OVERDEATH INTERVIEW / METAL HISTORY: "We are the oldest Sidoarjo UG band" (Sidoarjo Grindcore)

OVERDEATH - the Oldest Underground Band in Sidoarjo

Our interview with Hanif and Agus of Overdeath, Sidoarjo Grindcore, 27 January 2014

Interpretation Bahasa Indonesian / Bahasa Inggris by: Dwi Yudha (bassist of Osiris, Surabaya death-metal)

Extra questions by: Dwi Yudha

Overdeath is: Hanif (guitar), Antok (bass), Adi (drum), and Agus (vocals)

Please note that this band should not be confused with the Mexican band Overdeath.

Jack Frost (Busuk Webzine): Please tell us the history of the band.

Agus (Overdeath vocalist): We are the oldest grindcore band in Sidoarjo. We formed in 1997. We are the oldest underground band here. Before we chose grindcore we played some old-school death-metal. We chose grindcore because in 1997 there was no grindcore band in Sidoarjo. There were only death-metal and death-metal bands. We chose grindcore because we enjoy the music and we are idealistic about the bands and the music.

Rizal Hirhead, Jack, Yudha, Agus, unknown

JF: How about your influences?

Agus: Napalm Death.

Hanif (Overdeath guitarist): Napalm Death is old-school grindcore which is enjoyable to listen to.

Agus: Napalm Death is not just about the music. It contains critique of government and society and it involves discussion of rejection and such issues.

Dwi Yudha (Osiris bassist): Why the name Overdeath?

Agus: It has a philosophy that people will die and no-one will be able to resist death.

JF: Is the name Napalm Death plus Overkill?

Agus: No, that is not the intention. We do like the music of Napalm Death and Overkill but the name is not based upon that.

JF: You talk about Napalm Death critiquing government and society so can you tell us more about your lyrics?

Agus: The lyrics on the last album criticize the government and the stigma that Indonesia is a terrorist country. We criticize why the government cannot erase this perspective.

JF: Have you heard the band Deadly Weapon from Yogya?

Agus: We think it is a good band from Yogya because they have a good musical concept and arrangements.

Dwi Yudha: Please tell us more about the underground scene in Sidoarjo.

Hanif: We think that underground here has many types of music but there is still a blockage. Some people think underground is a gang and not a community. The community is not solid enough. Underground has its own way to show its existence. Too many people follow the trend and are not creators.

Dwi Yudha: What is the society’s perspective about this metal?

Agus: The society still has a bad perspective. They still think we are drunk, are bad guys, and have no education.

Dwi Yudha: How can the Sidoarjo metal scene change the perspective from bad to good?

Agus: We do some social activity and charity. At Ramadan we share ifthar (break fasting). This is to change the bad perspective from society.

JF: How many albums have you had?

Agus: We had an album in 1998 and in 2000 we had a second album.  The titles are Sectored in Formality (1998) and Dead in Solution (2000). We appeared on compilation albums Harmonic Sesat (1999) and Metalik Klinik #6 (2001). In 2010 we had three more demo songs. We had a connection with Green Head Records in Australia.

Dwi Yudha: Which band do you want to play with onstage?

Agus: Napalm Death and we want to play in Rock in Solo like Behemoth last year.

Dwi Yudha: Do you have a music video or video of performance?

Agus: We have a footage video uploaded on Youtube for the song “Bimasa”.

JF: Will you still be playing grindcore when you are 60-years-old?

Hanif: Yes I think so, grindcore till die.

Dwi Yudha: What are your future goals for the band?

Agus: We want to launch our album as soon as possible in 2014. We want to tour with other Sidoarjo bands. We want to be a grindcore icon for Sidoarjo.

JF: Do you think grindcore is not as popular as death-metal?

Agus: Grindcore and death-metal have the same popularity overall but here death-metal is more popular than grindcore.

JF: Why is there such a long time between the second album and now?

Agus: After the second album we were busy working at our jobs and with our families.

JF: What is your message for the fans?

Agus: Keep Grinding!

