Profit: Lock and loaded for success

by Ayu Musa Kamal

Ex-revolvers Freddie Fernandez on the road to the top.

The moment I stepped into his office, his phone rings non-stop and he apologised each time he has to pick up a call. That’s Freddie Fernandez for you, one wonders where he gets the time and energy to keep up with all his responsibilities. His daily chores involve being in charge of the biggest stars in Malaysia.

To some it may be a stroll in the park, but for a thinker like Fernandez, there’s always room for improvement.“I used to be quite involved in demonstrations during my university days,” said Fernandez who was quite reluctant to divulge this piece of information in the first place, but after a while continued to talk about his college days fondly.

The Johor born businessman and musician completed his Bachelor in Economics at University Malaya. “I loved college days, everything was so laidback and we ventured into a lot of things,” said Fernandez who thinks the current scenario at local colleges and universities are a bit dull and rigid.



“Please don’t get me wrong, I totally support the education system but maybe we should give the young ones some leniency in expressing themselves,” said Fernandez who used to keep long hair back in his college days.



“My uni days were great! We partied hard, but we also studied la ... ” said Fernandez trying to hide a hint of mischievous smile on his face.

“I turned out okay ... I think ... ,” said Fernandez jokingly. Of course he turned out okay. He is now the managing director of Betarecs Sdn Bhd, chief operating officer of Maestro Talent, he also heads the Malaysian Artistes’ Association, one of the pioneers in setting Malaysia’s very own Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) ... to name a few.

Not bad for a self-proclaimed university activist and demonstrator. Not bad at all. His days of standing at the Speaker’s Corner debating on sensitive issues continues, although the debates may not be the same things anymore, but the cause is still pretty much similar.

“My industry and career is something that is close to my heart, many may not realise this, but it does involve a lot of political strategies,” said Fernandez who thinks he will never be involved in politics.

“Haven’t really thought about it actually,” he said slightly amused with the question.Describing Fernandez as being musically inclined is more of an understatement.

Being the former keyboardist for the revolutionary Revolvers in the 70s, no wonder Fernandez is extremely passionate when it comes to anything that revolves around music. Earlier on in his career, Fernandez who started playing for the Revolvers after finishing his form six exams at St Johns Institution, earned the much needed experience any musician would crave for.

“The band was looking for a keyboardist at that time, I knew them even way before that because they were the backup band at our inter-school talent time contest,” reminisced Fernandez. However, Fernandez claims that a 5 year stint as a marketing officer with the Malaysian Timber Industry Board had taught him a thing or two.

“The job assisted me in forming the groundwork in business. I’ve always loved turning things into business, even when Revolvers came up with an album, I wanted it to be profitable for all of us,” said Fernandez.With that, its no surprise, Fernandez aspires to see those with talent be given guidance so that they will be able to channel their talent in the right avenue and to start nurturing them into people who can sell their talent and make profit out of it.

He believes that with proper exposure the local music scene will gain the recognition it deserves. “Piracy may be one of the contributing factor, but I believe that if you’re able to ‘sell’ your music the fans wouldn’t mind spending,” said Fernandez.

Dressed unpretentiously in a striped light coloured shirt and black pants and smiles ever so often, Fernandez who hangs out with the rich and famous is still the same guy who worked his way up when he was running a one man show producing jingles for ads.

“The business expanded gradually. Whereby, I started hiring and it became better, until I ventured into musical programmes,” said Fernandez resulting in the popular show Muzik TV which was hosted by accentric Seha of the band Freedom.

The show was a success and the rest is history, Fernandez became more and more recognised, giving him a bigger avenue to express his feelings and fight for those in the industry.

“I set up Karyawan in 2000. It was because I saw too many fragmented associations, so I figured why don’t I form one where everybody can become a member and get members together under one umbrella,” said Fernandez who managed to get a pension scheme for the members of Karyawan who were struggling.


“There’s so much that needs to be done and we are trying to improve more things,” said Fernandez.Fernandez’s face lit up when he was asked the question on his children. So enamoured he is about his offspring you could see candid pictures of his three boys and one girl filling up the side table of his office.

“My daughter is quite tomboyish now, with three brothers, it’s kind of expected,” said Fernandez obviously proud of the little ones aged between two to six. He added that, unlike most parents who are involved in the music industry, he would love to see his children to be a part of the music scene or art for that matter.

“I will give them full support, and help equip them with the necessary knowledge I’ve gained through the years,” he said. A cool father without a doubt. “Are you going to watch the Pussycat Dolls?,” my final question.

“Yes, I am,they’re really cool, eh?” said Fernandez ending the interview.