Nusantara Beat Celebrates Indonesian Music Roots Through 11 Oriential Songs On The First Album

JAKARTA - A music group from Amsterdam with Indonesian roots, Nusantara Beat, has officially released the first full album with the same title as the group name.

In addition to being available in digital format, the self-titled Nusantara Beat album is also available in the long play (LP) disk, where distribution in the Southeast Asia region collaborates with record label demajors.

The release of the album marks the expansion of the musical vision built by Nusantara Beat, following a series of their increasingly appreciated performances.

In the midst of the onslaught of global music, the collection of 11 original songs in this album actually offers a sonic journey that has deep roots in Indonesia's cultural diversity.

Nusantara Beat cleverly juxtaposes stunning folk harmonics, old Indo-pop nuances, Good psychedelic gyroves, and a fresh layer of contemporary sound texture.

For the six personnel, the names Nusantara play a crucial role as identity foundation. All members of the band 'Megan De Klerk (vocals), Jordy Sanger (guitar),rouzy Portier (guitar, keyboard), Michael Joshua Yonata (bas), Sonny Groeneveld (drums), and Gino Groeneveld (percussion) are known to have Indonesian lineages even though they are Dutch citizens.

Nusantara means the whole archipelago of Indonesia. An ancient word that comes from a time when the kings tried to unite the entire archipelago kingdom. Currently, the archipelago still means unity, cultural diversity that are united in one identity. So, when we call Nusantara Beat, it means rhythm and music from all over the Indonesian archipelago which is combined into one voice," said De Klerk through a press release to VOI, Monday, December 1.

Meanwhile, Nusantara Beat was born from Amsterdam's busy music scene, where its members were previously active in other groups. However, collective longing and encouragement to explore Indonesian sounds have become the main common thread of its formation.

"This band is formed from our love for Indonesian roots and curiosity to dig deeper through music," said Groeneveld.

Before releasing original work, Nusantara Beat debuted the stage in Amsterdam in mid-2022 and released three single interpretations of the 20th century Indonesian classic song which won praise: Djanger (2023), Kota Bandung (2023), and Mang Becak (2024).

Interestingly, the two of the three numbers are a tribute to Sundanese pop music which is rooted in Sundanese traditional music enriched by psychedelic, surf, and banyan elements from the 1960s to the 1970s.

Music and artists from that era are heavily influenced by the West pop genre," said Portier. They want to sound like their idols using similar equipment and effects. This style and the combination still feel fresh and relevant to this day.

Now, Nusantara Beat is firmly positioning itself as a music community that dares to revitalize Indonesian music, especially Sundanese pop, with a modern touch through clear production techniques, contemporary synthesizer use, and deep gyrove.

With eleven sturdy original songs, they proved that their music has a strong roots in tradition, but steps are full of courage and creativity.

"For this album, we still focus on Sundanese music traditions and gamelan pelog scaling," concluded Yonata.