Side Effect
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Side Effect

Yangon, Yangon, Myanmar | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF

Yangon, Yangon, Myanmar | SELF
Established on Jan, 2014
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"SXSW 2014: Side Effect is first Myanmar band to play at festival"

On March 15, while much of Austin, Texas, was drowning in music and marketing and thousands of tiny bands were running the streets trying to make a dent, history was being made on a little stage at B.D. Riley's.

Chances are you didn't hear about Side Effect's landmark Thursday gig amid chatter about Lady Gaga's vomit stunt, but the four-piece rock group are staking claim as the first band from Myanmar to perform at South by Southwest.

Theirs is a fascinating story, and confirm that for all the peaks and valleys most artists go through to land on an Austin stage, few have had to endure more hurdles than Side Effect.

First, a quick history lesson. Until 2011, Myanmar was under the rule of a military dictatorship notorious for its brutality, broad censorship practices and, most prominently from an international perspective, its role in keeping Nobel laureate and democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for years.

Recently, however, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) has undergone a profound shift. In 2010 Suu Kyi was not only allowed to leave her Yangon home to travel and speak without restriction, but soon the ban on the political party she represented, the National League for Democracy, was lifted, allowing her to run for, and win, a spot in Parliament. She and others are guiding Myanmar in transition toward democracy. As a result, many international sanctions have been loosened, and the country is gradually adjusting to a new reality.

I sat down with singer and guitarist Darko C. of Side Effect and the rest of the band as South by Southwest was winding down. A hard, tight post-punk band, the members cite influences including the Strokes, White Stripes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Hot Hot Heat, Handsome Furs, Silversun Pickups and the Kooks as inspiration.

Side Effect had just returned from an overnight run to Houston, where they'd played a show for Myanmar ex-patriots. Below is an edited version of our conversation.

How did you end up in Austin? I know you had an online fundraising effort.

Darko C.: We haven't gotten the money yet, so we borrowed the money from friends and we played a fundraising gig in Yangon on March 1. It was very last-minute. That gig was the one that made us in the position to come here.

It was a very hard decision to make, because all of our friends were suggesting, "You might end up in debt coming back. Why don't you just finish the next album and put it out and you can go next time?" But we all couldn't wait for next year. We wanted to be here this year. We just couldn't wait. So we said, "Let's do this no matter what." We took the risk and, you know, came here.

How long have you been a band?

Ten years. Since 2004.

I've been to Myanmar once, when the L.A. band Ozomatli played in 2009.

Oh, really? Where?

It was sponsored by the U.S. government, so it was at the American Club. They played at the American consulate, as well, and a school for the blind. But since then the country has changed so much. Are you comfortable talking about the political changes?

Yes.

Before the political changes, how were you able to play rock music? Was it difficult?

Yes, of course. It's still difficult. For example, now it's the "new Myanmar," right? Let's just say, "old Burma, new Myanmar" thing. When we were organizing the benefit concert for South by Southwest, we were hoping to do it in a bigger venue called Kandawgyi Park, the major public park for the biggest music event. We don't have a big fan base, but we were hoping that if we do it like that and we could just let people in with very cheap money. We wanted to see a lot of people and at the same time we might have enough money. [But] a venue owner, who is my friend, she gave us the night for free.

Normally that would cost about $1,400 for the night, and there's no sound system. Just a bit of a stage. So you have to rent lighting system, sound system, back line, everything.

What size venue do you normally play?

Normally we play a bar, like 50 people. We play there from time to time, but we don't have any regular business. Yangon is the biggest city in Myanmar, but it doesn't really have rock 'n' roll venues. Not yet. There are some, but those bars are for the foreigners and rich kids. So there's no live music venue.

And you guys aren't rich kids?

No. No way.

I was trying to figure out a polite way to ask that. I know it's easier to be a musician if your family is part of the elite. I met a rapper while I was there who was a rich kid.

That's how Burmese fans want to see their rock stars, hip-hop stars, rap stars. No matter what, they want to see them like they saw in the movies, getting out of the fancy car.

The rapper I saw while I was there was rapping about "bitches, weed and getting paid." I wondered how he could do that with the censorship laws. Then I was told his family was part of the elite.

All of us have jobs. Me and my wife have a small tailoring shop. Both of us, our income is $500 a month. Tser Htoo (drummer) is working for a radio station -- he's a sound editor. He makes $200 a month.

How was your South by Southwest show? Was it what you imagined it would be?

