah Rebana, qasidah Gambus, and orkes Gambus became popular styles in the “musik Islami” or “musik religi” genre. Orkes El-Surayya, formed by multi-instrumentalist Haji Ahmad Baqi in Medan, was one of the most popular qasidah-nasyid groups not only in Indonesia but also in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei (Figure 12.1). Tis “mini orchestra” was formed in the 1960s and modelled afer Egyptian orchestras accompanying famous Arab singers such as Umm Kathum, Abdul Halim Hafz, and Abdul Wahab in the 1960s and 1970s. Also known as Orkes Padang Pasir (Desert Orchestra), El-Surayya was comprised of ffeen to seventeen musicians (nine to ten women and fve to eight men) playing violins, double bass, suling (bamboo futes), accordion, keyboard, gambus, qanun, and drums. Te male musicians of El-Surayya wore Western suits and the women wore baju kebaya or baju kurung (Malay traditional/typical loose-ftting full-length dress) without any head coverings unlike nasyid groups today. Te group reached regional stardom in the late 1970s and had an impact on the nasyid scene in

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Figure 12.1 El-Surayya taken in 1970 with Ahmad Baqi, standing fourth from the left.

Malaysia. Teir song “Selimut Putih” (“White Blanket”) became a classic nasyid song and is still performed by nasyid groups and solo pop singers to this day. Malaysian artists such as Sharifah Aini (a popular 1970s singer and actress), Ustaz Asri (from the nasyid group Rabbani), Ustaz Akhil Hayy (solo nasyid singer previously from the rock group D’Riyadh), and nasyid groups Nada Murni and Hijjaz have recorded the song. Te following is an excerpt of the song text with translation: Bila Izrail datang memanggil Jasad terbujur dipembaringan Seluruh tubuh akan menggigil Sekujur badan kan kedinginan Tak ada lagi gunanya harta Kawan karib sanak saudara Jikalau ada amal di dunia Itulah hanya pembela kita

When Izrail comes calling (on) Te body lying on the bed Te whole body will shiver Te whole body will become cold Wealth becomes worthless Close friends and family If there are good deeds in this world Tose are our only saviour

Te infuence of this Indonesian qasidah-nasyid genre spread to Sabah, East Malaysia when one of Ahmad Baqi’s students, Haji Jalidar Abdul Rahim migrated from Medan to work as a pendakwah (missionary). He formed a nasyid group called Noor El-Kawakib in 1978 which later went on to win the National Nasyid Competition organised by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) that year. Tis was followed by Kumpulan Kompleks Budaya Negara (a national institution to safeguard and promote traditional performing arts) which won the same competition a year later. Te late 1970s also saw the emergence of nasyid groups in the Malay recording industry. Groups such as Al-Mizan and Al-Jawahir (Singapore) began recording in the late 1970s and early 1980s followed

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by Nada Murni (Malaysia) in the late 1980s. Similar to the groups of north Sumatra, these nasyid groups performed songs known as “Irama Padang Pasir” (“desert rhythms” such as masri) with maqams (melodic modes) commonly used in Qur’anic recitations, such as hijaz, bayati, jiharkah, and rast. Al-Mizan was formed in 1977 by Haji Md Karim, a religious teacher in Singapore. Te all-woman group had a lead singer named Faridah M. Amin who was a pop singer and recorded fve albums. Haji Md Karim and his wife Ustazah Hamidah Syukor later formed another group called Al-Jawaher in 1979, comprised of seven young girls. Te group recorded fve albums from 1980 to 1990 under Polygram records and is still active to this day. Solo nasyid singers also emerged in the 1970s and Ahmadi Hassan from Penang, Malaysia was probably the most famous. Early nasyid songs were sung in unison and accompanied by Western instruments with Arab and Indian favours. National nasyid competitions and festivals continued to be organised by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) or the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Figure 12.2). In the 1990s nasyid would be performed by male acapella groups resembling Western pop boy bands singing catchy tunes in harmony with simple pop arrangements. Tis popular version of nasyid was later known as nasyid kontemporari and a new musical genre was created. Te development of nasyid and nasyid kontemporari can be attributed to the da’wah movement in countries like Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, and Kuwait which spread to other parts of the Muslim world including Malaysia. Te Da’wah Movement Islamic revival began in the early 1970s infuenced by the social and political context of the Middle East (Muzafar 1987). Hassan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb from Ihkwan Muslimin (Muslim

Figure 12.2 The Kumpulan Nasyid Kompleks Budaya Negara (KBN) won the National Nasyid Competition in 1979. (Courtesy of Fauzi Majid)

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Brotherhood), and ulama Abul A’la Maududi were among the most revered leaders and scholars that inspired movements such as Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) or the Islamic Youth Movement of Malaysia and Jamaat al-Tabligh (Muzafar 1987). Usrah and Halaqah (study group) circles emerged following the Middle Eastern-inspired student activism and spread among university students in the country. Te founding members of ABIM included Anwar Ibrahim, Fadzil Noor, and Ashaari Mohammad. Tey would later shape the religious, political, and social landscape of the country. Apart from ABIM, other Islamic institutions were established by the state and the following four decades experienced a rise in Islamic awareness throughout the country. Te growth of political Islam and state-sanctioned Islamisation can be seen as a refection of Muslims’ greater demands for fuller implementation of the Syariah and Islamic way of life. Tis afected every facet of Muslim life from food and fashion to education and entertainment. Anwar Ibrahim rose to become Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia in 1993, Fadzil Noor became President of PAS, the largest Islamic political party, and Ashaari Muhammad further expanded al-Arqam, an Islamic social and economic movement he founded in the late 1960s. As Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar proposed the idea of Masyarakat Madani or civil society, a social system based on morality with roots in the governance of Madinah by the Prophet Muhammad and ideas from Muslim philosophers such as Ibn Khaldun and Al-Farabi. It was during Fadzil Noor’s Presidency that PAS wrested the state of Kelantan from UMNO in 1990 and began laying the groundwork to establish an Islamic state governed by Shariah principles. Ashaari Muhammad’s Al-Arqam grew to become a powerful organisation that owned businesses from food to entertainment worth millions of Malaysian ringgit (Noor 2014). All three individuals and the organisations they led played an important role (either directly or indirectly) in the growth and development of nasyid kontemporari in Malaysia. Islamic Politics and Music In 1990, the state of Kelantan was governed (again) by Parti Islam Se-Malaysia or the Pan Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) refecting a possible political hijrah by the people of Kelantan who wanted a more Islamic government (see Noor 2014). Since then, a new process of Islamisation (which some view as Arabisation) began. Activities considered “un-Islamic” were gradually discontinued or discouraged through legal and other means. Gambling outlets were closed down, the sale of alcohol was tightly controlled, and nightclubs stopped operating. Club musicians such as Ibrahim Yunus (Abe Him) and Che Rohani (Kak Ani) had to look for other venues at which to perform. Abe Him “migrated” from Penang in 1979 and played in hotels and nightclubs in Kota Bharu until the 1990s. Both of them are retirees but occasionally perform at weddings and functions (Ibrahim and Rohani 2017). Public performances where men and women mix together were banned, and female nasyid groups were not allowed to perform. Traditional makyong, wayang kulit, and main pateri practitioners were banned from performing due to the inclusion of certain rituals. Artists and activists viewed this development with concern and possibly the beginning of the end of one important part of the cultural industry in the state. Many musicians both traditional and modern contested and even resisted the Kelantan state’s eforts in regulating and bureaucratising the performing arts. Political changes in Kelantan in the early 1990s coincided with the booming music industry in Kuala Lumpur especially in the rock genre. Kelantanese-born musicians who were not able to perform in their state moved to Kuala Lumpur and managed to secure recording contracts. Many continued with their music careers in Kuala Lumpur and a number of them returned to Kelantan. Two of them, Hamzan Hj Hassan (Abe Jae) and Kamarul Anuar Kamalluddin

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(Keyo), became important players in the local music industry. Apart from modern pop singers and groups, traditional dikir barat singers also ventured outside of Kelantan. Dikir barat is a group performance comprised of singers called jogho (the main singer of the group) and tukang karut (a singer who improvises lyrics that touch on current issues or themes), accompanied by ten to ffeen male chorus members (awok-awok) with choreographed hand movements and musicians playing rebana, gong, canang, and maracas. One of the most popular singers is Halim Yazid who moved to Kuala Lumpur in the 1980s. According to a producer in Kota Bharu, his fourth album Inovasi (2001) sold more than 100,000 copies nationwide. By the mid-1990s, with the rise of Islamisation and the nation experiencing an economic crisis, there was a need for new and more religious sounds in the recording industry. Tus, the stage was set for the introduction of a new (or revitalised) genre – nasyid kontemporari (Sarkissian 2005). With the rise of nasyid kontemporari, some musicians in Kelantan turned towards this new genre and played more religious or da’wah music. Pop musicians Hamzan and Ibrahim had to keep up with the trend and formed a nasyid group called Nasyid Orkes Sukma in 1998. Te same phenomenon took place in Kuala Lumpur where pop singers began to form nasyid groups to get a slice of the growing market. Although the centre of the nasyid and popular music industry was in Kuala Lumpur, its spiritual compass pointed towards Kelantan. Nasyid groups were welcomed to perform in Kelantan and were considered the best alternative to pop/ rock and other Western-infuenced music genres. It ft the idea of Islamising the arts as part of the state’s political agenda. Farihin Abdul Fatah, the manager and producer of Raihan and one of the pioneering nasyid kontemporari groups, recalls that: Te most interesting thing was in 1997 when Raihan successfully performed a tour of Malaysia. We also made history when we managed to open the heart of the Chief Minister of Kelantan at that time, Allahyarham Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, to allow entertainment with an Islamic concept. Before that, he disallowed any form of concert in Kelantan. From that momentum, we were invited to perform in Indonesia and other countries. (“Legenda Raihan”. Harian Metro, 27 March 2016, translation mine) Some “migrating” pop/rock musicians also began paying homage to Tuan Guru Dato’ Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (fondly known as Tok Guru), Chief Minister of Kelantan, considered the most infuential ulama (Islamic scholar) at the time. Many wanted his advice on religious matters or to become his disciple. Singers such as Amy from the rock group Search and Ito from Blues Gang were among those drawn towards this “Tok Guru Efect”. Kelantan, with its many religious schools and Islamic governance, provided a fertile ground for the emergence of nasyid groups that would later fourish in public universities in Kuala Lumpur. Te increasingly popular nasyid kontemporari music and “migrating” artists were welcomed by PAS and its ulamas led by Tok Guru himself but not without contestations within his own party. While appropriating popular culture, the party began projecting a more tolerant and modern approach trying to win over the younger generation of Muslims. Ironically, the rise of nasyid kontemporari was partly due to eforts of the United Malays Nationalist Organisation (UMNO)-led Federal Government in the party’s attempts to counter the rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu (Matusky and Tan 2004). UMNO is the biggest Malay-Muslim political party in Malaysia and competes with PAS for Malay votes by strategically outdoing the latter in Islamic matters. Consequently, this led to the increase of Islamisation in Malaysia from politics to education, fashion, and entertainment.

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Darul Arqam Besides PAS, the most powerful Islamic movement in the country was Darul Arqam or alArqam. Tis movement started with Ustaz Ashaari Mohammad (Abuya) in the late 1960s, developed in the early 1970s, and aimed to create an ideal self-sufcient Muslim community (see Nagata 2004). Tis movement attracted highly educated Malay Muslims including singers and musicians who wanted to “berhijrah” and “berda’wah” or “to spread the message of Islam”. Te movement was economically successful with its own media companies and recording studios. Religious sermons and messages recorded and disseminated through the sale of cassettes and the formation of nasyid groups were part of this da’wah efort. Tis efort started in the 1980s in Kampung Sungai Penchala, a commune on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur where all al-Arqam members resided and ran their activities. A group of young men began singing religious songs and formed a group called Putera-Putera Al-Arqam (Sons of Al-Arqam), sometimes known as Syukbah Kebudayaan Al-Arqam (Al-Arqam Cultural Men). Te group was led by the late Ustaz Asri Ibrahim who later formed Rabbani and managed to record a number of songs. Putera-Putera Al-Arqam later changed their name to Nada Murni and the number of members increased. Members of Nada Murni then established a production company named OVA Production and produced recordings of sermons, as well as of children’s and women’s nasyid groups. Te group was well received by the public and performed on national TV. However, Darul Arqam was banned in 1994 and its leaders detained under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA). Among those attracted to al-Arqam was Farihin Abdul Fatah, a former punk-rocker with a Singaporean band called Plastic Surgery. In an interview in 1997, Farihin said he migrated to Kuala Lumpur to learn more about Islam and joined a da’wah organisation. As a child he was exposed to Western rock groups which were considered “wild” and TV shows that were too “liberal” and encouraged “free mixing”. Farihin recalled, when I lef Singapore to lead a new life in Malaysia and joining a da’wah organization, I thought that I would continue to forget about the entertainment world. But looking back at what made me who I was, to a point that I had to re-adjust my life, I realized that I could do something to improve my situation. (Hanim Mohd Saleh 1998) In al-Arqam, he used his musical expertise to form a group called Nada Murni and in ten years managed to produce twenty albums. He was assisted by Wahab Yusof, the former A&R manager of the British transnational conglomerate EMI, who also joined al-Arqam and was in charge of al-Arqam’s audio production company. When al-Arqam was banned in 1994, the group disbanded and some of its members formed other nasyid groups such as Hijjaz, Rabbani, and Raihan. Raihan and Nasyid Kontemporari Raihan was formed in 1996 by Farihin Abdul Fatah and is comprised of members from the group Te Zikr. Its founding members were Nazrey Johani (a convert from Sabah, East Malaysia), Che Amran Idris, Abu Bakar Md Yatim, Amran Ibrahim, and Azhari Ahmad (deceased). Te group’s name, which means “sweet scent of heaven” or “heaven’s fower” in Arabic, was known for its simple and catchy tunes accompanied by percussion instruments. Te album PujiPujian produced by Farihin Abdul Fatah and distributed by the American company, Warner Music Group, sold three-and-a-half million copies worldwide and became the world’s biggest

Hijrah and Nasyid Kontemporari in Malaysia • 145

nasyid group (Figures 12.3–12.4). Raihan was the precursor of the nasyid kontemporari genre which combined Western-style boy band features and Islamic-themed songs sung in harmony. Raihan’s soothing songs are not “Arabic” in style compared to previous nasyid tunes (given the lack of maqams and Arab rhythmic structures) but were pop in nature and easily memorised especially by children. Te genre developed at a time when rock music was waning in popularity and Muslim youths were looking for musical alternatives. Te following is an excerpt from “Puji-Pujian” (Praises), the song that reputedly marked the beginning of nasyid kontemporari: Asyhaduallailahailallah Wa asyhaduanna Muhammadarrasulullah Tiada Tuhan selain Allah

I bear witness that there’s no god but Allah And I bear witness Muhammad is the messenger of Allah No god other than Allah

Figure 12.3 Front sleeve of the DVD edition of Raihan’s debut album Puji-Pujian (Praises), Warner Music Malaysia. 1997. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

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Figure 12.4 Back sleeve of the DVD edition of Raihan’s debut album Puji-Pujian (Praises) Warner Music Malaysia. 1997. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

Nabi Muhammad pesuruh Allah Alhamdulillah pujian bagi Allah Subhanallah Maha suci Allah Allahuakbar Allah Maha Besar Segala puji hanya bagi Allah Bila dipuji kejayaan kita Sebenarnya bukan milik kita Oleh itu sedarlah sentiasa Semuanya dari Allah

Prophet Muhammad is the servant of Allah Praise be to Allah, Praise be to Allah Glory be to Allah, Glory be to Allah Allah is Great, Allah is Great All praises only to Allah When we’re praised on our success Actually it’s not ours We must always realise Everything is from Allah

Raihan gained international recognition afer they were invited to perform in Edinburgh, United Kingdom in 1997 and recorded with musician Yusof Islam formerly known as Cat

Hijrah and Nasyid Kontemporari in Malaysia • 147

Stevens. In 2001, Azhari Ahmad died due to a heart attack and Raihan was lef with four members. Te group continued to perform globally with tours in the United Kingdom and France in 2004 and other countries such as the United States, Australia, Canada, China, Russia, South Africa, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Tailand. It was reported that Raihan’s concert at Sasana Budaya Ganesha (Sabuga) in Bandung, Indonesia attracted a record number of audience members and built a strong following there (Poetra 2004). In 2006, Raihan’s main singer Nazrey Johani lef the group and went back to his hometown in Sabah. Te remaining members continue to perform but lack Nazrey’s unique voice and appeal. Nasyid was not only popular in Malaysia but was also growing in other parts of the world among Muslim communities in Europe and the Middle East. Well-known global artists in the nasyid genre included Sami Yusuf, Maher Zain, Dawud Wharnsby, Zain Bhikha, and Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens). Nasyid kontemporari was also being promoted by the state through IKIM or the Malaysian Institute for Islamic Development. Te genre now has its own charts, awards, and TV programme. Today with many Muslim artists “crossing over” to perform nasyid, the genre is more open and not confned to specifc dress codes and singing styles. New R&B and rap artists singing Islamic-themed or spiritual songs under the banner of nasyid kontemporari refect this diversity. Conclusion Nasyid was frst sung to welcome the Prophet Muhammad’s arrival in Medina during his hijrah from Mecca. Te political, economic, and spiritual hijrah of Muslims for the past four decades in Malaysia was infuenced by regional and global Islamic da’wah, social and political movements. Te demands for greater Islamisation in social life, education, and politics provided a germinating ground for an alternative form of music and entertainment. Nasyid and qasidah groups from Singapore and Indonesia laid the foundation for popular nasyid in the region. In Indonesia, Middle East-educated Muslim scholars and local Arab communities developed the Orkes Padang Pasir and Orkes Gambus music for both secular and religious purposes. Tis development had a strong infuence on Malaysia especially the da’wah essence of the songs but without the complexity of the orkes format. Malaysian nasyid groups were much simpler in their instrumentation and musical arrangement. What was apparent was a Nusantara Muslim connectivity through intra-regional migration and cross-border fows of music. In Malaysia, nasyid fourished during a time when popular musicians migrated for economic and spiritual reasons including to Malaysian states such as Kelantan with drastic political and social changes under new government policies. Al-Arqam became a successful da’wah movement that attracted followers including those from the music industry such as Farihin Abdul Fatah and Wahab Yusof. Tese musicians used their experience and connections with the mainstream music industry to introduce and promote nasyid kontemporari for the purpose of da’wah. Te term kontemporari can be construed as a refection of a period when Malaysia reached new heights economically and politically. Te newly constructed Petronas Twin Towers, the development of Putrajaya as the new administrative city, the construction of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system, and the hosting of the 1998 Commonwealth Games were testaments to Malaysia’s economic success under Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamed’s governance. Malaysia was already considered a modern country and, more importantly, a modern Islamic country looked upon by other countries as a model Muslim state. Raihan and nasyid kontemporari aptly projected this modern and progressive image of Islam, not necessarily deeply Westernised or Arabised but grounded by their simplicity, moderation, and modesty – which is also refected in their music. It was part of the process of Islamising modernity and

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what sociologist Chandra Muzafar sees as a “manifestation of a search for an Islamic identity” (Seneviratne 1998). State institutions such as the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (JAKIM), and the Islamic Propagation Foundation of Malaysia (YADIM) helped promote nasyid and continue to provide a platform for economic and spiritual hijrah. Tis could be seen as an efort of countering the onslaught of Western music and culture ofen seen as destructive cultural imperialism (see Seneviratne 2012). Te process of hijrah and the development of nasyid can be seen as “authority defned” and “everyday defned” social realities (Shamsul 1996). Nasyid was infuenced by both the state (governments and federal agencies) and the organic nature of Malaysia’s Muslim society’s quest for change at the macro level as well as individual journeys towards spiritual enlightenment and fulflment at the micro level. Bibliography Augustin, Paul and Lochhead, James. 2015. Just for the Love of It: Popular Music in Penang, 1930s–1960s. Kuala Lumpur: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre. Azyumardi, Azra. 2006. Islam in the Indonesian World: An Account of Institutional Formation. Bandung: Mizan Pustaka. Barendregt, Bert. 2011. “Pop, Politics and Piety.” In Islam and Popular Culture in Indonesia and Malaysia, edited by A. N. Weintraub, 235–256. Oxon: Routledge. Berg, Birgit 2011. ‘“Authenticʻ Islamic Sound? Orkes Gambus Music, the Arab Idiom, and Sonic Symbols in Indonesian Islamic Musical Arts.” In Divine Inspirations: Music and Islam in Indonesia, edited by David Harnish and Ann Rasmussen, 207–240. New York: Oxford University Press. Deasy, Kristin. 2011, March 17. Music and Muslims: Te ‘Cats Stevens’ Efect. Retrieved from https://www.rferl.org/a/ feature_on_music_and_muslims_/2341762.html. Drewes, Gerardus Willebrordus Joannes. 1985. New Light on the Coming of Islam to Indonesia? In Readings on Islam in Southeast Asia, compiled by Ahmad Ibrahim, Sharon Siddique and Yasmin Hussain, 7-19. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Eickelman, Dale and Piscatori, James. 1990. Muslim Travellers: Pilgrimage, Migration, and the Religious Imagination. Berkeley: University of California Press. Flood, Finbarr Barry. 2009. Objects of Translation: Material Culture and Medieval “Hindu-Muslim” Encounter. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Hanim, Mohd Saleh. 1998. “Farihin Tidak Berkecil Hati.” Berita Minggu, 7. Ibrahim, Yunus and Rohani, Che. Interview with author, Kota Bharu, 12 February 2017. “Legenda Raihan”. Harian Metro. 27 March 2016. https://www.hmetro.com.my/mutakhir/2016/03/125715/legenda-ra ihan (Accessed 16 November 2020) Matusky, Patricia and Beng, Tan Sooi. 2004. Te Music of Malaysia, Te Classical Folk and Syncretic Traditions. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Muzafar, Chandra. 1987. Islamic Resurgence in Malaysia. Petaling Jaya: Penerbit Fajar Bakti. Nagata, Judith. 2004. “Alternative Models of Islamic Governance in Southeast Asia: Neo-Sufsm and the Arqam Experiment in Malaysia.” Global Change, Peace & Security 16(2): 99–114. Noor, Farish. 2014. Te Malaysian Islamic Party PAS 1951–2013: Islamism in a Mottled Nation. Petaling Jaya: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre. Poetra, Adjie Esa. 2004. Revolusi Nasyid. Bandung: MQS Publishing. Sahih, al-Bukhari. Vol. 1, Book 2, Hadith 10. Retrieved from https://sunnah.com/bukhari/2/3. Sarkissian, Margaret. 2005. “Religion Never had It so Good: Contemporary Nasyid and the Growth of Islamic Popular Music in Malaysia.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 37: 124–152. Seneviratne, Kalinga. 1998. Music-Malaysia: Islam Goes Pop. Retrieved from http://www.ipsnews.net/1998/04/music -malaysia-islam-goes-pop/. Seneviratne, Kalinga. 2012. Countering MTV Infuence in Indonesia and Malaysia. Singapore: ISEAS. Shamsul, Amri Baharuddin. 1996. “Debating About Identity in Malaysia: A Discourse Analysis.” Southeast Asian Studies 34(3): 476–499.

Hijrah and Nasyid Kontemporari in Malaysia • 149 Tapai, Mustafa. 2016. “Hijrah?”. Facebook post. 24 November 2016 Weintraub, Andrew. 2010. Dangdut Stories: A Social and Musical History of Indonesia’s Most Popular Music. New York: Oxford University Press. Weintraub, Andrew. (Ed.). 2011. Islam and Popular Culture in Indonesia and Malaysia. Oxon: Routledge. Weintraub, Andrew. 2016, March 27. Legenda Raihan. Retrieved from https://www.hmetro.com.my/mutakhir/2016/ 03/125715/legenda-raihan.

PART

IV

National vs. Local Industries

Part IV asserts the need to discern the presence of national and local industries for the production of popular music in the Nusantara region. Tis section examines regulated laws, censorship, and politics at the national level as well as production, consumption, and dissemination of popular music at the regional level. Te discussion reveals alternative modus operandi between national enterprises that operate largely at the capital city supported by the national government and regional industries propelled by individuals and small organisations that produce music for local communities, ofen of distinct ethnic groups. While the previous section highlighted inter-regional movements of musicians and genres, part IV features regionalised popular music industries demarcated by political boundaries of provinces and nation-states as well as the presence of ethnic cultural domains. Te diferentiation between national and local industries addresses the presence of distinct popular music communities in the Nusantara region. Local industries are largely driven by individuals working in small studios or at their residence, producing music for local events, and disseminating songs through local media platforms. Local industries may beneft from the national industry but are ofen not dependent on the national government for funding and support. Regional genres are largely the product of the popularisation of traditional forms that reinforce alternative cultural modernities for the ethnic group and/or the province. Historically, the Nusantara region had several diferent centres for the production, performance, and dissemination of popular music given the movement of individuals and communities. Afer independence from colonial powers, Nusantara nation-states implemented protectionist policies for the arts in the 1970s and national music industries developed with centralized operations at the capital cities. However, technological developments and access to recording equipment in the 1980s and 1990s allowed local industries to fourish producing regional popular music for local audiences. Tis section begins with a discussion on popular music and nation branding through governmental campaigns fuelled by the infux of tourists in the region. Chapter 14 examines the national popular music industry in Indonesia contested by state laws and censorship. Both chapters 13 and 14 discuss the national industry in Malaysia and Indonesia, respectively, as guided democracies with cultural policies that shape popular music following nationalistic directives and directions. In contrast, chapters 15 and 16 investigate local industries within marginal regions as alternative modernities to popular music within their respective nationstates of Malaysia and the Philippines. Chapter 15 discusses the development of Iban popular music in Sarawak representative of an indigenous identity through modern expressions of popular music. Te last chapter of this section examines the Sama-Bajau genre known as sangbai that is both popularised and disseminated across the national borders of Malaysia and the Philippines as a transnational popular genre.

13

Branding the Nation through Ahmad Nawab’s “Malaysia Truly Asia” Shazlin Amir Hamzah

Introduction Since its inception in 1972, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture in Malaysia has implemented campaigns to brand the country as a unique tourist destination in Asia. In this process, popular music plays a signifcant role in depicting the country as a unique tourist destination. In 1999, the song “Malaysia Truly Asia” was composed by Datuk Seri Ahmad Nawab and it became, and continues to be, the most iconic song for Tourism Malaysia’s campaigns. “Malaysia Truly Asia” was originally recorded in English and eventually translated into seventeen languages for the worldwide campaign. Tis song catapulted Ahmad Nawab’s musical career to the level of Seniman Negara (National Laureate) and was specifcally infused with musical elements of the three main ethnic communities of Malaysia – Malay, Chinese, and Indian. Te song combined instrumental arrangements of kompang (single-headed frame drum), Kelantanese wayang kulit (shadow puppets) music, serunai (quadruple reed wind instrument), tabla (a pair of double-headed drums), accordion, and seruling (fute). National songs such as this represent and invoke kinship among Malaysians to the predominant ideology of an “authority-defned” national identity that links Malay ethno-national politics with a British colonial past (Shamsul 1996). Tis chapter discusses the conceptualisation of “nation branding” as both a tourism and political tool in post-colonial Malaysia where the “nation” and “state” are not interchangeable. As part of a destination branding campaign targeted at a global market, the song eludes contested national directions of the Malaysian state (Shamsul & Sity 2012). Neglecting dichotomies of shared symbols across the Nusantara region is an implicit process of nation branding that aims to set Malaysia apart from its neighbours as a tourism destination while simultaneously asserting post-colonial national hegemonies. “Malaysia Truly Asia” made its debut in 2000 during the Citrawarna Malaysia festival held in conjunction with the tourism campaign for Visit Malaysia that year. It was a pompous event and for the frst time in the country’s history, a single campaign song was translated into various foreign languages. Tis song is still remembered today and at the point of this chapter writing, I am reminded by how people responded when I introduced myself as “I am from Malaysia” while studying in the United States during my undergraduate years. My introduction was received with “Hey… ‘Malaysia Truly Asia!’” by an American student, singing the line of the song to which many in the class were able to identify with. A “nation branding” project disseminates the reputation of a country just as a company’s or a product’s brand image is created through advertising and branding whereby the dissemination of reputation has a profound 153

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impact on the way the country is perceived (Shazlin 2019). In addition, nation branding is a way of creating symbols and an identifcation for people to associate themselves with in order to feel the “imagined community”. Anderson (1983) emphasised how newspapers are crucial for the defnition of these imagined communities because they provide readers with a shared stock of common national referents. Furthermore, radio and television are critical in situating individuals within a national imagined community (Piroth 2008). In Malaysia, Radio Malaya began broadcasting in 1946 and steadily became the arm for the propagation of “authoritydefned” and government approved messages through music. When television was introduced, Radio Television Malaysia was established in 1963 and this national network began broadcasting locally composed and arranged music to keep within and promote the national culture (Chopyak 1987). Songs, much like newspapers and any other media content, are similar to stories and these stories help create a “collective imagination” of a group. Tey form a narrative for the individuals in a society to locate themselves. Chopyak stressed further that music is an important cultural marker in Malaysia and, as a result, musicians fnd themselves at the forefront of nation building. Music and musicians in Malaysia are expected to play an important role in the process of building and defning their nation. Using an interview that I conducted with the composer of “Malaysia Truly Asia”, I discuss the origins of this popular song used as a nation branding apparatus against the background of Malaysia as a post-colonial state. Various scholars have written about how advertising works to generate purchases, increase return-ofinvestment for businesses, and represent Malaysia through images for the tourism industry. However, no study has considered branding and how it works to provide the state its “nation” status or variations of it (Jordan 2014b; Shazlin 2016). Branding Malaysia Branding is the process of creating a special meaning for a product, one that makes a product distinctive in the marketplace and in its product category (May, Wells, Burnett, & Moriarty 2007). It is the intangible values built into an ordinary product or service that help it to stand out from the crowd and to break out of the mould of similarity in a world ruled by globalisation where products and services are virtually indistinguishable from each other, by incorporating values into consumers’ perceptions of a product or service. Nation branding is described as the phenomenon by which governments engage in self-conscious activities aimed at producing a particular image of the nation-state (Jordan 2013). Conceptually, it is a fairly recent notion that is continuously developing. Te term was coined by Simon Anholt in 1996 when the author began observing that reputations of countries are similar to the brand images that can be attached to companies and products, and that both are equally important. Branding is the process of designing, planning, and communicating a name and identity in order to build a reputation. A nation brand is the reputation of a particular country and just as products and companies have brand images created through advertising and marketing, these reputations too have images that can create profound impacts on the country as well as the perceptions of people (Anholt 2007). A nation branding project disseminates the reputation of a country by sending a comprehensive message about the attitudes, images, and personality of the country. Tis reputation has a profound impact on a country’s image and the way in which it is perceived. Countries create their reputations and communicate them to the rest of the world through various eforts including tourism promotions. Tese campaigns are ofen the loudest voices in branding the nation as tourism boards usually have the biggest budgets and the most competent marketers. According to Olins (2001), France has always been inventing and reinventing its national image, repackaging it symbolically to be presented to both internal and

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external audiences. Tese symbols include the colours of its national fower, national anthem (Le Marseillaise), military uniforms, great medallions, rituals, and ornaments. Branding the nation involves inventing a reputation and image for a political community and social entity, and thus what comes to attention are questions of who decides and engineers what this “nation” should be. If a tourism campaign is designed by the government this would mean that the eventual nation brand disseminated is authority-defned and a dominant elite idea. However, would this brand eventually conform with the notion of everyday-defned sovereignty that the mass population holds onto? Branding a nation then becomes a more complex agenda than the branding and marketing of commercial goods. Tis is especially so when the nation in this context is still a “work-in-progress”. Te following is a brief description of why this is complex for Malaysia as a work-in-progress nation. Epistemologically, for post-colonial countries such as Malaysia, terms such as “states”, “nations”, and “nation-states” are completely dissimilar and cannot be used interchangeably. Tis is because the experience of decolonisation among independent former colonies is diferent compared to that of Europe from where the idea of “nation” originated. For Malaysia, it cannot be assumed that the term “state” is akin to “nation” and therefore one cannot be used to replace the other. According to Shamsul and Sity (2006), the conceptual defnition of the “state” is an entity that has a rule of law, a territory, and citizenship. For post-colonial countries, the “state” is separated from the “nation”, the latter being defned as an imagined community that is suffused with a notion of “nation-of-intent” (Shamsul 1996). Tis is because the state existed and was lef as a legacy by the colonials who used it to fulfl their colonial needs. Te main governance structure of the country, once it achieves independence, remains as that of the colonial state. Tis is true even when the people heading the country are the locals themselves. Shamsul stressed further that a nation-of-intent is a more or less precisely defned idea and as a form of “nation” with its territory, population, language, culture, symbols, and institutions. Te idea must be shared by a number of people who perceive themselves as members of that nation, and who feel that it unites them, but it does not necessarily imply an aspiration for political selfrule on the part of the group of people who are advancing their nation-of-intent. Te concept depicts an idea of a nation that still needs to be constructed or reconstructed. For Malaysia, nation-of-intent has emerged from a historical context of anti-colonialism all the way from the colonial period to a post-colonial era. Te idea of advancing alternative nations-of-intent rather than that of the authority-defned idea of Malaysia has found concrete expressions that seek to demand a political space. Kelantan, in this case, ofers as an example of the local ruling party of a state continuing to articulate its own nation-of-intent in opposition to the Malaysian United Malays National Organization (UMNO)-dominant idea (Shamsul 1996). In the case of a “nation-state”, Singapore ofers a good example of what it is. In essence, Singapore is a “state” and it is this state that determines the kind of “nation” it should be. Ultimately these demands by the state must be fulflled. On another note, Islamised people who self-identify as Moros in the southern Philippines are an example of a “nation-without-state”. Te Bangsamoro may have a “nation” or even a few “nations-of-intents” but are yet to successfully establish for themselves a “state”. Malaysia at the present is a “state-without-nation”. Te “nation”, or rather “how the nation should be” for Malaysia, is a constant work-in-progress because upon independence from the British, the latter only lef a state to be inherited by its multiethnic people that existed for many years without a recognised nation (Shamsul 2007; Shamsul & Daud 2012). Malaysia’s independence in 1957 marked the beginning of a modern nation-building process for what was then the Federation of Malaya. Essentially what existed at the time was the implementation of a nation that was set by the government which was essentially Malay-dominated (Chopyak 1987; Shazlin 2016). Te government earnestly began numerous eforts at inventing

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symbols and mobilising them to educate people about their “nation and its national identity”. Among others, these included the creation of the fag of the Federation of Malaya, the national anthem “Negaraku”, and the Merdeka Stadium (Shazlin 2016, 2018). Tis was the inception of nation branding for Malaysia, albeit the dominant and authority-defned one. For Malaysia, achieving independence required a certain amount of unity among the various groups. Part of the reason for this requirement is that in the pre-independence period, what existed was not a single Malayan nationalism but three streams of nationalism tied to ethnicity – for the Malays, Chinese, and Indians (Chopyak 1987; Shazlin 2016; Yaapar 2005). Music, particularly through the mass media and education, has been given an important role in this process of unifcation by the Malaysian government. Popular patriotic songs, among other creations, have been both commissioned by the government as well as composed and designed by individuals specifcally to serve this purpose and up until today have remained powerful as their names and songs become imprinted in the minds of society from sheer exposure to constant repetition through the radio. Radio enabled music and songs to be heard far into areas of the country not reachable before. Upon independence and when Kuala Lumpur was declared as the country’s capital, Radio Malaya became the perfect tool for disseminating ideas through an authority-defned notion of national identity. Radio Malaya invited people to participate in various activities post-1957 independence and also served as a channel for creating and promoting unity among the newly independent country’s people transcending ethnic backgrounds, class, and religious afnities (Shazlin 2019). Because of its malleable characteristics, these songs have the ability to become border markers thus mobilising eforts of inclusion as well as exclusion in the state. Songs can help enhance the qualities of a nation while simultaneously making people forget selected blocks of history. Tey have always been a part of the discourse of advertising and branding by enhancing the quality of meanings in the various messages disseminated. A song titled “Negaraku” played this same role on 31 August 1957, when the eager crowd at Stadium Merdeka gathered to witness and celebrate the moment Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman exclaimed “Merdeka! Merdeka!” (“Freedom! Freedom!”) jubilantly (Hasliza 2007; Shazlin 2016, 2018). Tis chapter is a presentation of the experience of “Malaysia Truly Asia” composer Ahmad Nawab, based on a personal interview with the composer. Tough it may seem as if his personal views refect that of the dominant elite’s nation branding, they are also a manifestation of the imagined nation ideals of an everyday individual rooted in a belief of a shared collective and historical identity in a multiethnic region. “Malaysia Truly Asia”: Truly a Maestro Extraordinaire’s Touch Ahmad Nawab Khan was born in Penang in 1933. His father, Nawab Khan, served in the British army while in Pakistan as a musician but eventually lef the army to join a travelling opera group known as Wayang Parsi. Tis group gave performances around the archipelago and Nawab’s musical skills in the group fnally landed him in Penang where he eventually settled down. Ahmad grew up initially as Abdullah Khan but had his name changed to Ahmad Nawab due to frequently falling ill; a common practice among the local community then (Syed Othman 2008). His childhood in Penang was amidst a colourful melting pot of people from various ethnic origins from Minangkabau, Sumatra to Malabari, India, and all the way to Teochew and Hainan in China. By the 1950s, as an efect of the colonial British free trade policy, Penang quickly became a bustling multiethnic cosmopolitan point of commerce in the region for those travelling through the Malacca Straits. Consequently, modern popular culture fourished and this included a mixture of musical performances, cinemas, and Western dance music. Penang became the centre for local syncretic performances such as wayang parsi,

