1. A length of line, thread, ribbon, or other thin material that is curved or doubled over making an opening.

2. Something having a shape, order, or path of motion that is circular or curved over on itself.3. Electricity A closed circuit.

4. A segment of film or magnetic tape whose ends are joined, making a strip that can be continuously replayed.

5. Computer Science A sequence of instructions that repeats either a specified number of times or until a particular condition is met.

www.INTworldwide.net
I.N.T. Worldwide’s Soundcloud
www.twitter.com/INTworldwide

Inspired by Golden Age producers such as Prince Paul (the master of skits), Large Professor, Diamond D, RZA and many other sample based producers, La Melodia’s I.N.T. has trawled record crates for more than 15 years. His record digging has resulted in copious amounts of breaks, samples and loops. Some are useful. Some are very useful.

In any case, the Amsterdam-based and Eindhoven-raised producer completed this exclusive loop-tape for W_Music using the breaks, loops and samples he has collected over the years. In this obscure mix, loops are assembled from records hailing out of almost every continent, encompassing soul, jazz, Latin, roots music and sound bites from Africa, Brazil, Europe and of course Indonesia, all weaved into a 60 minute collage of beats, loops, edits and remixes. 

For Indonesian listeners, keep your ears open for AKA, a bit of head banging Jaipongan, some blazing Dangdut riffs and even some 1980s television and radio adverts.

So grab yourself a nice drink (or your favourite psychotropic substance), open your mind, and press play!

Hightime Rebellion: The Jakarta-based indie band Hightime Rebellion was formed by Rendy (vocals/piano/guitar), Pulung (bass), Jason (guitar), and Reza(drums), in 2007, and later came the addition of Miyane (vocals) and Adji (guitar). With the mixture of Brit pop, funk, folk, and rock, they’re paving their way on the diversity of Indonesia’s music scene and gaining public attention as well. This year, they had the honour to rock the stages of huge music events in Indonesia such as Nylon Music Festival, Trax FM Terusik Traxkustik, Java Rockin’Land and Beatfest – such great opportunities came as a fruitage to their early experiences of performing at indie gigs in Jakarta and its neighbour, Bandung. Aside performing in big events, this year they’re also working on a debut album under FFWD Records.

Setlist
Sail
Mines
Melody Taker

Director of Photography: Heru Admadja

Editor: Ken Jenie

Thank You
Hightime Rebellion
Ark Galerie
Punang Adipradana
Januar Kristianto

-
Hightime Rebellion MySpace
Hightime Rebellion Twitter
Hightime Rebellion Facebook
FFWD Records

Indra Lesmana: A living legend, Indra Lesmana has had a fruitful musical career spanning 3 decades now. Son of a great Indonesian multi-instrumentalist-Jack Lesmana and singer Nien Lesmana, and brother to film producer Mira Lesmana, talent runs through his veins. Indra Lesmana is a child prodigy who learned how to master the keys at a young age, with his first performances done at the age of ten to an audience of hundreds and thousands, and his first album released when he was 12 years old. From childhood to adulthood, Indra Lesmana has dedicated his life to music.

With currently over 50 albums released, his musical endeavors are not restricted to jazz, Indra Lesmana has also released a multitude of critically acclaimed pop records, winning a BASF Award for his meaningful pop numbers. Currently busy promoting the first LLW record, LLW being his modern jazz trio with bassist-Barry Likumahuwa and drummer-Sandy Winarta, Indra Lesmana spared some time out of his busy schedule to talk to W_Music about some highlights from his three decade-long career, LLW, and leaves the viewers and aspiring musicians some words of wisdom one should take to heart. Enjoy!

Hosted By: Punang Adipradana

Director of Photography: Heru Admadja

Editor: Ken Jenie

Thank You
Indra Lesmana
Honhon Lesmana
Inline Studios
Dipha Barus
Red and White Lounge
Mas Yanto

Motion Design by:
Aras Darmawan
www.arasdarmawan.com

Supported by
Nike Sportswear
-
Indra Lesmana Official Website
Indra Lesmana Twitter
Indra Lesmana Facebook
Inline Music

W: First of all, congratulations on releasing DGNR8! A new BRNDLS album is long overdue! You mentioned before the record release that this album would either be loved or hated. Now that it is out, how has the response been for DGNR8?

