Sebut underground, benda stereotype yang diproses kat kepala otak ialah muzik berat oleh kumpulan-kumpulan muzik yang album diorang tiada kat kedai CD. Itu  betul tetapi apa sebenarnya yang dikatakan underground? Kenapa wujudnya underground? Apa cerita dunia underground di Malaysia?

ASAS APA ITU UNDERGROUND

    UNDERGROUND & REVOLUSI

    COUNTER CULTURE

    MANA UNDERGROUND?

    AVANTGARDE

    UNDERGROUND KE MAINSTREAM

    PELAN-PELAN KAYUH

UNDERGROUND. BAGAIMANA RUPANYA?

JENIS-JENIS MUZIK UNDERGROUND

ASAS APA ITU UNDERGROUND [ keATAS ]

Sebelum kita citer banyak, meh kita fahamkan dulu apa yang disebut underground. Gerakan underground ini sangat luas rangkumannya. Sekelompok pemuzik yang membuat sendiri segala kerja penciptaan, rakaman, penerbitan & pengedaran apa yang dey'all  mainkan itu, berada dalam kelompok underground, tak kiralah muzik yang dey'all  mainkan tu bunyinya Metal ke, Reggae, Hip-hop, Jazz malahan Keroncong sekalipun, tak kira. Begitu juga dey'all yang menggerakkan teater, lukisan, komik @ apa saja lagi yang tidak dibantu oleh badan-badan, syarikat-syarikat @ individu lain itu juga ditakrifkan sebagai underground. Perkataan underground itu, bukan menjadi hak milik satu-satu jenis muzik, teater, serbuk kari, cerpen, tanam-tanaman, selipar Jepun ataupun individu.Underground ialah cara, sikap, idea & ceritanya, cukup-cukup panjang.

UNDERGROUND & REVOLUSI [ keATAS ]

Setiap perubahan besar yang pernah berlaku kat muka bumi ni, bermula dari kelompok kecil yang mempunyai idea,dikongsi beberapa orang yang juga berfikiran serupa. la tidak dihebahkan, tidak popular & malah mungkin, tidak diketahui kewujudannya oleh manusia, kambing atau juga beruk. Hanya sebilangan orang jer yang tau. Lama-kelamaan, ia berkembang, menukar apa yang ada lalu menjadi popular & diterima semua. Pakaian, muzik, politik, malah hampir apa saja berubah mengikut prinsip ini. Dandysm bermula di Perancis pada tahun 1830-an. Lama selepas ia popular & diterima sebagai sesuatu yang normal, muncul pula avantgarde Bohemian secara senyap-senyap (underground).

COUNTER CULTURE [ keATAS ]

Beat Generation yang mula diberikan frasa gerakan underground (dimulakan oleh Jack Kerouac) muncul pada tahun 1950-an. Ia kemudian berkembang & mewujudkan subculture Hippies,Punk & Mods yang kemudiannya melahirkan Skinhead. Sekarang, lihat sekeliling & apa yang y'all nampak itu telah menggantikan apa yang muncul dulu. Pada awal mulanya benda-benda itu tadi, semuanya adalah counter culture yang bergerak secara underground sebelum diterima menjadi sesuatu yang mainstream. counter Culture menentang apa yang sedia ada dengan mencipta sesuatu yang baru, secara senyap-senyap. Secara underground. Lama-kelamaan, ianya diketahui ramai, menjadi popular & diterima masuk sebagai sesuatu yang mainstream.

"The same thing was almost going on in the postwar France of Sartre and Genet and what's more we knew about it--But as to the actual existence of a Beat Generation, chances are it was really just an idea in our minds--We'd stay up 24 hours drinking cup after cup of black coffee, playing record after record of Wardell Gray, Lester Young, Dexter Gordon, Willie Jackson, Lennie Tristano and all the rest, talking madly about that holy new feeling out there in the streets- -We'd write stories about some strange beatific Negro hepcat saint with goatee hitchhiking across Iowa with taped up horn bringing the secret message of blowing to other coasts, other cities, like a veritable Walter the Penniless leading an invisible First Crusade- -We had our mystic heroes and wrote, nay sung novels about them, erected long poems celebrating the new 'angels' of the American underground--In actuality there was only a handful of real hip swinging cats and what there was vanished mightily swiftly during the Korean War when (and after) a sinister new kind of efficiency appeared in America, maybe it was the result of the universalization of Television and nothing else (the Polite Total Police Control of Dragnet's 'peace' officers) but the beat characters after 1950 vanished into jails and madhouses, or were shamed into silent conformity, the generation itself was shortlived and small in number.

