Hand in hand with it goes the success of your label. You release your own material (as mentioned above), and I understand Demajors label help you with the distribution? Are you satisfied with the sales of your material so far, especially with the regard to the new album?
Yes, Demajors have played quite a big role in my career. So I trust the album sales to them. They are a great label and they get with the times. It’s the same company but they always manage to always shift their business model to be up to date. I leave the sales up to them, and they do send me the report after a few months. “Karat & Arang” is still selling, I think. So is “EP Apaan?”. But it’s still to early to check on the new album.
Digital versus physical. CD versus vinyl and tape. What’s your take on that?
I’m yet to find a perfect digital form. I side with musicians who think that digital-platforms aren’t really fair to musicians yet. Maybe the mentality of enjoying music has changed, but the honest way of making music is still the same. The appreciation for the effort a musician puts out to make music is lost in the immediate availability that’s in disposal of listeners now. And how much do musicians get from every listen? Is it fair price? How do you determine ‘fair’? What’s a piece of music really worth? More than the next track or they’re just datas?
As for CDs, Vinyls and Tapes, I think the technology now is brilliant enough to make them deliver the best sound possible. I do admit, digital has the convenience and the sound is getting much better too, which makes old formats a novelty. But the experience of listening physical formats are much different and, dare I say, more “ritualistic”?
And how could we forget to mention playing live! I love your live videos, as they bring back the nostalgia of the old blues players playing in the roadhouses etc…which of your live appearances you’d consider the best one so far? And what setting do you prefer, festivals, big venues or just small, intimate clubs and cafes?
Oh, boy… You know, I’m always having trouble remembering my gigs. Sometimes it’s like, I don’t know… a job that you have to get done. Not that I don’t like playing live, I love it of course, but each is a different experience with its own particular special features. So it doesn’t matter the event, big or small, there’s always something special about them. Though, playing-wise, I’d usually remember if I’m not playing that good. Hahahaha! You know, where I felt like I was just repeating the same licks over and over. That usually leaves me rather dissatisfied at the end of the show.
Now for a silly question…how did you find playing that “Nyoba” guitar on the KompasTV show? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFwxcJ4he10) As I don’t understand what has been said, can you tell us some background of that clip and guitar being presented?
Hahaha! Okay, first of all, “Nyoba” means to try-out. So translated to English, it means I was “Trying out” a locally made guitar. My friend Catur Hadi Dharma from the Rockabilly band ‘Borock N Roll’ makes them. The brand is called ‘Cretscii’, and he experiments to make cheap resonator guitars and box-guitars using used cans, dogbowls, hubcaps, cooking pans, and real resonator-cones too. They’re quite good and functional, perfect for anyone wanting to start playing resonators but don’t wanna spend on a big-brand name yet. So I was on that show demonstrating his guitars.
