Ucok is busily tucking into brunch after waking up at an ungodly hour to take the long drive down from Bandung to Jakarta for this interview.

Scruffily dressed in a khaki green military-like jacket, black t-shirt, spectacles and his unique head bandana, he exudes a shabby-chic persona and easily fits the mold of a revolutionary.

Or at the very least could be mistaken for a political activist, as he has an opinion on almost any topic from community organizing to the state of democracy in Indonesia.

Homicide's frontman Ucok has been rapping for most of his life and is quite easily considered the veteran of Indonesian hip-hop.

Born in South Sumatra and having been based in Bandung in the last two decades, 33-year-old Ucok remembers that the hip-hop scene did not exist back then when the group was starting out in 1993. In fact, hip-hop belonged to a community called the "hardcore scene" like punk rock, so the fans who listened to Homicide came from that genre.

In the last 13 years of the group's existence, there have been seven or eight different members, something Ucok reassures us is not out of the ordinary.

The band disbanded in 2007 but has since stepped back into the studio to record their new album entitled Illsurrekshun. In the latest reincarnation of Homicide, the four main members are DJ E (turntables), Andre (guitar) and Gaia (backup rapper) and Ucok.

"Homicide is a collective, it is not a conventional band but they spread their message with music," Ucok said in early February.

The newest offering is an abandoned project and is not meant to be a comeback album per se but merely a record that was sidelined when there was no time to work on it. Ucok says that Illsurrekshun was created in the hope that it would be a wakeup call for listeners.

"We are calling people to wake up... to day to day activities. I know it's a cheesy theme "calling to wake up" but people don't do it no more," he said.

Ucok feels that the Indonesian consumerist society is spiraling out of control.

"Why is our society producing less meaning but consuming more ... Consuming things that they don't need, values from corporations, science, which leads to the dumbing down of society ... Probably more is understood in the West about consumer society. And there is no proper education (here) because it is a luxury."

The problem with democracy in Indonesia Ucok thinks is because it is western democracy.

"The problem is in interpretation. The only version is Western democracy, we have one version of democracy, that is Greek democracy. The ballot box is another form of tyrant. Democracy is a grassroots democracy. We need to think and study more about it.

"Today's government application of Western democracy is a problem. We can't have one of two people representing us. The campaign system is far from fair, and only suits those with money," he said.

While most bands dream of the kind of notoriety and popularity that comes with rapping about issues that are left of field or simply controversial, at the same time Ucok is uncomfortable with fans missing the point of their message.

"It is a problem when they buy your CD if it doesn't help our mission and vision ... We feel guilty when it (their music) is commodified, being mainstream has consequences, people talk about band controversies and issues; they only want to hear our music because it's cool."

Clearly Ucok has a greater plan for his work.

"The point is to provoke discussion, about the country, politics, religion and values. All people in Indonesia need to make it (these issues) really cool, and to be aware."

So is this why Homicide has chosen to sign on with the independent label, Lil'Fish Records?

Ucok says matter-of-factly that it wasn't a conscious decision to go with an indie label rather than a mainstream one.

"You think indie labels have more freedom, (but) some mainstream gives us the same luxury to do whatever we want," he adds.

Ucok's passion for politics was sparked by his father, who was once a political activist and secretly kept a chest full of books that he introduced to the young Ucok when he was in high school.

By 1994 when he was attending the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) he was inspired by small demonstrations that were taking place and ended up joining the Democratic People's Party (PRD).

Rumor has it that Ucok was considered a threat to the government during Soeharto's rule and could have been personally targeted for it. However Ucok sets the record straight and feels that because he was part of a left wing movement, the then government considered most of them communists.

"It was scary, to be hunted by the government who thought they were communists and so yes, you can be kidnapped for being labeled a communist."

In the early 90s, under Soeharto, Marxism was Ucok's first interest, and then he shifted to Sufism, and even the then radical Madonna inspired him.

In light of Soeharto's death, Ucok believes that the former president's dominance in the country did not stop when he lost power over a decade ago.

"He's so powerful, when he was in and out of power, the media portrayed him as a hero. This represented his real power, not just in the media but in how they hold information. People who don't live in the 80s or 90s they simply forgot about (his bad deeds) and I don't know how. Manipulation of information is another form of evil, another form of oppression. If they (media) want to tell the truth, tell how many people Soeharto killed. Why only interview people who respect Soeharto, why not the poor people in Sumatra. people are being 'bomb-brushed' by the government," he said.

In his spare time, Ucok freelances as a graphic designer and helps out with the local art community, through holding workshops, and supports the social movement generated by non-government organizations such as Contract and the Urban Poor Consortium.

He does not consume MacDonald's or Starbucks, and said he can relate to the philosophy behind The Body Shop but sees that they too are a multinational corporation.

As anti-establishment as he may seem, Ucok is aware of the paradox. He owns a mobile phone and smokes, which he acknowledges are not only harming his health but lining up the profits of some multinational company.

Well-considered and intelligent answers reflect the level of thinking that this activist-cum-musician often faces. Compared to other artists, he seems more vocal and switched on to the issues facing Indonesians, making his role as a social agitator, activist and performer inseparable.

On a personal level, the father of three young children hopes that they will grow up questioning everything and have a consciousness to think about their identity.

For everyone else, he just wants to be remembered as a friend. "I don't want to end up as Che Guevara. I don't treat people who buy my stuff as fans but friends.

"Right now I am really interested in building more public spaces, for gigs, gatherings, collective work. I believe that every tool can be a weapon if you hold it right. Not only hip-hop but popular culture from the West or even local traditions, if you do it right it can be a weapon."

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