NEW INTERVIEW: Our first interview with VENDUZOR D.M. SURABAYA / Yayan tells why he left Jagal, 2018.

Kieran James1: Hai, bisakah kamu menceritakan sejarah awal terbentuknya band kalian hingga sekarang?

VDR1: Ya James....VENDUZOR didirikan pada tahun 1992 formasi awal VDR adalah sebagai berikut: Ali Wafa: Vocal; (yua): Drum; Abidin: guitar; Catur Edi: rytem guitar; Demang: bass. Awalnya kami membawakan lagu-lagu barat seperti Sepultura, Napalm death, Brutal truth, Cannibal Corpse setelah itu kami mulai membuat lagu sendiri dan di tahun 1997 kami mengeluarkan album pertama kami dalam bentuk kaset yang bertitle kan "LIVE AFTER DEATH" dan di album ini Vocal kami "Ali Wafa" mengalami suatu permasalahan dan tidak bisa meneruskan record di album ini. dan atas permintaan beliau (Ali Wafa) meminta tolong pengganti posisi vocalnya pada "Yayan butcher" sebagai pengisi Vocal recording pada album ini. Tapi di album ini cover kasetnya yang sudah terlanjur jadi. Dan di album ini pun mengalami pergantian pada posisi basist yaitu saudara "Demang" di gantikan oleh saudara Jack" basist pengganti pada album ini berikut formasi pada cover album VENDUZOR: Ali Wafa: Vocal; (yua): Drum; Abidin: Guitar; Catur Edi: rytem guitar; Jack: bass. Dan pada album kedua juga mengalami pergantian personil pada: Vocal, guitar dan basist Berikut nama-nama personil pada album kedua yang bertitle kan "PRESCRIPTION FOR MURDER" Yang di rilis pada thn 1999 dalam bentuk kaset pita dan di rilis oleh label asal Surabaya "BLOODY PIGS" Record yang di pegang oleh saudara (Samir). Berikut nama-nama personil di album kedua: yua: Drum; Yayan butcher: Vocal; Abidin: bass; Said: guitar. Dan pada tahun 2008 kami mengeluarkan ep album 4 track lagu yang kami beri title "COVERED BY THE BLOOD" Di album ep ini pun VENDUZOR mengalami pergantian personil sebagai berikut: yua: Drum; Yayan butcher/ yeyen: Vocal; Tree/empeng: Guitar; Dongki: Rytem guitar; Ali / Lii Bass: Bass. Dan rilis label asal Surabaya "NO LABEL RECORD" Yang di pegang oleh saudara (Fitra) di kemas dalam bentuk CD dan juga di EP album ini di sertakan album "PRESCRIPTION FOR MURDER" dan di keluarkan pada tahun 2009 itulah sedikit informasi tentang band kami VENDUZOR... Dan untuk formasi terbaru VENDUZOR saat ini adalah: yua: Drum; Yayan butcher: Vocal; Tree/ empeng: Lead guitar; Ulum pay metalizer: Rytem guitar; Ali Lii Bass: Bass hingga saat ini. KJ2: Bagaimana respon orang-orang dengan mini album/album/demo band Kamu? Awalnya kami memang sempat ragu-ragu waktu akan mengeluarkan hasil karya-karya kami James.. tapi ternyata respon dari teman-teman metal cukup bagus dengan mensupport dan membeli album-album kami dan juga kami sampaikan terima kasih buat teman-teman metal head atas supportnya....KJ3: Band apa yang paling berpengaruh bagi Kalian dalam bermain musik? Band-band yang menjadi influence & berpengaruh pada band kami adalah SUFFOCATION, DEICIDE, BENEDICTION...yang kami padukan jadi satu dan kami tuangkan dalam bentuk hasil karya-karya kami James....

KJ4: Apa rencana kedepan kalian bersama band? Rencana kedepan kami adalah ingin tetap solid dan menghasilkan karya-karya kami yang berikutnya dan seterusnya... temanku James...KJ5: Apakah lagu-lagu yang kalian buat menggunakan Bahasa Inggris dan Indonesia. Kalau di album kami yang pertama LIVE AFTER DEATH dan album kami yang kedua PRESCRIPTION FOR MURDER semua menggunakan bahasa Inggris. Kecuali pada album EP kami COVERED BY THE BLOOD kami sisipkan satu lagu yang berbahasa Indonesia yang kami beri judul: (HIDUP PENUH PENINDASAN) kalau di album yang sekarang masih dalam proses pengerjaan ini ada dua lagu yang berbahasa Indonesia "AMARAH SANG PEMURKA" dan "PORAK-PORANDA". KJ6: Apa yang kalian ceritakan dalam lirik-lirik yang kalian buat? Lirik-lirik yang kami buat kebanyakan tentang penyiksaan penderitaan pembunuhan dan luapan amarah, penderitaan yang kami tuangkan dalam bentuk lirik lagu-lagu kami. KJ7: Mengapa kalian semua suka memainkan musik death-metal? Mungkin karena ini sudah takdir kami memainkan musik death metal James ha..ha..ha..Karena kami dari awal juga telah terbiasa mendengar musik-musik keras cadas dan masuk meracuni jiwa kami...jadi kami pilih bermain di musik death metal karena pas dengan jiwa kami...

