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span class="inline inline-left">Courtesy of White Shoes and the Couples CompanySome old hippies came up to us after our performance and said “‘Man, you guys look so psychedelic’, but we were just wearing traditional batik,” says a member of White Shoes and the Couples Company. Then the band’s four energy-filled boys look at each other and burst out in laughter.

Spotted at one of America’s biggest music festivals, South by Southwest, with a hint of unique Indonesian character in 2008, White Shoes were scouted and invited by America’s Minty Fresh Records on myspace.com to perform in Austin, New York and San Francisco, where people received their music with great passion.

For many independent bands, it’s hard to be famous even in their own countries, but White Shoes didn’t have to worry about that. In fact, after performing at numerous major music festivals in the US, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, White Shoes is probably Indonesia’s most internationally recognized indie band.

The two albums they released in Indonesia, US, Taiwan, Australia and Japan were rated on major websites like allmusic.com, music.yahoo.com and rollingstone.com as among some of the best indie and blog worthy albums. Pictures of the band even made their way into The New York Times and Time magazine.

Artsy, playful, charismatic or naughty, it’s hard to put White Shoes into one box. It all started with six young students jamming for fun in their college years at the Jakarta Arts Institute.

Some were studying fine arts, some the viola or cello, but all six of them ended up in one band that became inspired by Indonesian movies and songs from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, which the band’s guitarist Rio called “Indonesia’s golden era”.

Soundtracks in movies like Badai Pasti Berlalu (The Storm Will Surely Pass, 1977) and Asrama Dara (Dara’s Dorm, 1958) helped White Shoes to preserve what they called the “Indonesian spirit”. “We do adopt western styles such as jazz and classical, but our songs are mostly very Indonesian,” said the band’s bass and cello player Ricky.

Growing up, White Shoes members were all crazy about music and all had their own bands in high school. “Back in high school, starting a band or playing basketball were what we did to be cool and attract women,” said Ricky, which was a comment that soon attracted the friendly sarcasm of the band’s other members.

It was this passion for music that made them determined to keep going through many sleepless jamming nights in college. No matter how well-received they were in the music world, the band retained its nonconformist personality.

Naming their band after the popular white Converse shoes everybody wore on campus in 2002, White Shoes never thought their musical path could bring them fame, and what’s more, neither did they care. With this in mind, they were caught in a daze when their single, Senandung Maaf (Apologizing), went viral in Indonesia as part of the popular movie Janji Joni (Joni’s Promise) in 2005.

The daze continued when their first album sold 15,000 copies across the nation, but the release almost went awry due to pressure from Universal Music Indonesia. On the doorstep of fame, the band struggled hard for the right to take its music in the direction it wanted. When the record company abruptly changed the band’s album design to save on budget — without the band’s consent — White Shoes fought to retain their originality.

“Sari and Rio designed our album package, but the company wanted to use a cheap plastic cover. They threatened to cancel our album if we didn’t agree to the change,” said Ricky and guitarist Saleh.

“They said they wouldn’t do it our way even if we were Bon Jovi.” But White Shoes didn’t care, preferring to cancel the debut rather than bend to authority. In the end, Universal Music gave in to the band’s determination.

White Shoes also insisted on having no fan base and making no commitment to one segmented fan group, dedicating its music to all age groups. “When people are young, they probably like Britney Spears and when they are old, they start to like something else,” said Rio and Saleh. “But we didn’t want that. People change and we want our songs to be liked by both teenagers and their mothers.”

The band’s style is indeed unique, with Sari, the main vocalist, bringing a lazy and playful voice to
the table, backed by upbeat and brisk tunes that fuse jazz and pop styles. Every song makes you feel like you are walking in warm sunshine amid patches of daisy and dandelion. Sari, the band’s main lyricist, writes mostly about people’s everyday lives in Jakarta.

Like every other Jakartan, the band members have complaints about the city’s poor infrastructure, but they try to stay optimistic with their songs. “This is life. We feel so proud and lucky to live in Indonesia. Due to the many limitations here, we are much more creative,” Ricky said with a grin. “Unlike countries like Singapore, where the government gives you everything, here we struggle every day.”