Bandung's newest music festival braves an adventurous lineup to introduce independent musicians to the mainstream.

As people return to attending music festivals, new organizers are popping up to hop on the bandwagon, hoping to get a piece of the pie.

Fosfen Music Festival, one of the newer generations of music festivals in Bandung, stands out more from its fellow organizers by braving a less-expected set of headliners. 

However, the festival's distinctive point lies in its intention of drawing crowds from the more significant headlining acts and organically siphoning them into the smaller ones. This process adds a sense of discovery, one of the quintessential facets of a music festival.

Delayed for the better

Initially slated for August at Eldorado, an indoor concert hall in Bandung, West Java, Fosfen Music Festival was driven by circumstances to postpone the event for a full three months to November 12-13 and ultimately moved its location to Laswi City Heritage, Bandung.

The postponement, however, proved to be a good thing. The festival underwent a proper rebranding, giving the organizers time to realize additional lineups and a couple of monthly satellite shows leading to the main event. 

Fosfen Music Festival boasts 60 performers -- consisting of 40 well-curated headliners and 20 emerging acts -- with a subtler, more dignified tone befitting the better ones.

"We were aiming for an indoor festival concept back then," said Wildan Yuflih, the creative director of Fosfen Music Festival, speaking to The Jakarta Post on Oct. 13. 

"But due to the regency's policy, we had to move elsewhere. We reckon that the most feasible one would be Laswi City Heritage, as it has the largest venue capacity in Bandung right now." Aside from the capacity, the current venue provides better accessibility since it is located in the heart of Bandung.

Wildan was referring to the sudden COVID-19 restrictions on capacity in Bandung Barat regency, as Eldorado was required to limit their venue capacity to only 4,000 people. 

"But, at that point, we already sold 7,000 tickets," said Wildan. "We just had to move."

The venue they moved to, which sits on top of a 20-hectare land owned by the state's railway company, PT KAI, has an estimated capacity of 50,000 people, according to Wildan. 

"We're looking at a 30,000 attendance. So, per day, it would be 15,000." 

Compared to the total capacity, the attendance rate should give ample room for visitors to go about and enjoy the festival experience comfortably. 

"There should be a lot of room left, so it'd be conducive, and we don't have a lot of stages in the first place."

Blow off some steam: Bandung experimental-dub group Rub of Rub plays some tunes to the crowd at Road to Fosfen Festival Vol. 1, held in Bandung, on Sept. 16. (Courtesy Fosfen Music Festival Archive/.)

Power to the new acts

Fosfen Music Festival will showcase the performing artists on three separate stages -- two acts as the "main stage" and the other a smaller, indoor stage "like a gigs room. Newer acts and submission entries will perform there", said Wildan.

The smaller size of the stage, however, does not equate to less attention. Wildan and the committee highlighted the level of detail that they put into the smaller set, which they referred to as the “alternative stage”, as significantly more than the others. 

"We want the stage to be as appealing as possible," said Wildan. "Light shows, decorative LEDs among many other decorations."

The festival appointed up-and-coming Bandung light-and-visual artists-collective Convert Textured to be in charge of all the stages' design and complete creative control for the smaller ones.

"For us, the alternative stage is special. We want it to draw more crowds, people who do not know the bands, so that it can instill in them an intention to listen and dig deeper," Wildan said.

"Not because it's small, so we're not putting in more effort," added Dian Pertiwi, the festival's public relations manager. "The bands that will be playing at the alternative stage are magnificent, but not that many people know them already.”

Wildan, who also performs as part of Bandung electro-pop act TABLESTURNED, acknowledged that "most mini-stages in festivals only served as a way to kill time while waiting on the main acts to perform. Hopefully, the alternative stage could help the bands grow and receive more attention from the public that discovered them through the festival."

Fosfen Music Festival's attention toward the smaller stage shows it has a relevant understanding of the landscape of the current independent music scene. It gives a proper, organic means to the newer acts to hear their music properly in a thematic, controlled environment.

Although this approach is not entirely novel, as festivals such as Pesta Pora and Synchronize Festival in Jakarta have already applied a version of it, Fosfen Music Festival might be one of the pioneers to use it in the context of Bandung. 

Unapologetically apologetic

"It is definitely subjective," said Wildan regarding the curation process of the lineup. "But we must stay objective in the end as we don't want the festival to be empty. We tried to analyze the bands' segments and brainstormed how to make the event attractive to the masses while keeping the lineup interesting and diverse."

Wildan noted that the festival staff also listened to the requests of its audience on social media. "Some of the requested bands got through the curation process. We are also plotting the performers in tandem. For instance, both days need to have a soloist, and if we have a heavier band like Seringai playing on day 1, day 2 should feature a, strictly speaking, similar one, maybe Avhath."

Fosfen Music Festival lists bands such as alternative outfit Sunbath, electronic-duo White Chorus, punk-amalgam Leipzig and hardcore-unit Bleach among the 10 newer, up-and-coming acts. 

"Some of them also played during the pre-event showcase, like Rub of Rub," said Wildan, mentioning a rising experimental dub group from Bandung.

The pre-event showcases, which they dubbed Road to Fosfen Music Festival, are also the main selling point of the festival, as ticket holders are entitled to free entry in each of these showcases.

"We wanted to give a sort of privilege for the customers who already purchased the tickets before we postponed the festival," said Wildan.

"We don't want it to come across as half-hearted, so we might as well do three showcases in three months," Dian followed. 

While Fosfen Music Festival seems to be lacking a bigger, more urgent issue that is relevant to today's social and environmental situations in Indonesia, it has a good deal of potential to be the new rite of passage for independent music lovers and festival goers in Bandung as Fosfen Music Festival returns in the coming years.

Master of the crowds: Bandung emo-rockers Alone At Last's vocalist Yas Budaya is in action during the Road to Fosfen Festival Vol. 1. Just like the main event, the road-to events also feature an adequately sweet blend of performers. (Courtesy Fosfen Music Festival Archive/.)

LINE UP

Day 1

Mocca, Endah N Rhesa, The S.I.G.I.T., White Shoes & The Couples Co., Coldiac, Seringai, Perunggu, Oomleo ft. Iqbal Ramadhan, Sore, Lomba Sihir, Bilal Indrajaya, Grrrl Gang, Maliq & D'Essentials, Hursa, The Adams, Rocket Rockers, Diskoria, Danilla, Changcuters, Basboi.

Day2

Kelompok Penerbang Roket, Jamrud, Lalahuta, Stars and Rabbit, Sal Priadi, Reality Club, Efek Rumah Kaca, Shaggy Dog, Rub of Rub, Soegi Bornean, The Panturas, JKT48, Rumah Sakit, Barry Likumahuwa Project, Club Dangdut Racun, Avhath, Pee Wee Gaskins, OM PMR ft. Jhony Iskandar, d'Masiv.