I’ve watched the video for “Insomnia” (and the song’s so cool, by the way!) and I don’t know why, but I really get the vibe of The Cult in it (which is great). By the way, you look cool in the video! You remind me little of Johnny Depp playing with Eddie Vedder (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcgtTrMBMEU). What genre you are feeling more comfortable with, rock or blues? If there can be such comparison made…
Dude! The Cult is one of my favorite bands EVER! From their Goth-ish era to the American rock thing. Their journey is like a documentary of my subculture fascination! Not sure about the Johnny Depp thing, though, hahaha! He’s not as handsome as me…. Bhahahahaha!
Before getting little deeper into your blues career, let’s talk about your other collaborations (at least about those I’ve learnt about) – first, Bangkutaman and their single “Tabib”. I have to say, I don’t really like the trippy video, but the song is great! What can you tell us about this collaboration?
Bangkutaman is one of the prominent bands in the Indonesian independent music scene. They were one of the first to play the genre that they are playing. They were releasing an album after a long break that contains collaborations with different musicians. I was lucky that they asked me to play in one of their songs on the album. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure what to play because it’s not a blues song, and the progression is almost counter-intuitive to play slide guitar on. But I think it turned out pretty good now that I listen to it.
I’ve noticed that in the Raksasa’s video Iman is wearing the black bowler hat in some takes, and you’re wearing the black bowler hat in the aforementioned Bangkutaman’s video. Is there any signification beyond wearing this kind of hat – or is it a passing trophy between you two? 🙂
Umm.. I think I’m pretty sure that was me wearing the bowler hat in Raksasa videos.
I also have found a passing reference about your collaboration with Jubing Kristianto, but couldn’t find anything more. Obviously, I need to know more about this collaboration…where we can find some audio of you two together?
My collaboration with him was at a showcase I had in Pasar Santa, a public market building that was famous for its food-court and hip shops. I’m sure there’s a video somewhere on Facebook or Youtube. But unfortunately, we didn’t do a recorded music collaboration.
One other collaboration I am aware of is with Kartika Jahja. These two (Jubing and Kartika) are musically different, and while I am pretty sure it’s hard to evaluate them against each other, which of those collaborations you consider more engaging and why?
The collaboration with Kartika Jahja was also on the same occasion. Though, on another occasion I also played with her, but at her gig playing one of her songs. She and Jubing are very different. Though their style may cross on anything retro. Kartika is not so much “retro” per-se, but in my opinion, her political leanings sometimes work well with retro sounding stuff. To me, she’s one of the powerhouse Indonesian singers that I admire, deeply rooted in the black-music style, but she takes it outside of the stereotypes of the genre.
