Gelap Pekat

Ini merupakan sebuah cerita pendek dari 12 tahun perjalanan karir bermusik dari sebuah band super keras yang telah menjadi fenomena di populasi musik keras khususnya di Indonesia. Sebuah band yang namanya diambil dari selewengan sebuah nama restaurant fast food asal Amerika, ya mereka adalah Burgerkill band asal origin Ujungberung, tempat orisinil tumbuh dan berkembangnya komunitas Death Metal / Grindcore di daerah timur kota Bandung. Band lulusan scene Uber ( nama keren Ujungberung ) selalu dilengkapi gaya Stenografi Tribal dan musik agresif yang super cepat, Jasad, Forgotten, Disinfected, dan Infamy to name a few.

Burgerkill berdiri pada bulan Mei 1995 berawal dari Eben, scenester dari Jakarta yang pindah ke Bandung untuk melanjutkan sekolahnya. Dari sekolah itulah Eben bertemu dengan Ivan, Kimung, dan Dadan sebagai line-up pertamanya. Band ini memulai karirnya sebagai sebuah side project yang ga punya juntrungan, just a bunch of metal kids jamming their axe-hard sambil menunggu band orisinilnya dapat panggilan manggung. Tapi tidak buat Eben, dia merasa bahwa band ini adalah hidupnya dan berusaha berfikir keras agar Burgerkill dapat diakui di komunitasnya. Ketika itu mereka lebih banyak mendapat job manggung di Jakarta melalui koneksi Hardcore friends Eben, dari situlah antusiasme masyarakat underground terhadap Burgerkill dimulai dan fenomena musik keras tanpa sadar telah lahir di Indonesia.

Walhasil line-up awal band ini pun tidak berjalan mulus, sederet nama musisi underground pernah masuk jajaran member Burgerkill sampai akhirnya tiba di line-up solid saat ini. Ketika dimulai tahun 1995 mereka hanya berpikir untuk manggung, pulang, latihan, manggung lagi dst. Tidak ada yang lain di benak mereka, tapi semuanya berubah ketika mereka berhasil merilis single pertamanya lewat underground phenomenon Richard Mutter yang merilis kompilasi cd band-band Bandung pada awal 1997. Nama lain seperti Full Of Hate, Puppen, dan Cherry Bombshell juga bercokol di kompilasi yang berjudul "Masaindahbangetsekalipisan" tersebut. Memang masa itu masa indah musik underground. Everything is new and new things stoked people! Tidak tanggung lagu Revolt! dari Burgerkill menjadi nomor pembuka di album yang terjual 1000 keping dalam waktu singkat ini.

Setelah mengenal nikmatnya menggarap rekaman, anak anak ini tidak pernah merasa ingin berhenti, dan pada akhir tahun 1997 mereka kembali ikut serta dalam kompilasi "Breathless" dengan menyertakan lagu "Offered Sucks" didalamnya. Awal tahun 1998 perjalanan mereka berlanjut dengan rilisan single Blank Proudness, pada kompilasi band-band Grindcore Ujungberung berjudul "Independent Rebel". Yang ketika itu dirilis oleh semua major label dengan distribusi luas di Indonesia dan juga di Malaysia. Setelah itu nama Burgerkill semakin banyak menghias concert flyers di seputar komunitas musik underground. The Antics went higher, semakin banyak fans berat menunggu kehadiran mereka diatas panggung. Burgerkill sang Hardcore Begundal!

Disekitar awal tahun 1999, mereka mendapat tawaran dari perusahaan rekaman independent Malaysia, Anak Liar Records yang berakhir dengan deal merilis album Three Ways Split bersama dengan band Infireal (Malaysia) dan Watch It Fall (Perancis). Hubungan dengan network underground di Malaysia dan Singapura berlanjut terus hingga sekarang. Burgerkill menjadi langganan cover zine independent di negara-negara tersebut dan berimbas dengan terus bertambahnya fans mereka dari negeri Jiran. Di tahun 2000, akhirnya Burgerkill berhasil merilis album perdana mereka dengan title "Dua Sisi" dan 5000 kaset yang di cetak oleh label indie asal Bandung, Riotic Records ludes habis dilahap penggemar fanatik yang sudah tidak sabar menunggu sejak lama. Di tahun yang sama, band ini juga merilis single "Everlasting Hope Never Ending Pain" lewat kompilasi "Ticket To Ride", sebuah album yang benefitnya disumbangkan untuk pembangunan sebuah skatepark di kota Bandung.

Single terakhir menjadi sebuah jembatan ke era baru Burgerkill, dimana masa awal mereka lagu-lagu tercipta hasil dari pengaruh band-band Oldschool Hardcore, Name it: Minor Threat, 7 Seconds, Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today, Sick of it All, Insted, Etc. Seiring dengan waktu, mereka mulai untuk membuka pengaruh lain. Masuklah pengaruh dari band band Modern Metal dan Newschool Hardcore dengan beat yang lebih cepat dan lebih agresif, selain itu juga riff-riff powerchord yang enerjik menjadi bagian kental pada lagu-lagu Burgerkill serta dilengkapi oleh fill-in gitar yang lebih menarik. Anak-anak ini memang tidak pernah puas dengan apa yang mereka hasilkan, mereka selalu ingin berbuat lebih dengan terus membuka diri pada pengaruh baru. Hampir semua format musik keras dilahap dan di interprestasikan kedalam lagu, demikianlah Burgerkill berkembang menjadi semakin terasah dan dewasa. Lagu demi lagu mereka kumpulkan untuk menjadi sebuah materi lengkap rilisan album kedua.

Beberapa Mainstream Achievement pun sempat mereka rasakan, salah satunya menjadi nominator Band Independent Terbaik ala majalah NewsMusik di tahun 2000. Awal tahun 2001 pun mereka berhasil melakukan kerjasama dengan sebuah perusahaan produk sport apparel asal Amerika: PUMA yang selama 1 tahun mensupport setiap kali Burgerkill melakukan pementasan. Dan sejak Oktober 2002 sebuah produk clothing asal Australia: INSIGHT juga mensupport dalam setiap penampilan mereka.

Pertengahan Juni 2003, Burgerkill menjadi band Hardcore pertama di Indonesia yang menandatangani kontrak sebanyak 6 album dengan salah satu major label terbesar di negeri ini, Sony Music Entertainment Indonesia. Dan setelah itu akhir tahun 2003, Burgerkill berhasil merilis album kedua mereka dengan title "Berkarat". Lagu-lagu pada album ini jauh lebih progressif dan penuh dengan teknik yang lebih terasah dibandingkan album sebelumnya. Hampir tidak ada lagi nuansa straight forward dan moshpart sederhana ala band standard Hardcore yang tercermin dari single-single awal mereka. Pada sector vocal dengan tetap mengedepankan nuansa depresif dan kelam, karakter vocal Ivan sang vokalis Bengal lebih berani dimunculkan dengan penulisan bahasa pertiwi dan artikulasi kata yang lebih jelas. Dan di sector musik pun, Toto, Eben, Andris dan gitaris baru mereka Agung semakin berani menjelajahi daerah-daerah baru yang sebelumnya tidak pernah dijajaki kelompok musik keras manapun di Indonesia.

Sebuah kejutan hadir pada pertengahan tahun 2004, lewat album "Berkarat" Burgerkill masuk kedalam salahsatu nominasi dalam salah satu event Achievement musik terbesar di Indonesia "Ami Awards". Dan secara mengejutkan mereka berhasil menyabet award tahunan tersebut untuk kategori "Best Metal Production". Sebuah prestasi yang mungkin tidak pernah terlintas di benak mereka, dan bagi mereka hal tersebut merupakan sebuah tanggung jawab besar yang harus mereka buktikan melalui karya-karya mereka selanjutnya.

Di awal tahun 2005 di tengah kesibukan mereka mempersiapkan materi untuk album ketiga, Toto memutuskan untuk meninggalkan band yang telah selama 9 tahun dia bangun bersama. Namun kejadian ini tidak membuat anak-anak Burgerkill putus semangat, mereka kembali merombak formasinya dengan memindahkan Andris dari posisi Bass ke posisi Drums dan terus melanjutkan proses penulisan lagu dengan menggunakan additional bass player. Sejalan dengan selesainya penggarapan materi album ketiga, tepatnya November 2005, Burgerkill memutuskan kontrak kerjasama dengan Sony Music Entertainment Indonesia dikarenakan tidak adanya kesepakatan dalam pengerjaan proyek album ketiga. So guys...these kids always have a great spirit to keep blowing their power, dan akhirnya mereka sepakat untuk tetap merilis album ke-3 "Beyond Coma And Despair" di bawah label mereka sendiri Revolt! Records di pertengahan Agustus 2006. Album ketiga yang memiliki arti sangat dalam bagi semua personil Burgerkill baik secara sound, struktur, dan format musik yang mereka suguhkan sangat berbeda dengan dua album sebelumnya. Materi yang lebih berat, tegas, teknikal, dan berani mereka suguhkan dengan maksimal disetiap track-nya.

