Noise in Indonesia
Indonesian experimental music scene has been growing. I mean, for an outsider, Indonesian music appears itself as something fresh and extreme. Most people know about puppet-shadow theater. There are some basic characteristics of this kind of performance that are fascinating. First, against the traditional division between the stage and the spectators, in the shadow theater you can sit on any side of the screen. That is, you can watch the puppet-master at work. This results not obvious if you are trained in the classic idea of fiction, where the mechanism should remain hidden. In a wayang kulit performance, then, the shadow is not meant to be an illusion. Plato’s cave is the best counter-example. His allegory is a paradigmatic illustration of the shadow-theater where the ‘true objects’ remain unknown to the spectator chained on the floor. On the contrary, in a wayang kulit performance you can see the backside of the screen. Spectators are allowed to eat, smoke and chat during the performance. Their attention is not required as fixed, they are now chained to their seats. The orchestra also plays a central role. Both the tuning and the articulation of voices and rhythms in gamelan is extremely complex. Instead of leading melodies, it could be said that it has a dramatic function.
Anyway, noise seemingly stands on the antipodes of conventional music. Nevertheless, it shares some features with traditional Indonesian music, maybe the emphasis in performance over organic “melodity”, or the fact that it values community over the figure of the individual musician. In any case, it is something disruptive. Noise goes one step forward: it seeks to provoke the spectators, to rearrange their perception of sound. It’s aggressive, that’s what distinguishes noise from, let’s say, ambient.
As I said before, in Indonesia the noise scene has been blooming since the mid 90s. A documentary called Bising (interview here) is responsible for bringing this movement to a wider audience outside Indonesia (for example appearing in VICE). However, it would be hard to find one single common denominator. Since Indonesia consists of more than seventeen thousand islands, there are different cultural layers that enrich the scene. Also, noise is kind of postcultural, since it moves toward an absolute deconstruction of music in chaos. The question that remains is if technology itself could be seen as something attached to a certain type of culturality. You can find also this two sides within the Indonesian scene, with groups as Senyawa experimenting with self-made or modified traditional instruments. The tendency of noise toward experimentation and deconstruction makes it hard to conceptualize.
Sarana
Reflecting on these things I got into a noise duo from Samarinda called Sarana. Even if noise comes to existence as a response to the phallocentric idea of the lead-guitarist (one male with his big phallus on the stage showing his virtuosity), there are some elements in noise that remained quite patriarchal. The Power of the Voice, which Derrida called phonocentrism, is based somehow on the authority of the male leader. In this sense, feminised noise would be an answer to it. (If you are interested in reading more about a feminist interpretation of noise, check out Marie Thompson’s work). As she writes in ‘Feminised noise and the ‘dotted line’ of sonic experimentalism’ (2016):
“If dominant histories of noise and sonic experimentalism have typically been characterised by a patrilineal ‘dotted line’ of innovators and pioneers, then these counterprojects respond with a nexus of new lineages involving both connections and disconnections”.
Anyway, as Sabrina says in the interview, noise should have no gender at all.
Now, the music of Sarana is a great example of how noise can disrupt the normative discourses. They create dense atmospheres of imperfect geographies. Noise is anti-mimetic. There is nothing to imitate, nothing to represent. Even the cultural references are blurred. The form is also emptying itself constantly. No content and no form. As a philosopher I try to conceptualize noise, but noise is always a step forward.
Sarana has a long c.v. of gigs. They played with the support of the Goethe Institut in Jakarta (It should be recognized that Goethe Institut around the world usually supports this kind of music, they do a good job in this regard); They played in Berlin last year; and they are even mentioned in the Bloomsbury Handbook of Sound Art.
Sabrina kindly agreed to be interviewed and here is the result:
Ferner: First can you tell me a little more about you. How did you start doing experimental music? How did Sarana begin?
Sabrina: Around early 2014. Hanging with friends in the noise scene, I messed around jamming with their music equipment e.g. guitar pedals, contact mics, small synths. Without me noticing, one of my friends recorded my jamming session. He told me afterwards that they’re gonna put the track into a compilation they were planning. They encouraged me to go further with an experimental musical journey saying that what I do is different, against the style in the scene. In June 2014 was my first time performing in a show. The show was called ‘loudness war judgment day’. (photo attached. credits to https://www.instagram.com/faturrahmanarham/)
I was called to perform another show a few months later. That’s where I brought two of my friends to join as Sarana. It started as a trio with Istanara and Annisa. Ara left a few years later to complete her studies. Sarana is currently a duo with Annisa.