KJ8: Kapan pertama kali kamu menjadi fans band metal? Kami menjadi fans musik metal pada masa-masa kami masih sekolah sekitar tahun 1990 kami dengarkan lagu" barat mulai dari: KREATOR, NECRODEATH, SLAYER, GORGUTS, BLASPHERION, GRAVE, CARCASS, SUFFOCATION. Dan masih banyak lagi....KJ9: Apa yang Kamu katakan kepada orang-orang yang bertanya mengapa Kamu memainkan musik bergaya barat? Kami jawab dengan jawaban simpel saja James...karena kami suka musik-musik dari barat...KJ10: Apakah para istri dan kekasih para personil kalian mendukung apa yang kalian kerjakan? Memang kami mencari pasangan hidup kami/istri yang mengerti tentang jiwa kami yang suka bermain musik death metal dan kami berysukur karena pasangan hidup kami/istri dan anak-anak kami mau mendukung dan mensupport kami dalam bermain musik... James. KJ11: Apakah hal-hal yang terbaik dan terburuk tentang komunitas di kota kalian? Pesan untuk kawan-kawan Metalhead agar dapat selalu kompak dan akur tanpa adanya keributan dan masalah....Eratkan persaudaraan.. KJ12: Ada pesan untuk kawan kawan? Hal-hal terbaik dalam komunitas di kota kami adalah mereka dapat saling mengerti dan saling bantu juga saling mensupport satu sama lainnya... James...hal terburuknya sampai saat ini sih kami rasa ngak ada temanku James...Pesan untuk kawan-kawan Metalhead agar dapat selalu kompak dan akur tanpa adanya keributan dan masalah....Eratkan persaudaraan.. KJ13: Question for Mr. Yayan Butcher: Why did you leave JAGAL? I left Jagal because there was no connection between personnel because the band was run like a business; a band must have mutual understanding and understand each other like brothers.

Left to Right: Dhidit Ratt (Unscarred / ex-Jagal), Kieran James (Busuk Chronicles), Yayan Butcher (Venduzor / ex-Jagal), Endro Wibowo (Jagal) @ Jombang Metal Blast, East Java, Indonesia, 2014.

Yayan Butcher (vox) performing for JAGAL @ Jombang Metal Blast 2014.

LEMBANG SPECIAL ISSUE: Our first interview with BUNGA TERATAI aka LOTUS FLOWER (Lembang).

Our first interview with BUNGA TERATAI aka LOTUS FLOWER (Lembang Street Punk).

Date: Friday, 18 May 2018.

At: "Wates", Lembang, West Java, Indonesia.

Interview with: Didit (drummer) and Boy (guitarist).

Translation by: Teguh Prasetyo (bassist, Interfectorment / Digging Up).

Band line-up: Didit (drums), Boy (guitarist), Ferre (bass), and Jpunk (vocals).

Kieran James: Start with the band history.

Didit (drummer): We started the band in 2011 with the original line-up of Didit, Boy, Bokir (vocals), and Murdoc / Murdot (bass). After one year Bokir and Murdoc left the band because they were busy with work. We had songs before but we never had the chance to record them. After the new line-up was fixed, we finally got the chance to record the songs. We recorded three songs: 1 Freedom, 2 Stop the War, 3 Still Fight.

Teguh Prasetyo: What kind of music do you play?

Didit: Street punk with some thrashy influences.

Teguh: Influences?

Didit: The Exploited. We don’t usually play cover songs but our main influence is The Exploited.

KJ: What are the good and bad things about Lembang underground scene?

Didit: The bad thing at the first time is that the crowd still does not understand about the music. This is why there is a lot of fighting in the mosh pit area; it becomes a real fight, not just moshing.

KJ: Tell us about the Sound Reaction gigs.

Didit: The Sound Reaction fest is good and it can become the gig that unites the Lembang underground scene.

