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Music

Meet the Burmese Punks Side Effect

"I think we can prove that you can be a great band even if the market doesn't like it."

There is nothing strange about being an indie band from Burma. That was the one request the band, Side Effect, one of Myanmar’s finest and most popular acts, made when I reached out to them about an interview. “Just please no ‘there are punk bands in Myanmar! Whoa!!!’ headlines.” Fair enough, rock is, roughly, half a million years old at this point; so to pretend that there isn’t at least one Bad Company cover band in every country on the planet is to extend the notion of otherness past the point of credibility. The kids will have their say… it just might take a while.

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I initially got into contact with Side Effect (who, to be clear, aren’t even close to being a cover band-they’ve been making their own power pop noise since 2004, even without being able to afford a drum set) while attempting to reach out to punk bandsin Myanmar that were willing to sing about or discuss the, now, nationwide harassing, and in some areas such as Rakhine, ethnic cleansing of Muslims by purported Buddhists. I say purported because the sideways explanation is sometimes, as it is world over, that “these aren’t actually Buddhists” and/or it’s a government instigated plot. The “not actually Buddhists” argument of course works in the same way that “true” Christians, “true” Jews, and “true” Muslims wouldn’t do…all the things that seem to get done by them on a fairly regular basis. Of course no wanted to believe Buddhists would ever commit atrocities, but they are, of course, human. The “government plot” notion is of course more complicated. Buddhist temples all over Myanmar were infiltrated by government agents after the “Saffron Revolution” in 2007 and that fact fuels many conspiracy theories about how the (now theoretically dissolved) Junta is using ethnic strife to solidify its power. For myself, I have absolutely no idea. And there are better sources (some listed at the end of the article) than I for your understanding. I just know it’s happening and it’s appalling. ANYWAY, there were reports of punk bands writing songs about it. I reached out to a few. Side Effect got back to me. I’m glad they did because they are A. An extremely good band, and B. one of the truest expressions of the tired notion of “the personal is the political” misused by fixed gear bikers and vegan line cooks world over. Living under actual oppression, not living politically isn’t even an option.

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Side Effect’s music is a compelling mix of DIY group chant punk, not unlike our own Plan-It-X type bands, and contemporary pop rock (as much as I hate the term “indie,” they use it so, yeah, fuck it, indie) and the fact that they’ve even managed to exist is a pretty rad. And since The Strokes don’t seem terribly interested in being The Strokes anymore, someone has to get the job. I nominate Side Effect. They have an album recorded at Luc Besson's (!) studio, Digital Factory that’s going to be out early 2014. They’re looking to come to America. Someone with bucks make this happen.

Oh yeah, and they like 999. Bands in 2013 that like 999are automatically my favorite band.

Answers by singer Darko C.

Noisey: I want to talk just briefly about what it's like being a rock/indie band in Myanmar? I'm sure you're sick of discussing it with western journalists…but humor me. How did you initially get into the bands that you love like The Strokes and Nirvana, etc.? I think you mentioned that there were now mega stores that carry rock now, but is that new?

Darko C.: Being an indie band in Myanmar is like being a boat, which is sailing against the stream. Like an outsider. It's hard to play as much as we want since there is only a few venues, even in the biggest city, Yangon. Far from making any money. But I fine the term "indie" as being free. Free from being attached to "doing shit you don't want to just because that's how you could get a spot in the music scene" and I love it because it derived from punk/post-punk scene referring to bands like Joy Division, The Smiths, etc. We 're really into D.I.Y mindset, personal freedom and being against Burmese-stereotypes. I think we can prove that you can be a great band even if the market doesn't like it.