F: Since you were touring in Berlin, what would you say it’s different in the noise scene from Berlin and Samarinda? What is special about doing music in Samarinda?
S: From what I’ve noticed for that brief period when I was there, I think that the Berlin style has more electronic digital equipment with organized sound, Samarinda still incorporates a bit of traditional musical instruments and sound e.g. the tingkilan and dayak musical style. In Samarinda, getting a venue to perform or organise an experimental show is quite hard. The noise and experimental scene is not recognized yet. Traditional music and art is more looked upon.
F: I come from Argentina, where the noise scene is also quite underdeveloped. I think that noise music in third world countries is especially interesting and powerful because you have to fight against many obstacles to do it. I would say that that noise is “noisier” than European “technoclean” noise. I don’t know if that makes sense for you.
I don’t think the genre is specific to a regent. I feel more that the person who’s making those noises takes inspiration and is influenced by their upbringing and their surroundings. There are always obstacles, it’s whether you wanna do it or not.
F: I read on the internet an interesting statement: Lintang Radittya, DIY synthesizer builder and musician says: “To call a specific music noise is artificial. Noise is nothing in itself. It’s running in our blood, it’s a part of us. It is not an isolated phenomenon that can be separated from anything else. What is noise? Gamelan is, for example, also noise”. Do you also think in that way? Is there a cultural element in Indonesian noise that makes it special? What is particular in Dayak and Tingkilan music that you could not find in the rest of Indonesia.
S: I think that noise is something you feel and make out from anything. Any instrument can be used in any way. The right and wrong way is only perceived by people, but it shouldn’t be that way. Dayak and tingkilan style of music is what I am brought up with and is my surrounding. That is special.
F: I’m interested in the conceptual side of experimental/noise music. It is a hard experience for the listener but also aesthetically very intense. How would you describe the experience of going to a noise performance? What are you looking for?
S: After a couple of time going to experimental/noise shows, I realized that there are a lot of different styles in the way the performers portray what they do. Interesting in a way that there’s always good and bad changes with something new. Most of the performers I’ve experienced show their hidden inner emotion. Everything is let loose with no boundaries.
F: Are there “bad” noise performances? why? What ruins a noise performance?
S: Personally I don’t really like it when artists throw and thrash around their equipment while performing. That kind of act shows that the sound is not primary.
F: Then as a performer, what do you want to transmit during a performance. You have a rather quiet style (instead of jumping or screaming on the floor). Is there a connection between experimental music and the body? How do they interact?
S: In my performances, I bring out the sounds within my alter ego. My experiences and inspirations from around. Quiet… haha. I’m always nervous when performing. I think that it’s a good thing as I’m focused on what and how the sounds should come together as all sounds in my shows are performed and mixed live. Experimental sounds can trigger sensations beyond what is normal because of time signatures and the unexpected quality it brings.
F: I’m also very interested in the role of women in noise. At the beginning, with Japanese noise and so on, noise was very aggressive and masculine in the way they performed. This changed for good. Of course women can also perform aggressively (for example I like the energy of Nic-Endo). How do you think that women disrupt the logic of noise?
S: I don’t think noise should be based on gender. It all depends on the personal style.
F: What I like about noise is that it is a “post-band” phenomenon. Bands are something of the past, now people get together with friends and work more collectively. Do you have any thoughts on this?
S: Maybe because in a band, everyone needs to be thinking the same. Doing a solo project is much more free and I am able to really portray what’s personal. like-minded people come together by themselves.
F: You talked about the unexpected quality of a performance. That is something very important in noise. It’s unexpected, like a virus. Noise somehow reveals the limit of technology, is like using technology to produce something that wasn’t included in the functionalities of the machine. What do you think of your relation with technology? Is it hard for you to get the gears in Samarinda? Do artists there care a lot for the “quality” of the equipment?
S: It’s hard to get gears that we want in Samarinda. What we have locally is quite expensive. much cheaper to order online. Always research first. Quality is as long as it works haha.
F: Who makes the covers of your cassettes? I really like them.
S: Thank you. the cover for “heal” is designed by annisa , the cover for “grow” is designed by eka.
F: Finally, a classic during this times….. how are you living the corona outbreak there? are you doing some music?
S: A lot of roads are closed. A lot of food places closed. I’ve been spending more time at home jamming and recording materials for an upcoming solo album and splits.