Hands Percussion founder Bernard Goh believes love will find a way

MALAYSIANSKINI | It has been 25 years since Bernard Goh founded Hands Percussion. It is now considered one of the top local percussion groups for its combination of live music and well-choreographed movements that have not only mesmerised audiences in Malaysia but also across the world.

Goh (above), 51, is also the artistic director of this percussion group and has been active in the local music and live performance scene as a performer, music director, and artistic director since 1998.

His ensemble had, since 2005, performed at various international art festivals and events and bagged several accolades, including the Boh Cameronian Awards in 2003 for Best Music & Sound Design for the Theatre category (Goh and Deborah Tee). In 2011 and 2012, Goh won the “Best Musical Direction” for Hands’ production of ‘Dreams in November’ and ‘Knocking’ at 8th and 9th Boh Cameronian Arts Awards, respectively.

The art scene took a huge hit during the pandemic, and Hands was not spared. Goh tried hard to hold his team together but from nine full-time drummers, he now only has four.

Goh said during the first lockdown, he stayed with his parents in Seremban. For the two and a half months that followed, he conducted meetings on Zoom.

“We were optimistic, we thought we would be able to get back on our feet quickly,” recalled Goh during an interview with Malaysiakini.

However, they ended up suffering more as they had tours scheduled in the US. Their musical instruments were already sent ahead and airline tickets were all purchased.

They then decided to try carrying out their activities online, but many dropped out as a result.

Goh jokingly said: “2020 was a very memorable year for us.”

Earning a living elsewhere

Then 2021 rolled in, and the second lockdown happened, and some of his team had to leave to earn a living elsewhere. Goh is now left with four full-time drummers and 20 part-timers.

He said five previous full-timers now have their own full-time jobs and can only perform occasionally due to their new commitments.

Because of that, he has resorted to training part-timers. Once things started opening up, he would train two people in the studio at the time, and Covid-19 SOPs were constantly observed.

“Now, I am planning for next year,” said Goh, who is keen to bring Hands Percussion to new heights.

Currently, Hands’ oldest percussionist is 41 years old, while the youngest is 25.

“He was just born when I formed Hands Percussion,” Goh laughed.

He said that everyone was forced to be creative during the pandemic, but he did not want his team to be fixated on the pandemic only.

“As Hands Percussion, we need to drum up the spirit, we need to give people hope.”

For their first project, their online participants were kids drumming on their sofa, chairs, and tables.

“We edited it put it up on our website and said ‘you can drum anywhere’.”

Goh said he has a good team, and he relies on younger and more tech-savvy members to carry out his vision.

“The pandemic taught us not to be afraid to change. At some point, we are forced out of our comfort zone,” he said.

Goh had asked himself how he was going to survive, especially since Hands did not receive any government assistance amid the pandemic.

“I am Sagittarius, so I usually just fire away. Now I ask myself if this is the path I want to take. Is this the decision I want to make, and how much money do I have in the bank? You can ask a videographer to do something, but how are you going to pay?”

Goh refers to the lockdowns as a growing-up process for everyone, including drummers who wanted to stick with hands but were pressured by family to find a job that pays them regularly.

He was at a loss for words to make them stay on because of the uncertainty of the situation.

“I am lucky enough to have a group that could walk along with me, but I allow them to do other stuff. As for me, I just concentrated on how to change the art and how to change the direction of the group.”

So, essentially, he learned how to plan ahead, and now they have several performances lined up.  

“Our upcoming concert is called ‘Thunder Kaleidoscope VI Drumming Festival’. Nothing to do with ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’,” Goh laughed. Thunder will be performed from Oct 6 to Oct 9 at Istana Budaya.

A show close to his heart

In December, they will have a brand new show. The working title is ‘House of Drums’, but Goh wants to change it into something better.

“This show will be meaningful for me. You know we Chinese have Hakka, Teochew, Hokkien, Cantonese’ and so on. My great-grandpa came from a village in China that was famous for its bug drums. I sometimes wonder if drumming is in my blood. What I want to do is turn it into something that is truly Malaysian,” said Goh.

A third-generation Malaysian, Goh (who is of Teochew descent) wants to share some of his roots and combine them with other musical elements in Malaysia, such as working with a Kelantanese gendang player.

“The main focus is you can create something new from traditional music. But you must be very familiar with traditional music, to begin with,” explained Goh.

He is aware that it is quite a challenge for his students. However, he said a few years ago, he invited a Burkina Faso drummer to teach them how to play djembe, and they had a show together featuring Chinese and African drums. In 2019, they learned Balinese gamelan from a master from Bali.

“Percussionists must be open-minded. Although the gamelan is very busy with so many elements such as gongs and cymbals, you will slowly find beauty in it. I just want this to be a trend in our local music scene.

“You need to add more local elements to your repertoire. Not everything must be about China. Now we are celebrating our 25th anniversary, and we are going to do something that represents Malaysia.

“I want to add Malaysian elements to our repertoire. I want the world to see the beauty of Malaysia.”

Busy with other projects

He is currently holding rehearsals for a  cultural festival involving four Chinese schools and travels back every weekend. “The students from the schools taking part are undertrained and lack rehearsals.”

This is mostly due to the pandemic and how things got pushed back as a result.

The show will be held on Sept 16. He said the music and dances would be inspired by the uniqueness of Negeri Sembilan.

Goh feels the arts are a soft power that can bring people together. At a recent Hari Raya Aidilfitri show in Gardens Mall, although the troupe was entirely made up of ethnic Chinese musicians, they performed Malay music and played instruments such as the Kelantanese gendang Emas. They were joined by Mat Din (Mohd Shafic Aminuddin Hussin) and his students.

Because everyone wore masks, except for Mat Din, who played the flute, people were not sure what race the musicians performing were.

He said one should not question why one performs with a person of another race or play another culture’s music. All that is important is that you enjoy doing it, and people enjoy seeing and listening to you.

Hands Percussions has gotten some funding of late from government-linked bodies such as Cendana. The Communications and Multimedia Ministry is also offering its support.

On top of that, Goh is also teaching the underprivileged.

Hands has a store selling merchandise at BBCC Lalaport. They are also revamping their website.

“We are on track. We are working very, very hard. The income is slowly coming in.

“Drumming can pull people together. I believe that I can train you until you are good enough to perform on stage in one month. Sometimes it is not about perfection. When a group of people get together and start beating drums, there is something that you can’t put into words.”

He is determined to put the bad days of the pandemic behind him and move on. He wants to bring in people from all levels of society to appreciate the work that Hands do.

“I love spreading love, especially to those I could never imagine I could reach out to.

“The most important thing is love. You still love your life, your work, and your passion. I believe that the arts can cure things. The arts can bring you to a very patient state of mind. I can’t give up. 

“At the end of the day, it is up to me what I want to do. I don’t want to waste these past 25 years thinking that I have chosen the wrong path. Since the time I started in 1997, I have never thought of making it big or earning money,” said Goh.

“I don’t blame anyone. I still love all the kids that left. I still keep in touch with them and ask them how they are doing.”

Every week, he gives them pep talks to lift morale because every week, he will hear of someone coming down with Covid-19 or someone who was in close contact.

“This is a new way of living. I have to adapt to it, I have to get used to it, and these may not be the right words, but sometimes I embrace it,” says Goh.

Malaysianskini is a series on Malaysians you should know.

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