Courtesy of Eki Puradiredja

Just like companies, which split the fiscal year to keep track of operations, music producer-singer-festival coordinator-bar owner Eki Puradiredja divides his year into four quarters.

The program coordinator for Java Festival Production devotes his first quarter to Java Jazz, the second to cigarette producer Dji Sam Soe’s Urban Jazz Crossover, the third to Java Rockinland, and the fourth to Soulnation. In between quarters, he produces albums and also looks after his two-year-old stylish bar in Kemang called Tabac.

His first quarter went quite smoothly with the closing of the sixth Java Jazz Festival early March. Eki has been one of the front men for the festival since its inception. Two days after Java Jazz, he was back in the studio producing jazz band Maliq and d’essentials’ album.

“It’s a juggle,” the 41-year-old said.

The vocalist of Indonesia’s pioneering jazz duo Humania announced this year that the band might release a single or an album after a 10-year break.

In between mixing sessions in Maliq and d’essentials’ studio in Pancoran, East Jakarta, Eki talked to The Jakarta Post about his involvement in various music festivals in Indonesia, his work in the music industry, his childhood and explained why he was still single at 41.

While easy jazz music was playing on loop in the next room, a self-assured Eki puffed on his cigarette while sipping coffee during the conversation.

When talking about his work as a music producer, Eki reflected that he would “rather pick the artist to produce than be picked”. And when asked about his Kemang bar Tabac that plays music he believes is unique and not mainstream, he responded “When I deejay and someone asks for louder music, I usually say ‘Just go to Dragonfly then’,” referring to a popular nightclub.

At first, his self-assurance might be perceived as arrogance. But this confidence has been well earned and stems from idealism in his music.

His music in Humania — whose third and last single came out in 2000 — is designed for a select crowd, and so is his bar. “It’s [Tabac] idealist, it’s unique. It’s like Humania. We’re just looking for a niche,” he said.

Eki and his friends opened Tabac because they wanted a nice and fun place to hang out at night, with good music, rather than pumping tunes. Perhaps his strict idealism works as an outlet for all the compromises he has had to make in producing Java Jazz, the “biggest” jazz festival that not only features jazz musicians but also pop.

Eki said he became involved in music festivals because he was tired of being labeled as a performing artist only. When Heru Singgih and Eki formed the band Humania, they saw themselves as a group of producers, not just a band.

“It’s so limiting when people only sees us as singers. When people talk about politics in the music industry, they don’t include us in the discussion. ‘You’re a singer. Just sing’, they would say,” said Eki.
In 2000, Humania took a break, and Eki started producing albums for Indra Lesmana, Ermi Kulit and Andien. He also produced songs for singers such as Marcell and Glen Fredly.

Eki wanted to go further behind the scenes of the industry. “Back in the day, it seemed so up in the clouds being a so-called artist. Eki Humania, the singer. I wanted to get to the roots of the industry, create networks, events and produce music. After networking for a while, people asked me to get involved in Java Jazz,” he said.

“The first, second and third year were amazing. In 2003 and 2004, we launched other festivals,” he said. “I became part of the Java Festival Productions’ team without knowing this had become a new profession in Indonesia. Program director, festival director, it was an industry no one mastered yet in Indonesia. Now, it has become my daily job.”

As a program coordinator of a music festival, Eki said one should know different types of music and musicians. With a gift for appreciating the unique since a childhood, Eki did not have trouble with that.
Eki, the youngest of four siblings, said he had a different taste in music since he was little. When he lived in Hong Kong with his parents in the 70s, he would visit record shops and buy vinyls of American jazz musicians such as Herbie Hancock and Lee Ritenour.

As a 10 year old, he became the drummer in the high school band replacing his brother who returned to Indonesia. In junior high school, he performed jazz shows with college students in campuses in Indonesia.

Since he was a child, he has wanted to be a music producer. “I wanted to be like Quincy Jones.

I wanted to work and live like that. Working on something I really like, which doesn’t feel like a chore. I want to play, basically to create,” he said.

It is time for Humania to make a comeback this year, he added.

Although the band finished an album in 2003, it was not released as Heru was getting married and eventually pursued his studies in Australia.

“The songs are still there if we want to release them, but we will combine them with new material. The feel is different after seven years, if we force ourselves to release it now, it will feel plain,” he said.
Eki has a rather quirky theory to explain why Humania had a decade hiatus. Cycles of good music have a 10-year gap. “I always feel the 70s had the most exciting music and people explored more in that decade. Music in the 80s was the result of exploration in the 70s. In the 90s, the [good music] cycle starts again, and music in the 2000s was the result of exploration in the 90s. Now, the one-decade cycle has come about again. It’s 2010, it’s the decade to explore.”

Towards the end of the conversation, Eki opened up on his personal life. Why is he still single at 41? Eki said he had several plans to get married but those failed. “I just haven’t found the one.

“I see many of my friends marry young and separate later. So, I’m not too crazy about getting married because of my age or parental pressure — although my parents are quite open, but of course they would prefer me to get married,” he said.

“I’m having fun; I am always busy with activities; a bunch of friends, girlfriends. They’re always around. Do I have to get married soon? Not really. Let’s see, if I find the right person I will get married, but not because I have to, not because of age, because of insecurity or because it’s the right thing to do.

“It is a choice. I follow my intuition. I think logic is a human creation; and the rules governing when one should get married are man made too. I’m guided by God through my intuition.”

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