I already posted about Tremor, great artist from Indonesia. I'm a huge fan of his work , but you should also check out his band, Milisi Kecoa. Lyrics are very interesting, dealing with nationalism, religion, violence, scene etc. and although it's in Indonesian, you get the English explanation with the album, so check it out.
Milisi Kecoa Myspace
When did you start doing artwork for bands?
-I don't really remember when was the first time I did artwork for bands. I think it was in 1998 or 1999, I draw something stupid for my first band when I was still in high school.. I've been drawing since I was a kid, but never really serious about it. I started doing artwork seriously for bands maybe in 2002 or 2003 but not so intensive..just for fun, helping my friends bands..
What was your first project?
-I don't consider the artwork for my first band back in 1999 as my first project.. I think my first "serious" project was an artwork for malaysian fastcore band called D(OLLIE)xPARTON. I mean, they asked me to make something for them, and then I draw it for them, like in real commision :P
What is your main influence? I suppose horror movies and comics?
-Both! I love horror movies and comics!
How would you describe your style?
- I'm not really sure how to describe it. My style changes/improves everytime I explore and discover something fun/new when I draw.. But I love horror so much and I love black ink/pen. So maybe my style is more dark hand-drawing. I don't know, sometimes I have to draw something that isn't really my style because of the commision brief, or by request. For example: when I draw for clothing company, I just draw what people want, and I consider it as a designer job, not as art-making.
Which artists do you look up to?
-Yes, even maybe not all artists influenced my artworks. I love Jim Phillips' designs for 80s Santa Cruz Skate designs. I also love artworks by Gustave Dore, Florian Bertmers, Ed Repka, french, Laurie Lipton, Justin Barlett, Murdoch Stafford, Edward Gorey, and also artworks by my friends from Indonesia like Morgg, Mayatschism and Riandy.
With which bands have you worked so far? Are there any artworks which are your favorite?
- Usually for my friend's bands.. but it's also possible to any bands, as long as they like my style.. This far my favorite was the t-shirt design I made for local band called Gladiator. It was based on their tribute song for local DIY punk organiser: Bandung Pyrate Punx. (http://tremorizer.blogspot.com/2010/11/2010-gladiator.html
Why is the Gladiator artwork your favorite?
- Maybe because I didn't expect the final result to be like that. It was better than I thought before I started to ink it.. I love the details and the expression of the face on that artwork..
What is your medium? Do you only draw by hand or use the computer too?
-I draw on paper with pen and ink, and then processed it on computer for editing and layout.
What do you love to work the most? T-shirts, cover art, logos?
-I love doing t-shirt designs, but sometimes cover art and logos are challenging too because cover art has a very limited space and logo needs to be strong to be more outstanding..
What music do you listen when you are working?
-Basically I listened to a lot of different kinds of music, it depends on my mood and everything.. My playlist recently was: Dead Kennedys (Plastic Surgery Disasters), Rotten to The core (Indonesian 90s punk), Asshole Parade (Say Goodbye), Nancy Sinatra (The Very Best of), Government Warning (No Moderation), Regulations (self titled), TSOL (Dance With Me), Hatred Surge (Deconstruct), Terminal State (Sick EP), caustic Christ (Cant Relate), Harda Tider (Gatan Kallar) and many more. Too many to mention all here..
How did you get in touch with Harda Tider for doing the artwork for them?
-Actually Erik from Harda Tider is my friend. I know him through my another Swedish friend when Erik was going to travel to Asia last year. My friend recommended Erik to contact me before he came here, and Erik contacted me, and I picked him up on the airport and hangout for more than a week. Since that time, me and Erik became friends and hangout together a lot during his stay in my place. By the way, he visited Indonesia again with his brother recently and at the moment of writing this they are still in Indonesia.. They left my house like 2 days ago, and traveled to another city. I will meet them again next week. They are really funny and nice people to hang out with! Oh, Erik also do a lot of cool artworks, you should check his artworks! he doesn't have his online portfolio yet, but his artworks are really cool.
Tell me something more about your band, Milisi Kecoa.
hm, I don't know where to start. Well, it's a hardcore punk band I started with some good friends in 2009. Only two of us actually could play music instruments when we started it in the first place, and I really enjoy being part of this band. We already released "Kami Marah" EP (CD-R) in 2009 and "Kalian Memang Menyedihkan" (CD-R) in 2010. Both are released and distributed by ourselves. But later my friend's label, Alternative records and distribution ( http://alternaivedistribution.
What's the punk and hardcore scene like in Indonesia?
-The hc punk scene in Indonesia is really huge with hundreds or maybe thousands bands! Maybe because indonesia also high in population. Whenever I travel in Java island (small part of Indonesia), I always meet punks in the street. They are like everywhere! hahahaha. And not just bands, some kids also run zines, and organise shows too, some also run punk distros. okay, I'm bad at writing and describing things like this haha. Just email me at makanmayat@yahoo.com if you want to know more about it.
Are there any great bands coming from your area which you would recommend?
-From my area I recommend Krass Kepala (hc punk), Hooded (sxe hardcore), Fukk Bar Culture (hardcore), Krisis Identitas (hc punk), Kontrasocial (d-beat/crust), and some old bands like Rotten To The Core (punkrock), or The Clown (hc punk).. but I can't hold myself to not tell you about more bands from other cities too, like Grave Dancers (crossover/thrash from Jakarta), Hellowar (crust/black metal from Jakarta), Hantamrata (powerviolence from Kediri), Proletar (mincecore from Jakarta) and many more...
And for the end, what is your favorite horror genre and movie?
- I love most of the horror genre and it's too hard to mention only one title, so i will write down everything that passes my mind now: I love The Exorcist; The Birds by Hitchcock; Re-animator and Bride of re-animator; Dawn of the dead (both the original and remake); Basket case; Braindead by Peter Jackson; J-horror like Cure, Ju-on, Kairo and One missed call; Street trash; Nightmare on Elmstreet; Evil dead 1&2; Suspiria and Opera by Dario Argento; Cujo; Hellraiser especially Hellbound; Cemetery man; Creepshow by Romero and Stephen King; Rec; 70's Invasion of the Body Snatchers; and almost all by David Cronenberg. I hate all American remakes of Asian/European movies.
this is great!!!!
ReplyDeletethanks. I checked out your artwork too, it's very interesting.
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