Because I Know The Subject Very Well #1

This is the first post, later on each of us numbnuts will write a thing or two about ourselves in relation to music and astrophysics. There will also be a lot of 'I's in the series, so it might be a good idea to have a bucket near you (or just read it before having a meal).

Okay, here we go!

1. A cliche, but my first experience with music was listening to my Dad's CDs. He had this towering cabinet filled with them in his room where I used to sneak in and played all of them in order. They were mainly jazz and pop songs by popular artists like Nat King Cole, Sinatra and his Rat Pack, The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel etc, you know, your typical suburban Dad's collection. And when he's around, The Beatles was something that he played more often than the rest on his stereo, it's like on every weekend, so we kinda grew up with their songs, well I guess us and two thirds of the Earth's population that is.

2. Just before I went to primary school, there was this period when my auntie tried to influence us kids with her favourite music. She often brought us cassettes, mainly '80s - early '90s pop music, and taught us how to sing them. One of the most terrifying songs that she had at the time was Tommy Page's A Shoulder to Cry On...yes that song. And I remember that we spent like a couple of nights singing it before we went to bed. I think that's how we learned English for the first time too.

3. In the first or second grade, I wrote my first "song". It was a stupid song that sounded like a national anthem or some kinda hymn or something, cause those were the type of songs that they taught us at school. I remember that coconut and banana trees were mentioned a lot in the lyric (I think it's something to do with the banana field that we got in front of our house back then). The process was kinda similar to now, I "composed" the notes with this tiny little toy keyboard, don't remember if it's a Casio or some other brand, and then tried to come up with lyrics as I went through the melodies again. I have the keys numbered and so I could write them on my doodling book. It was like a secret thing that I had at the time, because making music or  pretty much doing anything creative was not a common thing in my family, so it's like this new strange thing, almost felt like doing a crime or being involved in some kinda exciting and yet forbidden cult ritual, I practically locked myself in our guest room and have the toy keyboard set at the lowest volume, so that no one could hear, it was like a real bad ass move.

Well I guess that's enough for now, but worry not because there will be more 'I's coming soon, so don't get your hopes high. Cheers!

- Gilar.

Old Stuff

Stumbled upon an old video that I made in 2004. It's basically me doing these things that you're not supposed to with a cheap guitar effect and a crappy handycam. Everything was done old school analog, from the audio to the visual. I don't really recall exactly how I did it, I only remember that I made it during the winter that year.

shaky cloudy from aria on Vimeo.


- gilar

Another Collaboration

This time, our multi-talented friend Isha Hening came with her own composition, and she was well equipped- she brought her own harmonica. She came with a song that she wrote early in the morning that day, and which we recorded later in the night.

The following day Ninu heard the rough version of it while I played it on the computer, and it didn't take long until he picked up his drum set and asked if he could join us.

The song is called 'Giver', written by Isha Hening, performed by her (vocal, harmonica), me (vocal, guitar, keyboards, bass) and Ninu (drums). The video is made of a footage that she took while visiting England.

Giver from Isha Hening on Vimeo.

- gilar.

An Accidental Collaboration

One night around late October or early November 2011 I was playing around with my old crappy keyboard while waiting for a text from a dear friend. I stumbled upon a really simple arrangement and decided to record it to see if something else can come out of it in the future. Then the next day I emailed it to a very talented close friend of mine, a motiongrapher, to see what she thought of it.  Turned out that she liked it very much that she put it in her visual art project for an exhibition. The audio visual installation was called 'House of The Broken Hearted People' and the artist is Isha Hening.

House of The Brokenhearted People from Isha Hening on Vimeo.


It's a touching piece or work I think, a rather personal one by her. Having seen her portfolio I thought that she would've done something epic, a showcase of her advanced technical abilities, but this time she abandoned it all and chosen an intimate approach, like showing the naked soul of a machine. Projected in a small dark room with no light at all, she managed to shed some emotion in what's usually a playground of the mind with her digital artwork.