Left to Right: Rizal Nur Rokhim (HITHEAD band), Jack Frost (Busuk Chronicles), Dwi Yudha (OSIRIS / ANUBIS bands), Agus Overdeath, unknown @ Sidoarjo.

NEW HITHEAD INTERVIEW: "I don't agree that police close Bandung pubs at 12.00am" (Sidoarjo Hardcore)

Left to Right: Rizal Nur Rokhim (HITHEAD band), Jack Frost (Busuk Chronicles), Dwi Yudha (OSIRIS / ANUBIS band), Agus (OVERDEATH band), unknown @ Sidoatjo.

My interview with Bimo and Rizal of Hithead (Sidoarjo Hardcore Pride), 27 January 2014

Interpretation Bahasa Indonesian / Bahasa Inggris by: Dwi Yudha (bassist of Osiris, Surabaya death-metal)

Extra questions by: Niza (vocalist Climaxeth / Osiris) & Dwi Yudha

Hithead is: Bimo (vocals); Rizal (drummer), Riza (guitar), and Bima (bass).

Jack Frost: Please tell us the history of your band.

Bimo (vocalist): We formed the band in 2011. I formed Hithead because I felt that hardcore in Sidoarjo was stuck. So I hoped that the band could bring new colour to hardcore in Sidoarjo. Because in Sidoarjo many people make hardcore bands just for fashion or image but they don’t have the ideology.

Rizal Hithead (fourth left) with Yudha, Niza, Jack, and SICKLES

JF: Who are your influences in hardcore?

B: Hatebreed and Kingdom of Sorrow (Jamey Jasta).

JF: Why do you like hardcore so much instead of metal?

B: I chose hardcore because of the sense of rebelling against the government. In Indonesia the poor is like shit because the government is kind of greedy and selfish. They just think about themselves and not the people.

JF: Do you know in Bandung the police close the pubs at 12 o’clock and have a curfew. What do you think?

B: I think it sucks, I don’t agree with this.

JF: Do you have any album or plan for an album?

B: We have a plan to finish the album at the end of 2014. We have three demo songs and for the album seven songs.

JF: Is the title of the album fixed?

B: The concept is fixed but we have not decided on the title of the album.

JF: What is the hardcore scene like here in Sidoarjo?

B: The scene here is weak. Many people in hardcore still think hardcore is a gang and not a music. The scene is not solid.

JF: What about Surabaya hardcore?

B: I think hardcore in Surabaya is great and cool. It is different from Sidoarjo.

JF: What are your comments about Devadata?

B: F***ing great, legend.

JF: What is your comment about Outright?

B: I think it is new-school hardcore with great music and concept. It is new-school and not really old-school like Devadata.

JF: What is your comment about Straight Answer (Jakarta)?

B: I like the band; they play old-school punk hardcore.

JF: What is the best scene for hardcore in Indonesia?

B: Surabaya.

Niza and Jack

JF: What does the scene in Sidoarjo need to do to improve?

B: I think hardcore in Sidoarjo should work together to remove the gap between new-school and old-school. They should change the focus from fashion to music. Hardcore is passion not fashion.

JF: Are you straight-edge?

B: No [smiles].

JF: Do you agree with what someone said that “hardcore only will work for you if you believe in it”?

B: Yes I agree.

Niza (Climaxeth / Osiris vocalist): Where did you play on the stage?

B: East Java. We think that our music is not good enough to move to any other province especially in Java Island. We still need some improvement.

Dwi Yudha (Osiris bassist): What was your father’s reaction to your love of hardcore?

B: My parents really support me for hardcore but there is still some bad perspective from the society. We come back home late after midnight.

JF: Is there any connection between hardcore and football hooliganism in Sidoarjo? I’m thinking about how Cockney Rejects was associated with West Ham United’s Inter City Firm...

B: Surabaya has a soccer team Persebaya and they have hooligans called Bonex Hardcore.

JF: Are some people in the hooligan scene also in the underground music scene?

B: Yes. There are hooligans from the hardcore scene. They are called “Wolf x Feet”.

JF: Will your band get a bad reaction in Malang because of the football factor?

