In the likes of this unprecedented conditions we are facing, it is severely important for everyone to remain persistent and strong in combatting this pandemic. Given that the economy is in the possible brink of heading downhill, businesses especially SMEs are likely to be greatly affected due to this pandemic. As a fairly new established group of band, that still remains ambitious to take things further with our incorporation, the new normal that we are facing definitely poses a direct challenge and a possible threat not only to us but to the creative industry in totality.
LOKO was never meant to be a serious entity as it has become today. As a matter of fact, all we were thinking about back in our school days was to just make music and play music just because we love music so much. It had never occurred to any of us to think one day that we will be facing with different challenges other than musicality problems, as we are today. Back when we were in preparation to release our first single release “Pujaan Hati”, we were merely an entity at all. It was all just a casual coalition of us, who simply wanted to try for a proper recording and just naively anticipating to see how would the people react to our song. As simple as that. Our expectations were unbelievably low, to the point where we were all ready to be laughed at in case of failing miserably. Fortunately, things did not turned out bad after all, which still remains to be a miraculous moment for us.
Shifting the year from 2018 to 2019, everything was never the same again. Feedbacks and responds were everywhere and all of a sudden we were told that our debut single is supposedly trending in some way. Gig and event organizers were scattering in look for our service. Out of nowhere, the demands went from zero to dozens per week. Being a bunch of newcomers, we were not given a choice to stand still and do nothing. We knew ever since, we need to make this as serious as possible, we need to make this work not just as a band but as a team. Ever since then, we have been hustling with our performance quality, showmanship, musicality, advertising, promoting, building fan base, identifying our target market and potential target market, management, workflow etc. It took us some time to realise that what our previous producer had said to us was likely to become real.
We have learned a lot in a very short time from the people we have worked with be it producers, studio owners, sound engineers, musicians, artists and even related partners within the scene. From there as well we managed to gather some insights on how the industry works, the opportunities that exists and of course the problem and possible risks intact with the industry. Since we are an independent group that focuses on independent scene primarily, it gives us a lot of time to think on what do we really want to do and how do we want to do with the given platform, being a spacious and potentially limitless area for us to explore and utilise. During the period, the idea of creating an official registered entity for us was in the cards and were heavily considered. However, as it goes with any groups or team, arguing on ideas will remain to be imminent and it is just one of the problems that we would need to face. Eventually, we opted for the idea and from there on we decided that we do not want to be just a band, we would like to be a symbol, a driving force of people that pushes to convey and venture their ambitions in making it fruitful. We want to be different. The idea of it was not entirely due to our wants but leaning more towards the need for us to do it. If it were not for our establishment, we would not be able to operate as we do today. Distributions, productions, sales and marketing, administration and management were so required of us in order to make this movement workable, and it is with that consideration as well that we are always giving our very best while constantly learning in serving our dear supporters, especially Keluarga Gila. From the realisation of things, we decided to firmly move ahead step by step, by bringing in professionalism into how we do things while remaining to be a cheerful bunch of crackheads that we have always been.
We aspire to be something more, and we dearly consider that to evolve is every generation’s responsibility. To always be better than the ones before. The following matter also applies to how we perceive ourselves to our dearest country, Malaysia. Especially in this challenging times, we are obligated to persevere while making improvements to how things are. We should never settle on how harmonious the country is, how developed we have become since Merdeka and how we have improved as a civilisation. There has never been a more perfect time for us Malaysians to support for local businesses and establishment. Now is the time for us to be headstrong and move together as one. It is you, the pieces of Malaysia, that can truly make a difference for Malaysia. And this, is our piece of Malaysia.
LOKO is an independent band that promotes alternative, rock and experimental music channeled from their personal traits and perspectives. Support LOKO here.
A Piece of Malaysia 