Wukir Suryadi - photo courtesy of Senyawa
Wukir Suryadi is just back from a tour Europe with his group of two men Senyawa, and is now preparing for concerts in China in September. But despite this international success, Senyawa refused to lose their unique Indonesian style. Wukir Suryadi has a long bamboo instrument one meter (Bambu Wukir) with eleven strings attached (eight are made from bamboo skin). He built himself, and the garu (which means plow in Javanese), which he created from a disused agricultural device and is constantly looking for inspiration for new instruments of its environment.
I saw him play in Malang, East Java, and was amazed by their energy "magic" and the innovative spirit of Senyawa - I was in awe of their bravery on stage. In a recent interview with Wukir, I managed to delve into the past and discover some of the secrets of Senyawa.
There was the intense energy of traditional Javanese dance Kuda Lumping has had a great impact on child Wukir - when he was eleven, he joined a group of dance in his village and the strongest memories still influence him when he creates a musical today. Kuda lumps is a show where the dancers go up bamboo or rattan horses, often entering a trance, while others will occur and pretend to eat grass or neighing like a horse to work the crowd. As a viewer, I felt the energy in the atmosphere as it enters the public and trance induced in some of the dancers eyes wide with repetitive sounds of doggy drums and gongs.
Kuda dancers lumps in the National Park Bromo, East Java - photo by Tess Joyce
With this kind of background, it is easy to imagine why Wukir seems to ooze with 'magic' on stage. But as he explains, "When playing on stage, the players themselves provide energy because the music itself is the energy (power)." Curious to learn more, I ask how they become so scared on stage "Because there is a whole share awareness with the public - there is also a trick for that ...". Wukir laughs, does not spill all his secrets
.yet Senyawa are still evolving and the duo recently learned about managing endurance during their two week tour of Australia with the group Regurgitator "It was cool and crazy both a valuable lesson for us, you can imagine in two weeks - concerts in 12 different places, many cities in Australia, every night a concert with a minimum of 25 000 watts sound system, with 3000 public, sleep, take a flight, moving the city, another check probes, like that every day. So we strive to learn about the management of endurance, discipline, time and all, "said Wukir.
The music ofSenyawa is strong and intense and I remember thinking how different rhythms were in Western music. Their style is undeniably Indonesian. No compromise. The singer, Rully Shabara, releases its sounds phenomenal confidence and jazzy sounds of tinkling Bambu Wukir, with its hints of "rhythm, melody and atmosphere" of Keroncong attracts the public. Wukir kiss Rully vocal exploration of traditional styles and dance songs and encouraged him to deepen his knowledge of vocal techniques from where he was born. the pair has an almost parallel artistic vision and their first show together was an adrenaline improvisation.
But they are just two floating creative fish in polluted ocean of the music scene, which seems to favor the blandness on talent. Reacting against this "crazy industry" and Westernization many Indonesian musicians Wukir on the design of its own instrument in Bali, where he discovered an abundance of bamboo. he is concerned about the concern of the industry with quantity rather than quality, "J ' just try to keep fighting, make art of the earth we inhabit, with instruments inspired by the history of this nation. "Wukir, largely influenced by Indonesian rhythms, learned to play the flute, bamboo flood, Kecapi and the djembe drum before designing their own sounds. I ask him again why he built an instrument and he simply replies that it was a response to its environment. I smile - Wukir is really unaware of how his mind is released -. It is completely free to create and retain the instrument if it will make a new
Performance Reog - photo by Tess Joyce
Can -being its traditional interest in music and dance such as Gandrung Banyuwangi and Reog him in shape. I saw a performance in Solo Reog to srawung (a Javanese gathering and sharing knowledge) and saw the huge mask 30-40kg of Singa Barong , a lion mythical, shaking through the grass field. At the event, I met another unique artist - Misbach Bilok - who designs her own music facilities from materials such as bamboo in combination with natural sounds like the raindrops hitting a gong. He spent two years exploring the sounds for the installation of its "bamboo fish" and was inspired by the island of fishermen Selayar, Sulawesi, where he grew up.
It is encouraging to know that some musicians are interested in traditional materials such as hollow and sustainable bamboo. The suling (bamboo flute) played in Java and Bali, usually in sets of gamelan, and they have an ancient heritage - listed on the 8th reliefs century Borobudur temple which also depicts a set of bells, drums and a lute. Jegog (bamboo xylophone) were created to Balinese gamelan, and in the 1860s, in Minahasa, Sulawesi, "bamboo trumpets" were developed as imitations of European instruments, introduced by missionaries.
Now having heard the words of Wukir, I thought of nonstop instruments. As a child, I played the electric piano, practicing but still felt like a chore. Maybe I had not taken a tool that allowed me to express myself the way artists such as Wukir and Misbach are capable. But as Wukir said, it's not just about the tools - the musician has to worry about the audience, "A musical event could be considered a success if the public can enjoy, sink and merge with the music presented until later, they are in their mind and feelings; and the musician while playing, gives his entire soul "
Read more
Senyawa on :. https: // www? .facebook.com / senyawaduo hc_location = timeline
Film on Senyawa, Calling the New Gods http://vimeo.com/54891015