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Album Review: The Backstage Session by Bangkutaman
The four-song album follows Rileks, another mini album that the band released in October last year. So far, it is an exclusively digital release to be streamed through the usual digital means.
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The Backstage Session by Bangkutaman (Bangkutaman/File)
I
ndie pop group Bangkutaman has released The Backstage Session EP, a mini album wholly recorded in a hotel room during the band’s recent tour to Palembang, South Sumatra.
The four-song album follows Rileks, another mini album that the band released in October last year. So far, it is an exclusively digital release to be streamed through the usual digital means.
Bangkutaman last released a full-length record in 2010. Ode Buat Kota became the band’s most popular release, with the title track one of its most wellknown singles.
The recent string of singles and EP releases is seen by the band as an attempt to sustain its momentum, even though the members’ “real” jobs and lives made it a challenge. Still, it is precisely their big-cityworking-men perspective that gives them their unique take on things. There is a “regular middle-class joe” touch to the band’s lyrics. The Backstage Session features stripped-down versions of the songs from Rileks.
Read also: Bangkutaman releases single to support Lokananta
According to the band, rather jokingly, The Backstage Session shows a more “relaxed” side to the songs on the Rileks EP. Recorded live in a hotel room, the band — comprising vocalist and guitarist Wahyu “Acum” Nugroho, guitarist J. Irwin, bassist Madava and drummer Christo Putra — did not intend it to sound polished and “perfect.” Instead, they embraced the casual, lo-fidelity nature of the recording.
“We still wanted it to sound delicious and listenable,” explained Irwin, trying to conjure up some words to describe the EP. “Like the songs on the Rileks EP, this EP showcases where the band is at this stage in our lives,” said Acum. “We’re just relaxing, and even though the band isn’t exactly set [in providing financial security for the members], we’re still enjoying this phase of our existence.”
Indeed, songs such as “Pekerja” (Worker) on Rileks speak candidly about the band members’ struggles and daily grind.
“It’s a simple and easily-digestible song, that one. This song can represent anyone who is or has ever been an employed worker,” said Irwin, adding that the song showed the band trying to “capture their own existence and others who are in a similar situation to them.”
The Backstage Session — which can be streamed through Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer and Joox — was spontaneously recorded as the band waited to go onstage. Initially a warmup session, the band decided to record their rehearsal with the minimal equipment they had lying around.
“We just wanted to brush up on each of our individual parts. Irwin had brought along his digital multitracker and two [recording-quality] condenser microphones. We also didn’t feel like leaving the hotel, so why not?” laughed Acum.
The stripped-down versions also showcased how the songs were originally written, as campfire tunes to sing along with friends, Irwin explained. The band even kept some of its casual chit-chat to sustain that fly-on-the-wall feel.
Aside from “Pekerja,” other songs on the record include “Hey Angin” (Hey Wind), “Sok Tau” (Know-it-all) and “Lelaki & Hidupnya” (A Man and his Life).
The band plans on riding its inspired momentum for a few things, including a relaunch of its website bangkutaman.id, as well as a “surprise” the band is preparing to unveil on Record Store Day on April 22.
“It’ll definitely be something Indonesian music lovers will find worth waiting for,” said Madava.
