Music
Between Jakarta, Andy Weatherall & Gentle Tuesday
Text by Muhammad Azka Muharam
Why music? and what’s with it, what’s so important about it? To be honest, we don’t have the correct answer either. We happened to be in the capital—the hustle-bustle, rush-fast-paced city of Jakarta. It’s Monday, the start of the third week of June, and you know how Monday gets you.
But when we were told to go to Jakarta on Friday, one name came up: Gentle Tuesday. We wanted to chat with these guys about anything. But mainly about Gentle Tuesday and their insights about music and how it affected their life.
We later DM them on Insta and ask if they want to be interviewed by us. Then we introduced ourselves to Moses, who said it would be lovely to have an interview or conversation with us. After a long chat, Hotel Kristal is the rendezvous place for us to meet at 8:00 PM. After a shower, we ordered an online transportation service and went to Hotel Kristal in the Cipete district.
After arriving at the place, we were starving and decided to eat fried rice on the side of the street outside the hotel. It didn’t taste that great, eventually. Then the phone ‘ding’ we’ve arrived. We took a walk and entered the hotel venue towards the bar. We opened the door, and three lads sat together at a table. It’s Gentle Tuesday.
Source photo by Gentle Tuesday
LS (Living Society), GT (Gentle Tuesday), M (Moses), B (Baldi), BD (Benedict)
LS: Hello, wow, you guys all came. We thought that we were only going to meet Moses by himself!
M: Gentle Tuesday is the three of us, so we all came.
LS: Nice meeting all of you guys. Can you tell us the story behind Gentle Tuesday? Why, when, and where did it all start?
GT: It all started at Baldi’s place, Slits (a cocktail bar in Jakarta). Before Slits, the name of the place is “UP.” Gentle Tuesday started as a weekly program name at UP with Baldi & Beben as the selector. The year is around 2019.
LS: So basically, that plays and selects music are Baldi and Benedict most of the time, and what is Moses’ role?
B & BD: He’s basically “the” hype man for Gentle Tuesday, just like the guy on his shirt (Moses wearing Mark “Bez” Berry from the Happy Mondays t-shirt), and you know all of our posters and flyers were designed by Moses with hands, cut & paste, manually.
LS: Aah, yes, the legendary Mark Bez, oh really? All of them? We thought you guys designed the posters and flyers with design processing software.
M: Hahaha, it’s just my thing. I wanted to make each of our posters and flyers memorable.
Then the Beer tower came. Let’s fill up our glasses, shall we?
LS: So from the name Gentle Tuesday, it’s taken from the Primal Scream song, is that right?
GT: Yes, it’s taken from Primal Scream.
LS: So, we consider Primal Scream as your favorite band. Here’s a quick question: Sonic Flower Groove or Screamadelica?
GT: Well, that’s a tricky question, haha. But we all agree that we choose Screamadelica over Sonic Flower Groove. Because of Andy Weatherall, actually.
LS: So when do you guys first listen to Primal Scream or your musical journey to find references back in the day?
BD: Well, through magazines, of course, and physical music stores.
B: The likes of Hai, Trolly, and Juice play an essential role in our musical journey and stream of information. Music stores like Aquarius have also become where we find new music. I used to work at a record shop called Monka Magic if you have heard before.
M: Then I met Gonzo, the man behind Duck Dive & Studiorama. He often gave me a lot of new music references. The fun part is also when going to the Cikini area. There’s a place called Iguana, and we used to find bootlegs there.
M: The rise of the internet also plays an important role. So Gonzo already has an internet connection at his home, and then my house, or we used to call it “Gudang” becomes our HQ.
LS: Rapid question, Cherry Red records or Sarah records?
GT: Well, this is a tricky question. Hahaha, we listened and loved bands from both records.
LS: What about the current or contemporary Indie Pop scene and band, is there any new acts that you like or pay attention to?
GT: Actually, Indie Pop is still Rokum Sakaw (Rumahsakit) and Pestolaer, to be honest.
B: We rarely hear new bands, too, haha.
LS: So, what do you guys want to bring to the table or the people about Gentle Tuesday?
GT: We want to bring the DIY spirit that we could create and support others. But above all, we always want to make things that relate to the music we like and present it to people. More remixes or produce our one piece soon! Oh, and invite Andy Bell to play here in Indonesia, hahaha.
Then after more glass of beer, the rest is history. It is an honor to meet with Baldi, Moses, and Beben as Gentle Tuesday, opening up a new horizon of how we see the music itself. Such an unforgettable moment.
Jakarta, June 13th, 2022
Translated by Muhammad Azka Muharam
Mengapa harus musik? Ada apa sih dengan musik yang membuatnya begitu penting dalam kehidupan kita? Sejujurnya kita pun tidak tahu jawabannya. Kami kebetulan sedang berada di ibukota—kota Jakarta yang penuh dengan hiruk pikuk dan semuanya serba cepat disini. Hari ini hari Senin, awal minggu ketiga bulan Juni, dan tahu-lah rasanya bagaimana hari Senin di minggu ketiga.
Tapi ketika kami disuruh pergi ke Jakarta pada hari Jumat, langsung muncul satu nama yang ada di kepala: Gentle Tuesday. Kami ingin sekali mengobrol dengan mereka tentang apapun. Tapi terutama tentang Gentle Tuesday dan wawasan mereka tentang musik dan bagaimana hal itu mempengaruhi kehidupan mereka.
