Dheg Dheg Plat

Four friends try to keep the romantic side of vinyl alive. One simple thing can be done: Create a community that celebrates vinyl culture as well.

This is 2012, a moment of life when music is served on the table in various media. There are CDs, which are made by dozens of digital processes; MP3s, which are obviously a product of a digital regime; cassettes, which will suit the 1990s generation and last, the everlasting format of vinyl.

People are offered with a stash of choices, and, of course, each format has its own pluses. But what’s inside the shoes of those who pick vinyl as their favorite medium?

From the compactness point of view, vinyl is not OK, because it’s big: there are 3 sizes: 7”, 10” and 12”. In terms of price, vinyl is also not favorable; its big size makes shipping costs bigger if they’re imported, thus it’s still more expensive when compared to CD. So what makes it special, then?

Please meet the guys from Dheg Dheg Plat, a music forum which makes merry every second that is spent on listening to vinyl: Anto Arief, Idhar Resmadi, Rimba Patria and Budi Warsito. Bandung is the place where this small community started, in the backyard of Kineruku, an alternative space that has been an outstanding purveyor of good music, film and books.

The friends initiated a listening session where they could share thoughts on albums, tips and tricks on how to find good bargains on vinyl and zillions other music collecting issues. They came from different backgrounds and found listening to music somewhat relieving.

“The analog medium which vinyl is made of is offering you the warmth of interaction. It’s something that’s been missing for years in the digital music culture. That’s what we’re trying to celebrate with Dheg Dheg Plat,” said Anto Arief who on a daily basis is a musician and artist.

They love the warmth of interaction when sitting together in the backyard of Kineruku, getting some beers and coffee and listening to the whole album chosen by one particular guy. After the album finishes its task to bring some noise to the space, they discuss what makes it special or what makes it memorable and so forth.

“We all are record collectors. It all started when we met each other and shared the beauty of collecting records on vinyl. In the beginning, it was only preppy chit chat, but then again, after some reality checks, we found out that the number of vinyl collectors in Indonesia is rising somewhat. It’s aligned with what happened abroad and then we asked ourselves, ‘It’s quite good to set up some gathering between record collectors, right?’ And here we are finally,” Anto said.

The name of Dheg Dheg Plat is adapted from the title of the first Koes Plus record released back in 1969, Dheg Dheg Plas. That legendary record, eventually, was something that connected Anto and Budi, back in the day.

“I was looking for this record and Budi had it. Then we setup a negotiation process on how to move that vinyl to my collection. I bought it at the end of the day from Budi and, while we were talking about this issue, one of us shouted that we need to modify the Dheg Dheg Plas name into our forum. Then the rest of the story was predictable. We have Dheg Dheg Plat as our name,” remembered Anto.

Dheg dheg plas is an Indonesian expression of having a condition in the edge and finally you make it, after going through a breathtaking experience.

 “Our heartbeat is ruined every time we’re bargaining and hunting for good vinyls that we’re interested in. Be it at a flea market, negotiating like how I and Budi did, or staying awake all night to browse the online catalogues of our favorite online shops,” Anto said.

Anto said collecting vinyl was now quite common among Indonesian youth. People here are starting to collect vinyl again. “Actually, there are lots of loyal consumers of vinyl out there. The quality is the best of all available formats now for me. And it’s a long lasting stuff. See vinyl from the 1960s - they’re still good nowadays. Don’t forget that they’re 50-year-old tings. We don’t get that from CDs or cassettes.”

Anto continued, “At one session, we invited a record collector who specialized in collecting old Indonesian albums. He has more than 3,000 vinyls. We all know that the documentation process of the history of our music scene is crap, but listening directly from the people who were there and celebrating it is something priceless.”

With their simple idea of keeping what they love interesting, he guys from Dheg Dheg Plat is enjoying what they have in store.

“Quoting Alex James from Blur, ‘Books and records are the great source of truth.’ We feel that this one will stay quite long here,” Anto said.

— Photos by Marnala Eros Simanjuntak

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