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bangsawan opera theatre, boria, and dabus (Mohd Haqkam 2010; Syed Othman 2008). Te economic development during the 1900s also made it possible for the burgeoning of entertainment and recreational centres. Places such as nightclubs and hotels that ofered spaces for singing and entertainment mushroomed like never before to service the infux of people coming in and out of Penang island. Ahmad, who received his musical infuence from his father Nawab Khan, went to Francis Light Primary School with the likes of budding musicians P. Ramlee as well as Ahmad Daud among others (Mohd Haqkam 2010; Syed Othman 2008). He earnestly learnt to play wind instruments from his father who worked with a travelling opera group called Bangsawan Tijah Opera as a clarinet player. Soon enough, Ahmad was playing for local Penang bands, namely Pancaragam Bayangan Bandung and Pancaragam Bandaraya Pulau Pinang (Penang Municipal Band), and also in cabarets, namely the Wembley park (Ahmad 2019). He introduced wind instruments to these bands as well as the fusion of modern Western beats such as samba and tango. Ahmad moved to Kuala Lumpur at the age of twenty and became a saxophonist for Bukit Bintang Cabaret in BB Park. By 1960 he joined RTM (Radio Television Malaysia), the national radio and television broadcasting station, and was the frst Malay to play the baritone saxophone with Orkestra RTM. L. Krishnan, the director of Cathay-Keris Studio, ofered Ahmad the opportunity to compose the background music to the flm Tun Teja (1960) (Jamil 1993) produced by Merdeka Films. It was the frst flm produced by Merdeka Studio afer the company on Jalan Ampas in Singapore was shut down (Mohd Haqkam 2010; Ahmad 2019). By the 1970s, he had already helped hone the skills of various singers such as Salamiah Hassan, Uji Rashid, Sharifah Aini, siblings Khadijah and Latif Ibrahim, Jamal Abdillah, Datuk Shake (Hafdah 2000), and eventually Ramlah Ram in the 1980s. In 1988, Ramlah became the frst Malay artist awarded with a Double Platinum Disc Award for selling over 350,000 units of the album Kau Kunci Cintaku (Dalam Hati Mu) (My Love is Sealed in Your Heart) composed by Ahmad (Ramlahramgroup n.d.). “For a female singer, Ramlah had the widest range in her voice and for a male artist, that would be Jamal Abdillah I must say”, said Ahmad during the interview (Ahmad 2019). Troughout his career Ahmad has composed over two thousand songs sung by local and international artists. He has been involved with producing over one hundred and ffy albums including the song “Malaysia Truly Asia”, all recorded in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Tailand, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. In November 1999, Ahmad was approached by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Malaysia to compose a song for the country’s tourism campaign titled “Malaysia Truly Asia”. Upon being commissioned, Ahmad received lyrics that were broken into three sections, each representing the three main ethnic groups in Malaysia – Malays, Chinese, and Indians. Te task was to compose a song to ft the lyrics provided to him by the ministry while at the same time incorporating musical elements from these three cultural groups. He also complemented the arrangement by adding sounds of the kompang (a Malay hand-struck frame drum), Kelantan music (specifcally the serunai sound of wayang kulit), tabla, accordion, and seruling (fute), altogether making the song a combination of both traditional and modern styles. Tis refects precisely what Chopyak (1987) has mentioned, that musicians in Malaysia are expected to play an important role in the process of building and defning the nation. Tey are expected to do their part in nation building and this afects the kind of music they are making either directly or indirectly. Mass media is also required to refect and promote national unity and the national culture in the same manner as the education system. Media content must abide by the National Cultural Policy (Dasar Kebudayaan Negara) that was promulgated in 1970 as a reaction to the racial riots in 1969. Te policy guidelines are ofen paraphrased to mean that

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the Malay Culture and the religion of Islam are the basis of Malaysian national culture – but that room must be allowed for some infuences from other racial and religious groups. Te existence of national culture is intended as a refection of national unity and simultaneously is an aid to its promotion. Te importance of music as a cultural marker makes it possible for some musicians to be at the forefront of nation building. According to Chopyak this is not a theoretical situation but rather a practical one that musicians in Malaysia are expected to deal with on a regular basis. A New Straits Times journalist Joe Chelliah (1988) wrote that anyone can easily identify musical genres correctly and immediately when listening to European art music, Chinese opera, or Indian carnatic music. Tis is because each type of music is not only distinctive but also enjoys a well-established musical identity. With much of contemporary Malaysian music, the same kind of aural identifcation may not be undertaken with similar ease by non-Malaysians because Malaysian music lacks a signifcant or distinctive musical identity. One potent way to obtain a musical identity in Malaysian contemporary music is to employ distinctive Malaysian scales, sounds, melodic ornamentations, and instruments. Te scale normally used in Malaysian asli music is a combination of the traditional major and minor scales. Soon enough, Ahmad contacted Khadijah Ibrahim whom Ahmad personally felt was the most suitable singer to record the song for a demo tape to be presented to the ministry. According to Ahmad every singer has his or her own character and songs need to be tailored to ft each artist. Tis, Ahmad believes, is the correct approach when composing songs with lyrics to serenade audiences. Saya call Kathy, waktu tu dia ada di LA. “Kathy, can you come home, kita ada a very important job”. Saya mahu dia audition untuk lagu yang saya cipta. Kathy sahaja yang karakternya paling sesuai, pada saya, untuk menyanyikan lagu Malaysia Truly Asia. (I called Kathy who was then residing in LA. I told Kathy to come home because we had an important job to do. I wanted her to audition for the song I composed. In my personal opinion, her character fts best and she was the most suitable singer for Malaysia Truly Asia.) (Ahmad 2019) Swooning over the song presented by Ahmad, the committee immediately requested for it to be produced and recorded. Lyrics to the song were intentionally written and sung in English for the global campaign but eventually the directive was to have it translated into seventeen languages. Te song ultimately was performed by an orchestra of ffy musicians and recorded in Kuala Lumpur. Ahmad himself few to each of the seventeen countries to coach their fnest singers on how to sing the song in their respective languages such as Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, Hindi, Tamil, Russian, and French. Below are the English language lyrics to the song: MALAYSIA TRULY ASIA You’ll love Malaysia now and forever Diferent races everywhere Te soul of Asia is surely here Tis beautiful Malaysia You’ll love the colour Malaysia Where the sun loves to shine

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On sandy beaches and clear waters With smiles of friendly races Tis land so beautiful It steals your heart away Tis land is paradise Only a smile away Te soul of Asia Te essence of Asia in this land where dreams come true Malaysia Malaysia it’s truly Asia People smiling everywhere Showing you how much they care Welcome to Malaysia (Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Malaysia 1999) Malaysia Truly Asia was ofcially launched during the 2000 Citrawarna celebrations in Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) in Kuala Lumpur – a festival to showcase how Malaysia is a tourism destination full of colours (Ahmad 2019; Mohd Haqkam 2010; Syed Othman 2008). For this contribution to the country, Ahmad was bestowed the award Anugerah Seniman Negara (National Laureate Award), a title that actually came afer a host of others including Te Lion of Malaysian Music and Darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negeri (an Honorary State Excellence Degree) (Hafdah 2000). Malaysia Truly Asia: Cultural “Embeddization” Personifed According to Hanaf Hussin (2018), intangible cultural heritage, particularly the performing arts of dance, music, and martial arts, as well as food heritage, plays an important role in branding the Malaysian tourism sector. Tis is in line with the various cultural policies and institutions to promote Malaysian culture and cultural practices. Te tourism industry and nation branding eforts, added Hanaf (2018), take on this role while at the same time uniting diferent ethnic groups. For the above-mentioned purposes, the song “Malaysia Truly Asia” has been promoted and featured through several short videos, the frst one featuring Khadijah Ibrahim’s singing released in 2010. Four years later, Yuna’s voice was featured in a video promotion entitled “Te Essence of Asia”. Tis was the beginning of a more inclusive portrayal of Malaysia. Trough this video, Malaysia is branded as “truly Asia” with cultural heritage being part of it. Te video features the Datun Julud dance (by the Orang Ulu people of Sarawak), the Zapin Sindang dance (by the Malays of Sarawak), the Alu-alu dance (by the Melanau people of Sarawak), and the Rejan Be’uh dance (by the Bidayuh people of Sarawak). Te video opens with traditional and ethnic musical instruments such as the seruling (fute), pipa (Chinese pear-shape lute), Malay gamelan, and Indian tabla (Hanaf Hussin 2018). For Visit Malaysia Year 2020, the song “Malaysia Truly Asia” discernibly features an exciting mix of traditional instruments and enthralling beats. Strains of the Chinese erhu string instrument and the Indian tabla mingle with the dikir barat (a musical performance done in groups) refecting the country’s multiethnic setting. In addition, the song features the gong, bungkau (traditional instrument of the Dusun people of Sabah), bamboo fute, sitar (plucked string instrument used in Hindustani classical

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music), and kompang (single-headed frame drum) (Te Star 2019). Te song was composed by a former Dean of ASWARA (Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan/National Academy of Arts Culture and Heritage), Ramlan Mohd Imam, with English and Malay lyrics penned by Normah Kechut and James P. Boyle respectively. Sung by professional singer Idayu, the song is meant to emphasise universal themes such as unity, hope, sharing, inclusivity, and prosperity. Malaysia is located within the Malay world (Malay archipelago). To understand the country’s societal formation today, it is imperative to comprehend the socio-political transformation of the region (Shamsul 2009). Te evolution of the polities and governance of the Malay world is a result of complex multi-linear ‘embeddization’. By this Shamsul means that each new culture and civilization that arrives is layered on top of the previous one, reinventing and reconstructing it to suit the needs of the day. Te pre-colonial era of the Malay world was characterised by a plurality of cultures that signifed a free-fowing natural process not only articulated through migration but also cultural borrowings and adaptations. Colonial rule introduced knowledge, social constructs, vocabulary, idioms, and institutions hitherto unknown to the indigenous peoples of the pre-colonial era. Malaysia has evolved throughout the diferent phases of governance from the pre-colonial and colonial periods, to the post-colonial state it is today, each with its own nation-of-intent. Tis, in a nutshell, is the complex historical background of modern Malaysia today, certainly a country with its own socio-political trajectory in the post-independence era. As a post-colonial state, Malaysia’s contemporary identity is a result of the impact of layers of embeddization originating from its pre-colonial civilization and cultures within the archipelago. A number of scholars have explored “Malaysia Truly Asia” as a case study of nation branding. Among others, Anholt (2008) asserted that nation branding can easily be wrongly equated with eforts of destination branding while destination branding is close to the kind of branding found in the commercial sphere and makes use of commercial techniques such as corporate identity, public relations, advertising, graphic design, and so forth. Nation branding targets no promotional goals. Rather, it is the desire to make people see the country in a diferent light. A prominent case of this misalignment, according to Anholt, is the long-running tourism campaign promoted as “Malaysia Truly Asia” which is ofen wrongly cited as a successful case of nation branding. He explains further that this has been destination branding carried out with the intention of increasing visitors to the country. It was never intended to impact directly on the world’s overall perceptions of the country. Morais (2013) observed that the campaign for “Malaysia Truly Asia” consisted of a series of advertisements for both print and television carrying the message that not only is all of Asia represented in Malaysia but also that Malaysia is “truly Asia” (92). Morais further analyses the images used in both print and television advertisements and notes how Malaysia was only represented by female ambassadors with uniformly light skin and almost interchangeable faces (98). She further added that the campaign was specifcally targeted to the male leisure traveller and that any audience would be led to the conclusion that erasing bloodlines is projected as truly Malaysian and thereby truly Asian (98). Her discussion concluded with an observation of the difculty in representing Malaysia as “truly Asia” because of the varying ideas of what the nation really is. Tis is due to the fact that the truly Asian topography of Malaysia is threatened by the reality of a country that very much hungers for and is in a hurry for development ofen modelled on other industrialised countries, especially those of the West. Yaapar (2005) also studied the “Malaysia Truly Asia” campaign and contends that tourism can and has been used to create and assert a national identity. It is believed that through tourism policies and promotional activities, the authorities can create the desired Malaysian identity and present it to the

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world as well as to the country itself. Over the years, the government has transformed exclusivist concepts of national culture and national identity into something more inclusive. Te focus since then has been more on multiethnic and multicultural Malaysia. Salleh added that this new openness is said to be the reaction as a result of the introduction of Bangsa Malaysia, a concept mooted by Tun Mahathir in the early 1990s. Te concept basically refers to citizens who identify themselves with the country, speak the Malaysian language, and accept the Malaysian Constitution. Up to the present time, Malaysian identity has been more or less an assemblage of a set of markers and values, thus making the “nation” a rather elusive concept. Tis nation for Malaysia is still a negotiated one and this process may be a painful one (Yaapar 2005). Tis ties in with Jordan’s (2014a) argument on the tensions and contradictions between nation branding and national identity. Nonetheless, nation branding is a process by which countries continue to invest in varying interests – direct economic investment, managing a country’s image, and/or writing narratives of identity politics. A closer examination into the making of the “Malaysia Truly Asia” song by Ahmad Nawab reveals a little more than being just another tourism advertisement to brand the country. Indeed, the choice of having Ahmad compose the song with pre-written lyrics was very much a top-down decision made by Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, who at the time was the chairman of the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (Ahmad 2019). However, revealing the thoughts of the song’s composer discloses more about the everyday-defned reality of Malaysian identity channelled through a tourism campaign. Ahmad came from a very colourful background raised in a melting pot society in Penang, a state that by the 1930s had already been a hub for the combination of fourishing popular culture, which was a result of the confuence of myriad cultural infuences (Lochhead & Augustin 2015). Ahmad Nawab was exposed to a diverse tradition of musical performances that included ronggeng, boria, bangsawan, and Penang’s amusement parks such as Fun and Frolic, Wembley, which he was a part of, and New World (Lochhead & Augustin 2015). Te inclusion of various ethnic and cultural elements (Malay, Chinese, and Indians with a touch of kompang, Kelantanese forms, and serunai [a Malay double-reed aerophone]) into the seemingly modern pop song genre is not only a manifestation of shared cultural heritage in the psyche of the songwriter, but is also exhibited through the eventual mass acceptance of his song as a refection of a collective phenomenon. Conclusion Symbols invented for the purpose of branding and rebranding Malaysia as a modern nation, regardless of the frequency of this branding cycle, are never detached from a long and complex history of cultural borrowing and embeddedness of elements shared within the archipelagic nusantara, which include Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic infuences as well as an evolution of governance, each with its own nation-of-intent. Te intangible cultural heritage within a nation-of-intent and its performing arts and music will always have an important position in the country’s tourism sector and branding eforts. Despite the fact that the “nation” for Malaysia is very much a work-in-progress, what can be observed is that the collective heritage will remain a representation of Malaysia irrespective of whether or not the country is actually viewed as “truly Asia”. Elsewhere, I have examined several other popular patriotic songs of Malaysia such as the national anthem “Negaraku” (My Country), “Tanah Pusaka” (Heritage Land), “Bahtera Merdeka” (Independence Ark), and “Perajurit Tanah Air” (“Warriors of the Homeland”) and concluded that these songs play the role of disseminating, through repetition via mass media, the idea of a collective and shared national identity (Shazlin 2016, 2018, 2019). Te survival of ethnic elements for a community rests on attitudes, sentiments, and perceptions that are

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embedded in the myths, symbols, and values of a society. Popular culture is the arena where cultural artefacts and symbolisms become amassed and interwoven in a society that continues to reinforce a national identity. Even when changes occur and afect these myths and traditions from time to time, the importance and relevance of myths and traditions will continue to transcend time. Te relevance and sustainability of tourism via branding Malaysia will be dependent on this transcendence. References Ahmad, Nawab Khan. Interview by author, Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, 10 October 2019. Anderson, B. R.O’G. 1983. Imagined Communities: Refections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso. Anholt, S. (2007). Competitive Identity: Te New Brand Management for Nations, Cities and Region. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Anholt, S. (2008). ‘Nation Branding’ in Asia. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 4(4), 265–269. https://doi.org/10 .1057/pb.2008.22 Chopyak, J.D. (1987). Te Role of Music in Mass Media, Public Education and the Formation of a Malaysian National Culture. Ethnomusicology, 31(3), 431. https://doi.org/10.2307/851665 Hafdah, Samat. (2000). Ahmad Nawab’s Midas Touch. News Straits Times, July 1. Shazlin A. Hamzah (2016). Branding the Malaysian Nation: Tracing the Role of Popular Songs in the Construction of an Imagined Community. Southeast Asian Social Science Review, 1, 152–173. Shazlin A. Hamzah (2018). Negaraku: Te National Anthem Binding Malaysians in Integration. In UKM Ethnic Studies Paper Series No. 59. Bangi: Institut Kajian Etnik (KITA). Shazlin A. Hamzah (2019). A Malaysian Nation Brand: Te Dissemination of it by Radio Malaya Via the Song Tanah Pusaka. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 35(1), 90–102. https://doi.org/10.17576/JKMJC -2019-3501-07 Hanaf, Hussin. (2018). View of Branding Malaysia and Re-Positioning Cultural Heritage in Tourism Development .pdf. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, (Special Issue 2018 (Rebranding Southeast Asia)), 74–91. https://doi.org /10.22452/jati.sp2018no1.6 Hasliza, Hassan. (2007). Negaraku Hasil Sentuhan Tunku: Bapa Kemerdekaan Cukup Cerewet Proses Gubah, Rakam Lagu Kebangsaan. Berita Harian, June 30. Jamil, Sulong. (1993). Dafar Filem Melayu. Kuala Lumpur: Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia. Joe, Chelliah. (1988). Musically Speaking. New Sunday Times, December 25. Jordan, P. (2013). Nation Branding: A Tool for Nationalism? Journal of Baltic Studies, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/0 1629778.2013.860609 Jordan, P. (2014a). Nation Branding: A Tool for Nationalism? Journal of Baltic Studies, 45(3), 283–303. https://doi.org /10.1080/01629778.2013.860609 Jordan, P. (2014b). Nation Branding: A Tool for Nationalism? Journal of Baltic Studies, 45(3), 283–303. https://doi.org /10.1080/01629778.2013.860609 Lochhead, J. & Augustin, P. (2015). Just For the Love of It: Popular Music in Penang 1930s–1960s. Petaling Jaya: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre (SIRD). May, Lwin, Wells, W., Burnett, J., & Moriarty, S.E. (2007). Advertising Principles and Efective IMC Practice. Boston: Pearson Education. Mohd, Haqkam Hariri. (2010). Datuk Dr. Ahmad Nawab bin Nawab Khan (Datuk Ahmad Nawab): Tokoh Seniman Negara ke-7. Kuala Lumpur: Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara, Kementerian Penerangan Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan. Morais, D. (2013). ‘Malaysia: Truly Asia’: Double Consiousness in Malaysia’s Tourism Advertising, or Te Double Jeopardy of Being Malaysian. Project Muse. Imagined Identities: Identity Formation in the Age of Globalism, May, 191–210. Olins, W. (2001). Branding the Nation – Te Historical Context. Brand Management, 9(4–5), 241–248. Piroth, S. (2008). Popular Music and Identity in Quebec. Te American Review of Canadian Studies, 38(2), 145–164. Ramlah Ram Group. (n.d.). Laman Rasmi Ramlah Ram. Retrieved February 15, 2020, from http://ramlahram.com/ Shamsul, A.B. (1996). Nations-of-Intent in Malaysia. In S. Tonnesson & H. Antlov (Eds.), Asian Forms of the Nation (pp. 323–347). Leiden: Taylor & Francis Group.

Branding the Nation through Ahmad Nawab • 163 Shamsul, A.B. (2007). Reconnecting ‘Te Nation’ and ‘Te State’: Te Malaysian Experience. In Abdul Rahman Embong (Ed.), Rethinking Ethnicity & Nation-building – Malaysia, Sri Lanka & Fiji in Comparative Perspective (pp. 204–215). Kajang: Persatuan Sains Sosial Malaysia. Shamsul, A.B. (2009). Culture and Governance in Malaysia’s Survival as a Nation. Bangi: Institut Kajian Etnik (KITA). Shamsul, A.B., & Sity, Daud (2012). Nation, Ethnicity, and Contending Discourse in the Malaysian State. In R. Boyd & T.-W. Ngo (Eds.), State Making in Asia (Vol. 9780203338, pp. 134–143). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10 .4324/9780203338988 Syed Othman, S.M.Z. (2008). Seniman Negara Ke-7: Datuk (Dr.) Ahmad Nawab. Kuala Lumpur: Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara (KEKKWA). (2019). VM2020 Ofcial Song Boasts Traditional Instruments and Beats. Te Star. 7 September 2019. https://www.the star.com.my/news/nation/2019/09/07/vm2020-ofcial-song-boasts-traditional-instruments-and-beats (accessed 15 November 2020) Yaapar, S. (2005). Negotiating Identity in Malaysia: Multi-Cultural Society, Islam, Teatre and Tourism. Asian Journal of Social Science, 33(3), 473–485. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853105775013625

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Te Indonesian Popular Music Industry Navigating Shadows of Politics and Cultural Uncertainty Citra Aryandari

At the beginning of 2019, limitations on expression and creativity became a hot topic in Indonesia. Tere is a general anxiety among Indonesian musicians regarding the emergence of the Proposed Bill on Music (RUUP), which would limit musical expression. Tere are several pros and cons towards RUUP which eventually led to discussions that proposed a review of the draf. Restrictions on musical expression, as seen in several examples both in Indonesia and internationally, are commonly aimed at popular music genres that intersect with the local and national industries. Political interests and competition form the root of the problem. Tis chapter discusses the journey of the Indonesian popular music industry since the colonial era in the early 20th century: Sukarno’s “old order” era (1945–1965), Suharto’s “new order” era (1965–1998), and the post-Suharto reformation era (1999–present day), overshadowed by the political context that characterised each governmental period. Given that Indonesia’s popular music industry is tied to the socio-political condition of each era, the discussion considers history and phenomenology in order to diachronically analyse the banning of Indonesian popular music, following the timeline of the four socio-political eras. Te investigation considers the ups and downs of the political context in Indonesia, as well as its consequential infuence which led to cultural uncertainties that decorate the world of the national popular music industry. Introduction Although the RUUP (Proposed Bill on Music) recommended in 2019, which had been largely criticised by Indonesian musicians, was revoked, it has remained a popular topic of discussion. Among all clauses, clauses 5 and 50 are considered the most problematic. Statements such as “membawa budaya barat yang negatif ” (lit. “bringing negative Western cultures”) and “religious blasphemy”, appearing in these two clauses, are indeed very ambiguous. Within this globalised world, in which every individual is connected as part of a single “global village”, how can we measure Western or Eastern infuences? Which one between those two dichotomies is (and gives) negative and positive infuences? Which norm and which “religion” can gain superiority and be placed as the sole authority of music? Tis ambiguity is the reason why these two clauses are ofen considered as “karet” (lit. “rubber”) clauses which could be easily manipulated by religious and political authorities. Another

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problematic statement such as “membuat musik provokatif ” (lit. “composing provocative music”), as an example, could be manipulated to arrest some musicians such as Swami who composed a song entitled “Bongkar” (lit. “Taking Apart”), Efek Rumah Kaca with their “Mosi Tidak Percaya” (lit. “Unfaithful Motion”), and Navicula with their “Mafa Hukum” (lit. “Law Mafa”). Tese songs are just a few among many examples of Indonesian popular songs with lyrics that poetically criticise injustices of the state. Tis contemporary case reminds Indonesians of Soekarno’s era (1945–1965) when he banned Western music which he called “ngak ngik ngok” (lit. “noise”) music and which he also considered imperialistic with the power to destroy the spirit of nationalism at the time. A famous music group, Koes Plus, whose music resembles that of Te Beatles, was arrested for this reason. Te popular music genre that received support and was distributed was the music loved by Soekarno: Irama lenso (“local music”). Another restriction on creativity took place during the new order era (1965–1998) when Soeharto banned the distribution of Rhoma Irama’s songs. Following these events, I will analyse popular music in Indonesia as intrinsically linked to the shadows of the ever-dynamic Indonesian politics. Te examination is presented diachronically to discuss the development of “popular” music from the colonial period to the present era. Tis method is built following Foucault’s (1964) thesis in “Madness and Civilization” inspired by Friedrich Nietzche’s masterpiece, “Untimely Mediations”, which presents alternative readings of history(ies). As “a philosophical historian” (Foucault’s term), one looks back to the past to help sort out urgent issues of the present. Tus, I dive into the chronic Indonesian context of political uncertainty shadowing the life of Indonesian popular music to fnd the concept and idea of a Nusantara (another term referencing the archipelago) music industry in the past, present, and future. Te Music Industry During the Colonial Era Te colonial era was the embryonic period of the Indonesian industry of popular music entertainment. Between 1903 and 1917, record labels, such as Gramophone Company, Odeon, Beka, Columbia, Graphophone Company, Parlophone, Anker, Lyrophon, and Bintang Sapoe fourished. Yampolsky reported that Odeon produced 2,614 singles, while others such as Bintang Sapoe and Gramophone produced 1,140 and 632 singles (Yampolsky 2013). Te popular music industry has thrived since the early 20th century with record labels and local companies. Among other private enterprises, Tio Tek Hong began his business in 1904 by importing and distributing phonograph cylinders throughout Indonesia. Popular songs recorded with Tio Tek Hong include Tjente Manis, Boeroeng Nori, Djali-Djali, Tjerai Kasih, Paioeng Patah, Dajoeng Sampan, Kopi Soesoe, and “Sang Bango” among others. Te most signifcant historical record of Tio Tek Hong’s company is Indonesia’s National Anthem, “Indonesia Raya”, composed by W.R. Supratman. With this record, every Indonesian throughout the country had access to “Indonesia Raya”. Despite its high demand, bought mostly by some elites, several “Indonesia Raya” tape records had been banned by colonial authorities. Afer the second congress of PNI (Indonesia’s National Party) on 20 May 1929 claimed this song as the national anthem, the Dutch became afraid of the song’s infuence (Sularto 1985, 166). Te German record label, Beka, came to Indonesia in 1905. Afer their record tour in Burma, India, and Egypt recording their local music, they arrived in Indonesia to document music of the Nusantara region, ranging from Javanese gamelan to stambul music. Following this success, Odeon arrived in the archipelago in 1907 and successfully bought Beka’s share in 1911. Afer 1928 Columbia Graphophone Company dominated the scene and eventually changed

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their name to become EMI records. Te popular music recording industry swifly developed to cater to a Nusantara scene and its musical endeavours. Shaping the Nation: From the Old to the New Era Most references on the history of the music industry in Indonesia show the dynamics that began in 1951 when a local company named Irama started producing LP recordings. In 1954, record companies Remaco and Dimita also participated in the industry. Some years later, Lokananta, a state-owned record company founded in Solo in 1955, fourished and dominated the domestic record industry focusing on Javanese music. Its short dominance due to technological changes in the following year resulted in the inclusion of new companies and production techniques in the music industry around the world including Indonesia (Sen and Hill 2000, 195). During this era, under President Soekarno, the presence of foreign culture was, however, considered dangerous, with the potential to damage the struggle of the nation that was looking for an identity. Pancasila (lit. “fve pillars”, namely, belief in the one god, humanity, a united nation, democracy, and social justice) and NASAKOM’s (lit. Nationalism and Communism) ideals served as a middle ground and strong foundation for Indonesia to face the challenges of globalisation (Dahm 1987). President Soekarno’s speech entitled “Rediscover Our Revolution” read on 17 August 1959 urged the young generations to stand against neo-colonialism and Western imperialist cultures. Te Liverpool pop band Te Beatles was considered incompatible with the ideals of the new Indonesian nation. Te government assumed that Te Beatles’ songs could have devastating efects on Indonesian young generations. As a result, Koes Bersaudara was imprisoned for singing Beatles songs and composing Beatles-like songs. Te political changes in Indonesia from the Old Order to the New Order in 1965–1966 reopened the national music market to receive Western products and encouraged the growth of new pop bands. Western songs previously banned were heard once again. Songs from Western bands such as Te Beatles, Te Rolling Stones, and Deep Purple, and groups from Indonesia such as Koes Brothers, Te Rollies, and God Bless, were constantly played on amateur radio stations along with musical performances in major cities in Indonesia crowded with spectators (Sen and Hill 2004). Te Koes Brothers, imprisoned during the Soekarno reign, reappeared and became the pioneer pop and rock ‘n’ roll group in Indonesia under the name Koes Plus in 1969. Te popularity of this group soared and the group managed to release twenty-three albums in 1974. Tey released six albums in 1975 and ten albums in 1976. Te prominence of Western bands did not only infuence Indonesian pop bands. Rhoma Irama with his Soneta group concocted the genre now known as dangdut from applying Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple infuences to Malay rhythmic songs. In 1970, dangdut was modernised because the politics in Indonesia during that time allowed Western cultural infuences such as electric guitars, percussion, saxophone, and electric organs. Musical instruments paved the way for new variations of dangdut music. In 1977, Rhoma Irama brought dangdut music to be at par with rock music through the “Duel Concert” of God Bless vs. Soneta Group at the Istora Senayan, Jakarta. Te event confrmed the position of dangdut music in Indonesia, which was later separated from the Malay music genre and became known as Indonesia’s national popular music genre. Rhoma Irama with his Soneta group won a place in the hearts of Indonesian citizens. Te emergence of Rhoma Irama in the Indonesian world of music and flm supported his fame. Posters were installed in village houses and his music was sung everywhere. As a musician, Rhoma became a phenomenon. Not only did he make distinct rhythms with a touch of melayu

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rock music, but dangdut songs also depicted social conditions with poetically embedded criticism. In addition to music, Rhoma was also very interested in Islam and eventually Soneta became a platform to chant pitched songs of da’wah (Islamic summons). Following his success in music and movies, Rhoma stepped into politics. It is not surprising that, as a person who fought for Islam, Rhoma joined the PPP (Islamic Party)1. “I defend PPP lillahitaala as a Muslim, I have to choose a Muslim leader too”, Rhoma said to the media (Sikumbang 2014). Under the PPP, Rhoma naturally had an overwhelming number of supporters. During the two electoral seasons in 1977 and 1982, Rhoma was able to convene millions of people to come to the PPP campaign arena. Rhoma Irama’s political afliation, which did not align with the government’s GolKar party, resulted in his being banned from appearing on TVRI (National Television Station). His songs were removed from playlists of RRI (National Radio Station), the circulation of cassettes were inhibited, and acquiring concert permits became increasingly complicated. Te highlight of the Rhoma Irama music controversy took place when he received the fatwa haram (forbidden under Islamic law) from the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) in 1984. Rhoma was forbidden to include scriptural verses in his music. From that year, Rhoma and Soneta Group stopped performing for fve years. However, when they re-launched a new album, Rhoma Irama did not sofen his criticism in his lyrics. Teir ffeenth album Gali Lobang Tutup Lobang, released in 1989, criticised foreign debt as follows: Gali-gali-gali-gali-galilobang Gali-gali-gali-gali-galilobang Lobang digali menggali lobang Untuk menutup lobang Tertutup sudah lobang yang lama Lobang baru terbuka Gali lobang tutup lobang Pinjam uang bayar hutang Gali lobang tutup lobang Pinjam uang bayar hutang Gali-gali-gali-gali-galilobang Gali-gali-gali-gali-galilobang Gali-gali-gali-gali-gali Walau makan sederhana Ikan asin sambal lalap Walau baju sederhana Asal menutup aurat Walau makan sederhana Walau baju sederhana Walau serba sederhana Asal sehat jiwa raga Dan juga hutang tak punya Itulah orang yang kaya

Digging a hole, Digging a hole Te hole is dug to dig a hole To close the aperture Afer closing an old hole A new hole is opened Dig a hole close a hole Borrow money to pay a debt Dig a hole close a hole Borrow money to pay a debt Digging a hole Digging a hole Dig-dig-dig-dig-dig Although eating humbly Salted fsh spicy sauce side dish Although clothes are simple As long as private parts are concealed Although eating humbly Although clothes are simple Although mostly simple As long as with a healthy body and soul And also without a debt Tose are rich people

Every criticism of the government made by Rhoma Irama with Soneta Group echoed widely, not just on the radio and on television, but also during public events such as concerts. As the ruling party, GolKar had to consider the popularity of Rhoma Irama. Afer the 1997 election, Rhoma crossed over to join GolKar and reaped a sharp rebuke from his devotees who were mostly supporters of the PPP party. However, Rhoma had myriad reasons to embrace GolKar. For Rhoma, a party that is Islamic was not enough to fght for Islam. Terefore, Rhoma chose to

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take shelter under the “Banyan Tree” (GolKar’s symbolic logo). “PPP is indeed voicing aspirations of Islam, but because PPP is not in a winning, superior and dominant position, the results are less efective”, (Sikumbang 2014) Rhoma stated in the media as the reason for his move. From that moment on, dangdut became a means to mobilise political parties every fve years during national elections from the New Order era until the present day. A dangdut singer can sing for any party as long as the singer and group are paid well. Dangdut politicisation was also considered a potential threat to the authorities when the “King of Dangdut” Rhoma Irama supported political parties during the New Order era. Te banning of various Rhoma Irama’s concerts was instituted by the authorities at the time. However, the connection between dangdut and political elections does not mean that dangdut has ideological ties with politics. Dangdut functions as the messenger used to mobilise various groups and interests, yet its identity remains autonomous. According to musical sociologist Andrew Weintraub, dangdut music is native to Indonesian culture, and its character is representative of Indonesia because the themes of the songs are close to the lives of people in Indonesian society (Weintraub 2012). Te lyrics and music of dangdut mirror the birth of blues music in the United States as seductive and full of miserable life stories of the underprivileged. Te term “dangdut as folk music” is an inherent social identity of the middle and lower classes which constitute the majority of Indonesian citizens. Te Koes Brothers, with their “global favours” of musical choices, were considered inconsistent with the ideology of a nation that was crawling in search of an identity. However, Rhoma Irama was able to blend the rhythm of the Malay and rock genres successfully, receiving a positive response from Indonesians transitioning from regional to global citizens. Towards Indonesian Reformation With the collapse of the New Order regime, political reforms were initiated to attempt to change the previous order by starting to think about social justice through a systematic decentralisation of the government. Te change from a Javanese centralised system to regional autonomy inevitably changed the voyage of Indonesian popular music industries. Te transition resulted in the emergence of regional pop music industries. In line with technological developments that facilitated independent music production systems, major label companies no longer monopolised the distribution market, and indie labels began to grow from local to international distribution. Prior to the reformation era the Indonesian music industry was monopolised by international distribution companies. Tis evoked a spirit of anti-“mainstreamism”, which became known as the “indie movement”. Some indie pop music groups were considered capable of changing the views of the community about the market situation of the music industry in Indonesia. In the midst of a capitalist ideology that dominated the Indonesian pop music industry, emerging streams of music were produced in the name of freedom. Tis movement set indie groups apart from the intervention of capitalists while presenting entertainment to a society that was hungry for entertainment. Behind the rise of Indonesian pop music, there was a fow of artists in Indonesia that carried creative musical approaches against the interests of the cultural industry. Freedom of expression is one reason why this music genre is called “independent music”. Starting from the production process to the distribution of the album, everything is done independently. Unlike pop music that became a mass-produced commodity, the indie movement provided a diferent colour and message amidst national pop music uniformity. At the same time, songs with the theme of resistance began to fll the music market in Indonesia. Disappointment with the ruling regime mobilised the masses to unite people and crush social injustices. Songs with critical lyrics became a powerful weapon to incite the spirit

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of the masses to take action. Iwan Fals’s and Slank’s popularity represent this phenomenon very well. One of the largest indie groups in Indonesia is Slank. Slank began in December 1983, with the initial name of Cikini Stone Complex (CSC), performing songs from the Rolling Stones, the British group that Slank members idolised. Slank combined pop, rock ‘n’ roll, blues, and ethics with simple lyrics. Slank’s frst album in 1990 exploded on the market with the hit song “Maafan” (Forgive) and received an award at BASF as the best newcomer. In 1994, Slank founded its own label called PISS Records which then turned into Slank Records. From then on Slank launched work independently. Slank has a large number of fans known as Slankers scattered all over the country. Te number of registered Slankers has reached three million people, with the number of fans on social media reaching seven million. Slank read the zeitgeist and depicted existing social conditions which made every album break sales records. Te four main themes of Slank’s albums are social politics, love, the youth movement, and the environment, conveyed through simple and straightforward lyrics. Te peak of Slank’s events took place on the streets with a resistance song and supported by a large number of Slankers in a demonstration calling for political reformation. Given their power to control masses, members of the group were approached by many politicians to enter the world of politics. However, given their indie spirit and their philosophy, Slank remained independent, but not for long. Te Democratic Fiesta and a New Chapter of the Indonesian Music Industry At noon in 2014, under a bright sun, the Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta was flled with millions of people wearing the colour red. On the day of the last round of the presidential campaign, candidate Jokowi-JK was enlivened by hundreds of artists. Revolusi Harmoni, Konser Salam Dua Jari (lit. Te Harmonious Revolution, Two Fingers Greeting Concert) was the title. Musicians openly declared themselves supporters of the presidential candidate. Slank, the most prevalent Indonesian rock band whose lyrics are infused with social criticism, were not to be missed as they openly declared their support of Jokowi-JK. At frst, the survey institute said that the probability of the presidential candidate ticket of Prabowo–Hatta winning was superior. However, everything changed when the musicians joined the Revolusi Harmoni and declared their support for Jokowi-JK on 11 June 2014. Of the many musicians who joined the Revolusi Harmoni, the most striking was the three-decade long group Slank. Te guitarist of Slank, Abdee Negara, stated, “Because we see that there is hope for the future of Indonesia to get better, becoming bigger as it should be, through the idea of a Mental Revolution initiated by Jokowi-JK” (Sikumbang, 2014). Abdee Negara also mentioned that as a form of support for Jokowi-JK, the Revolusi Harmoni community for the Mental Revolution created a song titled “Salam Dua Jari” (“Greeting with Two Fingers”) made specifcally by Slank to invite the masses to support Jokowi. Te number two was set by the Election Commission for Jokowi-JK. Te signs “two” and “two fngers” signify “the second candidate” of the 2014 Indonesian presidential election (Jokowi-JK) arranged by the Election Commission of Jokowi-JK for their campaign. Two fngers are ofen associated as a symbol of peace used by Slank to signify social power for change. Slank could not be underestimated: the Jakarta-based band had millions of fans throughout Indonesia. Afer the concert, Jokowi’s position skyrocketed upward to 47.8 percent compared to Prabowo–Hatta with 44.2 percent (Antara June 2014). Support came not only from national musicians. Te day before the presidential election, Arkarna, through the @arkarna ofcial Twitter account, wrote on 8 July 2014, “Vote Jokowi

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for better and stronger future in Indonesia! Say Yes to Democracy Arkarna Vote Jokowi #Jokowi9Juli”. Additionally, other renowned musicians such as Jason Mraz and Sting also provided support for Jokowi. Jason wrote in his twitter account @jason_mraz, “To my friends in Indonesia, this week you are empowered with your vote! Get involved in democracy & be heard! #Jokowi9Juli #yes!” While Sting wrote “Use your rights – every vote counts #Jokowi9Juli” on his Facebook account www.facebook.com/sting. Jokowi won the presidential election. Te General Elections Commission (KPU) determined that of thirty-three provinces, Jokowi-Kalla earned 53.15 percent or 70,633,576 votes while Prabowo–Hatta won 46.85 percent or 62,262,844 votes. Within this new political sphere, the involvement of musicians on the political stage increased and became increasingly public. Aside from support, many musicians also tried to become politicians. Fame became a form of great capital for the distribution of music. Political support both from local and international groups indicated unique patterns of the new digital millennia. Slank was no longer “independent” and had allied itself with one political party. Te New Order era passed while the Reformation Era arrived at its peak. Te hegemony that had been collapsing for more than three decades gave Indonesian citizens a taste of freedom. Te acquired freedom has had a major impact on the music industry in Indonesia. Songs with themes of love afairs and infdelity have adorned the music in Indonesia since the early 2000s. Indonesian society experienced a period during which the decline of confdence in the government brought distrust among couples. Aside from love afairs and infdelity, themes of Indonesian songs also became vulgar and described sexual relationships that were once taboo but became very prominent. At the same time, groups that seemed to be anti-government slowly took sides with diferent political parties. Market logics and pop music operate as an inseparable dualism. Both have major implications in the formation of ideology and in building supporters. Tese implications, according to Adorno (1997), are the starting point of the cultural industry logic movement that developed as a project of homogenisation of taste. Concretely, this efect is evident from how tastes, attitudes, styles of dressing, and identity construction are chosen and conducted almost entirely with the same mindset. It is a representation of a collective identity that refects the nation. Pop music consumed by society depicts a signifcant similarity where it becomes “standardised” both in terms of musical patterns and lyrics (Adorno 1997). Te simplicity of the lyrics reveals the lives of people, a revelation that at times becomes the role of the music industry in Indonesia (Aryandari 2018, 89). Conclusion Te constellation system of music and politics in every era of Indonesian history displays complexity. However, the patterns become clear when the history is read diachronically. During the colonial era the national anthem, “Indonesia Raya”, ignited the spirit of nationalism and was considered dangerous by the powerful colonialists. However, the emergence of the record industry made the distribution of the national anthem and other local songs possible so that the Dutch could not control music. Te colonial era was then followed by the Old Order era, a time when the search for identity as part of a newly constructed ideology became the reason global music with Western infuences was banned. Music from America and the West were considered inconsistent with the Pancasila and Nasakom (Nationalist and Communist). Te search for Indonesia’s identity was contested and the concept of multiculturalism became a wise middle ground.

