SINGER Raggy Singh has been around for some time – 48 years to be exact. Having picked up the guitar at the age of 13, the 61-year-old musician spoke at length about the changes to local music and the shifting of generational focus.
In an interview with theSun, Raggy further expanded on what he views as the perplexity of musical tastes.
“So many things have changed. Music used to be a very big part of going out to clubs and pubs. There used to be so many Malaysian bands those days, and they performed their own music. These bands played original songs and albums, and even held concerts a lot of locals used to support,” Raggy said.
The musician noted that the emphasis of the bands, especially those that played in pubs and bars, had shifted towards covering Western songs progressively over time, slowly phasing out original compositions.
“It’s only the youngsters and their indie scene doing a lot of original music. If you go to the clubs and pubs nowadays, you’ll only hear cover songs. I suppose that’s how the music taste is”.
On whether they were stuck in the past, Raggy partially agreed, adding that it was a generation gap.
“If you look at the older population, they are the ones frequenting bars and pubs to listen to live bands. They usually want to hear older songs from their nostalgia days”.
“It’s a strange paradox. The older folks, when they were young, they listened to bands that came up with new kinds of music. But now that they are older, they are not willing to listen to the new music that is played now,” he said.
Raggy explained that when his generation was young, they pushed for progressive music. Now that they are older, his generation insists on older music, without being open to music by younger musicians.
“We rebelled against what our parents listened to. Now, the younger generation is rebelling against what we’re listening to,” Raggy said with a laugh.
An outlier, Raggy is not a subscriber of the belief others in his generation are enamoured with. Writing and performing his own music, Raggy was among those behind the cultivation of the indie scene and festivals in Penang.
Fuelling a passion
Although he is considered a Penang-based musician, Raggy actually resides in Kulim, Kedah but plays in Penang as it is the closest music hub. In Kulim, Raggy works at a day job he requested not to be published, explaining that he does not want the perception of his day job to affect his music.
“The truth of the matter is, if I didn’t go to university, my father would ’ve killed me,” the guitarist joked.
“He wanted me to graduate, because there is no stability in music. But I always wanted to be a musician, so even when I was in university, I played in bands all over the place,” Raggy replied when asked if the only reason he has a day job was to supplement his remuneration from music.
“The day job, whatever it is, provides a little bit of financial stability and that allows the musician to concentrate better on playing the music they want. Otherwise, it’s a case of having all your eggs in one basket. When the music doesn’t pay well, they have to compromise on their music”.
“Let’s say you are into rock music and you are really passionate about it. But if none of the clubs are willing to allow a rock band to play, you might have to play Chinese cha-cha music to survive.
“If music is the only thing you can do, then you end up having to do whatever nonsense the club and audience want you to do. It comes back to why older bands always end up playing cover songs ... because the audience dictates their music. If you have a day job, you have the luxury to push for terms.
Cannot stop playing
Due to the pandemic, live music has taken the biggest, longest running blow. It has not recovered since Malaysia first went into lockdown in March last year.
For Raggy, who was known to travel all over Southeast Asia to play his music, the sudden stoppage was hard to stomach. Raggy decided it was time to adapt. Once the pandemic began, he began to move towards live music streaming, learning everything he had to in order to keep playing and entertaining.
When asked if he sees live music streaming continuing after Covid-19, Raggy said it most likely will, as there are those who prefer sitting at home with a meal or drink while enjoying music streaming as opposed to going to a crowded, noisy bar.