- gilar

Whiteboard Journal. SetList Vol.02 : Swimming Elephants (Behind The Scene)

Chapter 1. Video Shoot Numero Un

That morning, February 19th 2012, Swimming Elephants was probably the busiest band in Indonesia (exaggerating). Two video shoots were scheduled that day, and the videos, well the first one isn’t published yet (we’ll update you when it’s out!), and the second video is for Whiteboard Journal’s SetList, Vol.02 (have you seen it btw?). Well just in case you haven’t, just click here or see our previous posting here by Gilar, or just visit www.whiteboardjournal.com and watch the video there. And while you’re at it, please do roam around all the other sections on their website, I can ensure you that it's very enriching for the soul! :)

Ok so the first video shoot was finished right at lunch-time (thank God we could have lunch), and although we were sweating like mad, it was so much fun and we certainly can’t wait to see how it will turn out! *cross fingers*

P.S : Dear April, can you tell that we miss you? 

So, energy flushed, lepek ("lepek" is Indonesian for sweating crazy like those people at the gym) and belly empty, we headed to RM Sederhana in Ampera first, where we (almost) always have our ‘familial’ lunches. There’s no way we could continue without fuel. Mind you, elephants must eat and they must eat a lot. Fully-fed with plates of coconut milk goods & fat & carb & protein and glasses of ice teas & juices, we’re finally good to roll! 


Chapter 2. Video Shoot Numero Deux

This, my friends, is W_Space. It's where the video shoot took place. Very spacious, equipped with fine lighting & air conditioners (thank God, again), and if you shout out loud here, the walls would just give you back the right echo. In short, this place is perfect :)

Our set is unplugged, and it’s so much simpler compared to our full set. Three songs were performed: Sarah, Digicam#2 and Marion. Now, that curly boy on the drums is Ninu (not Ninuk, just Ninu, without the k). And that white striped shirted boy is Heru Admadja, he’s the Director of Photography of this video. The boy with the hat is Gilar, and the one running in the background carrying a guitar is Yogas.  The right-most photo is of Ranggi (Renggo) on the chair, grinning. Yes he’s always all smileys & rileys. This is us waiting while the audio is being prepped by Rully, the audio engineer of the day.

On the left photo below, the tall dude at the back, that's Ken Jenie, the editor of the video. You may probably know him under the name Jirapah (the band). For more info on Jirapah, please go here. (You're welcome!) :D 

And that on the right is Jan, he’s always itchy around musical instruments. One time he was having such a good time with my Kenny (my CA-110 Casiotone), that I didn't have the heart to separate the two. lol. This video below shows a collaboration of Ken, Jan & James I (The Omnichord). Notice how soft Jan strokes that Omnichord, particularly on the last stroke haha. Silly jammings every now and then, that's pretty much what we do when we get together. Everybody on this planet should jam together! With or without musical skills, people should just get together and play. I bet the world would be a much happier place that way.

yaw-zah!

I was very excited about this shooting, cause we’re going to be working with some really good friends. And nervous, like hell, like always. If you’re a musician and you don’t get nervous before your gigs, do please e-mail me the tips & tricks to handle such nervousness. I need it bad! I always get cold feet before performing, you know, like those cold feet people get right before they get married? (so they say,  I wouldn’t know, I've never married anyone :p)

But I think the combination of those two dominant feelings (ultra-excitement & nervousness), have created this drive, this big determination to just give it my all and not mess it up, and I think my fellow elephants felt that too. So after around an hour or two, I think we managed to play quite properly. Well at least that’s what we think anyway. But hey tell us what YOU think! We’d love to know! :)   

Chapter 3. After Partay! 

Not so much a party actually, just a wee bit disarraying of stuff every here and there. It's the office's consequence for being so amusing. 

Ninu and Yudhis (from Jirapah & Vague & Clatter), rummaging thru Ken’s computer, in an intimate & heated discussion on BATTLES’s “Atlas” lol. 

Whiteboard Journal’s office, there’s Jan copying movies to and fro external hard disks, and our manager Adityo Cahyo, about to depart to Lawson Kemang for a contract signing (oh you know, managerial duty ;p)

Yogas cozily sitting in between Playmobil giant puppets. 
I think it's my turn now!

