By NASA MARIA ENTABAN
alltherage@thestar.com.my

MOST people don’t realise that a good sound system and high quality equipment play a big part in making a band’s stage performance top notch.

The quality of acoustics at a venue has a huge bearing on whether a band comes off sounding terrible or not, even if they are the most talented musicians around.

AloudAsia, a music platform conceptualised by Momentum (the engagement arm of McCann Worldgroup), intends to give local acts a different sort of experience, one where they don’t have to worry about sound systems and lighting, among other things.

“Most of the time when the average person goes to a local gig, they don’t know the difference between a good band and a good sound system,” says John Oommen, vocalist for indie band Paperplane Pursuit(http://paperplanepursuit.com/). The band played at AloudAsia’s Summer Spin Cycle party in Penang recently.

“So, even if you’re a great band and you’re playing with a bad sound system, then (you become) a crappy band,” says Oommen, 27.

Local band Paperplane Pursuit recently performed at AloudAsia’s Summer Spin Cycle party in Penang.

Apart from providing high quality equipment and lighting, AloudAsia helps bands out with promotions for the gig, while also working with artistes on social networking sites to get the word out.

“It was set up to give a platform for Malaysian artistes to perform – not only the established ones but also upcoming new artistes,” says Shaun Thaddeus, Momentum’s brand manager for entertainment and emerging media.

“There are probably loads of platforms like this already available but we try to set it apart by not putting a genre, age limit or language barrier,” adds Thaddeus.

Essentially, all the artiste has to do is show up and perform. They are also given 100 tickets to either sell or give away in contests.

Shaun Thaddeus, Momentum’s brand manager for entertainment and emerging media, said that AloudAsia was a platform for both established and upcoming artistes.

According to Oommen, there are usually two types of gigs that local acts get to play at. One is a corporate show where you are commissioned by a company or individual to play at an event, while another is where artistes are only paid in kind (which usually means that the artistes are given free exposure and publicity, and not much else).

“AloudAsia is different because the onus is on us to sell the tickets and that’s how we make our money. Usually you’re expected to do all the promotions yourself, on top of getting short-changed by the club or organiser, which is a very losing-end deal for the band,” says Oommen.

This was one of the reasons why AloudAsia was created. Apart from handling all the promotional activities for the gig, the organisers book the venue, get the music equipment, sound system and lighting, as well as come up with all the art work and printed material.

“That’s what we offer, so that the artiste doesn’t have to think about much, except selling or giving away the 100 tickets,” says Thaddeus.

AloudAsia also focuses on the fact that all musicians playing all sorts of music are welcome to their platform.

“The main reason why we don’t stick to one genre is because we wanted to cross fanbases. Normally, the rock ‘kakis’ will stick together, and the same thing goes for hip-hop, but that is not the case with AloudAsia. Everyone knew that it was for the same cause, and everyone wanted to help each other,” says Thaddeus of previous AloudAsia shows.

John adds: “There is a lot of camaraderie, no clique-ishness during the gigs and we’re all open to each other between acts. I enjoyed that. Most of us stuck around to watch each other’s performances, which was good.”

* If you’re interested in performing at AloudAsia’s next volume or want to find out about tickets, check for upcoming event details at AloudAsia’s Facebook Fan Page at http://www.facebook.com/AloudAsia.