Well, we didn't know BD Riley's would be -- it looked a bit like 50th Street Bar in Yangon. So that was weird for me. We didn't know how they chose the venues for the bands. It's OK, we're so happy just to be here, and to get the chance to see the bands. This kind of rock 'n' roll vibe is in the air -- this experience that we've never had. This is the first time.

Were you only able to play the one gig here because of visa restrictions?

No, not about the visa. We couldn't set up more gigs because we didn't know who to contact, how to set up gigs. We've never been here, so it was a bit difficult just to get the visa. It was a pain.... We got a P-1 visa, which meant we could make money as professional musicians. That's why it cost a lot. But then, the visa said -- it was really weird -- the visa said it ends on March 16, when South by Southwest ends. We had to extend the visa for two days for $375.

I'm embarrassed to say that I realized you were playing at BD Riley's about an hour after you finished. I was really disappointed. I hope you'll be able to come back.

Yes, we hope so too. This was probably the best time of my life. The first experience. You see things like -- boom, boom, boom, boom! Everywhere you look -- everywhere is music.

What was the best thing you saw?

So far the best concert was Black Lips. I wanted to say hi to them but they looked tired and they were packing things up so I didn't want to bother them. But I really really wanted to say hi to them. I wanted to give our CD to them, but I couldn't do it, because I totally understand that after the concert you just need to be a little bit chilled out.

It's really disappointing to me that you were only able to do the one show. You worked so hard to get here and American sponsors should have been helping you.

Tour manager Greg Holland: The initial performance contract stated that we were only allowed to play one show or we could face deportation.

That's even more frustrating. All the American bands play many shows over the festival.

But I don't think they would have minded if we'd played more gigs, because we're a band from Burma and we're not a really big band. And there's one other band that we really wanted to see, and that was Warpaint. I love them.

But I don't think they would have minded if we'd played more gigs, because we're a band from Burma and we're not a really big band. And there's one other band that we really wanted to see, and that was Warpaint. I love them.

Yeah, they're an L.A. band.

Do you think they're playing anywhere tonight?

I don't think so.

Next year.

You played in Houston last night for the city's Myanmar population, right?

Yes. That was very exciting to see the Myanmar people in Houston. It was a great show. They weren't really rock 'n' roll type people, but by the end they were all standing up and dancing along to the songs. They were all really generous, and they were really happy to see a band from Myanmar. They looked proud of us, because this is the first time they've heard of a Myanmar band coming to America to play at a music festival together with bands from all over the world.

That doesn't happen often for Myanmar bands.

Never.

Tser Htoo (drummer): This is the first time -- except for [bands] playing for the Burmese community. Not like this though.

Congratulations. That's a big deal.

I think this is going to be a milestone in Burmese rock 'n' roll history.

I was only in Myanmar for four or five days, and only Yangon. It was before the political changes. I was struck by seeing somebody wearing a Black Flag T-shirt, and I saw a public wall graffitied with the words, "Punk's not dead." That was really inspiring to me. It was like, "OK, something seems to be bubbling here." What's changed? For example, you used to have to get any lyrics you wrote approved by a "scrutiny board." Is that still the case?

Now it's the same procedure, but they won't censor your lyrics. You have to type in the right form, and you have to submit it. [Points to another band mate]. His father is a famous songwriter in Myanmar -- he passed away a few years ago. He knows better than me all of this, because the last time we published an album was two years ago. At that time they were still censoring. Some of our songs were banned. Some of the songs they were like, "You need to fix and change these words and these lines."

Line by line?

Yes. They would directly tell you, "These words you need to change. You can think about substitutions and then come back." Then you go there again and see if they agree. But according to my experience, it was really funny. Sometimes you can't meet the chairman or the very important guy from that office. But in some cases you need to see him. You can write a plea. Like, "This is not so bad. What I really meant was blah blah blah" and write a letter about it. But when I was talking to him, he was nice, and he said, "Look son. Why don't you change this lyric to that lyric?" I'd say, "Thank you. I will consider it."

Was there a logic to the suggestions?

No, definitely not! They are not musically literate at all. They are the people from the military. They got promoted. They got a big job. All the people in high positions are from the military. They all are stupid, man. You can't negotiate with them. But if you please them, there would be no problem. Sometimes it's even easier, because, like, if you know somebody, you can just go there and bribe them with a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue -- which is the favorite whiskey of most of the generals.

So we're talking about this stuff, but if I publish this can you get in trouble?

No. You can do it.

Would you have gotten in trouble three or four years ago?

Yes.

