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Album Review: Amusement Park by Ikkubaru
Bandung-based band Ikkubaru are one of those acts that are bigger abroad than they are back home.
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Amusement Park by Ikkubaru (Monolite Records/File)
Bandung-based band https://www.facebook.com/ikkubaruIkkubaru are one of those acts that are bigger abroad than they are back home.
Playing a retro-ish version of Japanese “city pop”, the quartet has found quite an audience in, naturally, Japan. Their debut album Amusement Park was, after all, first released in Japan — initially though the independent label Hope You Laugh, then through the label division of Disk Union, the popular Japanese music retail shop.
So it is with a certain amount of relief in the band that they are finally receiving recognition in their home land. Amusement Park was first rereleased on cassette tape through independent Jakarta label Nanaba Records, after label head Jodi Setiawan watched the band’s live show and became enamored with them — even asking them to join his label’s “Landscape Park Life Tour” last year.
“It happened quite fast,” says vocalist-guitarist Muhammad Iqbal. “When we came back from our second Japan tour in August of 2016, luckily, Jodi came to us with the offer. After the release of the tape, we received so many great responses and people started to recognize our band.”
Continuing their streak of good luck, another local label, Monolite Records, decided to contact the band to work out some sort of release. Working together with Mishashi Records (a sister company of Nanaba) Amusement Park was finally released for the local market in CD format.
Ikkubaru was formed in 2011 by Iqbal. The band is rounded out by his friends guitarist-vocalist Rizki Firdausahlan, bass player Muhammad Fauzi Rahman and drummer Banon Gilang. The band began as a bedroom project for Iqbal’s own music, which took inspiration from British, Japanese and American bands. Settling on the name — the Japanese pronunciation of Iqbal’s name — the band narrowed their sound to take inspiration from city pop music, a popular kind of light-jazzy pop music popular in Japan in the 1980s. Still, Iqbal says the band is always eager to branch out from their basic sound.
“When I first formed the band, I wanted to make melodies and harmonies like [influential Japanese singer-songwriter] Tatsuro Yamashita, and play beats and melodic guitars like [Japanese rock musician] Toshiki Kadomatsu. But time flies and I think I need to change my style into something that is not-too Japanese sounding,” says Iqbal.
As such, he says he has been working within the harmonic stylings of bands such as Prefab Sprout, the Pet Shop Boys and Syd Barrett and David Gilmour, both of Pink Floyd. He says a Pink Floyd influence will permeate the band’s second album.
Like many Indonesians who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, Iqbal’s interest in all things Japanese first came through the magic of anime (Japanese animation) and J-Drama TV shows. The shows were exciting for the young Iqbal and he also fell in love with the soundtracks.
“What first got us interested in Japanese 80s pop was this Japanese drama series called Tokyo Love Story. The opening song by Kazumasa Oda was so catchy, it made us fall in love with the music instantly,” Iqbal recalls.
Iqbal and his friends went on to play shows in Japan and received a rapturous welcome. Something they hope will also happen to them in Indonesia eventually.
“When we first played in Japan, we could not hold back our tears. Our bass player Aji even stopped in the middle of performing because he was so happy to see the crowd. The crowd was great. They really appreciated our music. They danced, they chanted our name and they were not shy about expressing their feelings toward the music. Although it was very tiring, we were happy because it was like a dream come true.”