It has been pretty good so far. There were some protest & disagreement particularly from our old fans but once they’ve listened to the whole album, they understood the concept of our new music and pretty much into it.

W: You have mentioned that DGNR8 is inspired by the many social and political turmoil happening in Indonesia. Is there a specific event or moment that caused you to discuss this in your album?

No particular moment as such. Just turn on the TV or read the paper to realize that social unrest, cultural, economic, religious and political turmoil is happening daily in Indonesia. Every Brandals album is a general documentation of those moments and events.

W: The difference of sound between DGNR8 and your previous albums is very noticeable. Was there a particular direction of music you wanted to do (genres, production perhaps)? And what was the experience of making music that is outside your comfort zone like for BRNDLS?

Well, initially we were about to do a post-punk album in the vein of those late 70s British Bands (Wire, Gang of Four, The Au Pairs, etc). But during the recording session we went through a very vigorous brainstorming session with our producer. A few ‘contemporary’ references were thrown onto the table (Primal Scream, The Jesus & Mary Chain, LCD Soundsystem, Battles, etc). There were a lot of exercise and experiment in trying to reconstruct and inspecting the possibilities of composition on every song. This process made us spending almost a year in the studio. But it was a very challenging experience for us, as musicians who used to trust our instinct during recording and now had to carefully arrange every detail to build the materials into what is being presented on DGNR8.

W: With the addition of PM and Radit, has the dynamic and direction of the band change? How big was the impact of having new members?

Definitely. Different fingers, different characters. We deliberately changed our direction with the benefits of these two new ‘blood’ in the band

W: On the song “Abrasi” you collaborated with Morgue Vanguard from the now legendary Bandung Hip Hop group, Homocide. How did this collaboration come about? And what was it like collaborating with a Hip Hop emcee?

The idea was popped up during the recording session. The rough demo has that minimal, and simple structure drum beat. Our drummer Rully was heavily into hip-hop and dubstep during the recording session, so we translated those drum tracks into low, bass-heavy beat (that characterized much of the the genre’s) as the foundation. There was a long stretch of void laid on some part of the song because I just couldn’t get my head around on how to sing on top of it. So one night, Iyub (our producer) called me up and said ‘I got an idea, why don’t we get Ucok of Homicide to fill in those gaps?’ I didn’t even think and considering it done that very second because it was a such fucking brilliant idea ..hahaa

W: You are now part of Sinjitos Records roster. How did this come about and what was it like working on this album with your current label?

Well it has pluses and minuses but the thing that we like from the label is that they believe in us. They were the only label that believed in our demo back then when everyone was ignoring us. And also their production technique is incomparable and mind-blowing, as you could hear on the output in DGNR8.

W: Can you explain to us what PRJKT: DGNR8 is? and how is its progress?

It’s a movement to get people registered the idea of visiting record shop as an essential activity back to their mind. In the 90s (when digital product barely existed), going to record shop is considered a MUST, even if we didn’t buying anything, only just browsing through.

And this is what we try to bring back by starting project DGNR8. It hasn’t fully started yet, but as we getting closer to our launching album party (somewhere around September), we’ll try to make it mass.

W: What is your opinion on digital music sales in relations to the physical CD, Vinyl and Cassette? Do you think digital music will ultimately be the dominant format for music sales?

There is always a market available for physical CD that can’t be penetrated by the digital realm. A market that is available to be penetrated by good, quality music with well-presented package that becomes collector item, not just another product. Yes, digital format would be the dominant format, but that doesn’t mean the death-knell for the physical product. You just need to put out a very good album to be bought by the consumer. Y’know what I mean?

W: Not only has your music progressed, but visually (such as the shortening of the name and packaging) as well. How important is the relations between music and visual presentation for BRNDLS? And how did you decide on the current visuals you present?

Very important. We’ve been through this question hundred times and we’re going to explain it again and again that music without visual would be like a plain, flat painting on black and white. Whereas if you combining it with visual element in it (fashion, image, movies, attributes, etc) it would transformed the whole packaging into a multi-colored, 3D experience. Well, so to speak…

For DGNR8 design & package with got help from a young, bright and talented designer named Dibyo Kusumo. There is also a short documentation movie as a DVD bonus on the album made by another fine director named Pras. So for those whose about to release their album, think of the visual, packaging and presentation as it would determined whether your album is good enough to be bought by the market.