It was already 7 or 8 pm by then, and Ken, Heru & the rest of the WJ team were still inside, video shooting Stars & Rabbits for another Volume of Whiteboard Journal SetList (Stars & Rabbits is one local act that you just can't help but fall for, look them up!). And well after everything was a wrap (around 9 pm), there was just one more thing to do before we could call it a day: we needed a GOOD dinner. After much considerations & eliminations of other options, Ajo Ramon's satay Padang (Cikajang) finally came out as winner, so straight down there we went! If we seem like we're a big fan of Padang food, that's just because we are. Bon appetite! :D

Thank you to everybody at Whiteboard Journal, it was a very delightful experience to work with you guys, you bunch of awesome people! (Special to Nico, Putri, Rully, sorry for not having your photos here, I wasn't able to get too many photos, my bad :| ). And last but not least, thank YOU who is at the moment sparing some of your precious time to read my rantings. May the force be with you.

See you in another posting!

Toodles!

Saras

Swimming Elephants - Set List Vol.2 - Whiteboard Journal

Ah this one is nice too! super thanks to whiteboardjounal.com, W_Space, Ken, Nico, Heru, Ruly, Adit, Putri, Jan, Yudish and everyone who participated! :D

Sarah was performed a tad too fast I think, my bad, but anyway, its a great video! :D

by the way, visit their website for more goodness! our friends Ken and Nico from Jirapah works there and they have the best office in Jakarta!

- gilar

A Video or Two

hey, this is kinda nice, a video for Slow Club's Two Cousins:

and this of course, supernice one:

- gilar

RADIO KILLED THE TV STARS

We are thrilled to announce help spread the word that "Radio Killed the TV Stars #001" a compilation by Organic Records has been released today. click jump for more info.

Also featuring songs from 21st Night, The Upstairs, Maliq & D'Essentials, Endah & Rhesa and many more.

(A Much Belated) Aloha 2012 !!

hallo friends, how has it been? it has been quite a (long) while since our last blog post. it's true that each of us has their own jobs and stuff but mostly because we are too lazy to update this blog. actually one of the reasons we start playing music is because we are too lazy to go out to the city on weekends (most of us live in Bekasi). yes we are that lazy.

anyway what's new? last year we played RRRec Fest in Cikini. Gigsplay has post some stories of it here and iRockumentary has some cool shots here. after that we're pretty much out of the hype. we played no gig since, but don't worry we still believe in what we do. we have some things going on the last 2 months and some gigs for this March, i will write about it in a different posts, for now i wanna talk about our songs so far.

i remember last year Gilar posted his ramblings about some of our songs, about 10 of them, you can read about it here, back then he said:

"Oh yeah, one more thing, we're planning to have 12 songs (that's 2 more songs to go) ready this year to be played live and recorded, we're thinking of making an album...you know, just a little something to tell our future kids about before they go to bed (or when they start to think that they have boring parents) :)"

well, that was a year ago. how about now? apart from the 10 songs he described before, there are several others now. and below are hints of some of it ;D

1. Madelleine  - Currently the only swimming elephants song that you can dance to, a bit trippy and sounds quite european. Gilar wrote this one and i honestly dont know what its about. Currently it's the song we (at least i) enjoyed most playing in rehearsals. this is also a song where i got tricked into playing an electric guitar, the other being 'She Ocean'. we havent had the chance to play this live yet. and i think no one outside swimming elephants has heard of this one, but not for long...
   
   oh and 1 more thing: Gilar sings in this song.
   
   
2. Marion - i know its quite pointless at this point to explain how i adore what Saras's vocal harmonies, Ranggi's awesome bassline, Ninu's drumming, and Gilar's guitar riff did to this song because you all havent heard it i'm sure haha.. but we've played it for Whiteboard Journal's Setlist, i think its gonna air shortly, do drop in on their website. regarding the song itself, all i can tell you is that i have been fascinated with acoustic sounds and vocal harmonies since forever, and if there was a song that embodied my love for them it's this one. oh, and its also about a girl i know : )
   
   
   