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Unlike the previous government, the New Order government tried to open the veil by beginning to accept Western and American cultural infuences. As a result of this shif, a hybrid music industry became a national alternative for embracing global infuences. However, national media stations (TVRI and RRI) were used as a mouthpiece for the government to infuence mass opinion. Tus, musicians who were not aligned with government views were not allowed to enter TVRI and RRI circuits. Te Reformation era ofered freedom and regional autonomy that made musicians known to a wider community with a growth in both national and regional industries. Despite decentralisation and regional autonomy, the national industry continued to reside in Jakarta with a new marriage between music and politics. Tis music industry pattern during the Reformation era questions the notion of an intrinsic decentralisation. Lastly, starting from the striking phenomenon of the 2014 presidential election, music became a universal language capable of mobilising the masses. Te attachment of music to surrounding industries made music not only mere “entertainment” but also a vehicle with a message that could spearhead the ongoing formation of the Indonesian nation. Te music industry in Indonesia has always been in the shadow of dynamic Indonesian politics. To understand the dynamics of the national music industry is to understand the dynamics of Indonesian politics. Note 1

During the New Order Era there were three parties, namely Golongan Karya (GolKar), PPP (Islamic Party), and PDI. GolKar was the biggest party and always won the democratic festa followed by PPP and PDI.

Bibliography Adorno, Teodor W. 1997. Aesthetic Teory. New York: Regents of University of Minnesota. Aryandari, Citra. 2018. Banned and (re)presented: music in the timeline of Indonesian politics, In: Music and Politics: Book of Symposium Proceedings, edited by Varli, Özlem Doğuş, 89–101. Bursa: Association of Ethnomusicology Turkey. Buhori, Imam. 2012. “Sepak Terjang Rhoma Irama di Panggung Politik.” Antaranews.com, 18 November. Dahm, Bernhard. 1987. Soekarno Dan Perjuangan Kemerdekaan. Jakarta: LP3ES. Foucault, Michel. 1964. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. French: Librairie of Plon. Sen, Krishna and David T. Hill. 2000. Media, Culture and Politics Indonesia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Sen, Krishna and David T. Hill. 2004. “Global Industry, National Politics: Popular Music in ‘New Order’ Indonesia.” In Refashioning Pop Music in Asia Cosmopolitan Flows, Political Tempos and Aesthetic Industries. London: Routledge. Sikumbang, Zuli. 2014. “Revolusi Mental Bisa Kikis Perilaku Korup.” Antaranews.com, 30 June. Sularto, Bambang. 1985. Wage Rudolf Supratman. Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. Weintraub, Andrew. 2012. DANGDUT “Musik, Identitas, dan Budaya Indonesia”. Jakarta: KPG. Yampolsky, Philip Bradford. 2013. Music and Media in the Dutch Indies: Gramophone Records and Radio in the Late Colonial Era, 1903–1942. US: University of Washington.

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More than Mimicry

Alternative Modernities in the Birth and Development of Iban Popular Music Connie Lim Keh Nie

Tis chapter provides a critical overview of the birth and development of Iban popular music in Sarawak from the 1950s to the 1970s. It examines the potential of popular music historiography to uncover paradoxes of modernity in the socio-cultural meanings of song lyrics of the Iban who are the largest indigenous ethnic group in Sarawak. During this pivotal period in Malaysian history, the Iban experienced modernity in fux through the agents of change from Brooke’s rule to British colonialism to the Federation of Malaysia. Inspired by Barendregt’s (2014) “alternative conceptions of modernity” in Southeast Asian popular music, this chapter traces the historical introductions of Western music in Sarawak from the Brooke Dynasty, the establishment of Iban Radio under Radio Sarawak during the British colonial era, and the development of the Iban recording industry in the late 1960s during the formation of the Malaysian nation-state. Tese introductions reveal that Iban popular music did not just imitate pop culture but commandeered it as a platform for pre-modern warrior identity, nation-state promotion, and proclaiming pride in regional Sarawakian identity. Song lyrics, as core discourse, reveal a poetic narrative to the socio-cultural, the sociopolitical, as well as the dynamic movements of Iban people. Iban radio broadcasts not only served to disseminate information about the new nation, but also emphasised “the importance of Iban language” and the preservation of the uniqueness of a “reinvented cultural heritage” (Postill 2008, 214). Indeed, the emergence of the radio station broadened the Iban’s exposure to adapt and assimilate popular music styles. Te rise of Radio Sarawak in 1954 played an important role in disseminating information to the Iban and it also had become one of the most important platforms where Iban popular songs were created as a response towards modernity. In this chapter, I argue that at the same time Iban acquired popular music skills, they also used music as a medium to portray Iban culture, identity, and ethnicity within the larger nation-state where Malay and Western cultures dominated. Trough a history of Iban radio and a lyrical analysis of Iban songs, this chapter interrogates the socio-cultural and socio-political factors that contributed to the creation of these Iban pop songs. Te analysis pays close attention to meanings embedded in the lyrics that do not simply mimic popular culture but contain deeply rooted, pre-modern elements of identity such as sentiments towards modernity and nation-building, proclaiming Sarawak as a state within the Federation of Malaysia.

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Defning An Alternative Modernity Te Iban are the largest indigenous ethnic group in Sarawak, Malaysia and make up approximately one third of the total Sarawak population. Encountering modernity, the Iban in Sarawak (Borneo) also went through a period of institutional change from the pre-Brooke1 era (before 1839) to a period when Brooke’s monarchy ruled Sarawak (1841–1946), then to the post-Brooke period under British colonisation (1946–1963) until the Malaysian nation-state era (from 16 September 1963 to present). From the colonial period to the post-colonial era, situated within the Nusantara region, the Ibans in Sarawak had gone through dramatic historical developments and experienced political and economic changes. Historically, on the one hand the Iban have been accepted as a cultural group in the multicultural nation of Malaysia, simultaneously exposed to agents of change in their lifestyle and socio-cultural development. On the other hand, the Iban were a culturally homogenous group, located geographically and politically on the periphery of Malaysia’s power centres. Merging the concepts of modern, rationalising modernity, modernisation, and what it stands for in alternative modernities, this chapter positions itself within the localised and time-bound debates in the context of Iban popular music. Why an “alternative modernity”? Instead of escaping from the legacy of the Western modernity discourse, we need to think of modernity as a discursive concept for emergent social formations throughout the Nusantara region. Te binary between the West and “the rest” is problematic considering the complexity of the time and space that modernity occupies. Societies situated in Nusantara have cultural legacies that call for diferent trajectories of modernity than those of Europe and North America that have provided the standards of modernity. Giddens (1990) saw modernity as a Western invention and the result of “episodes of historical transition” (Giddens 1990, 5) and “two great transformative agencies” (the nation-state and systematic capitalist production) (Giddens 1990, 174–175). Regarding the transformation, it involved social institutions that changed and developed from pre-modern to modern in various historical phases. First, the relation between time, space, and place allowed the development of social relations between large geographical landscapes. Second, the “disembedding” (Giddens 1990, 21) of social relations from local contexts restructured relations across indefnite durations of time–space. Tird, “refexivity” refers to human actions as an entity for future knowledge outcomes. In other words, Giddens captured the conditions and experiences of modernity in dominant societal groups in the West. Navigating the course of modernity as a cultural turn demands a closer analysis. Problematising radical diferences between an East and West dichotomy requires engaging with theoretical concepts that see Western modernity either partially or totally rejected on the ground. Indeed, it has many identical features with the West. Progress and development in Sarawak, Malaysia, or elsewhere in non-Western settings exhibits the nature of mimicry, an act of “imitation”, “replication”, or “catch up” (Ong, 1996). In this way, tracking developments in the Sarawak development landscape or township expansion are already inclined towards a modern Western trajectory. Positioning Iban in Sarawak, modernity involves the “historical construction of a specifc position, enunciation and address” (Bhabha 1991, 201). Given these positions it is important to note that Pratt (2002) raised the issue that modernity has always focused on the centre and she proposed that the “center encodes the periphery in accounts of modernity” (Pratt 2002, 22). I support the centre–periphery view for my argument in this chapter as upheld by Pratt (2002, 22) where “historical and conceptual grounding” provides a refection of modernity from the perspective of the periphery rather than the centre. I will also draw upon Barendregt’s (2014) “alternative conceptions of modernity” as a basis for discussing historical, cultural, and social formations particularly from the vantage point of Southeast Asia.

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Historical Introductions of Western Music in Sarawak While tracing the history of Iban popular music, it is important to trace the roots of Western music in Sarawak. During the reign of the Brooke Rajahs, various music genres and new ways of playing music were brought to the social entertainment scene in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak. Starting in the late 19th century, Western music was brought into the Astana2 by Ranee Margaret,3 the wife of the Second Rajah, Charles Brooke. Concerts and other forms of entertainment were initiated by Ranee Margaret and held at the Astana for the European Community starting from 1883. Music was placed at the centre of event functions such as dance parties, concerts, and theatrical performances, essential forms of social entertainment for the European community. Te novel sound of the piano and gramophone introduced by the European community had laid the cornerstone of elitist Western music in early Sarawak. Te Filipino musicians in residence who made up the Sarawak Rangers Band under the Brooke monarchy had become an omnipotent symbol of musical modernity in Sarawak. Dance music such as lancers, valse (waltz), polka, and pas dequatre were among the type of repertoire played by the Filipino bandsmen during dance parties hosted by the Rajah in the Astana.4 Filipino bandsmen also performed at the bandstand in the Museum Garden where a cross section of upper middle-class Kuching residents encountered live music in the form of cosmopolitan urban cultural entertainment. Tis tradition was later continued by the Sarawak Constabulary Band where performances were held on Sunday afernoons. Among the repertoire performed were “Colonel Bogey March”, “Under the Double Eagle”, and “Tanjung Kubu”. With the music skills transferred to the locals through training with the Sarawak Constabulary Band, the Sarawak Music Society orchestra, and the establishment of local bands, the music scene became more lively during performances at government functions and house parties from the late 19th century till the 1980s. Tese band and orchestra members were comprised of a mixture of Ibans, Malay, Chinese, and Europeans. It was a music education platform where the locals were exposed to Western style orchestra arrangements. Consequently, the Iban, who are adept instrumentalists, continued to explore their talent and creativity with their own modern Iban songs. In the 1950s, bangsawan5 was a new form of entertainment which captured the attention of urban Kuching residents attended by audiences of diferent ethnicities, genders, generations, classes, and religions. Te Malay cultural organisations had opened the door to the Iban to join in during the performances. Te local bangsawan theatre had served as a training ground for early Iban singers to cultivate their skills and professionalism in singing. As recalled by Senorita Linang (2017) during an interview about her sister’s involvement in bangsawan: My elder sister, Pauline Linang sang in Malay concerts, and bangsawan organized by various local association such as MBHT,6 Kpg. Boyan, Kpg. Gersik and Kpg. Sourabaya (BGS) during 1950s to early 1960s. Te Linang family and Bayang family were actively involved in bangsawan and concert performances in Kuching. Tis is where my sister Pauline Linang and Esther Bayag had met other Malays singers who were Sarbanun Merikan, Rugayah Hj. Busrah, Saniah Kawi, Fatimah Suhaili, S. M. Led, S. M. Reduan, Hasanah Moner and others. Te village bangsawan had become a platform where singers, actors and actresses received their training. (Interview with Linang, Senorita Veteran Iban Singer) Joining the Malay artists and performing in the entr’acte segments (known as “extra turns” by the locals) in bangsawan, the Linang and Bayang families from the Iban community in Kuching

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actively participated in the entertainment activities of this dynamic urban centre. Both Iban families stood at the foreground of articulating modernity in stage shows with the Malays through concerts and extra turn segments when bangsawan performances were held. Radio Sarawak, the Rise of Iban Popular Music Radio Sarawak was ofcially established on 8 June 1954 when the Sarawak Legislative Council decided to create a broadcasting service with technical assistance from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Among the programme in Malay, Chinese, and English, Iban-language programming was initially broadcast for one hour from 7:00–8:00 pm daily. In the early days, the programmes were limited to news and information on agriculture and animal husbandry. Te rise of the Iban broadcast was a crucial dissemination tool for transitioning into modernity and the creation of Iban popular music was pivotal in solidifying this transition. Malay and Indonesian popular music was being played on the radio airwaves together with American and European popular music. Tis Western music was new to Iban ears, hearts, and minds. As compared to traditional Iban songs like “Renong”, “Timang”, “Sabak”, “Pantun” and “Pengap”, Western pop had dance rhythms, common-practice harmony, and covered a broad spectrum of styles from blues to jazz, gospel to rock. It was a period when the Iban were certainly searching for identity, aspiring to be modern or at least on par with the global popular culture disseminated via Iban radio. Catching the wave of pop music trends, Iban people desired to be modern and initially appropriated popular forms but quickly created their own popular music styles. Te Iban section of Radio Sarawak was indeed searching for modern Iban music to cater to modernity. Te emergence of Iban popular music involved two upper class Iban families from the city of Kuching known as the Linang and the Bayang. In order to cater to the needs of Radio Sarawak in producing new Iban songs, Terabak Tawas (Break of Day), a new Iban band, was formed in 1957. Esther Bayang, Vida Bayang, and Pauline Doreen Linang were among the pioneer Iban female singers. Tese musicians catered to the needs of the time and wrote for entertainment purposes. However, their songs were also modern media vehicles used for nation-building within the Iban territories. Iban songs were written as expressions of modernisation in Sarawak. For example, the song written by Joshua Suin Lawat, “Tanah Ai Menua Ku” (“My Land, My Country”), pays tribute to the government of Sarawak for constructing schools for the Dayak. Similarly, the song “Menua Sarawak” (“Te Country of Sarawak”) sung by Vida Bayang acknowledges the governorship of Sarawak under the supreme Council Negeri and the Temenggong and Penghulu community leaders who led Sarawak on the road towards modernity. Iban songs written during 1963–1965 articulated Sarawak as a member of the Federation of Malaysia. Subsequently, the Iban songs written in 1970s illustrated modernity in a new landscape where the representation of new buildings as a development icon was presented in song lyrics by Michael Jemat. Commemorating ten years of Sarawak as a member of the Federation of Malaysia, a new symbol for Sarawak was introduced through songs depicting the new identity of Sarawak. Singing for Sarawak: Proclaiming a New Nation (1963–1970) Trough the lens of modernity, it is seen how Iban popular music articulated sentiments of Iban people in response to the emergence of British colonisation during the transition from the Brooke monarchy to the Malaysian nation-state. Refections on a newly found independence for the people of Sarawak strongly featured Iban popular music of the 1960s. Singers and songwriters showed their interest towards development and the growth of political interest through

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song lyrics by articulating Sarawak as a modern state within the Federation of Malaysia. As Radio Sarawak was the only radio station in Sarawak, it served as the state-led media leading the Iban on the road of modernity. Troughout the history of the genre, Iban popular songs marked signifcant national developments. For example, the songs marked Sarawak’s membership into the Federation of Malaysia. It is seen that Sarawak gained independence from Britain through the formative creation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963, for progress and prosperity. From a British Crown colony to a self-governed state under the Federation of Malaysia, Sarawak started to progressively develop its infrastructure. Tere were considerable expenditures on the construction of new roads, educational institutions, the improvement of medical facilities, and public health programmes. During the World War II Japanese occupation, the people of Sarawak were deprived of these basic needs. As depicted by Abdul Taib Mahmud, who was a member in the First State Cabinet afer the new government was formed in 1963, “We are facing a future of modernity, which may make it harder for us to absorb some of our customs and traditions into the existing environment” (Haji Efendi Arifn and Jameson Ahip Nawie 2007, 61). Iban popular songs created during the early period of Sarawak’s membership in the Federation of Malaysia signify the representation of the Iban people who witnessed an awakening of a political consciousness in Sarawak. Clear and meaningful sentiments of nationalism among the Iban were articulated in their songs. Responding to the formal Proclamation of the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963, Myra Esther Adam7 wrote a song entitled “Malaysia Baru” (“A New Malaysia”) (refer to Table 15.1). What was meant by Malaysia baru (a new Malaysia) as illuminated in the song title? While examining the lyrics, it is evident that the songwriter saw Sarawak as a land inherited from their ancestors which they kept and cared for and which had now gained independence from the British through the Federation of Malaysia. Table 15.1 “Malaysia Baru” (“A New Malaysia”) sung by Myra Esther Adam; song lyrics in Iban with English translation Tok lagu informen Malaysia baru Lagi mai pengerindu Aram kitai sama Menuju Malaysia baru Malaysia baru Udah nah bai raja Nyadi ke pesaka Sama maju sama bekereja Di tanah pesaka Sama sehati sama besatu Di Malaysia baru Nya meh asai di Malaysia baru Di Malaysia baru

Tis song is about the New Malaysia Incoming the feeling of love Let’s come together Towards the New Malaysia Te New Malaysia A gif from our King To be our inheritance Working and progressing together In our inherited land In one heart, united together In the New Malaysia Feel and experience the New Malaysia In the New Malaysia

Embracing the progressive development of Sarawak under the formation of a government in a new nation, “Menua Sarawak” (“Te Country Sarawak”), written and sung by Vida Bayang, is another example (refer to Table 15.2) displaying how the Iban expressed their loyalty, love of country, and strong sentiments of nationalism towards Sarawak. Concurrently, the lyrics also articulate how the ethnicity of the Ibans was represented in the state cabinet and leadership. As clearly illustrated, the songwriter was aware of the leadership changes when Sarawak became a state. Along with the historical events of Sarawak, the establishment of the Area Headman System is noted. Among the leadership designations were Temenggong, Pengarah (the village Headman), and Renang (Penghulu), established as leaders who led the whole community towards

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development in their longhouses. Articulating Sarawak as a state within the Federation of Malaysia, the songwriter used song as a popular medium to celebrate this joyous occasion. Using popular song as a tool, the aspirations and hopes of the people towards the leadership in the state and infrastructure development towards the emergence of a modern Sarawak were depicted. Table 15.2 “Menua Sarawak” (“Te Country Sarawak”) written and sung by Vida Bayang; song lyrics in Iban with English translation Menua Sarawak Menua tik endang sigi sunyi Kenyau ari kelia endang selalu dipuji Mayuh bangsa diau begulai sama seati Sama bekereja manah ngidup kri Menua Sarawak Endang menua asal kitai Kami arap ka kitai maju ke dudi ari Ngambika anak negeri nuan Jampat pegari Menua Sarawak diatu nyau ka mansang rami Bangsa kitai ti nyau bisi bekunsil negeri Kami bepanggai ba temenggong pengarah enggau renang Ke pengiring bangsa kitai mai pemansang Menua Sarawak menua asal kitai dayak Kami arapka kitai maju ke dudi ari Ngambika anak negeri nuan jampat pegari

Te country of Sarawak A country which is quiet as peaceful From of old being praised Many races living together in unity Working together Earning a living honestly Sarawak our original country We hope future generations will be successful in life So that your children (Sarawakians) Will be soon famous Sarawak is going to develop progressively Our race are now represented in the Legislative Assembly (Council Negeri) We depend on our community leaders Guiding us towards development Sarawak is our original country We hope we will be very well developed in the future So, Sarawakians will be famous

Articulating alternative modernity, these two songs, namely “Malaysia Baru” and “Menua Sarawak”, presented historical and developmental accounts of the nation as popular media broadcast through radio. As seen in the song lyrics above (Table 15.1 and Table 15.2), these two songs depict modernity and sentiments about nation-building in Iban popular songs in the 1960s–1970s. Connecting to the history of Sarawak, these songs were created during the intensifed psychological warfare period of the Information Services in Sarawak where information was spread rapidly through radio transmission. In 1963 Sarawak, Sabah, Malaya, and Singapore formed the Federation of Malaysia, followed by the development of new townships and the propaganda of an idealised unity and solidarity among all races in Sarawak. In this period of time, Iban popular music was a necessary form of entertainment sung in the Iban language to fll the airtime between changing programmes. It is important to note that Iban pop was not separate from Information Services but provided a sonic segue between broadcasts catering to the needs of that particular time. Singing for Progressive Development in Sarawak Articulating new spaces through song afer independence, Iban popular songs were associated with modernity’s ideal notions of peace, prosperity, and harmony in diferent places in Sarawak. Responding to modernity, these songs exhibited a story of an Independent Sarawak within Malaysia. Living through a shared development, a focus of socio-economic activities could be generated in towns, mainly Kuching, Sibu, and Miri. Other towns in various divisions of Sarawak, namely Sarikei, Bintulu, Kapit, Niah, and Suai, were mentioned in the lyrics as well. As a depiction of modernity, projects planned by the government in the social and economic felds were spelled out in the songs. Representing the Iban, songwriters were responding to the

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change of landscape by expressing their sentiments of peace, prosperity, and happiness towards the environment. Speaking of modernity, Iban popular songs were interrelated with historical geography. As seen in the lyrics, changes of landscape in Sarawak were depicted in “Joget Sarawak” and “Asa Hati Deka Batemu” (“Desiring to Meet”). Tus, these songs responded to development stages in Sarawak. My analysis of the lyrics shows how geographies of modernity were articulated. Trough songs, Iban singer-songwriters had conceptualised what they observed during the transformation-of-spaces phase of the developmental stages in Sarawak. Changes in landscape are an illustration of modernity. Created afer the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, these songs marked specifc places that signifed the “relationship between places and across the spaces” in Sarawak (Gupta and Ferguson, 1992, 8). Trough songs, the transformation of the post-colonial metropole to modernity was described where “moments in making of modernities” were captured by the songwriters (Gupta and Ferguson 1992, 19). Illustrating modernity in a new landscape, Michael Jemat mentioned the icons of modernity where Sarawak House represented the locality of Sibu and Electra House represented the capital city of Kuching in the song entitled “Joget Sarawak” (see Table 15.3). Names of the Sarawak towns Miri, Bintulu, Suai, Niah, Kapit, and Sarikei were spelled out by Christopher Kelly in the song “Asai Ati Deka Batemu” (“Desiring to Meet”) (see Table 15.4). Te song was released in Kelly’s EP Mar Mudah Mesti Di-Uji (Hard or Easy, You Have to Try) (see fgures 15.1–15.4), Table 15.3 “Joget Sarawak” was written and sung by Michael Jemat; song lyrics in Iban with English translation Menoa Sarawak belambang baru Burong Kenyalang nyadi ke tanda Nadai kebuah kitai chemburu Enti enda terang di peda Sarawak House di Negri Sibu Electra House di Negri Kuching Enti nuan bisi ambai di empu Anang terebai baca kusing. Menoa Baram endang tampak rita Leboh berami lumba perau Enti meh ati udah sebaka Begulai manah enggau seko seko

Te Country of Sarawak has a new emblem Hornbill Bird is used as the emblem Tere is no reason to get jealous Unless we see with our own eyes Sarawak House is in Sibu town Electra House is in Kuching town If you are already married or engaged Don’t fy around like a bat Baram is a famous place Famous for its regatta If we are of one mind So, live together nicely

Table 15.4 “Asai Ati Deka Batemu” (“Desiring to Meet”) was written and sung by Christopher Kelly; song lyrics in Iban with English translation Ari Miri pegi Bintulu (repeat) Ngetu enda lama kitai di Suai Asa ati deka batemu (repeat) Sulu di anti lalu enda datai (repeat) Ngetu enda lama kitai di Suai (repeat) Ari Suai kitai ka Niah (repeat) Sulu di anti lalu anda datai (repeat) Nyangka pengrindu udah berubah (repeat) Chorus Sarawak udah di bagi tujuh (repeat) Kapit Sarikei nama menua (repeat) Ati di dalam asai ka runtuh Laban sulu bula ka semaya

From Miri we travel to Bintulu (repeat) Stopping for a while in Suai Desiring to meet My lover did not turn up (repeat) We stop for a while in Suai (repeat) From Suai we go to Niah (repeat) My lover did not turn up (repeat) Maybe she does not love me anymore (repeat) Chorus Sarawak had divided into seven divisions (repeat) Kapit Sarikei name of the divisions (repeat) I feel my heart is broken Because my lover broke her promise

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Figure 15.1 Front sleeve of Christopher Kelly’s Mar Mudah Mesti Di-Uji (Hard or Easy, You Have to Try) EP (accompanied by The Royalists band), South East Asia Radio & Records, c.1970. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

appearing in Side Two of the record (see fgure 15.4). Tese were all towns where Iban lived showing that the Iban could be found in many of the major towns in Sarawak. Negotiating modernity, the Ibans, who hailed from longhouses or small villages, were moving to the centres where the economy possessed the greatest strength and more opportunities. On the road towards modernity, various other groups were gradually moving from rural to urban areas for better prospects and modern amenities. Tis refected Sarawak as a diverse community with people of various cultural backgrounds living and working happily together. Tis phenomenon started in the 1960s when the Iban migrated to the town areas for education and employment. Within the frst ten years of Sarawak as a member of the Federation of Malaysia, there was a great expansion of public building construction in both urban and rural areas. Town development works involving the preparation of sites including necessary infrastructure for commercial and industrial development was carried out in the various divisions. In other larger towns and bazaars, extensive works on town development was also carried out. Te lyrics of “Joget Sarawak” by Michael Jemat refer to the two major commercial buildings built in the 1960s (see

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Figure 15.2 Back sleeve of Christopher Kelly’s Mar Mudah Mesti Di-Uji (Hard or Easy, You Have to Try) EP (accompanied by The Royalists band), South East Asia Radio & Records, c.1970. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

Table 15.3), “Sarawak House di Negri Sibu” (“Sarawak House in Sibu Division”) and “Electra House di Negri Kuching” (“Electra House in Kuching Division”). Electra House opened in 1965 where many soldiers spent their money on trinkets to send home to their families (Pollard 1997, 126). From a geo-historical point of view, these two buildings performed a symbolic civic role domestically, marking Kuching and Sibu, as well as the people of Sarawak, on the map as modern trading centres. As written in the lyrics of “Joget Sarawak” by Michael Jemat, the symbolism of modernity was closely related to the national identity of Sarawak during the 1960s–1970s. Te commercial buildings were understood as a celebration of modernity and as new spaces for trading activities in Sarawak. At the same time, these buildings contributed to fostering a sense of township recognition marking the achievements of Sarawak’s frst ten-year development under the Federation of Malaysia.

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Figure 15.3 Side One disc label of Christopher Kelly’s Mar Mudah Mesti Di-Uji (Hard or Easy, You Have to Try) EP (accompanied by The Royalists band), South East Asia Radio & Records, c.1970. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

Alternative experiences with varying degrees of modernity were afrmed by Iban songwriters who, in their songs, expressed a myriad of responses to development, including the state’s governance of its people. Te Iban song lyrics analysed above have shown pan-Iban sentiments about encountering and subsequently embracing modernity but simultaneously locating its people, places, and landscapes in a very specifc and localised version of modernity in Sarawak during the 1950s to 1970s. Te landscape of Sarawak during the 1970s may be understood as its “new cultural geography” (Bunnell 2004, 27). Tese two songs, namely “Joget Sarawak” and “Asai Ati Deka Batemu” (“Desiring to Meet”), retold the historical and developmental accounts expressed through songs about Sarawak emerging from British colonialism to valiantly join the Federation of Malaysia. Analysing and interpreting Iban popular music lyrics from the 1960s to 1970s has revealed a myriad of meanings constructed around the theme of a rapidly modernising Sarawak. Te meaning of modernity was articulated by Christopher Kelly and Michael Jemat where developmental scenes in Sarawak were captured in song lyrics. Tese lyrics are both a text and representation of the development of Sarawak both in landscape, material space and in ways of being; simultaneously, they represent a new space.

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Figure 15.4 Side Two disc label of Christopher Kelly’s Mar Mudah Mesti Di-Uji (Hard or Easy, You Have to Try) EP (accompanied by The Royalists band), South East Asia Radio & Records, c.1970. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

Conclusion Since 1954, Iban popular music through Radio Sarawak has played a fundamental role in amplifying and disseminating ideas about the Iban people’s response to modernity. Articulating alternative modernities in popular music, the appearance of being “modern” and the appeal of “modernity” are ofen connected with the lifestyle of a newly found independence for the people of Sarawak. Encountering modernity, the Iban have traversed periods of institutional change from the pre-Brooke era to British colonisation (1946–1963) until the Malaysian nationalism era. Tus, the agents of change that are expressed in popular songs introduced the Iban to a world driven by the cash economy and capitalism, through which the Iban experienced a rapid infux of change. Articulating alternative modernity in the Nusantara region, a direct phenomenon of modernity, is seen as an absolute fundamental to nation-building. As illustrated in the song lyrics, the music presented historical and developmental accounts of the nation as popular media broadcast through Radio Sarawak. Iban popular songs commemorated Sarawak as a member of the Federation of Malaysia and the changes of the geographical landscape in Sarawak. Referred

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to as nation-building, song lyrics and their interpretations show that the people of Sarawak experienced a trajectory through history that included confrontation but also the birth of the Sarawak State as exemplifed in “Menua Sarawak” and “Joget Sarawak”, where each song portrays the developmental projects initiated by the government. As seen in the lyrics, modernisation changed the traditional Iban landscape. Culture and lifestyle were readapted for Iban use through pop songs so that the needs of urbanisation became palpable. At the same time Iban inheritance of the land from their ancestors was present in popular expressions so that they could become viable members of the State of Sarawak. Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and Universiti Malaysia Sabah for the External Grant Funding Scheme (Grant No.: GL/F03/ UMS/08/2017) given to carry out this research. Second, I would like to thank the Sarawak Broadcasting Department for the access to the audio archive. Notes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Te period of Brooke Rule (1841–1946), referring to the dynasty of British Rajahs (“White Rajahs” of Sarawak) that ruled Sarawak (now a state in Malaysia) on the island of Borneo for a century. Astana, a palace, also known as a new fort and a grand house built on the north bank of the Sarawak River. It was built by Charles Brooke in 1870 as a bridal gif to his wife, Margaret Alice Lili de Windt. Presently, it is the ofcial residence of the Governor of Sarawak. Known as Margaret Alice Lili de Windt, her maiden name. She was married to Rajah Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke, the second White Rajah of Sarawak in 1869. Ranee of Sarawak was a title given to her with the style of Her Highness. Sarawak Gazette, 1 February 1898, Vol. XXVIII, No. 385, 26. Bangsawan, known as Malay opera, is a popular urban theatre developed in the late nineteenth and early 20th century which features song and spoken drama, dance, and incidental music (Tan 1993). Masjid Bintangor Haji Taha Association Myra Esther Adam was previously a broadcaster in Iban Section, Radio Sarawak.

Bibliography Barendregt, Bart. 2014. “Sonic Histories in a Southeast Asian Context.” In Sonic Modernities in the Malay World: A History of Popular Music, Social Distinction and Novel Lifestyles (1930s-2000s), edited by Bart Barendregt, 1–43. Leiden: Brill. Bhabha, Homi K. 1991. Race, Time, and the Revision of Modernity. Oxford Literary Review, 13(1): 193–219. Bunnell, Tim. 2004. Malaysia, Modernity and the Multimedia Super Corridor: A Critical Geography of Intelligent Landscapes. London: RoutledgeCurzon. Giddens, Anthony. 1990. Te Consequences of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press. Gupta, Akhil and Ferguson, James. 1992. Beyond “Culture”: Space, Identity, and the Politics of Diference. Cultural Antropology, 7(1): 6–23. Haji, Efendi Arifn and Jameson Ahip Nawie (Eds.). 2007. Pehin Sri Abdul Taib’s Vision of a Shared Destiny in MultiRacial Sarawak. Kuching: Te Department of Information Malaysia, Sarawak. Ong, Aihwa. 1996. “Anthropology, China and Modernities: Te Geopolitics of Cultural Knowledge.” In Te Future of Anthropological Knowledge, edited by Henrietta L. Moore, 60–92. London: Routledge. Pollard, Elizabeth. 1997. Kuching 1839–1970. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka. Postill, John. 2008. Media and Nation Building: How the Iban Became Malaysian. New York: Berghahn Books. Pratt, Mary Louise. 2002. Modernity and Periphery: Toward a Global and Relational Analysis. In Beyond Dichotomies: Histories, Identities, Cultures, and the Challenge of Globalization, edited by Elisabeth Mudimbe-Boyi, 21–47. Albany: State University of New York Press. Sarawak Gazette, 1 February 1898, Vol. XXVIII, No. 385: 26. Tan, Sooi Beng.1993. Bangsawan: A Social and Stylistic History of Popular Malay Opera. Singapore: Oxford University Press.

