By Jocelle Koh & Arya Adyuta

Arya represents the new generation of young Indonesians who are rediscovering the beauty of their local music. Studying a masters in anthropology with a particular interest in music, his keen eyes and ears for listening and understanding how the music we create is reflective of a complex web of dynamics that makes up Indonesian culture and its relationship with others. 

Whilst considered a newbie to Asian Pop Weekly, his passion can certainly be felt from thousands of miles away, and we hope that his love for Indonesian music can transcend to all of our readers, no matter where around the world they are. 

1. Hi Arya! By way of introduction, can you share with us your favourite Indonesian album of all time and why?

Hi! I’m Arya, an anthropology student and music writer from Indonesia. First of all, thank you for including me on the APW zine through this Q&A.

That’s definitely an important question to open this discussion. For me, to choose a favorite Indonesian album is to look back across time. Fariz RM’s Peristiwa ‘77-’81 is the first that comes to mind. It was released in the early 1980s, during the emergence of globalization, but has been largely overlooked. What makes it my favorite is particularly because it contains various musical influences that suit my taste. From jazz and funk, to rock and ballad, this album is sweet, fun, and spiritual at the same time. 

The most interesting part, the album is basically a compilation of Fariz’s songs previously sung by other singers, and now by Fariz himself. Sometimes, I wondered what it would be like if this album was reproduced and sung by today’s younger musicians. Songs such as ‘Cinta Kian Menepi’ and ‘Hasrat dan Cita’ really features the ‘sweetness’ that is still present in recent Indonesian pop today. This album is timeless!

2. As a music lover based in Indonesia, you’ve grown up with Indonesian music. How have your tastes as a fan changed over time, and do you think there were certain societal changes which impacted your tastes in particular?

I just started exploring Indonesian music when I was in middle school around 2012. That was when the early ‘indie’ wave was starting to infiltrate young people’s tastes. Growing up in a middle-class family, Western music is always played everywhere from radio to television. But almost every week in middle school, I was trying to buy CDs of local artists and see if there was anything interesting I could listen to. That weekly ritual changed my life and thoughts about Indonesian music. I discovered so many great artists who are now truly big names in the scene. 

However recently, things have been quite different. We produce and consume music easily—thanks to the internet, and I think it makes our collective tastes suddenly way more dispersed than ever before. Streaming platforms are becoming a thing and global artists’ works are increasingly easier to listen to. For me, it is a good thing in a way that it’s disclosing transnational barriers in music practices. So that “taste” is becoming a global phenomenon, rather than just an isolated, regional concept. 

My teenage years are built upon this global “cultural flow,” which is also affecting my music listening habit until now. I started to listen to various pop acts around the world: from bands in the US to idols in South Korea. I also became acquainted with older music, especially in Indonesia, such as music from the 1980s way back to the 1960s. This technological climate, I might say, certainly changed my musical tastes and how I eventually came to understand Indonesian music.

3. The Indonesian music scene is one of the biggest in Southeast Asia, but it seems the music genres that are trending here are quite different from overseas, with more “indie folk/pop/band sound” artists making it big. Would you agree, and what do you think is the reason for such trends?

First of all, Indonesian music has been always diverging in different styles, genres, subcultures, and even modes of production/distribution. The musical communities here are so diverse and varied across the country. Indonesian people also have diverse social and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, musical communities and scenes here can’t be separated from these background variations.

I think I can’t entirely agree with saying that indie sound are the one that making Indonesian music big. Nevertheless, it’s might be accurate to suggest that ‘indie’ sound is increasingly popular and has come to represent Indonesian music. Indie music in Indonesia grew mainly in Jakarta, the same place where pop Indonesia—the genre that continually served as the face of Indonesian national music—developed historically. Jakarta, the main capital of Indonesia, is the place where transnational businesses are placed; the government constructs its national branding; and middle classes scroll their social media. Consequently, both genres have been able to achieve widespread popularity both domestically and internationally.

The development of indie culture in Indonesia can be traced back to the early consumption of global media through electronic devices and the internet. Young people were eager to discover unique sounds that were not yet available in their local scene. In my opinion, the proliferation of indie culture today is also attributable to popular media and the rise of cosmopolitan identities. It was not rare to hear a band being called “Indonesia’s [insert a Western band name here]” due to their similar sound. With the ease of the internet, young people started to recognize these indie local acts as they resonates with young people’s urban and cosmopolitan identities.

To conclude this answer, I might say, dangdut is considerably the biggest musical genre here, given that it’s always played in many regions throughout Indonesia. But dangdut is different from Indonesian pop and indie, from its distribution to consumption. Dangdut is prevalent among people in rural and provincial areas, and it’s spread through live performances or, recently, YouTube playlists.

