Harry composes a melody with audience<\/p>\n
By Johannes Simbolon<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Harry Roesli surprised the rock music lovers
\npacking the Classic Rock Pub near the Blok-M Bus Terminal in
\nSouth Jakarta on the eve of Independence Day by involving them in
\nthe composition of a melody to be dedicated to the 50-year-old
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Everyone showed enthusiasm when Harry urge them to contribute
\na word, phrase or verse to the lyrics of the would-be song. None
\nhad the slightest idea of how the song would be turn out. Yet the
\nroom, which is usually filled with high-voltage tunes of Western
\nrock songs, was all at once transformed into a freedom of speech
\nforum.<\/p>\n
\"Fifty years of Indonesia's independence,\" shouted one guest.
\n\"Debt!\" exclaimed another. \"Monopoly,\" \"Revolution fund,\"
\n\"Anxious Indonesia,\" \"Fat Harry,\" \"Travel ban for Ali,\" \"Ines,
\nthe secretary, is available,\" etc. Harry jotted down dozens of
\nwords and verses from the bar's visitors.<\/p>\n
Then he sang to the accompaniment of a guitar. One by one the
\nverses came out of his lips in an improvised tune.<\/p>\n
Harry subsequently continued to another \"strangely\" improvised
\nmelody with lyrics peppered with socio-political protests and
\nrather obscene words. The bar's visitors elatedly clapped their
\nhands, giggled, whistled and shouted in response.<\/p>\n
At the end of the song, he surprisingly inserted a patriotic,
\nsolemn melody, well-known to all Indonesians Satu Nusa, Satu
\nBangsa (One Homeland, One Nation). Silence then settled on the
\nroom. Had Harry stopped protesting? No way! He changed the last
\nverses of the song into cynicism, bringing the room back into an
\nuproar.<\/p>\n
That was how Harry celebrated Indonesia's golden anniversary
\nthat night.<\/p>\n
After the show, the man who loves wearing black in his shows,
\nsipped bottled tea outside the bar, heaved a heavy sigh, and
\nwatched the street vendors who were still busy working in the
\nearly hours.<\/p>\n
\"Our country has still too many shortcomings. We don't deserve
\ncelebrating a golden anniversary with great festivities,\" he told
\nThe Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The 43-year-old musician then mentioned the shortcomings one
\nby one: the wide gap between the poor and the rich, the poor
\nmentality of the people in general, the repressive governmental
\npolicy towards democracy, the government's preference of high-
\ntech technology over efficient industry, etc.<\/p>\n
\"I celebrate this anniversary crying,\" he concluded, sipping
\nhis tea.<\/p>\n
For his outspokenness regarding socio-political affairs, Harry
\nhas long been regarded by the public as a protest musician. His
\nhumorous criticisms have made his fans laugh, but they have made
\nthe authorities, the Bandung authorities in particular, angry.
\nThus, he has often been imprisoned for as long as three months at
\na time. By his own admission, the town's authorities still ban
\nhis shows. Even, he said, some \"unidentified\" persons
\noccasionally watch over his house, especially when there are
\ngatherings inside. But he can play in other towns relatively
\nfreely.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know why the Bandung authorities treat me so. Maybe,
\nI haven't yet worked hard to lobby them. But, you know it is not
\neasy to lobby them. A military chief is replaced ever so quickly.
\nThe longest tenure for a chief is two years and by that time we
\nhaven't yet finished approaching him, when the new one comes,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Harry is a musician in the first place. And for his music he
\ndraws inspiration from socio-political occurrences around him.<\/p>\n
\"Music is for me a medium through which I channel my concerns.
\nNothing is particular in that I have concerns with socio-
\npolitical affairs because all well-educated people have them,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
With music, too, he now aggressively campaigns here and abroad
\nagainst nuclear use in general and the Indonesian government's
\nplan to set up nuclear plants here.<\/p>\n
\"We are not prepared to have nuclear plants. How can we handle
\nit if we cannot even manage toilets and public buses?\" he argues
\nat every opportunity.<\/p>\n
Born in Bandung in 1951, Harry started playing music at the
\ntender age of six. His father, a military member who later
\nretired as an army major general, bought his four children a set
\nof musical instruments. The youngest child, Harry, curiously
\ntried all the instruments.<\/p>\n
At a junior high school of his hometown, his music teacher,
\nSuhardi, quickly recognized the boy's talent. The teacher, Harry
\nsaid, was the first man to introduce him to music. The teacher
\nasked him to take additional training for clarinet from him at
\nhis quarters three times a week after school.<\/p>\n
\"My mother angrily reprimanded me for coming home so late. On
\nthe other hand, I dared not disobey the teacher,\" he recalled.<\/p>\n
His music activities intensified during senior high school. He
\nplayed many gigs with schoolmates -- too many, it seemed, that
\nhis parents interfered by allowing him to play only twice a week.<\/p>\n
\"As usually happens with adolescents, the more my parents
\nforbade me from playing music, the more the urge to play was
\nreinforced,\" he said.<\/p>\n
After high school, he enrolled in the civil engineering
\ndepartment at the prestigious Bandung Institute of Technology,
\nwhile all his siblings learned medicine to follow in their
\nmother's footsteps. After four semesters, he quit ITB to dedicate
\nhis life to music. In the beginning, his parents took issue with
\nhis decision. \"Band players are drunkards,\" his father argued.
\nHarry's his father eventually gave up trying to discourage him.
\n\"But don't play music with the intention of making a profit,\" was
\nhis advice.<\/p>\n
The grandson of Marah Roesli, Indonesia's first modern
\nliterary man, started to become engaged in \"serious\" music and
\nmade many experiments. To polish his talent, he studied music in
\nthe Netherlands on a scholarship, and obtained a doctoral degree
\nfrom Rotterdam Conservatorium in 1981. His thesis was focused on
\nthe negative impact of music on a high school student's endurance
\nfor studying.<\/p>\n
Music lovers were shocked when he turned everything into
\nmusical instruments, from cans to pieces of broken bottles. In
\none show, for example, he continually pushed and pulled a door in
\nsuch a way as to produce what he called \"lulling\" music.<\/p>\n
The \"strange\" music, coupled with his humorous, critical
\nlyrics, is really amusing entertainment. Moreover, he often
\npresents his music in theater shows. But none of his recorded
\nworks ever achieved commercial success.<\/p>\n
\"My music is not selling because it is an experiment, analysis
\nand concentration,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He has produced dozens of albums, of which the
\nmost-critically-acclaimed ones are Titik Api (Focus, 1976), Ken
\nArok (1975), Cas Cis Cus (Chatter, 1992). He has never bothered
\nto find out how many albums were sold.<\/p>\n
Today, as a musician Harry tries to intensively revive
\nIndonesia's traditional music, which he said has been in the
\nprocess of vanishing due to the influence of western cultures.<\/p>\n
\"Our sense has been uprooted from our own culture. That's why
\nmany musicians are now vying to revive their own cultural music,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
As for his socio-political concerns, the father of twin sons
\npromised that he will be consistent with his outspokenness. He is
\nnot afraid that because of his criticisms he will someday be
\nsacked from his job as music teacher at the state-run Bandung
\nTeachers Training Institute.<\/p>\n
\"No need to be afraid,\" he calmly said, \"The system in the
\nbureaucracy has already deteriorated that in order to fire a
\ncivil servant, the process will take five to ten years,\" he
\nconcluded.<\/p>",
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