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2) I was listening to 80s rock when I was a teenager in the 90s. Then, I happened to hear some Nirvana music from a friend. It was raw and fresh to my ear. Nirvana was the first band that introduce me the punk feel before I started digging "The Ramones", " The Sex Pistols", "999", "The Stooges". At the time, to buy a cassette tape of the bands we're interested wasn't that easy. There were some great music stores where they'd copy the tapes for you. CDs were too expensive and I didn't have any CD player. Then, in 2002, after the waves cheap VCD players and pirated-VCDs from China came in, I got a VCD compilation that included the music videos of several bands such as Korn, Limp Bizkit, Stain and The Strokes. It was "Last Night" that opened my eyes. I instantly fell in love with their fresh sound when all my friends were making a joke because they weren't heavy enough for them. Later I found myself spending hours on downloading their music using newly opened super-slow Internet access. After that, I was also found out about The White Stripes, The Vines, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Hives etc. All my friends who are playing in their bands were like, " I don't understand this guy. What the hell he's listening to? " But, now it makes sense for them, I guess.

There are now music comers at every supermarkets but I never saw any of Arcade Fire or Arctic Monkeys or The Libertines' albums available yet. Only Justin Bieber , Katy Perry and stuff like that. Recently, the police were breaking down all those CD stands because they're not legal. So, the supermarkets respond by not selling the local music as well. They said they couldn’t make any money by only selling local music.

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Side Effect has been around for a few years, touring Europe with Handsome Furs and touring again soon, has it become easier since the junta has eased up slightly? Your lyrics are very freedom oriented. Has that been a problem? Do you feel a responsibility to sing about your surroundings?

We didn't tour with Handsome Furs. We played with them in Yangon in 2010. Yeah, we played in Europe two times. It was such a great experience to play in a different world. It's never been a problem with the lyric so far. In the past, we passed through the censorship so they banned some songs before we released. But we played at the shows. It wasn't a problem. Now our lyrics become stronger without the censorship. But we still need to send the lyrics and the music to that office, like a report. We don't know what will happen. Some songs for the next album are very sociopolitical. I write songs being inspired by things happening around us. I just wanna share the view I see the world through my eyes. For example, one of the last songs I wrote was called "Meikhtila". It's the name of the town that was burned almost everything because of the religious conflict. These fear and hatred should be overcome soon. Peace is what we need.

My initial reason for reaching out was that I read about the punk bands writing songs about the situation with Rohingya Muslims. And you just wrote Meikhtila. It seems like (to an outsider) that musicians are some of the only ones publicly sticking up for them. Or at least decrying the violence. Do you think that's true? Do you think that's, in situations like this, the artist's responsibility? Or should they just make art? Or both?
I don't know if it's true that only musicians are aware of that. True Buddhists don't hate people just because they're Muslim. In fact, Hatred is something important that you have to eliminate.

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Buddhism is strongly focus on ultimate peace, inside and outside both. The violence in the name of religion is nonsense. I don't know why the government took action so slowly on that problem. I hope it wasn't one of their political tricks. Coz those people shouldn't be suffering for their power-hunger games.

On top of that, artists see things in a different way or at least they can't help expressing what they feel or what they want to, even if they are going to be hated by doing that. And they see all the people as human beings as equal as possible. They love peace. They hate racism. They will probably be the first ones who dare to speak against what people believe or think or feel. From my point of view, it's the act of true artists. They might not want to change the world but they're never afraid to express themselves.

Along with coming to SXSW, do you wish to be seen as a "Burmese band" or a rock band that just happens to be from Myanmar? How important/limiting is national identity?
It would be a great honor for us to play at SXSW as a Burmese band" or an indie band that just happens to be from Myanmar because no band (from here) ever made it before. We will be the first Burmese rock n roll band that hit the stage at the biggest music festival in Austin, Texas. We wanna show that Myanmar rock, too.

[Note: While I initially set out to write a broader overview of punk bands in Burma resisting larger cultural forces; that didn’t happen, and I have no qualms with instead interviewing a very fine band who have, under an unimaginably oppressive regime, not only survived but artistically thrived. But, of course, anyone who is interested in reading about the current situation in Myanmar (and don’t be a chump, be interested) should seek out the coverage by VICE’s own Danny Gold, Al Jazeera, the NYT, and PBS.]

Zachary Lipez survived Cokeys and lived to tell the tale. He's on Twitter - @zacharylipez