4. You have a passion for spreading Indonesian music to the world. What do you think makes Indonesian music unique?

Indonesian pop music, as many have might said, has many similarities with Western music. However, it seems that this statement has overlooked the realities of Indonesian identity. As many anthropologists have pointed out, Indonesian identity is a confluence of various identities and therefore is dynamic. Likewise, Indonesian music, which bridges the West and the East, is a manifestation of this fluid identity. I think that the uniqueness of Indonesian music lies at this intersection. One can discern this from the diverse musical styles that exist across different regions in Indonesia.

Apart from that, I think the way music is managed in Indonesia is relatively unique in its own way. In contrast to Indonesian commercial pop music, which is influenced more by transnational music companies, other Indonesian music cultures have a very different way of managing their practices. I find the examples offered by Nuraini Juliastuti in her dissertation Commons People about indie musicians in Yogyakarta particularly intriguing. They practice what is called “commoning,” when music is not merely seen as a commercial product, but rather shared and circulated openly among the community, thereby sustaining their music scene.

5. To an overseas listener if you were to suggest three Indonesian artists to check out, who would it be and why?

I believe the answer would be Chrisye, Sore, and Nadin Amizah. These three artists have an impressive collection of musical works throughout their careers and certainly represent their own era in the industry. Chrisye, who was widely admired from the 1970s until his passing in the early 2000s, is known for his “pop” music that incorporates various influences. On the other hand, Sore has their own unique style, which draws from Indonesian orchestras of the 1950s to 1990s alternative rock, with their own sweet, jazzy twists. Nadin Amizah, in my opinion, is the face of Indonesian music today. Her music addresses the issues faced by today’s youth, such as love, mental health, and identity. Packaged with a soothing, acoustic sounds, Nadin challenged the norms of the booming folk music by mixing it with a distinct style that feels really “Indonesian.” If music have a citation system that acknowledges various influences, these three artists is a really great introduction to understand Indonesian musical timeline.

6. As a music listener and fan, what is the way to your heart? Melody, lyrics, vibe, arrangement?

It’s always been the melody. Growing up listening to various Western music without knowing the meaning of the lyrics, has impacted me to listen through the melodies. However, exploring recent Indonesian music has made me reconsider my perspective on the role of language in music. The emergence of a new generation of musicians has made Indonesian lyrics more intriguing to me than ever before. I kind of agree with a renowned musician Yockie Suryoprayogo, whose in a YouTube video once emphasized the importance of using our native language, Bahasa Indonesia, in music. By doing so, a sense of Indonesian identity can be conveyed in a song, and the lyrics and meanings can be directly communicated to the audience. Therefore, music that combines good melody and good lyrics would be music that has the most impact and power for people.

7. You are currently doing your masters in music anthropology. How do you think that has shaped your worldview especially when it comes to your personal interests in Indo music?

Learning about anthropology has changed my musical life. I first encountered anthropology through the curiosity of the issues of precarity and inequality in Indonesia. Faced with life choices after high school, I decided to learn more about these issues, something I did not get in school. Through my studies in anthropology, I discovered that my passion for music did not wane; rather, it became a means of understanding life and anthropology itself.

One of the basics of anthropology is its methodology, called ethnography, which maintains the act of listening to “other” people and their cultures with open ears and hearts. This approach is important for understanding the complexities faced by musicians and music practitioners worldwide. Through this approach, I came to understand that Indonesian music is a vast field that is interconnected with various contexts, such as politics, culture, and the economy.

For instance, during my undergraduate thesis research in a songwriting community, I spoke with numerous indie musicians about their struggles to find a supportive and healthy community. These musicians expressed concerns about gatekeeping and toxic environments in the Indonesian scene, which motivated them to build a more appreciative community. At the end of the research, I realized that music is closely related to education and appreciation. Building successful music requires a healthy and supportive community. Without anthropology, I believe I would not have reached this conclusion.

8. What is your biggest wish for Indonesian music?

I wish Indonesian music could be a safe place for not only various genres and styles, but also for cultural differences that various musical communities, practitioners, and audiences has. To say things like this, I think really aligned with the meaning of music itself. To me, music is not merely a commodity, but rather a dynamic process that facilitates learning and understanding. It encompasses not only the acts of performance, composition, and appreciation, but also the transmission of knowledge and traditions across generations, which is also an enduring, lifelong endeavor. My only hope is that music in Indonesia could acknowledges these interrelations to further sustain its ecosystems for a better musical futures.

This article originally appeared in Asian Pop Weekly’s 15th Anniversary ‘fluffy’ zine in a piece titled: ‘In Conversation with Asian Pop Weekly’s Sinead & Arya – A Sum Of All Parts‘. Get the zine here.