Sunday, August 07, 2016

Sarawak Rainforest World Music Festival 2016: Do modern elements muddle up the world music genre?


KUCHING: Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) artists believed that fusing traditional music with modern elements did not create a confusing genre, but rather innovated on it.

Speaking at today’s (Aug 7) press conference, Emanuel Ofori from Pat Thomas and Kwashibu Area Band pointed out fusion music as a way to reach a bigger audience.

“We have songs which are completely original but we also have some songs with a bit of rock and innovative style,” he said.

According to the Ghanaian musician, Pat Thomas and Kwashibu Area Band was trying to build a bridge to reach the whole world.

As for Abisheg Thiyagadass from Unique Arts Academy, it was up to the musicians how they wanted to create their music and it was up to the audience how they wanted to perceive it.

He explained it by a drawing a comparison: “Some people love to wear jeans with a blouse and some would wear it with a jacket. Everybody has a different style and everybody has a different way looking at it.”

Hailing from Negeri Sembilan, Abisheg said, “Fusion music is not about confusing people. If there are people out there that can accept this type of music, there is no confusion at all in it.”

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