Namun tak ada gading yang tak patah, sebuah musibah terbesar dalam perjalanan karir mereka pun tak terelakan, Ivan sang vokalis akhirnya menghembuskan nafas terakhirnya ditengah-tengah proses peluncuran album baru mereka di akhir Juli 2006. Peradangan pada otaknya telah merenggut nyawa seorang ikon komunitas musik keras di Indonesia. Tanpa disadari semua penulisan lirik Ivan pada album ini seolah-olah mengindikasikan kondisi Ivan saat itu, dilengkapi alur cerita personal dan depresif yang terselubung sebagai tanda perjalanan akhir dari kehidupannya. "Beyond Coma And Despair" sebuah album persembahan terakhir bagi Ivan Scumbag yang selama ini telah menjadi seorang teman, sahabat, saudara yang penuh talenta dan dedikasi dengan disertai karakter karya yang mengagumkan. Burgerkill pun berduka, namun mereka tetap yakin untuk terus melanjutkan perjalanan karir bermusik yang sudah lebih dari 1 dekade mereka jalani, dan sudah tentu dengan menghadirkan seorang vokalis baru dalam tubuh mereka saat ini. Akhirnya setelah melewati proses Audisi Vokal, mereka menemukan Vicki sebagai Frontman baru untuk tahap berikutnya dalam perjalanan karir mereka.

Dan pada awal Januari 2007 mereka telah sukses menggelar serangkaian tour di kota-kota besar di Pulau Jawa dan Bali dalam rangka mempromosikan album baru mereka. Target penjualan tiket di setiap kota yang didatangi selalu mampu mereka tembus, dan juga ludesnya penjualan tiket di beberapa kota menandakan besarnya antusiasme masyarakat musik cadas di Indonesia terhadap penampilan Burgerkill. A written story just wouldn't enough, tunggu kejutan dan dengarkan album baru mereka, tonton konsernya dan rasakan sensai musik keras yang tak akan kamu lupakan...BURGERKILL HARDCORE BEGUNDAL IN YOUR FACE, WHATEVER!!!

Check out at http://www.burgerkillofficial.com

17 April 2008
Lahirnya Bentuk Ketidak Jelasan Baru Di Negara Yang Sangat Tidak Jelas Ini.

Musibah terbesar tragedi konser berdarah 9 Februari lalu telah kita lewati dengan duka yang sangat mendalam. Segala bentuk kekhawatiran, dan dilema akan imbas buruk pasca tragedi tersebut tanpa terasa semakin memaksa kita terdiam menunggu tanpa tau harus berbuat apa. Pencekalan musisi dan penyempitan ruang kreatifitas oleh berbagai pihak yang juga menimpa komunitas kita menjadi salah satu contoh yang sangat ditakuti juga memprihatinkan bagi kami. Ditambah dengan mayoritas pemberitaan miring di media-media yang berkesan sepihak dan memojokan yang akhirnya menimbulkan stigma dangkal akan ketidak pahaman di sebagian besar benak masyarakat atas apa yang kita kerjakan. Ideologi kita akan sebuah musik, gaya hidup, dan pola berfikir kembali disalahkan dan dikambing hitamkan oleh mereka baik di masyarakat dan pemerintahan. Seolah-olah kita adalah pihak mutlak yang harus bertanggung jawab dari sebuah musibah yang sama sekali tidak pernah kita inginkan, dan hak akan kebebasan berekspresi yang selama ini telah kita nikmati bersama terpaksa mengalah telak ditemani ribuan pertanyaan di kepala akan ketidak adilan. Yah setidaknya hal tersebut adalah realita perjalanan hidup yang sangat kami rasakan kedalamannya sampai saat ini... oleh karena itu kami memohon maaf yang sebesar-besarnya kepada teman-teman atas terjadinya kekosongan aktifitas di situs kami beberapa waktu lalu.

So... Here's some news from us. Saat ini kami masih disibukan dengan penggarapan project DVD Documentary yang lumayan lama tertunda dikarenakan sebagian data yang rusak termakan virus dan harus diperbaiki total. Hingga saat ini kami telah sampai di proses perampungan story line dan selanjutnya akan masuk ke proses editing akhir , yah... mudah-mudahan saja DVD ini dapat kita nikmati hasilnya di akhir tahun 2008 ini. Selain itu kami juga sedang menyibukan diri dengan mengumpulkan beberapa materi baru untuk album ke-4 yang rencananya akan kami rekam di awal tahun 2009 nanti, dan satu buah video live dari materi baru kami "Divine Shine" sudah dapat kalian simak di halaman media situs ini. So... Formasi baru, spirit baru, ide-ide baru dan harapan baru menjadi modal utama dan tantangan tersendiri bagi kami dalam menggarap serta menganalisa semua materi didalamnya, walaupun sama sekali belum bisa dibayangkan akan seperti apa jadinya. But... We promise you to have the most brutal and heaviest album we ever wrote, so keep pray and wish all goin' well. Keep smokin' this beautiful land with our dreams and passion, Thanks bro...

29 November 2007
"Beyond Coma And Despair" Masuk Dalam 150 Album Terbaik Indonesia Sepanjang Masa Versi Majalah Rolling Stone Indonesia !

Rasa syukur yang berlimpah kami panjatkan kepada Allah SWT, yang telah memberi rizki dan pengalaman-pengalaman terbaik dalam perjalanan karir bermusik kami. Tepatnya di halaman belakang markas Rolling Stone di daerah Kemang Jakarta, menjadi tempat yang sangat bersejarah bagi kami setelah majalah musik no.1 di Indonesia ini menobatkan album "Beyond Coma And Despair" menjadi salah satu dari 150 Album Indonesia Terbaik Sepanjang Masa dimulai era tahun 1950 hingga 2007. Sebuah pencapaian terbesar sepanjang 12 tahun perjuangan kami, kerja keras kami dalam mengolah visi dan misi untuk dituangkan pada sebuah karya yang bisa dinikmati semua kalangan musik Indonesia.

Di pesta kecil peluncuran majalah edisi tutup tahun ini, kami juga diberi kesempatan untuk tampil secara akustik bersama pengisi acara lain diantaranya Sore, White Shoes, Netral, Cokelat, Plastik (reuni), Flowers (reuni) dan Pas Band yang tampil spesial dengan menghadirkan drummer Richard Mutter (ex-Pas Band) sebagai penutup acara. Kamis malam yang juga diwarnai suguhan alkohol dan bir dingin terasa sangat bersahabat, dimana sangat ramahnya musisi2 senior indonesia yang hadir dan ikut bersantai menikmati hidangan dan suguhan acara dari tuan rumah. Ya akhirnya kami berhasil menunjukan taring kami di depan para musisi-musisi Indonesia sebagai pembuktian eksistensi komunitas musik cadas di industri musik Tanah Air. Dan sambutan dari para tamu pun sangat melegakan, mereka dapat menghargai dan menikmati musik kami walaupun hanya dalam format akustik he he he. Maybe someday we will show you the real deal, so prepare for the next one bro!

Terimakasih yang sebesar-besarnya kami ucapkan kepada Tim Rolling Stone Indonesia yang telah bekerja keras memberikan informasi dari riset terbaik, dan ikut menjaga kualitas musik karya anak bangsa dengan budaya berkompetisi secara sehat melalui media tulis. Mudah-mudahan di kedepannya akan semakin banyak lagi media lain yang juga peduli dengan bhinekanya karya musik Indonesia yang patut kita banggakan. Thanks and keep smokin'to Rolling Stone Magz! Fuck yeaahhhh...

KOIL berdiri pada tahun 1993, dengan formasi : Otong (vokal), Doni (gitar), Imo (Bass), Leon (Drum). Sejak awal berdiri Koil memutuskan untuk membuat dan memainkan lagu-lagu ciptaan sendiri. Keputusan ini merupakan hal yang kurang lazim saat itu , karena kebanyakan band saat itu lebih sering membawakan lagu orang lain.


Sejarah dan perjalanan band
Dengan usaha keras akhirnya Koil berhasil menciptakan beberapa buah lagu dan pada tahun 1994 dengan dana yang minim Koil bisa masuk studio rekaman dan merekam sekitar 8 buah lagu. Kemudian lagu-lagu itu dirilis dalam single yang berjudul "Demon From Nowhere". Kaset ini hanya diedarkan terbatas, selain karena keterbatasan dana juga karena saat itu Koil kesulitan untuk mendapatkan tempat untuk menjual kaset tersebut. Satu-satunya tempat yang mau memasarkannya adalah Reverse Outfits, sebuah toko kepunyaan Richard Mutter ( ex drummer Pas band)

Pada tahun 1996, seorang produser bernama Budi Soesatio dari label Project Q (label yang mengeluarkan album Slank 1-3) tertarik untuk merilis album Koil dan mengkontrak Koil sebanyak 2 album. Maka pada bulan September 1996 KOIL merilis full albumnya yang pertama yang berjudul “KOIL”, lagu-lagu di album ini sebagian diambil dari single Demo From Nowhere.