16

Transcultural Commodities

A Comparative Analysis of Sama-Bajau Popular Musics in Maritime Southeast Asia Bernard B. Ellorin

Tis essay is a comparative study on the modern music of the Sama-Bajau, a sea-faring ethnic minority with settlements in eastern Sabah, Malaysia and the southern Philippines. Interviews and feldwork observations of in situ performances located within the Semporna District in Sabah, Malaysia and in a village of Batangas City, Luzon, Philippines reveal similar and distinct musical trajectories revolving around the ubiquitous performance of the sangbai – an improvisatory dance vocal music genre – practised by communities receiving governmental and nongovernmental sponsorship. Overall, this study interrogates their musical interaction with two hegemonic majorities: 1) peninsular Malays and 2) lowland Christian Filipinos. In Malaysia, the Sama-Bajau are an exotic tourist attraction as “sea gypsies” transmigrating throughout the Sulu and Celebes Seas. In recent years however, the Malaysian central government has labelled them illegal immigrants and “intruders” into eastern Sabah. On Luzon, Philippines, the Sama-Bajau are a marginalised ethno-linguistic group forced to live in metropolitan cities as refugee communities. As a result, strict mendicancy laws are enforced in metropolitan areas throughout the lowland Philippines regulating their land-based lifestyle as beggars. Traditional and contemporary music found in contrasting living conditions prove that although a community shifs their identity in two nation states, the Sama-Bajau musical identity is evident in their musical forms and choices of expanding their musical heritage through electronic music instruments. Using Artur Simon’s concept of musical syncretism for Southeast Asian musics, John Connell and Christopher Gibson’s transnational soundscapes, and Bruno Nettl’s “tune family” concept I demonstrate how the fuidity of sangbai performed in varied contexts contributes to the study of the transcultural fows of music used to assert an ethnic identity in the diaspora (Simon 2010: 23; Connell and Gibson 2003; Nettl 2005: 113). Transcultural music commodities – music sold as a form of village entertainment or popular items consumed by listeners and audiences – are part of a larger movement in ethnomusicology and popular music studies to conduct ethnographic research on ethnic minorities living in multiple spaces. Studies on transmigrant and displaced ethnic minorities, such as the SamaBajau, problematise the inclusion of a historically nomadic ethnic minority into the postcolonial framework of maritime Southeast Asia – a region known for porous nation state borders. Te circulation of the sangbai – as a musical commodity – is the recent barter trade practised alongside the traditional trading of sea products. Diverse performances of the sangbai as cultural capital sheds light on the treatment of the Sama-Bajau by their host cultures. 184

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An Overview of Shared Features In all of the subgenres of sangbai, the improvisation of lyrics is juxtaposed with the reproduction of traditional musical instruments through the following mediums: the electronic keyboard in the Philippines and in Malaysia, standard musical orchestrations in Malaysia, and ad hoc percussion instruments made from recyclable materials in Luzon, Philippines. Subsequently, the Malaysia-based and Philippine-based Sama-Bajau share three features of modern music-making: 1) improvisatory lyrics accompanied by multiple sound-producing devices, the angaleleng (village wedding singers) in Malaysia and batang tambol (young busking drummers) in the Philippines; 2) accessible and afordable community music ensembles, including the kumpulan in Malaysia and the sangbai panyani (improvisatory wedding singers) in the Philippines; and 3) pre-composed music created from external sponsorships including the Skyline Records (now known as Skyline Pro) sangbai compilations in eastern Sabah, Malaysia and the Sama-Bajau Born Again Christian praise songs in Luzon, Philippines. Tese three features provide insight into the Sama-Bajau relations with the majority populations in both countries. Te Malaysia-based angaleleng and northern Philippine batang tambol perform improvisatory sangbai lyrics to the accompaniment of multiple sound-producing music instruments. Kumpulan in Malaysia and sangbai panyani in the Philippines music ensembles provide afordable live entertainment for the Sama-Bajau living in remote villages and provinces. Music from the Skyline Records Sangbai DVD series from Kota Kinabalu and Semporna District, Malaysia and the Sama-Bajau praise songs in Batangas City, Philippines are pre-composed contemporary musical practices performed for non-Sama-Bajau audiences. Each case study refects the performers’ adjustments to the circumstances of their host country. In Malaysia, the angaleleng, berkumpulan ensemble, and the Sangbai DVD series of Skyline Records are professional forms of entertainment sponsored by the Sabah Department of Tourism and communities generating income with their newfound Malaysian citizenship status. In the Philippines, the batang tambol, sangbai panyani ensemble, and the Sama-Bajau evangelical Christian praise worship songs developed because the majority of Sama-Bajau in the Philippines live under abject poverty; this is attributed to the historic animosity by the lowland Christian Filipino majority towards Muslim or indigenous minority populations rooted in the archipelago’s colonial history. Troughout my comparative analysis, I interrogated the correlation of the musical trajectories of these genres. Intrinsic Musical Features Analysing the Malaysia-based and Philippine-based Sama-Bajau musical experiences reveal core musical features. Tese features are present in every performance: shared musical keyboarding techniques, vocal melodies within intervals of a perfect fourth, perfect ffh, and major sixth, a simple duple meter as the rhythmic ostinato, formulaic chord progressions, the commodifcation of staged and improvisatory performances, and the change of instrumental mediums while retaining musical functions. Sama-Bajau electronic keyboard accompanists from both geo-cultural areas incorporate gabbang gabbang (conjunct–disjunct motion), higuris (glissando technique), and hiliguna (transitions). Every electronic keyboardist – whether he or she is an accompanist to the angaleleng, kumpulan to sangbai panyani ensembles – has his or her own individual style of improvising with the gabbang gabbang technique of a conjunct–disjunct motion within the intervals of a perfect fourth, a perfect ffh, and an octave. Additional electronic keyboarding techniques, the hiliugna and higuris, function either as transitions to the introduction or the recapitulation to the main musical ideas of a sangbai.

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Most Sama-Bajau electronic keyboard accompanists improvise with the gabbang gabbang countermelody of a sangbai by combining keyboarding techniques during a performance. For example, dance pieces such as “Pakiring”, “Omboh Omboh”, and “Si Amaliyah” combine the higuris and gabbang gabbang to display the virtuosity of the accompanist. Te simple duple meter or disco drum rhythm of the Yamaha or Technics keyboards is the preferred rhythmic ostinato because of its lively danceable rhythm. Sangbai compositions in this meter are the most requested at every celebratory occasion. Formulaic chord progressions used in the sangbai are the standard I-IV-V-I and I-ii-vi-V-I – all played by a synthesised bass guitar or bass. Multiple requests for sangbai during celebratory events in the villages of a sangbai reveal a shared range in vocal melody popular with vocalists from all Sama-Bajau music subgenres. Popular sangbai compositions such as “Loloh”, “Panansang”, “Pakiring”, and “Jaslina” have melodies with an ambitus of a perfect fourth and major sixth. Angaleleng and batang tambol improvise their lyrics within these intervals because it provides a fexibility to instantly compose lyrics for a dancer and to display their virtuosity of embellishing the vocables afer singing a through-composed or strophic sangbai; Skyline Records’ recording artists perform pre-composed sangbai within this ambitus because the composers and musical arrangers use older musical traditions and sangbai from the Usman group arrangements as a point of reference in their compositions. Pre-composed song texts and improvisation occur depending on the context of the performance; the sangbai genre is an interactive performance with a musician and dancer practised in eastern Sabah, Malaysia and Luzon, Philippines. Improvising lyrics based on the movements of an igal dancer is the common theme for every celebratory occasion. Te localisation of the sangbai occurs in diferent performance genres refecting contrasting experiences. As a privileged ethnic minority, the Malaysia-based Sama-Bajau perform commercialised sangbai espousing cultural preservation. Philippine-based Sama-Bajau residing amongst the predominantly Christian region of Luzon incorporate sangbai-inspired compositions in praise of God. Performances as such share the core feature of a change in instrumental medium that references traditional musical idioms. Tourist music primarily references un-metered ritualistic chants, aongka compositions, and gong-chime instruments; new religious music incorporates traditional percussion rhythms into Christian praise songs. Overall, the developments of the sangbai genres parallel each other in varied circumstances. Angaleleng and the Batang Tambol – Performers of Improvisatory Lyrics Accompanied by Multiple Sound-producing Devices Te frst set of Sama-Bajau music genres compared in this section are individual performers who improvise song lyrics to the accompaniment of multiple sound producing devices – the angaleleng and batang tambol. Te angaleleng improvise lyrics to the movements of any dancer, their facial features, and sometimes their reputation in the village. Electronic keyboard accompanists produce a variety of programmed sounds. Te batang tambol improvise their own lyrics in the context of begging while simultaneously playing their ad hoc tambol. Te angaleleng and batang tambol perform compositions with a high degree of spontaneity. Audiences in their communities are impressed by their creativity to compose lyrics in any context. Variants of a song from the same “tune family” characterise both genres because the musical aesthetics of the Sama-Bajau entail multiple requests of one or two pieces of the most popular sangbai compositions. Although the angaleleng and batang tambol musical compositions sonically contrast each other, the performance of improvisatory lyrics characterises both genres.

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Tere are a number of similarities, which will be discussed frst. In the previous examples of “Loloh”, “Panansang”, “Pakiring”, and “Jaslina”, sangbai with improvisatory lyrics accompanied by the electronic keyboard reproducing sounds of traditional musical instruments were imperative to the musical compositions of the angaleleng and batang tambol. When performing during a magkawin (wedding ceremony) or namamasko (Christmas celebrations), whether in Sabah, Malaysia or the Philippines, a compact musical instrument is practical for these traveling musicians – the electronic keyboard or three-cylinder tambol. Te angaleleng are pioneers in singing sangbai tunes – contemporary renditions of traditional aongka, pangongkaan, and tagunggu music – to the accompaniment of the electronic keyboard. Te keyboard’s ability to reproduce the sounds of the gabbang, tambol, and the electronic keyboard’s disco drum beat rhythms lessens the expenses for hiring multiple musicians for a wedding. More importantly, having the electronic keyboard is convenient for Sama-Bajau angaleleng who rely on one electronic keyboardist as opposed to multiple musicians. Similarly, the batang tambol from the Philippines use recyclable materials to construct the ad hoc tambol that produces multiple sounds and rhythms. An ad hoc tambol is the musical accompaniment for Sama-Bajau busking musicians and carollers riding on public transportation and walking along the streets during Christmas time. Te sonorities of the ad hoc tambol simulate the pre-recorded disco drum beat pattern from the electronic keyboard – a simple duple meter of a repeated eighth note tied to a two sixteenth note fgure. Raised with the recent sangbai (a strophic melody with vocables), the batang tambol are a younger generation of musicians infuenced by the Usman group musical arrangements. Tere are a number of contrasts. Te angaleleng and batang tambol difer in their locations and the spaces in which they perform. Te angaleleng residing in Semporna District are asked to perform throughout eastern Sabah. With the popularity of Usman group sangbai arrangements, the angaleleng are sought afer in many Sama-Bajau settlements – both legal and illegal – in the district. In the Philippines, the batang tambol perform music to the lowland Christian Filipino majority population as beggars (Macalandag 2009: 2). Enforcing strict mendicancy policies in metropolitan areas of Manila refects the negative connotations that many lowland Filipinos have towards busking musicians; this is indicative of the strict policies that prohibit them from asking for money year-round in privatised and commercial spaces (Macalandag 2009: 11). Malaysia-based angaleleng have the freedom to perform because of their popularity amongst their followers in the region. Angaleleng are capable of transmigrating between eastern Sabah and the Sulu archipelago as popular wedding entertainment. Te pioneers of angaleleng are privileged entertainers in Malaysia because they produce popular music rooted in the musical repertoire of the aongka tradition. For example, the traditional aongka piece “Loloh”, a song about fshing in the sea, became popularised as a sangbai dance tune by the angaleleng. Now it is the ubiquitous tune requested at all Sama-Bajau magkawin. Philippine-based Sama-Bajau busking musicians are denied certain privileges because of being labelled low-class beggars in the Philippines. Te batang tambol are unable to return to their place of origin; hence they remain in refugee settlements in Luzon. Sangbai compositions were recomposed by the batang tambol in the context of begging to lowland Filipinos. Tese busking musicians take sangbai popularised in eastern Sabah and the Sulu Archipelago, such as “Jaslina”, to improvise lyrics asking for a generous monetary donation. To most of the police and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) some batang tambol are a nuisance to their cities whenever they endanger their lives by playing ad hoc instruments along the streets and on public transportation. As the angaleleng and batang tambol are an individual-based musical tradition because of its spontaneity, the kumpulan and sangbai panyani ensembles share similar Sama-Bajau musical characteristics.

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Berkumpulan and Sangbai Panyanyi Ensemble – Accessible and Afordable Community Music Ensembles Ensembles with two singers and an electronic keyboard accompanist are the afordable entertainment accessible for celebratory occasions in Sama-Bajau villages. Tese ensembles have a small-scale music industry providing entertainment for Sama-Bajau unable to aford the costs of a legendary sangbai artist; the diference lies in which communities prefer to follow a formal protocol of putting in song requests beforehand or have casual performances for any celebratory occasion. Te kumpulan of Semporna District, Malaysia and the sangbai panyani ensemble of Luzon, Philippines comprise community entertainment for any special occasion. In Semporna and in Luzon, these ensembles entertain their communities with nostalgic sangbai composed during the Usman group era of the 1980s. Both the kumpulan and sangbai panyani ensembles feature two singers – each with their own unique vocal qualities – and virtuosic electronic keyboardists; these sonic layers constitute a complete ensemble. Te similarities are as follows: performers in both countries are mobile and are accessible to diferent communities. Idol Group (kumpulan) and Maki’s group (sangbai panyani) performers are sought afer in diferent regions of Malaysia and the Philippines as the afordable performance ensembles. Idol Group’s afordable price range has expanded their popularity to various ofshore islands near Semporna District, such as Pulau Bumbum and Omadal Island in eastern Sabah. In contrast to the high cost of inviting legendary artists with names such as Jenes and Magnuru, Idol Group performs sangbai popularised by these two pioneering angaleleng. Maki’s group performs in the Sama-Bajau populated barangay in three Luzon provinces for their impoverished communities. As one of the few Sama-Bajau music ensembles in Luzon, they are professional entertainers invited to perform for any special occasion. Tere is a shared “canon” of sangbai tunes. In both case studies, two sangbai tunes are the most requested from their repertoire. For Idol Group, “Loloh” and “Panansang” are popular in eastern Sabah and parts of the Sulu Archipelago. Maki’s group is known for transplanting two sangbai from Zamboanga, “Si Amaliyah” and “Lenggang Tungitung” to Manila which are popular at weddings and celebratory occasions by the Sama-Bajau diaspora in Luzon. Idol Group and Maki’s group balance the vocal ranges in their ensembles with a duet of singers: a subtle and an aggressive angaleleng or panyani. Idol Group’s singer, Levelhati, is the most virtuosic between the singers; Maki’s group’s Carlo (Ronnie) is equally as versatile. In both groups, Levelhati and Carlo can sing an entire sangbai with no interruptions. Bunnalani from Idol Group and Judin from Maki’s group are the sangbai singers – subtle in performance – who exchange lyrics (magsambag) with Levelhati and Carlo. With the two singers, the ensembles lengthen a sangbai composition for skilled dancers; “Loloh” and “Si Amaliyah” are the most requested songs that require the performance of magsambag. Although the tunes may difer, the lyrics refect the same qualities of the firtatious and the personalised. For example, in Idol Group’s version of “Loloh”, Levelhati refers to a dancer’s shapely body as the shape of a biyula (violin). Similarly, Carlo’s version of “Si Amaliyah” praises a dancer’s dark skin and refers to her throughout the evening as a “black beauty”. Each fgure shows how both Idol Group and Maki’s group improvise lyrics with no reservations about the suggestive content. Te electronic keyboard is subjected to improvisation and innovation upon pre-existing keyboard techniques. Electronic keyboardists in both the kumpulan and sangbai panyani ensembles exhibit the same characteristics of improvising with the standard keyboarding techniques. As mentioned earlier, the gabbang gabbang is the generic keyboarding technique to accompany any singer; triadic chord progressions are played in lengthier compositions prior to singing the lyrical content. Keyboard players Versan from Idol Group and Baluni from Maki’s group

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improvise with the gabbang gabbang countermelody found in every sangbai requested in their repertoire; both keyboardists play the musical accompaniment at a lively tempo to encourage the singer’s skills to improvise their sangbai lyrics. Idol Group and Maki’s group are the community ensembles contributing innovative ways of singing popular sangbai for their audiences. Tere are fewer diferences between these two ensembles. Te kumpulan and sangbai panyani ensembles are distinct in their sangbai repertoire and performance protocol. In Malaysia, Idol Group receives formal requests prior to the start of an event. Teir singers make formal announcements of who will be dancing to a particular sangbai. In terms of learning the musical repertoire, many of the kumpulan singers studied directly and observed musical performances of Jenes and Magnuru. Terefore they were directly infuenced by musical arrangements from the Usman lineage. When performing for a magkawin, Idol Group’s angaleleng have the electronic keyboardist, Versan, sing non-sangbai tunes during their break time. Maki’s group is representative of the informal requests for sangbai that occur during informal and formal events in the provinces of Luzon. Sangbai requests are nonchalantly given by groups of dancers; formal introduction of performers is unnecessary. Knowledge of the melodies is attributed to learning from performances and cassette tape recordings of sangbai compositions circulating within the provinces and districts of Zamboanga, Basilan, and Sulu in the Philippines, and Semporna District in Malaysia. Maki’s group singers also dance while improvising with the lyrics – a diferent performance gimmick that contrasts the young musicians from the stoic performance of Idol Group. Tere is a diference between conservative and traditional performance in some contexts versus innovative and hybridised ones in other settings. For their magkawin repertoire, the sangbai panyani strictly perform sangbai music because their audiences in the diaspora prefer to be entertained by music that is traditionally Sama-Bajau. Maki’s group and Idol Group are ensembles performing within the context of community entertainment exclusively for the Sama-Bajau. In contrast, other subgenres reveal the tensions between maintaining an ethnic identity through foreign musical infuences, as found in the Sama-Bajau praise songs and the commodifed sangbai of Skyline Record’s commodities. Sama-Bajau Born Again Christian Sangbai-Inspired Praise Songs and the Sangbai of Skyline Records Te Sama-Bajau Born Again Christian Praise Songs and Skyline Records Sangbai DVD music series refect a marginalised community’s process of assimilation through pre-composed music created from external sponsorship. Many Sama-Bajau living amongst the lowland Christian Filipino and Malay majorities gravitate towards assimilating into the lifestyle of land-based ethno-linguistic groups. In this section new musical practices are indicative of their process of assimilation into their host cultures through the uniformity of their compositions – set musical orchestrations and pre-composed lyrics. From the tourist music industry in Malaysia to the Christian praise songs in the Philippines, these music genres are refexive of their establishment as a recognised ethnic minority navigating between being either “Malay” or “Filipino”. Tere are similarities between sponsored traditions. Te Sama-Bajau fourish under external sponsorship from the majority populations in both nation states, i.e. as recording artists of Skyline Records and devout born again Christians in Pastor Santiago’s Church Sanctuary, because they provide an idealised image of Sama-Bajau culture that is acceptable to the majority populations in both Malaysia and the Philippines. Te Sama-Bajau Skyline Records phenomenon developed as young Sama-Bajau recording artists began composing with foreign musical infuences outside of the traditional musical soundscape of the Sama-Bajau. Te sampling of foreign musical genres

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– from Malay popular music, Indonesian dangdut, to Bollywood bhangra – enabled these SamaBajau composers to compose music focused on cultural preservation in Malaysia’s pluralistic society. Johan and Jasnie are the composers contracted by Edward Sheah to produce these commodities with standard musical orchestrations. Iconic referencing of older musical instruments and melodies from the Sama-Bajau music ensembles instil pride in Sama-Bajau culture through commercialised karaoke DVD series and tourist festivals. Te Bajau Born Again Christian Sanctuary practise pre-composed and standardised contemporary praise songs inspired by the sangbai musical formula in the context of Christian worship. Praise songs contain standard Sama-Bajau musical elements: running eighth note drum rhythms similar to the tambol from a tagunggu ensemble, the use of vocables in between each fve-line quatrain, and strophic melodies. In both communities of Semporna and Batangas City, the Sama-Bajau have annual government and non-government sponsored events highlighting their culture. Tese events show the sponsors beneftting from the Sama-Bajau performing planned and rehearsed forms of music and dance as a response to becoming citizens by their nation states. For example, the Regatta Lepa festival evening concert production is sponsored by the Sabah Department of Tourism. As such, the festival organisers’ exoticisation – Sama-Bajau cultural arts represented by promoting their sea-gypsy lifestyle with decorative houseboats – entices politicians to sponsor such activities. Similarly, the Born Again Bajau Christian Sanctuary organised a thanksgiving event in order to honour the donors of school supplies to their church sanctuary. Tis non-governmental event also valorised Sama-Bajau music and dance for the sponsors to appreciate. Te Regatta Lepa festival and the Sanctuary’s Tanksgiving Day are forms of cultural assimilation that ofer a glimpse of the Sama-Bajau transition towards becoming accepted as Malaysian and lowland Christian Filipino citizens. Te diferences in sponsorship from each country refect the diferent attitudes towards the Sama-Bajau. As a government-sponsored event by the Sabah Department of Tourism, Regatta Lepa receives sponsorship from local assemblymen in exchange for Sama-Bajau votes during general elections. Te annual festival in Semporna District also provides industry to the region of eastern Sabah by encouraging tourists to witness and experience Sama-Bajau culture with its extravagant and decorated houseboats exotic to tourists in Semporna District. In contrast, the Sama-Bajau of Batangas City receive aid from the non-governmental organisation of Pastor Santiago’s Born Again Christian Ministry, which proselytises among people in nearby SamaBajau communities in exchange for education and land-based employment. Overall, the SamaBajau in Malaysia gain sponsorship through political and commercial means in cooperation with the government. Te Sama-Bajau in the Philippines receive non-governmental sponsorship from Christian communities. Commodities of regional popular music are sold abundantly by commercial music vendors in eastern Sabah, Malaysia. Sama-Bajau sangbai Skyline Records commodities and the SamaBajau praise songs difer in performance and production. In Kota Kinabalu and Semporna, the Sama-Bajau commodities are marketed as music for karaoke DVDs and for asserting a SamaBajau identity in eastern Sabah, Malaysia. Te songs are part of commercialised events such as Regatta Lepa. Artists contracted under Skyline are groomed by Johan and Jasnie to become recording artists promoting Sama-Bajau culture and tourism in Semporna. Te Sempornabased Sama-Bajau promote their culture at a commercial level with composers and musical arrangers such as Johan and Jasnie – composing and re-arranging Sama-Bajau music as dance tunes for the evening concert and karaoke DVD series. Johan and Jasnie’s Skyline Records commodities instil pride in the Sama-Bajau heritage. Ethnic groups converting to Christianity in the Philippines exclusively practise their own localised religious music only for worship services. Te Sama-Bajau Christian praise songs from

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northern Luzon, for example, praise God and teach the gospel while this traditionally sea-faring ethno-linguistic group transitions into a land-based lifestyle. Tese praise songs uplif the spirits of the congregation who subsequently acclimate themselves to the livelihood of the lowland Filipino majority. Pastor Santiago teaches his congregation to be devout Christians while also providing them a Western form of education and employment as a solution to remove themselves from poverty. By performing localised praise songs in the Sanctuary, the congregation builds communal relationships within sacred ritual spaces. Te localised lyrics in Sama-Bajau and Tagalog languages enliven the worship services, which are followed by positive testimonials of enriching their lives through Christianity, receiving a literary form of education and self-sufciency. Conclusion Te musical practices of the Sama-Bajau based in Malaysia and the Philippines refect their navigation between ethnic identity and citizenship in two contrasting nation states. For the Malaysia-based Sama-Bajau, the angaleleng and kumpulan ensemble in Sabah are musicians improvising lyrics to danceable melodies for communities subscribing to their Malaysian citizenship. For the Philippine-based Sama-Bajau the organic musical practices in the remote villages in provincial towns by the batang tambol and sangbai panyani are for the community to maintain aspects of their culture in the diaspora. Praise songs and Skyline Records’ Sangbai DVD series and albums are part of the pre-composed music setting the standard for new musical practices. Comparative analysis of the intersectionality of music from the Sama-Bajau combined with popular music elements in their respective countries and the transcultural fows between the Sulu Archipelago, Luzon, Philippines and Malaysia of the diverse Sama-Bajau music genres reveal the residual efects of transmigrant performers in this chapter coexisting with the majority populations. External infuences providing patronage to these communities have directly and indirectly afected the musical developments of Sama-Bajau music outside the Sulu Archipelago. More importantly the practice of these new contemporary music genres refect the Sama-Bajau resourcefulness and adaptabilities in composing music outside of traditional genres. Te future of Sama-Bajau music in Malaysia and the Philippines will fourish at a commercial and local level by the practitioners who thrive as entertainment for Sama-Bajau audiences, wealthy Malaysian entrepreneurs, politicians, and tourists. In Malaysia, new compositions are produced annually through the Sangbai DVD series.1 Many of the new arrangements by Johan and Jasnie use the same commercialised instrumentation of a stringed orchestra, harmonium, and iconic referencing of the tambol, gabbang, and kulintangan. Johan will continue composing sangbai lyrics for Sama-Bajau artists attempting to break into the music industry in Malaysia. Every year the Regatta Lepa festival organisers commission Johan and Jasnie to compose sangbai tunes to accompany choreographed dance routines. On the other hand, the angaleleng and the berkumpulan ensembles will continue practicing the traditional improvisation of the song lyrics for Sama-Bajau celebratory occasions that explicitly require the performance of improvisatory sangbai. Traditional music genres – the aongka, pangongkaan, and the tagunggu ensembles – of the Sama-Bajau will be practised mainly in remote villages by the remaining elders and children who uphold the ritual aspects of performing these genres, as a form of leisure, for weddings, ancestral rituals, and celebratory occasions. Tourist festivals in Malaysia highlighting SamaBajau culture will include the performance of popular Sama-Bajau music referencing cultural icons to non-Sama-Bajau tourists and audiences – a complete departure from its ritualistic

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function. Aongka and pangongkaan will be performed mainly in the privacy of a family’s home: the former for leisure entertainment by skilled musicians while the latter as game songs for elementary school students. Te Sama-Bajau in the Philippines will continue to learn newer sangbai melodies popularised in Malaysia that enter into the Philippines through the barter trade and smuggling of the Sangbai DVD series into the Sulu Archipelago; these tunes will later be the sangbai for namamasko. Tis phenomenon is attributed to the Sama-Bajau refugees settling in various provinces of Luzon and the Visayas as a result of the political instability in the Sulu Archipelago. More possible developments and perhaps greater publicity of the Luzon-based Sama-Bajau music will occur as the news and anthropologists document the changing lifestyle of the Sama-Bajau. Sama-Bajau artists bring with them music and sangbai tunes that were popular in their hometowns prior to relocating to Luzon. Te Christianisation of Sama-Bajau music will become the music of worship for the Batangas City-based Sama-Bajau joining the congregation of Pastor Santiago’s Sanctuary. Born Again Christian praise song composers working closely with the Sama-Bajau may compose new music in the Sama-Bajau vernacular in order to retain members of their congregation. Te fuidity of Sama-Bajau musical identity is evident in the music written by composers who combine Sama-Bajau musical elements with their host culture’s musical practices. Ritual uses of the sangbai will become commercialised performance pieces for the Sangbai DVD series and tourist festivals. Te magkawin will be a performance space for both angaleleng well-versed in the Usman Group style of textual improvisation while younger aspiring singers perform pre-composed lyrics of sangbai. Busking musicians and traveling ensembles are the conduits for the preservation of the sangbai as an improvisatory dance tribute song genre. Te Born Again Christian Church is the newest form of ritualised music with praise songs for new converts of Sama-Bajau ethnicity to maintain both their cultural heritage while praising the Christian God. Contemporary SamaBajau music is rooted in traditions from their places of origin in the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines. Genres such as the sangbai, batang tambol, and the Skyline Records’ sangbai commodities are part of the cultural preservation of the Sama-Bajau identity in maritime Southeast Asia. Porous nation state borders and the overriding popularity of small scale to commercialised music genres refect the transmigrant nature of Sama-Bajau musicians between two countries. In this comparative study I discussed the efects of conservation and adaptation in two sites, revealing an urgency to maintain an ethnic identity through contemporary ethnic signifers in popular Sama-Bajau music subgenres as transcultural commodities. For Sama-Bajau youth, the Usman group sangbai and Skyline Records DVD series are cultural signifers for identity. Ultimately Sama-Bajau musicians, the native practitioners, and their descendants will determine which genres are useful as well as aesthetically pleasing. Tus, comparing and contrasting diverse Sama-Bajau musics reveal a complex musical identity that is as fuid as their transmigratory lifestyle. As optimistic tropes for Sama-Bajau identity in two nation states and SamaBajau music, Jenes’ slogan of “Dua Orang Satu Bangsa” – “Two People, One Heritage” – and the Philippine motto “Isang Bansa Isang Diwa” – “One Nation, One Spirit” – ring true. Note 1

Compilation albums are now also available on Skyline Record’s YouTube channel, Skyline Pro.

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Transcultural Commodities • 193 Ellorin, Bernard. 2008. Variants of Kulintangan Music as a Major Infuence on the Regional Identity of the Sama in Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. MA thesis, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Frame, Edward. 1982. “Te Musical Instruments of Sabah, Malaysia.” Ethnomusicology 26(2): 247–274. Giddens, Anthony. 1990. Te Consequences of Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Macalandag, Regina Estorba. 2009. Otherizing the Badjao: A Spatial Imagery of State Exclusion and Societal Otherization. MA Tesis, International Institute of Social Studies. Majul, Cesar Adib. 1999. Muslims in the Philippines. Quezon City: Te University of the Philippines Press. Matusky, Patricia and Tan Sooi Beng. 2004. Te Music of Malaysia: Te Classical, Folk and Syncretic Traditions. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited. McGraw, Andrew Clay and Azti Nezia Suriyanti Azni. 2009. “Music and Meaning in Independence-Era Malaysian Films of P. Ramlee.” Asian Cinema 20: 35–59. Nettl, Bruno. 2005. “Te Most Indefatigable Tourists of the World: Tunes and Teir Relationships.” Te Study of Ethnomusicology: Tirty-One Issues and Concepts 113–150. Nimmo, H. Arlo. 1994. Te Songs of Salanda and Other Stories of the Sulu. Seattle: Reed Business Information Inc. Simon, Artur. 2010. “Southeast Asia: Musical Syncretism and Identity.” Fontes Artis Musicae 57: 23–45.

CODA

Global Movements, Local Sounds: Nusantara Music and Artists Overseas Paul Augustin and Adil Johan

Tis chapter highlights how Nusantara popular music artists and their music are received beyond the shores of the region. Te structure of this chapter is twofold: the frst, historical and the second, refective. In the frst, we provide a broad historical overview of the international circulation of music from the Nusantara and its artists, who have travelled abroad and achieved international recognition with their performances and recordings. In relation to internationalisation, the discussion considers the revival of indigenous sounds in Nusantara music since the 1980s by examining specifc artists and groups that leveraged on the global “world beat” and jazz fusion trends. In the second part of the chapter, Paul Augustin ofers his personal refections as an international festival organiser operating within the Nusantara. He ponders the possible emergence of a “Nusantara sound” developed by jazz artists in the region. Te examination includes Augustin’s observations of two festival acts that exemplify regional aesthetics: Bob Aves featuring Grace Nono from the Philippines and Farid Ali @Mr. Gambus from Malaysia. Tis chapter lays the foundations to study the global impact of Nusantara popular music and its artists in the international recording industry and music festival circuits. Part One: Nusantara Music Overseas From the Nusantara region, Indonesia has perhaps made the most prominent impact on global music practices throughout the history of the modern and postcolonial world. Te infuence of Javanese and Balinese gamelan is particularly widespread across the global north. Some of the earliest applications of the instrument in the West include Debussy’s “gamelan-inspired works”, and two decades prior to that the “Indisch composer Van de Wall… ventured into oriental music and decided to use the Javanese pelog tuning in his rhapsodies and verses” (Barendregt and Bogaerts 2014, 10–11). Te gamelan is currently no stranger to universities in Europe and North America (see Spiller 2015). In addition, there are government-supported groups, such as the Southbank Gamelan Players based in the Southbank Centre in London, who focus on Javanese gamelan, shadow puppet theatre, and dance. Tere are also long-standing, independent community-based groups such as New York City’s Gamelan Dharma Swara, who are dedicated to performing the Balinese gamelan and dances. Terefore, Indonesian music is far from unfamiliar in European and Anglo-American contexts. Colonial nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands maintained a musical relationship with their colonies. Anneke Gronloh and Te Blue Diamonds were Dutchbased artists that gained considerable popularity in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Netherlands.1

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Te Blue Diamonds had a big hit within the Nusantara region with their cover version of the song, “Ramona” (written by Louis Wolfe Gilbert and Mable Wayne). Gronloh gained popularity with her folk and Malay songs like “Burong Kaka Tua” (Parrot), “Buka Pintu” (Open the Door), “Bengawan Solo” (Solo River), and “Asmara” (Romance). She also sang in English, Dutch, and Chinese. Other Indonesians that migrated and gained some form of popularity in the Netherlands included Sandra Reemer and Te Tielman Brothers who recorded and released mainly in Malay and Dutch. Tus, Nusantara music overseas was performed by visiting musicians, relocated European residents, and diasporic communities from former European colonies. Within the Nusantara region, musicians from the Philippines were among the frst musicians who started performing outside of their country. Borromeo Lou was the frst Southeast Asian to tour the United States as a vaudeville pianist in the 1900s (Keppy 2019). Te prominent Malaysian musician Alfonso Soliano revealed how the British had engaged sixty-four Filipinos from the Manila Constabulary Band to work as brass members in the Malayan towns of Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and Penang on a three-year contract (Lam 1980). Sixty-two members of these municipal bands chose to stay on in Malaya past their contract, and one of them was Soliano’s father (Ibid). In the 1970s, many “pop bands” from the Philippines such as D’Starlights, D’Topnotes, Te Reynettes, and Te Fabulous Echos were mainly based in Hong Kong and performing in the Asian club circuit. In the 1960s and 1970s Nusantara musicians also received contracts from Australia, Europe, and even America, mainly performing cover versions of Anglo-American popular music or original compositions adapted from such genres. Such can be viewed in the case of Malaysian jazz crooner Zain Azman, having performed in England, Vietnam, and Australia (Berita Harian, 18 April 1998). Afer hosting a successful Malaysian television programme called “Te Zain Azman Show” since 1967, he lef Malaysia in 1975 to win a talent competition in London, UK, in 1976 (Berita Harian, 1 May 1977). Upon returning to Malaysia in 1977, he was dubbed “Malaysia’s Matt Monroe”, where he couldn’t really relate to local genres such as “asli or keroncong” because his “heart and soul was in jazz”, feeling connections “to the musical freedom, the liberty of structure that could only be found in jazz music” (Te Star, 19 December 1996). Tis adaptability and afnity to Anglo-American popular trends would continue from the 1980s onwards. Notable artists who have managed to reach Western and East Asian commercial markets to some degree include Anggun of Indonesia; Lea Salonga of the Philippines; Jeremy Monteiro of Singapore; and Paul Ponnudorai, Sheila Majid, Zee Avi, and Yuna 2 of Malaysia. Notably, Malaysia’s pop icon Sudirman Arshad won the title of “Asia’s No. 1 Performer” in the Asian Popular Music Awards held in 1989 at London’s Royal Albert Hall that was broadcast live on televisions across the globe. Another example of global adaptability can be seen (and heard) in the case of Sheila Majid, for example, who had considerable success in the Japanese market, releasing Japanese-produced versions of her hit song “Sinaran” (Radiant) in Malay and Japanese. An updated Japanese recording of the song is found in the limited edition pressing of her album Emosi (EMI/Universal Music 7755630, 2019) originally released in 1989 (Figures 17.1–17.2). Te Japanese version of the song was the title track for an album produced and released in Japan (Sinaran, Planet Earth, CP32-5914, 1989) and consequently her 1990 hit album Lagenda was also released as a compact disc (CD) in Japan (Planet Earth, TOCP-6172, 1990). Sheila Majid’s music aligned well to the aesthetics of the widely popular Japanese “city pop” genre of the 1980s and 1990s that articulated the rise of afuent, urban lifestyles in a period of economic success in East (and Southeast) Asia (Arcand & Goldner 2019). Te masterful jazz guitar playing of Paul Ponnudorai (Figure 17.3) is heard in many of Sheila Majid’s recordings – such as the Japanese version of “Sinaran” mentioned above – and during

