Tarigan takes stock of new rock<\/p>\n
Chris Holm, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
From a young age, music buff and CD-producer David Tarigan knew
\nhe was nuts about \"things\", especially musical things.<\/p>\n
\"I've always had a fetish about objects; cultural things. I
\ncollect them, I suppose, because I love memorabilia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Since I was very small until I was about 10 I created my own
\ncountry -- I called it 'Antarctica' but it wasn't a land covered
\nwith ice and snow.<\/p>\n
\"This Antarctica had people; a government, a history, a
\nnational flag. I spent ages writing notes in exercise books about
\nthis place. I guess I wanted to write a biography of an entire
\nnation.\"<\/p>\n
Born and bred in decidedly un-Antarctic Jakarta, some things
\nin Tarigan's newly discovered country were more important than
\nothers.<\/p>\n
\"I spent a long time writing notes detailing the country's
\nfootball players and, of course, its rock bands -- two things I
\nwas interested in,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But it was music that became a full-time obsession (soccer,
\nTarigan quips, is only a part-time mania).<\/p>\n
He remembers he got his first cassette at the age of two, a
\ncountry music tape he picked out at the supermarket \"because it
\nwas bright yellow had a cowboy on the front\".<\/p>\n
Later he moved on to living-room sessions with his parent's
\nBeatles collection, and Rolling Stones tennis racket jams at the
\nhouse of a neighbor.<\/p>\n
By about the age of eight Tarigan took the plunge and with
\nsaved pocket money went out and bought his first record, an album
\nby 1980s U.S. guitar rocker Van Halen.<\/p>\n
A spotlight flashed on in his head and he knew it was
\nessential he procure all of Halen's work. After that there were
\nstill more bands he had to have.<\/p>\n
Fast-forward to this year, and 27-year-old Tarigan is the
\ncontent manager at a specialist music store and says he
\npersonally owns \"more than 2000\" CDs, records, and cassettes.<\/p>\n
\"I've kept collecting from junior high until now, and it's
\ngetting scarier than ever.\"<\/p>\n
And it wasn't just Western music. When he was about 11, he
\nbecame interested in seeking out old Indonesian albums, \"...
\nvinyl stuff from the '60s and '70s; groups like Koes Bersaudara,
\nKoes Plus and the Rollies.\"<\/p>\n
\"Overseas they call it 'Indo Rock' -- in Japan and all over
\nEurope. There's a lot of interest from collectors there.\"<\/p>\n
But Tarigan was never content just to collect music. He had to
\nbe making it, too. Skip back a few years and Tarigan was at art
\nschool in the country's \"rock city\" of Bandung, immersing himself
\nin a vibrant underground scene.<\/p>\n
He had also started his own band, The Jonis, and was writing
\nfor an independent music magazine cataloging the achievements of
\nnew acts.<\/p>\n
\"In Bandung you can do almost anything,\" he says. \"Bands have
\ntheir own crowds and they will come and listen to whatever new
\nthing they are doing, even if it is the silliest thing you've
\never seen. There is that spirit of creativity, of doing it
\nyourself; a DIY mentality.\"<\/p>\n
Back in Jakarta after six years in the city, Tarigan began to
\nready himself to the inevitable maturing process that was
\nsupposed to result. Bandung was the rock scene the country, where
\nyou hung out at gigs as a student and discovered your
\nindependence and other forms of knowledge. Jakarta, on the other
\nhand, was the place where you got on with more serious pursuits:
\nCareer, family and making money, not music.<\/p>\n
But the urge to keep going to see bands prevailed, and Tarigan
\nfound the Jakarta music scene surprised him. Not the slick
\nprofessional cover bands, who play Top-40 hits in hotel bars, but
\nrock and electronic acts experimenting with original songs,
\nmostly in Bahasa Indonesia.<\/p>\n
His friend Jimi played him a tape of his new band The
\nUpstairs, he went to a band called The Brandels, and Tarigan
\nrealized \"it was impossible to sit back and watch\".<\/p>\n
The experience reminded him of the days of the Jakarta music
\nscene in the early '90s at the Pid Pub, and Poster. There had
\nbeen many bands with many fans playing music for years in the
\ncity, but apart from the odd cassette in the hands of an former-
\nband mate there were now only fading memories.<\/p>\n
This desire for documentation led Tarigan, together with
\nexecutive producer Hanindito Sidharta and co-producer Leo Ringo,
\nto make JKT:SKRG (Jakarta:Now), an attempt to capture music
\nhistory as it was being made, featuring 13 tracks of 11 bands,
\nall who still play in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
A listen to the CD reveals good production values, an eclectic
\narray of original acts -- and, of course, a full book complete
\nwith pictures and write-ups.<\/p>\n
\"It's easy to record things but I wanted to represent things.
\nI think this compilation is the first time (locally) there has
\nbeen so many linear notes on bands, before it was always just the
\nmusic,\" Tarigan said.<\/p>\n
JKTA:SKRG features the infectious choppy guitar rock of C'mon
\nLennon's Aku Cinta J.A.K.A.R.T.A, an upbeat soccer anthem, to the
\nStooges-inspired tunes of Indonesia's garage rock revivalists The
\nBrandels and Teenage Death Star, to more jangly, ethereal or
\ndownright experimental compositions by the likes of Sajama Cut,
\nSore and Zeke & the Popo.<\/p>\n
One highlight is The Upstairs, a group that crafts tricky
\nsongs by melding new wave synch-pop with heavy guitars, all sung
\nwith a knowing nod to 1970s German pop, or \"kraut rock\". Think
\nfive young guys, singing odes to the Televisi and telephone
\ninventor Alexander Graham Bell in Bahasa Indonesia with deep
\npretend German accents.<\/p>\n
For Tarigan, JKT:SKRG is the realization of a dream, but he
\ndoesn't plan to stop there.<\/p>\n
\"I'm mad about archiving. There are so many good bands from
\nthe early 1990s onwards who hardly ever recorded their own
\noriginal material. And no one has provided them with write-ups
\nabout their music.\"<\/p>\n
This sense of the past, musical or otherwise, is essential to
\nthe country's cultural development, he says.<\/p>\n
\"This kind of thing, this documentation, is starting to happen
\neverywhere in Indonesian society; people are starting to gather,
\nanalyze and criticize things now. Perhaps these are Western
\nideas, but they're still important.\"<\/p>\n
But most importantly, like he's always done, Tarigan wants to
\nturn people on to the new music and get them out seeing original,
\ncontemporary acts.<\/p>\n
\"Jakarta is different now. People realize they can create
\nthings that have never happened here before.<\/p>\n
\"You can do many things here, not just go to the office and go
\nhome, but also go out and broaden your mind.\"<\/p>\n
* JKT:SKRG is dedicated to the memory of Hendra Petrof 1984-2004.
\nThe album is available at local music stores and small
\nindependent music shops.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tarigan-takes-stock-of-new-rock-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}