Recall Noise Stage @ Aramai Cafe & Lounge, Labuan, Malaysia
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| NO GOOD - Photo by Awang Sulfallah (Link to all photos at the end of the article) |
Malaysian readers can skip the education lesson in the first two paragraphs.
Labuan is probably the most overlooked and forgotten state in Malaysia. Even Perlis is more remembered, even though it is significantly smaller, it benefits from being in West Malaysia, where for many, the country starts and ends. Labuan, alongside Sabah & Sarawak sit across the sea on the northern side of the island of Borneo, a part of Malaysia that gets forgotten about, and still today there will be people reading this who had no idea. Labuan is unique as it is an island itself, just north of the independent country of Brunei, which is wedged in between Sabah & Sarawak. The island itself shares a similar history to the rest of the Malaysian states, of foreign occupation, interference, and plunder. The British themselves used it to tap into (steal) the coal reserves to fuel its expanding empire, and as an important naval base for its operations in the South China Sea. Since independence, and the formation of Malaysia, Labuan has enjoyed the relative fruits of this federation, and has gone through peaks and troughs on the road to generally positive development, but most importantly a stabilisation and unity of the different cultural groups that live there, which is a central tenet of the nation's founding philosophy.
Politically, the island has always voted for the ruling UMNO (Centre-right pro-Islamic party), likely due to the ethnic make-up of the constituents. However, like voting patterns across in the peninsular, the voters shifted to a more right-wing & nationalist alliance, Perikatan Nasional (PN), in the last General Election, as voters got fed up with the corruption and incompetence of UMNO. This political earthquake not only shook the nation into accepting a coalition unity government of the centre alliance & UMNO, but also has ramifications for Joe Punk in every state up and down the country that has a PN MP, as the political pressure put onto civil service institutions to purify the country from evils associated as an enemy of political Islam has intensified, and this will become evident later in the article.
This event was being organised by the CONFINED SPACE and NO SOLUCION collectives, a bunch of punks and alternative people who are mostly native to this island. They informed me that Labuan has always had, an albeit small, alternative & punk scene, and that in the early 2000s it was at its peak. However, people got older, gained responsibilities, and a lack of youth enthusiasm, led to a decline over the years. Despite this, the old guys are still around, and in a post-Covid world, collectively decided to pool together and attempt to resurrect it. You can tell that these people are serious about their intentions, as the quality of the bands on the bill would likely garner the attendance of several hundred people in West Malaysia. Not only that, the artwork, the social media participation, the stage backdrops, the countless hours spent liaising with the authorities, finding a venue, booking a whole hotel for bands & attendees, as well as finding all of their own professional backline setup, all go to show how dedicated these volunteers are.
You see the police themselves are really not bothered about these kinds of things. They are working class people too, the island is small so everyone kind of knows each other (or at least their families), some of them even like this kind of music, and it is well known that some of the police in Malaysia have even organised DIY hardcore punk shows themselves in more moderate political states. The problem lies in the power of the political institutions here, who often make questionable decisions on the back of a minority of the people. As a result of this dynamic, the police on the island were forced to act against the event. In order to please their masters, the promoters had to come up with elaborative ways to make it seem like something was being done, a paper restriction of the time that bands were allowed to play, and a flyer of fake band names; all of which were not duly followed and were merely there as a token of appeasement. The festival itself attracted more people from outside of Labuan than locals, so the social & economic impact here far outweighs any overly sensitive cultural concerns, normally reserved for other parts of West Malaysia. I have posted the real band names and fake band names lists below, so you can marvel at some of the translations & creativity. My favourite being No Good, who are from Kelantan, being named Budu, a famous delicacy from that region.
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| Real Names |
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| Fake Names |
First on the bill were ANGEL FALLS (Melodic Metal - Labuan), who have been playing for 18 years, and still feature five original members, which is some serious dedication! They did a good job warming the crowd up and getting them into the groove. In terms of the crowd, I'd say throughout the event there were probably around 200 people in attendance (including bands and volunteers), which is the minimum benchmark the promoters were hoping for, and hopefully can double that number in the future as people become more exposed and accustomed to what is going on there.
Next up was TRANSIT OI (Oi - Labuan), which as a smart move by the promoters, because anyone who knows Oi bands in Malaysia, knows that they (not all) and their entourage like to get drunk, so having them play early on ensures that they are still in a fit state to perform. Like many Oi bands here in Malaysia, they honoured their forefathers and played an ACAB cover (All Comrades Are Brothers wink wink), yet it was refreshing that the bands own songs were a deviation from the classic slowed down Eastern Oi of the region, and they were faster, more aggressive, and punishing. Their entourage were also in full force in the pit, some of them literally giving the boot to each other. Prior to them starting to play, I had a friendly 10RM wager with the person next to me that they would play a Cocksparrer cover, and low and behold, three songs in, out comes 'We're Coming Back', and they said afterwards that they were pleased to see the only white man in the crowd dancing and singing along to it (I wonder who that was?). They also told me that the reason they were called 'Transit Oi' is because they have had so many different members, which is some Nostradamus wisdom at conception, having the foresight to know this was going to happen. Funnily enough, the lad I had a bet with wasn't to be seen for the rest of the night. I hope he wasn't hiding in fear of his debtor.
