Photos courtesy of IVY League

Mondo Gascaro, former keyboard player for popular retro-pop act Sore (Indonesian for “late afternoon”), has been working on his debut release for some time. Now, the multitalented musician is finally almost ready to unveil the album.

Being a onetime key member of the critically acclaimed independent band certainly added to the pressure of working on a full solo album. With many giving him credit for bringing in a unique retro sound to Sore’s compositions, there were bound to be those who believed he was struggling with demons from the past and so ensuring he was crafting music that would not sound like his old band was certainly top of his agenda.

It is easy to understand why Mondo was determined to let go of the past and blaze his own trail. When your old band is credited for producing one of Asia’s top five records in 2005 by Time magazine, there are chances anything would pale in comparison. Mondo’s departure from Sore was not easy.

Last year, Sore’s current members felt the need to rebut Mondo’s assertion that the band was headed toward an artistic cul-de-sac when he decided to leave in 2013. Sore soldiered on without Mondo and last year released the much-anticipated Los Skut Leboys, the band’s first full-length in seven years, to mixed reviews.

Mondo, meanwhile, has plotted his own comeback.

While he was still with Sore, he founded IVY League, an independent label which has also become the home to the much-loved folk outfit Payung Teduh. He also branched out by writing music for films, including a score for 2012’s box office Negeri 5 Menara (The Land of Five Towers), based on Anwar Fuadi’s best-selling novel of the same title.

But most of the time, Mondo was preoccupied with his ever-evolving solo project.

His first post-Sore releases were 2014’s 7” vinyl singles “Saturday Light” and “Komorebi”, the latter named after his son. The singles garnered plenty of positive reviews from local music fans and the media. Yet, its much-awaited follow up didn’t seem to be arriving anytime soon. Turns out Mondo, who also divides his time between Jakarta and Japan, had bigger ideas, including the incorporation of more complex musical ideas and arrangements for his newer tracks.

The result is the new single, “A Deacon’s Summer”, which showcases the musician’s signature breeziness but adds baroque-styled arrangements. If Indonesia had four seasons, the song would perfectly soundtrack summer nights with its throwback AOR production and Tokyo-pop sonic quality.

“The song was a little inspired by [1970s American jazz rock band] Steely Dan’s ‘Deacon Blues’, which celebrates the broken dreams of geeks and nerds,” Mondo said in an interview.

“With the song ‘A Deacon’s Summer’, I tried to paint a picture of a geek who is trying to rebel out of his dull life. He decides to travel, celebrate life and embrace the sun.”

“A Deacon’s Summer” came at the tail-end of Mondo’s almost-finished debut album — which is still in production.

“The song came into place when we were about 80 percent done with the album, actually. When we decided that the song would be the first single, we rushed the mixing and mastering process — putting it ahead of the other tracks,” said Mondo.

Former mates: The current lineup of Sore, Mondo’s former band, (from left to right) Bemby Gusti, Ade Firza Paloh, Reza Dwi Putranto and Awan Garnida. (Photo courtesy of Kompas.com)
OLD NEIGHBORHOODS

A video for the song has been released.
Shot by music video director Omarannas, the video follows Mondo as he roams Jakarta one evening, trying to soak in the city’s constant hustle and bustle. Most of the parts he traverses in the video were locations which, according to the director and Mondo himself, shaped the musician’s personality, including the Blok M area of South Jakarta where his father ran the country’s first Japanese-centric karaoke bar (leading to the establishment of the Little Tokyo area), as well as Central Jakarta’s Senen area where he used to watch wayang (shadow puppets) shows with his grandfather.

“It’s like going through a time machine,” said Omarannas, “passing through all my fantasies of how Mondo Gascaro’s music sounds during his days back in 2005 with Sore, who were my first love in junior high school. Going through Cikini, Blok M, and Senen — this video tries to ‘record’ Mondo’s childhood as a foundation of the music he creates now”.

Mondo says that “Deacon” represents his sharpened “pop” songwriting skills. He also says that the song doesn’t truly represent the upcoming album as a whole, at least in terms of musical style, but that it captures the record’s “spirit” and “positive vibes”. It also shows Mondo’s love for soft rock music from the 1970s.

The single features Mondo’s current live band members: drummer Dimas A. Pradipta, bass player Petrus Bayu and guitarist Lafa Pratomo. Local singer Bonita also provides background vocals while Yogyakarta-based musician Jay handles the tenor saxophone.

Mondo knew that these were the musicians he wanted to work with — not only on the song but on the album.

“Dimas, Bayu and Lafa are present on most of the tracks on the full album. Their sound and technicality fits the music I had in mind, even surprisingly surpassing it. Bonita’s voice needs no comment, I suppose, it just had to be her. When I first heard Jay playing, I was caught by his sound and taste which felt so personal and reminds me of (US jazz saxophonists) Stan Getz and Michael Brecker.”

Mondo was so taken, in fact, by Jay’s playing that he flew to Yogyakarta to record him.

His plan is to complete the album recording and release it in the coming months. He would like to keep busy as always, however.

“We’ll promote the record, tour it and play concerts. But apart from that, I have more projects that I’d like to work on afterwards.