I might repeat myself again and again, but it’s no secret I love Asian scene, mostly movies (and TV series) and music. And if you are into extreme music, you might already know that Indonesia has one of the biggest and greatest scenes of the world.
And just recently my Facebook newsfeed has featured an interesting video of a female drummer of an Indonesian BDM band. Not surprisingly, I was curious to know more about that band and I am glad to report that Ricko has replied promptly, and therefore, folks, I can introduce you to yet another interesting Indonesian band – Soul of Slamming.
Well, an interview with an Indonesian metal band is interesting…although there are so many different bands in your country, the information about many is really scarce, therefore I’d like to start at the very beginning…so, did the band start? What was the initial impulse of starting Soul of Slamming? What line up have you started with? Have you been in any other bands previously?
It was on december 2013.. with Tomi: Vocal, Ricko: Guitar, Heru: Bass, Vivi: Drums as the line up. Soul of Slamming is our first band but before our first promo recording (2014), Tomi and Heru left the band and were replaced by deni (vocals) ex-Sacred, and bobo (bass, x-Hypercan)
Mentioning the line up, Soul of Slamming is quite interesting having a female drummer (greetings to Vivi!). Recently I’ve watched the video of her playing live and it was really really impressive. I am pretty sure our readers will be interested in knowing where have you, guys, find her? I know it might sound strange, but it’s always amazing to see females in metal music (and especially in the extreme genres like slamming BDM and BDM in general)…I am pretty sure you’ve got a lot of positive comments for having her, but have you encountered any negative responses for having a female drummer?
Vivi is the daughter of Ricko (guitar) .. she did have an enthusiasm for metal from a young age .. but to be honest, brutal death metal needs some adjustment to be played at the beginning. it takes hard work. Some of them consider soul of slamming use female drummers as a “content”. but for us, vivi is great.
You released your promo in 2015 and first thing I’ve noticed is you have your songtitles (and I guess, lyrics too) in your native Indonesian language. Why such a decision – was it to connect more with the native audience in Indonesia? What about the response to this promo? If my information is correct, you’ve released it independently…how significant was it to land you a contract with The Evil Production? Mentioning it…how satisfied have you been with that label?
Our city, Bandar Lampung is not a big metal base like Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya.. so at the beginning we focused more on local movements. That’s why we used BAHASA for lyrics and titles, and chose to join (despite many offers from other labels after the promo out) with The Evil Production which is also the same city with us, and our promo can be received quite well in Indonesia.
In 2016 you released your first album “Agresi Prematur” and the band has also featured on a “Sonus Abortivum vol. 1” along with Nervagust, Torturing Quietly and Reincarnation of Hydra. Curiously enough, on all these recordings (Promo 2015 including) you’ve included the song “Membusuk”. What’s so special about this song, if you can tell us?
Because MEMBUSUK was our first song, the first song recorded, and the first song submitted to the label. In the song MEMBUSUK we realized that we played death metal well
Your latest album (so far) is from 2019 under the title “Rekonstruksi Dogma”. Considering your development as a band from 2015, how would you describe your progress? What response/success has this album brought to the band? Are you still satisfied with it or – looking from the 2021 perspective – you would change anything on it?
The progress is that we love this band, genre, and the peoples more. That’s the most important .. The Rekonstruksi Dogma album made our band more widely known, and allowed us to play in other cities in Indonesia .. Will always be dissatisfied, because that’s how it should be. But the changes were not planned, but rather changes to our tastes, sounds and styles. So it’s all came naturally.
You current record label boss (hello, Sasmito!) has told me you have a new EP in progress, and also a change in the line up…can you tell us something more about those? Why the line-up change?
We are currently writing a song for the EP. Soon we will be publishing the single to introduce our new vocalist. It has to be changed because Deni (vocal) have to focus on his job. So now, we invite Popo (DemonsDamn) for being vocalist in SoS
Obviously, with COVID-19 epidemic raging in the whole world, I guess the question of playing live is, well..out of question. But as far as live playing goes…how many gigs have you played so far and which one would you mention as the most successful for SoS?
We’ve done more than 30 gigs in various cities in Indonesia .. The most memorable gig for us at the moment is the Indonesia Death Fest 2018 in Jakarta Sick Bands, the excellent response from the audience and the organizers made us very happy
To ask you about the Indonesian scene would be spending probably a lifetime talking about bands and projects…but what bands from your local area (Bandar Lampung) would you recommend to our readers?
Hypercan – BDM, Choruse – Black Metal
The interesting thing about the scene in Indonesia is the divide concerning the religious issues. For me, as an outsider, it’s something to research a little more, so I hope you won’t mind me asking, what’s your opinion about salam satu jari movement? Is there any kind of animosity between bands supporting this movement and those not affiliated?
This difference is not something that is important .. Because Indonesia does consist of various religions, ethnicities and cultures. So it is commonly found in other aspects of life
Another interesting aspect of any local scene is the affordability of music instruments, rehearsal rooms, studios, concert venues..the like. Considering the size of the Indonesian scene (it’s huge!), how hard is it to actually get some decent equipment and get a place to start practicing?
Thank to Allah because we have a rehearsal Studio, so we have no trouble .. There are still shortcomings for the availability of musically instruments, especially for the relatively expensive price. But nowadays, it seems easier
We’ve already mentioned your upcoming EP…any more plans for the near future?
Issued the newest single, while waiting for the EP to finish .. And when the pandemic ends, we plan to have a tour for the first time.
For those interested in your material/merchandise…where they can order a CD or t-shirt maybe?
You may contact us at Fanpage/Facebook www.facebook/soulofslamming, IG @soulofslamming or you can contact sasmito misasto – dismembered records.
Many thanks for your time…any final message to your fellow metalheads reading this little interview?
My pleasure.. It’s a honour for us.. Just listen to the music, support the band, help the movement, don’t think about anything else .. It’s for fun.