But you're not worried now?

No, we're in America. If something happened -- if the government is trying to arrest us we can just get away from Burma and come and stay in Austin. (Laughs).

How is your music available in Myanmar?

Well, we can't make any money if we release a CD in Myanmar. I'm not bitching, but the normal Burmese music fan won't buy a CD, because what's the point? You can share with a memory stick, share with Bluetooth phone or download from some website for free.

Nobody believed we could sell our music internationally. Our friends from Myanmar totally doubted that. "Nobody will buy your music because you are from Myanmar." We were like, "Whatever. We're going to do what we want." And we did well. The No. 1 country where people bought it was Germany. No. 2 was the United States. Can you imagine? That's great, man. And Myanmar was at the bottom. (Laughs.)


For more information on Side Effect, check the group's Facebook page. The band's music can be found on Spotify, iTunes and Amazon, among others, worldwide.

By RANDALL ROBERTS, LOS ANGELES TIMES POP MUSIC CRITIC - Los Angeles Times


"Myanmar band rocks Austin SXSW festival"

Their first album was almost scuppered by US sanctions, but Myanmar indie rockers Side Effect have played the gig of their dreams in America, becoming the first band from their nation to play South by South West music festival. - AFP NEWS


"Myanmar band writes music history in Germany"

A performance in Germany was unimaginable for the band Side Effect. Until just a short time ago, they were still living in an isolated country. But with Myanmar becoming more open, cultural exchange is now possible.
Side Effect's performance in Berlin was much more than just a fun concert. It was the group's very first appearance outside of Myanmar. They'd played in a small club in Hamburg the night before, but the big stage in Berlin was a whole different league.

The crowd started dancing during the first song and just a few minutes later the whole room was bouncing. Some were even stage-diving.

"That's the first time I've ever experienced stage-diving," singer and lead guitarist Darko C. told the audience. "Thank you Berlin! You can't even imagine what that means to us!"

Darko, 31, founded Side Effect in 2004. The indie band, whose sound recalls groups like The Strokes or The White Stripes, worked hard to develop its own style. And that in a country that was politically and culturally insulated until just a short time ago.
In Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, the music industry consisted almost entirely of cover bands that rewrote their own heartfelt texts to successful Western pop songs.

But in the past few months, things have been changing. The military junta seems to be open to change: Political prisoners have been released and censorship suspended. Barack Obama recently became the first US President to enter the country and promised during his visit to end America's economic sanctions.

Sanctions have had an impact on Side Effect, as well. With the help of musician friends in Canada, the group raised funds for their debut album via a crowd-funding website. But they're still waiting for the $3,000 that were donated: The online platform wasn't able to send them the money due to economic sanctions.
The Berlin crowd went crazy when Side Effect started playing their song "Change." The refrain, a melody dotted with "Ohs," is easy to sing along to and the audience joined in with Darko.

"Change" is one of only a few English-language songs the band sings. They'd never expected to take their music abroad, so wrote most of their material in their native language. It's also the exception in that the song has an optimistic text.

"Most of the time I am such a downer; I find life is pointless and meaningless because life here is not very promising," said Darko. "For example, if you got a degree, you get a job in a Western country. But here it doesn't work that way. No matter which degree you've got, there is no job waiting for you and you have to try very hard to make a living. I was looking for a reason to live on, and I found that was music."

The 2007 protests led by Buddhist monks had an impact on Darko. "I was thinking, they cannot beat the monks. The monks were very peaceful and they were praying for the people," he said.

But Darko, like so many in his country, was wrong: The government violently cracked down on the praying monks.

"That changed my point of view," said Darko. "We decided to do something for this country. We are not politicians, but what we can do best is be musicians. This country needs good musicians, poets and artists." Turning the other way, or moving abroad, is not the right thing to do, he added.
But facing their country's problems head-on is not easy for the three members of Side Effect. They can't make a living from their music. They only have sporadic opportunities to perform, and most of those are unpaid. Darko and his wife run a small men's clothing store; drummer Tser Htoo works for a radio station; and Darko's 23-year-old brother Jozeff is planning to become a sailor.

Darko says his father, a marine engineer, puts a lot of pressure on his sons - in a culture where family has a lot of influence. The musician managed to go his own path, but against his father's will. Now he's concerned about his losing brother. There aren't many musicians in Yangon, the capital, who can match Side Effect's style, but Darko says he understands that his brother has to find a way to earn money.

In August of this year, the country's censorship laws were suspended. That has a practical impact on the band, which used to have to submit their song texts to the state censorship authority.

