After a full day of panels, podiums, and powerpoint presentations, it was refreshing to cap off day one of Music Matters Asia with a sampling of live performances from seven regional bands.
Compared to the mixed bag and a few stale potato chips throughout the day’s speaking panels, the industry showcase was much more consistent in its quality. The most impressive acts on offer came through the Nokia Independent Artists Club. Launched last year, IAC is Nokia’s version of a voter-driven, Idol-style competition. The programme traffics in downloadable tracks instead of televised performances, with country-specific sites for Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh and Vietnam.
Interestingly, the three acts presented by IAC were head and shoulders above the rest of the pack: Point Blanc, a hip hop trio from Malaysia; Faspitch (pictured), a hardcore foursome from the Philippines; and Thailand’s Slur, a cross between early Strokes and the Cure. You can see some video of these three live performances here. The sound quality’s not great, but the video gives an idea of what the showcase had to offer.
IAC’s artist relations are handled by London music agency Frukt (publishers of the brandsbandsfans newsletter), who work with artist reps in each country to drive artist recruitment to the IAC sites and advise on artist selection for IAC live events, including the MMA showcase. The caliber of musicians performing at MMA gives me hope for one of the elements of our “new” music industry: If a branded programme can filter quality like this, then there is hope for us yet.
Beyond the IAC bands, there was Gem, a 16-year-old pop singer on Hong Kong indie label HummingBird; One Buck Short, another Filipino boy band playing middle of the road indie (albeit very enthusiastically) and Shanghai’s very own the Honeys, who must have an amazing manager – they’ve played at Musexpo, MIDEM and now this. Despite collaborating with Safta Jaffrey (Muse’s former manager) and the Soup Dragons’ (remember them!) producer George Shilling, the Honeys’ output is still disappointingly bland. Paying homage to China through incorporation of the guzheng scores them points for originality, but I can think of a number of bands better suited to represent China to the music industry: Re-TROS, Hush, Joyside, Snapline, Carsick Cars… China has so much to offer beyond saccharine-sweet background music; it’s a shame that the showcase’s China contingent didn’t pack much of a punch this time around.
All in all, a promising sampling of what will be broadcast out of Asia at increasing volume over the next few years. The most impressive rock acts are rooted in Southeast Asia, compared to more pop and ballads in the North, which seems to square with the findings of MTV’s Music Matters survey. If I know one thing for sure after witnessing the showcase, it’s that I will be trying to book Faspitch. Hardcore never sounded so sweet.
— Archie Hamilton, Split Works’ Managing Director
Photo courtest of Frukt