B: For “Wolf x Feet” there is no problem for us to play in Malang because the people in Malang think music is music and football is just football.

JF: What is the relationship between hardcore and metal here?

B: I think hardcore and metal are in one family called “Underground”. There is no real difference because we are one family. They are just different music genres.

Dwi Yudha: What band would you love to accompany on the stage?

B: Foreign band Hatebreed and Indonesian band Serigala Malam.

JF: What do you think of the band Tengkorak? I was fortunate to be able to meet Samier in Surabaya...

B: They are some kind of radical band. I think they are too religious for a band. They can’t separate between religion and music. They are too radical for the metal society to accept. They can’t separate people’s religion from musical genre.

JF: Is there any hardcore band in Indonesia similar to Tengkorak?

B: Purgatory is similar to Tengkorak. For hardcore there is no similar band.

JF: What are your future goals and dreams for the band?

Rizal (Hithead drummer): We want to have an album and a tour with the bands we mentioned before.

JF: Do you want to play in Bandung Biersik?

B: Yes but mostly we want to play in Wacken Open Air!

Dwi Yudha: What target will you have?

B: We want the album to be accepted in Indonesia first.

Dwi Yudha: What songs do you want to cover?

B: Pantera, “Yesterday Don’t Mean Shit”.

JF: What is your comment about Busuk Webzine?

Rizal: It is a special place for info on underground music.

JF: What do you think that we include hardcore now as well as metal?

Rizal: We are very supportive for hardcore to be included in Busuk Webzine. Then we will not maintain a division between hardcore and metal. Let us unite as one.

JF: What is your message for the fans?

Rizal: The message for the scene is that we should unite as one.

Bimo: Hardcore is a passion and not a fashion. It is not about showing off the style or the clothes.  

Left to Right: Back row: Jack Frost (Busuk Chronicles), Niza Climaxeth, Arie Sickles, Rony Sickles, Haidir Sickles. Front row: Rizal Nur Rokhim (HITHEAD band), Dwi Yudha (OSIRIS / ANUBIS band) @ Bangkalan, Madura.

NEW ANUBIS INTERVIEW: "It's a trap question James!" (Gresik Power Metal) (with Daniel Valerian)

Left to Right: Disto Anubis (drummer), Daniel Valerian, and Dimas Valerian

Our interview with Yudha and Disto of ANUBIS (Gresik Power Metal)

By: Kieran James, Dimas Valerian, and Daniel Valerian

Interpretation by: Dimas Valerian

Expert comments by: Dimas Valerian and Daniel Valerian

Date: 6 December 2014 @ Daniel Valerian’s house, Jemursari, Surabaya

ANUBIS is: Fahmi (vocals), Adit (guitarist), Disto (drummer), and Yudha (bassist).

Kieran James (Busuk Webzine): Please tell us the history of the band. I know you contributed your song to the Indonesian Power Metal Compilation CD which we have just heard.

Yudha (bassist ANUBIS): The guitar player made the band not us. He made the band with the drummer. They are the origin. The vocalist and guitarist have now left the band. The vocalist and guitarist have now left the band. The vocalist and guitarist were replaced.

Yudha Anubis (bassist) and Dimas Valerian

KJ: Dimas, what is your comment about this band?

Dimas Valerian (VALERIAN guitarist): I think ANUBIS is a new and young band. They are amazing, James, because they remember me and VALERIAN right from the beginning. It is not easy for young people to love PM and HM music in the midst of DM, hardcore and extreme-metal genres. I hope that they don’t give up.

KJ: Yudha, you are the bassist not only for ANUBIS but also for DM band OSIRIS from Sidoarjo. Which do you love to play most – DM or PM?

Yudha: It is complicated. I like both genres equally. Before I played DM I played prog-metal since junior high-school and DM since senior high-school.

KJ: Which genre is most difficult to play as bassist?

Yudha: They have different difficulties but I find technical DM is most challenging for me personally. I play in OSIRIS, tech DM. My drummer also played prog-metal since elementary school. He played IRON MAIDEN, DEEP PURPLE, and GUNS’N’ROSES.