Even though most of their lyrics deal with the depressing reality of everyday life, the authorities often removed passages, like one line that talked about buying a cinema ticket on the black market. That may be common practice in Yangon, but it doesn't represent the image of the perfect society which the military government wanted to protect.

"We are now in danger, actually," said Darko. "There is no censorship, but it is not totally free. If there is a problem with our lyri - DW


"Consequence of Punk: The Story of Burma’s Side Effect"

This story begins in Berlin. An indie band from Yangon had traveled to Berlin as a part of their European tour and before they got on stage, the film Yangon Calling, a documentary about punk rockers in Myanmar, was screened. A couple of my friends had helped the makers of the documentary in Myanmar and the crowd at the venue (called White Trash) loved every moment. It was a really impressive story and I tell everyone I know to watch the film because it is more surprising than it seems. Everything changed when the band, Side Effect, appeared on stage. After expressing his gratitude to the audience for being able to play in Berlin, vocalist Darko C launched into Side Effect’s first song of the night and it didn’t take long before I realized that I needed to speak to these guys.

After many emails were exchanged, I managed to call Darko when he got back to Yangon from Europe. The story of an indie band does not always compelling reading make, but in some ways being an indie band from Burma has always distorted who Side Effect really are. The narrative of Burma the nation overshadows the lives of its citizens and Side Effect is no different in that sense. Burma’s story and India’s story are strangely parallel, both were former British colonies and Burma was given independence one year after we were. Unfortunately, it all went Pete Tong for our neighbours to the east because the Burmese Army, led by General Ne Win, overthrew the incumbent Burmese government and imposed new socialist ideas on the young nation in March of 1962. The Burmese Army’s new approach was called the “Burmese Way To Socialism” and was dictated by strange superstitions (such as all currency denominations getting changed to 45 and 90 while concurrently declaring the old currency to be redundant, which meant that people without bank accounts but paper money were effectively flat broke). It is against this backdrop that over a dozen separatist and insurgent groups formed over the last three decades which has torn the country apart in a brutal civil war. Finally, in 2012 a relatively stable and democratically-elected government has been recognized by the UN and other international bodies, but the old problems refuse to die with thousands getting slaughtered through various riots between the Muslim minority and Buddhist majority. It is against this now more “settled” backdrop that Side Effect is looking to make their best music.
Side Effect started out in 2004 when Darko C, a student of the University of Foreign Languages in Yangon wanted to start a band with two of his friends. This band didn’t last too long and when his friends left the band, Darko looked to his brother, Jozeff to join him. Jozeff K started out playing bass guitar and soon they added energetic drummer Tser Htoo to their lineup. Jozeff moved to guitar and soon after that the band looked to refine their sound. “Tser Htoo, my brother and I worked really hard on finding our sound because we have so much in common. The problem is now that my brother has had to leave the band and work as a sailor because my father put pressure on him. I don’t think he’ll be coming back to the band,” explained Darko C from his apartment in Yangon.

It was still much too difficult to picture Side Effect as the lone indie band in country and Darko soon told me more about what the Burmese live music scene was like. As you can imagine, indie rock is a fairly new scene in Burma and the entire concept is very much in its nascent stage. A majority of Burmese people are not attracted to Western music and most people get their fix of music over the radio, claims Darko. This attitude of being fed music clearly bothers Darko who is not at all pleased with his countrymen’s disposition of not supporting emerging local artists. “In Myanmar, nobody is very curious about new music. We feel like outsiders in Myanmar but it was the opposite when we went to Europe. In Europe, people love our music and we don’t understand why they like us so much! Here in Yangon, being part of an indie band is not a cool thing. People don’t really care about you but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any bands making music. Our band liked the story of the Ramones and how they played CBGB all the time before they got famous and that story moved me. I don’t think there are many other indie bands like us out there because most of them are cover bands and they play all kinds of genres like metal, rock and even pop-punk like Green Day. These bands have a lot more gigs and audiences than us but they don’t know too much about music either. One of the guys who organizes a big music festival in the park in Yangon asked me what kind of music Side Effect played and told him that we played ‘indie rock’. He asked me if we used sitars and stuff but I had to explain that ‘indie rock’ was not rock music from India!”
Like any underdog story, a few moments of inspiration and a few pioneering figures were enough to lift Side Effect up from the negativity - The NH7 Radio


"Punk band adopts DIY approach to gigs"

SEVEN years ago punk band Side Effect switched on their amps and picked up their guitars for the first time. But the road to fame is tough, especially in Yangon, where even securing gigs is a major hurdle.

