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Rendy Pandugo and Pamungkas make the best of 'friends'

The two pop-rock artists' ode to friendship is also a testament to their creative bravery and a warmup for their respective new albums.

Felix Martua (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, June 6, 2022

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Rendy Pandugo and Pamungkas make the best of 'friends' The gentlemen: Rendy Pandugo (left) and Pamungkas are gearing up for a new album to be released this year. (Courtesy of Wonderland Records/Universal Music Indonesia) (Courtesy of Wonderland Records/Universal Music Indonesia/Courtesy of Wonderland Records/Universal Music Indonesia)

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i>The two pop-rock artists' ode to friendship is also a testament to their creative "bravery" and a warmup for their respective new albums.

How does one define “friendship”?

For 37-year-old Rendy Pandugo, friendship is a "magical" bond that disregards so-called "status". Or, as he put it bluntly: "It doesn't matter if you're a president's or somebody's offspring or whether you're poor or rich or whatever, as long as you have a lot of pals, there is a friendship. That's it. It's what makes you happy. It's what makes you sad. It's intangible. And that's the magic."

As a singer-songwriter, it is a no-brainer for Rendy to express and manifest his ode to friendship in a song — appropriately titled "Friends". As he grew older, he came to realize that friendship is not only magical but also difficult to preserve — which, ironically, makes it more "worthy". 

And of course, a song about friendship can only be made when a friend helps out as well. In this case, Rendy's friend is Pamungkas — who was more than happy to accept the invitation.

In an era when it has become harder to distinguish "which people treat you as a friend and which people treat you as content", Pamungkas agreed that there was no substitute for a genuine friendship. 

"It's a concrete form of honesty, and I value honesty more than anything," added the 29-year-old singer-songwriter. On the eve of the song's release on May 27, Rendy and Pamungkas had a sit-down with The Jakarta Post to discuss their collaboration.

You've got a friend

The idea of working together was conceived before the COVID-19 pandemic brought everything to a halt. Rendy visited Pamungkas in his loft to discuss an upcoming album — an impromptu groupthink that led to Pamungkas contributing to a song for the album merely as a songwriter. The two musicians lost touch during the pandemic and then, on a particularly "chill evening", Rendy reached out to Pamungkas out of the blue.

"[Rendy] said, 'Let's do something else on my album — this time, you sing with me as well!'" Pamungkas reminisced.

Long story short, Rendy and Pamungkas regrouped after Lebaran 2021, which Pamungkas remembered correctly because he “just had a girlfriend at that time”. The two brainstormed for a song suitable for a duet — an experience that Pamungkas jovially described as a "blank canvas". 

He elaborated, "We didn't really know what to write. We built [the song] out of absolute nothingness. We finally figured out the song around 2 a.m.!"

Goodfellas: Rendy Pandugo (left) and Pamungkas incorporate elements of electronica and psychedelic rock in their pop-rock number 'Friends'. (Courtesy of Wonderland Records/Universal Music Indonesia)
Goodfellas: Rendy Pandugo (left) and Pamungkas incorporate elements of electronica and psychedelic rock in their pop-rock number 'Friends'. (Courtesy of Wonderland Records/Universal Music Indonesia) (Courtesy of Wonderland Records/Universal Music Indonesia/Courtesy of Wonderland Records/Universal Music Indonesia)

After hours of putting heads together, the two musicians decided to settle on "friendship" as the focal theme of the song, which would eventually be titled "Friends". Pamungkas concurred that the theme of the song was also inspired by their respective struggle with the pandemic and how "we couldn't really talk to anybody but our friends," he explained. 

A team-up between Rendy and Pamungkas might seem both obvious and overdue considering both artists share many commonalities, which include, but are not limited to, their genre, their choice of instrument and how they approach and explore their respective artistry. 

That said, Rendy remarked that, when it came to pulling off a successful duet, the element of "timing" was of the utmost essence — to be precise, a time in which both parties could get together in the same room.

Rendy explained, "I don't want to do a collaboration in which we're just, like, 'That's okay. I'll do this and you'll do that. That's it. Let's drop this.' That's not what I want. I want something with value and a story and its history as well. I don't want to collaborate just for the sake of it."