Album ini mendapat tanggapan positif dari khalayak musik Indonesia terutama pencinta musik rock, karena musik dan lirik nya dianggap tonggak baru dalam kancah musik rock Indonesia. Musik yang diusung Koil adalah musik rock yang dipenuhi dengan sampling sampling suara . Sampling itu tidak hanya berasal dari instrumen musik tapi juga dari suara-suara yang ada disekitar kita seperti suara air, suara besi dipukul, suara panci dipukul suara-suara binatang, suara orang pidato, dll, yang digarap dengan penggunaan teknik sampling yang apik . Dari segi lirik, penulisan lirik-lirik yang mengekspresian kekosongan hati, kegelapan dan kehampaan cinta yang dituangkan dalam bait-bait lirik berbahasa Indonesia,menjadi suatu nilai plus bagi koil karena lirik bahasa Indonesia masih jarang dipakai untuk jenis musik rock seperti Koil.

Kerjasama Project Q dan Koil sebenarnya masih menyisakan 1 buah album lagi tapi karena dihadang krisis moneter menyebabkan Project Q tidak dapat memproduksi album ke-2 Koil. Akhirnya pada tahun 1998 Koil memutuskan untuk keluar dari Project Q.

Setelah keluar dari Project Q, Koil merilis single Kesepian ini Abadi di bawah label Apocalypse Record. Sebuah label yang dibuat oleh Otong (Koil) dan Adam (Kubik). Kaset single ini pun diedarkan secara indie melalui jaringan distro-distro underground yang saat itu sudah mulai banyak bermunculan di kota-kota besar,

Dirilisnya album ini membuat nama Koil kembali naik ke permukaan ditandai dengan banyaknya tawaran manggung yang datang. Seiring dengan itu, Koil mencoba konsep baru dalam pertunjukannya yaitu dengan memasukan unsur-unsur lain dalam pertunjukannya yaitu fashion dan tarian . Unsur fashion yang mendapat perhatian besar dari Koil adalah penggunaan kostum khusus dalam setiap penampilannya.. Kostum dari kulit, berwarna hitam , penuh asesoris logam , sepatu boots tinggi , membuat penampilan Koil berbeda dengan band-band lainnya. .Ditambah lagi dengan aksi para penari wanita yang berpakaian seksi membuat pertunjukan semakin menarik. Hal ini akhirnya menjadi trademark bagi Koil, sebagai band rock pertama di Indonesia yang memadukan fashion, tari dan musik pada saat manggung.

Setelah merilis single ini, Koil kembali masuk studio rekaman untuk menyelesaikan materi lagu untuk album berikutnya, diselingi juga dengan membantu para musisi lain diantaranya meremix lagu dari Puppen, Burger Kill, Jasad. Lagu-lagu Koil juga masuk di beberapa kompilasi seperti : Best Alternative Indonesia ( prod Aquarius Musikindo), Ticket To Ride ( Spills Record), Kompilasi Viking-Persib.

Pada bulan Februari 2001, setelah melewati perjuangan keras yang penuh tantangan seperti kesulitan dana rekaman, minimnya peralatan musik, teknologi rekaman yang baru , dalam pembuatan album akhirnya Koil merilis full albumnya yang ke-2 yang berjudul Megaloblast dibawah label Apocalypse Record. Album ini berisikan 10 buah lagu dan berbungkus artwork kover yang sangat apik, berwarna dominan putih bergambar muka seorang wanita.

Pada saat pertama dirilis pendistribusian kaset ini dilakukan hanya lewat jaringan distro-distro underground di Jakarta dan Bandung ,pemesanan melalui pos, dan beberapa toko kaset . Cara ini terpaksa ditempuh oleh Koil yaitu untuk menekan biaya pendistribusian Tapi walaupun dengan cara seperti ini album Megalobalst dapat terjual sekitar 15 ribu kopi (sebuah angka yang cukup besar untuk ukuran indie label dan cara pendistribusian seperti ini ).

Angka penjualan ini didukung oleh promo yang gencar yaitu dengan membuat ribuan poster dan baligo yang di pasang di jalan-jalan utama, untuk melakukan promosi seperti ini Koil dibantu banyak pihak seperti distro-distro, radio, majalah, dan yang mengundang kontroversi adalah bantuan dari Restoran McDonalds Cihampelas Bandung (restoran McDonalds dimusuhi komunitas underground di bandung saat itu). Store Manager restoran McDonalds saat itu adalah Wisnu Aji Nugroho aka Wayank ( pendiri band/clothing citysounds ) kabarnya adalah sahabat koil

Setelah itu untuk menambah tingkat penjualannya, Koil membuat video klip untuk lagu Mendekati Surga dan klip itu dikirim ke MTV , tidak disangka-sangka ternyata klip itu mendapat tanggapan positif dari pihak MTV . (saat itu MTV belum menayangkan klip-klip band indie). Setelah beberapa kali ditayangkangkan, klip ini mendapat respon yang sangat tinggi di MTV, (bahkan menurut pihak MTV melebihi request terhadap lagu Linkin Park) , Hal itu membuat pihak MTV mengundang KOIL untuk tampil dalam acara MTV Musik Award 2003.

Melihat potensi ini, pada bulan Oktober 2003 sebuah label yaitu ALFA RECORD menawarkan kerjasama untuk merilis kembali album Megaloblast dengan pendistribusian yang lebih luas yaitu seluruh Indonesia. Akhirnya pada bulan Desember 2003 album Megaloblast dirilis kembali dengan penambahan 2 buah lagu remix dan perubahan artwork kover album, menjadi berwarna hitam, oleh karena itu album ini sering disebut MEGALOBLACK. Untuk menambah tingkat penjualan, Koil membuat 2 buah video klip lagi yaitu untuk lagu Kita Dapat Diselamatkan dan lagu Dosa Ini Tak Akan Berhenti. Kedua video klip ini di buat oleh rumah produksi “Cerah Hati”.

Peredaran kaset Koil secara nasional membuat orang makin mudah mendapatkan kaset Koil maka dengan sendirinya penjualan kaset Koil terus meningkat. Keadaan ini membuat Koil semakin dikenal di dunia musik Indonesia, sebagai salah satu band indie yang dapat disejajarkan dengan band-band major label. Prestasi Koil ini mendapat perhatian dari majalah Times Asia, sehingga dalam salah satu tulisannya menyebut Koil sebagai salah satu band rock masa depan Indonesia,

Pada tahun 2003-2004 Koil banyak diundang untuk tampil di acara-acara seperti Nescafe Musik Asik, Ulang tahun ke -20 tahun Slank di Stadion Lebak Bulus, Pekan Raya Jakarta dan Pensi-Pensi SMU di Jakarta dan Bandung.

Di pertengahan tahun 2005 sekitar bulan Juni, Koil merilis 2 buah single terbarunya yang berjudul Hiburan Ringan Part 1 dan Hiburan Ringan Part II. Single ini masuk dalam soundtrack film horror berjudul ’12:00 AM’. Masih di bulan yang sama , Koil membuat klip dari lagu Hiburan Ringan Part II. Untuk mempromosikan single terbaru ini Koil tampil di acara PESTA INDOSIAR, Kuta Karnival (Bali) untuk acara Oakley dan The Beat Rock Fest. Kemudian di Jogja pada acara Star On Campus.

Saat ini Koil baru saja menyelesaikan album terakhirnya dan sedang melakukan "KOIL BLACKLIGHTSHINESON TOUR 2008"2008.
Anggota
J.A. Verdijantoro (Otong) - vokal utama (1993-sekarang)
Donnijantoro - gitar, vokal latar (1993-sekarang)
Ibrahim Nasution (Imo) - gitar, vokal latar (1993-sekarang)
Leon Ray Legoh - drum (1993-sekarang)
Adam Joswara - gitar bas, vokal latar (2007-sekarang)
Diperoleh dari "http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koil_(band)"
Diskografi
1994: Demon From Nowhere
1996: Koil
2001: Megaloblast
2007: Blacklight Shines On

Album Burgerkill bertajuk Beyond Coma and Despair sudah rilis di Australia via label Xenophobic Dist. Video klip Shadow of Sorrow dan Angkuh juga mulai diputar di teve-teve nasional di sana. Lagu Agony Remain Insane dan We Will Bleed malah masuk Chart Top5 di radio lokal Australia. Tahun depan Burgerkill akan tour di Aussie!...

Ex-Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler, who entered a "no contest" plea to a charge of heroin possession at the Los Angeles Superior Court last Friday (November 14), has said he'd love to rejoin his old band.

The tub thumper, who was sacked from Guns N' Roses in 1990 over drug problems, issued the following statement via his lawyer, Barry Gerald:

"When he gets sober [Guns N' Roses will] accept him into the band and then they'll do a comeback album and a world tour - that's the dream of Steven Adler."

Adler will reappear in court on December 12 for sentencing.

In related news, former GN'R / current Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash and his wife have released a video backing gay marriage.

The clip, which can be viewed below, features the guitarist playing the American national anthem while his wife, Perla Hudson, urges viewers to "Say no to hate and yes to equal rights."

"I married my sweetheart, you should be able to marry yours too," she adds.