“Although we put the band together and started creating music in 2004, we’ve barely had the chance to perform at big concerts. We normally only get the chance to perform twice a year,” said vocalist and guitarist Darko.

To solve this problem, the band has resorted to organising its own gigs, the most recent of which was held on February 12 at Club 369 in downtown Yangon.

“Our band hasn’t had many offers to perform at concerts, perhaps organisers don’t like our music. So we started thinking about ways to show-off our music to people and came up with the idea of holding smaller events,” said the 28-year-old.

“It’s also a good way to figure out what kind of response we’ll get from the audience and we can see our real fans too,” he added.

Also on the billing for the 369 gig were punk supremos Big Bag.

“It doesn’t matter whether the event is big or small, what’s important is the quality,” said Han Htoo Lwin, otherwise known as Kyar Pauk, the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Big Bag.

Although the band is more accustomed to playing large gigs at Kandawgyi Park and Mya Yeik Nyo, Han Htoo Lwin says that smaller gigs offer musicians a greater freedom to experiment.

“It’s only as part of this kind of event that what we can do whatever we want. At our gigs we can’t do that because we’ve taken money from the audience whether directly or indirectly, so we have more of a responsibility to give back our best,” he said. - Myanmar Times


"Punk band adopts DIY approach to gigs"

SEVEN years ago punk band Side Effect switched on their amps and picked up their guitars for the first time. But the road to fame is tough, especially in Yangon, where even securing gigs is a major hurdle.

“Although we put the band together and started creating music in 2004, we’ve barely had the chance to perform at big concerts. We normally only get the chance to perform twice a year,” said vocalist and guitarist Darko.

To solve this problem, the band has resorted to organising its own gigs, the most recent of which was held on February 12 at Club 369 in downtown Yangon.

“Our band hasn’t had many offers to perform at concerts, perhaps organisers don’t like our music. So we started thinking about ways to show-off our music to people and came up with the idea of holding smaller events,” said the 28-year-old.

“It’s also a good way to figure out what kind of response we’ll get from the audience and we can see our real fans too,” he added.

Also on the billing for the 369 gig were punk supremos Big Bag.

“It doesn’t matter whether the event is big or small, what’s important is the quality,” said Han Htoo Lwin, otherwise known as Kyar Pauk, the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Big Bag.

Although the band is more accustomed to playing large gigs at Kandawgyi Park and Mya Yeik Nyo, Han Htoo Lwin says that smaller gigs offer musicians a greater freedom to experiment.

“It’s only as part of this kind of event that what we can do whatever we want. At our gigs we can’t do that because we’ve taken money from the audience whether directly or indirectly, so we have more of a responsibility to give back our best,” he said. - Myanmar Times


"Myanmar indie band plays concert in Bali"

YANGON-BASED indie rock band Side Effect played their first overseas concert last weekend in Bali, Indonesia, as part of the three-week ASEAN Fair 2011 music festival, which ends on November 23.

Before the band departed Yangon on November 18, vocalist and guitarist Darko said they would play a 45-minute set at the festival on November 20.

“I don’t know how the organisers of the music festival found out about our band, but they invited us by sending a message on Facebook,” Darko said.

“They originally invited us to perform on November 4 or 5 but I don’t use the internet very often so I didn’t see the message until it was too late. But they changed the schedule and arranged for us to perform on November 20 instead.”

In the weeks leading up to their departure, band members rehearsed 12 original songs to play in Bali, he said.

“We will perform three English-language songs and the rest will be Myanmar songs. We’re focusing on songs in our own language because we were invited as a Myanmar indie rock band to showcase music from our own country,” Darko said.

He said the band was excited to fulfil their dream of playing in another country, and had practiced harder than ever to ensure that the audience would appreciate their music.

“Normally, we rehearse once a week. When we have a local concert we practice twice a week. But for this show we rehearsed nearly every day, even though we already knew the songs very well,” Darko said.

He added that the band members were especially interested to see how the audience would react to their Myanmar songs.

“Music is a universal language that everyone can feel, so we’re interested to see the reaction we get even if the audience can’t understand the lyrics,” he said.

Although Side Effect was founded in 2004, they have not yet released a solo album. To rectify this situation, the band last week established a website (www.indiegogo.com/SideEffectMyanmar) with the aim of raising funds in support of releasing an album early next year, buying some equipment and putting on more live shows.

