Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/685221
14 THE Eurovision Song Contest has come and gone, leaving the usual trail of controversy in its wake. Once again, high expectations for Ira Losco's entry 'Walk On Water' foundered in the cold light of the geo-political realities that under- pin this annual festival. And for the umpteenth time, conspiracy theories came oozing out of the woodwork, claiming (among other things) that the Labour govern- ment had seized on Eurovision fe- ver to engineer a 'feel-good factor'; that would propel it to victory in an early election. Oh, and Ira Losco herself was dis- missed as a 'bitch' by at least one of the people peddling the above- mentioned conspiracy theory. Naturally, this only helped to make this year's Eurovision Song Contest that much more enter- taining… at least, to those among us who enjoy the spectacle from afar. To those actually involved in Ira Losco's participation, however, all the extra attention may have seemed unnecessary. Howard Keith Debono, of Jagged Edge studios, has been Ira's man- ager for the past 14 years. It seems natural to ask him what he him- self thought of the now infamous 'bitch' comment by Times of Malta blogger Andrew Borg Cardona. What was his own reaction at the time? "I laughed," comes the instant reply, "because if music really had that kind of political power, then we can easily say from now that music could topple a government. What these comments suggest is that two people – Joseph Calleja and Ira Losco – can between them topple a government. I don't be- lieve that at all. You'd have to be crazy to think that. But this is the message going out. Absurd, if you ask me…" Absurd, but not entirely surpris- ing. Howard points out that Mal- ta's Eurovision entries invariably attract controversy… it is part of a mindset he will go on to describe in some detail. "Having said this I'll admit I was a bit taken aback by Andrew's com- ment. He apologised immediately, so he must have realised it was in bad taste. But it wasn't just that. People focused on the word 'bitch'. What I focused on was something else – it was the weight this is be- ing given in the political world, but also the fact that it was meant to be 'private'. Why is that any different? If this is in our inner thought, that is what our mindset is, regardless of whether it's public or private. Ultimately, this is just a reflection of a generation of people, and how they think. That's why I laughed. Seriously? That's how these people think…?" But couldn't the incident also be a reflection of the disproportionate attention commanded by the Eu- rovision Song Contest as a whole? Just for instance: it was recently pointed out that Malta, per capita, has considerably more Metal bands than most other European coun- tries – the only European country with more is Norway: the European capital of metal by some distance. Yet all we ever seem to focus on is a competition that isn't even highly regarded for its musical output… "I think many people don't realise that, for such a small country, the proportion of artists, musicians, studios – you name it, related to music – is ridiculously high in Malta. I get a hands-on indication of this, through the number of re- quests I get from people wanting to record. We have to refuse 90% of the requests. Musical subcul- tures have always been there: I call it the garage culture, going back to the days of Tigne. I think it became more visible through the social me- dia, but it isn't new. As for metal bands, the number has always been high. It doesn't surprise me, either. A local metal act will get to play, what, five or six gigs a year locally? So they have to be on the lookout for international events. This al- ready puts them in the right frame of mind: it's a case of, 'this is the platform we have, this is what we have to deal with'…" However Howard is cautious not to conflate the number of bands with the musical standards across the board. "I would say the numbers are high, but when it comes to quality – in any genre, not just metal: rock, blues, ska, reggae, punk… I say this from a managerial perspective, but at industry level you will be left with very few who can pull it off. It requires personality, commitment, a large repertoire… and a lot of other things. You have to back up claims with stats and facts. Reviews in international magazines, for in- stance. So I wouldn't say we have a lot of talent in Malta. We have a lot of numbers. I think it might also be a reflection of small island men- tality. Somehow, in a small society music is one way of voicing your own identity. Iceland is not too different from us in this respect. They have a lot of numbers, too. The difference is that their musical standard is higher than ours, in my opinion. Perhaps they are better taught…" But this underscores a real- ity many in the local musical scene complain about. The subcultures we are talking about – be they metal, indie, punk, post-punk or whatnot – are arguably more suc- cessful, within their own humble aspirations, than Malta has been in its entire history of Eurovision participation. Yet while we seem to pump considerable amounts of money into the latter, the former is left to its own devices… to sink or swim, as it were. This sentiment already existed, and was clearly inflamed when Ira Losco called on artists "not to snub the Eurovision…" One reaction came from musician Oliver Dega- briele, who complained that the culture Eurovision forms part of – alongside The X-Factor, the Voice, Britain's Got Talent – have distort- ed perceptions of musical culture. To paraphrase his comment, these largescale glitzy TV events create the impression that success in the music world can be boiled down to a simple lottery… ignoring all the other dimensions, including musical education and climbing through the ranks of the live music circuit. "I agree with Oliver's assess- ment – he's a friend of mine, and we speak the same language in a lot of spheres – however, I also believe Ira's quote was taken out of context. What Ira Losco said in that interview was 'don't snub Eurovision… but there are other things you should be doing'. That is crucial to the whole equation. One of the 'other things' is musi- cal education. Another is getting your hands dirty. When Ira was 15 she sang backing vocals for a metal band, and even contributed to a studio recording. That's getting to know the ropes, familiarising your- self with the industry structure. On this point, I agree with Oliver: un- fortunately a lot of people do come to the pop world from the X-factor angle. They think that success in this world is all down to winning a competition. That is complete rub- bish… The real test is not whether one achieves success, but how long it lasts. "A long-standing career in- volves more factors. Can you build a repertoire? Can you engage an audience? Can you sustain interest from the audience you've built over the years? You have to pay your dues before you get to the stage where you can do other things. This, I think, is the point Oliver is making here. As someone who has studied music, it seems unfair to him that others might be fast- tracked to fame. But we also know that, if fame does come from some- thing like Eurovision or Britain's Got Talent… it won't last. What Ira was saying is that shows like Euro- vision are also part of the circuit. It would be wrong to immerse your- self totally in that bubble, and never look at anything else. But it would be just as wrong to ignore or dis- miss Eurovision altogether…" On another level, Howard Keith also points out that the Eurovision itself has changed over the years, and can no longer be ignored or resisted by the international music industry. "I myself was originally one of the people who advocated that Eurovi- sion is taboo: who advised my cli- ents not to go there. When I started to manage Ira 14 years ago I asked her where she wanted to go with her career. She said she wanted to break into the industry, and I pitched her to record labels such as Universal, and the response at the time: 'no, we can't touch anyone associated with Eurovision'. That was the sort of stigma attached to it back then… Things however started changing about five years ago. "Let's be frank, it was absolute rubbish before. I saw all this starting to change, however. When Loreen won with 'Euphoria', and I saw her at the MTV awards… I said, if MTV are endorsing this, there must be something chang- ing behind the scenes. Then I saw the industry endorsing it, too. Still, that's not what I cared about. I started taking notice last year, when there were about 10 songs in the finals that – though maybe not everyone's cup of tea – I thought would lend themselves well to the typical pop radio playlist. This had never been the case before …" Meanwhile, endorsements con- tinued apace. "Around last Feb- ruary, I told a friend that the one Interview By Raphael Vassallo maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 MAY 2016 It would be wrong to immerse yourself totally in that bubble, and never look at anything else. But it would be just as wrong to ignore or dismiss Eurovision altogether Ultimately, this is just a reflection of a generation of people, and how they think. That's why I laughed. Seriously? That's how these people think? EUROVISION BUBBLE 'BITCH' COMMENT Is there life after Eurovision?