Lain finds a promosing future in Jakarta<\/p>\n
Joko E.H. Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Members of local band Lain seem to believe that they have to live
\nfor the moment to get their sound noticed. Instead of asking
\n"why", they say "why not".<\/p>\n
And it sounds like a very smart thing to do to have their
\nsongs recorded and then dump the album in several record stores
\nin Seattle. Just sit back and see how the sale goes.<\/p>\n
It is okay if the album titled Djakarta Goodbye did not get an
\nultra great response from buyers but at least the album was
\ndisplayed along with albums released by America's major labels.<\/p>\n
"Bands must often perform live to really get noticed over
\nthere," said Zeke, the group's vocalist and pianist. "Here, it is
\nvery easy to get people listen to your songs by submitting them
\nto radio stations."<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the group does not have the opportunity to
\nappear in enough gigs in Seattle or Washington so as to boost the
\nsales of their album.<\/p>\n
While three of the band's five members go to college in
\nSeattle, the other two still reside in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
"We can't get together in Seattle for economic reasons,"
\nguitarist Aghy admitted.<\/p>\n
Too bad, since anybody who has ever listened to their music
\nwill agree that the group has great potential.<\/p>\n
Their gig at Gedung 28 in Kemang, South Jakarta, last week
\nconfirmed their gifted musicality to those who had only heard
\nthem on record before.<\/p>\n
Minus their other guitarist, Arie, the group still managed to
\nmesmerize their fans. Many of them were not able to get tickets
\nas they were sold out shortly after the ticket box opened.<\/p>\n
The gig's organizers were surprised by the fans enthusiasm,
\nand were happy to let people in for free.<\/p>\n
Zeke's Thom York-ish crooning and their samples-drenched music
\nwere hypnotizing.<\/p>\n
Unlike many immature bands, Lain successfully avoids self-
\ndefeatism, even and even manages to express catchy romanticism
\nsometimes.<\/p>\n
Think about a transition between Radiohead's OK Computer and
\nKid A.. Despite real similarity, Lain's act was far from being a
\nblatant rip-off.<\/p>\n
The local audience got the opportunity to buy their cassette
\nsingles, which were released last year by Bandung-based indie
\nlabel, Spill.<\/p>\n
At the beginning, the group had to travel back and forth from
\nSeattle to Jakarta to realize their album project.<\/p>\n
They worked on Djakarta Goodbye in 2000 in Jakarta for
\ntwo-and-a-half weeks. The rough material was then brought back to
\nSeattle by Zeke, Arie and Aghie.<\/p>\n
Happy with the rough result, the other two band members,
\ndrummer Bemby and bassist Iman were summoned to Seattle to record
\nthe songs in an album.<\/p>\n
With the help of a Norwegian sound engineer, they successfully
\nrealized their dream album and released it to local record stores
\nin Seattle. This marked the establishment of their own indie
\nlabel, Our Coffee Records.<\/p>\n
With Bemby and Iman back in Jakarta, the other three band
\nmembers distributed their album directly by selling it at a
\nnumber of music events.<\/p>\n
"Those who have listened to our album over there were
\nsurprised. There were also several musicians who then gave us
\nimportant input," Zeke said.<\/p>\n
The reason they released the album in Seattle was because at
\nthat time, they were very disappointed with the commercial music
\nscene in Jakarta, which was dominated by the major local labels.
\n"We were pessimistic that our underground music would get a good
\nresponse here," the group said.<\/p>\n
Being a little bit frustrated by having a band but nothing to
\nshow its existence in Jakarta, the Indonesian based members of
\nthe group asked a local indie label to release their songs.<\/p>\n
The company decided to release a cassette single for a try-out
\nlast May. It contains Wool and Train Song, both taken from
\nDjakarta Goodbye and two new tracks, Human Heart and Unthinkable.<\/p>\n
The single got a surprising response from record buyers. As a
\nresult, the label released another cassette single last July
\ncontaining three tracks: Veteran Traveler, Boogeyman and Ghost's
\nCell.<\/p>\n
The folks at Spill are also very happy with the sale of the
\nsingle, which is only available in a limited number of record
\nstores. They are already thing about releasing a full album.<\/p>\n
Surprised by the great response from local music lovers, they
\ndecided to hold a gig in Jakarta last week.<\/p>\n
It seems that by way of a zigzag route, they have come to
\nrealize that they have a promising future here in their home
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
We rely on these kind of bands which are not tainted by crass
\ncommercialism to add more color to local music scene.<\/p>\n
It may be naive, but if they prove successful they will be
\nstriking another blow against the monolithic record industry. And
\nthat's no bad thing.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lain-finds-a-promosing-future-in-jakarta-1447893297",
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