3. Digicam #2 - still a working title, the song has been around for quite a while. Gilar wrote it back in 2009 i think. a simple sing-along with folkish tone and a reffrain line that just sticks. we have been playing around with this one since long ago and until now havent found the right formula. maybe later Gilar will write something about it.
   
   on a personal note: everytime we play this i have a solemn feeling, like a reminder of some sort that in life you make a choice, and with that choice you're bound to win some and lose some. that's what it sounds like to me.
   

currently we are working to finalized the songs (at least to the point that we're happy with the arrangements), we have 14 of them now. with 8 of them that we're content. 3 still needs to be tinkered here and there. and the other 3 we havent had the chance to really tapped into yet.

and in case you're wondering, yes, we are in the (beginning of the) process of recording an album. not much to say here yet, with oh-so-many details are yet to be point out and decided. but we have some really great people on board and i personally are excited about this.

cheers,
-Yogas-

Next up: A Music Network #3

so November is coming to an end and we have got a new gig next week. quite a queer one because it is held on a workday. a Tuesday to be exact. click jump for more info.

Deathrockstar Hyperreal Movement presents A Music Network #3 

feat. 

Stereocase, 

Dzeek, 

Polka Wars, 

Swimming Elephants, and 

Backwood Sun.

Tuesday, November 29th | starts at 8:30 pm | Hard Rock Cafe, Plaza EX, Thamrin.

"Tales From The Bedroom" & The House That Made My Day

Culture Vulture 2011 is an art & gourmet exhibition that takes place at Desa Kemang - a clustered residences located in the heart of Kemang area - it transformed several empty houses to a gallery each consist of different artists and works. and last Friday Swimming Elephants has been given a chance to play a show at that same event.

the gig is dubbed "Tales From the Bedroom", why? you see, there is a 2 storey house with a bedroom -located on the 2nd floor- facing the center of the establishment, that's where we'll be playing ~ hence the name.

anyhooves, the gig was like this: 5 of us were cramped in one small room with loads of our instruments, and since we are on the 2nd floor, we really cannot hear or see the people down there watching us. so then we just go about playing our songs and talk with each other like it was a weekend rehearsal in Gilar's room. afterward friends said the sound system was not the best, in some songs my guitar is completely muted out, Adit, our manager, tried unsuccessfully to balance out the volume while we were playing and so on. not that it was a disaster, it was just not what we wanted, and it was over much too soon... but i had fun.

and this gig was unique to me because it is actually the first time we play with all electric settings. yes, i, who usually detest electric guitars, (for the most part because they are too bloody expensive, not to mention cartloads of effects that will have you scraped the last bit of your wallet) have been maliciously convinced by Gilar to use one on this gig. a decision i know i will regret for the rest of my life.

also we met some new friends from Polka Wars, -my personal favorite and who in my personal opinion, is one of the best upcoming act today, i have been trying to check them out for a while to no avail, luckily this time we share a gig- and a guy named Paul who bought us drinks and shares his stories about living in Indonesia, music and how he is currently looking for a good stereo and that somebody has advised him to look in Ambassador mall. big mistake Paul.

anyway the gig went well, other bands are great. Dried Cassava rock out as usual, Jetto was entertaining, i enjoyed Polka Wars very much and Space System was out of this world, undoubtedly the best of the night.

1 more thing, in Culture Vulture there is an exhibition house by Eric Wirjanata (Thunderpanda), Isha Hening, & Poppie Mayiesky. i checked their exhibition when we're doing soundcheck. if anything, its worth going to Culture Vulture at Desa Kemang just to see their work. i took, well compelled, to take these pictures when i was there. to Eric/Isha/Poppie if you guys read this, i'm sorry i took these pictures without asking you guys first :)

the house that made my day

Don't tell anyone, but between all the artworks, the foods, drinks and bands, their exhibition was the highlight of my day.

PS: Desa Kemang is located at an alley just beside Panin Bank and across Izzi Pizza Kemang.

