Efek Rumah Kaca
OriginJakarta, Indonesia
GenresPop, alternative, rock
Years active2001 (2001)–present
MembersCholil Mahmud
Adrian Yunan Faisal
Airil Nur Abadiansyah
Akbar Bagus Sudibyo
Websiteefekrumahkaca.net

Efek Rumah Kaca (English: Greenhouse Effect) is an Indonesian indie rock band, formed in 2001. The band consists of Cholil Mahmud (lead vocal, guitar), Adrian Yunan Faisal (back vocals, bass, guitar), Airil "Poppie" Nur Abadiansyah (back vocals, bass) dan Akbar Bagus Sudibyo (drum, back vocals). They are known for their satirical and thought-provoking lyrics—usually concerning politics or everyday society. They have released three albums, Efek Rumah Kaca (2007), Kamar Gelap (2008), and Sinestesia (2015).

Career

2001–2007: Early years and first album

The band formed in 2001 with five members, but in 2003 became a trio.[1] The band's name at first was Hush, then Superego. They finally chose the name Efek Rumah Kaca after the release of their first album in 2007.[2]

In 2007, they released Efek Rumah Kaca and the album sold more than 5,000 copies.[3] Two singles of this album are "Di Udara" (English: In The Air) which tells the death of Munir Said Thalib and "Cinta Melulu" (English: Solely Love) as a criticism of the increasing prevalence of love-inspired songs in Indonesia.[4]

2008–2011: Kamar Gelap and major recognition

In 2008, Kamar Gelap (English: Dark Room), their second album, was released.[5] Among the tracks from this album are "Jangan Bakar Buku" (English: Don't Burn Books), "Kenakalan Remaja di Era Informatika" (English: Teenage Mischief in the Information Era) and "Mosi Tidak Percaya" (English: Motion of no-confidence).[2] They were nominated for three awards in the same year: Anugerah Musik Indonesia's "Best Alternative Production Work", "The Best Cutting Edge" in the MTV Indonesia Music Awards,and Rolling Stone Indonesia's "Editors’ Choice Awards: Rookie of the Year". Efek Rumah Kaca then went on to win the latter two.

In May 2010, they founded a record label, Jangan Marah Records (English: Don't Be Angry Records), hoping to accommodate creative bands that are not accepted by major labels.[6]

2012–2014: Hiatus and Pandai Besi

Efek Rumah Kaca used a more 'crowded formation' when they were playing at a festival in June 2012, thus the birth of a new project, called "Pandai Besi". A tight concert schedule and Adrian's health condition hampered the band on the completion of Efek Rumah Kaca's third album. Limitations of musical skills, routine office work and the health condition of Adrian became a trigger for Cholil and Akbar to find the right gap in order to continue working. They invited four musician friends who were deliberately selected for their different backgrounds and musical tastes to ‘recycle’ Efek Rumah Kaca's songs. They ended up re-arranging nine songs from their previous albums into a new album under the "Pandai Besi" name, titled Daur Baur which literally means recycle, fits with the album theme itself. In March 2013, Pandai Besi – with more members to the group – recorded the re-arranged songs at Lokananta, Surakarta, through crowdfunding method by the fans. Due to overwhelming requests from the public for a physical record, on June 29, 2013, Demajors Records officially released the physical copy of the album. Daur Baur received critical acclaim from music critics. Rolling Stone Indonesia wrote, "If Pandai Besi was a new band and this is a new song material, then the Daur Baur album will be Indonesia’s best debut album since the first album of Efek Rumah Kaca..." The Jakarta Globe said, "The whole album is littered with welcome surprises. Virtually every track ends up far from where it began. Perhaps the best thing to be said about Pandai Besi is that the band sounds like it exists as its own entity, without the baggage of its main, more famous, persona. The songs make their original versions feel like demos.."[7]

2015–present: Sinestesia and another hiatus

After Efek Rumah Kaca's hiatus, On July 10, 2015, the band released a new single titled "Pasar Bisa Diciptakan" (English: Markets Can Be Created),[8] a fragment of the song "Biru" (English: Blue) which was based on making a further elaboration of "Cinta Melulu", restlessness the band felt on the process of making art and its position in the market/industry. The full version of "Biru" – consisting of "Pasar Bisa Diciptakan" and "Cipta Bisa Dipasarkan (English: Creations Can Be Marketed) – was then released a month later in August.[9] On September 18, Efek Rumah Kaca held a concert titled "Pasar Bisa Dikonserkan" (English: Markets Can Be Concerted) in Balai Sartika, Bandung,[10] but it drew a lot of disappointment from the crowd due to technical difficulties. A few days later the band apologized, while also releasing the single "Putih" (English: White) on the same day. "Putih" is divided into two parts, "Tiada" (English: Non-Existent) and "Ada" (English: Existent), and tells the story about family. The idea for "Tiada" came from their conversation with a friend who later died before the song was finished, while "Ada" came from the happiness of the birth of their children.[11] On December 18, the band finally released their third album, Sinestesia, on iTunes for free. All of the songs in the album are named after colors, with each named after the color Adrian – who suffers from Behçet's disease that has caused his loss of sight – sees when he hears each song.[12]