W: You guys have existed for a decade now and have been on the roster of several labels, from independent to major. Can you explain to us from your own perspective the differences between being signed to a major and an independent label are?

Everything comes down to scale. Major label = Big budget, major distribution, large promotion. Independent label is the opposite. Plain and simple.

W: Also, being musically active for that long, according to your own experiences, what is your view concerning Indonesia’s music industry and music scene?

Depends on from which angle you look at the industry. If we look into the independent scene, it’s very productive and exciting, due to its variety of characters of the music. The so-called underground scene releases hundreds of albums (in physical format) per month that would be consumed by its own community and general music consumer. And the music contained in the product itself is much more superior compared to the albums that is produced by the mainstream industry, which is very stereotypical and monotonous. Our local independent releases nowadays have the same quality with any other releases by other labels from any side of the world. We’re just a bit unfortunate being situated in a country where music piracy has becoming a major problem. That condition has put us into a state of constantly being neglected, looked-down upon and under-estimated by the international market. But music wise, we’re on fire baby! Ready to fight!

W: Now that the record is out what does BRNDLS have in store for us? Any info or hints on your future endeavors?

We’re aiming to invade our neighborhood countries and distribute DGNR8 into a wider international audience

W: Anything we missed? Shout outs?

Buy our CD as it would extend our productivity and longevity as a band to produce another album

Our sincere thanks to BRNDLS and Sinjitos Records for the interview, and a special thanks to Anggin Lembayungsari for setting it up. Be sure to check out BRNDLS latest record, DGNR8. You can find it at your trusty local record shop. If you can’t, be sure to contact BRNDLS and Sinjitos Records via the following links.

–
BRNDLS Twitter
BRNDLS Facebook
BRNDLS Website
Sinjitos Records

Editor’s Note: Polyester Embassy’s interview was conducted in Indonesian, please bear in mind what you are reading is a translation. Cheers.

W: So your first record, Tragicomedy, was released in 2006 on FFWD Records, and your latest release, Fake/Faker, is 2011. Why did it take so long to release this record?

We had this idea of making 2 EPs after Tragicomedy. It’s the usual affair, we’re an independent band, we don’t have a big budget, we had an endorsement from Converse so we had a bit of money. Then we talked to our label about it and they thought why not just make one album. In terms of cost, making 2 EPs with 5 songs on each is the same as making one full length. So we decided to make a full-length, and it was a long process because there was a lot of material.

W: The material dates back to 2006?

Yes, some of the material actually were written before Tragicomedy.

W: When did you start recording?

We actually had some songs recorded 2008, but recording became intense around 2009 to 2011. Pre production began around July 2009 to 2010, we recorded January through March 2010, then the mixing mastering process took a pretty long time because were a band with a lot of layers and effects such as reverb and delay, that’s why it took a bit of time to mix and master.

W: I noticed the album (FAKE/FAKER) is shaped like a 7 Inch record. How did you guys decide on this?

Actually, the idea was to enlarge the medium because what we’re trying to convey through the packaging is photography so a larger medium is just better for the images. If you measure the album, it’s actually 2 centimeter short of 7 inches.

W: Oh, I didn’t notice that! So it’s all about the photography.

Yes

W: and who designed the cover?

The front cover-picture is by Loredana Guinicelli, a German photographer whose images we found appropriate; it matches our theme. The rest is by Sandi [Jaya Saputra]. The album’s visual is very much focused on photography, again that is why we decided on the large sized packaging.

W: And what is your opinion on the relationship between music and visuals for the album?

I think it is very important because the visuals represent the music you listen to. Black is pretty dominant because our music is imaginative so with this color you can interpret our music however you like.

W: Does Polyester have a visual theme?

Yes. Well in our live shows we actually have a visual theme though we don’t use it in every performance. It really depends on the technical issues; if the venue is capable of handling the visuals then we will use them.

W: I read that your title, Fake/Faker is based on the theme of third world countries?

Oh, no. Not third world countries but third world in general. Because we live in a third world.

