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Art school slackers find fame with Polka
(From left to right) Krishna Bayu Budi A, Ahmad Mursyid, Aurelia Marshal, Aris Setyawan, Danny Rachman, Rian Hidayat and Dhima Christian Datu
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(From left to right) Krishna Bayu Budi A, Ahmad Mursyid, Aurelia Marshal, Aris Setyawan, Danny Rachman, Rian Hidayat and Dhima Christian Datu. (Courtesy of Aurette and The Polska Seeking Carnival) (From left to right) Krishna Bayu Budi A, Ahmad Mursyid, Aurelia Marshal, Aris Setyawan, Danny Rachman, Rian Hidayat and Dhima Christian Datu. (Courtesy of Aurette and The Polska Seeking Carnival)
(From left to right) Krishna Bayu Budi A, Ahmad Mursyid, Aurelia Marshal, Aris Setyawan, Danny Rachman, Rian Hidayat and Dhima Christian Datu. (Courtesy of Aurette and The Polska Seeking Carnival)
It is a well-worn path: Art school students find out that their passions lies elsewhere.
Andy Gill and Jon King met while attending Leeds College of Art and found out that Marxism and angular guitars are their common interests and went on to form the seminal post-punk band Gang of Four.
David Byrne and Tina Weymouth enrolled at Rhode Island School of Design to study functional design, but ended up being famous for their new wave band Talking Heads.
Closer to home, the Jakarta Art Institute (IKJ) gave us the White Shoes and the Couples Company and Naif.
The Yogyakarta Institute of Arts (ISI) is no exception to the rule. Over the past few years, glam-rack purveyor Sangkakala and garage rock revivalists the Festivalist have become the face of ISI in the local music scene.
Recently, the younger generation of ISI students is beginning to emerge. One of them is Aurette and the Polska Seeking Carnival (AATPSC), seven unassuming young men and women who carved their own niche by playing music that is not only unique but also a breakthrough in a scene dominated by either the derivative sound of brit-pop and/or heavy metal.
To the untrained ear, AATSPC sound like their fellow brit-pop influenced bands, with Dhima Christian Datu's lovelorn vocals in the band's first single 'Wonderland' reminisant of Harriet Wheeler of the Sundays.
Dhima has smooth and breathy vocals that float above a simple piano cord and polyrhythmic drumming, enveloped by carnival sounds of marching bells, trumpet and trombone; 'Wonderland' could easily win the trophy for single of the year.
But for those who pay attention to the details of their stunning eponymous debut EP, 'Wonderland' is only an invitation to enter a more complex album which bears traces of French, Balkan and folk music with also owes a great deal to New York band Beirut, circa its Gulag Orkestar album.
All tracks boast a complex, yet accessible, brass composition without being too showy and unless buyers of their physical release ' a limited 100 run of CDs and 100 copies of cassette tapes ' read the liner notes, they would not suspect that the music was recorded in some run-down studios in Bantul, Yogyakarta.
In fact, casual listeners could be forgiven for thinking that the album is the labor of a struggling, young indie band from the outskirts of Marseilles or Nantes (on 'I Love You More Than Pizza' Dhima sings in French).
The centerpiece of the album, 'Lies in a Cup of Cappuccino', even opens with a male vocal snippet from La Vie en Rose, which blends seamlessly with a lullaby-like melody, before they begin with a gorgeous trumpet solo.
With such an ornate and intricate musical arrangement, the mesmerizing vocals of Dhima and the hook-filled singles, it is easy to see why AATPC can easily stand out in the Yogyakarta indie scene.
A cult has now formed around them to which the band affectionately called Carnivalse. The Southeast Asia indie network SEA-Indie has picked up 'Wonderful' for a region-wide distribution and a vinyl reissue project is now underway Recently the band received an invitation to perform in Singapore.
'We had to say no. It's in June, we will have our final assignment for this semester,' drummer Aris Setyawan said, adding that even if they did not have to take the exam, band members would likely stay at home because none of them had applied for passport.
Six members of the band are now in their third year at ISI and as bored as they may be with school, they are determined to graduate, knowing well that being a full-time musician would not be the best career move.
But for now, everyone in AATPSC is more than happy to be preoccupied with performing in Yogyakarta's indie circuit. After all, it's their only best excuse for skip classes on introduction to ethnomusicology or seminar on folk music.
