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Molek FMPop Malaysiana: Soul Searching of the Music Kind
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ASMIDAR
THE TRADITIONAL & THE INDIE
“I get fulfilment from performing both traditional and modern music, and they’re the same kind of fulfilments.” – ASMIDAR
You might recognise Asmidar as the winner of Vokal Bukan Sedar Rupa, and you might have scoffed at her as exactly just that, a contestant of a reality show. But that would be foolhardy; Asmidar is a prodigious talent with credibility not just within the whole singer-songwriter indie circuit, but in more traditional quarters too. She holds a diploma in Music from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and has studied at Akademi Seni Budaya Dan Warisan Kebangsaan (ASWARA). Impressive still, she has done what other indie singers can only aspire to, perform with a full orchestra.
Asmidar and her siblings were brought up in a musical household that encouraged her to do keroncong asli – traditional Malay music. It is not until she’s 18, when she joined UiTM and got away from the family, that she began exploring pop music. This was her first exposure to classical, jazz, and modern music, which was a different experience for her. But true to her talent, she was adaptable.
But then came ASWARA. “It was like a wakeup call to me, I was too complacent with all the new genres I was exposed too,” she says. The institution not only gave her the opportunity to return to her ‘roots’, so to speak, but explore newer territories too in theatre, musical, dance, and experimental. The last being something she had always been fond of. We question her what the definitive musical journey for Asmidar is;
“It’s traditional, then it went to modern, western, experimental, to finally theatrical and experimental. All of which – from the instruments to the styles – still play a part in the way I perform now.”
Being someone who straddles the very big gap between traditional Malay and indie singer-songwriter effortlessly, we just had to wonder; what’s the difference between the two? She sees no discernible in them when performing, “traditional Malay music is part of my being, so is the style of music I’m doing now, I get fulfilment from performing both traditional and modern music, and they’re the same kind of fulfilments.”
Is her career trajectory something to be emulated by other local musicians though? Asmidar doesn’t believe so; “we have the freedom to do art the way we want it.” Yet she posits that if others could localise their sound, it’d be the patriotic thing to do.
“It’s like standing on the stage and communication to the audience that yes, we are Malaysians… to me that’s a positive thing.”
Localising is a very subjective thing though, and Asmidar doesn’t pretend to know the answer. “There are no rules,” she says, “do whatever you want, it’s up to you.”
She doesn’t believe that being able two is necessary either, but it would be an advantage. Typical to her innocently wise ways, Asmidar adds that “we grew up with different backgrounds, naturally our music reflect where we came from, it only makes sense that it doesn’t have to be same for everyone.”
Asmidar is her own thing, uniquely brought up in an environment where she could balance the traditional and the modern. In that light, Asmidar’s music is not just the elusive Malaysian identity we’re looking for, but her own distinctive self. She’s not to be emulated, but discovered.
Asmidar is currently in the process of recording her album. Details are scarce but expect surprising electronic elements in her debut. Like her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/asmidar.10 and keep yourself updated by following her at www.twitter.com/asmidarisme.
