This 13-strong Malaysian percussion group uses drums from all over the world to create music that is a blend of cultural influences right from its inception.
Performing lively beats on drums, pipes and even the didgeridoo, Diplomats of Drum (DOD) are a musical group from Malaysia. They will be performing at this year’s MOCAfest, part of the 11th World Islamic Economic Forum, held in Kuala Lumpur from November 3–5, 2015. With such a diverse lineup of ethnicities, races and cultural backgrounds, the group produces a distinctively Malaysian sound, making it a microcosm of its home country.
In 2014, DOD went on a tour of five communities in the US as part of a Caravanserai residency tour, an educational festival aimed at celebrating Muslim artists.
Rav Singh, one of the two founders of the group, chatted with Aquila Style to talk about their creative collaborative process and their expectations of MOCAfest.
Aquila Style: The group is made up of players of different backgrounds. How did you all find each other and decide to form DOD?
Rav Singh: My brother and I are the founders of Diplomats of Drum. We were a percussion duo for a short while before we collected a bunch of friends to jam at a friend’s Christmas party. We sounded good together, and that was the first few recruits into DOD. Over the years, each member brought in their friends, and they brought in theirs until we settled on a fixed lineup in 2010. Thirteen marvellous musicians, a group of friends, a bunch of brothers and sisters – a family.
What sorts of drums do you use? What is their significance?
We use a myriad of drums in our arsenal: Malaysian drums that cover almost every race in Malaysia, mixed with drums from other parts of the world, like Brazilian samba drums, Cuban congas and batas, African djembes and ‘talking drums’. We also utilise other non-percussive instruments like the Irish bouzouki, uilleann pipes and the Australian didgeridoo.
While we occasionally play these drums for their respective traditional rhythms and patterns, more often than not we utilise them for their aural or tonal qualities. We play Malaysian rhythms on them so as to deliver a new experience for our listeners. And as with all traditional drums, we have the important task of keeping their traditions, notations and stories alive for the next generation.
What kind of audience do you attract?
This is a tricky question. I would say our audience is everyone and anyone. Our material appeals to all ages, as it’s not just music, but a dance class, history lesson, travel show and an educational performance.
How do your multiple Malaysian, religious and ethnic identities express themselves in your work?
Here’s a fun fact for you: each member comes from a different state in this country and they bring with them their upbringing, cultural stories and influences into our music. That is why our music is so strongly intertwined; when people listen to our music, they will struggle to find separate influences from a race or state or culture. Instead, they will immediately identify our music as a true Malaysian sound.
That is why we don’t like to be labelled a ‘fusion’ group – fusion entails everything to be separate and needing to be put together. Our stuff is joined at the hip from the start.
DOD is already a living collaboration, and MOCAfest is all about collaborations. Tell us about a memorable experience working together.
Every time we get together for rehearsals, it’s memorable! It’s always full of stories, laughter and then some solid music. Now, artists usually don’t like compromising when it comes to their ideas and creations, but in DOD we very quickly accommodate everyone’s ideas when writing songs. Unlike other bands, each member will definitely have his or her ideas incorporated into all our songs.
What do you hope to impart to, and learn from, the other participants at MOCAfest?
We hope to share Malaysia’s beautiful music and culture with those who aren’t from here and as always, pick up and absorb new melodies, rhythms and culture from everyone else. Every day we learn something new, and that has and will continue to shape who we are as a band!
If you could pick an artist from MOCAfest to work with on a future project, who would you pick and what would you do?
While we have worked with a few of the artists before, in various capacities, I would say we’d be chuffed to collaborate with eL Seed. His portfolio is vast and it would be interesting to see him interpret our music into physical graffiti or calligraphy. Our music is uniquely stylistic and has epic, expressive qualities, so a collabo would most definitely yield some masterpieces!
What can we expect from Diplomats of Drum at MOCAfest this November?
A full-on, aural tingling, mind-blasting performance. So make sure you bring your dance shoes and a change of clothes!
Catch Diplomats of Drum at MOCAfest:
Tuesday, 4 November 2015
4:00pm ‘Visual Tapestry in Motion’ Soundscape Series Performance
5:30pm ‘Malaysian Beat & Drum Circle’ Workshop
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