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Lightcraft to rock Malaysian fest
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Local independent band Lightcraft toured the United States, Canada, England, Singapore and Taiwan in 2016. (Lightcraftmusic.com/File)
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lternative rock band Lightcraft will perform on Sunday, Jan. 15, at Malaysia’s DongTaiDu Music Festival. The festival, held annually by Malaysian record label Dongtaidu, focuses on bands primarily from Southeast Asia’s independent scene. This year’s festival will feature 31 bands from six different countries and will be held at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH).
In addition to Lightcraft, other non-Malaysian bands that will perform at the festival include Okamotonoriaki (Japan), The Analog Girl (Singapore), Deepsea Drive Machine (Japan), Gigantic Roar (Taiwan) and GDJYB (Hong Kong).
“We’ve known about DongTaiDu Music Fest for quite a while now, but we always thought we weren’t eligible to participate as it seemed that it was a festival that focused more on Chinese indie acts,” singerguitarist Imam Mbudz said.
“In 2015, we played a show at a place called LiveFact in KL, which turned out to be co-owned by one of the founders of the festival,” Imam said, explaining how the band came to the festival’s attention. “We got in touch, spoke at length about his festival and our chances of appearing in it, and then one day, he sent us the invitation letter that indicated their desire to have us at the festival. We didn’t need to think twice to say yes!”
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The past few years have been big for Lightcraft. In 2016, the band toured the United States, Canada, England, Singapore and Taiwan — quite an applaudable feat for a local independent band.
Plus, they played to actual crowds from each country instead of Indonesian expats, as is the wont of mainstream Indonesian musicians in their attempts to “go international”.
The band will also continue touring Malaysia, alongside fellow Indonesian indiepoppers Peonies, as part of The Landscape Park Life Tour, which started last year and is sponsored by local independent label Nanaba Records.
For Dongtaidu, the band planned on approaching it just like any of their other gigs — by giving it their all. “Actually, apart from this new song that we plan to play at the festival, we’re just going to approach the show as we would any other gig. From a psychological point of view, it keeps us from getting too nervous about our performance! We do have plans to include visuals to enhance the overall experience, but for the time being, that’s about it, I’m afraid,” Imam said.
The band also felt a sense of respect to festivals like Dongtaidu for attempting to promote less-noticed bands from Asia.
The festival, Imam said, “creates a platform for both local and regional artists to perform to a new crowd and allows them to share their music to a new audience. And the fact that it also features international acts simply amps up the festival’s prestige factor. We’re so very honored to be able to take part in this year’s edition.”
Most recently, Lightcraft released their EP Another Life in November last year. They also have bigger plans for the near future.
“We’ve already started working on our third album, which we plan to release sometime this year. Besides our little Malaysian tour, we’re also currently preparing for our upcoming appearance at SXSW 2017 in Austin, Texas, in March. Fingers crossed that all will run smoothly without a hitch.”