On 12 August 2016, the band released a one-off single, titled "Merdeka" (English: Independent), which discusses the theme of independence in Indonesia.[13] Efek Rumah Kaca performed with complete members in Soundrenaline in Bali, and held a surprise concert in Gudang Sarinah, Jakarta, titled "Tiba-Tiba Suddenly Concert" (English: Suddenly Suddenly Concert) as it was announced to the public just hours prior to the show. It would be their last performance with complete members in a while, before lead singer Cholil returns to the United States.[14]

Musical style

They have said that music is their lives. Everything that has happened in their lives is reflected in their music.[1] They also have been described as a pop band with social and political messages in their lyrics.[1] Their music is influenced by variety of music genres, including swing, jazz, rock, and a cappella.[2]

Their songs often address social and political issues. Such as "Cinta Melulu", which criticizes the increasing prevalence of love-inspired songs in Indonesia.;[15] or "Belanja Terus Sampai Mati", an indictment of materialism.[16]

In their earlier years, the band called their music mostly introverted and has a slow tempo.[17] The Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M. and The Smiths are cited as some of the influences in their music.[18]

Discography

Albums

Title Album Details Single
Efek Rumah Kaca
Greenhouse Effect
  • Released: 2007
  • Label: Paviliun Records
  • "Jatuh Cinta Itu Biasa Saja"
  • "Cinta Melulu"
  • "Di Udara"
  • "Desember"
Kamar Gelap
Dark Room
  • Released: December 19, 2008
  • Label: Aksara Records
  • "Kenakalan Remaja di Era Informatika"
  • "Mosi Tidak Percaya"
  • "Balerina"
Sinestesia
Synesthesia
  • Released: December 18, 2015
  • Label: Jangan Marah Records
  • "Biru"
  • "Putih"

References

  1. ^ a b c Supian, Zulhabri (July 5, 2010). "Efek Rumah Kaca — sebuah band pop sosial politik". Archived from the original on January 3, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2011. (in Malay)
  2. ^ a b c Dewi, Mariani (April 12, 2009). "Efek Rumah Kaca, Making the world (and some ears) hotter with their music". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
  3. ^ Thee, Marcel (March 4, 2009). "Efek Rumah Kaca Keeps Getting Hotter". The Jakarta Globe. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  4. ^ Thee, Marcel (March 9, 2011). "JFCC Brings Back Its Jam For Journalists". The Jakarta Globe. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
  5. ^ Daas, Felix (May 9, 2011). "Efek Rumah Kaca planning a coup". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on May 22, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
  6. ^ "Band Efek Rumah Kaca Rilis". Tempo (in Indonesian). May 5, 2011. Archived from the original on May 7, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
  7. ^ "Pandai Besi, An Efek Rumah Kaca's Project". efekrumahkaca.net. November 3, 2013. Archived from the original on February 18, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  8. ^ "Efek Rumah Kaca Rilis Single Terbaru, 'Pasar Bisa Diciptakan'". rollingstone.co.id (in Indonesian). July 13, 2015. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  9. ^ "Efek Rumah Kaca Kembali dengan Eksperimentasi Lagu Melalui "Biru"". efekrumahkaca.net (in Indonesian). August 11, 2015. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  10. ^ "EFEK RUMAH KACA Gelar Konser Tunggal". mtv.co.id (in Indonesian). 18 September 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  11. ^ "Press Release Lagu 'Putih' - Efek Rumah Kaca". efekrumahkaca.net (in Indonesian). 23 September 2015. Archived from the original on 29 December 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  12. ^ Widianto, Shirley (22 January 2016). "AlbumReviews: 'Sinestesia' by Efek Rumah". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  13. ^ "Efek Rumah Kaca 'Meracik' Konflik Papua dan Arti Merdeka". CNN Indonesia. 18 August 2016. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Efek Rumah Kaca Gelar Konser Dadakan di Jakarta". rakyatsulsel.com. 5 September 2016. Archived from the original on 7 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  15. ^ "Efek Rumah Kaca". Tempo. 6 July 2009. Archived from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  16. ^ Taufiqurrahman, M. (19 December 2009). "Rebels with a Cause". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  17. ^ Dewi, Mariani (12 April 2009). "Efek Rumah Kaca, Making the world (and some ears) hotter with their music". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  18. ^ Taufiqurrahman, M. (December 19, 2009). "Rebels with a Cause". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012.

External links

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