Bottlesmoker. The name has kind of been the go-to name for quality Indonesian instrumental electronica lately. Releasing track after track throughout the years, they have managed to take some of the limelight from bigger acts such as The Upstairs, Goodnight Electric and Pee Wee Gaskins. And as of 2010, Bottlesmoker’s music has been released in America and Spain. The band itself has toured around Indonesia and also visited our sister country Malaysia. Now, with a tour of China in the works, Bottlesmoker’s story seems to just have started. But what’s the story so far? How did they get here?
“Okay, it was 2003 and me and Nobie was making music […] for broadcasting,” describes Angkuy of their fateful meeting. “We did lots of radio jingles and for two years until me and Nobie just stock-piled this bunch of songs that was just stuck in computer waiting to be brought out.”
And brought out they were. In 2005, Bottlesmoker, then just a vehicle for Angkuy, was invited to a festival focusing on so-called “bedroom musicians”. The festival was called “Friday I'm in Loops”. The festival had a communal vibe to it. It was a real gathering of amateur and like-minded individuals and bands.
“I was still ignorant on live PA systems, live performance, etcetera,” said Angkuy of his salad days.
“Angkuy just plained brought a huge [hard drive],” Nobie described Angkuy’s initial live setup, “and others sometimes brought their own PC and just played songs from their winamp playlist! I was just part of his “crew” at that point.”
Eventually, Bottlesmoker got out of that elementary level of composing and performing. In the process of maturing the band gained Nobie. “Friends just kept encouraging us to work together as we kinda made the same music anyway,” Nobie describes the impetus to join forces with Angkuy.
Now a two-piece, Bottlesmoker set out to make their first album that was eventually titled "Before Circus Over". To make the album, Bottlesmoker adopted the Postal Service method of composing.
“First, Nobie would make Song A, and when he hits a wall he gives it to me,” said Angkuy describing the composing process. “Then, I add my own touches to the track and I send it back. Or vice versa.”
“Mixing we do together,” added Nobie, “But we’ve never necessarily “jammed” [for composing] as it were.” They continued this process until the first album was finished and they began shopping it around to various labels around the world.
“[Then] Neovinyl Records contacted us through MySpace,” said Angkuy, “It was a Spanish netlabel. And the only stipulation that [Neovinyl] sent us was that we were to study and know about the Creative Commons license.”
Nobie in particular was smitten by this. “Nobie practically fell in love with this ‘free music share’ concept,” said Angkuy. “Because in the beginning we only wanted our stuff to be listened to and appreciated without tenuous ‘bureaucracy’,” added Nobie.
So, with their first album published by a Spanish netlabel, they set out to do shows and compose music. Unfortunately they hit a snag on the first ambition. “Ha ha ha, we only played four times from 2006-2008,” joked Angkuy. “So we just concentrated on making music at that period.”
The music made from that period would compromise their second more mature effort “Slow Mo Smile” published on American netlabel Shining Records. Still working the soft-synth-to-a-beat sound, “Slow Mo Smile was an infinitely better release. Afterwards, the gig offers started coming easier and they became more adept at adapting their recorded sound live on stage.
These touring experiences seem to plant an ambition to evolve in the lads. “We don’t wanna be pigeon-holed into an established sound,” said Angkuy.
Angkuy lays out the floor plan for the new album this way, “Yeah, for this third album we’re doing, which is due to be released in 2010, there’s gonna be a change in character. We aim to introduce acoustic elements in the music. [This is] cause we wanna add a little folky-tronic aspect in the music.”
Besides the new 2010 currently untitled album Angkuy and Nobie are currently working on, lately they have also collaborated with celebrated film-maker Paul Agusta on his E-Mo = Electric Homo electronica project which was released on Tsefula/Tsefuelha Records (now a subsidiary of Yes No Wave Music). They are also working on another collaborative EP with E-Mo = Electric Homo.
“And we wanna try film scoriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!” shouted Angkuy.
The story is truly just beginning for Bottlesmoker. Let’s hope they fulfill the promise they have shown us so far.
fin.
Bottlesmoker on Myspace.
(proofread by Vania Listiani Hidajat)
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