KJ: What is your experience contributing to Indonesian Power Metal Compilation CD?

Yudha: It is difficult to find PM genre nowadays. Most people choose BM and hardcore. I found it amazing and exciting. I thought it was gone but no it exists.

KJ: Did you choose the song for the compilation album?

Yudha: We gave one song, we chose the song. That is the only song which has been recorded.  We have three songs but at that time only one had been recorded.

KJ: Are you happy with that song?

Yudha: Yes. It was the first song that we recorded. We have to learn everything about prog-metal genre as it is not simple. We play all time signatures; it is not simple.

Disto (drummer ANUBIS): That song is difficult to play.

Yudha: It is really challenging for him especially for the tempo.

Dimas Valerian, DIsto Anubis, Daniel Valerian

KJ: What is the meaning of the lyric?

Yudha: It is about a fantasy or philosophy about someone that has a mind who thinks about everything that needs to be done. It is about a man who thinks about the world.

KJ: What are your favourite PM bands from Indonesia?

Yudha: We have VALERIAN, they are senior, and they have great musical concept.

Disto: They really inspire us.

Yudha: They inspire us to make songs for the mini-album; and we really like DEVAROCK from Sidoarjo.

KJ: How many shows did you play so far?

Disto: Once every two months.

Yudha: Once every three months. This month we play two gigs, tomorrow in Jombang [Jombang Metal Blast, 7 December 2014 feat JAGAL and DEVAROCK] and one more in Gresik.

KJ: What is the reaction of the crowd to your band?

Yudha: Most people who heard ANUBIS songs really like it but most people don’t understand about the PM music. They really like the songs. We play in inixed-genre shows usually. For me I find every genre as equal to the others.

KJ: What are your favourite foreign PM bands?

Yudha: SYMPHONY X [USA].

Disto: ANGRA [Brazil].

Yudha: HANGAR [Brazil] and also SONATA ARTICA.

KJ: Are there any keyboards in your sound?

Yudha: Yes, but he departed in middle of 2012. That song you heard was not the original. We edited some keyboard solos. Before we recorded this time the keyboardist had already left.

KJ: In PM it is unusual to have only one guitar player. Do you want another guitarist?

Yudha: We had a plan but now we think it’s enough to have one guitar player only. We realize that if we don’t use another guitar player it’s hard to play in the show. On the recording side it’s not really a problem but in the show it is rather complicated. If you watch NECROPHAGIST [Germany] with only one guitar player it’s going to be awkward.

Dimas Valerian: Nowadays in the metal industry in Indonesia the trend is not going to PM and HM. Do you think you can compete and what is your strategy?

Dimas Valerian and Yudha Anubis

Disto: We should keep moving and playing the shows. We need to make songs. I think “to compete” may be the wrong word. We just enjoy what we play. We at ANUBIS do not really take the minority status of the genre seriously. We only play what we like. If we don’t like the music we play it will just be terrible.

Yudha: Don’t ever play in the show to make money. Don’t make the band as your primary job [laughs].

Dimas Valerian: I will add, James, that we must stay humble.

Yudha: Yes, that’s right. We must stay humble and keep a low profile.

KJ: Did you think of combining PM and DM musically like Ralph Santolla when he played PM-style guitar solos in OBITUARY and DEICIDE music?

Yudha: For me personally I wrote that ANUBIS song. I made the bass solo as inspired by NECROPHAGIST and OBSCURA [Germany]. When we hear the lead guitar solo my guitarist is inspired by Jeff Loomis from NEVERMORE [USA].

KJ: What about in OSIRIS? Will you incorporate PM aspects in the music of OSIRIS?

Yudha: No, they are tech-DM only. Playing in ANUBIS and OSIRIS are two different things. They each play their own style so I just adapt.

Dimas Valerian: If you must choose ANUBIS or OSIRIS which one will you choose? Each musician must have a primary band. Say for JASAD the primary band for these band members is JASAD.

Yudha: It’s a trap question, James! Off the record, please [laughs]. If you ask me which band I’m going to choose I’m not going to choose.