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Figure 17.1 Front sleeve of vinyl LP record reissue of Sheila Majid’s sophomore album, Emosi (Emotion), Universal Music, 2019 (orig. 1986). (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

the 1980s and 1990s he was a frequent sessionist for many Malaysian pop artists. He also played guitar and penned the lyrics to the song “One Tousand Million Smiles” (with music composed by Michael Veerapen), that won Sudirman’s title mentioned above. While based in Singapore in the 2000s, Ponnudorai received a glowing recognition of his musical skill and creativity from an online article published in Time Magazine: Comparisons could be made with José Feliciano, the Puerto Rican singer-guitarist who had 1960s hits with stylish remakes of songs like California Dreamin’ and Light My Fire. But Ponnudorai is better. His ability to dice songs up, look into their hearts and perceive the common veins connecting every genre has won the attention of top international players who go to Singapore on tour. Harmonica virtuoso Toots Tielemans, drummer Billy Cobham, guitarist Tommy Emmanuel and vocalist Bobby McFerrin have all been in the audience. In

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Figure 17.2 Back sleeve of vinyl LP record reissue of Sheila Majid’s sophomore album, Emosi (Emotion), Universal Music, 2019 (orig. 1986). Includes a new version of her hit song “Sinaran” (“Radiant”) recorded in Japan. (Courtesy of Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea)

2002, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis showed up at a performance and was so taken by it, he grabbed his instrument and leapt onstage to play alongside a startled Ponnudorai, who did not recognize him. “He told me ‘ever since I got of the plane I’ve been hearing about nothing but you,” Ponnudorai recalls. Te pair jammed together for the next two nights. (Fitzpatrick 2007, 57; cited in Netto 2012) Ponnudorai here best represents the convergence of global popular music styles in the Nusantara. Growing up in Malaysia, he was a consummate musician since he was just six years of age, and his musical foundations were fostered through his English-language church upbringing in Ipoh (Te Edge, 10 July 2012). He would then fnd afnities with Anglo-American jazz, blues, soul, and rock; which would see him deconstructing the songs of Carlos Santana and Stevie Wonder,

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Figure 17.3 Paul Ponnudorai performing at the Penang Island Jazz Festival, 2007. (Photo by Michael Lee, courtesy of Penang House of Music, Malaysia)

thereby “developing a distinct playing style and a voice that was as Malaysian as it was from Nashville or New Orleans” (Te Edge, 10 July 2012). Terefore, the global reach of Nusantara artists demonstrates a degree of musicality aligned with global, Anglo-American popular music trends and they have adapted their desired styles in songs for local audiences. Borromeo Lou and Alfonso Soliano are collectively remembered as the progenitors of jazz in their respective Nusantara nations; Zain Azman is known to be representative of the jazz style with his Malay songs “Air Mata Berderai” (“Falling Tears”) and “Gadis Idamanku” (“Dream Woman”); Sheila Majid is recognised as the “Ratu Jazz” (“Jazz Queen”) of Malaysia; and Ponnudorai was acknowledged as an interpreter of global popular music par excellence. However, despite the accolades of the artists above, none could match the wide-reaching success and global circulation of the Filipino singer–songwriter, Freddie Aguilar. Aguilar sang his

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folk ballad, “Anak” (“Child” in Tagalog, Malay, and Indonesian; the predominant languages of the Nusantara region), in multiple languages: the song was sung in Tagalog and English (Anak, Sunshine, TSP 5245, 1978); in Italian as “Un Bambino” in an album produced in Italy (Freddie Aguilar, PDU, PLD.A7018, 1979); and in the Malay album Kenangan Ayah (Philips 6455511, 1979, see Figures 0.9–0.12). Countless other versions were recorded across the globe by other artists in Japanese, German, Dutch, Finnish, and Spanish.3 In summary, Aguilar’s song “was released in 59 countries, translated into 26 languages, recorded in more than a hundred versions and sold 33 million copies worldwide” (Salterio 2018). For a commercial recording artist, Aguilar is perhaps the Nusantara artist extraordinaire to achieve such a global impact with his music. However, this chapter will now draw attention away from adaptations of Anglo-American popular music styles, towards how a Nusantara approach to popular music is expressed to a global audience in international music festivals. Nusantara Sounds and the “World Beat” Era Since the 1980s, there have been a few notable artists who were “fusing” indigenous instruments and styles from the Nusantara with Anglo-American jazz: Bob Aves, Joey Ayala, and Grace Nono from the Philippines; Farid Ali and M. Nasir (both originally from Singapore and later relocated to Malaysia), Asiabeat, Aseana Percussion Unit, and Noraniza Idris from Malaysia; and Krakatau and Saharadja from Indonesia. Te music they created was unique and of “international standards”; however, these artists did not get the global recognition they deserved. While receiving adequate recognition from their peers within and beyond the Nusantara, they mainly performed in international festivals, gaining modest followings in their respective countries but, unfortunately, wider success past the region was limited. During this period of the late 1980s and into the 2000s, there was a postcolonial Nusantara renaissance with the inclusion of indigenous music amongst musicians from the region and globally, who were attempting to rediscover their “roots”.4 And, with the rise of the “world beat” genre, many of these artists realised that in order to appeal to the international market, their music had to be “original” in its use of sounds not commonly heard in Anglo-American popular music.5 Tus, the best way to achieve such novelty was to highlight the use of traditional and folk music genres and instruments from the region in their music, which was primarily based on Western styles such as jazz. Tese approaches are apparent in Indonesian groups such as Krakatau,6 SambaSunda,7 Saharadja, and Barasuara. From Malaysia similar groups include Asiabeat, Tuku Kame, and Aseana Percussion Unit. As conceived in Santaella’s chapter, these groups represent an important case of how Nusantara artists are actively “indigenising the popular” in their music. Tis becomes increasingly intricate when artists not only indigenise popular styles (with which they may be more familiar), but also incorporate other global styles, which are not indigenous to the region. Examples of the latter include diasporic music traditions such as the ones from South Asian and East Asian communities based in the Nusantara. Exemplary of these complex musical interactions are the Malaysian groups Aseana Percussion Unit (APU) and Diplomats of Drum. Formed in 1998, APU were an eleven-member group that consisted of “Brazilian Surdo, Indian Tabla and Taviel, Malay Kompang and Gendang, the Chinese Drum, the Trinidadian Steel Pan, the African Djembe/Talking Drum and common household appliances” and from the years 2005 to 2011 they performed in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China (Te Aseana Percussion Unit 2012). Teir most prolifc achievement was being the frst Malaysian group to perform on Jarasaum Jazz Festival’s main stage in 2005. Te group combined a plethora of global and local styles, as evident in their debut album Colours of Rhythm (2002), which “embraces Indian, Malay and Chinese rhythmic elements as

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gleefully as it spews out funk and Afro (sic) rifs” (Pavithran 2002). APU’s eclectic approach was a major infuence for the Diplomats of Drum – a large percussion ensemble of about twelve to fourteen musicians (depending on the event) – who performed for the international Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak, Malaysia held in 2012. Te group’s members comprise “each ethnic race in the country” (Romero 2018) and their diverse instrumentation is “a hodgepodge of… the Australian Didgeridoo, African Djembes and Talking Drum, Brazilian Repenique and Surdos, Malay Gendang and Rebana, the Indian Dhol, Sitar and Tabla, the Scottish Bagpipe, Slide and Acoustic Guitars and a whole lot more” (Rainforest World Music Festival 2012). Te group’s international accolades include being “voted three times as ‘Best Live Act’ by MTV Asia & the Asian Musician Magazine” and performing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and South Africa-hosted FIFA World Cup in 2010 (Rainforest World Music Festival 2012). In addition, they participated in a cultural exchange programme hosted by the Rialto Centre of the Arts, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, with funding from the Doris Duke Foundation, which brought the group to perform and conduct workshops in four American communities in the states of Texas, Florida, and Georgia (Diplomats of Drum 2015). Diplomats of Drum serves as an example of a live act from the Nusantara that represents not only the diversity of regional music but also the afnities that Nusantara musicians have with global styles. Tis, in turn, allows them to connect with a broad international audience, bringing this diverse “hodgepodge” approach and musical experience to places and people that were previously ignorant of the Nusantara. In the following pages, Paul Augustin ofers his personal observations and refections on the development of Nusantara music and its inclusion in international music festivals. Part Two: Refections of a Music Festival Organiser In the 1980s, Nusantara artists and groups had started experimenting and fusing local instrumentation and sounds whilst searching to create a national identity for themselves and their respective nations. In later years, I had the opportunity to programme some of them for festivals that I worked on and even had a chance to work with a couple of them to take their brand of music beyond the region’s shores. At the time, I did not fully comprehend and appreciate what was happening with this type of “fusion” music except to know that it was a “cool” sound and thing to do at that time. What was also interesting to note was that in terms of Malaysia, Singapore, and to a certain extent Indonesia and the Philippines, the music from the Nusantara region already comprised a combination of sounds, scales, rhythms, and melodies of the myriad cultures from across the region, such as the long-standing music practices of various indigenous groups as well as traditional forms of music from the region’s diasporic communities of East and South Asian origins. From 2003 onwards, in my capacity as a festival director and organiser, I was invited to attend many regional and international music events, which included music markets, meetings, symposiums, and of course, various international music festivals! It was afer my frst visit to Norway in 2008, that I realised the importance of a country or region in building, supporting, and developing their very own “sound”. During this visit, my fellow festival organisers and I were taken to many locations and we watched performances by several individuals and groups in diferent settings. What struck me was a performance by the Norwegian group, In Te Country, which was held in the hall of a 13th-century monastery. Te group introduced their music as compositions that refected the landscape, lifestyle, and moods of Norway and it was truly a memorable experience to listen to their music. In Te Country painted an imaginary picture with their performance, in which I could “visualise” the colours of their sounds, music and rhythms as expressive of the Norwegian landscape I had just traversed. Such is the power

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of music for me – it can transport you to a place, time, and feeling with its rhythms, melodies, and sounds. It was also around this period, specifcally during my travels, that I was ofen asked by international jazz and world music festival directors, such as Ben Mandelson, the founding director for the World Music Expo (WOMEX), to recommend Malaysian or regional music that refected the tradition and culture of my nation and its region in a musically creative manner. Sad to say, I had to pause considerably and struggled to think of adequate examples. Initially, it was a challenge for me to recommend artists or groups of that nature. Tere are many groups that sing in the native language but in terms of musical style, there were probably a handful of individuals or groups that I believed truly refected the music of Malaysia or the region. In a way, it was a good “wake-up call” for me to try and listen to Nusantara music from an outsider’s perspective, refecting on what would be musically representative of the region’s cultures and traditions. Also, I had to consider the commercial aspects, or rather the marketability, of such music to an international festival audience. What are the features of this music? What is the Nusantara “sound”? What type of instruments, rhythms, and languages would feature as representative of this so-called Nusantara sound? More importantly, who are the artists that can best represent the cultural uniqueness of this region’s music to an international festival audience? Upon refecting further, I realised that witnessing the development of music from the region since the 1980s, along with my personal experience as a festival programmer since 2003, would help me answer these questions. Programming World Music in a Jazz Festival My frst opportunity to programme a jazz festival was when I was contracted to plan and manage the Carl’s Sunrise Jazz Festival in 2002. It was quite difcult to convince the organisers to turn their attention away from the “typical” mainstream artists and groups who normally perform in Malaysia. I wanted to include eclectic artists and groups that were representatives of their individual countries’ unique music styles and instruments, and I managed to achieve this with some success. Jazz fusion bands such as Bangkok Connection included the ranat ek, a Tai wooden xylophone with a curved wooden resonator. In 2003, my company, Capricorn Connection, was contracted to programme and manage two festivals, the Philips International Jazz Festival in Kuala Lumpur and the Kuching Jazz Festival and, again, I included groups that had displayed “cultural/traditional” elements in their music such as Silk from India, Krakatau from Indonesia, and Steve Tornton’s Afro Asia group from Malaysia. I continued to adopt this approach in the programming method and style when I started the independent Penang Island Jazz Festival in Malaysia in 2004. Tis programming style was an efort to be “diferent” from other jazz festivals but in the long run, we found that it worked well. We stood out and got noticed, especially in the world of jazz and amongst world music fans. In later years, I was invited to attend a number of international music meetings, markets, and trade shows and was told that even though Penang Island Jazz Festival was a small festival (in terms of size and budget), we were considered by other festival organisers, programmers, agents, promoters, music journalists, and musicians as an important music festival in this part of the world. Without initially realising it, our programming of “world jazz” or “ethnic jazz” groups differed greatly from “traditional” jazz festivals. We were therefore creating a platform for local and regional music to be heard on a global stage. In the remaining pages, I would like to share my personal experience working with two notable festival acts. For me, they are important

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artists that focused on capturing, creating, promoting, and reviving the sounds of the Nusantara region for an international festival audience. Bob Aves Jazz Group Featuring Grace Nono Among some of the regional groups that we programmed for Penang Island Jazz Festival that had a regional “sound”, there was one that I felt had a unique sound, and I was very excited about them when I frst heard them. Tis was the Bob Aves Jazz Group featuring Grace Nono from the Philippines. I met Aves at a music festival in Nanning, China in 2006. When he passed me a sample CD of his music, I found it very exciting and fresh! An advocate of Philippine culture and traditional music, Aves started his music career as a “jazz rock/fusion” guitar player and was very passionate about his music which he termed “Philippine World Jazz” – a fusion of modern jazz and traditional gong instruments of the Philippines. Tis sample CD was perhaps a precursor to his album Translating Te Gongs, released in the same year, which was well-reviewed in allaboutjazz.com. Te reviewer notes how the album represents a fusion of traditional Filipino folk music and mainstream jazz grooves… (integrated with) gongs, which percussionists use in various implementations for multihued rhythmic efects…  (Tus, making the album) a concise snapshot of counterbalancing styles which coalesce into a wondrously conceived series of works. It’s an East meets West mindset, awash with intrigue and endearing melodies. (Astarita 2006) Indeed, his performance was an intriguing combination of East and West. Aves blended different Filipino ethnic instruments, sounds, beats, and arrangements with Western music elements. Some of the instruments he used include the kulintang gong-row instrument (part of the gong row tradition stemming from West Sumatra to the southern Philippines and eastern Indonesia),8 the octavina (a small guitar introduced into the Philippines when it was part of the Spanish East Indies and commonly used for rondalla music, associated with barrio festivals), other traditional gongs/percussion from the region, and vocalisations of traditional Filipino chants by Grace Nono. A number of his songs were written in the native Maguindanao scale which resonates with other music of the Nusantara region.   Unfortunately, Aves passed away in 2019 and what amazes me in retrospect was that when we programmed his group in the Penang Island Jazz Festival of 2007, it was their debut performance (Figure 17.6). Tis performance “opened doors” for them to consequently play in festivals within the Asian region: the Jarasum Jazz Festival and the Zhujiajiao Water Village World Music Festival, both in 2008. With his music, Aves related to me that he had hoped to breathe new life into the Philippine’s music heritage in the hope of awakening a keen interest amongst the new generation about their roots, while sharing with the world the distinct sounds of indigenous Filipino music. Farid Ali @Mr. Gambus A Singaporean by birth, Farid Ali (Figures 17.7–17.8) spent most of his working years in Malaysia. Farid studied music at the Guitar Institute of Technology, California and Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Over the years, Farid performed and recorded with

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many established names in the regional music industry and received several awards for his composition and arrangements. Tese awards include the “Best Musical Arrangement in the 1988 Curacao International Music Festival” and the “World Peace Award in 1993” (Rahmah 2013). His main instrument was the guitar, but feeling a need to rediscover his cultural “roots” and heritage, Farid started researching the Malay gambus (with historical connections to the Middle-Eastern oud)9 to create a unique voice in his music. He would combine and incorporate traditional and modern elements to develop his very own unique “sound” for a global audience. I started programming Farid for a festival in 2002, and “unofcially” started working with him in 2003 when a good friend of mine in South Korea, Jae Jin In, shared his vision of assembling an “All-Star Asian Jazz Group” with Peter Lee from Hong Kong and myself. Each of us recommended two musicians from Asia for the band, Asian Spirits, and their frst performance was in Seoul, South Korea in 2003 (Figures 17.3–17.4). Te group consisted of Lee Jung Sik (saxophone) and Jang Jae Hyo (Korean percussions and vocals) from South Korea, Ted Lo (piano) from Hong Kong, Shigeo Hirayama (drums) from Japan, Andy Peterson (bass) from Malaysia, and Farid Ali (guitar) from Singapore. It was an amazing band that performed original compositions, which combined Eastern and Western musical elements. Te band also performed for a show on the South Korean television station EBS, the 2004 Pori Jazz Festival in Finland, and the 2004 Penang Island Jazz Festival. Farid picked up the Gambus seriously in 2003 and did his debut performance with the instrument for a short slot in Bobby McFerrin’s 2004 concert in Singapore. He then recorded his frst album entitled Mr. Gambus – Gambus Goes Jazz (c.2005), which contains mostly original compositions (Multinum Entertainment Sdn. Bhd., c.2005). An accomplished composer with an ability to create strong melodies, Farid not only incorporated Malay elements into his songs with the Gambus but also included other Malay music instrumentation and rhythms. He had a unique sound and was easy to promote and market. We represented Farid and negotiated performances for him and his music, not only in Malaysia and Singapore but also in South Korea,

Figure 17.4 Asian Spirits compact disc cover of their concert in Seoul, South Korea. (Courtesy of Penang House of Music, Malaysia)

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Figure 17.5 Poster of Asian Spirits Concert in Seoul, South Korea. (Courtesy of Penang House of Music, Malaysia)

China, Taiwan, South Africa, France, and Switzerland. Farid recorded three albums and passed away in December 2013. Te story of Farid Ali is also an amazing one as I always felt that he was in a rush and wanted to do everything in a hurry. It was evident that music was his frst love and there was so much more he wanted to accomplish. We spent many hours and days sharing and exchanging ideas but, unfortunately, time was not on his side.

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Figure 17.6 Bob Aves and Grace Nono at the Penang Island Jazz Festival, 2007. (Photo by Michael Lee, courtesy of Penang House of Music, Malaysia)

Figure 17.7 Farid Ali at Penang Island Jazz Festival, 2005 (Photo by Michael Lee, courtesy of Penang House of Music, Malaysia)

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Figure 17.8 Farid Ali and shamisen player Chie Hanawa at the Penang Island Jazz Festival, 2005 (Photo by Michael Lee, courtesy of Penang House of Music, Malaysia)

Conclusion Arranged in two parts, this chapter presented an overarching narrative of how Nusantara popular music and its artists have travelled beyond the shores of the region. Te frst part provided a broad historical survey of the impact of Nusantara music and musicians such as Anneke Gronloh, Zain Azman, Sheila Majid, Paul Ponnudorai, and Freddie Aguilar on global popular culture, in particular their reception and recognition in East Asia and the West. Next, we briefy discussed the rise of “world beat” and jazz fusion in the region, past the 1980s, with a focus on Malaysian percussion group Diplomats of Drum, who toured extensively across the globe in the 2000s. Tis frst section served as a contextual preamble to Paul Augustin’s personal refections as a music industry practitioner in the Nusantara region. As a festival organiser since 2002, Paul Augustin has helped pave the way to the increased inclusion of performing

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acts that incorporated indigenous sounds and styles from the Nusantara. Finally, he recollected the music of two acts that performed in the Penang Island Jazz Festival, which he initiated and directed from 2004 until 2017. Te music of Bob Aves featuring Grace Nono and Farid Ali @ Mr. Gambus was well-received in the festival and led them to many other opportunities on the world stage, thereby bringing the eclectic sounds of Nusantara popular music to a global audience. Notes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

For more on Anneke Gronloh’s reception in the Netherlands, see Barendregt and Bogaerts (2014, 21) who cite Andy Tielman’s (of the Tielman Brothers group) biography Tat’s My Life (2006). For more on Malaysia’s internationally acclaimed recording artist, Yuna, see Barendregt et al. (2017, 93–96). Tough not a comprehensive list of “Anak” adaptations, see https://secondhandsongs.com/work/183659/adapt ations#nav-entity (Accessed 29 April 2020). On the phenomenon of increased use of non-Western indigenous music in 1980s Anglo-American popular music, see Meintjes’s (1990) study on Paul Simon’s Graceland album. For an exploration of the term “World Beat” as occurring in Malaysian popular music in the 1990s, see Tan (2002). For a detailed study on Krakatau, see Harnish and Wallach (2013). For more details on SambaSunda and Indonesian fusion in the 1990s, see Barendregt and Van Zanten (2002, 71–75). For detailed studies on the Magindanaon kulintang see Terada (1996), Scholz (1996), Posner (1996), and Kalanduyan (1996), all found in a special section dedicated to the Filipino kulintang in journal, Asian Music 27(2). For more on the Malay gambus see Hilarian (2005).

References “Anak.” n.d. Second Hand Songs. https://secondhandsongs.com/work/183640/adaptations#nav-entity (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Anak album, 33⅓ Vinyl Disc, Sunshine, TSP 5245. 1978. https://www.discogs.com/Freddie-Aguilar-Anak-/release/7 090716 (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Arcand, Rob, and Sam Goldner. 2019. “Te Guide to Getting Into City Pop, Tokyo’s Lush 80s Nightlife Soundtrack.” Popular Culture. Vice Media. 25 January. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mbzabv/city-pop-guide-historyinterview (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Astarita, Glenn. 2006. “Bob Aves: Translating Te Gongs.” All About Jazz. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/translating -the-gongs-bob-aves-taomusic-review-by-glenn-astarita.php (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Barendregt, Bart, and Els Bogaerts. 2014. “Recollecting Resonances: Listening to an Indonesian-Dutch Musical Heritage.” In Recollecting Resonances: Indonesian-Dutch Musical Encounters, 1–30. Leiden: Brill. Barendregt, Bart, Peter Keppy, and Schulte Nordholt. 2017. Popular Music in Southeast Asia: Banal Beats, Muted Histories. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Barendregt, Bart, and Wim Van Zanten. 2002. “Popular Music in Indonesia since 1998, in Particular Fusion, Indie and Islamic Music on Video Compact Discs and the Internet.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 34: 67–113. Berita Harian. 1977. “Zain Azman Johan ’76.” 1 May. Berita Harian. 1988. “England Pula Tempat Zain Azman Mula Menyanyi.” 18 April. Diplomats of Drum. 2015. “Caravanserai Malaysia - Diplomats of Drum.” YouTube. October 21. https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=wpFUTaMCQSk (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Emosi album, 33⅓ Vinyl Disc, EMI /Universal Music, 7755630. 2019. Courtesy of Asian Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea. Fitzpatrick, Liam. 2007. “Creative Genius: Ponnudurai Deconstructs, Reinvents and Performs Old Songs with a Singular Passion.” Time, May 21, 57–58. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1619102,00.html (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Freddie Aguilar album, 33⅓ Vinyl Disc, PDU, PLD.A7018, 1979. https://www.discogs.com/Freddie-Aguilar-Freddie -Aguilar/release/4124743 (Retrived 7 May 2020). Harnish, David, and Jeremy Wallach. 2013. “‘Dance to Your Roots’: Genre Fusions in the Music of Indonesia’s Krakatau.” Asian Music 44 (2): 115–34.

CODA • 209 Hilarian, Larry Francis. 2005. “Te Structure and Development of the Gambus (Malay-Lutes).” Te Galpin Society Journal 58 (May): 66–82, 215–16. Kalanduyan, Danongan S. 1996. “Maginanaoan Kulintang Music: Instruments, Repertoire, Performance Contexts, and Social Functions.” Asian Music 27 (2): 3–18. Kenangan Ayah album, Philips, 6455511, 1979. (Courtesy of Adil Johan). Keppy, Peter. 2019. Tales of Southeast Asia’s Jazz Age: Filipinos, Indonesians and Popular Culture. Singapore: NUS Press. Lagenda album, Compact Disc, Planet Earth, TOCP-6172, 1990. https://www.discogs.com/Sheila-Majid-Legenda/rele ase/6783385 (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Lam, Seng Fatt. 1980. “Alfonso: Why Filipinos First Came to Malaysia.” Malay Mail, June 21. Meintjes, Louise. 1990. “Paul Simon’s Graceland, South Africa, and the Mediation of Musical Meaning.” Ethnomusicology 34 (1): 37–73. Mr Gambus – Gambus Goes Jazz album, Compact Disc, Multinum Entertainment Sdn. Bhd, ME860001, c. 2005. https ://www.discogs.com/Mr-Gambus-Gambus-Goes-Jazz/release/13273876 (Retrieved 15 May 2020). Netto, Anil. 2012. “Tribute to Music Legend Paul Ponnudorai.” Anil Netto (blog), July 7. https://anilnetto.com/society/ arts-and-culture/tribute-to-music-legend-paul-ponnudorai/ (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Pavithran, Sujesh. 2002. “Drumming up Heady Sounds.” Te Star, June 23. Posner, Karen L. 1996. “A Preliminary Analysis of Style in Maguindanaoan Kulintang Music.” Asian Music 27 (2): 19–32. Rahmah, Ghazali. 2013. “Mr Gambus Farid Ali Dies (Update).” Te Star, December 28. https://www.thestar.com.my/ news/nation/2013/12/28/gambus-farid-ali-dies (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Rainforest World Music Festival. 2012. “Diplomats of Drum.” Rainforest World Music Festival. https://rwmf.net/per former/diplomats-of-drum/ (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Romero, Angel. 2018. “Artist Profles: Diplomats of Drum.” World Music Central. October 10. https://worldmusicce ntral.org/2018/10/10/artist-profles-diplomats-of-drum/ (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Salterio, Leah C. 2018. “Freddie Gets Senate Recognition for His Song.” Philstar Global, April 5. https://www.philstar .com/entertainment/2018/04/05/1802782/freddie-gets-senate-recognition-his-song (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Scholz, Scott. 1996. “Te Supportive Instruments of the Magindanaon Kulintang Ensemble.” Asian Music 27 (2): 33–52. Sinaran album, Compact Disc, Planet Earth, CP32-5914, 1989. https://www.discogs.com/Sheila-Majid-Sinaran/relea se/6783460 (Retrived 7 May 2020). Spiller, Henry. 2015. Javaphilia: American Love Afairs with Javanese Music and Dance. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. Tan, Sooi Beng. 2002. “Negotiating Identities: Reconstructing the ‘Local’ in Malaysia Trough ‘World Beat’.” Perfect Beat 5 (4): 3–20. Tan, Sooi Beng. 2014. “Modernizing Songs of the Forest: Indigenous Communities Negotiate Tensions of Change in Malaysia.” In Sonic Modernities of the Malay World: A History of Popular Music, Social Distinction and Novel Lifestyles (1930s −2000s), edited by Bart Barendregt, 353–70. Leiden: Brill. Terada, Yoshitaka. 1996. “Variational and Improvisational Techniques of Gandingan Playing in the Magindanaon Kulintang Ensemble.” Asian Music 27 (2): 53–79. Te Aseana Percussion Unit. 2012. “About Us.” Band Site. Te Aseana Percussion Unit. http://www.apu.com.my/ aboutus.htm (Retrieved 14 May 2020). Te Edge Markets. 2012. “A Tribute to Paul Ponnudorai.” July 10. https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/tribute -paul-ponnudorai (Retrieved 7 May 2020). Te Star. 1996. “Zain’s Voice of the Heart.” December 19. Tielman, Andy. 2006. Tat’s My Life. Rijswijk: Sir Winston.

Aferword

Bercerita (Sharing Stories) with M. Nasir, Joey Ayala, Dwiki Dharmawan, and Pra Budi Dharma on Nusantara Popular Music Raja Iskandar Bin Raja Halid and Mayco A. Santaella

M. Nasir (Dato’ Mohamad Nasir bin Mohamed) is a Malaysian singer–songwriter, actor, producer, and visual artist. He has written and produced some of the biggest hit songs in Malaysia, covering the pop, ballad, and rock genres. As a solo artist, M. Nasir is known as one of the pioneers of Nusantara music, a new genre that combines progressive rock and traditional music elements from the region. He is now the chairman of Music Authors Copyright Protection (MACP) Berhad, a non-proft organisation providing licenses to users of music and collecting royalties on behalf of songwriters and publishers. R.I. and M.A.S.: How can we conceptualise the idea of Nusantara music? M.N.: Nusantara music is about looking for the local identity of the tanah air (motherland). It’s about looking for its form refective of a Nusantara identity, particularly of the “tanah melayu” or the Malay Peninsula. Tere are two forms of Nusantara music, modern music and the music that comes from the Nusantara islands. Te musical forms that come from the islands are part of the heritage, what is considered “traditional music”. Tat is what we call Nusantara music. But we also take this music and use the label to reference modern music with a style that carries an identity belonging to the islands. But it is modern, that is, a fusion or the combination of world music and music from the Nusantara islands. Simultaneously, the Nusantara music itself is technically already a “fusion” [hybrid] from the beginnings, but what I mean here is fusion in the modern sense, in the present day. Te repertoire is also modern. We could probably identify the music as having 60% Nusantara elements, and 40% modern or western elements. But it doesn’t need to be exactly that, there may be fewer Nusantara elements than that. In Indonesia, they have also tried to create new Nusantara music but it wasn’t necessarily towards pop. I made it in the pop stream, as popular music. Tey [Indonesia] developed it more towards jazz, fusion, and other genres but not necessarily towards pop. I tried to develop a Nusantara sound under the pop genre and tried to make it popular. Manan Ngah also coined a term at the time, known as balada Nusantara. I disagree with the term balada [ballad], because balada is just balada, slow, moderate songs. So [Nusantara music] can’t simply be balada music. I also produced music under the balada genre. But my songs were songs that told a story. Many 210

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of the pop songs of the 1980s were also known as balada. Balada Nusantara means telling a story about the region. Tey become songs that tell a story about this locale, Nusantara stories. Balada means a story. But the “popular” was also a complex term. Some people said that music was popular because it had a mass appeal. But many used to call it a form as well. And the form eventually became a genre in itself. Popular music has its own forms, the forms become a genre, so we wanted to create that particular genre. R.I. and M.A.S.: Was popular music developed from traditional repertoire? M.N.: Muzik Melayu or Malay Pop Music had songs that were popularised through singers like Siti Nurhaliza who was known to be part of the “Irama Malaysia” phenomenon. Songs with zapin and inang rhythms became popular as well. But the ones we composed were considered “modern fusion”. It’s not that it was never done before, but it had a progressive feel to it. P. Ramlee used to popularise songs that were considered “traditional”. Tese became part of the pop Nusantara. But my sound was diferent. It had contemporary and progressive features. In an interview I said I wanted to “ruggedkan”, to make Malay music “rugged”. Basically it’s mostly about the rhythm. Our strength [in Malaysia] is on the rhythm, such as joget and zapin. However, the lenggok (ornamentation) is also important, such as asli melodies based on the senandung. We had the rhythm and the lenggok at the time, but that is what we were looking for, the senandung, a form from Sumatra which means “melagukan” (to put in song form, “song-ify”). Te style of singing itself carried a Malay identity. Te songs may have Arabic elements but originate from lenggok Melayu. Tat is what I was looking for. I found it through recordings and revealed [“terbongkar”] the style of singing. I knew that Malay music was performed this way, but wanted to understand the origins of the lenggok. Because the senandung doesn’t really need music (instrumentation), just singing. We wanted to know where the lenggok came from. Te popular songs had Arab, Chinese, and Malay elements, including Indian elements as well. But we looked for the “acrobatics”, for example, for the song “Seri Mersing” – where did the ornamentation or lenggok come from? Malay aesthetics are diferent from Arab ones if you look at the vibrato (getaran). It may also have “meleweh” (“cry” in Sundanese). Te “meleweh” element in songs or a sense of lamenting was strong in the music. Te slendro tuning also had some infuence in our compositions and for Nusantara music. Javanese and Sundanese music infuenced scales in Nusantara music. In terms of acceptance, it was up to individuals. We wanted to innovate and reach a level that we could be proud of. R.I. and M.A.S.: Were musicians aware of each other and infuencing genres across the Nusantara region? M.N.: We used to infuence each other across the archipelago. But we had popular bands that infuenced our sound like “Karimata” and “Krakatau” who played jazz fusion, but a Nusantara fusion. However, they were more towards progressive jazz fusion at the time, it didn’t become pop. It was sort of a jazz fusion that used Nusantara elements. We did some of that here [in Malaysia] but we didn’t go towards jazz, rather, more towards pop and folk. Tey [Krakatau] were also not mainstream but had many fans. Tere were some groups in the Philippines as well. But they were more towards western music and had some fusion. But they don’t have a strong traditional music culture clearly featured in popular music. In Tailand, for example, they have Ram Wong which is popular but characteristically Tai. Here we have gamelan and many fusions that took place in Indonesia. In Malaysia we could head in that direction, but not so much in the Philippines, given their strong Spanish and western infuences.

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Te genres that were developed but did not succeed did not have a clear rhythm like dangdut, for example. Tey didn’t go anywhere. Dangdut is also rather sexy. Zapin and other genres here [Malaysia] are not sexy. Tey are also folksy but still polite. Because dance within popular music ofen has sexy elements. Here, they actually had already made dangdut, but the “Ustad” [religious teacher] was not in favour of dangdut. Tey developed from Orkes Melayu like “Orkes Zindegi” [famous 1970s band] which had Arab and Hindustani elements from which dangdut developed. But there were other groups that played rock, and cha cha, with conga and accordion which became popular instrumentation at the time. Sometimes Hindustani songs were also known as Malay songs. Te songs were ofen known as “Lagu Melayu”, and Rhoma Irama created from that a rhythm emphasising the tabla and the electric guitar which carried a slightly diferent sound. It had a tight rhythm with an emphasis towards dance which made it popular. R.I. and M.A.S.: What determines the success of a genre as popular music in the Nusantara region? M.N.: Nusantara music can’t be really big because it doesn’t have a strong dance element unlike dangdut music. It carries some elements of dance, joget, but it is considered traditional. Actually dangdut is quite old too, but somehow it has overtaken Nusantara music in terms of popularity. Dance is an important element in determining success. Like, you can dance to dangdut music. Here [in Malaysia] it is rather difcult, there is joget which you can dance to, but it is considered a genre from the past. Dangdut also has its history, but it managed to maintain popularity. Here [in Malaysia] you can still reach success, if you have a good song and work with a famous singer, but those that are able to perform it are not that many. Like Pak Ngah for example, but even his style is more towards the Irama Malaysia genre. He is not fusion or progressive, he is more folky or popish. We used fusion or progressive elements like jazz or other genres. Even with the use of chords, not just simple chords, you have to know how to make it progressive. Even rock, we put a lot of rock elements: the sound, the structure, the instruments, the chords. It sounded modern and that made it popular. But it became a genre that wasn’t as popular because it did not have many followers. Like reggae for example, it appeared once and had some relative popularity, but at a certain point there were fewer followers. But they are [reggae] followers who would follow [the genre] until they die. At the time it was big [Nusantara music], but it didn’t quite make it as a genre. It only became slightly famous because of the singer. Many of these genres were only popularised through competitions, particularly TV competitions. Tey had umbrellas such as “etnik kreatif ” but, in the long run, the genre was not popular because they were not “rock” [tak rock]. Tey did not have the ruggedness of rock. Te ones that made it besides Pak Ngah are the singers such as Siti [Nurhaliza], Noraniza Idris, but those are of a specifc stream of Nusantara music. Tere are other streams as well. Many of them were popular mainly because of the singer and not necessarily the genre. It came to a point where the genre could not be “pushed” any more. It became history. Everywhere it’s the same. In the islands [Indonesia] they are strong with their national genres and folk music, which has [a distinct] identity and uses their traditions. Tey can’t keep up with changes in pop. In Europe they had the “world beat” but now it’s gone, and so it is for us. Usually it takes ten years for a [new] genre in a market. By the fourth or ffh year it reaches its peak and then it descends and disappears by the tenth year. Tis is because there are not that many supporters for world music, which is similar to the concept of Nusantara music. World beat, meaning from our world, the music of the Nusantara world. People don’t know what world music is; it is actually popularised versions of traditional music. Similar to Paul Simon and others. Te success ofen lies in the insertion of dance elements. Ten it was mixed with electronic music so the direction became a bit blurred.

