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Second chance: Bandung darkwave band Sieve returns from 22-year hiatus
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Born again: Re-released by Anoa Records on CD, Biara is a mini album by Sieve, originally released on cassette format in 2001. (Courtesy of Anoa Records) (Personal collection/Courtesy of Anoa Records)
The band’s short discography is being re-released by Anoa Records, giving the band a new motivation to write music again.
The story of a promising band about to make its mark only to implode early and vanish into obscurity is unfortunately a common one. After releasing an EP in the late 90s and gaining popularity among the underground music community, Bandung’s Sieve went inactive just a few years later while some of its contemporaries went on to become well-known acts. After 22 years, Jakarta’s label Anoa Records is releasing an eight-track CD of the band’s discography so far, marking the band’s official comeback.
During the band’s hiatus, Sieve’s original Biara EP (Monastery EP), which was released in small quantities on cassettes in 1999, became a highly sought-after item among music collectors. These days the tape can fetch as much as Rp 350,000 (US$24.44) — It was originally sold for Rp 15,000 ($1.05).
A pioneer of darkwave
A member of the industrial outfit SEL, Richard Riza started writing songs for his girlfriend at the time, Alexandra J. Wuisan, who had just left the legendary alternative-pop group Cherry Bombshell — before she got a chance to lay down her vocals on the band’s critically acclaimed debut album Waktu Hijau Dulu — and encouraged her to start a new musical project. Riza’s younger sister Regina Rina, who has been playing piano and guitar since she was young, was recruited and in late 1998, Sieve was born.
In the mid- to late 1990’s, thanks to the rising popularity of industrial, synth-heavy groups such as Nine Inch Nails and Ministry, Indonesian bands such as Koil, Sic Mynded and Riza’s own SEL were exploring this style. However, with Sieve, Riza wanted to create something different. And thanks to Alexandra’s ethereal vocals, the band produced a haunting, dark sound that was unique to the local scene at the time.
Arian Arifin, the lead singer of Jakarta’s heavy metal band Seringai, who at the time was the frontman of Bandung’s influential hardcore outfit Puppen, is among those who saw the band’s few early live performance first-hand and confirmed that they were among the first to play darkwave in the country.
