Pure Saturday still lights up the firmament of indie music

Paul F. Agusta, Contributor, Bandung

Out of the dim, dark yesterday of the rapidly and consistently shifting music trends in Indonesia, in which bands explode onto the scene like fireworks and fade away in a puff of smoke, one band still shines brightly.

Pure Saturday, the old warhorses of the pioneer days of the Bandung indie scene of the early 1990s, keep the sparks of inspiration flying at frequent gigs throughout Java and Bali. Their latest ball of fire, an album titled Elora hit the shelves late in March.

Pure Saturday, which grouped guitarists Adi and Arif, bassist Ade, and drummer Udi, and Suar, the original vocalist, released their first album titled simply Pure Saturday in 1994. The initially diminutive release of the album with a black cover with the image of a little toy boat on it blew the minds of music fans and critics throughout the country. Nobody had ever made music like that in Indonesia before, and with the help of their melodic but morose hit single, Kosong, the band ruled the airwaves for months.

Focusing on the premise that any given piece of music should be the synthesis, or unified sum total, of all the sounds of all the musical instruments employed, including the human voice, Pure Saturday creates seamlessly fluent strains of movingly atmospheric rock.

"Conceptually, nothing has changed with us. We're still focused on music as a whole," said Ade, the big, bald, smiling chain smoker who plays the bass for the band.

"Actually, when it comes to process, there have been some changes, but conceptually, no," Adi, the bespectacled, intensely focused guitarist, explained. "For our first and second albums, the music simply flowed out of us just jamming. But now, because of technology like 'frooty loops', Ade and I, like make the base melody for songs on the computer, and in the studio, everyone else adds in," he added.

"In the old days, we had more time to hang out, just jamming like crazy. But now things have got to be a bit more scheduled," said Ade, who makes a living as a freelance musician.

"The one thing that has changed radically for all of us, is that we are now married, and we can't hang out as much," Ade explained.

"It is possible to make a living from music, but it's never easy," Ade said of the fact that all of the members of Pure Saturday, including their new vocalist, Satrio, who replaced Suar when he had to chose between his day job in a company and his musical endeavors, are gainfully employed in regular jobs.

Satrio, or Iyo, doubles as Pure Saturday's manager, as well as publishing Ripple, an indie magazine. Adi works in graphic design, and the others have jobs outside the music sector as well.

Yet, for Pure Saturday, the music never, ever dies. It is the center of their universe, the sun that burns through their souls to blaze brightly in their songs and to set fires under the younger musicians that frequent their gigs to see what the original movers and shakers are doing now.

"Honestly, what encouraged us to release our new albums was these new kids. We felt challenged. Why couldn't we produce again? Adi had a bunch of material in his computer files, and we still had the will, we just had to get together and do it," Ade said.

"There are a lot of good bands out there now, making really nice music," Ade continued enthusiastically.

Pure Saturday is especially heartened by the efforts of groups like Sendal Jepit, Mocca, Teenage Death Star, Rocket Rockers, The Upstairs, and The S.I.G.I.T., whom they feel are carrying on the indie spirit that Pure Saturday sparked eleven years ago.