With today’s interview I’m opening yet another unknown territory…you know, I’ve interviewed bands, record label owners, artists, actors, you name it, but I don’t think I have ever done an interview with a coffee shop / restaurant owner. Now you may think – are you crazy, Rudolf, why talking about the restaurant? That may be true indeed, but there’s a good reason for it, as you’re going to find out….are you ready? Let’s jump in!
Hello to the busy Cikarang! Thanks, Adex, for your time doing this interview! How are you doing these days?
Hello Rudolf, I really thank you, in your busy days, I am very happy to be able to share things around us here, more specifically about Kedai Terrace.
From what I can find I see the summer in Cikarang is pretty dry, I guess everyone likes it more than a monsoon season, right?
Cikarang city is an industrial city, many factories from several countries are expanding so the city is called as such, people prefer to be indoors during the day, the hot air can make people sick, the weather is now unpredictable, yesterday it rained and today it is very hot, we are used to strange weather.
Just recently you’ve organized in your restaurant the first music event under the name of Terrace Gigs, this was fittingly named Terrace Gigs volume 1 and we will talk about it a bit later, but because I love food and drinks, let’s talk about your restaurant first. So, how would you introduce Kedai Terrace to the readers of this interview?
Kedai Terrace, which is different from around Cikarang, Kedai Terrace was born because of the association of people who work in the music section of all genres, they gather, talk about music, make songs, while drinking coffee, eating light snacks at a low price of around EUR 0.3 only or IDR 5,000, Everyone who comes is a friend to the owner of Kedai Terrace, like a friend who chats on the terrace, drinking coffee with sad or happy stories. That’s why it’s called Kedai Terrace.
You’ve already told me Kedai Terrace is owned by you and your wife. When did you start to think about starting this restaurant business and what was the reason for it? How hard it was to start a business like this one in Cikarang?
Kedai Terrace was first thought of by my wife, because she also likes to make songs, her friends are also like what I have said in the reply to question #2. Then I manage this cafe with my wife to this very day.
Speaking of difficulties, in Cikarang there are many cafes that are very good, with very large business capital, very good tools and buildings, unfortunately the money my wife and I have is not that much, especially we built the Kedai Terrace, 4 months before marriage, spending a lot of money. with a low selling price that means the profit we get is also not much. But we think more about the people who come to the Kedai Terrace than our own profit. Maybe you will say we are stupid, but believe me, moments together cannot be paid with money.
You are absolutely correct! I hope people reading this interview will take their time to check your Instagram page to see some of the food and drinks you offer to your customers. I’ve learned there is a lot of local cuisine in Indonesia…is there any food specific to your region worth of mentioning? I have to admit I am a big fan of Asian cooking, so that’s the question I personally want to know the answer for! 🙂
We both live in Cikarang but we were born in different cities, different islands. Starting with me, I was born in Medan, North Sumatra, I am of Hokkien ethnicity (more easily known as Chinese).
There are so many typical foods in Medan, I love Lemang, Mie Gomak, Bika Ambon, and Soto Medan, you have to try it once in your life.
My wife is from Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. She loves Ayam Goreng, Jengkol, Sayur Asem. Almost every day she eats chicken, she is a good cook but the thing she doesn’t forget is chicken with spices. Let’s bet, if you come she will cook for you more than usual. Haha!
Haha, you don’t have to tell me twice to pack then! You’ve also told me you’d wanted Kedai Terrace to be a place for metal music also. And as we’ve already mentioned, you’d done this with the Terrace Gigs volume 1, which was held in June this year (2023) – and that gig has brought together good amount of great bands! Let’s talk about it! When did the idea of hosting gigs originated and did you originally plan it as big as it eventually become? 16 bands is not a small event…and by the way, I need to thank you for the opportunity to know a few bands from your area I was not familiar with before!
This idea actually existed from last year, but it was only implemented in June. We asked Fauzi (Ex Burning Wolf) my best friend for help, to form a team, finally we formed a team with 5 people.
Yes, I know Fauzi, he’s a great guy! I think no event organizer in Indonesia has a problem with lack of bands, as there are literally hundreds of bands everywhere! OK, I might be exaggerating here a little, but that’s my perception when exploring the Indonesian scene. Do you plan Terrace Gigs to be an event for the local bands only, or you will welcome also bands from other areas?
Since the beginning, even in Terrace Gigs vol 1, the bands that played were not only from Cikarang locally, there was even one from Subang (Eternal Mortem). We will continue to bring in bands not only Underground, anything, from anywhere, we will be a terrace for anyone.
How big was the audience? I’ve seen a lot of videos from local Indonesian events and many of them suffer from not a big audience…is it because people don’t attend gigs or there are just so many gigs people can’t afford to attend as many as they would love to?
The capacity of the audience was 500 people, but about 300 people came. Do you know what scared us? Unbelievable rain, lightning, and strong winds happened during the Open Gate, our stage almost collapsed, all the team and band members who came prayed that no disaster would happen, the team quickly fixed everything before it was too late. The show had to be postponed by 2 hours. What we couldn’t believe was that all the band members, team & audience didn’t lose hope. That’s what makes us grateful. Finally the rain stopped and we continued the show, no disappointment.
Oh, I didn’t know about that! Good it hasn’t been cancelled! Le’t talk about the Cikarang music scene… and we should probably call it Cikarang/Bekasi, I am sure bands at Terrace Gigs volume 1 are not the only bands from your local area! I know you’ve already thinking of the next Terrace Gigs volume 2, so – if that’s not a secret – are there any bands you plan to have on the stage you can reveal? Any bands not previously played in TG volume 1?
Haha! You’re good at getting us to talk and even reveal secrets, that’s a compliment. A little bit we can spill, maybe we will discuss with the band from Bandung next month. And a little secret, there will be a new band from Cikarang, they are finalizing their song, I hope they can debut first in TG vol 2. we are looking forward to it, I believe this band can bring their characteristic. Or something better.
Music fans and especially event organizers have that dream – to see their favourite band playing in their venue. What band would you love to see live in Kedai Terrace?
Is it too much to say that I want CEREBRAL BORE to be here, haha! I’m just kidding! I think all the bands in each region are really good, we should take a closer look.
Before next Terrace Gigs will happen, you are working on hosting a hardcore music event. Can you share some information about this with me? Any bands already confirmed?
There is a plan for an event organization to hold an event at Terrace Kedai, but it’s not Terrace Gigs Vol 2, we are still discussing and no decision has been made yet. We hope it can be done.
What I like so far about Indonesian music community is the fact you are also open to various other music genres, I see metal people like punk, pop music, or dangdut…which is not so usual here in the West. I, particularly, like the 1990s lady rockers like Inka Christie or Mel Shandy and also some dangdut koplo!! Are there any good artists from your area in these genres you might recommend to me and other to check?
Of course, we enjoy all kinds of music, we don’t hate differences, we don’t build locked boxes. How can we be accepted if we don’t accept. We Indonesians accept music universally, Indonesia has so many differences, you know, music is one of the ways we become one.
Hmm Artists, I’ll mention a few for you:
– if you like Inka Christie, try listening to Nike Ardilla
– For Revenge, the song “Perayaan Patah Hati”
– Rhoma Irama and the song “Gulali”
– Tulus and the song “Hati-Hati Dijalan”
Coming slowly to the end of this interview…thank you, Adex, again, for your time…any final message to the readers of this interview?
I think this is all I can say, I’m very happy to share what little I know, I also apologize if there are hurtful words or misunderstandings. If there’s anything you don’t understand, please don’t hesitate, just tell me… I’ll be happy to tell you. Have a great day!
