Cozy Street Corner offers solid music

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Cozy Street Corner is a little bit too long to become a band's name. It also sounds more like the name of a small cafe across the street.

But at least the first word is suitable to describe the kind of sound and mood created by trio Christian "Kris" Takarbessy (vocal, guitar), Boby Priambodo (guitar) and Petrus Briyanto Adi or Adoy (bass). They are indeed cozy and soothing.

"A friend told me that to come up with a name for a band, just listen to your own songs, and then try to describe it in words," Adoy, 28, said in a recent interview.

"So that's what I had in mind, a spot at the corner of the street that is just cozy."

Besides a relaxing ambience, in the course of two albums, the band manages to come up with a harmonious sound that is rich in texture. While basically guitar-based pop, there is also an amalgamation of rock, folk, traditional music or even sound derived from the Middle East. Very organic.

The lyrics are also varied from spanning love, nature to small and regular stuff like sipping coffee in the morning.

"We just love regular, daily stuff," said Kris, 27.

However, if you are interested in their music, do not bother to go to the record store as you will not find their albums.

Somehow, major labels here keep rejecting them, saying that the sound is "not commercial, too serious and will find no segment in the market."

Due to the rejection, the three buddies from high school (they went to the same Regina Pacis senior high school in Bogor) then produced and distributed their albums independently, in an underground way.

The first album Cozy was released in 2000, four years after they established the band.

"We released 1,000 copies and it was sold out. A small record label then became interested and distributed for us, but not long after, it went bankrupt," said Kris.

After struggling to find someone who can find funds, they finally met one and went to produce the second album Nirmana (a term in fine arts for basic design), which was launched last week.

In a small canteen next to Bulungan Youth Center in Blok M, South Jakarta, the event was highlighted by a performance in front of a limited but loyal audience.

And as opposed to the relaxing ambience that appears on the record, the live performance was more lively and upbeat, as the three lads were accompanied by several musicians playing cello, kendang (traditional percussion) and drums, not to mention a choir.

Adoy then got carried away, talking too much on stage, revealing the background of the songs, their history and stuff until a man got impatience and shouted at them to just play another song.

In a face to face interview a couple of days later, it was disclosed that the guys, although nice, sometimes had this tendency to give lengthy intellectual explanations on even simple topics.

The history of rock emerged during an explanation of why the band changed their initial style of distorted and powerful rock to their present sound.

"Rock does not have to be amplified and distorted. It's not a matter of the output of the audio. John Mayer is more rock than Linkin Park, for example," Kris said, trying to underline that rock is more in the soul than the sound.

It continued with the speech about how live performance should be different with recordings. And then extend to what is exactly independent, alternative and major label.

Does it have something to do with their educational background (Adoy and Boby hold degrees in psychology where Kris' is in fine arts)? Probably not.

But somehow, the intellectual capacity has enabled them to come up with such an original and solid concept of music, rather than being a rip off.

"Originality is very essential for us. Those rip off bands just want it easy. They don't bother to try finding their own style. Everyone else has done the same thing as us, but we try to come up with our own style," Boby, 26, said.

The sophomore effort specifies how the lads exploration to music works just fine. From the upbeat first track ...(d/h Sasongko) which is highlighted by banjo, to the folky Delman (two-wheeled buggy) and to the 10-minute-22-second Cinta (Love), which opens with a Gregorian chant -- they are all susceptible to all ears.

"That's why I enjoy being in this band because I can play any kind of music," Boby said.

With such susceptibility, it is questionable as to why major labels are reluctant to recruit them.

"How can they say it's (the music) not commercial if there's no comparison? I'm pretty sure that everyone can accept our music. We've seen a wide range of people who love to listen to our music, from little kids to the elderly," Boby said.

Kris added they never had any intention to be different from others.

"But originality is our main priority," he reiterated.

"We're very embarrassed by today's pop music scene. It's too similar, too uniform."

Right now, they still opt for "guerrilla" distribution, while still dreaming of more public acceptance.

In line with the purpose, the band has also been going from one school to another to promote their music, in a program called ICARUS or Cozy's indie-trip for schools.

"There is a theory saying that the biggest market for music is teenagers, so business wise it's effective. It is also part of our contribution to music education. So far, we're very satisfied with the students' enthusiasm," Adoy said.

Another problem that they are trying to solve is how to earn more money, as their records are still underground.

"Well, we're now penniless. We just hope that someday bankruptcy is bored with us and leaves us," Kris said, laughing.

Cozy Street Corner can be contacted at mail@cozystreetcorner.net or telephone (021) 7864800