Do I need to constantly remind you about some great bands hiding in the plain sight in Asia? I don’t think so, you should already know that.
So today I’ve chosen to have a world with the crust-grinders GUILTIES…and what have I learned? This!
Hi, guys, thanks for your time doing this interview! How are you doing these days? I know you’ve been quite busy with the new album, right?
Yeah, lil bit busy, but we glad the album have been released, almost 22 years ago from our 1st EP album, and finally we’re back again with new full album.
Anyway, before we delve into this and other interesting subjects…first things first. What’s the current line-up for Guilties?
The current line-up now is:
Dickdead as a Vocal
Renald13 as a Bass
Kebot as a Drum
Mbonk as a Guitar
I think there’s a need to clear a little confusion. From the beginning, you were known as The Guilties, but now you are simply Guilties. Did you drop “The” from your band name because of the other band with the same name? Have you been asked to do that, or was it simply your decision?
Our decision to change name [and go] without “The” was because we’ve changed our music from crust-core to a crust/grind, and we think we have to do something new, and simplify the name to be more memorable.
Let’s go back in time to – if I am not mistaken – 1999… how did the idea of forming a band come up? How did the crust/grind scene in Indonesia looked like back then? Who were your influences, both domestic, Indonesian, and from the rest of the world?
In 1999, our guitarist’s grandma’s was like a basecamp for a friend who have a band in Setiabudi, Jakarta area (Proletar & Social Distrust), in 1999 [there were] not too many crust-core or grindcore bands, so we’ve tried to make crustcore band, because we needed to be different, our influences locally were Social Distrust, Proletar, Sattelite, Dirty Edge, among outside influences were bands like Disfear, Disgust, Insect Warfare, Agathocles, Yacopsae and Grid.
The world 25 years ago was certainly not without its faults (and I think it’s just getting worse and worse)… what did you want to accomplish with your music and from the today’s perspective, did you manage to accomplish your goals?
Yes. The world is becoming increasingly chaotic, dominated by rulers focused solely on themselves. In this context, music serves as a vital message and means to voice the truth and justice. Underground music expresses these conditions, acting as a form of protest through its lyrics and melodies.
Your debut material available in the official form was the 2001 EP “Victim of War”. What can you tell us about this EP, what label has released it and most of all – what about the reactions from the public? How was this EP received by your fans?
Our EP Album was released by Badai Records (Ipul Proletar) in 2001, the EP album contained 9 songs. The reaction to the EP album was very good and was accepted by everyone who listened and supported our music until now.
Then, in 2003, you took part in compilation “Fast N Raw”…I have to say I couldn’t find any information at all about this compilation, would you be able to fill in the blanks (so to speak) and tell us more about it? Who did this compilation? I assume it was a tape, right? What other bands were on it beside yours?
Yes, a compilation made by a friend from the band Cavolsuck, and I almost forgot which bands were included in the compilation, the ones I still remember are the bands Cavolsuck, The Misskin, and more bands from the Depok area, because we ourselves lost the physical release, even for our own EP album, we don’t have it at the moment.
It’s no longer that shocking more me, but after that compilation, there is 20 years of no releases. Nothing at all. I assume the life and work has something to do with it, right? Was the band totally inactive during this period?
Actually some of our members are still active and have decided to start another band to fill their vacancies, yes, at that time some members have started to get busy working and some decided to leave the music world and focus on their families, only the guitarist and vocalist still tried to keep in touch, and finally we had time to practice with some of the old members in 2009, 2013, 2017, because at that time some friends invited us to participate in several music events, but in reality it has never really happened.
Your first appearance after those 20 years was the 4-way split with Indonesian MASSDEATH and 2 Brazilian bands, DISCROPSY and KRÖNIKOR. How did it actually happen? Have you been specifically asked to take part in this, or was it your decision to get active again?
Yes, after 20 years we tried to start over from zero, and at that time I’ve initially tried to contact friends in Brazil, we’ve asked them if they were interested in this crazy project, and they said yes, then I’ve tried to contact old friends in Malang to find a label that could release this project.
This year (2024) already saw one release with Guilties’ participation, namely another 4-way split along with DISAVGHT, KONSPIRASI MORAL and MEAT PILLS. Let’s talk about this one as well – have you provide any new songs there? From what I could find, I assume your part was a live recording?
Yes, for this project, all the songs that we recorded live are new songs, the project has actually started from a casual conversation between me and DISAVGHT guys, which we then realized into a 4-way split.
By the end of August you’ve released a teaser for a new album in the form of the song “New World Unlock” from the upcoming album with the same title. Well, I guess it’s time we talk about it, what do you think?
So…where to start…what about the line-up, have been there any changes in the band’s line up? How many songs on the album? When it’s gonna be released in what formats and – for those outside Indonesia – is there any plan to distribute it worldwide. Is it DIY release or you co-operate with any label?
There were 2 new members in the band to replace the bassist and drummer, there are 15 songs on this album, released in CD format and digital streaming platforms, for the re-release I plan to contact some friends abroad and try to offer it to them, because I don’t want this album to only be released in Indonesia, for this album it was released by Edelweiss Record [in Indonesia].
We haven’t touched an important part of the band life, and that’s live playing. What gig/festival can you mention as your best performance so far? What about your future performances? Have you already settled for any gigs and festivals for the rest fo 2024 and in 2025? Any Indonesian tour, maybe?
So far for us the most memorable was our appearance at the No Peace Today No Life Tomorrow event in 2003 and Ears Pollution GrindFest in 2024, for the near future we will take part in an album compilation launch and maybe we will also hold our album launch and album tour in several nearby cities, and if there is an opportunity maybe we will also schedule a tour to the nearest neighbouring country
In my quest to bring attention to Asian music performers, I always consider it important not to forget to give a shout out to other interesting bands and artists.. And I am not gonna break the tradition here either… So, what good local bands would you recommend our readers to check? Not only crust/grind, any genre…what artists do you think we should know about?
There is one band that we think really caught our attention, the band is called KARASUKAN, a band that uses traditional musical instruments but still sounds scary and gripping.
Coming to the end of this nice interview… any final message to our readers?
Keep talking the truth with strength and power to fight the world!