Sometimes after interviewing and hanging out with a band for a big feature, you come back, look over your notes, listen back to your tapes, and you're like, Shit, I got nothin'. What the hell am I gonna put in this story? Then there are times, when you have such a wealth of material that you're like, What the hell am I gonna leave out? Such was the case when I returned from spending two days with Metallica down in Nashville, Tennessee, for our cover story on them in the new issue of Revolver, on newsstands everywhere now. From hours of interviews to endless anecdotes (like the time, during our photo shoot, that Lars' youngest son popped in and asked his dad why he was wearing makeup. Lars explained that everyone wears a little powder and touch-up for shoots, to which little Ulrich responded: "That's sad." Everyone in the room laughed, and Lars sighed, "Thanks. Way to make me feel less like a sad, old man."), whittling all the material down to a tight, streamlined story was tough. But thanks to the Interweb, all the extra shit need not go to waste. So I'll be posting the best of the rest of my chats with the Metallica dudes right here, a different dude each week?so make sure and check back. First up was the newest member of the band, bassist Rob Trujillo; next, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and then drummer Lars Ulrich. Finally, up now, frontman James Hetfield.

REVOLVER When's the last time you played a venue this size? [At the time of this interview, Metallica had just finished playing an approximately 150-person-capacity Nashville, Tennessee, club called the Basement...which you should know already, if you've read the Revolver cover story.]

JAMES HETFIELD Let's see. That size. Let's see. Metal Joe's Basement?that was actually a basement. I guess the Fillmore is not that small for sure. What's the last time we played...I mean, that just totally reminded me of Kill 'Em All, completely. You know, you can only play a little more than 45 minutes, supporting Raven on the "Kill 'Em All For One" tour, in '83, going across the States in a Winnebago. I think we played probably 45 minutes, something like that, before them. Sweaty, hot, just fun. Couldn't hear what the hell I'm singing. Couldn't hear anything except volume.

I was talking to that guy [Ron from New York...again, read the cover story] that you called out during the show, who followed you guys through Europe. He told me that this was his 102nd Metallica show.

It's bordering psycho. [Laughs] It's kind of scaring me. You know, it's like, Dude, don't you have a girlfriend or something? You know, settle down somewhere. I was joking with him, saying "Where is everyone from?" and I was like, "You don't know where you're from; you're all over the place." But it is so unbelievably cool to walk out onto the stage?besides just walking on the stage, how cool that is?and you see this guy down in the front, and he's been to, like you said, the last hundred-and-something odd shows and has not missed a show. And you look down and there he is, Ron in his wife-beater, right in the front. He's got this lockdown technique where no one gets around him or by him. He just locks down, and there he is up against the barricade. He's rocking the whole time. He's a pretty big guy, so he can get up there, but he beats us to the shows. I was like, How do you get there? We leave before you and you're there before us. That's crazy. That's dedication.

One of the things that really struck me about this show was the almost family-like vibe. Almost as soon as you guys came in and started interacting with the crew and with the fans and with each other, and then interacting onstage as a band, it really felt like a get-together of this big?or not so big, in this case?extended Metallica family. Is that sort of how you feel about it?

Oh, yeah. We're all there for the same reason. We're looking for happiness and a release and some kind of an acceptance in a group, you know. We're all having a blast, and the music brings it, you know. And the energy that just goes back and forth, you know, you can't describe it. I don't know where you could create that anywhere else. Some other artists, say, that paint or create sculptures or do something, their ultimate thing is that they finally finished their sculpture and they go put it into a room, you know, and people come by and look at it. I guess that's the ultimate for them, but for us, you know, we create a song that is in us, and it moves with us. And we play it, and people take it with them. And it creates certain feelings. It's something that they get to do, too. You know, they get to sing it and, you know, this is...I can't think of anything better to do in life.

I know that the mission statement behind this new album was to kind of try to tap into the early hunger of albums like Master of Puppets. But obviously, that's kind of impossible to do, so what is the hunger now? What, if anything, does Metallica feel like they need to prove now?

What do we need to prove? We need to prove that it lives in us. It's not so much our career; it is our life. Besides being a dad and being a loving family, I don't know what else I would do. If I wasn't doing this, I would be trying to do it, simple as that. What are we hungry for? There's always something: the hunger to write the better album, the hunger to write the better song, create the ultimate lyric, get the ultimate guitar sound. I mean, I'm never satisfied. I go back and listen to some of these records and go, Man, no, no. Yeah, the songs are good, but the sounds.... Always, always striving for the better something. Some of it's the perfectionist in us. Then I guess also the other thing is survival. A band like us being together, you know, 26, 27 years. It doesn't happen every day. There's not a whole lot of bands that can claim that. We're pretty fortunate we've stayed kind of a household name for that amount of time, and to still be loving it and doing it and being pretty much the same guys in the band, and we're sitting here on a bus doing it again. [Both laugh] It is a nicer bus than in 1983. We have doors that I push a button, they go woop, they close; you've got direcTV; you've got high def; you've got microwaves. You know, there's a shower in the bus! [Laughs] Not saying that there aren't bands out there that pay dues, but this is pretty nice.

Are you guys kind of surprised that this many years later you are still the biggest metal band in the world?

Oh, yes and no. I mean, we don't take it for granted. It is a huge gift and the dedication that we put into it is what we get out. It's as simple as that. If you put hard work or hard dedication or, you know, focus your powers and your ideas to something, you'll get results. If you start taking it for granted, you know, and get absorbed, self-absorbed in the material objects that come to you because of that, then you might not stick around. You know, we've gone through those points, each one of us at different times?you know, the Porsche and the this and that. Everyone kind of just slaps each other around and says, "Hey, wake up!" The real thing is the gift of creation and connection with someone that understands your music or needs it for an energy. But, yes and no. We're somewhat surprised but not, because this is what we wanted to do; Lars and I especially, you know. Lars, in high school, he had drawn that "Metal up your ass." Thunderfuck, I think, was the name of the band. Metallica, I think, is a little better name. [Laughs] I don't think Thunderfuck would...I wouldn't be sitting here having an interview with you after 27 years. But it's a vision, and it's still in our vision.

What did you think of Rick Rubin's mission statement, his mantra of "Go back to what you were thinking with Master of Puppets," when you guys first started working on this new record?

It's tough, you know. It's really tough. We know so much. We know how to get sounds. We know how to manipulate what we need here. We know how to make a song that's OK into a song that's pretty good?it might not be great but pretty good. Oh, man, how do we erase the knowledge and do something very, very now but with the essence of Puppets? How do you get the essence of Puppets? Difficult, but OK, we both have egos. Metallica has an ego. Rick Rubin has an ego. Yes, he's "Zen master" and all of that, but when Rick Rubin shows up, he's Rick Rubin and he's coming in. He wants to be respected. I think Metallica in the past has been really good at unshining the ego of others, you know. Stripping people down. It's kind of one of our things. We worked with Rick long enough we'd probably be doing this, you know, dragging him down. There's something great about ego obviously, but if it gets in the way of creation then it's not good. But the guy has got an amazing discography, great track record. It's not luck. The guy knows what he's doing. So for us to trust enough, and for us to be able to get as much of our input in there as possible. Every idea was tried. It just took longer.

I have to ask this, as a fan: Did you have much interaction with Rick when you tracked your vocals for the first Danzig record?

Ah, yes. [Thinking] Yeah. Yeah, he was there. That was the first time I actually worked with him. I showed up, I was more in awe of "Hey, that's Danzig!" I don't remember what the direction was. "OK, yell it more. OK, try singing it more. OK, try this." We just did a bunch of different stuff and said, "OK, that's it." "OK, thanks. We'll call you." [Laughs]

To what extent do you guys keep up with what's current in metal? And to the extent that you do, why do you do it? Are you a fan of newer stuff? Is it kind of part of your job, do you think, to stay tuned into what's going on?

That's pretty interesting. It's very interesting because I think Lars and Kirk are very knowledgeable magazine-wise. Maybe Kirk because, you know, he's just obsessive-compulsive. He's just got to have a magazine all the time, you know: Rolling Stone, or Revolver, or whatever it is, keeping up on all this stuff. And it's weird because it's like, yeah, this is my gig, this is my life. But I don't really read who's going out with who, and who put out what, or, hey, he's jamming with that. I kind of hear it secondhand from the guys. I don't know. There's probably a part of me that just really despises gossip, and when news and gossip fuse, it kind of bugs me. So, I don't really keep up with all of this stuff. Just like, if I was a mechanic, would I be reading car magazines all the time? I don't know. I'm not a mechanic but I like car magazines. There's some guy that works in a shop, I'm sure he's reading the metal mags. But I do know what I like. I hear bands. I browse through stuff, hear a name of this band, OK, check 'em out. There is stuff that I really like. And there's stuff you rediscover, like I'm just going through this phase: The Bay Area was frickin' amazing in '84, '85. That era is like, holy smokes, man. The decade back from Ride the Lightning, it was going on. Obviously before that there was Exodus and all this stuff, but, boy, it was huge, huge then in the Bay Area. We're so proud of being a part of that and kind of getting nostalgic about it. But this band Machine Head, the two of the guys who were in Vio-lence [frontman Robb Flynn and lead guitarist Phil Demmel], we just did some dates with them over in Europe. And man, I couldn't get enough. It was unbelievable.

Yeah, they rule.

They're so heavy, and super-friendly. They get it, and they love it. The last album, The Blackening, unbelievable. Unbelievable sound, power. It sounds like a band on fire. They have really turned it on again for me. And then this band Mnemic, which, you know, I like. We've done some other shows with them. There's a lot of real intense stuff out there that I like. Sometimes vocals really do turn me off, you know.

Yeah, me, too.

