Musical group GURU — made up of teachers in different disciplines — headlined the latest edition of Alur Bunyi contemporary experimental concert in Jakarta, its first show in front of a crowd.

An experimental music performance is often as much visual as it is musical.

If the crowd at the latest edition of the Alur Bunyi (Flow of Sound) concert series was expecting only music, it might have been confused at the satirical social commentary present throughout the concert.

The Bandung-based musical group GURU headlined the latest Alur Bunyi, a contemporary experimental concert coordinated by Elizabeth Soegiharto, the program coordinator of Goethe-Institut in Menteng, Central Jakarta. The show is staged four times every year.

The quartet comprises Mira Rizki, Bayu Pratama, Fahma Rosmansyah and Gazza Ryandika, all teachers in different disciplines.

The group varied its performance by playing melodic rock riffs while artfully providing social commentary by scream-reading newspaper articles or playing YouTube clips to the accompaniment of the band’s rhythm section.

The pervasiveness and clamor of social and traditional media were the subject of the band’s satire. The video clips and newspaper readings were deafening in volume, in order to portray the noise that we, as a constantly tuned-in culture, deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Oftentimes, people who are unfamiliar with the genre of experimental music struggle to grasp exactly what the performers are trying to accomplish on stage, which is exactly why Harsya Wahono, the curator of the latest Alur Bunyi, believes these concerts are so important to the fabric of Jakarta’s music and arts scenes.

“With experimental music, we are allowing new ideas to take place and trying new things that might not have been done before,” Harsya said.

“Having a platform and a venue, with an institute as reputable as the Goethe-Institut, is very important for the long run because it gives artists performing in different fields the breathing room to work.”

Harsya is the founder of DIVISI62, a Jakarta-based sound and visual arts label he created in 2016. He also runs Studio Oposisi, a studio for audio production, creative direction and motion graphics for artists and musicians. Both of these spaces provide a platform for a genre that is often neglected in Jakarta and beyond.

“Alternative venues in Jakarta are all but gone,” Harsya said. “Artists and musicians of different kinds struggle for the space to showcase their work.”

The Goethe-Institut is a German cultural center that has been sponsoring Alur Bunyi since 2017, with the original intention of linking Indonesian and German artists. That goal has not ultimately come to fruition.

However, the show is still a popular spot for contemporary music fans, and German contributions are still apparent such as a performance from last year where visual artists from Berlin were invited to collaborate with the musicians.

Each edition of the show, with the latest one being the second installment of 2019, and another two concerts are scheduled in September and then in November, features upcoming artists, including Harsya, who performed last year.

While Harsya happens to be a professional musician who trained at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, other groups, such as GURU, are not professional musicians. In fact, GURU had never performed in front of a sizable audience before their show at Alur Bunyi.

The lack of training might seem like a hindrance, but with a rule-breaking genre like contemporary experimental music, newer musicians can stretch boundaries and create new ideas that polished musicians might never think of.

“Whether or not they are musically proficient does not concern me,” Harsya said. “When I see performers who make music and are not properly trained, I often wonder ‘why didn’t I think of that?’”

GURU’s creativity and versatility were impressive to watch. Chalkboard drawings, slide whistles, tin cans and even a squeaky toy were utilized in their performance, proving that anything can be turned into an instrument if played artfully.

The group also displayed a healthy mix of rehearsed material and improvization, which led to a captivating and unexpected show. The band often lulled the crowd into a false sense of security by bringing its music down to a whisper and then gradually building back up to a thundering crescendo, with each of the waves featuring new instruments and commentary.

As its name suggests, GURU taught the audience about the unorthodox genre of experimental music and made them think about the landscape around them. The musical and visual aspects of the show were in harmony with each other, providing yet another unforgettable Alur Bunyi performance. (ste)

— The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post

— Photos Courtesy of Goethe-Institut Indonesien

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