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Male singers also played a big role, because they were mostly involved in the rock and balada genres. But then you also had a female presence with the stream of Siti and Noraniza Idris. Tere were musicians that combined folk elements and included kampong sounds in their music but now people don’t quite consume that. All popular music has its cycles. Except some like rap that is still consumed, although in diferent forms. But with rock as well, and its balada feel. However, the momentum for Nusantara music has passed. We started with western infuences, then the development of world music, and then it merged into dance music. Now it is largely discontinued. People don’t make new music, except for singers like Siti that continue to perform. But now, it is mostly pop music. Joey Ayala (José Íñigo Homer Lacambra Ayala) is a Filipino singer–songwriter born in Mindanao and residing in Manila. As a guitar player, his songs combine traditional instruments (mostly from Mindanao) with modern popular music styles. With his group Bagong Lumad (New Native) Joey supports education, social, and environmental causes through both governmental and non-governmental institutions. He also served as the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Chairman of the National Committee on Music. R.I. and M.A.S.: How can we conceptualise the idea of Nusantara music? J.A.: Nusantara denotes a specifc geographical region and ethnolinguistic group. At the beginning there was resistance from people that believed that we should not mix those instruments with drums and bass. Some people said it was sacred, and you are not supposed to modernise them. But eventually people liked it, and it was very diferent so people noticed it. I migrated to Manila with the band in order to develop musically and with a mission: as someone from the south bringing southern sentiments to the mainstage in metro-Manila. We were hoping to make a living from the economic fow in this city. Tis was during the early 1990s. Our original band came as carrying a strong southern sound and look. By 1994 each musician went their own way but continued to carry an indigenous image and then it spread. Te Philippines had an infuence on the popular music of Malaysia and Indonesia. I’m not aware of much of their infuence in the Philippines. But in Indonesia, famous for its pirated recordings, there are many Filipino recordings that until today are famous in Indonesia, and you can rarely fnd those recordings in the Philippines. Rock, blues, and jukebox hits are still popular in Indonesia. Te singer Eddie Peregrina was very famous at the time, perhaps because he had songs in Filipino and in English. He had a certain vocal style that was very popular, not among the elites but among the lower income bracket with a very high-pitch nasal style of singing. But in the Philippines, the infuences are mainly American and maybe European. During the 1960s and 1970s on TV you had shows with British rock, and then you had the Ed Sullivan show with famous American musicians. When the market became global, you could only hear the music of other countries through an American company or distribution enterprise, including Ravi Shankar and Indian music. One of the frst records I heard as a child was produced by the Smithsonian Institute (or Elektra records); it had African music and diferent cultures and sounds. Tat is one of the reasons that when I frst heard the traditional music in Mindanao, I recognised it as music. Because I had that category in my head, of music that is not popular, but it’s real and it belongs to us, and nobody knows about it, so we better share it. R.I. and M.A.S.: What is the relationship between traditional and popular music? J.A.: I wasn’t the frst to begin using traditional instruments in my songs, but I have been doing that consistently since the 1970s. Tat was when I had my frst interaction with musicians from

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various indigenous groups using traditional instruments. We were making a rock opera and the script was based on an indigenous legend. Tat’s when I frst heard hanging gongs, the kubing (bamboo jaw harp), the lute, etc. I was in college at that time. Te story was based on a creation myth so we used lots of special efects, puppets, rock ‘n’ roll music because the model for a rock opera in the 1970s was Jesus Christ Super Star, right? You had to have rock ‘n’ roll, but we also wanted to include a favour from the indigenous groups from where the myth originated. We experimented a lot with the gongs and rock music. We had no studio, nothing was written down, we memorised all the parts. It was called “Sa Bundok ng Apo” (“On Mount Apo”) [written by Al Santos of the Philippine Educational Teater Association] about the highest peak of the Philippines, in Mindanao. Te Bagobo tribe has an origin myth for Mount Apo. Tis was very striking for me because at that time I was listening to songs by James Taylor, Carlos Santana, Jimmy Hendrix, jazz fusion, etc. I consider myself pretty well versed musically, I grew up listening to western classical music, I knew what Indian music was, what Chinese music was, and suddenly I see a real musician playing a real instrument in front of me, in my city, and all I knew was from outside my country. It changed my life. I could feel the music inside my stomach. So I needed to incorporate this as a musician because this is in my backyard, and nobody knows about it. Ten you come to a discussion of what is traditional and what is not. It’s almost a meaningless distinction because… you have young people living in the village playing traditional instruments. And if you compare that young person to their great-grandfather they have a very diferent approach. Te young person is not incorporating the dance and the jokes, they know how to use a microphone, know how to play a six-string guitar but the older only a two-string lute. Tere are musicians that grew [up] listening to a two-string lute but now have a six-string guitar. However, you can hear and see the diference in style, because they are playing as if it were a two-string lute. It’s impressive how technology and the arts change each other. Renders the meaning of the word “traditional” as really questionable. Musical traditions and modern traditions in the Philippines are not connected at the language and technology level. Tere’s a disjoint, there’s a gap between technology and tradition. I became aware of this when I started playing in other countries. When I went to Japan, I saw the indigenous instruments, and when you stick it to an amplifer it sounds good, but you don’t see the pick-ups. So I realised that tradition and technology, if they are well integrated, should give you a very healthy culture. In the Philippines there is no such a thing. If you need a two-string lute on stage, you have to cut it up, and do things that were not meant for it, like make a hole in the centre and insert a pick-up. So there is a gap between technology and tradition. If I’m to order an instrument from a traditional maker, they will send it to me, then I have to remove the frets and arrange them so that it is in tune with the guitar. Ten, I have to change the tuning pegs, because otherwise the traditional ones may pop out in the middle of a performance. During the early 1970s there were already attempts to include traditional instruments in popular music that I was aware of. Like Apo Hiking Society, a popular three-man group, retired already, a little older than me. But they had one or two songs that had a very distinct rhythm from the south. Tey were using the “singkil” and the title of the song was “American Junk”. So this is a song that came out at the height of the anti-American sentiment. Te rallying cry was “kick out the US bases”. Tere was this awareness of having a colonial mentality and selfcriticism: “why are we like this?”, “we want to be Americans but we are not Americans” – that sort of sentiment. And anything that people did not like would immediately be ascribed as a Marcos–US conspiracy. Now people want the US and don’t like China, they can’t make up their minds! [laughs]

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R.I. and M.A.S.: What makes OPM “Filipino”? J.A.: In the Philippines we have OPM which carries a nationalistic and patriotic thinking that was strong during the 1970s and 1980s. It was even more intense with those that resisted the Marcos regime because it carried a nationalistic theme that went against a dictator. Te opposition to what was perceived as an oppressive government was looked upon by most people as nationalistic. A lot of the music that had an element of indigenous music such as mine, and words [language] that are not exactly the same as those of the heads, were considered nationalistic and patriotic. OPM is Filipino because of the sentiments and the circumstances described in the music. Te situations and the language. But the music itself has a lot of Broadway infuences, jazz, blues, etc. But because I was exposed to the music of Mindanao, my songs have a particular sound. If I had never lef Manila, my songs would just sound the same as others. What makes OPM Filipino? Well, sometimes, musically, there’s sweetness to the Filipino ear, the same way we like to put sugar in the food (everyone is diabetic in the Philippines) [laughs]. Too much sweetness, even in the ear. It’s hard to use words to describe it, it’s very sweet and very emotional. R.I. and M.A.S.: What musical infuences do you have, and how is your music categorised? J.A.: I draw inspiration from the group Asin [salt], it’s almost like I follow their footsteps. One of the most popular environmental songs is from that group, up until today. Musically, the arrangement is very American folk. But if you just take the melody, it sounds pentatonic. My song probably sounded “weird” with gongs, a two-string lute and a lot of bells, and a weird vocal harmony with a fatted ffh because I was arranging for three voices that were very close together. Tis was not common in popular music, maybe more in jazz. In terms of genre, I was classifed as world music, or folk music. Te music industry is Manila-based and the presence from the region where I’m from is not strongly felt. So OPM is primarily based on Manila’s language. Even if you come from elsewhere, you write songs in Manila’s language. In my songs, I have some Cebuano and Mindanao words in the lyrics. I am one of the few artists that uses words from other languages in my music. I have one particular song that did not make a big impact on the mass media but because the school teachers liked it, it was used in practically all schools. It’s an environmental song, a chant, that says that everything is interrelated. It was released in the early 1990s and people use it to teach at schools and include dance movements. Many people know the song, but it had hardly any exposure in the mass media, and people that know the song don’t know that I wrote it. It’s like an oral tradition, it became folk music. And they get shocked when I request money for the rights. Te title of the song is “Magkaugnay” [Interrelated]. R.I. and M.A.S.: How did your environment defne your music? J.A.: I was born in Mindanao, but I did not grow up there. When I was very young we moved to Luzon (where Manila is), and I studied up to high school in Manila. And afer high school, just about a little afer martial law was declared, we migrated to Mindanao, where I did college, and where I met all these instruments. So I’m a “native” of Mindanao, but did not grow up there. And now I have been living in Manila since 1991. Two of my earlier recordings were originally done in Mindanao. Our studio then was a non-proft studio, everything was done in cassette players. We recorded and mastered on stereo cassettes. We had one overdub and two cassette machines, and we sang along. My frst two albums were produced that way. And then, everything else was produced in Manila with a 16-track and later a 24-track.

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Tere is no specifc rhythmic mode that is characteristic of popular music in the Philippines. It largely follows global trends. In southern Philippine music, there are rhythmic modes that have the potential to be popular. For example, in the kulintang ensemble, one popular rhythmic mode is called “tidtu” and when that is played you are supposed to “show your best”. Tis is based on triplets, and if you are trained in western music, this would be like jazz, and it has a certain universal feel. Nowadays they mix sounds with synthesisers, and it creates an interesting mix. If you have an acoustic instrument mixed with a synthesiser, it gives it a “real” sound, because you are introducing harmonics that are not too exact, and produces interesting vibrations. Dwiki Dharmawan is a keyboardist, composer, and producer. He is one of the leaders and founding members of the acclaimed group Krakatau where he serves as a keyboardist. He is a respected musician in Indonesia as well as a peace activist. Presently, he serves as chairman of the AMI (Indonesian Music Awards). Pra Budi Dharma spent two semesters in Berklee and graduated from the University of Washington where he played professionally with local jazz and fusion bands in Seattle as well as with the Deborah Brown Quartet. He is one of the leaders and founding members of the acclaimed group Krakatau where he plays the (salendro tuned) fretless bass. He is active in music education, has a number of music publications, and serves as a consultant for a number of music organisations. R.I. and M.A.S.: How do you perceive the idea of Nusantara music? P.B.D.: Actually in Indonesia we don’t have the Nusantara music concept. But we have many music genres in Indonesia. Each island has their own music and their own traditions, and it’s popular in their own areas, not all over Indonesia, but it’s considered popular. Like with Krakatau we tried to make a music that was based on our own scales like pelog, notation, and frequencies. But to become popular, you have to be accepted and it takes time. Even though we have a pop diva singer like Trie Utami, but probably not the music. Te music is more like fusion, we mix it with jazz, rock, and some western music combined with traditional. Te most popular music is dangdut, right? But we cannot consider that as Indonesian music because it’s infuenced largely from Indian music. Most of the elements are coming from India popularised through flms. D.D.: We explored music from Sabang until Rote. I can say that Indonesia is an endless inspiration. I’m amazed, and even told Pra, until we are old, the musical exploration can never end. Because of the quantity and richness of Nusantara music. Tat is why I agree with Pra that it is very hard to say what Nusantara music is. In a place like Flores there are many music traditions. But there are also musical backgrounds infuenced from Hindu, Arabs, Islam, China, and others. From the point of view of the instrumentation, there are also many similarities with instruments in Persia, China, and the Middle east. Te instruments spread in many places so there was much assimilation that took place here. Tat is why it is hard to point out which one is the Nusantara music. R.I. and M.A.S.: How did Krakatau develop musically within Indonesian popular music? D.D.: Krakatau has gone through a transformation since it was founded in 1984. In the music industry world of Indonesia, there were changes that marked the journey of Krakatau’s music.

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Te frst time was before recording an album, Krakatau focused on original instrumental music infuenced by jazz rock. Ten, accompanied with entering the recording world in 1986, their members changed. Tere was a change with the drummer, and we had Pra Budi Dharma on the bass, me on the keyboard (Dwiki Dharmawan), the guitarist Donny Suhendra stayed, the drummer Budhy Haryono was replaced with Gilang Ramadhan, and another keyboardist joined Indra Lesmana, so we had two keyboardists, and also a vocalist joined us, Trie Utami. At that point, our music was more towards popular [styles]. We recorded a couple of albums and became popular. We had many hits with the six-member Krakatau formation. At the beginning we were four, and we had vocal and instrumental additions. So we became a band with a vocalist that sometimes played instrumental songs. Like Pra mentioned, the music was fusion. Afer the recording, some said we were pop, jazz, and others. Until the year 1990 we released a number of albums and singles. Indra Lesmana, Gilang Ramadhan, and Donny lef the group so Budhy Haryono rejoined us and we made another album, “Let Tere be Life”, and Trie Utami was still with us. Afer that, [as] Pra can elaborate, we had a transformation and we changed. Tere was an awareness of the Nusantara where we explored. Myself, Pra, Budhy Haryono, and Trie Utami stayed, but we added fve traditional musicians. Yoyon Dharsono, a rebab [bowed lute], terompet [double-reed aerophone], suling [bamboo fute], and player of other traditional Sundanese instruments, Ade Rudiana, [who] played Sundanese kendang [set of double-headed drums], and three other gamelan players. P.B.D.: Te music was planned, we designed the scale and we came up with the decatonic system, a scale of ten tones. Within this scale we had a slendro scale which becomes the foundation of our scale. Tis decatonic system actually existed in the past but it disappeared. So we tried to revive this tradition to the front and created fusion with other music like jazz, rock, R&B, and others. But the issue is with the feel of the music, that’s the main challenge. So during the frst formation we tried diferent players. Before Ade Rudiana we tried diferent kendang players, but Ade Rudiana was the best ft. And also with Yoyon Dharsono, he adapted the style of playing and the instrument with our new system. So everything was planned. Ten, we had our frst gig at the Jakarta Jazz Festival. Actually we had an ofer to play there in 1994, but at that time we were trying to fgure out what would be a suitable music to play at that festival. Because we cannot play pop music, because this is a jazz festival. Tat is why we took the courage to play this form of experimental music, Sundanese music basically. And in the end, the reception was very good, it was a breakthrough. We then received ofers to play all over the world. D.D.: From that point, it developed. We had four albums afer that. “Mystical Mist” was released in 1994, and is a very meaningful album for us. Because with that album we found the music that was most suitable for us. Tat was the product of three years of searching, at the beginning Pra worked with Pak Yoyon. I was surprised, because I studied classical piano when I was young, studied gamelan, anklung, and others. And when I was young, when I was twenty years old, I was attracted to the music so we became serious at a never-ending exploration. It didn’t stop at Sundanese music that we explored. But we also did research and looked for inspiration from various forms of Nusantara music that we always want to respect and uplif within our ensemble without lowering the tradition. Both on stage and on recordings. Personally, I used a technique of a microtuning system by controlling my synthesiser. Tis microtonal music is very exciting because we can sustain the original scale from the tradition that is diferent from western music. But myself, together with friends that studied jazz, bebop, swing, and others, at the end we made unique musical idioms that we naturally encountered in the journey, which we did not expect. To the point that ethnomusicology professors studying in the USA invited us

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in 2004 to do a long tour of one month and a half in eight states and two in Canada. From there we went to over forty countries with Krakatau. R.I. and M.A.S.: How do you conceptualise Indonesian popular music? D.D.: Talking about pop music, actually, in Indonesia, it is western-infuenced using the Indonesian language. But musically, pop in Indonesia resembles mainstream Anglo-American pop-rock, with the sound of the guitar, keyboards, and drums. But pop in Indonesia is divided into several subcategories and periods. Popularly nowadays, we have pop nostalgia, it comes again. But sometimes in our industry we also have what is called “upper class pop” or “pop kelas atas”, a bit jazzy, a bit urban, a bit R&B, and smooth jazz. And also rock bands. During the 1990s we had several rock bands such as Dewa, Padi, Potret which people in Indonesia call rock but to me is not really rock; to me it is still pop. P.B.D.: I think that a very heavy infuence was coming from Malaysia actually during the 1980s. We have “Rock Mendayu-dayu” from those bands, right? Like Amy Search, very popular – every pop singer tries to sing like him. Where is he now? I heard that he became an Ustad [laughs]. D.D.: And in Indonesia we have dangdut music, but there is also musik daerah (regional music). Regional music has also peaked in Indonesia. P.B.D.: And Campursari. D.D.: Yes, music with a bit of ethnic elements, but also pop elements and in the regional language like Melayu, Javanese, Sundanese, Ambonese. For these past fve years I have been the chair of AMI, the Indonesian Music Awards. Every year we receive more than 2,000 songs of Indonesian popular music. And it’s interesting, I made a description for classifcations, such as “Musik Berbahasa Daerah” (Music in the Regional Language). Recently, we lost a big composer and singer Didi Kempot. He is one of the biggest Javanese music artists of campursari. And everybody likes his music with Javanese language. Tis is an interesting phenomenon in Indonesia. Tere is music in Indonesian that is popular and there is also music in the regional languages with a large industry as I said. As chairman of AMI, I have access to the data. Musik Pop Jawa (Javanese pop music), Batak music, Manado music, Padang (Minangkabau) music, and Ambon music. So, in Indonesia, regional music is also popularised at the national level. P.B.D.: Yes, especially Javanese. Because the Javanese are everywhere. D.D.: Tis is the same with pop daerah (regional pop). But in the categories of the AMI awards we call it “Musik Berbahasa Daerah” (Music in the Regional Language). So that the participants that could win can be from anywhere. But we also have the category “world music”, because then it can be instrumental, fusion, “cross-over”. So, the AMI awards in Indonesia are almost the same as the Grammy awards; we have forty-nine categories. P.B.D.: Actually this pop daerah has strong world music elements as well because they use the regional music from each place. Like Didi Kempot uses gamelan, and Javanese notation. So it could ft both categories, world music and Musik Daerah.

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D.D.: But there is also something interesting in Indonesia. Te young generation likes jazz music. But the majority, at the end, play fusion and do not complete their studies in jazz. Tere is also another interesting phenomenon in Indonesia that we cannot forget. Like Rhoma Irama. We can say that he modernised the orkes melayu (Malay orchestras) but imported rock like Deep Purple. P.B.D.: He was a rocker at the beginning. But what is also big is folk music singer–songwriters like Iwan Fals. He falls under the folk music genre along with several other musicians. D.D.: But a lot of Malaysian singers like Siti Nurhaliza and Sheila Majid have a lot of fans in Indonesia. And many Indonesian bands are very popular in Malaysia as well. Regarding the Philippine musicians, they are great at doing covers, playing in cafes, hotels, and cruises all over the world. D.D.: One thing that is interesting in Indonesia is that there are a lot of jazz festivals. Before this coronavirus pandemic, almost every week there was a big festival all over Indonesia. Each region has its own festival, Makassar, Batam, Medan, everywhere. Te funny thing is that they all call themselves a jazz festival. Becomes a form of branding, even a trend among the young people. [Conversation continues]

Notes on Contributors

Shazlin Amir Hamzah holds a PhD in Ethnic Studies from UKM. Her thesis titled Nation Branding: Popular Patriotic Songs and the Construction of the Malaysian Brand focused on the top-down mobilisation of national music in the construction of a nation brand or national identity. Her bachelor’s degree was in advertising and she eventually acquired a Master of Communications in Journalism. Shazlin is currently a senior lecturer and research fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.Apart from her interest in the popular music heritage, she also looks into the study of popular songs as an efective and afective tool for the dissemination of sentiments on nationalism. Citra Aryandari was born in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She received her PhD in Performance Arts and Visual Arts Studies from Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia, in 2012. Citra is a lecturer at the Department of Ethnomusicology at the Indonesian Arts Institute of Yogyakarta (ISI). She was a guest lecturer at the Musicology Department in Universteit van Amsterdam. Her research interests include ethnomusicology, popular music, performance studies, cultural studies, urban culture and society, mythology, and visual anthropology. She is author of a number of articles, documentary flms and books. She is also the founder and director of Citra Research Center (CRC). Her works can be accessed through her personal website www.citraaryandari.com. Paul Augustin (Penang born and raised) was formerly a performing musician for over ffeen years prior to venturing into the event management industry in 1993 as a project coordinator for concerts and tours. He was co-principal researcher and co-curator (with James Lochhead) of Te Penang Musical Heritage Project that has produced two exhibitions on the history of popular music in Penang (in 2010 and 2013, respectively) and the book titled Just For Te Love Of It, Penang’s Popular Music 1930s – 1960s (Strategic Information and Research Development Centre, 2015). He is founder and festival director of the Penang Island Jazz Festival (2004–2018). He is now the founding director of the Penang House of Music (2016–Present). Tan Sooi Beng is Professor of Ethnomusicology at the School of the Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang. She is the author of Bangsawan: A Social and Stylistic History of Popular Malay Opera (Oxford University Press, 1993), and co-author of Music of Malaysia: Classical, Folk and Syncretic Traditions (Routledge, 2017); and Longing for the Past, the 78 RPM Era in Southeast Asia (Dust-to-Digital 2013), which won the joint SEM Bruno Nettl Prize, 2014. She also co-authored a multimedia book and box set on the Potehi of Penang (George Town World

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Heritage Incorporated, 2017) and edited the book Eclectic Cultures for All: Te Development of the Peranakan Performing, Visual and Material Arts in Penang (USM, 2019). Krina Cayabyab earned her Bachelor of Music in Choral Conducting and a Masters of Music in Musicology from the University of the Philippines College of Music, where she serves as an assistant professor. As a composer and arranger her works include original compositions and sound design for theatre, and arrangements for choir, string quintet and piano of Nicanor Abelardo’s kundimans (2015).  Krina currently performs with and arranges for the female vocal trio, Baihana, whom she has participated with in both local and international shows and jazz festivals. Her research interests include popular music cultures and jazz history in the Philippines.  Verne de la Peña is the Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Music and is also the Director of the University of Philippines Center for Ethnomusicology. He received his PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Hawaiʹi at Mānoa as a degree fellow of the East–West Center. He has conducted extensive feld work in Northern Philippines and in the southern part of Luzon. He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in composition and occasionally presents new works for various media. In recognition of his academic and artistic achievements, the University of the Philippines conferred him the ofcial rank of UP Artist II for the period 2015–2017. Bernard B. Ellorin is an associate faculty of music in Miramar College and MiraCosta College in San Diego County, California. He received his PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of Hawaiʹi at Mānoa in 2015.  Ellorin’s academic and community work spans over 28 years of educating Filipino American communities and non-Filipino American communities in Los Angeles, San Jose, Michigan, San Diego, California and Honolulu, Hawaiʹi on Philippine music and Filipino diasporic performing arts. From 2012 to 2013, Ellorin was a research fellow with the Fulbright Research and Study Abroad programme. Under the afliate sponsorship of the Sabah Museum and the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, he conducted a comparative study on the contemporary music of the Sama-Bajau in Semporna Distrct, Sabah Malaysia and Batangas City, Philippines. Raja Iskandar Bin Raja Halid is an ethnomusicologist and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Heritage, Faculty of Creative Technology and Heritage, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan where he has been a faculty member since 2009. His research interests lie in the area of Malay performing arts with a focus on court music, post-colonialism, Islam and popular culture. Adil Johan is a Senior Lecturer and research fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. His research analyses aspects of popular music in mass media that intersect with issues of interculturalism, cosmopolitanism, mobility, intimacy, afect and gender. Such research has been published in articles in the Journal of Intercultural Studies and Kajian Malaysia. His PhD thesis awarded by King’s College London was developed into a book on independence era Malay flm music titled Cosmopolitan Intimacies, published by NUS Press in 2018. He also performs and records as a saxophonist for Azmyl Yunor Orkes Padu and Nadir. Connie Lim Keh Nie is a music lecturer in the Faculty of Applied and Creative Arts, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). She graduated with a PhD (Music) from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) with her thesis titled Alternative Modernities in the History of Iban Popular Music from

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1950s to 1970s. Since 2017, she was appointed as a panel member for the Intangible Culture Heritage (Performing Arts) committee under the Department of National Heritage. She is currently serving as Vice President of Friends of Sarawak Museum, a Sarawak-based NGO with a mission to promote Sarawak’s heritage through its museums. Felicidad A. Prudente is a Philippine music specialist living in Manila. She has published articles on various aspects of Philippine culture including epic singing, music instruments, and popular music. A piano and music education graduate from St. Paul College of Manila, Prudente pursued graduate studies at the University of the Philippines and later completed a doctoral degree in musicology at the University of Michigan where she was invited as Visiting Professor in 2004. She served as music professor at the University of the Philippines and consultant at the Philippine Women’s University. Currently, she continues her research as an independent scholar. Michael H.B. Raditya is a researcher, critic and writer who is interested in popular music, the anthropology of art, performance studies, and culture. He works as a journal manager at the Performing Arts and Visual Arts Studies Programme, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta. Michael is the editor-in-chief of LARAS (Studies of Music in Society), an independent music research group and website, which has been publishing online articles on popular music studies since 2014. He is also the founder of www.dangdutstudies.com that distributes research about dangdut and is the author of the book Merangkai Ingatan Mencipta Peristiwa (Outlining Memories, Creating Events) published by Lintang Pustaka Utama and Senrepila in 2018. Mayco A. Santaella is Associate Professor and Head of the Film & Performing Arts department at Sunway University. He studied at the University of Hawaiʹi at Mānoa as an East-West Center fellow researching music and dance traditions of the extended Sulu Zone (East Malaysia, southern Philippines, and eastern Indonesia) and its links to the Nusantara region. He carried out feldwork for his doctoral studies in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia as a Fulbright recipient (2012–2013). His research foci include the study of music and dance within the extended Sulu Zone, choreomusicology, and popular music in maritime Southeast Asia. Shahanum Mohd. Shah is Professor of Music Education at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia and is currently the Director of the Curriculum Afairs Unit of UiTM. She holds a Bachelor of Music (Perf.) (Hons) degree from Adelaide University, Australia, and M.Mus.Ed. and PhD degrees in Music Education from Indiana University, Bloomington. Shahanum’s research interests include the psychology of music, teaching and learning processes of Malay traditional music and assessment. Her varied involvement in the music scene also includes positions in various associations, appointments as external examiner and adjudicating national and international music competitions. Arwin Q. Tan  is associate professor at the Department of Musicology at the University of the Philippines College of Music in Diliman, Quezon City, where he also undertook his doctoral studies. He is the editor of Saysay Himig: A Sourcebook on Philippine Music History, 1880-1941 (University of the Philippines Press, 2018), and he was a consultant and contributor to the second edition of the Cultural Center of the Philippines Encyclopedia of Philippine Art - Music Volume (2018). He is active as conductor of the Novo Concertante Manila and has performed in numerous choral festivals and competitions in Asia and Europe.

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meLê yamomo is Assistant Professor of theatre, performance, and sound studies at the University of Amsterdam. He is the author of Sounding Modernities: Teatre and Music in Manila and the Asia Pacifc, 1869-1946  (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), and laureate of the Veni Innovation Grant (2017–2021) funded  by the Dutch Organization for Scientifc Research (NWO) for his project titled Sonic Entanglements: Listening to Modernities in Southeast Asian Sound Recordings. Azmyl Yusof @ Azmyl Yunor is a bilingual Malaysian singer-songwriter, musician, producer, gig organiser, and academic in the feld of flm & media studies. His observations on the cultural politics of contemporary Malaysia sees him diverge from his artist peers in the Malaysian music scene, especially through his own published work on moral panics and heavy metal youth in 1990s Malaysia and his regular column on performing arts and media in the “Voices” section of the news website Te Malaysian Insight.

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Selected Bibliography • 225 Buenconsejo, Jose S. and Jema Pamintuan. 2017. “Film Music.” In: Te CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (Vol. 7 (Music), 2nd ed.), edited by N. Tiongson. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines, 158–169. Byl, Julia. 2014. Antiphonal Histories: Resonant Pasts in the Toba Batak Musical Present. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press. Capwell, Charles. 1995. “Contemporary Manifestations of Yemeni-derived Song and Dance in Indonesia.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 27: 76–89. Caruncho, Eric. 1996. Punks, Poets, Poseurs: Reportage on Pinoy Rock & Roll. Pasig City, Philippines: Anvil Publishing, Inc. Castro, Anne. 2011. Musical Renderings of the Philippine Nation. New York: Oxford University Press. Cayabyab, Cristina Maria. 2018. Session Musicians and the Golden Age of Philippine Popular Music, 1973–1987. Master’s thesis. Quezon City: University of the Philippines. Chopyak, James D. 1986. “Music in Modern Malaysia: A Survey of the Musics Afecting the Development of Popular Music.” Asian Music 18(1): 111–138. ———. 1987. “Te Role of Music in Mass Media, Public Education and the Formation of a Malaysian National Culture.” Ethnomusicology 31(3): 431–454. Cohen, Matthew Isaac. 2002. “Border Crossings: Bangsawan in the Netherlands Indies in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries.” Indonesia and the Malay World 30: 101–115. ———. 2006. Te Komedie Stamboel: Popular Teatre in Colonial Indonesia, 1891–1903. Leiden: KITLV Press. Contreras, Joseph Voltaire L., Juan Bautista H. Alegre and Arwin Tan. 2017. “Sound Studio Recording.” In: Te CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (Vol. 7 (Music), 2nd ed.), edited by N. Tiongson. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines, 380–387. Darajat, Irfan R. 2017. Irama Orang-Orang Kalah: Analisis Wacana Kritis Politik Dangdut Koplo Menggoyang Kemapanan. Master’s thesis. Yogyakarta: Kajian Budaya dan Media, Sekolah Pascasarjana, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta. Darmenan, M. Inul: Goyang Ngebor Goyang Pemilu 2004. Tangerang: Totalitas, 2003. de Dios, Anjeline. 2015. Western Music By Its Others: Overseas Filipino Musicians and the Geographies of Migrant Creative Labor. Dissertation. National University of Singapore. Donaghey, J. 2015. “‘Shariah don’t like it… ?’ Punk and Religion in Indonesia.” Punk & Post Punk 4(1): 29–52. ———. 2016. Punk and Anarchism: UK, Poland, Indonesia. PhD thesis. Loughborough: Loughborough University. ———. 2017. “Researching ‘Punk Indonesia: Notes Towards a Non-Exploitative Insider Methodology.” Punk & PostPunk 6(2): 291–314. Elequin, T. 1986. “An Appreciation Of Filipino Philosophical Outlook Trough Filipino Popular Lyrics.” In: Philippine World-View, edited by Virgilio G. Enriquez. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 81–99. Enriquez, E.L. 2008. Appropriation of Colonial Broadcasting: A History of Early Radio in the Philippines, 1922–1946. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. Faruk, dan Aprinus Salam. Hanya Inul. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Marwa, 2003. Farram, Steven. 2007. “Wage War against Beatle Music! Censorship and Music in Soekarno’s Indonesia.” RIMA: Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Afairs 41(2): 247. ———. 2014. “Ganyang! Indonesian Popular Songs from the Confrontation Era, 1963–1966.” Bijdragen Tot de Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde 170: 1–24. Fernandez, Doreen G., Apolonio B. Chua andGalileo S. Zafra. 1981. “Philippine Popular Culture: Dimensions and Directions the State of Research in Philippine Popular Culture.” Philippine Studies 29(1), 26–44. ———. 2017. “Bodabil.” In: CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Volume 9-Teater (2nd ed.), edited by N. G. Tiongson. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines, 124–127. Ferrarese, Marco. 2013. Nazi Goreng: Young Malay Fanatic Skinheads. Singapore: Monsoon Books Pte Ltd. ———. 2014. “Kami Semua Headbangers: Heavy Metal as Multiethnic Community Builder in Penang Island, Malaysia.” International Journal of Community Music 7(2): 153–171. ———. 2016a. Banana Punk Rawk Trails: A Euro-Fool’s Metal Punk Journeys in Malaysia, Borneo and Indonesia. Petaling Jaya: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre. ———. 2016b. “Southeast Asian Glamour: Te Strange Case of Rock Kapak in Malaysia.” In: Global Glam and Popular Music: Style and Spectacle from the 1970s to the 2000s, edited by Ian Chapman and Henry Johnson. London: Routledge, 232–244. Ferrer, Riva. 2016. Technology and the Production of Original Pilipino Music (OPM) in Viva Records, 1960s–2015. Undergraduate thesis. Quezon City: University of the Philippines. Ferzacca, Steve. 2020. Sonic City: Making Rock Music and Urban Life in Singapore. Singapore: NUS Press. Fiscella, Anthony T. 2012. “From Muslim Punks to Taqwacore: An Incomplete History of Punk Islam.” Contemporary Islam 6(3): 255–281.

226 • Selected Bibliography Fraser, Jennifer. 2007. Packaging Ethnicity: State Institutions, Cultural Entrepreneurs, and the Professionalization of Minangkabau Music in Indonesia. PhD dissertation. Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois. Frederick, William H. 1982. “Rhoma Irama and the Dangdut Style: Aspects of Contemporary Indonesian Popular Culture.” Indonesia 34: 102–130. Gabrillo, James. 2018. Te New Manila Sound: Music and Mass Culture, 1990s and Beyond. Dissertation. Peterhouse: University of Cambridge. Gaisberg, Fred. 1942. Te Music Goes Round. New York. MacMillan Company. Ganap, Victor. “Tugu Keroncong Music: Hybrid Genre Of Portuguese Sojourn.” Seni: Jurnal Pengetahuan dan Penciptaan Seni [ISI Yogyakarta] 7, no. 3 (Januari 2000): 213–28. ———. “Musik Keroncong Tugu: Sebuah Sintesis Budaya Hibrida.” Selonding: Jurnal Etnomusikologi Indonesia [Masyarakat Etnomusikologi Indonesia, ISI Yogyakarta] 1, no. 1 (September 2001): 80–102. Gorlinski, Virginia. 2001. “Brunei.” In: Te New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Vol. 4), edited by John Tyrell and Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan, 503–505 Hajizar. “Aransemen Musik Pop Minang Perlu Nuansa Musik Tradisional Minangkabau.” Jurnal Palanta Seni Budaya [STSI Padangpanjang] 4, no. 8 (Desember 2000): 18–28. Hardjo, Seno M., Hilman, and Denny, M.R. Sepuluh Tokoh Showbiz Musik Indonesia. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1991. Harmunah. Musik Keroncong: Sejarah, Gaya Dan Perkembangan. Edisi kedua, dengan revisi. Yogyakarta: Pusat Musik Liturgi, 1994. Harnish, David and Anne K. Rasmussen, Eds. 2011. Divine Inspirations: Music and Islam in Indonesia. New York: Oxford University Press. Harnish, David and Jeremy Wallach. 2013. “‘Dance to Your Roots’: Genre Fusions in the Music of Indonesia’s Krakatau.” Asian Music 44(2): 115–134. Hatch, Martin. 1989. “Popular Music in Indonesia.” In: World Music, Politics and Social Change: Papers from the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, edited by Simon Frith. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 49–68. Heins, Ernst. 1975a. “Kroncong and Tanjidor: Two Case Studies of Urban Folk Music in Jakarta.” Asian Music 7(1): 20–32. ———. 1975b. “Kroncong and Tanjidor: Two Cases of Urban Folk Music in Jakarta.” Asian Music 7(1): 20–32. Heryanto, Ariel. 2008. “Pop Culture and Competing Identities.” In: Popular Culture in Indonesia, edited by Ariel Heryanto. London: Routledge, 1–36. ———. 2014. Identity and Pleasure: Te Politics of Indonesian Screen Culture. Singapore: NUS Press. Hicken, Andy. 2007. Slankers Tongkonan Blues: Toraja (South Sulawesi, Indonesia) Songs in a Disjunctive Mediascape. PhD dissertation. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison. Hill, David and Krishna Sen. 1997. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Radicals.” Inside Indonesia 52(October–December): 23. ———. 2000. Media, Culture and Politics Indonesia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Ibrahim, Zawawi. 1995. Popular Culture at the Crossroads: Malay Contemporary Music. Kuala Lumpur: Universiti of Malaya Press. ———. 2016. “Disciplining Rock and Identity Contestations: Hybridization, Islam and New Musical Genres in Contemporary Malaysian Popular Music.” Situations 9(1): 21–47. Ira, Luningning B. 1978. “Two Tickets to the Vod-a-vil.” In: Filipino Heritage: Te Making of a Nation (Vol. IX), edited By Alfredo R. Roces et al. Manila: Lahing Pilipino Publishing, 2507–2510. Irving, David R.M. 2010. Colonial Counterpoint: Music in Early Modern Manila. New York: Oxford University Press. ———. 2014. “Hybridity and Harmony: Nineteenth-Century British Discourse on Syncretism and Intercultural Compatibility in Malay Music.” Indonesia and the Malay World 42(123): 197–221. Jannah, Raudhatul. 2020. Sakdiah: Negosiasi Gender dalam Musik Pop Gayo. Master’s Tesis. Universitas Gadjah Mada. Japitana, Norma. 1977. “Te Acceptance of the Filipino ‘POP’ Music.” In: Sandiwa: National Music Festival. Manila, PH: Folk Arts Teatre. Joaquin, Nick. 1978. “Pop Culture: Te American Years.” In: Filipino Heritage: Te Making of a Nation (Vol. IX), edited by Alfredo R. Roces et al. Manila: Lahing Pilipino Publishing, 2732–2744. Johan, Adil. 2018. Cosmopolitan Intimacies: Malay Film Music from the Independence Era. Singapore: NUS Press. Johan, Adil and Shazlin A. Hamzah. 2019. “Malaysian Popular Music and Social Cohesion: A Focus Group Study Conducted in Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Klang Valley.” Kajian Malaysia 37(2): 173–195. Juliastuti, N. 2019. Commons People: Managing Music and Culture in Contemporary Yogyakarta. Doctoral dissertation, University of Leiden. Jurriens, Edwin. 1999. “Postcolonialism and the Space-clearing Gestures of Sundanese Pop Songs.” Review of Indonesian and Malay Afairs 33(2): 87–114.

