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View all search resultsBandung's funk boogie masters
Showtime: Yordan Admiral (left) and Hary Septiandri of Midnight Runners perform at a recent concert in Bandung, West Java
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Showtime: Yordan Admiral (left) and Hary Septiandri of Midnight Runners perform at a recent concert in Bandung, West Java. (Courtesy of Midnight Runners) (left) and Hary Septiandri of Midnight Runners perform at a recent concert in Bandung, West Java. (Courtesy of Midnight Runners)
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span class="caption" style="width: 598px;">Showtime: Yordan Admiral (left) and Hary Septiandri of Midnight Runners perform at a recent concert in Bandung, West Java. (Courtesy of Midnight Runners)
Following their Overdive release from March 2012, Midnight Runners is back, releasing a new album, Odyssey, on cassette and via digital download.
The funk-boogie duo, comprising Hary Septiandry, 23, and Yordan Admiral, 25, have been working together since 2009, when they joined Openlabs, a new-media arts community in Bandung, West Java.
The new seven-track EP focuses on modern electrofunk, blending soul, jazz, psychedelic Rock, R&B, disco and boogie, with a bit of nu-funk, as well.
'It's really simple to describe,' Hary says. 'Call it modern-era modern funk ['¦.] We were so enthusiastic to discover this music, because we think it's rare in Indonesia, so we began produce this type of music and established Midnight Runners.'
Neither Hary nor Yordan have formal training. 'Nope, we don't have money for that,' Munir says. 'We've been learning by doing and self teaching.'
Odyssey blends digital and analog to produce a sound not typically heard in local clubs.
'At first we began sampling old records,' Fariz said. 'Our interests developed to find musical arrangements with originality and an organic sound by using old-hardware synth machines.'
He continues. 'We added life and soul on analog and let the digital software help to construct chords and notes and musical rhythm.'
'Sometimes a machine can be a great tool for expression,' Fariz says.
'It's not about making perfect music for dancing,' Yordan says. 'Rhythm and smooth chords are the elements of music that we like the most.'
Midnight Runner's well-received first EP led to Yordan and Munir's first international gig, at Urbanscapes, Malaysia's monster arts show, in 2013.
Although a skateboarding community in San Diego in the US also featured the band's 'Love Calling' track for their skate video, the band would still like more international opportunities.
'That's the sad part,' Hary says. 'We had already contact with some promoters to play in Taiwan, Paris ' even Czechoslovakia ' but they can't do it within our budget. We don't have sponsors too to fly us out.'
The need to make a living also slows them down: Hary has a full-time job, while Yordan runs a small business.
'It's so typical for life in Indonesia as a musician,' Munir says.
It took more than a year to develop the new release. The cassettes were produced in Portland in the US and had to work their way through local customs.
The boys said that the album is the fruit of a year's research, when they delved deep into local funk acts from the 1980s, such as Fariz RM and the late Ambonese singer Christ Kayhatu, who wrote 'Di Pantai Cinta' and 'Terpesona' (Enchanted) and was the force behind the legendary Funk Trio from the 1980s.
Another influence cited by the band is 69-year-old Ireng Maulana, one of the nation's best guitarists and the founder of the Jakarta International Jazz Festival (JakJazz),
'He sounds good, his music,' Munir says. 'He is one of a kind.'
Also in heavy rotation as the boys prepared their second EP were Christ Kayhatu's 'Bawalah Cintaku'; Black Fantasy's 'Kencana', which Munir described as one of Indonesia's great bands; and international artists such as Omega Supreme and People Potential Unlimited.
'This Odysssey EP attempts to capture our long wandering and eventful journey, in terms of both production and musical influences, including contemporary modern funk artists such as B. Bravo and Dam-Funk,' Munir said.
Other influential boogie funk masters outside of Indonesia were Jacques Fred Petrus, Mauro Malavasi, Darryl Payne and Roger Troutman.
A preview copy of the new EP shows that Midnight Runner has hit its stride. 'We can't describe how it feels to have it out, but this is the result of our hardwork,' says Yordan. 'We feel satisfied and happy because we created what we love.'
Next up for Munir and Yordan is a change of pace: They want to make a compilation album of Indonesian musicians from the 1990s.
They're aiming for an international release for the album, hoping to catch some of the momentum from similar releases, such as the 1970s local funk compilation Those Shocking Shaking Days, released by Now Again records overseas.
The compilation project is not the death knell for Midnight Runners, according to Munir. 'We will keep creatin beautiful music for beautiful people as long as we still breath in this world.'
