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Superman Is Dead: from underground punk rockers to green leaders
The stars: Superman Is Dead members (from left) Eka Rock, Jerinx and Bobby Kool
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The stars: Superman Is Dead members (from left) Eka Rock, Jerinx and Bobby Kool.(Courtesy of Sony Music)" height="304" border="0" width="512">The stars: Superman Is Dead members (from left) Eka Rock, Jerinx and Bobby Kool.(Courtesy of Sony Music)Racist! Traitor! Immoral! Each of these scathing terms had once been used to characterize the three well-dressed men blowing out candles on a resplendent birthday cake as they smiled before a crowd of die-hard fans.
The amicable trio â consisting of Eka Rock, Bobby Kool and Jerinx â are members of the countryâs most famous punk rock band, Superman Is Dead (SID).
They were celebrating the 20th anniversary of the bandâs formation on board the Quicksilver cruise ship, as it slowly circled the Port of Benoa in Bali recently.
The celebration also marked the launch of âRasis! Pengkhianat! Miskin Moral!â (âRacist! Traitor! Immoral!â) â the first installment in a series of biographical books about the band.
The bookâs author is SIDâs former manager Rudolf Dethu, who, from 2000 to 2007, witnessed the turbulent period in which the Balinese band both rose to national ubiquity and faced controversial accusations in the form of the three slanderous labels that form the bookâs title.
Written and conceptualized through interviews with the band over the last year, the 250-page book, written in Indonesian, features color photographs, large font size and a short paragraph format to accommodate the bandâs modern youth audience â who are much more accustomed to bite-sized online content.
Dethu joined the band members for a Q&A session, moderated by local radio legend Marlowe Bandem, before the cruise passengers were treated to a special acoustic set.
Candidly, the band explained how a âracistâ tag had haunted them for several years, stemming from false rumors of SIDâs drummer Jerinx having a concealed âF**k Javaâ tattoo.
Courtesy of Sony Music
Dethu considered dissentersâ possible motivations. âOur suspicion is basically jealousy. A band from Bali had gone to Jakarta and kids there loved them because theyâre different, when at the same time itâs very hard for many punk rock bands in Jakarta to get bigger. They created this rumor because from jealousy you become blind. It was so scary.â
âThere had never been a case like this before in Indonesia. There was no precedent for how to deal with these challenges, but they made us strong,â Jerinx said.
After taking to social media precursor Yahoo Groups and corresponding directly with the disgruntled minority, SID was invited in 2006 to Surabaya, where the contrite rumormongers hosted a concert and publicly apologized to the band.
The book also elaborates upon SIDâs backlash from the âpunk rock policeâ.
âIn the punk rock scene there are so many rules, like, âYou canât wear Levis, wear a Coca Cola T-shirt, or join a major label, because thatâs capitalistâ,â Dethu said.
âWhen I was in Medan, there were boycott flyers. Everywhere these young kids with Mohawks had leaflets which said, âTo be a rock star is fine, but to be a punk rock star is a traitorâ.â
He chuckled, clarifying. âItâs not true what people say about major labels being evil. We never gave any demo to them, so they came to us,â he said.
The deal signed with Sony Music Indonesia in 2003 was historic for making SID the first band from Bali to sign with a major recording label and extraordinarily allowed the band to maintain a staunch grip on their artistic integrity.
The book details the bandâs protracted struggle to contractually assert a high proportion of songs with English lyrics and the prohibition of label interference in songwriting.
âItâs very hard for us to convince people that Sony Music doesnât control our art, but we did it our way. The label tried to say, âCan you change all your lyrics into Indonesian?ââ Dethu explained.
âItâs true our fans are mostly Indonesian and we didnât really speak English that well back then, but lots of punk rock bands we love sang in English so we also wanted to do that.â
The stars: <)
The stars: Superman Is Dead members (from left) Eka Rock, Jerinx and Bobby Kool.(Courtesy of Sony Music)
Racist! Traitor! Immoral! Each of these scathing terms had once been used to characterize the three well-dressed men blowing out candles on a resplendent birthday cake as they smiled before a crowd of die-hard fans.
The amicable trio ' consisting of Eka Rock, Bobby Kool and Jerinx ' are members of the country's most famous punk rock band, Superman Is Dead (SID).
They were celebrating the 20th anniversary of the band's formation on board the Quicksilver cruise ship, as it slowly circled the Port of Benoa in Bali recently.
