You are not the only blues musician from Indonesia, I also know stuff by Herry Fimansyah and Rama Satria…any other interesting artists you can recommend for the readers? What relationships do you, as blues musicians, have with each other? Enmity? Friendships? Jealousy? 🙂
Dude, there are literally HUNDREDS of blues musicians in Indonesia today, spread across the country. The big ones, other than ones you mentioned, is also Gugun and the Blues Shelter. Then another delta-style player is Made Mawut from Bali. Dozens of great ones from Bandung too, like Budi Arab, and the pioneer Hari Pochang. There’s Hari’s disciple Sarah Saputri who’s a wizard on the harp, Fajri Navari as well, who played on my album. The list goes on… And you’ll be surprised to know that even in the smallest regions out of the big cities in every province you may find a blues community. Just regular guys who enjoy this music and some musicians playing them too! In Banyumas, near Purwokerto, there’s a dude named Gendhit that mashes some blues with psychedelic folk stuff. Of all places!
The thing is, each community works and stands on its own. Yet, we respect each other, and sometimes do visits. Not to say that it’s drama-free, but I think nowadays we kinda find that dramas don’t really contribute to any positive outcome. Especially, since not many sponsors are willing to support any community events. So, the DIY culture is usually more prominent among us.
Getting slowly, but steadily, to the end of this great interview, what’s in store for Adrian Adioetomo for the rest of 2021 and beyond?
Well, I got some ideas about the album and some other form too, but it’s all still in my head! Hahaha. It might require some get together with talented artists and individuals, so it’ll take some time before it’s even worth mentioning. But I do hope they can happen. The possibilities of medium is limitless with the internet today, so there might be some now form that I may be able to think of. Hopefully, it’ll be able to reach any listeners and viewers everywhere.
Thank you very much, Adrian, for your time doing this interview…any final message to the readers of IndoKult?
Thank you so much for this indepth and fun interview!! I’d like to greet IndoKult readers hello, and wish you all good health and blessings. I hope you keep discovering interesting talents from Indonesia that struck a chord to your liking. So, stay tuned and keep reading IndoKult !
