When the indie band Efek Rumah Kaca (Greenhouse Effect) performed songs from their second album at the Hard Rock Cafe last Tuesday, the audience cheered them on.

They, on the contrary, did not make any eye contact at all with their cheering fans while they sang.

The vocalist, who is also the lead guitarist, Cholil closed his eyes. The bassist, who is also backing vocalist, Adrian stood straight and kept looking up. The drummer Akbar lowered his head while laughing to himself. There was not any stage action. They just hit the right notes, sang the right words and let their songs do the talking. The audience was clearly hearing the message.

The combination of their three instruments with their voices made them sound more crowded than a three-man band. Their music, which they conveniently classify as pop, is influenced by a variety of music genres, like swing, jazz, rock, and even a cappella.

The five songs flew by, signaling the end of their session, only to arouse curiosity as to what would have come next had they kept playing.

The short stage act, The Jakarta Post later found out, apparently summarized the band's attitude - passionate and serious in enjoying and making music for music's sake.

"I was trying to get into my part and the feel of it," Adrian told the Post when we were sitting together in the changing room after their performance.

"I was just enjoying myself," Akbar added.

"I was shy but tried to be brave. I would rather not be the center of attention but because I love music, I force myself to," Cholil admitted.

The band was indeed shy. They spent some five years in a cocoon before deciding to come out in 2007. Starting out with the name Hush, they became Superego, only to find there was an older band with the same name in Yogyakarta.

Upon releasing their first album Efek Rumah Kaca, they eventually named themselves just that. The last name, however, led them to fame.

"But no one knew about the changes anyway. We never performed. We just played in our rooms or the studio, writing and playing our songs. We saved enough money and so we decided to produce an album," Cholil explained.

That album sold 5,000 copies and crowned them Rolling Stone Indonesia's Rookie of the Year 2008 and they were nominated for an MTV Asia award and an AMI award 2008.

That exposure has made them grow, they said.

"Musically, in the first album we were introverted because the songs were written - mostly by Cholil and Adrian - alone in their rooms. Our songs were mostly downtempo.

"In the second album, some songs were made in the studio. We jammed together so we stood in each other shoes and were more open. So, our second album is more upbeat," Akbar said.

On top of the tunes, the band's power lies in their lyric writing. Rather than singing about puppy love, they bring up broad social issues, like politics, love, lifestyles, drug abuse, human relationships, which may prick listeners' consciences.

"This latest album named Kamar Gelap (Dark Room) is a manifestation of our approach to our songs. Just like a camera, we captured social incidents and things around us. But, we translated them into music instead of photos," Akbar said.

The song "Jangan Bakar Buku" (Don't Burn Books), for example, protested the act of burning books perceived as wrong while "Kenakalan Remaja di Era Informatika" (Teenage Mischief in the Information Era) nudged teenagers about their impulsive acts of recording their sexual endeavors.

The song "Mosi Tidak Percaya" (Motion of Distrust) voices the distrust toward people in power in this country, a widespread sentiment among the public, as the number of abstentions in the legislative election shows.

"It does not mean we encourage nonvoting. We are just describing the social phenomena of distrusting people inside *the government and the House*. The detention of corrupt officials occurs almost daily. These people have closed-door meetings and do not want to be observed. The budget is used for buying unimportant stuff," Cholil said.

"If there are good people to choose from, please vote. But if there are none, who should we vote for? "he asked.

Two days before the legislative election, none of them had made up their minds and hoped for "ballot box enlightenment".

"I will go to the ballot box. If I still do not feel right about any of them, then it is not something that can be forced by regulation or by religion. This is about heart, not about religion," Cholil said.

This kind of heart-oriented view has been what has been guiding the band over the years.

The first album quickly won them supporters. They also caught the eye of a big label but could not strike a deal.

"We just wanted our content - music and lyrics - not to change. Not that we are not manageable. We need producers who sharpen us, not those who reduce our content. Our band is like this and produces this kind of sound because it is our identity, our fingerprint," Cholil explained.

"Of course we would like to have our songs listened to by more people, to get more exposure. But if the trade-off is our music, we would rather stay indie," Cholil said.

Living by that decision means they have to dig deep into their pockets to produce albums themselves.

For that, they are all holding day jobs, although the bassist Adrian recently lost his job because the company he worked for went bust. Akbar freelances as a session player while Cholil works as an accountant and admitted that he is way behind with his tasks.

"We do not have rock star syndrome and we do not aim to earn from making music. It is about our passion, so we cannot force ourselves to gain popularity while sacrificing our music.

For example, it would be strange if we disliked sinetron (local soap opera) with its bad acting and had our songs as a sinetron soundtrack. We would feel like *what for?' We are ready to swallow that we are growing slower by defending our stand," he said.

"Anyway, we are already rich. We are rich at heart," Akbar chipped in.

Cholil Mahmud

Place & DOB :

Jakarta, April 28, 1976

Post :

Vocals, Guitar

Education :

Accountancy

Day job :

Accountant

Musical reference :

Jeff Buckley, Radiohead

Lyrics reference :

Puthutea, Iwan Simatupang

Interest :

Art curating, lecturing

Akbar Bagus Sudibyo

Place & DOB :

Jakarta, August 13,1976

Post :

Drums

Education :

Radio and television

Day job :

Session player

Musical reference :

Current music and music from the 80s

Lyrics reference :

Iwan Fals

Interest :

Movie-making, gardening

Adrian Yunan Faisal

Place & DOB :

Jakarta, March 16, 1976

Post :

Bass, backing vocals

Education :

Instrumentation

Day job :

Former calibration technician

Musical reference :

Stone Temple Pilots, Sting

Lyrics reference :

Poetry, novels

Interest :

Sports, engineering

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