KJ: Tell us again the good thing about playing in the Lembang scene.

Didit: The positive thing is that we are more united across the genres and the old bands come to life again.

KJ: Why do you like to play punk music instead of some other underground genre?

Didit: It is not only because of the music but we love the unity in the punk scene; it is like a second family for us.

KJ: What are the lyrics’ topics?

Didit: The lyrics are about social issues and the natural environment. We already have a new song – it is talking about love.

Teguh: Why do you write the lyrics about love in the recent song?

Didit: It is about struggling to maintain the love relationship. In 2014 we joined a music video compilation with many other bands: Let’s Go Video Show. The lyrics are more polite as compared to Butche and his bands.

Teguh: How do you manage playing gigs and your work as government workers?

Didit: It is quite easy to manage the work and playing punk music as we get two days off each week in the weekend.

Teguh: Do you bring punk attributes into the office?

Didit: Not the full battle jacket with patches but I wear band T-shirts and boots.

KJ: What do you think of people such as Butche mixing punk and Black Metal in their look and perspective?

Didit: It is good but it is hard to mix those two styles. Butche managed to mix the two styles very well.

KJ: Future plans?

Boy (guitarist): Because I’m working in the cake shop, my only future plan is making the cakes!

KJ: Maybe he can make the cake and throw it in the face of the crowd.

Didit: The next plan is to make a video of the new song.

Teguh: Tell us more about the punk scene in Lembang.

Didit: There are not too many real punk bands in Lembang. There are fewer than ten bands which are purely formed from Lembang people. But the punk scene people from other cities often come to Lembang to watch the gigs and to hang out together at the gigs. The people who watch our shows are usually not majority Lembang people; the majority would be street punks from other cities. The people who wear the punk style at gigs are not Lembang people. Only a few punk bands in Lembang do rehearsals in our studio.

KJ: Do you bring football hooligan supporter culture into punk?

Didit: Usually OI punk and skinheads put the hooligan theme into the music. Street punk and thrash style sing mostly about social life.

KJ: Message for the fans?

Boy: Keep spirit.

Didit: Keep consistent in the punk scene.

*****THE END*****

LEMBANG SPECIAL ISSUE: Our first interview with DEXTROLOGY (Lembang Brutal Death Metal), 2018.

Our first interview with DEXTROLOGY (Lembang Brutal Death Metal).

Date: Thursday 17 May 2018.

At: Lembang, West Java.

Interview with: Fian (guitarist).

Translation by: Teguh Prasetyo (bassist, Interfectorment / Digging Up).

BAND NEWS: The five-track EP Resurrection the Abnormal Beast was released on 10 November 2018 via Brutal Mind.

Kieran James: Tell us about the band history.

Fian Dextrology (guitarist): We started in 2015. Our original line-up was: Fian (guitar); Adol (drums); and Fandi (vocals). In the middle of 2015, we released a promo called Dishumanism Theory released by Blackland Records, Bekasi. We did a lot of gigs after the promo. At 2016 Fandi the vocalist left the band because of work commitments.

KJ: So what happened after that?

Fian: In 2016 Dextrology made a deal with a label for the album. However, after we finished the album material, the label had no plan to release it. The label did not give a release date and this situation continued up until 2018.

Teguh Prasetyo: It’s very annoying to me personally that this happened to my friend. I saw them put a lot of work into the album. I don’t know why the label did not release it yet. Disembowel Records – this is the label which wanted to make a contract with Hydro. This is a Tangerang label, the owner is Armand.

Fian: After that we had a new vocalist, his name is Ferdi. Ferdi is the little brother of Fandi. After he joined, finally, the band decided to take the record to another label. The last label could not give a clear date as to when they could release it.

Finally we have a label from Jakarta called Brutal Mind. They will release the original EP album. We re-recorded everything with the new vocalist. Some songs are missing from the original album.

KJ: What are the main influences?

Fian: Suffocation, Disgorge, Inveracity (Greece), Opeth, and Katatonia.

KJ: Indonesian band influences?

Fian: Viscral (Bekasi), Jasad, and Beside.

KJ: How old are the band members?

Fian: The youngest one, Ferdi, is 19-years-old, I am 25 [Note: Fian then shows his ID card which is followed by much laughter from everybody present.]

Teguh: I am amazed he is only 25. He was in the scene before I came.

KJ: Did you have a band before your current band?

Fian: Yes, Getih.

KJ: Who was the first Death Metal band from Lembang?

Teguh: There are older bands than Pedophilia. We don’t know for sure but we think it is Gurkha (1995).

