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Music from the mountain
From the mountain for the mountain; band Krakatau holds another reunion, for the first time on high land to sing for the environment.
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Krakatau, a famous Indonesian jazz band since the 1980s, recently reunited under the name Krakatau Reunion. (instagram.com/firaorish/Safirah Ishami)
K
rakatau, whose name is inspired by the volcano on the Sunda Strait, delivered their latest performance from a high place in Malang, East Java.
Krakatau has been a famous Indonesian jazz band since the 1980s. Their past and current members are top Indonesian musicians including composer Dwiki Dharmawan, singer Trie Utami, jazz musician Indra Lesmana, and drummer Gilang Ramadhan.
Recently, the band reunited all of their old and current members and appeared under the name Krakatau Reunion. After a successful concert in Jakarta, the band held another reunion concert on Jan. 6 in a forest located on the slopes of Mount Arjuno, Karangploso district, Malang. The forest is managed by the city’s Brawijaya University.
The band’s members who appeared at the January concert were Trie (vocalist), Indra and Dwiki (keyboard players), Gilang (drummer), Donny Suhendra (guitar) and Prasadja Budidharma (bassist).
Indra said the performance was Krakatau’s first mountain concert, which also served as a setting of nostalgia given the band had performed at Brawijaya’s campus in 1989.
“However, today we had spectators who mostly weren’t born yet at the time of our previous show,” he said.
Trie explained that Krakatau’s appearance in the forest had to do with salvaging the environment.
“Many of Krakatau’s songs have environmental themes so that they conform to the vision of Krakatau as the communicator of matters connected with saving the environmental, education and culture,” added the vocalist.
Among such songs is their new track “Hanya Dapat Melihat” (They Can Only See) in the band’s new album, Chapter One. Trie points out the numerous forests that are currently no longer verdant green.
“Unless proper action is taken, our future generations will only be able to see forests in pictures,” she explained.
(Read also: 'I am the Forest' exhibition reveals Kalimantan's magnificent wildlife)
Another song is an instrumental composition, “Moon Stone”. The unique title with a tone of nature is the English translation of Batuan area in Gianyar, Bali, where Trie has a home studio, which was one of the places they used to record their latest album.
Similar with Indra, Trie also considered the forest concert as a reunion but not in the conventional sense.
“Now we’re reuniting with grass, trees and clean air,” she said.
Consequently, her stance toward environmental conservation is how to stop logging permits.
“Replanting will be in vain if logging remains licensed without heeding nature’s balance,” she remarked.
The band’s founder, Dwiki, felt honored to be closer to nature through this event, let alone the modest stage setting amid lush greenery.
“We need to preserve nature, among others ways, through song,” said the musician who frequently experimented with pentatonic and diatonic fusion.
(Read also: The flaming spirit of Barasuara)
He said Indonesia and Brazil had been dubbed the lungs of the world because of their vast forests. In his view, music was a means of appreciating forests and the environment as natural wealth. Apart from nature, Krakatau’s songs also bear the themes of love, friendship and humanity with the group’s typical improvisation.
Among its successful songs with such themes include “Kau Datang” (You’ve Come), “Kembali Satu” (Reunited), “Gemilang” (Brilliant), which were hits of the 1980s and 1990s, and from their latest album, “Aku Kamu Kita dan Family” (Me, You, Us and Family).
The free concert was part of an event called Artjuno Fest organized by Brawijaya University. The event became an important moment for local a community group known as Kampung Pinggir Alas or the outer-edge forest village.
Artjuno Fest program director Redy Eko Prastyo said an appreciation of village locals didn’t necessarily have to be only in the traditional domain. He also encouraged the introduction of this concert model on a wider scale to inspire confidence in local people to act rather than just be a mere subject of an event.
Redy, who is also the initiator of Jaringan Kampung Nusantara (archipelagic village network), referred to village people’s spirit of mutual assistance as their solid asset, combined with their growing self-confidence, to getting rid of the stigma and mindset of being secondclass citizens.
Therefore, he hopes this event can be held regularly by the university with different concepts each year.
Prior to the concert, Artjuno Fest presented a cultural procession with a tumpeng (rice cone) parade as an expression of gratitude to God for providing natural resources that will continuously meet the needs of the community through proper conservation efforts.
Sharing the view of Krakatau, Redy also put the focus of environmental conservation not solely on the planting of trees but also on educating society to save the environment.
“The local community and Krakatau Reunion as part of Artjuno Fest therefore have the common objective of preserving culture and nature,” concluded Redy.