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230 • Selected Bibliography Suhardi, Kathur. Inul Lebih Dari Segelas Arak: Cermin Masyarakat Jahiliyah. Jakarta: Darul Falah, 2003. Supanggah, Rahayu. 2003. “Campur Sari: A Refection.” Asian Music 34(2): 1–20. Suryadi. 2003. “Minangkabau Commercial Cassettes and the Cultural Impact of the Recording Industry in West Sumatra.” Asian Music 34(2, Spring/Summer): 51–89. Sushartami, Wiwik. 2012. Representation and Beyond: Female Victims in Post Suharto Media. Doctoral dissertation. Leiden: Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands. Sutton, Anderson R. 2003. “Local, Global, or National? Popular Music on Indonesian Television.” In: Planet TV: A World Television Reader, edited by S. Kumar and L. Parks. New York, NY: New York University Press, 320–340. Sykes, Jim. 2015a. “Sound Studies, Religion and Urban Space: Tamil Music and the Ethical Life in Singapore.” Ethnomusicology Forum 24(3): 380–413. ———. 2015b. “Towards a Malayan Indian Sonic Geography: Sound and Social Relations in Colonial Singapore.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 46(3): 483–513. Sylado, Remy. 1991. “Musik Pop Indonesia: Suatu Kebebalan Sang Mengapa.” In: Seni Dalam Msyarakat Indonesia, edited by Sedyawati, Edi and dan Sapardi Djoko Damono. Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 144–159. Tan, Arwin Q. 2017. “Philippine Music during the Fifh Republic.” In: Te CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (Vol. 7 (Music), 2nd ed.), edited by N. Tiongson. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines, 100–127. ———. 2018a. Saysay Himig: A Sourcebook on Philippine Music History, 1880–1941. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. ———. 2018b. Music, Labor, and Capitalism in Manila’s Transforming Colonial Society in the Late Nineteenth Century. Doctoral dissertation. University of the Philippines. Tan, Joanna. 2010. “Popular Music in the 1960s.” In Singapore Infopedia. Singapore: National Library of Singapore. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1658_2010-04-15.html (Retrieved 16 December 2020). Tan, Sooi Beng. 1989a. “From Popular to “Traditional” Teatre: Te Dynamics of Change in Bangsawan of Malaysia.” Ethnomusicology 33(2): 229–274. ———. 1995. “Popular Music in Multi-Ethnic Malaysia: Diversity Despite Control.” In: Intercultural Music (Vol. 1), edited by Cynthia Kimberlin and Akin Euba. Bayreuth: Bayreuth African Studies 29, 143–163. ———. 1996/7. “Te 78 RPM Record Industry in Malaya Prior to World War II.” Asian Music 28(1): 1–41. ———. 2002. “Negotiating Identities: Reconstructing the “Local” in Malaysia through “World Beat”.” Perfect Beat 5(4): 3–20. ———. 2005. “From Folk to National Popular Music: Recreating Ronggeng in Malaysia.” Journal of Musicological Research 24(3): 287–307. ———. 2006. Dissonant Voices: Contesting Control through Alternative Media in Malaysia. geekrawk.wordpress.com /2006/01/21/dissonant-voices-contesting-control-through-alternative-media-in-malaysia/. ———. 2007. “Singing Islamic Modernity: Recreating Nasyid in Malaysia.” Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia, 8–9. https ://kyotoreview.org/issue-8-9/singing. Timbang, Amalina and Zawawi Ibrahim. 2017. “Malay Metalheads: Situating Metal Music Culture in Brunei.” Situations 10(2): 7–26. Tyson, Adam D. 2011. “Titik Api: Harry Roesli, Music, and Politics in Bandung, Indonesia.” Indonesia 91: 1–34. Villaruz, S. 2006. Treading Trough: 45 Years of Philippine Dance. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. Villasquez, Gloria Rosario. 2020. Globalizing and Commodifying Music in the 20th century: Te 78-rpm recordings in the Philippines, 1900–1950s. Doctoral dissertation. Philippine Women’s University, Manila, Philippines. Wallach, Jeremy. 2008. Modern Noise, Fluid Genres: Popular Music in Indonesia, 1997–2001. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. ———. 2011. “Unleashed in the East: Metal Music, Masculinity, and ‘Malayness’ in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.” In: Metal Rules the Globe: Heavy Metal Music Around the World, edited by J. Wallach, H.M. Berger, and P.D. Greene. Durham: Duke University Press, 86–107. Wallach, Jeremy and Esther Clinton. 2013. “History, Modernity, and Music Genre in Indonesia: Popular Music Genres in the Dutch East Indies and Following Independence.” Asian Music 44(2): 3–23 Walsh, Tomas. 2013. Tin Pan Alley and the Philippines: American Songs of War and Love, 1898–1946, a Resource Guide. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc. Watkins, Lee William. 2005. Minstrelsy in the margin: Re-covering the memories and the lives of Filipino musicians in Hong Kong. Dissertation. University of Hong Kong. Weintraub, Andrew N. 2001. “Instruments of Power: ‘Multi-Laras’ Gamelan in New Order Indonesia.” Ethnomusicology 45(2): 197–227. ———. 2006. “Dangdut Soul: Who Are ‘the People’.” Indonesian Popular Music? Asian Journal of Communication 16.4: 411–431.

Selected Bibliography • 231 ———. 2008. “‘Dance Drills, Faith Spills’: Islam, Body Politics, and Popular Music in Post-Suharto Indonesia.” Popular Music 27(3): 367–392. ———. 2010. Dangdut Stories: A Social and Musical History of Indonesia’s Most Popular Music. New York: Oxford University Press. ———. Ed. 2011. Islam and Popular Culture in Indonesia and Malaysia. London: Routledge. Weintraub, Andrew N. and Bart Barendregt, eds. 2017. Vamping the Stage: Female Voices of Asian Modernities. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. van Wichelen, Sonja. 2005. “‘My Dance Immoral? Alhamdulillah No!’ Dangdut Music and Gender Politics in Contemporary Indonesia.” In: Resounding International Relations: On Music, Culture, and Politics, edited by M. I. Franklin. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 161–177. Williams, Sean. 1989–1990. “Current Developments in Sundanese Popular Music.” Asian Music 11(1): 105–136. Yamomo, M. (2018). Teatre and Music in Manila and the Asia Pacifc, 1869–1946: Sounding Modernities. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. Yampolsky, Philip. 1987. Lokananta: A Discography of the National Recording Company of Indonesia, 1957–1985. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Center for Southeast Asian Studies. ———. 1989. “Hati Yang Luka: An Indonesian Hit.” Indonesia 47 (April): 1–17. ———. 1991a. Notes for Music of Indonesia 2: Indonesian Popular Music: Kroncong, Dangdut, and Langgam Jawa. Smithsonian/Folkways CDSF 40056. ———. 1991b. Notes for Music of Indonesia 3: Music from the Outskirts of Jakarta: Gambang Kromong. Smithsonian/ Folkways CDSF 40057. ———. 1996. Notes for Music of Indonesia 11: Melayu Music of Sumatra and the Riau Islands. Smithsonian/Folkways CDSF 40427. ———. 2010a. “Indonesia.” Grove Music Online [www.oxfordmusiconline.com, July 9, 2013]. Parts I and III. New York: Oxford University Press. ———. 2010b. “Kroncong Revisited: New Evidence from Old Sources.” Archipel 79: 7–56. ———. 2010c. “Te Record Industry in Indonesia/Malaysia/Singapore; Te Mechanics of an Estimate of Quantity, Part 1: 1903–1920.” In: Te Lindström Project, Volume 3, edited by Pekka Gronow and Christane Hofer. Vienna: Gesellschaf für Historiche Tonträger, 181–193. ———. 2010d. “Te Record Industry in Indonesia/Malaysia/Singapore; Te Mechanics of an Estimate of Quantity, Part 2: 1920–1942.” In: Te Lindström Project, Volume 3, edited by Pekka Gronow and Christane Hofer. Vienna: Gesellschaf für Historiche Tonträger, 194–212. ———. 2013. Music and Media in the Dutch Indies: Gramophone Records and Radio in the Late Colonial Era, 1903– 1942. US: University of Washington Yusof, Azmyl Md. 2010. “Facing the Music: Music Subcultures and ‘Morality’ in Malaysia.” In: Media, Culture and Society in Malaysia, edited by Seng Guan Yeoh. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 179–196. Zubir, Rohana. 2012. Zubir Said, the Composer of Majulah Singapura. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing.

Note 1

Selected sources on popular music of the Nusantara region compiled and reviewed by Adil Johan, Felicidad A. Prudente, Krina Cayabyab, Mayco A. Santaella, and Michael H.B. Raditya

Index

8TV 57 “15Malaysia” (song) 134 20th century x, xi, 2, 3, 26, 27, 29, 30, 33, 35, 36, 44, 46, 60, 93, 98, 137, 164, 165, 183 A. Rahman 69 abangan 115 ABBA 38 Abdul Halim Hafz 139 Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir 161 Abdul Rahim Kajai 105 Abdul Taib Mahmud 176 Abdul Wahab 139 Abdullah Badawi 107 ABRSM 59 Abu Bakar Md Yatim 144 Abul A’la Maududi 142 Acehnese 116 Acoustic Jam 126–128, 134 Adam, Myra Esther 176, 183n7 adaptation 3, 17, 32, 67, 94, 95, 160, 192, 200, 208 Ade Rudiana 217 adoption 3 Aegis (band) 40, 98 aesthetic(s) 2, 11, 48, 51, 59, 85, 116, 171 Afro Asia 202 AferImage 40 age of commerce 2 A-Go-Go ’67 (flm) 12 Aguilar, Freddie xiii, 37, 45, 49, 97, 98, 199, 200, 207, 208 Ahmad Baqi 139, 140 Ahmad C.B. 70–73, 158, 161 Ahmad Daud 157 Ahmad Nawab 153, 156, 161 Ahmadi Hassan 141 Aiman Tino 56, 58 “Air Mata Berderai” (song) 199 Aishah 139 Akademi Fantasia 57 Akar Umbi 125 Akil Hayy 139 “Aku Cinta” (song) 56 “Aladom” (song) 68 “Alalay ng Hari” (song) 42

alap 68 Alaric Riam Yuson 42 Albert Sirimal 125 Album na Walang Pamagat (album) 40 Alexis Bistro & Wine Bar 127 Alfonso “Chito” Miranda, Jr. 39 Alfonso Soliano 5, 196, 199 Alice Doria Gamilla 94 Alif 56 Alleycats 20 Te Annexe 126, 131–132 Alpha Records 40, 42 Altimet 56 Alu-alu dance 159 Aman Ballon and Leiman 71 Ambon 218 American: culture, xi, 84–86; insular Government 84, 85; military 38, 39, 41, 93; troops 86 American Idol 57 “American Junk” (song) 37, 214 Amid the Mimic 125 Amir Yussof 125 AMP 44 Amran Ibrahim 144 “Anak” (song) 20, 37, 45, 49, 97, 200, 208n3 Andre Sisters 94 Andrew E. 42, 98 Andy Bernadee 58 Andy Peterson 204 “Ang Bayan Kong Sinilangan” (song) 39, 97 “Ang Buserong Si Mang Gusting” (song) 93 Ang Grupong Pendong 39 “Ang Himig Natin” (song) 38, 46, 47, 96; see also “Himig Natin” “Ang Kawawang Cowboy” (song) 95 angaleleng 185–189, 191, 192 Angel Peña 43 Anggun 196 Anglo-American xi, 3, 5, 7, 25, 66–68, 72, 195, 196, 198–200, 208n4, 218 anglophone x, xi, xii, 2, 29, 32, 33 Anker 165 Anneke Gronloh 195, 207, 208n1 Annisa Bahar 118 Antara Senyum dan Tangis (flm) 70

232

Index • 233 Antares 124, 125; see also Kit Leee anti-colonial xii, 28, 155 anti-West 17 Anugerah Industri Musik 29 Anugerah Juara Lagu 138 Anwar Ibrahim 131, 142 Anygma 42 aongka 186, 187, 191, 192 Apo Hiking Society 37, 96, 98, 214 Arab(ic) 27, 112n2, 137, 139, 141, 145, 147, 211, 212 Arabisation 142 Arif Bahran 58 Arif Akhir 130 Arkarna 169, 170 al-Arqam 142, 144, 147 Art Music 29, 158 artist(s): female 13, 138 Arts Network Asia 127 “Asai Ati Deka Batemu” (song) 178, 181 ASEAN x Aseana Percussion Unit 200 Ashaari Mohammad 142, 144 Asia Pacifc 76 Asiabeat 200 Asiah 69, 70 Asian Film Festival 4–7, 20n4 Asian Spirits (album) 204 Asin 35, 39, 97, 215 Asli 27, 28, 31, 32, 56, 68, 69, 158, 196, 211 “Asmara” (song) 196 Asmidar 58 Asri Ibrahim 144 Astana 174, 183n2 Astro (Ria) 57, 58 ASWARA 160 Atake (album) 40 “Atake” (song) 40 Atang de la Rama 36, 87, 93 Atlanta 201 Australia (n) 86, 147, 196, 201, 221 authentic 46, 58, 106 Awit (awards) 36, 39, 44, 97 “Awit ng Kabataan” (song) 39 “Awitin Mo At Isasayaw ko” (song) 98 awok-awok 143 Az Samad 129 Azhari Ahmad 144, 147 Baba-Nyonya 2 “Baby Cakes” 95 Bad Omen 40 Badjao Roots 41 “Bagbagtulambing” (song) 43 Bagobo 214 Bagong Lumad 39, 98, 213 Baguio City 42 “Bahtera Merdeka” (song) 161

Balada Nusantara 3, 16, 30, 138, 210, 211, 213 Bali 20n5, 65, 77, 79, 80 “Balintawak: Filipino Fox-Trot” (song) 43 Balitaw 36, 93 “Balut” (song) 43, 87, 93 ban 28 “Banal na aso, Santong kabayo” (song) 40 Bandung 79, 147, 157 Bangsa Malaysia 161 Bangsamoro 155 bangsawan xi, 5, 11, 27, 28, 55, 56, 65–70, 105, 137, 157, 161, 174, 175, 183n5 “Bangun Anakku” (song) 70 Banyuhay 39, 97 Barangay 188 Barasuara 200 Baroufski Imperial Circus 86 “Basangbasa sa Ulan” (song) 98 Batak 218 Batam 219 batang tambol 185–187, 191, 192 Batangas City 184, 185, 190, 192 Bau Bau Café 131 “Bayan Ko” 39, 98 “Bayani” (song) 37 BBNU 58; see also “Budak Baru Nak Up” Beatle (s) (mania) 12, 28, 30, 35, 42, 165, 166 bebop 217 Te Bee 134 Bee Gees 38, 98 Beggar’s Moon (album) 40 beguine 69 “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön” (song) 94 “Bei Mir Bistu Shein” (song) 94 Beka 68, 80, 165 Ben Mandelson 202 Ben&Ben 51, 52 Beng Selamat 10 “Bengawan Solo” (song) 196 Benguet 42 Berklee 203, 216 Berlin Phonogram Archive 75, 77, 79, 81 Berlin Sound Archive 75, 78, 79 Bermont, Maricris 49 “Berserah” (song) 56 bhangra 190 Bhinneka Tunggal Ika 2 Bicentennial (Singapore) 112 Bidayuh 159 Big Stage 58 Bilad al-Jawi 3 “Bilog Na Naman ang Buwan” (song) 41 Bintang Kecil 58 Bintang Pantura 117 Bintang Sapoe 165 Bintulu 177, 178 “Bisan Pa” (song) 50

234 • Index BisRock 49, 50 Bitter End 127 “Bituing Walang Ningning” (song) 37, 98 Black Sabbath 40 Blakdyak 41 “Blue Moon” (song) 35 blues 43, 59, 96, 168, 169, 175, 198, 213, 215 Te Blue Diamonds 195–196 Blues Gang 143 Bob Aves 39, 43, 195, 200, 203, 206, 208 Bob Dylan 125 Bob Marley 41 Bobby Enriquez 43 Bobby Gonzales 94, 95 bodabil (Vaudeville), xi, 3, 5, 27, 28, 43, 83–90, 93 Boeroeng Nori 165 Bohol 26, 95 bolero 69 Bollywood 72, 190 Bond Samson 43 “Bongkar” (song) 165 “Boom tarat-tarat” (song) 37 Booty’s Studios 138 boria 157, 161 Borneo 2, 67, 73n5, 77, 173, 183n1 Borromeo, Luis 3, 43, 83, 85 Borromeo Lou 3, 5, 43, 83, 85–88, 196, 199 Te Boyfriends 38, 98 branding: nation xii, 153, 154, 156, 159–161 British Broadcasting Corporation 175 British Malaya 65–67, 70–73 Broadcast Media Council 97 Broadway 215 Broken Scar 130 Brooke 172–175, 182, 183nn1–3 Brownman Revival 41 Brunei 1, 2, 20n5, 58, 139 “Budak Baru Nak Up” 58; see also BBNP Buddhist 161 Budhy Haryono 217 “Buka Pintu” (song) 196 Bukan Sekadar Rupa (television show) 57 Bukit Bintang Cabaret 57 Bukit Tinggi 105, 109, 110 Bullet Dumas 51 “Bunga” (song) 56 Burma 165 “Burong Kaka Tua” (song) 196 “Butse kik” (song) 95 cabaret (s) 56, 71, 88, 93, 157 Cafra, Maria 96 caklempong 59, 137 “California: March” (song) 43 Callalily 40 Calle Echague 86 Cambodia 2, 78, 125

“Camelia 2” (song) 14 Campursari 31, 218 “Can we just stop and talk awhile” (song) 37 Canada 83, 147, 218 Cantonese 71, 158 Canuplin 83, 84, 87 Canuto Francia 83 Carburetor Dung 124 Carefree 16–18, 20 “Cariño Brutal” (song) 40 Carl Lindström Company 80 Carl Stumpf 77, 78, 81n6 Carlos Santana 198, 214 Carl’s Sunrise Jazz Festival 202 Carnatic music 158 Carpena, Maria Evangelista 36 Cat Stevens 138 Catalina “Katy” de la Cruz 43, 87, 93 Cathay-Keris Studio 157 Cavaquinho 26 CD (s) 57, 130, 157, 196, 203 Cebu (-ano) 5, 29, 36, 43, 49, 50, 94, 215 “Cebuana” (song) 50 Celebes (Sulawesi) 3, 31, 73n5, 77, 184 Celerio, Levi 36 Celeste Legaspi 49, 98 censorship xii Central Market 126, 131, 132 centralization (de-) 116 Ceria Pop Star 58 Cesar (Caisar) 114, 116, 118, 121n5, 122n6 Cesar Bañares Jr. 39 Cha Cha 69, 212 Chap Kuching 66, 68, 73n4 Chap Singa 70–73, 73n4 Charleston 84, 88 Charlie Chaplin 83, 87 Charo Unite 97 Chavacano 42 Che Ainon 65 Che Amran Idris 144 Che Asiah 69 “Che’ Mah Dengan Tukang Becha” (song) 71 Che Norlia 65, 68 Che Rohani 142 Chickoy Pura 39 China 67, 73n2, 73n6, 86, 147, 156, 200, 203, 205, 214, 216 Chinese 2, 3, 5, 27, 66–69, 71–73, 76, 95, 103, 104, 108–111, 135, 153, 156–159, 161, 174, 175, 196, 200, 211, 214 Chinese: Filipino 5; migrations 2; opera 76, 158 Christian xii, xiii, 27, 184–187, 189–192 “Christmas in our hearts” (song) 37 Chua Tia Mee 104 church music 26 Cici Paramida 119

Index • 235 Cikini Stone Complex 169 Cinderella 38 Citrawarna 153, 159 classical music 26, 43, 46, 160, 214 Clif Richard 35 Cocojam 41 “Colonel Bogey March” (song) 174 colonial era xi, 1, 26, 67, 155, 160, 164, 165, 170, 172, 173 Columbia 26, 69, 80, 93, 165 combachero 95 Communist Party 20n3, 139 Comparative Musicology 75, 77, 79, 81n6 “Concerto for Jazz Quartet and Orchestra” (song) 43 confrontation 7, 14, 15, 20, 51, 183; see also Konfrontasi conga 69, 212 coño kids 98 Conservatory of Music 88 Constancio de Guzman 36, 98 contrapuntal dialogue 4 Corazon Aquino 44 Cordillera 41 Coritha 97 cosmopolitan (ism) 3, 11, 46, 67, 84, 85, 87, 88, 90, 93, 110, 111, 156, 174 creolization 66 cultural: diversity xi, 2, 59, 66; policy (ies) 28, 110, 157; zeitgeist 3 cultural complex (es) 2, 33 culture: auditory xi, 76, 81, 98 curriculum 55, 58–60 D’Academy Asia 29, 117 D’Riyadh 140 D’Starlights 196 D’Topnotes 196 dabus 157 “Dahil mahal kita” (song) 38 “Dahil sa Yo” (song) 93 Dahong Palay 41 Dajoeng Sampan 165 Dalagang Bukid (flm) 36 dance-song 68 dangdut: daerah 116; jaipong 116; klasik 116; Melayu 116 danza 36 Dara Puspita 13 Darul Arqam 144 Dataran Merdeka 159 Datuk Shake 157 Datun Julud 159 Davao 39, 41, 49 David Knight 134 Da’wah 139, 141, 143, 144, 147, 167 Te Dawn 40

Dawud Wharnsby 147 Dayak 175, 177 Dayang Nurfaizah 56 Dayang Sofa 7, 10 Dean 68 Death Metal 20n5 Deborah Brown Quartet 216 Debussy 195 decentralisation 25, 168, 171 Dee Dee Bridgewater 14 “Deep in my heart” (song) 37 Deep Purple 166, 219 Demetillo, Lester 98 Dero 31 deterritorialisation 25 Dewa 218 Dewi Persik 118 “Di Mata Mu” (song) 56 Diana Toy 87 Diasporic 3, 106, 196, 200, 201 Dicky Zulkarnaen 6, 10 Didi Kempot 218 Dikir Barat 31, 143, 159 Dimita 166 Diomedes Maturan 94 Diplomats of Drum 200, 201, 207 disc jockey 45 dispositif 75, 81 Dito Sa Lupa (album) 39 DIY (culture) 51, 57, 58, 97, 124, 126, 132 DJ Blink 56 DJ Goldfsh 56 Djali-Djali 165 Doel Sumbang 124 Domingo ‘Sunday’ Reantaso 86 Dominic “Papadom” Gamboa 41 dondang sayang: genre: 17, 68; song 68 Dong Abay 40 Dongalo Wreckords 42 Donna Summer 38 Donny Suhendra 217 Doppelganger 131, 134 Doppstarz 41 “Dosa” (song) 20 Dutch East Indies 66, 73, 79, 106 “Duyog” (song) 50 Dwiki Dharmawan xiii, 210, 216, 217 Dyords Javier 42 East Asia 26 Ed Formoso 39 Eddie Katindig 43 Eddie Mesa 28, 94 Eddie Peregrina 213 Edinburg 146 EDM 56 Edwin & Albert 134

236 • Index Edwin Lumanug 43 Edy Sonata 119 Efek Rumah Kaca 165 Egypt 73n2, 139, 141, 165 Electra House 178, 180 electric guitar 30, 31, 33, 39, 59, 69, 166, 212 Elektra 14, 213 Elmo Magalona 42 Elton John 14 Elvy Sukaesih 117 Ely Buendia 39 embodiment xii, 124 “Embon Acheh” (song) 65 Emelia Contessa 5, 10 EMI 8–10, 12, 13, 16–18, 20, 144, 166, 196, 208 Emosi (album) 196–198 Empire Entertainment 42 Enchi 41 Enlightenment 79, 148 entrepot 4 epistemology (ies): acoustic 75; sonic xi Te Eraserheads 35, 39, 98 erhu 159 Erich von Hornbostel 77, 79 Ernani Cuenco 36 Ernie Zakri 56 Esplanade 107 Esther Bayang 175 ethno-centric 45 ethno-nationalist (ism) 103, 110 Etnik Kreatif 29, 212 Eurasia 41, 72 Eurocentric 75 Evelyn Hii 126 Exequiel “Lito” Molina 43 exonym 2, 33 Te Fabulous Echos 196 Facebook 41, 57, 120, 138, 170 Fadzil Noor 142 faglong/kudlong 39 Faizal 56 FAMAS 37, 44 Te Fan Club 139 Faridah M. Amin 141 Farihin Abdul Fatah 143, 144, 147 Fathulistiwa Soundscapes 130 Fatwa 117, 167 Federation of Malaya 6, 105, 106, 155, 156 Federation of Malaysia 20n3, 104, 105, 172, 175–182 Feedback (event) 134 Fenomena (album) 15, 16, 19 Fenomena (flm) 16 Ferdinand Marcos 38, 45, 47 Ferdinand Pascual Aguilar 37 Fick, Kurt 50

Filipino: identity xi, 35, 36, 39, 44, 48; lowland Christian, xii, 184, 185, 187, 189, 190; musician (s), 3, 5, 28, 35, 44, 85, 88, 174 FILSCAP 44 Finnish 200 First State Cabinet 176 fiptop 42 Florante 97 Flores 216 Florida 201 Folk Arts Teatre 48 “Forevermore” (song) 98 foxtrot 27, 43, 68–71, 88, 89 France 147, 154, 205 Francis Light Primary School 157 Francis M. 42, 98 Francis M. (Gloc 9) 42 Francis Magalona 42 Francisco Santiago 43, 88 Francissca Peters 16 Fred Gaisberg 68 Fred Panopio 95 French 73n2, 81n1, 158 Gabbang (gabbang) 31, 185–189, 191 “Gadis Idamanku” (song) 199 Gali Lobang Tutup Lobang (album, song) 167 gambus (orkes) 139, 147, 203, 204, 208 gamelan 31, 59, 76, 79, 80, 159, 165, 195, 211, 217, 218 Ganyang 7 Gary Granada 37, 51 Gary Valenciano 98 Gegar Vaganza 58 Gelora Bung Karno 169 “Gendang Bandong” (song) 65 General Elections (commission) 109–112, 170, 190 Generation: Y 56; Z 56 geopolitical 1, 103, 104, 111 George Canseco 36 George Imbecile and the Idiots 40 Georgia 201 “Germinales” (song) 43 ghazal 17, 29, 31, 56, 70 Gilang Ramadhan 21 globalisation 25, 56, 60, 61, 66, 78, 154, 166 God Bless 166 Golkar 167, 171n1 Gombloh 124 Goyang Cesar 116, 118, 122n6 Goyang Inul (album) 117; see also Inul Daratista “Goyang Inul” (videocassette) 115, 117; see also Inul Daratista Grace Nono 35, 39, 51, 195, 200, 203, 206, 208 Gracenote 40 Grammy awards 218 Te Gramophone Co. 68

Index • 237 Gramophone (Company) xi, 65, 66, 68, 72, 73n4, 80, 165, 174 Greyhound 41 Guildhall School of Music 59 Guruh Soekarno Putra 117 Gus Dur 117 Hadhramaut 139 Hagibis 38, 98 “Hahabol-habol” (song) 94 “Ha-Ha-Ha Hasula” (song) 50 Hainan 156 Haji Ahmad Baqi 139 Haji Jalidar Abdul Rahim 140 Haji Md Karim 141 Hajji Alejandro 48 Halik (album) 98 “Halik ni Hudas” (song) 40 Halim Yazid 143 Halimah Yacob 111, 112 Hamzan 143 Hamzan Hj Hassan 142 Hanawa, Chie 207 “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo” (song) 37, 98 Hang Mokhtar 71 Haqiem Rusli 56 harmonium 68, 70, 191 Hassan al-Banna 141 “Hataw Na” (song) 98 HawaiʹI 43 Hawaiian: guitar 68; songs 28 “Hawak Kamay” (song) 37 heavy metal 14, 17, 19, 20n5, 30, 38, 40, 59 Heber Bartolome 39, 97, 98 hegemony (cultural) 66, 103, 116, 121, 170 Hemp Republic 41 “Here in My Home” (song) 134 Hijab 138 Hijjaz 140, 144 hijrah xii, 137–139, 142, 144, 147 “Himala” (song) 40 Himig Handog 37, 44 “Himig Natin” (song) 38, 46, 47, 96; see also “Ang Himig Natin” Hindi 95, 158 Hindu 161 Hindustani 69–72, 139, 160, 212 Hishamuddin Rais 131 Hispanic (theatre) 17, 27, 49, 87 historiography 76, 137, 172 HMV 65, 66, 68–73, 73n4, 105, 106 Ho Ah Loke 69 Hollywood 93–95 Hong Kong 43, 157, 196, 200, 204 Honolulu 43 Hotdog 38, 45, 96 House of Representatives 117

“Huling Gabi” (song) 40 “Huling Sayaw” (song) 41 “Humanap Ka Ng Panget” (song) 42, 98 hybrid (isation) xii, 2, 3, 5, 17, 25, 36, 44, 63, 65–67, 72, 101, 171, 189, 210 Iban xii, xiii, 151, 172–179, 181–183 Iban pop songs 172, 177 Iban Radio 172, 175 Ibrahim 143 Ibrahim Yunus 142 Idayu 160 identity xii; hybrid, xii Idola Kecil 58 “Iduyan mo” (song) 37 igal 186 Igorot rap 42 Iis Dahlia 141 IKARDI 117 “Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng buhay ko” (song) 38, 96 Ikke Nurjanah 117, 119 “Ikot Ng Mundo” (song) 40 Ilagan, Marceliano 36 Ilocos 49 Iloilo 43 Ilokano 29 Imee Marcos 47 Imelda Veronika 120 imperialism: cultural xi, 12, 65, 66, 72, 148 inang 27, 28, 31, 32, 68, 211 Inang Laya 97, 98 “Inday Bayle Ta” (song) 94 indie 51, 52, 123, 124, 127, 128, 130, 134, 168, 169 indigenous x, xi, xii, xiii, 2, 5, 23, 25, 26, 30–33, 39, 43, 66, 78, 80, 92, 101, 104, 106, 108, 110, 116, 151, 160, 172, 173, 185, 195, 200, 201, 203, 208, 208n4, 213–215 Indochina 2 “Indonesia Raya” (national anthem) 165, 170 Indonesian Music Awards 216, 218 Indosiar 117, 120 Indra Lesmana 217 industry xi, xii, 10–12, 17, 20n4, 25–33, 36, 38, 44, 48, 50–52, 55–58, 60, 61, 69, 73n2, 76, 80, 84, 90, 93, 95, 97–98, 101, 106, 114–121, 123–125, 131, 138, 147, 151, 154, 159, 164–166, 168–171, 172, 188–191, 195, 204, 207, 215–216, 218; entertainment 11, 33, 57, 84, 90, 98, 106, 117, 138; flm 10–12, 28, 31, 69, 93; recording xi, xii, 10, 12, 17, 29, 31, 36, 38, 44, 48, 50, 52, 55–58, 60–61, 73nn2–4, 76, 80, 84, 95, 97, 98, 114–116, 118, 120–125, 140, 142, 143, 147, 151, 164–166, 168–172, 188–189, 191, 195, 204, 207, 215–216; tourism 154, 159 infrastructures xi, 17, 20, 89, 98; see also scenic infrastructures

238 • Index Instagram 57, 120 instrument (s) x, 4, 5, 14, 26, 27, 29–33, 36, 39–41, 44, 47, 51, 55, 59, 60, 65, 67–69, 71, 72, 76, 80, 119, 139. 141, 144, 147, 153, 157–160, 166, 184–187, 190, 191, 195, 198, 200–204, 211–217 insular: Southeast Asia 2 interaction x, xii, 1, 3, 55, 66, 85, 89, 93, 101, 120, 123, 127, 184, 200, 213 Internal Security Act 131, 144 International College of Music 60, 127 Internet 44, 51, 56–58, 60, 98 inter-regional 2, 137, 151 Inul Daratista 114–118, 120 Ipoh 196, 198 Irama Lenso 165 Irama Malaysia 29, 31, 32, 128, 211, 212 Irama Padang Pasir 141 Irenne Ghea 120 Isabella (flm) 15, 16 “Isabella” (song) 15, 19 “Isang Mundo, Isang Awit” (song) 97 “Isasayaw Ko” (song) 38, 98 Islam 2, 3, 70, 101, 110, 111, 115, 118, 137–148, 155, 158, 161, 167, 168, 171n1; Nusantara 2–3 Islamic Youth Movement of Malaysia 142 Islamisation 142–143, 147 Ismail Izzani 56, 58 Istora Senayan 166 Italian 158, 200 Itchyworms 40, 92 iTunes 58 Iwan Fals 124, 169, 219 Izzy Mohamed 134 Jaap Kunst 63, 75, 77, 79, 80, 82n15, 82n17 Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia 141 Jacob Jacobs 94 Jae Jin In 204 Jakarta xii, 20, 26, 28, 79, 105, 106, 115–121, 166, 169, 171 Jakarta Jazz Festival 217 Jamaat al-Tabligh 142 Jamal Abdillah 157 Jamaliah Sharif 69 James P. Boyle 160 James Taylor 214 jandhut 119 Jang Jae Hyo 204 Japan 40, 93, 98, 158, 196, 197, 200, 204, 214 Japanese Occupation 93, 98, 176 Jarak Street 114 Jarasum Jazz Festival 203 “Jaslina” (song) 186, 187; see also sangbai Jasmine Low 131 Jasni 69 Jasnie 190, 191 Jason Mraz 170

Java 2, 27, 28, 31, 65–67, 73n5, 77, 79, 80, 114–120, 121n2, 139, 165, 166, 168 Javanese xii, 27, 28, 76, 79, 80, 114, 116, 117, 119, 165, 166, 168, 195, 211, 218 Al-Jawaher 141 Al-Jawahir 140 Jay Contreras 41 Jayson in Town 41 jazz x, 5, 6, 23, 26, 28, 29, 30, 33, 36, 39, 42, 43, 50, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73n6, 88, 93, 97, 98, 137, 175, 195, 196, 198–200, 202–204, 206–208, 210–212, 215–219; age 3, 28, 43, 68, 88; fusion xiii, 211, 214, 216, 217 Jazz Friends 43 Jazz Society of the Philippines 43 JEM Records 45 Jemat, Michael 175, 178–181 Jeremy Monteiro 196 Te Jerks 39 Jerome Kugan 128 Jesper Colleen Mercado 43 Jewel Villafores 50 Jihan Audy 120 Jim Paredes 47, 98 Jimmy Hendrix 214 Jingle (magazine) 45, 48, 50 Jins Shamsuddin (Jin Shamsudin) 5, 10 Joe Chelliah 158 Joe Cruz and the Cruzettes 96 Joe Flizzow 57 Joe Kidd 124–127, 131, 132, 135 Joey Ayala xiii, 29, 31, 39, 51, 98, 200, 210, 213 joget (genre, dance) 27–29, 31, 32, 56, 68, 69, 211, 212 “Joget Sarawak” (song) 178–181, 183 jogho 143 John Cowper 86 John Paul II 37 Johor 31, 78, 103 Jokowi 169, 170 jologs 98 Jombang 116, 119, 121n1 Jordan 141 Jose Estella 43 Jose Mari Chan 37 Jose Nepomuceno 36 Jose Rizal 2 Joseph Amoto Formaran 41 Joseph Estrada 95 Joshua Suin Lawat 175 Juan de la Cruz 38, 46, 96 Juan de la Cruz Band 38, 47, 96 Jude Gitamondoc 50 Julian Mokhtar 125 Julie Ann San Jose 42 Jun Lopito 39 Jungee Marcelo 37 Junior Kilat 41

Index • 239 Kabataang Pinoy 92, 93, 99 “Kabataang Pinoy” (song) 92 Kacukan 66, 67 “Kahit Konting Pagtingin” (song) 36 Kalimantan 3, 20n3 “Kalinga dreadlock Rastaman” (song) 41 Kamarul Anuar Kamalluddin 142 “Kamelia” (song) 14 Kamikaze 41 Kampung Sungai Penchala 144 Kapampangan 39, 49 kaparinyo 69 “Kapayapaan” (song) 41 Kapit 177, 178 Karaoke 33, 35, 190 Karen Nunis Blackstone 134 Karencitta 50 Kasma Booty 69 Kassim Masdor 12 “Katawan” (song) 38 KATHA 39, 44 Katy de la Cruz 43, 87, 93 “Kau Kekasihku” (song) 138 Kau Kunci Cintaku (Dalam Hati Mu) (album) 157 “Kay Ganda Ng Ating Musika” (song) 37, 48, 97 K-Clique 56 Kebebasan (album) 16–18 Kelantan 31, 73n5, 138, 139, 142, 143, 147, 153, 155, 157, 161 Keltscross 40 Kelvin Tan 127 Kenangan Ayah (album) 12–15, 200 Keroncong 3, 26–28, 31, 33, 55, 56, 112n2, 196 “Kesah Tok Bomo” 71 “Kesian” (song) 70 keyboard (instrument) 20n7, 30, 31, 33, 60, 139, 185–188, 217, 218 keyboardist xiii, 185, 186, 188, 189, 216, 217 Khadijah Ibrahim 157–159 Khai Baha 58 “Kham Hom” (song) 77 kingdom x, 2, 78 “Kisapmata” (song) 40 Kit Leee 124, 125; see also Antares KL Sing Song xii, 123, 124, 126–135 Klang Valley 123, 134; see also Kuala Lumpur “Kling Mabok” 71 Koes Bersaudara 12, 28, 166 Koes Plus 155, 165 komedie stamboel 27 komedya 27 Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino 49 kompang 153, 157, 160, 161, 200 Konfrontasi 7, 8, 20nn3–4; see also confrontation “Kopi Soesoe” (song) 165 Korea 58, 200, 204 Kota Kinabalu 185, 190