We just want to be honest. What we do here is essentially stealing, stealing something. We steal what we hear or see so everything that you get in this album you have seen before. We all take elements from different sources and put them together.

Its not copying something exactly, but we take elements that we like and incorporate it into our music. We like a guitar tone from someone’s album so we use it in our songs. Sometimes it’s accidental, we listen to Pink Floyd and we noticed after recording some of the sounds we use seem similar to Pink Floyd.

W: So the title is you expressing this culture of taking elements from different sources and building something yourself?

Yes, pretty much.

W: Moving on to the next question, you guys are from Bandung. I honestly rarely go to Bandung, can you describe what the art and music scene is like over there? It seems very vibrant.

Bandung has this very apparent character, you can often hear a band and say something like ‘this is so Bandung’.

W: What is that character that makes it stand out?

I guess Bandung bands like to explore, they’re not limited to what is trendy. It’s actually pretty similar to Yogyakarta in terms of being experimental, but Yogyakarta is… I’m not really sure how to describe it… pure, their art is more pure.

Bandung is like a sponge, it absorbs everything and when you squeeze it out a mixture of different elements comes out.

W: Any artists from Bandung we should be looking out for?

Vincent Vega… there are a lot.

W: I read in your Facebook that you guys are an Electronic Rock Experimental Band. What is experimenting like for you guys? Is it a conscious effort?

It just sort of happens naturally. Everything on our albums didn’t begin with one or two of us coming in with songs already written, we always jam everything out in the studio. All five of us go in the studio and we experiment and create music.

W: Are there any music artists that you consistently notice influence Polyester Embassy since its inception?

That’s difficult to answer because our influences are very wide in scope, you can ask each one of us and you will get a very wide range of influences

W: Okay, those are all my questions. Is there anything else you want to add?

Our first single, Space Travel and Rock n Roll?

W: go for it

This song has evolved since we first wrote it in 2003. It took up many forms until we released it in 2011. After changing its arrangement numerous times we finally agreed on a final arrangement in 2009, and that’s what you hear in our album.

W: You guys kept performing Space Travel and Rock n Roll as it kept changing that whole time?

Yes we did. Actually, a lot of our songs sound different when we perform live, we create and change song arrangements pretty often. When you watch us live you shouldn’t really expect to hear our music exactly as you hear it in the album. We often reconstruct it, rearrange it when we perform live.

W: Alrite, I guess that’s it. Thank you, guys.

Thank you.

-
Polyester Embassy Website
Polyester Embassy Twitter
Polyester Embassy Facebook
Polyester Embassy Myspace
FFWD Records

White Shoes & The Couples Company: Inspired by 60’s to 70’s Indonesian movie soundtracks, classic jazz from the 30’s, classic disco, witty lyrics, and Indonesian retro-inspired visual display, White Shoes and The Couples Company’s sound is as eclectic as their influences. Formed in 2002 by Rio, Sari, Saleh, Mela, Ricky, and John—then students at IKJ (Art Institute of Jakarta) White Shoes & The Couples Company’s self-described “Chamber Pop” brought a new and exciting style to then the current Indonesian music landscape. The band launched their self-titled debut album in 2005 under Aksara Records. In 2007 White Shoes and The Couples Company released an EP (Skenario Masa Muda) as a joint effort with Kineforum (Jakarta Arts Council’s Fim Committee) and Sinematek Indonesia (Indonesian Movie Archives) to raise awareness as well as fund for the preservation of Indonesian old movie archives.

Gaining worldwide recognition, their lively performances has been enjoyed not only by their fans in Indonesia but also overseas. The album, distributed by Minty Fresh Records, is also sold in Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Japan. After recently releasing their second full-length, Album Vakansi, W_Music had the privilege to talk to them about the album and travelling in general. Enjoy!

Hosted By: Punang Adipradana

Director of Photography: Heru Admadja

Editor: Ken Jenie

Thank You
White Shoes & The Couples Company
Indra Ameng
Adityo Cahyo

Motion Design by:
Aras Darmawan
www.arasdarmawan.com

Supported by
W_Space
-
White Shoes & The Couples Company Official Website
White Shoes & The Couples Company Myspace
White Shoes & The Couples Company Facebook
White Shoes & The Couples Company Twitter