Such a principle also became the driving force that encouraged Rendy to have Pamungkas onboard as his latest duet partner — with Pamungkas being one musician in the game right now who has earned Rendy's "respect". Rendy particularly commended his duet partner's evolution as an artist, including "how he started, how big he has turned out and how he presents his stories in his songwriting. I have paid massive attention to all of those things [about Pamungkas]."

Pamungkas, in turn, was interested in working with Rendy because, as he jested, "he's good-looking and for obvious reasons”. On a serious note, however, Pamungkas admired his duet partner's individuality. 

Observing Rendy's body of work so far, Pamungkas came to learn that "as an artist, all you need to do is write a song that captures your sound to make yourself sound [distinct]. A certain sound that [the musician] is the only person who can produce".

You can't make old friends

"Friends" marks a tepid sonic departure from both musicians’ respective discography. While the number, which lasts for three minutes and 19 seconds, sonically commits to the pop-rock realm that has become the musicians’ signature template, Rendy and Pamungkas decided to tinker with elements of electronics and psychedelic rock as well. Moreover, they deliberately avoided using background vocals and any attempts of vocal manipulation. Both of them are also credited as producers.

Another creative choice that Rendy and Pamungkas made was the structure of the song’s composition itself. As the song progresses to its final chorus, it leaves an impression as if it has been questionably unfinished — an observation that was responded with rapturous laughter from the duo. 

"When we were working on it, Pam [Pamungkas] said, 'Why don't we make it like this?' And I was, like, 'Are you serious, Pam? It will sound like there's no closure!' and he was, like, 'It's okay' and I was, like, 'Okay'. Come to think of it, he's right, though. When the song sounds unfinished, people would be compelled to listen to the song again," Rendy commented.

Consecutively, Pamungkas credited said creative innovation to Rendy's "bravery", especially when they decided on the song's atypical structure and production. 

"He doesn't want to play it safe, musically. And that, I think, is a great thing to start with because, again, it feels like a blank canvas: you don't really know what to paint, so just go for it," said Pamungkas.

The song's accompanying music video, which was released on the same day as the song's digital release, was directed by Senry Alvin who also helmed the music video for Rendy's 2021 single "Honey Bee". The visual presents a narrative of old pals, played by the two artists themselves, who are reunited to mourn the death of their mutual friend. The music video also features fellow pop-rock artists Oslo Ibrahim and Romantic Echoes.

Without spoiling the video, Rendy modestly teased that there was a surprise in the final act of the video. "I'm a fan of plot twists," he offered, grinning.

Lean on me: The single artwork of Rendy Pandugo (left) and Pamungkas' latest collaboration, 'Friends', which drops May 27. (Courtesy of Wonderland Records/Universal Music Indonesia)
Lean on me: The single artwork of Rendy Pandugo (left) and Pamungkas' latest collaboration, 'Friends', which drops May 27. (Courtesy of Wonderland Records/Universal Music Indonesia) (Courtesy of Wonderland Records/Universal Music Indonesia/Courtesy of Wonderland Records/Universal Music Indonesia)

Waiting on a friend

"Friends" serves as Rendy's third single off his upcoming album, which is planned to be released in August this year — the album's previous singles are the 2021 "Morning Light" and "Honey Bee". The album will be the follow-up to his critically acclaimed extended play (EP) See You Someday, which nabbed a nomination for Best of the Best Album at last year's Anugerah Musik Indonesia (AMI) Awards.

"There is quite a lot of pressure on this album because it has been almost five years since I dropped a full-length album," he said, referring to his 2017 debut full-length album The Journey.

He further teased that his upcoming album "will be a bit different from before. Music-wise, you can say it's quite cheerful”.

Pamungkas is also set to drop his fourth full-length original album Birdy sometime this year — a long play (LP) record that he humbly described as "just another album".

"It's deeper, I guess. It's a deeper layer," he briefed, before adding that he could talk about it more "when everything comes into place".

Rendy Pandugo and Pamungkas' duet "Friends" is available to stream.

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