-yogas-

Some of Poppie Mayiesky's work

stsitra eht

the legendary Lemi the Space Wanderer by Thunderpanda

Recommendation #2

nice one by dominant legs

- Gilar

Recommendation #1

Loving this new track by Kindness

- Gilar

Holiday at The Office

We've been soooo busy with our jobs for the last few months
but we still have our minds on music
hopefully :)

Ninu's been sick for the last 2 months, he's getting better, though he's in no condition to play the drums until at least November,
April's haunted by deadlines, she hasn't showered for months,
Yogas' basically a one-man department in his office,
Ranggi's recording with his other band,
Saras' busy auditioning male musicians
and I have 16 cats to tend to,
it's madness!

The only musical thing I did in the past few weeks was to play with Jirapah last Sunday.
I got the chance to make some bad ass noises; something that I haven't done in ages, so it's really refreshing.
I'd love to play with them again.

Check them out here: http://www.jirapah.com , a dude called Ken Jenie is the mastermind behind it, he's a really talented multi-instrumentalist, and a pretty tall one too.


- Gilar

September

Dreaming of a lush soundscape
digital and analog noises.
The human voice as instruments
with synths and electric guitars
and the pulsating beats, hypnotising
haunting
gutsy and complex
A departure from the old traditional ways
abstraction of structure
visual
atmospheric and fluid
graceful and majestic,
like a herd of elephants
swimming across the sea.

But before then, it's a ride with this pop machine.
Our melancholic discoveries,
our practice space,
our playground of naive melodies.

- Gilar

Foreign Affair II

Cause de SEAIndie, nous sommes maintenant en vedette dans Tweendie: http://tweendie.fr/news/un-elephant-ca-trempe-enormement. Merci à tous pour votre soutien!! :)


Une traduction google du texte:


"We do not lie by saying that in terms of pop, our references are from the vast majority of North America, the United Kingdom or Scandinavia. But in the era of globalization, it is nice to see the four corners of the world, some very interesting things happen.From Jakarta, Swimming Elephants perfectly embody this breath of fresh air.Remember, in October 2010, we devoted an article to this excellent small label of Southeast Asia: Indie Sea. Today, we provide cover thus offering you to discover their latest release 100% digital and free.Swimming Elephants, the five musicians are beautifully strung Indonesian compositions of astonishing maturity. And once again, the best way you know it is still to discover and Sarah At The Zoo, the two tracks that appear on the above-mentioned EP and we greatly encourage you to download below"

-Jean Luc Gilar

Get On The Low Frequency

Among the many delicious things I got on my wish list is this sweet looking electric bass that I saw on a music web some months ago:

It's a Fender Squire bass, and I know there are lots of people who doubt the quality of a Squier, it being budget conscious brand etc, but I am a poor beginner anyway, so I kinda fit.

My crush is a copy of the classic '50s Fender precision bass; the Squier Classic Vibe Presicion Bass '50s done in butterscotch blonde. It has that light look on it, like it will feel so great when you play it.

Now, before I make a complete ass of myself, I need to let you know that I don't know shit about basses. I can only tell the one that Paul McCartney uses and the sweet Rickenbacker 4003, apart from the very familiar Fender standard basses of course. And as far as experience goes, I've picked one once or twice in my whole life, and played like 2 notes.

Based on this video, I'm liking the sound of it, and hopefully if I like the sound and look of it, I'll be more eager to learn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Cd98DH__U

I used to like the look of the Vintage Modified version of the same series, like this one here:

But when I listened to the sound of it, it's sort of sounded too dark for a first bass. At this point I think I'd need something more wide ranged, even though the combination of that humbucker and the black pickguard is looking super cool.

The reason why I want to own one is because I want to learn how to play it, like I want to learn how to play pretty much everything; the drums, the tuba, the accordion, french horns or even the max/msp thing. Just out of curiosity, you know. And I always get fascinated by the sound of it, like when I see a jazz player playing one, or someone like Paul Simonon. Too bad you can't rent instruments and have them in your home for a month or two.

Anyways, I can always ask Ranggi to tell me if they're actually good for the price or just another piece of wasted wood (he's the real bass player in the band, fyi). And I know I'll have a great teacher to guide me then.

Only one thing left though; I hope I'll wake up someday having the money to buy it, that'll be sweet.