KJ: What are the good and bad things about the Lembang scene?

Fian: There is a gap between genres. There is some type of cold war between bands.

KJ: Do you want to say anything more about this?

Teguh: The situation happened from a long time ago until now. There is some bad blood between bands. Everything is not as bad as before. Things are improving because today there are a lot of bands of different genres who hang out in the same place and share the same ideas about music.

KJ: What do you think about Bandung Death Metal?

Fian: I think it is solid and always consistent.

KJ: What do you think about Interfectorment playing in Bangkok?

Fian: I think Interfectorment play a little differently to Bandung-style Death Metal.

KJ: How is Interfectorment different from Bandung-style?

Teguh: The main influence of our music is from Europe.

Agung Prasetia (Interfectorment guitarist): The old Interfectorment always tended to look for the most modern sound we could get. We have quite a different playing style from any other band in Bandung. At 2013 that style and sound were still quite fresh. But now a lot of bands have the same style and sound.

Teguh: What is the impact on the band of the new vocalist joining?

Fian: Our music concept was more towards Old School Death Metal style but, after Ferdi came, he made the sound feel like Brutal Death Metal.

KJ: Future plans?

Fian: We will make new songs for the future full-length album by the end of the year. The EP will be released in July 2018. [Note: actual EP release date was 10 November 2018.] It is still a secret as to who the record label will be for the full-length.

[This part below is joking / banter.]

Agrog Beside: He made a booking for second show [Sound Reaction] but he did not play…

Teguh: He is quite a random person [all laugh]. This made us upset. We have pain-in-the-ass friends but he is still our friend.

Agrog: In Lembang we are waiting to see Dextrology play. [Note: The band never played in Lembang, only outside of it.]

Teguh: Many Lembang bands have the same story as Dextrology. It is not that they don’t want to play in Lembang but they don’t get the chance.

[Normal interview continues on.]

Teguh: Why did you never have a bass player in your band?

Fian: We did not find the right person. [Note: Fian played bass on the album and the demo.]

KJ: Where did the band play?

Fian: Usually we play at Jakarta, Bandung, and Karawang.

KJ: Message for the fans?

Fian: You must take your breakfast before the gigs because you will get drunk at the gigs.

Teguh: Like I said, he’s quite a random person!

KJ: Are you proud to come from Lembang?

Fian [Teguh interprets into English]: Yes, proud.

Teguh [explaining the interpretation]: But the first answer is no, second answer is yes so I’m not sure.

Agrog: If you are proud, you must play here.

KJ: If you play in Jakarta, do you say “we are from Lembang” or “we are from Bandung”?

Fian: Bandung.

KJ: The truth is out.

Teguh: Yes, the truth is out. Sorry, Interfectorment is Lembang band.

Agrog: If you are Bandung band you can go away from Lembang!

Agrog: I am [in] Bandung band but I don’t forget I am from Lembang and I make gigs in Lembang.

Teguh: But why did Beside not play in Lembang?

Agrog: Bands in Lembang must show up and make a foundation at our gigs so people know about them.

Teguh: Lembang bands usually don’t play at Lembang. We have our friends such as Getih who always play at Indramayu. They almost never play in Lembang; the same applies to Interfectorment too. It will take three years before we play in Lembang again.

KJ: What do you think of your first interview?

Fian: Nervous!

*****THE END*****

Left to Right: Teguh Prasetyo (Interfectorment / Digging Up bassist), Kieran James (Busuk Chronicles), Agung Prasetia (Interfectorment guitarist), Bandung, May 2018.

Left to Right: Bobby Rock (Turbidity / ex-Bleeding Corpse), Daniel (Turbidity), Kieran James (Busuk Chronicles), Agung Prasetia (Interfectorment guitarist), Teguh Prasetyo (Interfectorment / Digging Up bassist), Bandung, May 2018.

INTERFECTORMENT (Lembang Death Metal) feat. Teguh Prasetyo on bass (second from left) and Agung Prasetia on guitar (third from left).

LEMBANG SPECIAL ISSUE: Our first interview with Agrog, SOUND REACTION (Lembang Event Organiser).

Our first interview with SOUND REACTION (Lembang Gigs)

Date: Thursday 17 May 2018.

At: Teguh’s house, Lembang, West Java.

Interview with: Agrog (Beside) and Nce (Depresi Jiwa).

Translation by: Teguh Prasetyo (bassist, Interfectorment / Digging Up).

Teguh Prasetyo: What is the reason to make Sound Reaction gigs?