Depending on their contribution, donors can receive perks such as t-shirts as well as the online link to download the new album once it’s released.

“We don’t want to compromise our ideals just because we don’t have enough money. We only want to do what we believe in, so we don’t want to rely on anyone who will try to change our music or our approach,” Darko said, explaining the reason for the fundraising campaign.

“This is something new for us,” he added. “Myanmar does not have a tradition of fundraising for music bands, so we don’t know how it will work out.” - Myanmar Times


"Sanctions Block Burmese Rock Band Side Effect"

Scanning recent messages on the Burmese band Side Effect’s Twitter feed gives some sense for what it’s like to be a punk rocker in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city.

One from the beginning of January reads “Twitter is still new for us ‘coz they had banned it for a long time.” Later that day: “Electricity went off again! Damn!” A few weeks after that: “Buddhism helps us a lot with how to use Internet patiently. 99 times slower than the connection in your country.”

Sluggish Internet and spotty electricity are two of the hurdles Side Effect faces in trying to get their music heard. Here’s another: Presidential Executive Order 13,310. That’s one of the U.S. sanctions against Myanmar.

Side Effect was raising money on IndieGoGo—a crowd-sourced fundraising site. They’d raised almost $3,000 before IndieGoGo froze their account and refunded the money to the donors. They were concerned that sanctions would block distribution of the money.

“We are not working with the government,” says Darko C., Side Effect’s singer and guitarist, “We are just a group of young people who are trying to rock Yangon, and Burma.”

The band members get their rock from some familiar sources: they cite Kurt Cobain as a huge influence, and love groups like The Strokes, The White Stripes, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The band’s drummer, Tser Htoo, had a musical upbringing that was a little less rock: he sang tenor in his mom’s church choir. Now he counts the drummers from Blink 182 and Korn among his influences.

The subjects of Side Effect’s songs also take on some traditional rock themes. One is titled “Ye Wai Wai.” “That means getting drunk,” explains Darko. He wrote the song six years ago, right after he finished college. The band didn’t have money for rehearsal space, or even a drink.

“We were so down; we were so down. So the best thing that I can do is to go to a friend who can buy me a drink,” he says.

The lyrics of another song, called “Film,” deal with ladies. They talk about taking a date to the movies; Darko says that’s one of the only ways to get away from the watchful eyes of uptight adults in Yangon.

The band wants to put both of these songs out on an album—that’s one of the things they were going to use the IndieGoGo money for. Since that disappeared, they’ve been putting appeals out elsewhere, and have re-raised about $500.

And they’re getting help from some friends. The Toronto-based duo Handsome Furs is asking its fans to support Side Effect. The bands spent a week hanging out when the Canadians played Yangon in 2010. Dan Boeckner of the Handsome Furs says he was blown away by the heroic lengths Side Effect went to to play music.

“I was just so inspired by meeting those guys,” Boeckner says. “We have friends in bands and there’s a lot of complaining about being on tour and how the economy is getting worse and it’s hard to be an artist and etc. etc. And then I got to Myanmar and met these guys and was like…my friends in the artistic community are giant babies compared to these guys.”

Handsome Furs wrote the song “Serve the People” about Myanmar, and dedicated it to the guys in Side Effect. The song became an anthem of sorts for Occupy Wall Street and for G20 protests in Toronto, but Boeckner says he’s most proud of the fact that it played on a Yangon radio station.

Side Effect returned the favor, recording a version of the Handsome Furs song “Radio Kaliningrad.”

Recently, Myanmar’s gotten international attention for taking some steps towards reform. Darko said he didn’t think life had changed very much yet for ordinary people in Yangon. One thing did occur to him though.

“Before, I wouldn’t be dare to talk to you like this,” he said during our interview. “After this program is online, the government guy will be knock on the door—knock-knock-knock—and ‘Can I ask you a question, can you come with us for a moment?’ And then you know like [snaps] 45-years sentence. That could happen to us. But now, you know, we don’t really feel that fear.”

The E.U. and the U.S. have been talking about ending sanctions, and have already lifted some restrictions. Side Effect hopes that more bands will come to play in Yangon, and that, soon, they can get the money together to release their first album. - Public Radio International's (PRI) The World


"Sanctions Block Burmese Rock Band Side Effect"

Scanning recent messages on the Burmese band Side Effect’s Twitter feed gives some sense for what it’s like to be a punk rocker in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city.