It'll go from [growls] to [in high-pitched voice] la, la, la. And then all of a sudden, whoa, what happened? The pop chorus came in. It's like, wait a minute, you guys are still a little too attached to nu-metal. It's like, ugh, it's so predictable. It gets old very quick. But dude, there are some insane players out there. These, what I call "bedroom guitar players," you know, obviously DragonForce, stuff like that but not just them. There are so many, and not just guitar players, drummers are blowing me away with their feet, with their hands, they are the Yngwie of drummers. Almost to the point that it's too good. It's too unbelievably precise. It's like, oh no, it's prog rock again. But it's unbelievable to hear some of these guys play together.

Well, you guys' new record seems to be more technical than ever. Is that something where you feel that you were being pushed by this newer generation into proving you could top that, or is it more organic?

I think there's no lack of that in our catalog. ...And Justice for All was kind of our show-off record, I'd say. But just trying to get 16 riff CDs into 11 songs. So we gotta take eight riffs and just shove them into that. That's not new for us either, trying to shove as many riffs into one song as possible. And that was probably something that I'm guilty of winding Kirk up with. You know, "Wow, did you hear this guitar player? Check it out!" Or seeing these dudes on the instructional videos. "OK, play it faster," wirrreeww. "OK, faster,"wirr. "OK, faster," rirrr. Like, holy shit. I think it really made Kirk step up. He's playing really amazing, again. I think it's great to hear Kirk doing solos, again. But yeah, there's the Thin Lizzy dual guitar going on. I've always loved doing it. I mean, as soon as [Metallica's original bassist, the late] Cliff [Burton] showed me what a harmony meant, that was it.

REVOLVER You guys all seem to be getting along really well these days.

LARS ULRICH Yeah, you know, the main question I get fed every day is this thing about, Is the band still in some kind of turmoil? And it's like, That was fucking six years ago. That's a fucking career and a half for most people. That's a lifetime. Six years ago?it's a long time and things aren't like that anymore. ["Performance-enhancing coach"] Phil [Towle] always said that the work we were doing on the St Anger project, the real benefit to that was not gonna be on the St Anger record, it was gonna be on the next record. And he was right about that. It's been a real chill experience for the last couple of years, you know. There's been no psychiatrist, there's been no film crew, there's been no producer hanging around; it's just been us. Kirk hasn't even been there long because he's been living out mostly in Hawaii, and Rob's been there. But it's been pretty chill and it's been real nice. Just low key, everybody's kind of getting along and having fun. But like, the St Anger stuff and the movie, and the whole thing, you know, that's lifetimes ago. You know what I mean? I can understand people sitting and going, "Last thing we heard from Metallica was you yelling 'Fuck!' in James' face," but, you know, six years ago?in Metallica years, it's many lifetimes ago.

How has Rob's presence affected you guys' creative process?

He's great. In moving the process forward, he's so effortless and so easy to, kind of, have around. He's just a good vibe. So, when we've been working, he kind of moves with us really quick. He throws his two cents in once in a while. He's very quick. When me and James are working on an idea, we're kind of like, OK, try it this way and try it that way and try that. It just moves really quick and he can kind of move with that and also be a little bit of a balancing point between different ideas and different kinds of energies. It's like a Zen thing. I dunno if Zen and heavy metal go together, but there's something there, I'm telling ya. [Laughs] It's like a vibe that just works. It's hard to explain. And also, I don't want to be disrespectful to Jason Newsted. Because Jason Newsted really put a lot of effort into this. Fifteen years. He dedicated his whole life. It's difficult to talk about how great Rob is without dissing Jason Newsted, and that's not fair either.

Have you had any contact with Jason?

Yeah, I saw him at a System of a Down show two years ago. Great to see him. Hung out. Bullshitted. He keeps a pretty low profile. I don't see him a lot. It's not 1983. It's not like, I'll see you over at the show. It's not like that. But, you know, I saw him at System. It was cool to see him.

How are you feeling about the new record?

I don't think the world needs another fucking band member telling the fucking rest of the world how awesome their new record is, how it's the best thing they've ever done. How it's the heaviest thing they've ever done. And how everybody's just gonna fucking flip when they hear that album. I don't need to read another fucking quote from me about that. I feel great about it. Ask me six months from now. I'm too close to it, man. Yeah, I know that there's some people out there that are like, What's taking so long? and this and that. You know, it takes its time. There are no issues. It's been a really stress-free experience. An analogy is, say that, whatever number you put on it, it's an arbitrary number, let's say it takes a thousand hours to make a Metallica record. It still takes the same thousand hours. When we've worked, it's moved along fast. But the thousand hours has been spread out over two or three years instead of over a year because we don't work 18-hour days. We don't work six days a week. We don't want to tour every three months and we don't want to play European festivals every summer. We go to Japan and we go to South Africa and we take care of our kids. So, the people I've played it for like it: I played it for Bob Rock. He liked it. I played it for my dad; he liked it. I played it for, you know, [Alice in Chains'] Jerry Cantrell and Mike [Inez], and John [Dolmayan] from System, and a few of the hood rats, and they all like it. They all say the same thing. They all say it sounds like Metallica. That's the biggest compliment you can get, you know. [Laughs] When I sit and listen to it through other people's ears when I play it for other people, it sounds really, really lively to me, like guys are sweating, playing together for a live gig. It's not put together on a computer. It's the first record that we've made since Kill 'Em All that wasn't made to a click track. I hear that. It's a little loosey-goosey in a lot of places, and I hear that and I like that.

We did a story with King Diamond a few years ago where he was expressing his frustration with the fact that no matter what new record he makes, it's always going to be compared to Abigail, and Abigail isn't even a record anymore, it's, like, a landmark in metal history. You know, even if he made a record better than Abigail, it wouldn't be better than Abigail. Do you guys feel similarly conflicted about Master of Puppets and the, sort of, fetishization of that album?

That's a great question. It's a great point. I mean, yeah, as somebody who's got their feet obviously where you have them, yeah, of course. It's hard, but it's been part of the Metallica experience. You can sort of trace it back to Ride the Lightning. You can sort of, trace it back to the famous intro of "Fade to Black" when all the hardcore Slayer fans were jumping off bridges and slitting their wrists or whatever. It was an acoustic guitar at the intro to "Fade to Black." It seems like since then, part of the Metallica experience is 10 percent of dissent. It's part of the ride. At different times the numbers maybe go up and down. At different times, it affects you more or whatever, but it's always been there. There's always been somebody who's got a problem with something we do, and that's just part of it. You know, these new records, or what we're wearing, or what we're saying. What the fuck? It's part of Metallica. At different times and different period of my life you go through periods where it can hurt you, then you're fucking fucked. Not giving a fuck, going all the way and not giving a fuck, man. But the computer's brought in a whole new thing. Back in the day, it's like somebody talks some shit, you know who it is, you know where to find them. Now, it's like people sit there and kind of hide behind their anonymity and their computer. It's a different thing. It's OK. Listen, I get it more than most people. I'm a pretty perceptive guy. I hear what people say and I know where you live [Both laugh]. But, listen, I've said this before and you know, if?we've made what, nine records??if Reload is considered the worst, I'll put Reload up against anyone else's worst record. Seriously, that's the kind of kindergarten, sandbox shit in me. A lot of our fans really like it. I think there's some great songs on it. We've been playing "Devil's Dance" in the last few weeks; we've been playing "Memory Remains." Fucking "Fuel." OK, maybe not our best one, I mean, it's not bad. I mean, shit, we could have edited a few of the songs off. But rather that and a track record of running around and searching for all these different things and trying all these different things than putting out the same fucking record in a different sleeve every two years. You know what I mean? I'm proud of what we've done. Sure, a few blunders along the way. Bad white leather jackets or something. But I think, all in all?shit, dude, 25 years, 26 years, 27 years, that's not a bad track record. So, the fetishization of Master of Puppets...you know, I get it. Shit, at least we have a Master of Puppets. At least we have a Black Album. It's pretty cool. It's nothing bad. Shit, you know, a quarter of a century.

Yeah, it is pretty amazing. One of the things that I've been asking all the guys is, Are you kind of shocked that you're still the biggest metal band in the world? That no one's knocked you guys off the top?

[Laughs] What a strange question. Shocked? I don't know. There's not very much that shocks me. We're just doing what we do. I don't know. I have so much love and respect for so many other artists out there. There are so many bands that fucking get my dick hard every day while I watch them play or listen to them or whatever. Knocked us off? We're fortunate. We've got Machine Head, who are, like, the coolest of the cool and whose records I love. And you sit there and you tour with them for two weeks in Europe like we just did. I get off the bus and have a drink of Gatorade and the four members of Machine Head are, like, staring at me. [Drops jaw in expression of awe.] It makes you step up and bring it up a notch. You know what I mean? I listen?Iron Maiden put out a song a couple of months ago. It was awesome. I dunno. You're the journalist. You answer the fucking question. [Both laugh]. I think that we're just fortunate that a bunch of our shit somehow resonates with a lot of people and a bunch of our shit has found a way to end up being kind of timeless. We're lucky with that. You know, you go out and tour all the time. You play different songs. You play different set lists. You do all the things that?you do as much as we do, you want to keep the experience as new and exciting to keep doing what you're doing to the best of your ability. But, dethroning?I dunno. I can't answer that. [Laughs]

Well, let me put it this way, what I was sort of getting at is that in some ways, you would want, for the scene or for the genre or whatever, to inspire bands of that sort of caliber and, you know...