It was then time for the first of the Sabahan bands, SUICIDE CLUB (Hardcore Punk - Kota Kinabalu), or 'Cat Lovers Club' as the fake band names flyer translates to. They were brilliant! Fast, aggressive, and raging - all wrapped up in under 20 minutes, just how hardcore punk should be. The singer caught up with me after the show and recalled meeting me previously at Real Shit in Georgetown two years prior. He remembered me feeding him (and everyone else at the venue) Langkau (distilled Sarawakian rice wine) and he (or his friend?) being passed out on the stage, whilst headlining band SIAL were playing. I caught up with him (and other members of the Sabahan entourage) during the evening Maghrib prayer break, on the rooftop of the hotel over the road, and it was great to make some connections with the KK No Future Punks, as I plan to visit there and review some gigs in the future.
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| SUICIDE CLUB - Photo by Awang Sulfallah (Link to all photos at the end of the article) |
The night part of the gig started off with THE DOER OF THE ACTION (Screamo - Labuan) - As well as the usual array of alternative music fans (there were even people whom had travelled from Brunei too, whom I met at my first show in Miri to weeks prior), there were also a few random & casuals in attendance, which is always a fun thing and great for exposing what is going on to a wider audience to help the scene grow. First there were a group of local people, one of whom I had a friendly chat with on a dating app a week previously, in which I told her about the show - I don't think they would have been there otherwise, and that was the promoter in me, pedalling the show to strangers on the internet. The second was a local DJ and his sister (who is an alternative music fan) who had met a Scottish engineer in a bar earlier that night and dragged him along - it was nice to chat to someone from my home island, and it was clear he was an alternative music fan too as he had a Nirvana tattoo on his arm. Speaking of arms, check out this random pairing of patches on someone's battle jacket in the picture below. The band themselves were lovely, I really do enjoy screamo, and this one had the added particularity of having a singing drummer, which was a welcome change from the norm.
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| Patches |
The event then kicked into full gear with TRAUMATIC DISORDER (Grindcore - Kota Kinabalu), or 'Mind Health' as the fake band name flyer calls them. This music was certainly not friendly to the mind, it was fast, heavy, and all over the place - just like any good grindcore band should be. The venue itself had a standard bar cum club vibe. The promoters had their own stage banner, posters on the wall, and a dark lighting set up, to give it the noisy live event feel. The owners and their staff were friendly and were always happy to come serve you beer at your table. That was another good thing for us oldies, there were tall stools to sit on in the back half of the room, when you didn't have the energy to stand or dance.
Speaking of dancing, and actual dancing, not just moshing. ORANG PLANET (Planet People or 'Earthers' as their fake name 'Orang Bumi' translates to - I am sure the authorities loved that one as Bumi is a shortened version for Bumiputera, a term given to the 'native' Malays which means 'Prince of the Earth' (Post Punk - Kota Kinabalu) turned out to be the surprise highlight of the night, and certainly from their name, artwork and vision, convey a completely polarised opposite point of view to the Malaysian states Bumi privilege cartel (sorry for hijacking your introduction to make a long winded political point). They played a style of post punk that is rooted in the 1980s synth /goth movement, like those bands that actually made dark sounding music danceable. I wasn't alone here; there were many other people at the front swinging and shaking their hips too.
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| ORANG PLANET - Photo by Awang Sulfallah (Link to all photos at the end of the article) |
The last band I saw, and the band I was most looking forward to seeing (aka the only band I had heard and seen previously), were NO GOOD (New Wave Post Punk - Kelantan). I had seen them previously in front of 5000 rowdy & energetic people at Bukit Jalil national stadium during Rock the World Festival, so it was nice to be able to see them in a more intimate setting, and a kind of show that the band are not averse to playing, given their punk rock roots (some of the band members are old friends with some of the promoters). They were incredible once again, and as previously witnessed, there were plenty of moments where the crowd singing in unison became louder than the singer. That was a great way to end the night for me, and a great way to help the organisers get Labuan back on to the alternative music map of Malaysia by having such a well-known and popular band playing.
As a point of note, IBLISS (Stoner Rock / Doom - Kuala Lumpur) headlined the show, but I was too tipsy and tired by that point, so I made a swift Irish exit back to my hotel.
Thank you to @confinedxspace (IG handle) and the @no.solucion (IG handle) collectives for organising such an amazing night, making me feel welcome, briefing me with information, and introducing me to a wide range of people. It was great to make new friends from Labuan and Kota Kinabalu. I look forward to visiting Labuan again as a regular visitor, and for RECALL volume two. All photos from the event can be found here.
