GROWING up, I used to wonder how musicians or singers earn a living. The image of a musician or popular singer is often romanticised and mystified beyond rational logic that most assume that because they appear to be glamorous or decked up onstage that their lives offstage must be equally plush. 

Of course, Hollywood and the like often churn out so-called biopics or even fictional films depicting a pop starlet or rock star rise and fall from stardom, where humble beginnings often end in excess and despair. 

The better of these films often explore the grey area of creativity and its roots in real world scenarios (social upheavals, economic need, personal trauma and so on) but these sorts of films often don’t tickle the fancy of the average popcorn-munching filmgoing public. 

Yet, most stereotypes about musicians or pop singers still remain at this stereotypical level. 

On planet earth, musicians are part of the labour market – performing onstage or even recording for a record label is just as similar as farming or even working as a clerk for a company. It’s just the perception is often ill-informed. 

I came to realise the reality when I stepped into this supposedly-subterranean world – musicians work just as hard as any worker out there; it’s just that their setting and context is often for the purpose of entertaining others and being in the proverbial “moments” onstage. 

Pub musicians often depend on the wages venues pay them – which is lower than you think. 

As an independent musician who self-produced my own works, I have to run by a different system uncommon among the familiar pub musician circuit which threads between that world and the underground or indie music scenes primarily because my ilk compose and perform our own original material and oftentimes do not do cover songs or even take requests (unless it’s one of our own). 

So how do you support your favourite original musician in good ol’ Bolehland? Here are some tips. 

Buy their merchandise 

Unbeknown to the wider square public, merchandise by musicians and bands are de rigueur in the underground music scene.

The most obvious thing you see in an underground gig is the merchandise table, which is often placed strategically at the entrance of the venue and is also usually where you get your tickets and your chop for entry. 

Although this is sometimes practised now by some organisers in the indie or independent music circuit, it is still not commonplace. 

Most serious and long-standing independent musicians often produce some form of merch – music CDs/cassettes/vinyls, T-shirts, tote bags, stickers – and they often sell these at their performances or online. 

If you can’t go to their shows but want to show some support, buy their merchandise. 

Fact of the matter is, tickets or tips don’t really cover much of the costs and venues too often struggle to break even, hence, musicians can’t depend solely on these incomes. 

In fact, artistes or bands overseas tour to promote a new recording release whatever the format and these also come along with commemorative merchandise like T-shirts. Grab them all!  

Tip them 

Although this is mentioned above, I must emphasise that tipping is not really a common culture in Malaysia.

I have heard stories of live music bar patrons complaining about having to pay to watch a band or even give tips. 

This is most probably borne out of the pub music circuit culture where entry to a show is often free and bands used to be paid a cut from the bar sales (not sure if this is still practised). 

Even if you noticed, busking is only a recent culture here as it was never acknowledged (hence, illegal) by city councils until a decade plus ago. 

Even then, people were reluctant to just drop their spare change in the guitar case or tipping hat. 

Most buskers would approach the crowd – often quite a distance away, another typical Malaysia trait – and bring their tipping hat to the audience who will usually give their tips. 

Some venues have opened up to tipping. I played a weekly “residency” at Merdekarya last month, in which entry was free but tipping was “expected” (notified in the poster and promo).

To be honest, the tips were better than if I had a ticketed show or charged some minimum “donation” at the door. 

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s even easier to tip now – you can always tip after the event. So yes, show your love with some currency.

Attend their performances

Of course, the most obvious thing for any musician is performing to an audience. This dynamic is central to any performing art. 

The best performances sometimes are a tango between the artiste and audience, be it in the warm or witty banter between songs or audiences breaking into dance or sing-along mid-performance. 

Performances are an intrinsic part of human culture even outside of music – even a sermon or a political speech is a form of performance, of which a lack of an audience will dampen the effect of the performance itself. 

Even though I go by the principle of performing like it’s your last show the same way if the audience is two or even 200, any form of interaction in a live performance and setting (that is, in the same shared space) is an important element since we are after all physical beings.

While online concerts have become a common substitute since the pandemic, nothing beats a live show in a venue or space. Just being there means a lot to a musician. – July 1, 2022.

* Azmyl Yunor is a touring underground recording artiste, and an academic in media and cultural studies. He has published articles on pop culture, subcultures and Malaysian cultural politics. He adheres to the three-chords-and-the-truth school of songwriting, and Woody Guthrie’s maxim “All you can write is what you see”. He is @azmyl on Twitter.