Agrog Beside: Sound Reaction is an accident. I worked in a café bar. I had a place that had a lot of music equipment and sound system. I had the idea to bring together all the bands from Lembang to play at Route 64. It is a café / cottage / recording studio at the same place. For the first gig we invited Implore from Germany (grindcore). They had a tour of Indonesia. This was December 2017. Three hundred people came to the venue and it was very crowded. After this I asked our friends who have bands in Lembang to play in Route 64.

Kieran James: What are some of the big bands that played there?

Agrog: Turtles Junior and Under 18 (hardcore). I had an idea to bring Lembang musicians to that place to do a sharing session (nongkrong). In Lembang we don’t have a place to do that. Then we had one first gig with ten Lembang bands, mixed genres. I had a problem with the owner of Route 64. At every gig a lot of alcohol was consumed in that place. I argued with the owner about this issue and so I left my job at Route 64. Originally the owner did not mind that people brought alcohol in from outside but later he was unhappy with this. The gigs were finished because I resigned from the job. There were around six gigs in total.

Teguh Prasetyo: It is hard to have gigs here without alcohol because people want to have fun in their spare time.

Agrog: After the gigs were cancelled we tried to relocate them. It is quite hard and expensive to hold gigs in Lembang so we held the gig in Ciater. At the new place we need a really high budget. At the place we don’t have to pay a lot of money to the police; the owner of the place will take care of the police.

We held gigs where 35 bands played on one day. We considered the first chapter a success so we went on to hold the second chapter with the same name in Lembang. We opened the registration and in two days 35 bands wanted to play (Sound Reaction 1 and 2). The first one had only 10 bands and the second one had 35 bands. At the registration there were more than 40 bands wanting to play. The main aim of the gigs is to promote Lembang bands so, sadly, we had to reject the bands from other cities which wanted to play. It is purely a collective so no money was paid to any headliners. Maybe, in the next chapter, we will bring in some headliners.

The second gig was successful too so the next gig will be held in August [2018]. Most of the crowd comes from Lembang. There were around 500 people in the crowd in the second show. At the first gig it was only the bands and the crews because it was invitation only, no ticket sales.

We had 35 bands with a 30-minute set each. There was one stage but with two sets of equipment. There were no break times. It was like a marathon; when one band stopped the next one started. We are learning and adapting from the biggest festivals. I played in Wacken before and we adapted some of the rules from Wacken. (Beside played in Wacken 2017.)

KJ: What are the future plans?

Agrog: The next plan is we want this gig to become an annual event. We see a lot of potential among Lembang bands but they [the bands] don’t know or think about the techniques needed to make the gigs sound better. This is why we adapted the rules from bigger events. It becomes a learning ground for us and them especially in Lembang. We never knew that in Lembang we have a lot of punk bands. We thought we had a lot of metal, rock, and reggae bands. At the second show it was 70% punk bands. We had ska, reggae, skinhead, metal, and hardcore. We are still waiting for pop musicians who want to play but it is OK for us. We have a blues band too. We don’t want people to just go to the gigs, play, and go home. We want the gigs to become more memorable. This is why we have a camping area which we open one day before the show so everyone can have a good time and get drunk together. We want the bands to come on time and not late. Many bands want to turn up late in Lembang. They want to arrive three hours after their scheduled starting time. This makes it harder to have gigs in Lembang. One band has 30 minutes to set up and play.

There is so much enthusiasm in Lembang – the bands want to play. In the future we might have gigs with fewer bands.

We have not yet opened registration for the third chapter but 13 bands already want to play. In August we will use two sets of equipment for the main stage. We will have welcome stage at the front as we got quite a big venue this time.

People just want to be part of the gigs. We are glad to know that because it means the bands really believe we can organise the show quite well. This is almost the first time we had gigs in Lembang without fights because usually we have fights among the audience.

Teguh: The second chapter was held last week, 12^th May. Interfectorment had recording session in Bekasi so we could not play.

Agrog: We had gigs in Lembang before but they have been dead for a while. Now, after several years, we can start these new gigs.

Teguh: Any message for the supporters?

Agrog: Lembang is full of people who come here for recreation. I want Lembang to become a music recreation place. I hope to also bring in traditional music such as karinding as we cannot forget our roots.

****THE END****

Left to Right: Bobby Rock (Turbidity / ex-Bleeding Corpse), Daniel (Turbidity), Kieran James (Busuk Chronicles), Agung Prasetia (Interfectorment), and Teguh Prasetyo (Interfectorment / Digging Up), Bandung, May 2018.

INTERFECTORMENT from Lembang, feat. Teguh Prasetyo (second from left).