Kenyalang Portraits
By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, Oct 13: Local Chinese rock band, Dream Machine, recently released a new music video titled “Atapah”.
The music video and the lyrics in the song depicts the life of the people who lived in Sungai Apong during the ’70s and ’80s.
At that time, many houses in the area were made from the dried leaves of the Nipah palm or “Atapah” in local Chinese dialect.
The band’s lead singer and composer Sim Kok How, better known as How, told the DayakDaily that the music video is dedicated to the hardworking community who had successfully built a better life for themselves.
“There are also many talented young people (who emerged) from the area and some like me, through music.
“I decided that after 20 years in making music, the time is just right to reflect them through the band’s music video.
“If we don’t get it recorded, their identity and the place where we once grew up will be lost in time,” How revealed.
“We want the current and the future generations to know of our roots and where we came from in Kuching,” he added.
How also explained that the music video that they made has a unique twist as the band had decided to use the native Orang Ulu traditional lute instrument, the sape.
“It has enriched the sounds of our songs and (provided) the unique sound of Sarawak. I believed our music video through sape music further projects our identity.
“This is how we want to make our music different and we hope with the differences we can attract a wider audience locally and abroad.”
How said that over the years, the band’s music and videos have always been about family values, love, peace, harmony and culture.
“We hope it will portray our life, our attitude, our past and our hope in our profession and as Sarawakians.
“That is why this time around, we choose sape sounds and incorporated it into our music.
“In our next music video, we will have clips of interesting places in Kuching and on local cultures and traditions,” he revealed.
How said that apart from making music and a new video, the band’s latest project is focusing on developing young talented musicians between the ages of eight and 11.
“Dream Machine is scouting for them and seeking to introduce these young people and their talents to Peninsular Malaysia and China.
“I have been invited by a television company in China to judge the singing competition in Malaysia. The winner in the finals will be sent to Beijing,” he said.
“We are recording new songs and at the end of September we will be shooting two music videos which will be launched at the end of the year.”
How also revealed that Dream Machine is preparing to market its music in China as the music industry here is slow.
“(Programmes by) television companies in China is a very popular destination (sic) for many Chinese musicians worldwide and this has lured them to focus on the (Chinese) music industry to market their kinds of music.”
He elaborated that previously, many kinds of music and musicians in China came from Taiwan but this has changed as now there are many musicians from around the globe featured on China television channels.
How opined that the Chinese market is looking for new kinds of music that is not found in China.
“Dream Machine is prepared, we will compose songs and music that is related to these demands of what is needed in China to enter the Chinese market.”
How stressed that even though the music industry here is slow, Sarawak still has a lot of talents in the music industry, especially singers, songwriters and composers.
“To succeed further, we have and must look into the current music trends which are acceptable and are never outdated.
“There are plenty of new styles of music being played and experimented with and there is demand for these kinds of music to enter big markets like China.”
How expressed gratitude and optimism that traditional lute instruments like the sape combine with modern music arrangements will be accepted by all ages.
He opined that to succeed in this area, the band’s marketing strategy should be to enter the music market in China and to put Malaysia and Sarawak on the world map through their music.
Dream Machine was established in 2000 by four young musicians who were interested in rock music.
Initially, the band was called Dream but in 2003, it was renamed as Dream Machine.
The new name suited them and better reflected their preferred genre of music which is hard rock.
The band is widely recognise, not only in the local music scene for which they have won many accolades in Sarawak, but also in Malaysia and Taiwan — an appeal which it hopes to expand further.
The band had so far recorded 20 songs and ten music videos.
Their main aim now is to promote their music to the world.
Dream Machine’s present line-up comprises How (vocal, composer, producer); Sky Lim (drummer); Didi (guitarist and recording engineer) and Ah Ping (bass guitar). — DayakDaily
