Back to the Bamboo Roots: The Secrets of Senyawa
Wukir Suryadi – photo courtesy of Senyawa
Wukir Suryadi can be just back via a tour in Europe with his two-man band, Senyawa, as well as can be right now preparing for concerts in China, This kind of September. yet despite such international success, Senyawa has refused to lose their unique Indonesian style. Wukir Suryadi plays a one-metre long bamboo instrument (Bambu Wukir) with eleven strings attached (eight are made via the bamboo skin). He constructed that will himself, along with the garu (meaning plough in Javanese), which he created via a disused farming device as well as he’s constantly seeking inspiration for fresh instruments via his surroundings.
I first saw them play in Malang, East Java, as well as was amazed by their ‘magical’ energy as well as the innovative spirit of Senyawa – I was in awe of their fearlessness on stage. In a recent interview with Wukir, I managed to delve into his past as well as discover some of Senyawa’s secrets.
that will was the intense energy of the traditional Javanese dance Kuda Lumping that will had a big impact on Wukir’s childhood – when he was eleven years old he joined a dance group in his village as well as those strong memories still influence him when he creates a musical piece today. Kuda lumping can be a performance where dancers ride bamboo or rattan horses, often entering into a trance-like state, whilst others will perform as well as pretend to eat grass or neigh like a horse to work the crowd. As a spectator, I’ve sensed the energy within the atmosphere as that will soaks into the audience as well as the trance-like state induced in some of the wide-eyed dancers by the repetitive sounds of the dog-dog drums as well as the gongs.
Kuda Lumping dancers in Bromo National Park, East Java – photo by Tess Joyce
With This kind of kind of background, that will’s easy to imagine why Wukir seems to ooze with ‘magic’ on stage. yet as he explains, “When playing on stage, the players themselves provide energy because the music itself can be the energy (power).” Curious to learn more, I ask how they become so fearless on stage. “Because there’s an awareness of sharing everything with the audience – there’s also a trick to that will…” Wukir laughs, unwilling to spill all of his secrets.
Yet Senyawa are still evolving as well as the duo recently learnt about stamina management during their two week tour of Australia with the band Regurgitator, “that will was cool as well as crazy all at once, a precious lesson for us, you can imagine in two weeks – concerts in 12 different places, a lot of cities in Australia, every night a concert using a minimum of 25,000 watt sound system, with 3,000+ audience, sleeping, catching a flight, moving city, another sound-check, like that will every day. So we strived to learn about stamina management, time discipline as well as totality”, said Wukir.
Senyawa’s music can be loud as well as intense as well as I remember thinking how different their rhythms were to Western music. Their style can be unmistakably Indonesian. No compromises. The vocalist, Rully Shabara, unleashes his sounds with phenomenal confidence as well as the jazzy, jingling sounds of the Bambu Wukir, with its hints of the “rhythm, melody as well as atmosphere” of Kroncong, entices the audience. Wukir embraces Rully’s vocal exploration of traditional styles as well as dancing chants as well as encourages him to deepen his knowledge of vocal techniques via where he was born. The pair features a near-parallel artistic vision as well as their first performance together was an adrenaline-pumping improvisation.
yet they are just two creative fish floating within the polluted ocean of the music scene, which seems to favour blandness over talent. Reacting against This kind of “crazy industry” as well as the Westernization of many Indonesian musicians, Wukir set about designing his own instrument in Bali where he discovered an abundance of bamboo. He can be concerned about the industry’s preoccupation with quantity rather than quality, “I just try to keep on fighting, creating art via the earth that will we inhabit, with instruments inspired by the history of This kind of nation.” Wukir, widely influenced by Indonesian rhythms, learnt to play the flute, bamboo flood, kecapi as well as the djembe drum before designing his own sounds. I ask him again why he constructed an instrument as well as he simply replies that will that will was a response to his surroundings. I smile – Wukir can be definitely unaware of how liberated his mind can be – he’s entirely free to create as well as if the instrument holds him back, he’ll make a fresh one.
Reog performance – photo by Tess Joyce
Perhaps his interest in traditional music as well as dance such as Gandrung Banyuwangi as well as Reog shaped him. I first saw a Reog performance in Solo at a srawung (a Javanese gathering as well as sharing of knowledge) as well as saw the huge 30-40kg mask of the Singa Barong, a mythical lion, shaking across the grass field. At the event I met another unique artist – Misbach Bilok – who designs his own music installations via materials such as bamboo in combination with natural sounds such as dripping water hitting a gong. He spent two years exploring sounds for his ‘bamboo fish’ installation as well as was inspired by the fishing island of Selayar, Sulawesi, where he grew up.
that will’s encouraging to know that will some musicians are interested in traditional materials such as the hollow as well as sustainable bamboo. The suling (bamboo flute) can be played across Java as well as Bali, usually in gamelan ensembles, as well as they have an ancient heritage – appearing on the 8th century bass reliefs of the Borobudur temple which also portrays an ensemble of bells, drums as well as a lute. Jegog (bamboo xylophones) were created for Balinese gamelan, as well as within the 1860s, in Minahasa, Sulawesi, ‘bamboo trumpets’ were developed as imitations of the European instruments, introduced by missionaries.
right now after hearing Wukir’s words, I’ve been thinking about instruments non-stop. As a child I played the electronic piano, yet practicing always felt like a chore. Perhaps I hadn’t picked an instrument that will allowed me to express myself the way that will artists such as Wukir as well as Misbach are able to. yet as Wukir says, that will’s not just about the tools – the musician has to care about the audience, “A musical event could be considered a success if the audience can enjoy, sink as well as fuse with the music presented, until afterwards, they find that will in their minds as well as their feelings; as well as the musician, whilst playing, gives the totality of his soul.”
Further information
Senyawa on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/senyawaduo?hc_location=timeline
Film about Senyawa, Calling the fresh Gods: http://vimeo.com/54891015
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Back to the Bamboo Roots: The Secrets of Senyawa
Back to the Bamboo Roots: The Secrets of Senyawa