Things We Missed in 2010 - Komplot



Since it's only two days old here in 2011, I guess the only thing we can do for now is to look back at things that happened or took place last year (besides the only thing that we were really looking forward for 2011 is Deftones playing live in KL this coming Valentine's). Thus it's a perfect opportunity for us here at Genuine Mind Zine to pay our last respect to one of the most exciting act to ever grace the Malaysian indie music scene. They were, at their time, at the forefront of change as many underground and indie bands managed to cross over the listenership barrier and became accepted by the mainstream audience, largely thanks to the efforts of Adly Syairi Ramly and the XFM team.

If my memory is correct (can't be bothered to Google on this one), the catalyst, should I say, that sparked the effort of bridging the gap between mainstream and underground was with the release of O@G's first mostly Malay album called Opera Radhi-o-friendly in 2001. O@G, or formerly known simply as OAG, had started out playing in the underground scene playing the sort of catchy pop rock with a very limited fan base and appeal, singing exclusively in English (which many believed was the reason why their appeal was limited to the underground kids only).

The situation here in Malaysia is a unique one because the milestone for acceptability among the larger crowd (read: mainstream) for any aspiring bands or artists is over the preference of language. If you want to appeal to the large crowd, you have to have to sing in Malay. If you prefer to sing in English, straight away you know that you will only be tapping the 'exclusive' niche market where the listeners are mainly teenagers and young adults living in suburban area. Exclusive we said there just now refers to 'small', or 'limited in number', if you don't already know it.

Even tougher it would seem to be if you are in a band where your greatest strength is in your ability to create heartfelt melody or mesmerizing atmosphere through inspirational use of the musical instruments, but your Achilles heel is in the lack of an able singer, something along the lines of Explosions in the Sky for example, then you are consigned to tap into a niche market of an already niche market. Your listenership would be so exclusive that it requires quantum physicists to uncover it (so to say - I'm exaggerating here).

Even today, after a decade has passed since O@G took the leap of faith, the situation has yet to change for the better. Underground and indie bands who wants a slice of the pie (of mainstream listenership) will still have to come up with two or three Malay songs in order to appease the demand. If you want to sing in English, we're not listening - so said the mainstream listener. Some people say such act is like selling one's soul to the Devil, but hey, for all that I care, if it is for the better of the Malaysian music scene, then who are we to criticize. Our music scene is very small and, before O@G did it in 2001, the market was over-saturated with wimpy 'rock' bands playing sappy overly-sentimental songs that covers on only one, single, solitary topic of unrequited love. They were remarkably painful and uninteresting to listen to that every time one song was played on the radio, my soul would commit suicide.

After 2001, we got to see more bands who were plying their trade in the underground and indie scene coming out of the closet and started to sing in Malay. Since then we've had bands like Flop Poppy (with the hit single "Cinta"), Pesawat (another of our favorite bands), Yuna, Couple (the power pop darlings), Bunkface (punk rockers), and Ana Raffali, all gracing the national radio with their Malay songs. But the one that really took the limelight from the rest with their funky styling that sounded like no other was Komplot. We would like to stress on the was part there because, as the headline of this entry would have suggested, they had officially disbanded.

Though their existence was of a really brief one, they had nonetheless managed to leave a lasting mark on the indie music scene here in Malaysia. Zac, after leaving the band, did recorded a song with Yuyun (ex-The Rhaman), a Malay number called "Hey". We're not quite sure what is or are Zac's future plan, but hey, from what we heard in that song, we're loving it just as much. Though we still would love it if Komplot is still together and released an album. It would be totally awesome.