Make simple music that you can play live: Lister Serum

By MUHUYUPE SORANZI
IN this nation of  different tribes and more than 800 languages, one unifying factor that makes us think Papua New Guinean is our music. Local music cuts across the differing groups with differing tastes and local artists are, more than not, embraced by all peoples.
Some of these musicians who bring music to us are well known local greats while the new, up-and-coming talents are also have their fan base.
Among the list of greats is Lister Serum who has been in the industry for 20 years already.
Lister’s is a household name that most Papua New Guineans would have heard of whether they love his music or not. ho has been in the industry for over 20 years.
He is is softly spoken and is very much a semblance of a typical Morobean. In music, he is known for his high pitch and never changing voice that gets people from all walks of life and all ages to start singing along.
While the style of music in PNG is rapidly changing, Lister continues to play his simple, yet unique music which blends the string band days of old with touches of the new and is known for introducing new Tok Pisin slangs in his songs, which have changed street talk around the country.
Born on December 31, 1969, Lister is the eldest son of Serum, from Sasavaren village in Nabak LLG, Nawaeb District. His mother Awayame is from Kumalu village in Mumeng LLG, Bulolo District.
He has six other siblings, five female and a brother named Amon, who is also a musician. Lister is married and has seven children.

Education
Lister grew up spending his childhood in Aseki, in Menyamya District, Morobe. His father was a DAL Officer there. He completed grades 1 to 6 at Aseki community school.
Being one of the brighter pupils in his class, he was selected to Bumayong Lutheran High School in Lae in 1982. He left school before finishing grade 8. In 1984, he undertook trade courses at Finschhafen Vocational Centre.
During his time at Finschhafen, he found himself in the same class as Bongas Gango who later became the lead vocalist of Rex Band, a well-known band from Morobe, which, by the way, toured and performed in Japan sometime in the 1990s.

Music career
Lister’s interest and passion for music goes back to his early childhood at Aseki where he played ukulele for a local string band.
In his teens in Finschhafen, he became a close friend of Bongas and accompanied him and his Gagidu station boy band (Rex Band) to play string band music in the nearby villages. Though Lister was not an active member of the band, the experience fired his interest in music even more.
At the completion of his studies at the vocational centre in 1985, he returned home to Kumalu where he and some friends from his mother’s village formed a band called Didi Mates. He played bass guitar.
Lister later left Didi Mates to join a band called KKG Band in Lae and it was there that Lister came to meet popular musicians from Madang such as the legendary late Kales Gadegas and Demas Saul.
He even performed alongside them as lead guitarist and back-up vocalist.
His ever-growing love of music brought him to Port Moresby in search of a recording studio in the early ’90s. It was then that he bumped into another aspiring Morobean musician, now also a great in PNG music Gayat Lele who is commonly known as K-Dumen.  Gayat Lele introduced him to Chin H Meen Super-Sound Studios.
Enlisting a number of friends from the Morobe 9 Mile Block, Lister formed a band called Connections of Lae and recorded their first album with the CHM Super-Sound Studios.
The release of the band’s first album in 1996 took PNG by storm with favourites such as, 16 x 4 and Suspect Tasol, among others.
Prior to the release of Connections of Lae’s first album, which was recorded and still under production, Lister was featured by K-Dumen who was recording under the Pacific Gold Studio (PGS). Featured with K-Dumen, he sang Taurama Beach, which was a hit for K-Dumen.
That was the song that virtually launched Lister’s career.
When Taurama Beach hit the airwaves of PNG, the late John Wong, a music engineer with PGS at that time realised the potential Lister had and offered to record him.
Lister accepted and recorded his first solo album titled Shadow of Didi One, under the PGS label.
Shadow of Didi is a throwback to his first band in Bulolo. His first solo album was a hit with now famous songs such as, Alfie, How bai you save and Mama. How bai you save also hit the airwaves in the other Pacific Islands countries.
His second album under the PGS label was titled, Shadow of Didi Two, which was done under the supervision of none other than King of Pacific Music, Patti Potts Doi, who was the sound engineer.
Lister is among few musicians in PNG to record with two major music studios, PGS and CHM. In the early 2000s, Lister joined and recorded with CHM where he released his first album with them titled 50,000. At that time, he was already popular.
He continues to record under the CHM Supersound studio to this date and has released seven albums so far.
His eighth album titled Vava will be released soon. Vava is grasshopper in his Kumalu language of Bulolo.
Lister has sung various songs in different languages from all regions of the country, all styled to sound as though he were singing in his mother tongue. One of his main fan bases is the highlands where he frequently travels to for provincial shows and other organised activities.
He has featured with other music artists in the likes of Dadigii (Armstrong Gomara), Jessie Joe and Betty Toea. He has never considered formal employment but has made a living through music.

Piracy
Lister is against music piracy. He says it has greatly affected local Papua New Guinean artists.  He urged the government to set up laws to regulate against piracy so it can save musicians like himself who survive on music for their daily living.
He said piracy has greatly affected him with the little income he previously earned through cassette sales has dwindled to almost nothing.
The only means through which he survives as a musician is through live performances where he is hired by individuals, organisations or groups to perform at gatherings around the country.
With PNGs music industry changing due to the increase in knowledge and technologies, Lister has some advice for the new and upcoming musicians.
“My little bit of advice to the upcoming musicians is to make music in as simple a way as possible so that you can perform it live when you need to.
“Don’t try to make music that sounds so complicated that you cannot perform it live.
“I am not trying to discourage you young ones out there but am only stating a problem that I have witnessed as a long -time performer.”