"Jack Kerouac (Dalam Esquire magazine pada 1958)

Hippies

Punk

MANA UNDERGROUND? [ keATAS ]

Jadinya dekat sini, y'all tidak perlulah cari apa yang dikatakan uoderground. Namanya pun sudah underground, jadi ia tiada di kedai CD, kedai kasut, restoran makanan segera ataupun stesen-stesen LRT. Yang dilihat memakai pakaian yang berevolusi itu, yang membuat lukisan, muzik, makanan, hasil seni ataupun apa sahajalah yang tidak seperti selalunya orang buat itu, ia dipanggil counter culture. Benda2 seperti ini biasanya tidak dihebahkan, tiada iklan di surat khabar & tidak popular. Kerana perilakunya begitulah, maka ianya dipanggil underground. Maka di sini, harapnya y'aff sudah faham & dapat membezakan apa yang dipanggil counter culture & apa pula yang dipanggil sifat underground. Putaran counter culture yang bergerak secara underground, diterima menjadi mainstream (juga disebut Pop Culture), kemudian muncul pula counter culture underground baru adalah kitaran yang normal. Sejarah memberitahu kita, ia telah berlaku, sedang & akan berlaku. lanya, normal.

AVANTGARDE [ keATAS ]

Apabila becakap tentang underground, perkataan Avantgarde ini, tidak dapat tidak, harus diterangkan sekali. Ia berasal daripada bahasa Perancis. Dia ada juga kena-mengenanya dengan sekumpulan tentera yang dipanggil Advanced Guard (AG), Front Guard, atau Vanguard.. Advanced Guard ialah sekumpulan kecil tentera elit yang membuka jalan kepada kumpulan tentera yang lebih besar di belakang ke kawasan musuh. Avantgarde dalam bahasa Perancis menerangkan perbuatan yang berevolusi, bereksperimental & "yang pertama". Tentera Advanced Guard & perkataan Avantgarde dilihat berkongsi idea, iaitu perintis. Jadi, perkataan Avantgarde bermaksud perintis serta pemula. Seperti Gerhana Skacinta menjadi Avantgarde (perintis) dalam muzik mainstream di Malaysia dengan idea Ska dey'all, walaupun bukan di dunia.

UNDERGROUND KE MAINSTREAM [ keATAS ]

Di Malaysia, ini sangat kompleks. Fahami situasi ini. Muzik Ska itu telah lama ada & juga sangat tua. Di Malaysia, genre itu hanya dikenali di kalangan Skinhead yang bergerak secara underground. la baru hanya di Malaysia. Ketika Gerhana Skacinta (GSC) keluar dari persembunyian dalam kubu underground membawakan lagu-lagu genre ini ke arus perdana, Gerhana Skacinta dilihat membawa sesuatu yang baru. Betul, tapi baru hanya di Malaysia. la telah lama wujud di dunia. Jadinya, di Malaysia, Gerhana Skacinta ialah pemuzik Avantgarde. Membawa pembaharuan baru atas apa yang sudah biasa kita dengar sebelum ini. Ska ialah muzik bentuk baru di Malaysia.

PELAN-PELAN KAYUH [ keATAS ]

la berlaku begitu kerana banyak sebab. Ingatkan kembali yang underground itu ialah attitude. Skinhead itu, salah satu sub-culture bersifat underground. Di Malaysia, Skinhead belum diterima sebagai mainstream. Gerhana Skacinta tidak terus membawa genre Ska ke arus perdana kerana muzik arus perdana itu bunyinya lain betul daripada muzik bawaan dey'all. la belum popular & mungkin tiada khalayak untuk muzik Ska di situ. Risikonya cukup tinggi. Lagi pula, gerakan Skinhead yang bersifat underground itu pastinya tidak akan bersetuju muzik yang dikatakan milik dey'all, dikongsi bersama pendengar yang masih belum memahami apa itu Ska & dari mana asal usulnya serta siapakah nenek serta moyangnya. Apabila berita mengenai Gerhana Skacinta & muzik bawaannya diketahui sehingga keluar dari kelompok underground, barulah dia masuk ke pasaran itu. Satu contoh klasik, muzik genre baru di Malaysia.

UNDERGROUND. BAGAIMANA RUPANYA? [ keATAS ]

Underground itu tidak berupa apa-apa. la hanyalah wadah ataupun cara. Apa caranya? Itulah tadi, ianya bersendiri. Tidak dibantu oleh mana-mana syarikat atau apa-apa pertubuhan lain yang berdaftar. Yang membuatkan ia kelihatan berunsur muzik, kerana unsur inilah yang paling banyak ditentang di Malaysia. Di negara lain, yang penerimaan muziknya lebih terbuka, underground berupa muzik ini sudah tidak lagi begitu diperkatakan. Sebaliknya, ada yang lebih kepada teater,lukisan atau hasil-hasil seni lainnya. Muzik, teater, ideologi ataupun apa saja ialah sampul kepada apa yang diperjuangkan secara underground. Jika sampulnya muzik, maka akan berupa muziklah gerakan underground itu. Jika sampulnya teater, maka jadilah ia teater underground. Jika sampulnya kambing, maka, kambinglah underground itu. Contoh sahaja yer.