The celebration also marked the launch of 'Rasis! Pengkhianat! Miskin Moral!' ('Racist! Traitor! Immoral!') ' the first installment in a series of biographical books about the band.
The book's author is SID's former manager Rudolf Dethu, who, from 2000 to 2007, witnessed the turbulent period in which the Balinese band both rose to national ubiquity and faced controversial accusations in the form of the three slanderous labels that form the book's title.
Written and conceptualized through interviews with the band over the last year, the 250-page book, written in Indonesian, features color photographs, large font size and a short paragraph format to accommodate the band's modern youth audience ' who are much more accustomed to bite-sized online content.
Dethu joined the band members for a Q&A session, moderated by local radio legend Marlowe Bandem, before the cruise passengers were treated to a special acoustic set.
Candidly, the band explained how a 'racist' tag had haunted them for several years, stemming from false rumors of SID's drummer Jerinx having a concealed 'F**k Java' tattoo.
Courtesy of Sony Music
Dethu considered dissenters' possible motivations. 'Our suspicion is basically jealousy. A band from Bali had gone to Jakarta and kids there loved them because they're different, when at the same time it's very hard for many punk rock bands in Jakarta to get bigger. They created this rumor because from jealousy you become blind. It was so scary.'
'There had never been a case like this before in Indonesia. There was no precedent for how to deal with these challenges, but they made us strong,' Jerinx said.
After taking to social media precursor Yahoo Groups and corresponding directly with the disgruntled minority, SID was invited in 2006 to Surabaya, where the contrite rumormongers hosted a concert and publicly apologized to the band.
The book also elaborates upon SID's backlash from the 'punk rock police'.
'In the punk rock scene there are so many rules, like, 'You can't wear Levis, wear a Coca Cola T-shirt, or join a major label, because that's capitalist',' Dethu said.
'When I was in Medan, there were boycott flyers. Everywhere these young kids with Mohawks had leaflets which said, 'To be a rock star is fine, but to be a punk rock star is a traitor'.'
He chuckled, clarifying. 'It's not true what people say about major labels being evil. We never gave any demo to them, so they came to us,' he said.
The deal signed with Sony Music Indonesia in 2003 was historic for making SID the first band from Bali to sign with a major recording label and extraordinarily allowed the band to maintain a staunch grip on their artistic integrity.
The book details the band's protracted struggle to contractually assert a high proportion of songs with English lyrics and the prohibition of label interference in songwriting.
'It's very hard for us to convince people that Sony Music doesn't control our art, but we did it our way. The label tried to say, 'Can you change all your lyrics into Indonesian?'' Dethu explained.
'It's true our fans are mostly Indonesian and we didn't really speak English that well back then, but lots of punk rock bands we love sang in English so we also wanted to do that.'
Punk rock birthday: Members of Superman Is Dead blow out the candles on a cake celebrating the band's 20th anniversary in Bali.(Lawrence Lilley)
The band was persistent but Dethu was eager to sign them to the major label ' fed up with distributing independently produced CDs and merchandise through unreliable underground outlets.
'People don't understand that process, and in this book I explain. You don't know how hard it was for us to act strong as if we didn't need them. Of course we needed them! We didn't have money at the time. We always traveled, just the four of us, and had to have crew in different cities. We were so desperate.'
After six months, Sony Music finally agreed to the band's demands, including a 70:30 ratio of English to Indonesian lyrics on each album.
SID have since released five major label albums, toured Australia and the US and also become more politically involved. In particular, they have become leaders within the Tolak Reklamasi (Anti-Reclamation) movement, protesting a multi-million dollar project to develop Benoa Bay marine conservation area into commercial ventures.
Dethu said future books in the biography series were likely to cover SID's involvement in social, political and environmental arenas in detail.
'For almost three years, every month we went on the street. Now it's one of the biggest environmental movements in the history of Indonesia,' Dethu said. 'Bali is already good. If you want to create something, you shouldn't add more land, but nurture what's here.'
Having followed SID for over two decades, Dethu reflected upon how the band's members have personally grown, with their influence expanding beyond the music scene into wider social issues.
He pointed out that SID represented movement. In the early days when he managed the band, they partied a lot and even brought beer onto the stage.
'They're always fighting against something, but they keep evolving,' Dethu said.
'Now, they're concerned with environment. Right now, being punk rock is not about being a nihilist or creating anarchy anymore, especially in Indonesia. Now SID is fighting against a corrupt government, which is very brave. That's punk rock.'