(Up date)

On second thought, this one seems ace!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsuiVj3B9E0&feature=related

- Gilar

Quiet Night in Jatiwaringin

I always favor the heart than the mind in making a song

Honesty above everything

A smart song is great when you listen to it once in a while, or when you want you ears to be stimulated

by something other-worldy, something cool.

But when you're down in the mellow lane or running angry

I bet you that you won't find yourself listening to music like Autechre, for example

You'd prefer an honest song, not much of an art piece, but a simple honest song that can pump the poetry in your vein

Whatever it is, it's gonna move mountains when it's made with honesty and raw emotion that comes out of it.

It's like comparing the blowing wind to, say a hair dryer.  

It's the real thing for me

And I've been avoiding to make something "smart" because your mind is always going to deceive your feelings.

Cover it up with pretentiousness, ambition, vanity

It corrupts you to the point that you go blind of your own emotion

Don't get me wrong 

I love to listen to something that most of us regard as cool,

A lot of my favourite bands are all the geniuses of the mind

They know how to treat a simple sound into a very complex art piece

But perhaps it's because they can deal with it, and they're obviously capable of doing so

Looking at it from a maker's point of view

I don't know if I'm the kind of person that can juggle between the mind and the heart

And stay honest throughout the whole process

I don't want to be pretentious

And I have no other place to go to express my emotions undistorted

A long time ago I said to a friend of mine that folk musicians have more soul than the actual soul singers

Take Dylan or Sharon Van Etten for example,
They don't need to compose a highly complex arrangement that can only be deciphered by scientists and mad sound engineers

They don't have to blow their veins when they sing

They don't have to reach the 100th octave, and turn it upside down

It's not the olympics

But through simple honesty, they get to you in a very subtle way, 

Catch you off guard and turn you upside down

Effortlessly

And you can't underestimate a thing like that

You can't look down on something that can make you go to war

or die in trying to stop one

As uncool as it sounds, but it's the heart that makes us go places.

That, and the bitter reality that is
or a flood or something :)

- Gilar

Foreign Affair

Recently a Thailand-based netlabel called SEAIndie (South East Asia Indie) released 2 of our demo songs through their site; http://www.seaindie.com/blog/?p=2253

They also managed a sweet cover art for it, done by a Thailand designer who goes by the name Sugar Chups aka Sudarat Chuphuakphong.

I guess SEAIndie is a project that showcases artists from the region, that is why the cover design was done completely without our interference, so it's not all about the music. And it's the designer's own interpretation of our songs, which in this case are At The Zoo and Sarah.

It's a great concept I think, promoting bands and designers one single at a time. We are very pleased with the outcome, even though I think that it's a bit too sweet for the rest of our music (which are not featured in the single).

Anyways, big thanks to SEAIndie, (Tan) Isarapan Boonyasoo; the person behind it, and Sugar Chups. Hopefully someday we can perform live there and thank you all personally :)

- Gilar

Kacrut or: so it seems

it was the end of 2009 and a big part of my life change. i'm starting to look at things differently while at the same time i am being introduced to lots of music i have never listened to before. i guess that triggers it, it was when Kacrut was born.

freely translated Kacrut means shitty. and the song is mostly about dealing with the shittyness (read: kacrut-ness) of being a 20-something with all the hope, uncertainty, dreams, restlessness, the nauseating pressure to conform and the realization that we are powerless to change anything... or so i told people.

but i remember when it was a mere sketch, i emailed the guys about the song and the subject of the mail was 'kacrut lagu' (song shitty) and it reads (translated from bahasa indonesia):
   

    "a shitty cut from a shitty song made with a shitty feeling and recorded as is in a
     shitty way"

it was the first version of the song recorded with my old cellphone, the quality was bad and it was waaaay different from the current final version.

maybe i will post it here sometime in the future. just for fun.

after that we started referring to the song as Kacrut and then ended up too lazy to change the title. but in some weird way the title fits and it just stick.

and one more thing, even when i finished written this song, i had no idea the drums would be anything like the way it is now. it was all Ninu. partly because i'm too lazy to come up with a drumbeat for a song, but mostly because Ninu is good. (the same goes with Meadows and Pillars of Sand - other songs i wrote)

 - Yogas