One from the beginning of January reads “Twitter is still new for us ‘coz they had banned it for a long time.” Later that day: “Electricity went off again! Damn!” A few weeks after that: “Buddhism helps us a lot with how to use Internet patiently. 99 times slower than the connection in your country.”

Sluggish Internet and spotty electricity are two of the hurdles Side Effect faces in trying to get their music heard. Here’s another: Presidential Executive Order 13,310. That’s one of the U.S. sanctions against Myanmar.

Side Effect was raising money on IndieGoGo—a crowd-sourced fundraising site. They’d raised almost $3,000 before IndieGoGo froze their account and refunded the money to the donors. They were concerned that sanctions would block distribution of the money.

“We are not working with the government,” says Darko C., Side Effect’s singer and guitarist, “We are just a group of young people who are trying to rock Yangon, and Burma.”

The band members get their rock from some familiar sources: they cite Kurt Cobain as a huge influence, and love groups like The Strokes, The White Stripes, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The band’s drummer, Tser Htoo, had a musical upbringing that was a little less rock: he sang tenor in his mom’s church choir. Now he counts the drummers from Blink 182 and Korn among his influences.

The subjects of Side Effect’s songs also take on some traditional rock themes. One is titled “Ye Wai Wai.” “That means getting drunk,” explains Darko. He wrote the song six years ago, right after he finished college. The band didn’t have money for rehearsal space, or even a drink.

“We were so down; we were so down. So the best thing that I can do is to go to a friend who can buy me a drink,” he says.

The lyrics of another song, called “Film,” deal with ladies. They talk about taking a date to the movies; Darko says that’s one of the only ways to get away from the watchful eyes of uptight adults in Yangon.

The band wants to put both of these songs out on an album—that’s one of the things they were going to use the IndieGoGo money for. Since that disappeared, they’ve been putting appeals out elsewhere, and have re-raised about $500.

And they’re getting help from some friends. The Toronto-based duo Handsome Furs is asking its fans to support Side Effect. The bands spent a week hanging out when the Canadians played Yangon in 2010. Dan Boeckner of the Handsome Furs says he was blown away by the heroic lengths Side Effect went to to play music.

“I was just so inspired by meeting those guys,” Boeckner says. “We have friends in bands and there’s a lot of complaining about being on tour and how the economy is getting worse and it’s hard to be an artist and etc. etc. And then I got to Myanmar and met these guys and was like…my friends in the artistic community are giant babies compared to these guys.”

Handsome Furs wrote the song “Serve the People” about Myanmar, and dedicated it to the guys in Side Effect. The song became an anthem of sorts for Occupy Wall Street and for G20 protests in Toronto, but Boeckner says he’s most proud of the fact that it played on a Yangon radio station.

Side Effect returned the favor, recording a version of the Handsome Furs song “Radio Kaliningrad.”

Recently, Myanmar’s gotten international attention for taking some steps towards reform. Darko said he didn’t think life had changed very much yet for ordinary people in Yangon. One thing did occur to him though.

“Before, I wouldn’t be dare to talk to you like this,” he said during our interview. “After this program is online, the government guy will be knock on the door—knock-knock-knock—and ‘Can I ask you a question, can you come with us for a moment?’ And then you know like [snaps] 45-years sentence. That could happen to us. But now, you know, we don’t really feel that fear.”

The E.U. and the U.S. have been talking about ending sanctions, and have already lifted some restrictions. Side Effect hopes that more bands will come to play in Yangon, and that, soon, they can get the money together to release their first album. - Public Radio International's (PRI) The World


"Sanctions Put Rock Band in Hard Place - Myanmar's Side Effect Raised Funds Online for Debut Album, but U.S. Curbs Pulled Plug"

By JAMES HOOKWAY

YANGON, Myanmar—As the volume rises inside Myanmar for the U.S. and Europe to lift strict sanctions, some noise is also coming from an unlikely quarter: a local underground rock band.

Garage rockers Side Effect took to the Internet last year to rustle up enough money to release their debut album without relying on the conservative record labels that dominate the music scene here among the crumbling, mildewed buildings of Myanmar's commercial and artistic hub.

Inspired by the do-it-yourself drive of the 1970s punk-rock movement and the success of modern, Internet-savvy groups such as Britain's Arctic Monkeys, who used the Web to build a large following before even signing a recording contract, the band raised more than $2,000 in donations through California-based fund-raising site IndieGoGo, which provides a platform for film students, aspiring athletes and the like to generate funds they need to follow their dreams.

