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Five bands deliver 'Audio Gangbang' on new indie label
In its first release, independent Jakarta label Jeruk Records offers up a compilation of five promising punk bands from around the country.
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Audio Gangbang: A compilation by The Rang-Rangs, Walking Boy, Knowhere, Untold and Softcrime. (Jeruk Records/File)
T
hough self-released punk and indie compilations are not the novelty they used to be a decade ago with many local independent labels emerging in recent years, the very punk-named compilation Audio Gangbang stands out with better-than-average production value and a committed aesthetic sense that harkens back to the 1990s era of mainstream punk.
The featured bands are The Rang-Rangs, Walking Boy, Knowhere, Untold and Softcrime. Each band possesses strong character even as they each point to obvious references, such as international mainstays Bad Religion or Rancid. It also helps that each band has a limited but loyal following that promises at least a fair amount of sales for the compilation CD.
The two men behind Jeruk Records are Mika Tobing from The Rang-Rangs and Aldy Nasrul, who started the label in December 2017. Though still very young, the duo aims to make Jeruk Records into something more than a fleeting hobby.
“We aim to become a ‘home’ for bands of our ilk. Nothing about it will be difficult, because everything we do is based on fun and a sense of solidarity, with the same vision and mission between us,” says Aldy.
That sense of fun is shown in the way they produced the compilation: the bands came in together for a one-day fast-tracking session, with each band finishing two songs that day. Even with the spontaneous and primal nature of punk, this is still quite an achievement.
The rather sophomoric title comes from their sense of unity, the sense of being in a “gang” that the bands and the record label felt, says Mika.
“Other than having the same taste in music, ideas and humor, we all hang out together in the same place almost every week, and we play the same gigs most of the time. So it really is like a gang. We all have the same goals of making punk fun again,” explains Aldy.
In a way, the compilation is a warm-up run for the bands, say Aldy and Mika. The five bands are all on their way to finishing full-length albums at varying degrees. In the meantime, this was a good way to get the word out beyond their usual scene.
“So this album is also there to prove that these bands want to offer something new and original through their music,” says Aldy.
The similarity in sound is thus natural, as the bands are close in spirit as well as influence. Jeruk Records’ owners cop to being major fans of the 1980s-1990s Berkeley punk scene in the United States, which birthed massively successful 1990s punk names like Rancid and Green Day.
“We feel like punk in Indonesia has a lot variety right now. They take a lot of influence from the West, but then explore it further,” says Aldy, adding some local flavor.
“Punk really fits the social condition in Indonesia today. It’s given us a sense of freedom in exploring and socializing with anyone. As [Indonesians], it’s important that we hold to these two things,” adds Mika.
While they possess sociopolitical consciousness, Mika and Aldy both admit that in terms of ethos, Jeruk Records shares only one thing with their international brethren aside from musicality: “The having fun aspect!”
To follow Audio Gangband, Jeruk Records plans on releasing the five bands’ full-length albums gradually, hopefully beginning this year.
“We are also completely open to bands and musicians who want to work with us,” says Aldy. That is, providing that they are as eager to have fun as the guys at the label.
