THIS week, I am wearing both my hats, as a troubadour and an academic. I am on the northern leg of my John Bangi Blues album solo tour – hitting George Town, Sungai Petani and Lumut – while also doing a performance-lecture at the International Association of the Study of Popular Music South East Asia (IASPM-SEA) and International Council of Traditional Music (ICTM) Conference 2023 at the Penang House of Music in George Town.

Every time I have a conference out of town, I would use the opportunity to tour locally.

In this manner, killing two birds with one stone is a way of life for me, not just a saying. Why waste a trip?

While most academics will conferences and perhaps do the touristy thing, I make it a point to get to know the people and culture through my music-making.

On the flipside, most independent musicians find it hard to tour because of financial constraints, on top of not really understanding the purpose and drive of touring aside from just performing.

Touring is sustained through the trading of merchandise at these live shows.

For example, with this current northern tour, I did not seek any financial support from my institution because conference budgets have been put on hold.

Attending conferences is one of the major perks of being an academic and researcher because it is an opportunity for networking, not just fulfilling lofty KPIs.

So, I am sustaining this trip by also performing at underground and independent venues that are in the general region.

In this case, the northern part of Perak, Penang (where I will be based for the conference), and Kedah.

It doesn’t just end there: I am also researching independent live music venues, or “live houses”, for an academic book chapter due later in the year.

Lo and behold, on the first day of the conference yesterday, I connected with a fellow academic-musician from Hong Kong who presented his research about underground music venues in the city.

Naturally, aside from the presentations, it’s an opportunity to delve deep into conversations over coffee and catching up with my music culture research compatriots from different countries – especially the region – sharing empathy as much as knowledge of each other’s works and experiences.

On Wednesday night, in my other life I did an in-store performance at Ruas Store – a venue that was raided by authorities earlier this year – in solidarity of their upcoming court case and showing my support for my community.

It was a lively affair – they were serving coffee and food orders steadily throughout my one-hour performance - and helped me to find out more details about their current situation in-person while also strengthening the communal bonds personally in the real world as opposed to just on social media.

Of course, I managed to move some of my merchandise and earned some tips that will help fund my conference trip. It won’t cover most of it but it’s better than nothing.

Today is the second day of the conference, of which by evening I will have to cross the Penang Bridge and drive further north to Sungai Petani for my second show on my tour at another record store called SPace08000 for the first time.

I discovered the venue when the record store owner replied to one of my tweets about touring and asked when I would be coming to Sungai Petani, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I had envisioned to bring my power trio band Azmyl & the Truly Asia to perform there but Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor banned live band concerts last year.

Never mind, culture evolves around these sticks and stones, so I will still arrive in my solo folker guise – this is “sustainability”.

Tomorrow evening, I will be doing a performance-lecture: “The Ethical Troubadour: Sustaining cultural resistance in a political digital cultural landscape”, which I am nervous about since it’s the first time I will be doing such a format at a conference. A good nervous-before-I-go-onstage.

On Sunday, on the way to Klang Valley, I will be swinging by Lumut at the Laman Karya Lumut for the time too – a space recommended by another musician while I was on tour last year.

This northern jaunt is both field work and a music-making one – it’s not easy but it’s wholly worth it for an interdisciplinary creature like myself. – March 3, 2023.

* 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.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.