Well, that's a different thing. I think between Mastodon, Bullet, Machine Head, Trivium, the Sword, there are a lot of great bands. It's about...I have a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old; when I was 9 years old, the first thing I did in the morning was put a record on. I sat there and read the fucking sleeve notes. I studied the lyrics. Now with Game Boys and fucking this and that, I don't know if kids are as into music as we were when we were growing up. I don't know. It doesn't feel like it. You've got all these great bands but nobody breaks out. You've got MTV, you've got radio, everything's different. The landscape is different. It's a different generation. People don't sell 20 million. Back in the day, like, fuck, Megadeth went double platinum for three or four records in a row. Dave Mustaine was, like, on MTV. Slayer. It was something that was going on. Now it's a different thing, different numbers, different perceptions. Certainly in Europe, you go up to Finland or Sweden or some of those places, you know, things are nutty. People are showing up. But it's difficult to answer your question because it becomes about theories, it becomes about analogies, it becomes about the numbers and, fuck, I don't know. When I listen to the Sword record in my car every day, it gets my dick hard. I don't sit there so much and think about whether they're dethroning or have potential to dethrone Metallica or anybody else. I don't put myself on that pedestal. I just sit there and go, What a great fucking record. I'm really happy that I have that in my car.

You just mentioned, like, the change in the market and videogames and the Internet and all that. It seems like you guys are trying to tap into that a little bit with Guitar Hero and with that Mission Metallica sort of thing. Is it a whole new game?

I think increasingly so. I mean, the Guitar Hero stuff, it's fucking heaven-sent. I mean, it's priceless. I mean, to sit there and to play these games with my twins. It's awesome. My kids love Deep Purple. They love Black Sabbath. My 6-year-old, his favorite song over the last couple of weeks is "Mississippi Queen." It's awesome that they have access to get inspired like that. It's great that over the last few years that something great and positive has come out of videogames. I mean, my kids are way more into music just on the back of the Guitar Hero stuff than they were a year ago. You know what I mean? It's awesome. It's also a great thing to share. I mean, Internet, duh, of course. That's a no-brainer. We completely champion the Internet. I mean, five or six years ago, one of the biggest perceptions about that [Napster situation] was, Metallica hates the Internet. That's the biggest load of bullshit. We use the Internet to communicate with our fans. I don't pat myself on the back often, but I will pat ourselves on the back and say I do believe our website, you know, is one of the best of any band's out there in terms of communication with our fans. That's the link to the fans. We do everything we can. We have great people running these websites and communicating with the fans. Internet, of course. Mission Metallica, Guitar Hero and things, all this stuff. Of course.

So, 27 years later, how does this shit stay exciting for you?

You know, it goes through cycles. There are times where I look back on things where?I mean, the best thing that came out of that whole meltdown in '01/'02 was the fact that somehow we all walked away at different times but we came to the conclusions ourselves, we came to the facts ourselves, which is that we walked away with our eyes much more open to the moment and much more open to what was going on. Shit was just so fucking out of control in the '90s. I mean, we put four records out in four years. Think about that. Four years in a row we put a record out '96, '97, '98, '99, and everything that comes in the wake of it. We just never paused long enough to fucking appreciate it. It's really that simple. Now, you sit there and go, This is all so fucking cool. It's a rare thing. Three, four months ago I was down in L.A. and James had just started singing, and I was down with my lady and he was working down there and he sent me a text and he was like, "I heard you're in L.A." I'm just kind of chilling with [girlfriend, actress] Connie [Nielsen]. And he's like, "Come up." So I went up and just sat around and we had lunch together and I sat around while he was singing. It was like, This is really cool. And then the next day he was like, "You gonna come up again today?" and I was like, "Yeah." People start seeing us and going "You guys hang out together? That's great, because people don't do that." It's awesome. We fucking appreciate it. It's just fun. And the thing is, you know, I've, like, no aspirations outside of Metallica. If somebody said to me, "I hereby sentence you to not be in Metallica," or said, you know, "You can't make music with James Hetfield anymore," I think I'd just walk away. I think I'd throw myself into making movies or painting or something else. But it's also, I think that in some way, there was a point probably about halfway through that experience where I sort of resigned myself to the fact that there was a really good chance that it was not gonna work itself out. I prepared myself for the fact that it's been a great ride, but I'm not sure I can continue if it becomes conditional. I don't work real well with rules. Rock and roll is supposed to get away from that shit. Rules and conditions, I was like, "Oh, I dunno, boys." I kind of had to resign myself to look back and maybe it's not gonna go on anymore, and maybe because of that, that's why these days seem so awesome.

REVOLVER So, the big thing with you on the new album is that the solos are fucking back, man.

KIRK HAMMETT Yep, I'm playing my ass off and it feels good. You know, in retrospect, when I think about it, the last time I did solos for an album was on Garage Inc., which was 1998, 1999. As I was, like, recording the solos and listening to them back, I was like, Whoa, my playing style has totally changed. I went into a couple of different directions since the last time I was playing solos. So, when people hear it, it's gonna be a different sort of approach for me. It sounds similar to what I used to do. I'm really psyched about that and just curious as to what people are gonna say about how my style changed. It'll probably run the gamut from "Ah, it's really fucking great," to "Ah, he fucking sucks." So, I'm ready for it all. That's just the way it is. Especially with the Internet now. I mean, everyone's a critic nowadays whether they're qualified or not.

Do you read that shit online?

I don't read that shit because I was reading something about eight years ago; this guy was just tearing up the band, and somehow, some way I found out that this guy who is tearing up the band and he's saying all this crap, he's 12 years old! [Both laugh] So I don't read it. I don't read the Internet shit because, like I said, everyone's a critic whether they're qualified or not. You just have to follow your instincts and make sure you're doing the best you can possibly do.

Did you feel sort of vindicated that fans and critics all pretty much called bullshit on the lack of solos on St. Anger?

It was definitely a big surprise to me. I had no idea that people would miss guitar solos that much. There's no way I could have known that. It was a major uproar. I mean, I can understand from the audience point of view, but even the critics! Even the critics, who spent a large amount of time fucking saying, "Yeah, you know, those guitar solos are such a wank thing." All of a sudden, they're saying, "Where are the guitar solos?" So, it is frustrating. But, at this point in time, I don't give a fuck. You really can't, especially these days.

There's that little scene in Some Kind of Monster, and your comment turned out to be really prescient, because now it seems like we're in, like, a new hey-day of solos.

I don't know if that videogame has anything to do with it or not, but if it does, thank God. God bless it. Because we need more fucking musicians.

So, this new breed of shredders and soloists, did they, like, sort of light a fire under your ass, in terms of your playing for this record?

Just the fact that people are soloing again and doing it really well has totally lit a fire underneath my ass to the point where I went back to all the bands and all the guitar players that influenced me greatly and just started listening to the things that really moved me when I was younger and discovered that that stuff still moves me now. I got a lot of inspiration from just listening to that stuff. It was just a cool thing because I thought that listening to all that stuff was part of my past and it wasn't capable of influencing me anymore. But I couldn't have been more wrong. When it came time to record solos, I was just very, very inspired by the past, my own past, and what's going on now in the present: The fact that kids are playing great guitar solos and people are listening?and listening enthusiastically.

When I talked to James, he said he was kind of egging you on in terms of your playing.

Oh, yeah, totally. He was like, "Come on, man, play some stuff that you'd hear on an old Thin Lizzy album" or something. Or, "Play some [UFO/Scorpions guitarist Michael] Schenker stuff." And I'm like, Yeah, fuck yeah. Because he and I, we came from the same batch of influences and the same era of music, so we could totally relate. When he throws out something like Michael Schenker, I know exactly what he's talking about. But it's great when other band members egg you on because it makes you, sort of, rise to the occasion and it makes you step up. It's great. When I'm really, really in the moment in the studio, it's like being onstage. I'm fucking running around and fucking playing my ass off like there's a fucking audience in the control room. Usually, there's just the engineer and maybe Lars or James or Rob or whoever. It's a good thing, man. It's a good thing that we're back to guitar solos again. But it's a good thing that St Anger was made the way that it was because if we had made it any other way we might not have finished it and might not be together as a band today. So, I will go on the record to say that there was a reason why there were no guitar solos on the album, and not because of some trend or something; it was more so that we wanted to come across as a band. No one was outshining anyone else and no egocentric sort of, like, spotlights put on anyone, which is what we had to do back then because of the situation. It was such a tender situation that if we would have let it go in an egocentric direction, there might have been a big flare up and we potentially could have broken up.

I know that kind of the mission statement producer Rick Rubin gave to you guys was to try and tap into the spirit of when you guys were writing albums like Master of Puppets, and to not be afraid of referencing your classic albums. Previous to Rick's suggestion that you work that way, had you guys been conscious of doing it the other way and trying not to repeat yourselves?