Dimas Valerian: It’s like you can’t choose two wives. It’s the same. Yudha is crying, James [all laugh].

Yudha: I don’t know!

KJ: What is your plan for the future?

Yudha: We plan to record an EP with five or six songs. It is completely far from finished. We have one song which has been recorded. We have two songs which are not recorded.

KJ: Tomorrow?

Yudha: Our own song, one from DREAM THEATER, and one from SYMPHONY X. Each song has a long duration of 8-11 minutes. The SYMPHONY X song is the longest.

Yudha, Disto, Daniel, and Dimas

KJ: Will the two cover songs be part of the EP?

Yudha: No, no.

Dimas Valerian: Ballad song?

Yudha: No, we don’t have one.

KJ: Do you hope to have a ballad song in the future?

Disto: We think so but it is a new experience.

Yudha: It is not an easy thing. It’s about the feel. That is the hardest part.

KJ: Do you like to have any guest vocalist, such as Ridwan Valerian, for the album?

Yudha: We hope so. We want to have a feature with VALERIAN, such as guest musicians. They are inspiring us.

KJ: Can you cover one VALERIAN song?

Yudha: Yes, we want to cover one song from Dawn of New Hope EP [2009]. We want to cover “Arise”, the first song from Dawn of New Hope.

Daniel Valerian (VALERIAN keyboardist): When will the album be released?

Yudha: It’s going to take time, James.

Dimas Valerian: You must have a target, 2015.

Yudha: No, that’s too short. It will really take some time. That question is a trap too [laughs]. You trap me a lot this time.

KJ: Daniel, what is your comment about ANUBIS?

Daniel Valerian: I like the music. It has powerful and good quality but I don’t think so about the vocalist.

Yudha: We have to learn a lot more.

Daniel Valerian: The vocalist has a lot of homework to do.

Yudha: The vocalist was nervous. It is the first time he recorded. It’s normal I guess.

Dimas Valerian: VALERIAN did it too. ANUBIS has a unique style of PM. It is different from VALERIAN and DEVAROCK. That’s the good thing.

Yudha: VALERIAN is completely melodic PM.

KJ: What is the language of the lyrics? I have to ask because I couldn’t understand a word.

Yudha: The language is English but the pronunciation needs some improvement. It is not easy to practice English if we do not practise it every day.

KJ: Do you think the vocalist should be louder or is that part of his style?

Yudha: I understand why he is nervous. It is the first time he recorded that. He has potential. He is getting better every day. He is not as bad as what everyone thinks.

Dimas Valerian: I saw ANUBIS last year and he is getting better.  He is getting more confident I think he can get better and better. At one last show Ridwan [VALERIAN vocalist] gave advice to the vocalist and this is one reason why he gets better and better. It’s alright; everyone makes mistakes the first time. He has quite a potential.

KJ: What are the two cover songs that you play?

Yudha: DREAM THEATER, “Panic Attack”. It is really difficult; it is eight minutes long. It’s from the Octavarium album [2005]. The other song is SYMPHONY X, “Iconoclast” [from the 2011 album Iconoclast]. It is ten minutes long and nearly eleven minutes.

KJ: Have you got any other original songs you can play?

Yudha: No, only one. Our progress is quite slow I guess.

KJ: Because you have two bands?

Yudha: No, because we don’t just want to make a simple song. It is not about the difficulties. If one of us feels it is not their style then we change everything.

KJ: Is there any message for your supporters?

Yudha: No. But I have a message for Busuk Webzine: Stay humble, stay crazy, and keep supporting every genre in the Underground. I know Busukwebzine.net is new and it is fresh [because before you just had the blogspot].

KJ: Did you ever think to get woman vocalist?

Yudha: It is hard to get female vocalist in Gresik; it may be possible in Surabaya. We don’t want to just get hot chick vocalist to become famous. That is not the way we are. Not many chicks like PM music or EM music.

Daniel Valerian: Just because they like it does not mean they know the song or they know the band.

Yudha: That’s right. Not many people really understand what PM is; and it has a long and complicated history.