Tony Q gives local flavor to reggae<\/p>\n
Wahyuana, Jakarta<\/p>\n
For more than 15 years Tony Q has delved into the world of reggae
\nmusic -- a genre made popular by the legendary Bob Marley and
\nwhich originated in Jamaica -- adapting the Jamaican sound and
\nfusing it with the Balinese, Sundanese and his own Javanese
\nstyle.<\/p>\n
The 43-year-old musician may not be a household name all over
\nIndonesia, but his dedication to reggae has brought him iconic
\nstatus among local fans, particularly in Jakarta and Bandung.<\/p>\n
Today, Tony Q's New Rastafara band -- in which he is the
\nguitarist and lead vocalist -- is the only reggae group from
\nIndonesia to be annually invited to the Houston Legends of Rasta
\nReggae Festival Tour in Texas, now in its 19th year.<\/p>\n
New Rastafara has also become a regular at concerts organized
\nfor social events such as the annual fundraiser for AIDS in
\nAncol, North Jakarta, and at Greenpeace's Stop Illegal Logging
\ncampaign recently.<\/p>\n
But being a professional musician was not Tony's first choice
\nwhen he first started out.<\/p>\n
After finishing high school in Semarang, Central Java, Tony --
\nwhose real name is Tony Waluyo Sukmoasih -- arrived in Jakarta,
\nwhere he worked for a short time as a quality control staffer at
\na factory and then as a designer for a publishing company.<\/p>\n
Those rather mundane nine-to-five jobs quickly became history
\nafter Tony started hanging around with some artsy types at the
\nBulungan Sports Center in South Jakarta back in 1983. And Tony
\nknew he had found his niche; playing music with the likes of
\nviolinist Hendri Lamiri and street musician Antok Baret, as well
\nas discussing all things art with film director Arya Kusumadewa
\nand actor Alex Komang.<\/p>\n
To earn money, Tony became a busker around the Blok M shopping
\ncomplex, singing popular songs from rock groups like The Rolling
\nStones, Van Halen, Kansas and Pink Floyd. Or he would stand in
\nfor musicians in bands that performed in cafes or pubs in the
\narea.<\/p>\n
In 1986, Tony left rock for country music and put together the
\nCountry String Band, and played the banjo.<\/p>\n
With just a few local competitors in that genre, the group
\nquickly became a staple in hotel bars in Jakarta such as the
\nMandarin Oriental, the Sahid Jaya and the Horison.<\/p>\n
The Country String Band became so big that they were invited
\nto participate in an Indonesian-U.S. cultural exchange program
\norganized by the U.S. Embassy in 1988, at the Surakarta
\nHadiningrat Palace in Surakarta (Solo), Central Java.<\/p>\n
The program showcased artists from the United States --
\nincluding the wife of then U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Paul D.
\nWolfowitz -- and traditional Javanese dances. The Country String
\nBand brought the house down when they covered Willie Nelson,
\nKenny Rogers, John Denver, Bob Dylan and bluegrass icons, the
\nOsborne Brothers.<\/p>\n
The band was an instant hit, and it was invited to perform at
\nthe Fourth of July celebration at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta
\nthat year and the next.<\/p>\n
But success in country music, while gratifying, still left
\nTony Q with a desire to push the creative envelope with his own
\nmusic.<\/p>\n
\"I began thinking about creating my own music. I wanted to
\ncontribute to music according to my own tastes. Without
\nnecessarily expecting applause from an audience,\" he told The
\nJakarta Post recently.<\/p>\n
So he rediscovered reggae music, and Bob Marley who was
\nconsidered its undisputed king.<\/p>\n
\"I found that I was interested in the lyrics of Bob Marley's
\nsongs, which contained stories of life on the street, portraits
\nof life, love ballads, messages of peace and anti-racism as well
\nas social criticism,\" Tony, who also has Jamaican-style
\ndreadlocks, explained.<\/p>\n
In 1989, he established his first reggae band, Roots Rock
\nReggae, and they soon got gigs at places like Pondok Indah Pub in
\nSouth Jakarta. That first band did not always play strictly
\nreggae, however, but also some blues and rock ballads.<\/p>\n
A year later, Tony left the group for a string of reggae bands
\nthat he established and eventually left, such as Exodus and
\nRastaman.<\/p>\n
Tony said that one of the reasons he left the groups was that
\nthey had become too commercialized for him.<\/p>\n
In 1994, he established Rastafara with the additional
\ncomponents of percussions, a trombone, a trumpet, and a
\nsaxophone. The group quickly became a hit with reggae lovers and
\nreceived lots of requests to play in Jakarta and Bandung.<\/p>\n
But yet again Tony's restless nature got the best of him and
\nafter seven years he left Rastafara.<\/p>\n
\"Maybe we got too many contracts to perform, so the spirit of
\nthe group got lost,\" he explained.<\/p>\n
Since mid-2001 Tony has been playing with his new group, the
\nNew Rastafara, every Wednesday and Friday night at BBs Cafe in
\nMenteng, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Although still keeping with the spirit of peace and social
\ncriticism a la Bob Marley, Tony's brand of reggae is uniquely
\nIndonesian, which probably explains why he has such a large
\nfollowing here.<\/p>\n
One example are the lyrics from Bunglon (Chameleon), a song
\nfrom his album Damai dengan Cinta (Peace with Love) released in
\n2000:<\/p>\n
Banyak pahlawan kesiangan, mengaku-aku ikut andil dalam
\nperjuangan\/Banyak juga yang berganti baju, tak pernah punya urat
\nmalu\/Merancang strategi untuk tetap korupsi, pertahankan
\nkolusi\/Bunglon selalu berubah warna, mengikuti warna tempatnya
\n(There are many heroes that come too late, claiming to have a
\nshare in the fight\/There are also many that change their stripes,
\nwithout any shame\/Constantly scheming to find new ways of being
\ncorrupt, sustaining collusion\/Like a chameleon always changing
\ncolor, to blend in with the surroundings).<\/p>\n
Tony added a Malay flavor for the song Pesta Pantai (Beach
\nParty) with the use of the Minangkabau tambourine and talempong
\n(gong chime ensemble), while for the song Witing Tresno Jalaran
\nSoko Kulino (Love Comes From Habit) is distinctly Javanese, with
\nlyrics full of Javanese idioms and the use of the Javanese
\ngamelan in the composition.<\/p>\n
Besides Damai, Tony has released three other albums; Rambut
\nGimbal (Dreadlocks) (1996), Gue Falling in Love (I'm Falling in
\nLove) (1997), and Kronologi (Chronology) (2003). He is planning
\nto release a new album later this month.<\/p>\n
\"I want reggae music that is distinctly Indonesian. I want to
\nsay that reggae has come to Indonesia, but we've fused it with
\nour language,\" Tony said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tony-q-gives-local-flavor-to-reggae-1447893297",
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