K-Pop 120 Krakatau xiii, 200, 202, 208n6, 211, 216–218 Kuala Lumpur xii, xiii, 28, 70, 107, 112n4, 123–125, 128–129, 131–132, 134, 138, 142–144, 156–159, 196, 202 Kuala Lumpur Arts Festival 125 Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC) 129, 131 kubing 39, 214 Kuching 174–175, 177–178, 180 Kuching Jazz Festival 202 kugiran 30, 33 kulintangan 31, 191 Kumpulan Kompleks Budaya Negara 140 “Kumukutikutitap” (song) 37 kundiman 26–29, 33, 36, 43, 87, 93 Kuwait 141 L. Krishnan 157 La Academia 57 La Bodega 131 Lady Diane 42 Lagenda (album) 196 “Lagu Malaya” (song) 71 Lagu Melayu xi, 63, 65–68, 70, 72, 212 “Lakambini” (song) 41 “Lalake” (song), 98 Lamberto V. Avellana 11 “Lame” (song) 50 lancers 174 Land Below the Winds 3 Laos 2 Latifah Omar 7, 10 Latif Ibrahim 157 Latin 25, 28, 30–31, 68, 73n2, 95–96, 137 law: anti-pornography 115, 117; Islamic 167; martial 37–39, 44–45, 47, 96, 215; mendicancy 184; state xii, 151, 155 Lea Salonga 196 Leah Navarro 97 Led Zeppelin 40, 166 Lee Chor Lin 109 Lee Hsien Loong 111 Lee Hung Cheong 125 Lee Jung Sik 205 Lee Kuan Yew 104, 110, 111 Lefhanded 15 leitmotif 11 “Lelaki Teragung” (song), 56 “Lenggang Kangkung” (song) 72 “Lenggang Tungitung” (song), 188; see also sangbai lenggok 211 Let Tere be Life (album), 217 Liga dangdut 117 Light Rail Transit (LRT) 147 “Lihatlah” (song) 69

240 • Index Lilis Suryani 13 Lilliputians 86 “Linggang Mak Inang” (song) 68 lingua franca 2, 67, 72 Lito Camo 37 Liverpool 166 “Liwanag sa Dilim” (song) 40 Liyana Fizi 134 local: actors and actresses 69; aesthetics 26, 32, 48, 68, 116, 118, 121, 195; artists 43, 52, 60, 87, 93, 117, 121, 125, 127–128, 157, 170; communities 2, 3, 26, 41, 49, 65, 111, 117, 139, 147, 156; content 58, 110; genres xii, 25, 28, 36, 40, 43, 66, 87, 93, 112n2, 116, 156–157, 186, 200, 216; hybridity 66, 67; identity 210; industries xii, 1, 38, 44, 73n2, 80, 116, 143, 151, 164–166, 168; instrumentation 201; language(s) 36–37, 95, 116; music xi, xii, 17, 24, 33, 36–38, 44, 50, 55, 58, 66, 72, 98, 121, 165, 170, 202; musicians 35, 39, 42–44, 57, 80, 96, 116; populations 4, 35, 71, 89, 117, 155, 174, 191; practices 3, 30, 31, 85, 139; scenes 47; traditions 29, 63 Local Brown 35, 39 localisation 25, 86, 186 Lokananta 166 Loke Wan To 69 Lolita Carbon 39 “Loloh” (song), 186–188; see also sangbai London 76, 126, 195–196 Long Play (LP) 45, 166, 197–198 Lostgens 126 “Lupa” (song) 97 Lupa Daratan (flm) 69 Luzon 3, 41, 184–189, 191–192, 215 lyricist 13, 20, 125, 138 Lyrophon 165 M. Nasir xiii, 13, 16–17, 20, 20, 29, 31, 125, 200, 210–213 M. Nazario 43 “Maafan” (song) 169 “Maafan Kami” (song) 70 “Mabuti pa sila” (song) 37 “Mafa Hukum” (song) 165 Magalona, Elmo 42 Magalona, Francis 42 Magalona, Pancho 28 “Magellan” (song) 36, 95 “Mag-exercise tayo” (song) 36 “Magkaugnay” (song) 215 “Magtanim ay di Biro” (song) 93 Maguindanao 203 “Mahal kita, walang iba” (song) 37 “Mahal na Mahal Kita” (song) 40 Maharajah Commission 127 Mahathir Mohamad 111, 131, 147, 161 Maher Zain 147

“Mahiwagang Nunal” (song) 42 Majapahit empire 2 “Majulah Singapura” (national anthem) 103, 105, 108 mak yong 138 Makassar 219 Malabari 156 Malay: archipelago xi, 11, 65, 160; artists 12–16, 20, 65–72, 101, 103–112, 115, 156–159, 174; band(s) 8–20, 174; dress 139; flm 9–12, 16; identity xii, 189; instruments 26, 68, 139, 143, 147, 200–201, 203–205, 208; language x, xiii, 2, 20, 20n1, 26, 30, 65–72, 73n1, 78, 103, 135, 160, 196, 200; magic 16; media 60; nationalism xii, 2, 103–112; opera 65, 67, 183n5; orchestra 29, 31, 68, 115–116, 219; peninsula xii, 1, 6, 12, 15, 23, 30, 63, 103, 184, 210; politics 143, 153, 155–156; popular culture 56; popular music 12, 29, 190, 211; radio 27, 175; rock 12–16, 19, 168; songs 13, 17, 20, 27, 30, 65–72, 124, 129, 166, 196, 199, 212; stars 4–8, 20; world 3, 11, 104–105, 137, 139, 160; see also Lagu Melayu Malay Heritage Centre 105 Malaya xii, 6, 26–28, 55, 63, 65–68, 70–72, 73, 137, 177; Federation of 6, 105–106, 155–156 Malaya Raya 67 Malayness 3, 67, 108–109, 112n5 “Malaysia Baru” (song) 176–177 Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board 161 “Malaysia Truly Asia” (song) 153–154, 156–161 Malaysian Idol 57 Malaysian Institute for Islamic Development 147 Malaysian Islamic Development Department 141 Maluku 2 mambo 69 Manado 218 Manan Ngah 16–17, 210 Mandala 2 Mandarin 105, 158 Mangkunegoro 79, 82n15 Manila 4–5, 28–29, 36–38, 40–41, 43–44, 45–46, 48–49, 73, 83, 86, 88–89, 93–94, 96–98, 187–188, 196, 213, 215; as ethnicity 72; sound 38, 45, 96, 98 “Manila” (song) 38 “Manila Boxing Rag” (song) 43 “Manila Carnival Rag” (song) 43 Manila Constabulary Band 196 “Manila Girl” (song) 41 Ma-Phil-Indo 2 maqam 141, 145 marching band 26 Marcos, Ferdinand 28, 38–39, 45, 47, 96–97, 214–215; see also Martial Law Marcos, Imee 47, 97 mardijkers 26, 55 maritime: connections x, 3; -oriented 1; Southeast Asia 1–3, 23, 25–26, 28–30, 32, 101, 184, 192

Index • 241 Markiza 124, 126 martial law 37–39, 44–45, 47, 96, 215 “Martyr Nyebera” (song) 41 “Mas Merah” (song) 68 masri 68–70, 141 mass media xi, xii, 12, 29–30, 35, 44, 55, 57, 61, 66, 115, 135, 156–157, 161, 215 “Mata ng Diyos” (song) 40 “May Crush ako sa ‘yo” (song) 38 Mayon Records 95 MC Lara 42 Mecca 137, 147 Medan 31, 69, 139–140, 219 Mei Chern 127–128, 130 Melaka 3, 26–27 Melanau 159 “Menahan Rindu” (song) 56 “Menua Sarawak” (song) 175–177, 183 Meor 127–128, 130, 134 Merdeka Films 157 Merdeka Stadium 156 Mesio Regalado Orchestra 43 Metro Manila 29, 36–37, 41, 44, 46, 48–49, 97, 213 Metropop 29, 44–45, 47–48, 97 “Mga Kababayan Ko” (song) 42, 98 “Mga praning” (song) 42 Middle East 56, 67–70, 139, 141–142, 147, 204, 216 Midnasty 50 “A Million Tanks to You” (song) 94 militaristic 8 military 13, 20n3, 41, 93, 155; bands 56; music 26; regime 116; rule 38–39 mimicry 63, 66, 87, 90, 173 “Mimpi” (song) 56 Minangkabau x, xii, 73n5, 101, 103, 105, 116, 156 Mindanao 3, 39, 41, 49–50, 98, 213–215 MinPop 50 Miri 177–178 Miss Julia 65 Miss Lena 69 Miss Noormadiah 69 Miss Riboet 3 Al-Mizan 140, 141 M.O. Lagista 118–120 M.O. Monata 118–119 M.O. Nirwana 119 M.O. RGS 119 M.O. Sagita 118–119 M.O. Sera 118–119 M.O. Sonata 118–119, 121n1 M.O. Zagita 119 modernity 23, 84, 88–89, 172–182; alternative xii, 23, 32, 87, 118, 173, 177, 182; colonial xi, 70; as idea 85; Islamising 147; language of: 85; marks of 93; musical 174; paradoxes of 172; vernacular xi, 63, 65–67, 72 Mohd. Yatim 71

Moluccas 77 Momo Latif 69 “Monobloc” (song) 39 Moonshine (event) 127, 134 Moros 155 “Mosi Tidak Percaya” (song) 165 Mount Apo 214 MP3 33 “Mr DJ” (song) 98 Mr Gambus – Gambus Goes Jazz (album) 204 “Mr Suave” (song) 39 MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) 19–20 MTV 39, 47, 201 Muda Mudi (flm) 12 multi-cultural 161, 173 multicultural 20n5, 103, 109–111 multiculturalism 59, 76, 170 “Multo sa Paningin” (song) 40 Musabaqah 139 music education xi, 55, 58–61, 174, 216 musik daerah 218; see also pop daerah musik Islami 139 Musika (record label) 41 Muslim xiii, 3, 27, 67, 70, 73n5, 104, 110–111, 115, 137–139, 141–145, 147–148, 167, 185 Mustafa Mat Daud 138 Muzik Melayu 211 Myanmar 2 Mystical Mist (album) 217 myth 45–50; de-mythifying 23, 46–47, 49; mythifcation 45, 48–50; mythifed 23; mythologise; 51–52; mythology 46 “Na Onseng Delight” (song) 42 “Nabasag ang banga” (song) 36 Nabavenas 115 Nada Murni 140–141, 144 Nadra riots 109 Nahdlatul Ulama 2 Nairud sa Wabad 41 Najwa 134 “Naku…Kenkoy” (song) 89 “Nandito ako” (song) 37 Nanning 203 Nanyang 2 “Narito Ako Umiibig” (song) 49 NASAKOM 166, 170 “Nasib Di Bunga” (song) 69 “Nasib Si Miskin” (song) 70 nasyid 101, 137–148 nasyid kontemporari xii, 101, 137, 141–145, 147 Nasyid Orkes Sukma 143 nation branding 151, 153–162 national anthem xii, 103, 105–108, 111, 155–156, 161, 165, 170 National Arts Council 103 National Cultural Policy 28, 157

242 • Index National Economic Policy 28 National Heritage Board 110 National Museum 107, 109–110 nationalism xi, xii, 13, 20, 23, 33, 38, 45–46, 49–50, 71–72, 97–98, 103–108, 110–112, 156, 165–166, 170, 176, 182; ethnonationalism 103, 107–111; masculine 13 nation-of-intent 155, 160–161 nation-state x, xii, 1–3, 6, 13, 17, 32, 106, 108, 110, 151, 154–155, 172–173, 175 “Natutulog kong mundo” (song) 40 Navicula 165 Nawab Khan 156–157 Nazrey Johani 144, 147 “Negaraku” (national anthem) 156, 161 Nella Kharisma 114, 117, 120 Nelson, Leonard 86 Neocolours 98 Netherlands 2, 195–196, 208n1 network: community 123; cross-border 112; distribution 89; exchange 2; inter-regional 2; regional 17; scene 123; social 51, 125; subcultural 123; television 44, 57–58, 154; trading 3 new order 164–166, 168, 170–171, 171n1 New Trio Macan 119 New York 127, 195 New Zealand 86, 139 Niah 177–178 Nicanor Abelardo 88 Nick Davis 134 Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat 143 Nik Jidan 134 No Black Tie 126–127, 134–135 nobat 139 Nonog Pedero 97 Nonong Pedero 49 Nonoy Gallardo 49 Noon at Ngayon (album) 41 Nora Aunor 96 Noraniza Idris 29, 31, 200, 212–213 Normah Kechut 160 Norway 201 Not Tat Balai (event) 126 NU Rock Awards 38–39, 41 Nur Ali 115 Nusantara: artists xiii, 5–7, 9–20, 101, 195–208, 210–219; auditory culture 81; connections x–xi, 6, 9, 14, 16–17, 20, 20nn5–6, 147, 153, 161, 195– 208; as epistemological xi, 3, 75–81; exchanges xi, 2–4, 11, 19, 20n4, 112, 195, 195–208; flm 5–7, 9–11; genres 1–3, 23, 101; history x, 1, 66; as hybrid identity 101; identity xi, xii; as indigenous 2, 106. 195, 200–201, 203–208, 210– 219; Islam 2–3, 147; as Malay world 67; as music industry 151, 165–166; politics 7, 106, 108, 111–112, 182; popular music x–xii, 1, 3–4, 9–20,

23, 25, 63, 65, 195–208, 210–219; as popular praxis 26, 33; region xi, 1–3, 16, 29, 30–33, 49, 57, 63, 65, 75–77, 81, 103, 173; relationships 6, 9, 10, 20, 103–104, 111; rock 12–20, 218; stars 5–7, 9–11; terminology 2; as traditional revival 3; see also Balada Nusantara octavina 27, 203 OctoArts 45 Odeon 80, 165 Ofcial Secrets Act 131 Ogie Alcasid 37 Okay sa-rap (album) 42 Old Order 164, 166, 170 Omadal 188 “Omboh Omboh” (song) 186; see also sangbai One in a Million 57 “One Tousand Million Smiles” (song) 197 Ong Keng Yong 107 OPM xi, 3, 6, 20n2, 23, 29, 35, 37–38, 40, 44–52, 97, 215 Oppie Andaresta 127 oral tradition 29, 215 Orang Laut 106 Orang Ulu 159 Orchid Abdullah 31 Organisasi Sasterawan Nusantara 2 Orkes El-Surayya, 139 orkes gambus 139, 147 Orkes Melayu 29, 31, 68, 212, 219; see also Malay orchestra Orkes Padang Pasir 139, 147 Orkes Sri Kenangan Batu Pahat 31 Orkestra RTM 157 Orpheum 86 Otam 134 “Otso-Otso” (song) 37 Out of Tradition (album) 43 OVA Production 144 P. Ramlee 4, 9, 11, 20n4, 28, 69, 71, 157, 211 “Paalam, Uncle Sam” (song) 41 Padang 218 Padi 218 “Pagdating Mo” (song) 48 Paioeng Paatah 165 Pak Ngah 17, 31, 212 Pak Pandir 128–130 “Pakiring” (song) 186–187; see also sangbai palace 79, 183n2 Palencia, Mia 127, 130 PAMMI 115–117 Pampanga 41 Panahon (album) 39 “Panansang” (song) 186–188; see also sangbai Pancaragam Bandaraya Pulau Pinang 157 Pancaragam Bayangan Bandung 157

Index • 243 Pancasila 166, 170 P&D Records 48 Pang Khee Teik 131 Panggung Bandaraya 125 pantun 26–27, 33, 68, 70, 78 “Pantun” (song) 175; see also Iban Pantura Melayu 114 Paolo Delfno 134 PARI 36, 39, 44 Parian 5 parianon 2 Parlophone 69–70, 165 Parokya ni Edgar 39 Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) 139, 142 pas dequatre 174 Pasar Sekaten 115 paso doble 69 Pasuruan 115, 117 patriotic songs 8, 71, 72, 105, 156, 161; see also popular patriotic songs patrol dangdut 119 Paul Augustin xii, xiii, 195, 201–208 Paul Moss 57 Paul Ponnudorai 124, 196, 199, 207 Pauline Doreen Linang 175 “Payaso” (song) 40 “Pearly shells” (song) 96 Pelarian (album) 14, 19 “Pemuda Melayu” (song) 72 Penang 20n5, 27–28, 141–142, 156–157, 161, 196 Penang House of Music xii; photo courtesy of 199, 204–207 Penang Island Jazz Festival xii, 199, 202–204, 206–208 “Penawar Rindu” (song) 31 pendakwah 140 Pendekar Bujang Lapok (flm) 70 Pendong Aban, Jr. 39 “Pengap” (song) 175; see also Iban Penghiboran Hati (songbook) 65 People’s Action Party (PAP) 103–104, 109 Pepe Smith 38, 46 “Perajurit Tanahair” (song) 8, 161 peranakan 2, 26, 65–66, 106 performance: and afect 33; busking 19, 51; discourses 33; education 58–61; genres xi, 3, 25–33, 184–192; of indigenous culture 184–192; of interculturalism 90; live 36, 80, 84, 107–108, 124–127, 131–135, 166, 174, 198–199; of multiculturalism 110; in music festivals 199–208; of popular music 35, 40–41, 44, 51, 57, 70, 83, 87, 107, 115–118; practice 32; and protest 38–39, 135; recordings 77; of regional culture 119–121; restrictions 142; spaces 1, 3, 51, 125–135; stage 5, 156; theatre 27, 33, 67, 86, 174; traditions 4, 28, 31, 79, 87, 101, 143, 159, 161, 214; video 39, 115, 118–119

periphery xii, 173 “Permata Cinta” (song) 56 Persia 216 PETA 83 Pete Aristorenas Orchestra 43 Pete Teo 124, 126 Peter Brown 124, 126 Peter Lee 204 Philippine Constitution 49 Philippine Violators 40 Philips International Jazz Festival 202 Philpop 44 Philpop Songwriting Competition 49, 51 phonograph 35, 42, 63, 75–78, 81, 165 Picadilly disco 124 Pilita Corrales 94 Pillora Jr., Mike 39 “Pinas Lang” (song) 40 Pinoy: hip hop 23, 36, 42, 63; jazz 23, 36, 42–43; pop 30, 36–37, 44, 46; punk 36, 40; rap 36, 42, 98; reggae 36, 41; rock 36, 38–40, 44–47, 50, 63, 96; ska 23, 36, 41 pipa 159 “Pitong Gatang” (song) 95 PKI (Partai Komunis Indonesia), 20n3 Plaka Pilipino 96 Plastic Surgery 144 PNI 165 poet 2, 36, 40, 44, 50, 127 “Pogi Dehin Goli” (song) 95 political xi–xii, 1, 7, 20n3, 20n5, 35, 40, 42, 45–46, 48–51, 67, 87, 98, 103–109, 110–112, 124, 128, 131–132, 134, 137, 139, 141–143, 147, 151, 153, 155, 160, 164–170, 172–173, 176, 190, 192 politician 2, 169–170, 190–191 polka 27, 174 Polygram records 12–15, 141 pop: Anglo-American xi, 66–68, 196, 199–200, 208nn4–5, 218; composition 6; etnik 29; Melayu 29; modern 3, 29, 66–68, 120, 143, 161, 213; star 20; Visayan 50 pop daerah 29, 31, 116, 218 pop nostalgia 218 pop yeh yeh 12–13, 28, 30, 32–33 popular: cosmopolitanism 87; culture xi, xii, 1–2, 4, 9–10, 23–24, 47, 55–61, 76, 84–89, 98, 123, 143, 156, 161–162, 172, 175, 207; memories 109, 123; patriotic songs 8, 156, 161; popularisation xi, 25, 31–33, 59, 76, 114, 116–117, 119, 151; popularised x, xii, 16, 23, 30–32, 38, 55, 93, 112n2, 114, 116, 118–120, 151, 187–188, 192, 211–212, 216, 218; praxis 25–26, 32–33 Pori Jazz Festival 204 Portuguese 26–27, 55, 72 postcolonial 23, 66, 76, 104, 106, 111, 184, 195, 200 post-independence 1–2, 7, 25, 29–30, 32, 71 post-national x, 25

244 • Index postwar period 3, 6 Potret 218 Pra Budi Dharma xiii, 210, 216–219 Prabowo 169–170 praxis: popular 25–26, 32–33; see also Nusantara and popular pre-colonial 1–2, 104–106, 160 pre-modern xii, 172–173 Printing and Presses Act 131 producer xii, xiii, 12, 16, 28, 37, 39, 44, 47–48, 58, 87, 101, 138, 143, 210, 216 production x, xii, 1, 10, 12, 20, 25–26, 28, 32, 35, 44, 47–48, 50–52, 56–58, 60–61, 72, 79, 84–87, 90, 92, 95, 97, 101, 103, 119, 121, 125, 130, 144, 151, 166, 168, 173, 190; see also industry promdis 98 Prophet Muhammad 137–139, 142, 146–147 proto-Malay 106 Puji-Pujian (album) 144–146 “Puji-Pujian” (song) 145 Pulau Bumbum 188 “Pumapatak na Naman ang Ulan” (song) 37, 96 “Puncak Kasih” (song) 138 punk 30, 36, 38, 40–41, 50, 124–126, 132, 135, 144; hardcore 38, 40–41, 50, 127 Put3ska 41 Putera-Putera Al-Arqam 144 Putra Buana 115 Qasidah 139, 140, 147 Qings & Kueens 127 Queen of Bodabil 87, 93 R. Azmi 69 Rabbani 140, 144 Radio Malaya 6, 154, 156 Radio Sarawak 172, 175–176, 182, 183n7 Rafque Rashid 124–126 ragtime 5, 27 Rahayu Efendy 4, 9 Raihan 143–147 Rainforest World Music Festival 201 Rais Yatim 107 “Rak of Aegis” (musical) 40 ram wong 211 Ramlah Ram 157 Ramlan Mohd Imam 160 Ramli Sarip 14 Ramon “RJ” Jacinto 38 “Ramona” (song) 196 Rampa 71 R&B 92, 147, 217–218 Ranee Margaret 174 “Rap is FrancisM” (song) 42 “Rasa Sayang” (song) 72 Ratna Antika 114, 117, 120 Ratno Timoer 10

Ray Cheong 134 Raymundo “Rayben” Maigue 43 Razorback 40 RCA 93 rebana 26, 68, 139, 143, 201 reformasi 133 Reformation Era 164, 168, 170–171 Regatta Lepa 190–191 Rejan Be’uh 159 “Reklamo ng Reklamo” (song) 39 Remaco 166 Rendra Zawawi 134 “Renong” (song) 175; see also Iban Restituto Umali 36 Revenge of the Fishlips (album) 40 Rey Valera 37 Te Reynettes 196 Reza Salleh 126–127, 130, 134 Rhapsody 130 “Rhinestone Cowboy” (song) 95 Rhoma Irama 31, 115–121, 166–168, 212, 219 Rialto Centre of the Arts 201 Riau 2, 73n5, 116 RiaVillena-Osorio 43 Ricecooker Shop 131 Rico J. Puno 97 Rivermaya 39 Rizal Underground 40 rock: alternative 38, 98, 124; Bisaya (bisrock) 49, 50; folk 38, 39; pop 38, 40, 143, 218; punk (er) 38, 40, 124, 132, 144 Rock & Pop (Trinity) 60 “Rock Baby, Rock” (song) 38 rock kapak 20n5, 30 Rock School (ABRSM) 59 Rohana Zubir 107, 108, 112n4 “Roll Over Beethoven” (song) 94 Te Rollies 166 Rolling Stones 166, 169 Roman Catholicism 3 Romeo Lee 40 rondalla 203 ronggeng 11, 26–27, 31, 33, 68 “Rose Tattoo” (song) 94 Royal Prussian Phonographic Commission 75, 78 Royal Schools of Music 59 RRI 167 RTM (Radio Televisyen Malaysia) 157 Rubiah 69 Rumah Air Panas 126 rumba 27, 28, 65, 68–71 Russia (n) 86, 147, 158 RUU Pornograf (RUUP) 117, 164 Ryan Cayabyab 37, 48, 97 S. Atan 17 “Sa Akong Heart” (song) 50

Index • 245 Sa Bundok ng Apo (rock opera) 214 Sa Isang Sulyap Mo Tita (flm) 28 “Sa Ugoy ng Duyan” (song) 36 “Saan Ka Man Naroroon” (song) 36 Sabah 20n3, 31, 60, 104, 140, 144, 147, 159, 177, 183–188, 190–191 Sabah Department of Tourism 185, 190 “Sabak” (song) 175; see also Iban Saharadja 200 Saiful Bahri 8 “Salam Dua Jari” (song) 169 “Salamat salamat musika” (song) 37 Salamiah Hassan 157 Salamin 41 “Salbabida” (song) 37 Salbakuta 42 “Salidummay” (song) 39, 41 Saloma 10, 20n4, 28, 69 Saluang dangdut 116 Samba 69, 157 SambaSunda 200, 208n7 Sami Yusuf 147 Sampaguita 28, 96 “Sampai Jadi” (song) 57 “Sana kahit minsan” (song) 37 “Sana’y wala nang wakas” (song) 37 Sandra Reemer 196 Sang Bango 165 sangbai xii, 31, 184–192 Sanskrit 2 Santa Ana Cabaret 88 Santa Cruz 86 Santiago Suarez 36 Sarah Suhairi 58 Sarawak Constabulary Band 174 Sarawak Legislative Council 175 Sarawak Music Society 174 Sarawak Rangers Band 174 Sarikei 177–178 Sarimah 6, 10 Sasana Budaya Ganesha 147 “Saudagar Minyak Urat” (song) 71 Saudi Arabia 137, 147 Savoy (Teatre) 86, 93 saxophone 68, 69, 71, 157, 166, 204 Sayyid Qutb 141 scenic infrastructures 17, 20 SCTV Music Awards 120 Search 15, 19, 125, 143, 218 Seattle 216 Sedition Act 131 Selangor 5, 56 “Selasih Bali” (song) 65 “Selimut Putih” (song) 140 Semporna 184, 185, 187–190 senandung 27, 211 Seniman Bujang Lapok (flm) 28

Senorita Linang 174 Seoul 204, 205 Sergeant Hassan (flm) 11; Cebuano (Sebuano) 29, 36, 42, 50, 94, 215 “Seri Mersing” (song) 211 Seriosa 26 Serve in Silence (album) 40 SexBomb Girls 37, 38 Shanon Shah 130, 134 Sharidir & Nizam P. 134 Sharifah Aini 16, 20, 140, 157 Sharif Medan 69 Sharon Cuneta 98 Shaw Brothers 12, 28, 69 “She Loves You” (song) 28 Sheila Majid xiii, 196–199, 207, 219 Shelley Leong 129, 130 Sherry 129 Shigeo Hirayama 204 “Si Amaliyah” (song) 186; see also sangbai “Si Baju Hijau” (song) 13, 14 “Si Baju Loreng” (song) 13 Siakol 40 Siam (ese) 73n5, 76, 77 Sibu 177, 178, 180 Side A 18, 37, 98 “Sierra Madre” (song) 97 “Sigaw” (song) 40 “Silayan” (song) 93 Silent Sanctuary 40 Silos Sr., Leopoldo 36 “Sinabmarine” (song) 42 “Sinaran” (song) 196 Sindikato 52 “Singapore Rumba” (song) 65 Singapore Workers Party 110 singer-songwriter xii, xiii, 14, 20, 51, 123–129, 131, 133–135, 178, 199, 210, 213, 219 sinocentric 2 “Sinta” (song) 40 Siput 69 Siti Nurhaliza 31, 69, 138, 211, 219 Te Skalawags 41 Skyline Records 185–186, 189–192 Slamet Rudi Hartono 114 Slank 169–170 Slapshock 40 Slowjaxx 134 Smithsonian Institute 213 socio-cultural 32, 52, 106, 172–173 Socorro Santiago 36 Sodiq 119, 122n8 Soekarno (Sukarno) 7, 12, 20n3, 28, 164, 165–166 Soimah 119 Solo 80, 166, 196 Somsiri Sangkaew 127

246 • Index Sona One 56 Soneta 31, 166–167 Songwriter’s Round 128 Sony Music 52 “Sorry Seems To Be Te Hardest Word” (song) 14 South Africa 147, 201, 205 South Asia 10, 139, 200–201 South Korea 4–7, 16–19, 58, 145, 146, 179–182, 197–198, 200, 204–205 Southbank Gamelan 195 “Spageti Song” (song) 37 Spain 35, 86, 89, 195 Spanish xiii, 3, 26–27, 36, 84, 86, 88–89, 93, 200, 203, 211 Sponge Cola 40 Spotify 35, 52, 57, 58 Srivijaya 3 Stamford Rafes 104, 112 Starbucks 131 “State university” (song) 40 Steve Tornton 202 Stevie Wonder 198 Sting 170 Straits of Malacca 2, 26–27 Straits Times (New) 107, 158 “Stupid Love” (song) 42 Suai 177, 178 subcultural 123, 124, 134 Sud-anen Tribe 41 Sudirman Arshad 16, 196–197 Suez Canal 76 Sufan Suhaimi 56, 58 Sugar Free 40 Suharto 28, 116, 164 Suki 69 Sultan Idris Education University 60 Sulu Zone xii, 2, 3 Sumatra xii, 11, 31, 66–67, 73n5, 77, 79, 105–106, 116, 137, 141, 156, 203, 211 “Sumayaw, Sumunod” (song) 98 Sumpah Orang Minyak (flm) 69 Sundanese 27, 211, 217–218 Sunway University 60 Surabaya 27, 114, 120, 121n2 Surakarta 115 El-Surayya 139, 140 Surban, Max 36 Swami 165 Sweet Charity 14, 19 swing 37, 69, 217 Switzerland 205 Syafnaz Selamat 57 Syameel 56 Syariah 142 symbiotic relationship 10, 118 syncretic 2, 17, 56, 115, 156 synthesiser 29, 31, 33, 216–217

“Tabatha Twitchit” (song) 95 tabla 32, 68, 70, 153, 157, 159, 200, 201, 212 Tagalog x, xiii, 36, 38, 39, 42, 45, 49, 87, 89, 94, 191, 200 Taglish 36, 38, 42, 96 Tagunggu 187, 190–191 Taiwan 43, 157, 200, 205 “Take Five” (song) 35 “Tala ‘al Badru ‘alaina” (song) 139 Tamil 71, 105, 158 Tan Sei Hon 126, 128 “Tanah Ai Menua Ku” (song) 175 “Tanah Pusaka” (song) 161 “Tandi Tandi” (song) 68 tango 27, 28, 68–71, 88, 157 “Tanjung Kubu” (song) 174 Tapai 138, 139 tapes (cassette) 33, 35 Tasya Rosmala 120 taxi dancers 87, 88 “Tayo’y Mga Pinoy” (song) 97–98 “Tayo’y Pilipino” (song) 39 Teatro Circo Filipino 86 Ted Lo 204 “Tell the World of His Love” (song) 37 Temah 68 Teochew 156 “Terang Bulan” (song) 72 Terengganu 143 “Tergantung Sepi” (song) 56 Terima Kasih (album) 20 Texas 201 Tai (Tailand) 2, 56, 58, 67, 125, 127, 147, 157, 202, 211 “Tank You, America” (song) 41 Tird World Chaos 40 “Tis is not America” (song) 39 Tomas Edison 75 Te Tielman Brothers 196, 208n1 Tijah 68 “Timang” (song, see Iban) 175 Tin Pan Alley 43 Tio Tek Hong 165 Tirso Cruz III 96 Tirso Cruz Orchestra 43 Tjente Manis 165 Tjerai Kasih 165 “T.L. ako sa ‘yo” (song) 38 Tok dalangs 138 Tony Velasquez 89 transculturation xi 85, 90 Translating the Gongs (album) 43, 203 Tribal Fish 40 Trie Utami 216, 217 Trina Belamide 37 Trinidad, Luis 94 Trinity School of Music 59

Index • 247 Trio Macan 118 Te Troggs 40 Tropical Depression 41 Troubadour 123, 127, 131, 134 Troubadours Enterprise xii, 128–130, 133 Troubaganger 123, 131 “Tsinelas” (song) 40 “Tudong Periok” (song) 69 Tugu 26 Tukang karut 143 “Tukso” (song) 40 Tuku Kame 200 “Tuloy Pa Rin” (song) 98 Tun Abdul Razak 28 “Tunggu Sekejap” (song) 11 Tunku Abdul Rahman 20n3, 104, 156 TV3 29, 57, 138 TV9 58 TVRI 167, 171 Twisted Red Cross 40 Twitter 51, 57, 169–170

valse 174 VCD 33, 114, 117, 119 Velarde Jr., Mike 36, 43, 93 Venancio “Vehnee” Saturno 37 Te Ventures 35 Via Vallen 114, 116–117, 120 Vicor 45, 47–48, 98 Victor Talking Machine 36 Vida Bayang 175–176 Vietnam 2, 125, 196 Villegas, Mike 37 Vincent Dafalong 42 Visaya (s, n) 3, 26, 49, 50, 192 “Visayan Moon” (song) 43 VisPop 50; see also pop Visaya Viva Films 98 Viva Records 47 Voices From Next Door (album) 128–130 Von Saw 50 “Voodoo, Who Do?” (song) 40 VST and Company 38

Uchop 58 UCSI University 60 “Ugoy-ugoy Blues” (song) 43 Uji Rashid 157 Ultraelectromagneticpop! (album) 39, 98 Umar al-Khattab 138 Umm Kathum 139 ummah 137 UMNO 108–109, 142–143, 155 “Un Bambino” (song) 200 “Uncle Murtabak” (song) 71 Unclogged 125–128, 134, 135 “Under the Double Eagle” (song) 174 United Kingdom 57, 126, 146, 147, 195 United States 5, 25, 35–37, 40, 43, 44, 66, 147, 153, 168, 196 Universal Music 40, 196–198 Universiti Malaysia Sabah 60 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak 60, 183 Universiti Putra Malaysia 60 Universiti Teknologi MARA 60 University of Malaya 60, 112n4 University of the Philippines 60 University of Washington 216 Urban Bandits 40 Urban Dub 40 Urbanscape 126 ustaz 138, 139, 140–141, 144 Ustaz Akhil Hayy 140 Ustaz Asri 140, 144 Ustazah Hamidah Syukor 141 Utusan Filem & Fesyen 4, 9, 10

“Wag Kang Baboy” (song) 40 Wahab Yusof 144, 147 Wak Kasban 71 “Wala na bang pang-ibig” (song) 37 Wan Zawawi 124–125 Wani Ardy 134 Wany Hasrita 56, 58 Warner Music Group 144 Waryo drummers 114 wax cylinder (s) 77–79 wayang kulit 138, 142, 153, 157 wayang parsi 27, 137, 156 Wea Records 42 West Java 116 Western: bias 25; dance (band) 68, 156; drum kit 168; music 4, 5, 23, 35, 59, 69, 148, 165, 172, 174–175, 203–204, 211, 216–217; stories 27; style 11, 30, 145, 174, 200; technology 67 WetSlipperz 50 Wild Life (album) 39 “Wild Ting” (song) 40 Wilfredo “Willy” Cruz 37 William, Melina 134 William De Cruz 125 Willy Cruz 37, 98 Wings 15 “Wishing you were brown” (song) 39 Wolfgang 40 Woodstock 38 world beat 26, 29, 195, 200, 207, 208n5, 212 world music 25, 29, 39, 75, 79–81, 201–203, 210, 212–213, 215, 218 World Music Expo 202 World War II (WWII) 2, 7, 28, 66–69, 73n3, 93, 104–106, 176

Valeriana Mauricio 86 Valley of the Chrome 41

248 • Index

X’tacy 125

yuppies 98 Yusof Ishak 105, 112n3 Yusof Islam 146 Yusuf Islam 138, 147

“Yam Choi Chow” (song) 71 Yamaha (Music Schools) 33, 59, 186 “Yellow Submarine” (song) 42 Yem 69 Yemen 139, 141 Yeng Constantino 37 Yo! (album) 42 Yogyakarta 79, 115 Yolly Samson 38 “Your song” (song) 40 YouTube 38, 44n1, 52, 57–58, 60, 120, 192 Yoyon Dharsono 217 Yoyoy Villame 36, 51, 95 Yuk Keep Smile 118, 121, 122n6 Yuk Kita Sahur 119, 121n7 Yuna 123, 126, 134, 208n2 Yunnan 2

Zaharah Agus 69 Zahid Ahmad 125 Zain Azman xiii, 196, 199, 207 Zain Bhikha 147 Zainab Majid 70 Zainal Abidin Ahmad 105 Zainal Alam 70 Zamboanga 188–189 zapin 29, 31, 68–69, 137, 139, 159, 211–212 zarzuela (sarsuwelas) 27, 28, 88, 93 Zee Avi 196 Zhujiajiao Water Village World Music Festival 203 Zian Zain 138 Te Zikr 144 Zizan Razak 56 Zodiak 138 Zubir Said xii, 11, 72, 101, 103–112

W.R. Supratman 165 Te Wuds 40