Cool, The Movement Of Rock And Metal Music In Saparua As Outlined In A Documentary

Press conference "Gelora Magnumentary: Saparua" (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Saparua in Bandung is a silent witness to the history of the rock and metal music movement from the 1970s to the late 1990s. This history will be translated into the documentary film Gelora Magnumentary: Saparua. Bandung does have a special place in the Indonesian music scene because many national and international rock and metal musicians were born through the Bandung City community movement.

Rich Music, the initiator of the DistorsiKERAS program, is the executive producer, while Teenage Death Star guitarist Alvin Yunata is in charge of directing Gelora Magnumentary: Saparua.

This documentary will present historical actors of the Bandung music movement such as Sam Bimbo, vocalist Seringai Arian13, Burgerkill manager Dadan Ketu, guitarist Burgerkill Eben to former Pure Saturday vocalist, Suar, as speakers.

Gelora Magnumentary: Saparua was presented to appreciate the history of the rock-metal scene in Indonesia. This program is based on the Burning the Limits project initiated by Cerahati since 2011. The aim of this project is to capture all major milestones in the history of the rock and metal scene.

"The documentation of the loud and independent music scene is really lacking, starting from the limited ability to have tools, even though it is interesting, there are many lessons to be learned," said Edy Khemod, grinning drummer and Creative Director of Cerahati, in a press conference on Tuesday as quoted by Antara .

Edy explained, this initiative was originally intended to record history and inspire future generations to learn from this moment. The project started with Cerahati, Arian13, and Roni Pramaditia, who both came from Bandung and experienced the cultural growth in the Flower City in the 90s when the independent movement began to flare up. From there they realized that there was not much documentation of this historical moment.

What can be learned from the independent music movement is that their initial intention was solely driven by a passion for music, and he hopes that passion can continue in future generations, he said.

Director Alvin Yunata revealed the challenges faced when working on this documentary were digging up documentation archives that were difficult to find, especially in the 80s and 90s. While the archives of the 60s and 70s he got from media documentation.

"The most difficult thing is the archive, that's a tremendous homework in Indonesia," said Alvin.

He said that this film is a journal of a building which since its establishment has been deliberately converted into a stage for art and entertainment for generations. An interesting phenomenon in the last decade before buildings were no longer used was the birth of a generation who upheld collectivity. Thus, the building is not only a theater for performing arts, but a place to mingle that creates new ideologies among pop culture as well as a space for information exchange.

"And a movement that is able to bring this building to become one of the rock n roll temples in the history of the underground music scene in Indonesia."

From the interview with the sources that he got, there are many interesting facts and stories behind the building, including vulgar stories that were ultimately not included in the film.

"There are lots of facts and stories, it's nice to hear about them."

This documentary will show the music community in Bandung not only gathering but embracing each other in the momentum of the 20th anniversary of Saparua's closing as a music performance space.

The presence of this film is expected to spark enthusiasm for music lovers, especially rock and metal, because the story of Saparua's triumph comes from those who managed to fight ignorance and ignite the passion to show who they really are. It is hoped that in the future there will be new seeds that will continue to struggle with their predecessors and together make the rock and metal scene even bigger.

Gelora Magnumentary: Saparua is planned to air in 2021 and may be seen on the OTT platform.

This project will be the beginning of long-term goals. When this documentary was launched, there were many other programs that were being carried out to show the spirit of working on the Indonesian rock and metal music movement, including films about the turmoil of people's lives behind the world of rock and metal music to virtual concerts with performers Rocket Rockers, Burgerkill, Teenage Death Star, The Panturas, Koil, Jasad, KILMS and Avhath. As well as the collaboration of fashion brands with Maternal, Lawless, Wellborn and collaboration of musicians with Buluk Superglad, Otong Koil, Robi Navicula, Aska Rocket Rockers.