Kami langsung saja menghubungi lewat Instagram dan menanyakan apakah mereka ingin di wawancara oleh kami. Kemudian kami berkenalan dengan Moses, yang menyetujui untuk di wawancara dan berbincang dengan kami.Setelah berkabar via WhatsApp, Hotel Kristal adalah tempat pertemuan kami pada pukul 20:00. Setelah mandi, kami memesan jasa transportasi online dan menuju ke Hotel Kristal di kawasan Cipete.
Setelah sampai di tempat, kami lumayan lapar dan memutuskan untuk makan nasi goreng di pinggir jalan di sebrang hotel. Rasanya tidak terlalu enak, akhirnya. Kemudian notifikasi handphone berbunyi ‘ding’ “kami sudah sampai”. Kami berjalan dan memasuki venue hotel menuju bar. Kami membuka pintu, dan melihat tiga orang duduk bersama di sebuah meja. Mereka-lah Gentle Tuesday.
Source photo by Gentle Tuesday Jakarta
LS (Living Society), GT (Gentle Tuesday), M (Moses), B (Baldi), BD (Benedict)
LS: Wah ternyata semuanya hadir, dikirain cuman Moses doang yang dateng!
M: Gentle Tuesday bertiga, ya kita dateng semua.
LS: Langsung aja kali ya ke pertanyaan pertama, bisa diceritain ga awal mula terbentuknya Gentle Tuesday?
GT: Awal-mula nya di tempat nya Baldi, Slits (bar cocktail di Jakarta) cuman dulu waktu namanya masih UP bukan Slits, sekitar tahun 2019. Ya Gentle Tuesday awalnya adalah program musik mingguan di UP, selector nya Baldi dan Beben.
LS: Jadi pada dasarnya yang jadi selector itu Baldi dan Beben, terus Moses sebagai apa dong?
B & BD: Hahaha, Moses ini sebenernya hype-man nya Gentle Tuesday, tuh kaya orang yang ada di kaosnya (Moses kebetulan lagi pake kaos Mark “Bez” Berry dari Happy Mondays). Dan lo pada tau ga semua poster dan flyer nya Gentle Tuesday itu dibikin sama Moses pake tangan, cut & paste, manual.
LS: Aah yes, Mark Bez legend, wah asli? Semuanya cut & paste? Dikirain nge-desain sendiri pake software.
M: Hahaha, biasalah, pengen bikin tiap poster atau flyer itu berkesan aja sih. Tower Bir datang, mari kita tuangkan sejenak.
LS: Jadi dari nama Gentle Tuesday itu betul diambil dari lagu Primal Scream?
GT: Betul, dari Primal Scream
LS: Jadi, kami menganggap Primal Scream adalah band favorit kalian. Sonic Flower Groove atau Screamadelica?
GT: Nah, itu pertanyaan yang rumit, haha. Tapi kita semua setuju bahwa kita memilih Screamadelica daripada Sonic Flower Groove. Karena Andy Weatherall, sebenarnya.
LS: Jadi kapan pertama kali mendengarkan Primal Scream atau awal perjalanan mendengarkan musik kalian?
BD: Nah, melalui majalah, tentu saja, dan toko musik fisik.
B: Majalah-majalah seperti Hai, Trolly, dan Juice sebenernya berperan penting dalam perjalanan mendengarkan musik dan juga arus informasi. Toko musik seperti Aquarius juga menjadi tempat dimana kita dapetin musik-musik baru. Gue juga dulu pernah kerja di toko musik namanya Monka Magic kalo pernah denger.
M: Kalo gue sih dari Gonzo, dia orang dibalik Duck Dive & Studiorama.Dia sering banget ngasih gue banyak referensi musik baru. Yang paling seru tuh kalo udah maen ke daerah Cikini dulu ada tempat namanya Iguana, banyak bootleg disana.
M: Sebenernya pengaruh internet juga sih, awal dulu ada koneksi internet tuh ya si Gonzo. Terus akhirnya di rumah gue juga ada, akhirnya ya jadi basecamp aja disana tempat kita ngumpul.
LS: Cherry Red records or Sarah records?
GT: Wah bingung juga ya, hahaha, kita soalnya denger dan suka band-band dari dua record label ini.
LS: Ngomongin soal skena Indies, atau Indie Pop, ada band-band baru yang menarik perhatian kalian ga sih?
GT: Sebenernya yang menurut kita Indie Pop tuh ya Rokum Sakaw (Rumahsakit) jaman-jaman nya andri lemes ama Pestolear deh.
B: Kita jarang dengerin band-band baru juga sih, haha.
LS: Jadi plan next nya buat Gentle Tuesday itu apa? Atau apa yang mau kalian sampein ke orang-orang diluar sana?
GT: Kita pengen bawa spirit DIY sih yang bisa kita bikin sendiri dan support yang lain. Tapi buat kedepannya kita pengen bikin musik sendiri sih dan nyuguhin itu ke orang-orang ga cuman sekedar remix-remix aja hahaha. Mungkin bakal produksi lebih banyak remix dan produksi sendiri juga semoga. Dan mungkin satu lagi pengen banget ngundang Andy Bell buat maen ke Jakarta hahaha. Sebetulnya ini hanya garis besar dari obrolan kami bersama Moses, Baldi dan Beben. Masih banyak lagi obrolan-obrolan yang menarik seputar musik dan lainnya (karena udah keburu mabuk) hahaha. Tapi bertemu, ngobrol bareng dan tentunya dapet insight baru seputar musik.
Jakarta, June 13th, 2022