Oh, yeah. I mean, that's what the whole '90s were. From "The Black Album," to Load, to Reload, to the S&M thing, we were consciously, subconsciously, I think a little of both, trying to distance ourselves from the music we made in the '80s, and that's what we came up with in the '90s. Also, there came a point where we just didn't feel comfortable playing the way we played in the '80s in the '90s. But now that we're opening our minds up to that '80s way of thinking again, it's...what we created in 2008 sounds completely new and fresh. It sounds somewhat familiar, but it's that kind of familiarity that you can't quite put your finger on. You know? I mean, it's like when you write a great riff. You're like, Fucking hell, have I heard that before? And you just search and search and you've never heard that before. The first time I played the riff for "Of Wolf and Man," I showed it to those guys and I said, "Well, there's a familiarity about it but I can't figure it out." And they said, "Really?" Because it didn't sound like anything that they could think of. So, that's a good thing.

You had your first child during the making of this record, right?

Yeah. I managed to build a house, have my first child, and my second child is due next week. [Since the interview, Hammett's second son, Vincenzo Kainalu, was born on June 28.] So these last three years have been very, very fruitful for me in that I built a house, had two children, and managed to make an album. For a fucking hack who likes to sit around and play guitar, I think I've been pretty productive.

How has becoming a dad changed your perspective on things?

Well, I found another source of inspiration for me, as far as doing guitar solos. I just really, really wanted to do a good job, so later on when my son is older and can understand, I can say, "Listen to that son. I'm playing that way because you were inspiring me very much to do the best that I could." So I could later on say, "Listen to that, son. That's the result of being inspired by you so you can listen to how much effect you had on my life in the studio when you were, like, six months old."

That's really cool.

I get real emotional when I talk about that. But that was one of my main inspirations.

Something I was really impressed by, just at our photo shoot today, was that there were an iPod playing the whole time, and you guys were, like, identifying shit, had strong opinions on shit. It seems like you guys are pretty tapped into what's going on in metal.

'Cause we read Revolver, bro. [Both laugh] You know, we're musicians. We're in it. People give us CDs all of the time. You hear stuff. I have friends that go, "Hey, you gotta hear this, man. It's really great." You know, it hasn't stopped. It never stopped, really. We never really stopped listening to modern stuff. We've seen a lot of bands come and go that we love, and that's a shame. And it's weird when you just think, Wow, remember when we used to tour with them. They're so fucking great. Why can't they get their shit together now? You know, there's some of that. But there's a lot of great bands out there nowadays who we like and are more than happy to give the opportunity to tour with us because that usually helps any band no matter who they are. But yeah, we're pretty tapped in. I mean, we pretty much know what's going on. I mean, you have to. If you don't you're gonna be out of touch and you're just gonna get stuck with one world view, and that world view will be immensely irrelevant.

Considering that you guys are so tapped in, are you guys shocked that you're still the biggest metal band in the world?

I'm pretty shocked, yeah. I think about it a lot. I think, Will there ever be a band like us to follow in our footsteps? But then I think about it and I thought, Was there a band to follow in the footsteps of the Rolling Stones? Was there a band to follow in the footsteps of Led Zeppelin? So, maybe I'm just thinking the impossible. But there still needs to be a new modern band that has the impact, and they haven't showed up yet. Or maybe they're out there and I just haven't heard them yet. Do you know what I'm talking about?

At Revolver, we have this conversation all the time, and it's weird because it seems like there's been bands that seem like they have the potential?you know, Pantera, Lamb of God...

...Slipknot, Korn, yeah. But it just doesn't happen for whatever reason. My brother-in-law came up to me and was like, "Are there any bands who are in their 20s that you guys are intimidated by?" And I thought about it long and hard and I'm like, "No." I wish there was, you know. I wish there was because it would give us a nice challenge and motivate us to maybe step up to their plate, whatever their plate might be. It just hasn't happened yet. And if it has happened, maybe it went by so quickly that we didn't notice. I dunno. I don't have an answer to that question. I mean, changes in the market, situations with the record companies, I think that that has a lot to do with it, but really, it just has everything to do with sitting down and writing good songs.

REVOLVER So I guess you deserve all the credit for the new Metallica record, Death Magnetic?

ROB TRUJILLO Yeah, give me all the credit, man. I'll just take it all. I accept. [Laughs] No. You know, the greatest thing about this body of music is that it was a very collaborative effort. Lars and James, definitely. When those two go at it, whether it's head butting or anything, there's just something magical. It's a great honor for me to be able to experience the building and creating process of Metallica through Lars and James. It's like going to the greatest university of music, the highest standard of rock-and-roll education.

From what I've heard, most of these songs sort of grew out of the jam room. Is that true?

A lot of them did. The seeds came from the jam room. But then sometimes that evolved into a different riff or groove or whatever. It's interesting for me because over the course of the, I don't know, couple of years or whatever we were touring, a lot of where I was coming from was just trying to concentrate on learning the catalogue. You know what I mean? These guys were like, "Why don't you get this new riff?" and I'm just going, "Man, I gotta learn 'Phantom Lord'" or, you know, "Metal Militia" or something.

Yeah, well, these last few years you guys have been pulling, like, every old song out of the vault.

That just kind of became the new theme; it was like, Let's play songs that we never played. Let's mix it up. Let's do it sort of spontaneous. So it was always a challenge, and I was always trying to stay three steps ahead. It was difficult to do that. I feel much more comfortable now because I'm in tune with the catalogue. We've been doing it a while now, so I'm all right. At the same time, though, obscure songs like "Dyers Eve," you know, I was able to motivate the band to play a song like that, which had never been played. A couple of years ago we toured Master of Puppets, kind of a 20th anniversary of the album, and we played the entire album top to bottom live. And that's something?you know, "Orion" had never been played live?so that was a wonderful experience for us.

I was at the Download Fest performance, and I have to admit I had a little glint in my eye during "Orion."

It was a special moment for us. It also coincidentally happened when we were creating a lot of the new music for this album. I feel that the spirit and some of the dynamics and the vibe and the arrangements live in what we're about to release. I'm not saying it sounds like that. I'm saying there's something there that kind of goes hand in hand with what we've created out of that old-school magic.

How long would you say it took before you felt truly comfortable as a member of Metallica?

Well, I know that the guys in the band really wanted me to feel comfortable from the beginning, they did. And that's a hard thing to do. You're talking about a band that's been around for over 25 years, and you can't just walk into a situation like this, especially when an album's being created. You've got opinions and you can share them and they're open to that, which is great. It was an honor for me to be a part of the writing process. Back in the day it was, like, Submit your cassettes to Lars and James; they'll listen to your riffs. See you in six months. But they wanted me there all the time. Kirk was having his first kid, so he wasn't there a lot of the time. He was in Hawaii. So, I was there, and sometimes I was the mediator. So, obviously, I will offer suggestions when I really feel necessary. I'm not gonna just butt into their magical moments or their head-butting contests sometimes. You gotta just let those guys run with it. You gotta be able to kind of cater to and balance that creative spirit that they have. It's intense; it's been there forever. It's the magic of Metallica; the way they arrange songs, their music. It's great. Definitely, they wanted me to feel comfortable to the point where there was the whole money issue [as captured in the documentary Some Kind of Monster, Metallica gave Trujillo a million-dollar signing advance]?I mean, I would have done it for free. Come on, this is Metallica. I mean, when they called me to audition, I was like, "I would love to come in and play 'Battery' with you guys and send me home, I don't care. I get to jam with Metallica."

Has it been weird for you with this "Mission Metallica" thing, on top of Some Kind of Monster? The fact that basically since you've been in Metallica, there's been cameras around all the time?

When I first joined the band?actually, not even when I first joined the band?when I was going for my first audition, I was being driven to the studio and I get a phone call and they say, "Oh, by the way, you don't mind the camera thing, do you?" And I'm just kind of like, "Oh, what do you mean?" "Well, there's gonna be a film crew there documenting all of this. That's cool, right?" [Laughs] "I guess so," you know.

You're not gonna say no.

Yeah, what am I gonna say? And it was weird for me because prior to that, with Ozzy, they were filming his TV show, and I was trying to stay away from those cameras. You didn't see a whole lot of me in that series because I was trying to avoid the cameras. And all of a sudden it's like, well, I was thinking to myself, You're not gonna be able to avoid this. They're making this documentary and there's just too much involved with filming the audition process, the whole thing. So, I had to kind of live with it. It's strange. A lot of what's been captured for "Mission Metallica" is not, like, really a film crew. It's just a couple of cameras set up, like Big Brother's watching you. So it's a little easier than having four guys follow you around in your face the whole time. The beauty of the "Mission Metallica" deal is that there's definitely some special moments captured. The creation of this music, some of that as far as the recording goes, and funny moments, a lot of funny moments, which is good. Believe it or not, there's a lot of humor that kind of goes hand in hand with Metallica, just tons of it. Lars, James, and Kirk are funny guys, man. I've had the good fortune to work around some humor, whether with Ozzy or whatever, but Metallica is hilarious at times.

To what extent have you had to adjust to a new level of celebrity? Are you recognized on the street now a lot more often?