Muzik underground ini meliputi bermacam-macam jenis rentak. Asalkan ianya tidak di komersialkan ia akan tetap menjadi muzik undergound. Dalam banyak-banyak jenis muzik, hanya beberapa jenis sahaja yang rancak diundergroundkan seperti muzik rock, punk, metal,

Underground music

The Malaysian underground music scene (also known as the Malaysian independent or urban music scene, with the term "urban" introduced only in the late 90s) is an established localized underground culture within Malaysia. This is as opposed to mainstream music, which usually, in the Malaysian context refers to artists with strong ties or are engaged in direct contract with fairly large recording companies, giving them a more commercial and popular image.

Artists and musicians who are involved in the Malaysian underground scene are usually guitar-driven bands with inclination towards rock music, although there are a number of acts with differing musical influences such as folk, hip-hop, electronica and dance music.

One of the other characteristics of this local scene is that most of the musicians are independent, entirely or partially DIY-driven groups or bands who emphasise on creating, sharing and experiencing music, together and collectively. Materials that they produce, such as albums, demos or EPs will usually be independent works, most of the time funded entirely or to some extend by themselves. Also, small musical performances known as gigs are organized regularly showcasing these bands.

The state of Terengganu was known as the Malaysian capital of punk rock throughout late 1979 and the 1980s, but there were no bands then as the punks were too poor to afford the equipment. The scene then was more a covergence of pioneering punk rockers trading pre-recorded music and fanzines acquired from pen-pals and friends from overseas while dabbling in home-made DIY punk fashion. This early Malaysian punks started in 1978/79. The early punk scene in Terengganu hit its peak in the early 80s before gradually dying out in the mid 90s. A new generation picked it up again in the late-90s with bands, DIY labels and intermittent gigs.

The first rumblings of a bonafide "underground music scene", as in real bands and original recordings. in Malaysia actually started in the city of Kuala Lumpur in the mid-80s with bands such as Punisher, Nemesis, Rator etc. These pioneers paved the way for a huge explosion of bands in the early 90s and it continues today with bands and acts of many different permutations, from political, anarcho punk (Carburator Dung, Relationsheep, Mass Separation, Pusher etc.) to experimental, avant-garde noise (Amid the Mimic, Maharajah Commission, Ta, Goh Lee Kwang etc.) to singer-songwriters (Rafique Rashid, Pete Teo, Meor Aziddin Yusof, Azmyl Yunor, Jerome Kugan etc.) to Chinese indie (Moxuan, Lang Mang, KRMA, Nao etc.) to instrumental post-rock (Furniture, Sgt. Weener Arms etc.}.

Terengganu Punk: The Origins of Malaysian Punk Rock

The first proper punk rock "scene" in Malaysia started in Terengganu in 1978/1979. It started in the small town of Dungun by a group of friends influenced by British music magazines such as NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, and Zig Zag, as well as their brothers and friends living in the more modern West Coast cities who would pass them the magazines and music.

By late 1979, almost every secondary school in the state had its own cliques of punk rockers. They would hang out on the weekends at the main bus station in the capital city of Kuala Terengganu, with the usual punk rock regalia (badges, studs, safety pins and such). Too poor to afford guitars or any other musical instruments, there never was an actual punk band but trading of tapes and zines were vigorous.

Most of these coming from friends studying overseas, the friends living in the West Coast cities and also punk rockers from UK, Europe and US who were kind enough to send tapes and magazines for free. Irregular trips were made to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (and Pulau Pinang, but rarely as it was too far) to dub punk rock records at the music stores or buy pirated tapes which were the only source for good music those days.

Some fishing villages would have the most punks and thus became the "centers" of activities. The main two villages were Kampung Mengabang Telipot (an hour north to the city) and Kampung Tanjung (right at the mouth of the city's river system). In Mengabang Telipot, there was a small bookstore selling magazines and music, which the kids would share. This bookstore is actually a wooden cupboard situated at one of the punk rockers' house.

The first Malaysian punk rock fanzine came out from this scene. It appeared in 1986 with the title of Huru Hara (meaning "chaos"); it was written in Terengganu slang by editor Mamat Hitam but never distributed in a large way. The first fanzine to do that was Aedes, which lasted until 1996; the first punk bands to appear there were Mallaria and later The Stone Crows. Both put out one rehearsal/demo tape.

There was a lull in activity in the mid-80s for the Terengganu punk scene, but a resurgence of bands of different persuasions appeared by the late 80s and early 90s (sparked in part by the setting up of a larger Malaysian underground music scene based in Kuala Lumpur in 1987). By the mid 90s onwards, there were constantly new bands appearing in the state and now in 2005, there are still a lot of punk-influenced bands and zines active