In January, though, IndieGoGo refunded donors from the U.S. and elsewhere their money, leaving the band high and dry. The reason: The fund-raising site couldn't send the band the money or else risk breaking U.S. sanctions on Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"Frankly, I didn't think those sanctions would affect normal people like us," said Darko C., the band's 30-year-old singer and guitarist. "We're just a group of indie rockers trying to release our debut record. The sanctions ruined our gateway to rock the world."

His frustration reflects the problems many Myanmar businesses are facing as the country's leaders steadily build on a series of political and economic overhauls designed to bring this former military dictatorship into the mainstream of Asia's booming economies. Transactions here are largely based in cash and require businesspeople and even ordinary citizens to lug around unwieldy bales of Myanmar kyats—the unofficial exchange rate: about 775 kyats per dollar.

The commercial capital Yangon, meanwhile, is only just beginning to see its first automated-teller machines thanks in part to the county's international isolation.

Then there are the sanctions themselves. Government advisers say that rather than encouraging overhauls, they pushed Myanmar into an unhealthy dependence on countries that didn't care about the human-rights situation, especially China. "This wasn't a good situation for us," said a government adviser, Nay Zin Latt.

Many political leaders here, including members of opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, now believe Myanmar, after handing control to a civilian government and launching a program to release political prisoners, has done enough for Washington and Brussels to drop sanctions.

The European Union last month agreed to roll back some sanctions against Myanmar, suspending visa bans against senior government officials. Western governments, though, are pressing for more overhauls before ending sanctions, now a powerful lever after Myanmar's new government began to wean itself off Chinese investment.

During a landmark visit to Myanmar late last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that even one political prisoner was one too many. Sen. John McCain said last month that the U.S. should wait until at least April, when Ms. Suu Kyi runs for Parliament in a special election, before taking further action.

"Let's not rush into judgments we may regret later on," said Sen. McCain, an influential figure in helping set the U.S.'s policy of enticing Myanmar and other Asian countries out from China's shadow.

What riles Darko C. and other people in Myanmar most is that the sanctions have done relatively little to harm the people they supposedly target: Top army leaders and the powerful tycoons who got rich during the old military regime.

Some local business magnates specifically named on a U.S. sanctions list, such as Zaw Zaw and Tay Za, concede that sanctions actually helped grow their businesses because they prevented foreign firms competing for local contracts. Now that President Thein Sein is accelerating the pace of change, Mr. Zaw Zaw in particular says he is reconfiguring his businesses in order to order to lure foreign investors if sanctions are eventually relaxed.

Now Side Effect is wondering whether to wait for sanctions to be dropped in their entirety before trying to put out its debut record, "Rainy Night Dreams."

Darko C.—who uses his stage name— was inspired to pick up a guitar after hearing Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's energetic, ragged playing. The band's songs are also reminiscent of New York City's the Strokes, and are a departure from the stadium-rocking ballads or melodic all-girl bands that usually sell in Myanmar.

"That's the sound people expect, and it's hard to break through by writing our own songs about our own lives," Darko C. said.

That means raising funds for the new record themselves—from overseas if need be— is an important principle for the band. - Wall Street Journal


Discography

-Debut LP 'Rainy Night Dreams was independently released in 2012.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rainy-night-dreams/id524283216

-Latest EP, The Change was released by German indie label, All Tunes. http://bit.ly/1fXKYzS

-Our tracks have been played on local radio stations in Myanmar such as CherryFM, Mandalay FM and international ones such as NPR + PRI in the U.S. and German radio station Flux FM and across the world...

-Plus, the best four tracks from our debut are used in Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown (Season 1 Episode 1: Myanmar) appearing in the show along with him.

Photos

Bio

Side Effect is the most energetic and invigorating indie band from Burma/Myanmar. Against a great deal of political and economic challenges, Side Effect has been rocking, irrepressibly, since 2004.

The band has cultivated an indie sound that combines their poetic Burmese lyrics with their musical roots in punk, and mixes them with elements of garage rock, power pop, and back-to- the-basics rocknroll, in a manner similar to bands like The Strokes and The Libertines.

The bands music draws inspiration from everyday life in Yangon and the current political shifts in Myanmar. The recent demolishing of music censorship has given them the ability to become more socio-political. The bands songs embody the passionate resilience of youth in Myanmar; Tser Htoo, the bands self-taught drummer, practiced by hitting on piles of books until the day he could go to the studio to play a real drum set - until he got one as a present during their first time to play SXSW in 2013 .

While Myanmar has only recently opened up its doors after being closed for 50 years, Side Effect are ready to take on the world...

Band Members