It's very interesting. In San Francisco or in Los Angeles, people are cool. No one's, like, running up to you and acting crazy. When you're in other parts of the world, it's very different. My wife and I tried to grab lunch in Ireland and we had these cats following us around. And it's great, you appreciate that, but at the same time you also want them to respect your privacy. There are times when people, especially when they're drinking, it gets to be a bit much. Overall, it's been pretty good; people have been pretty respectful. I'm starting to understand it a bit more. At first I didn't see it; I didn't see that there was a change. Maybe I didn't want to accept it. I feel that overall I'm pretty grounded. That's one of my things; I always try to keep two feet on the floor. Even when I got the gig, I was like the boy in the bubble. Don't let the outside world kind of affect me and my focus and what I have to do. I can only give 100% and do the best I can. No matter how much money or fame or fortune, to me, there's always gotta be a work ethic with Metallica. These guys, they thrive on a strong work ethic. Whether it's songwriting or putting the show together, or the flow of the show, just stuff like that. And you can't really cut corners because they're not into that. So I always really try to stay focused. I didn't know what was going on in L.A. because I was in San Francisco, but I know there was probably a lot of people really excited because of where I'm from and this is Metallica. When I got back to L.A., whenever I'm in L.A., again, people are cool, man. I'll be walking down the street or walking my kid down by the beach or something and you'll get the "METALLICAAAAA!" and that's the extent of it. It doesn't get too much crazier than that. And the other side of that, too, is the house that I was living in then, yes, there were people that occasionally drove up or would kind of stare in or, you know, knock on the door. People from high school would show up that I hadn't seen since I was 17 years old. Maybe they had a bit of a drug problem or whatever and are borderline on the streets. That thing actually happened to me a couple of times; that was really, really weird. Overall, it hasn't been that bad. At a certain point, you go, Wow, OK, this is Metallica, I'm in Metallica, and you know, people are gonna want pictures or autographs, and you gotta try and do the best you can. That's the bottom line. They're your fans. We always do meet-and-greets for our fans; we never stray from that. It's really important. We do the best we can.

[Brandon Geist]
Executive Editor of Revolver Magazine

Guns N' Roses are now streaming their new album Chinese Democracy in full online.

The album can be heard on the band's MySpace profile HERE.

The album will be released in the UK on November 24 and in the US on Sunday November 23.

See this week's Kerrang! magazine for a cover feature about Guns N' Roses.

The tracklisting for Chinese Democracy is as follows:

1: Chinese Democracy
2: Shacklers Revenge
3: Better
4: Street Of Dreams
5: If The World
6: There Was A Time
7: Catcher In The Rye
8: Scraped
9: Riad N The Bedouins
10: Sorry
11: I.R.S.
12: Madagascar
13: This I Love
14: Prostitute

Setelah sukses menyelenggarakan konser Helloween, Solucite di tahun 2008 ini akan kembali meramaikan pertunjukan musik di Indonesia dengan sajian konser As I Lay Dying "An Ocean Beetween Us Tour" di Tennis Indoor Senayan Jakarta pada tanggal 27 November 2008. Pertunjukan ini didukung pula oleh band fenomenal asal Bandung yaitu Burgerkill sebagai pembuka. Tentunya ini akan menjadi sebuah paket pengalaman cadas yang tidak bisa dilewatkan begitu saja...

Untuk presale tiket seharga Rp.250.000,- sampai dengan 7 November 2008 dan harga normal Rp.275.000,- di sejumlah tiket box di Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, Bandung dan Surabaya. Untuk pembelian tiket secara langsung di kantor Solucite, Jl. KH Ahmad Dahlan No.29 Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan, akan langsung mendapatkan bonus CD rilisan dari Solucite Records dan merchandise lainnya secara gratis.

Bukan itu saja, Solucite juga telah melakukan penawaran menarik, yaitu bagi setiap pembeli tiket konser As I Lay Dying [hanya yang membeli di Solucite Headquarter secara presale atau normal price] dapat membeli tiket konser Lamb of God yang akan diselenggarakan pada tanggal 9 Maret 2009 mendatang dengan harga spesial. Jadi jangan dibuang tiketnya, karena tiket tersebut menjadi bukti untuk pengajuan harga spesial pembelian tiket konser Lamb of God. Pada saat acara As I Lay Dying tanggal 27 November nanti, Solucite juga akan membuka booth khusus untuk pembelian tiket presale konser Lamb of God.

As I Lay Dying adalah band metalcore asal San Diego California. Band yang memiliki gaya bermusik yang cukup unik ini menggabungkan musik metal yang berbasis pada riff-riff melodius ala Gothenburg Sound, seperti In Flames dan At The Gates dengan komposisi ringan ala musik punk sehingga mudah dicerna dan disimak bahkan oleh para pendengar musik rock/metal yang terhitung baru mendengarkan lagu mereka. Nama band ini berasal dari novel William Faulkner yang dicetak sekitar tahun 1930-an berjudul As I Lay Dying, yang menceritakan kehidupan keluarga petani Amerika yang religius. Band ini kini digawangi oleh Tim Lambesis,sebagai vokalis,dan leader dari band ini, kemudian drummer muda enerjik dan sangat berbakat Jordan Mancino. Dual shredder yang memperkuat dari sisi gitar, Nick Hipa dan Phil Sgrosso. Nick Hipa merupakan gitaris yang cukup menonjol dengan karakter sound yang berbeda dengan musik metalcore kebanyakan, karena boleh dibilang terlalu 'melodius' dan kurang tebal distorsinya. Namun hal itu justru menambah karakter dan pattern lead guitar dari Nick, sementara karakter sound distorsi yang tebal dilapis oleh Phil yang memang memiliki background lebih kuat dibandingkan Nick. Sementara Josh Gilbert membantu Tim Lambesis sebagai clean vocalist dan juga bertanggung jawab sebagai pencabik bas.

As I Lay Dying merupakan band yang cukup terkenal di scene metal dunia karena meraih beberapa prestasi. Salah satu yang cukup fenomenal adalah dengan dinominasikannya lagu Nothing Left dalam ajang Grammy Awards tahun 2008. Di tahun ini juga mereka dianugerahi penghargaan San Diego Music Award. Di tahun sebelumnya, As I Lay Dying sempat memenangkan penghargaan The Ultimate Metal God dari saluran TV musik terkenal di dunia, MTV2 .

Band ini seringkali dicap sebagai band yang cukup religius, karena lirik-lirik positifnya yang tergolong berbeda dengan band lain. Bila band lain banyak mengumbar kekerasan, kegelapan, atau realita sosial - band ini justru mengangkat tema religius dan unsure spiritual positif dalam lagu-lagu mereka. Hal ini sempat membuat mereka digelari band metal spiritual atau white metal. Itu tercermin lewat rilisan mereka mulai dari Beneath The Encoding of Ashes yang dirilis di tahun 2001, sampai pada album Shadows are Security yang dirilis tahun 2005.

Tim Lambesis seperti vokalis dan penulis lirik mulai bereksperimen dengan lirik yang bertema sosial pada album terakhir mereka, An Ocean Between Us, yang dirilis tahun 2007 lalu. Itu justru menambah greget dan karakter dari band ini, lirik yang tidak preachy tapi mengajak ke sisi positif tergambar di sini. Seiring dengan sambutan positif dari berbagai kritikus musik metal di seluruh dunia, band ini juga beberapa kali tampil dalam sampler majalah Metal Hammer sepanjang tahun 2007. Tercatat sedikitnya ada dua edisi Metal Hammer yang memuat band ini. Bahkan album An Ocean Between Us berhasil menduduki peringkat ke-delapan pada Billboard 200 dan menjadi nomor satu di bagian rock chart. Tentu sebuah prestasi yang cukup membanggakan bagi sebuah band yang terhitung masih baru di blantika musik rock/metal dunia. Tak salah bila Adam Dukiewicz, gitaris dari Killswitch Engage yang bisa dikatakan pelopor dari genre metalcore ini, ikut memproduseri album An Ocean Between Us. Tak lupa juga Andy Sneap sang maestro 'modern sound of metal' juga turut bertugas mengemas sound di album ini sehingga tampil lebih baik dibanding album sebelumnya.

Pada tahun 2007, As I Lay Dying mulai merekam album baru dengan bantuan Colin Richardson di sisi mixing dan Andy Sneap sebagai pemerhati kualitas sound gitar. Dua nama yang menjadi jaminan kualitas sound yang ciamik dari sebuah album band metal saat ini. Album itu diproduseri oleh Adam Dutkiewicz yang menjalin pertemanan dengan Tim dkk selama promo tour Shadows of Security. Tercatat penjualan pada minggu pertama album ini menurut Ac Nielsen Soundscan sudah mencapai angka 39.000 kopi.

Berbagai review dan kritik positif diluncurkan berbagai situs online dan majalah metal dunia seiring dengan dirilisnya An Ocean Between Us. Situs About.com meberikan 3.5/5, Allmusic.com memberikan 4/5 bintang, bahkan Cross Rhytms memberikan rating sempurna 10/10 untuk album ini. Kebanyakan review dan kritik tersebut menjurus pada kualitas sound dan komposisi lagu yang tergarap cukup baik di album tersebut. Tentunya anda pasti penasaran bila lagu-lagu seperti Nothing Left, Within Destruction, Forsaken, atau An Ocean Between Us dibawakan langsung di depan mata kita?! Maka nantikan show As I Lay Dying nanti di Tennis Indoor Senayan tanggal 27 November 2008!...

Jika dirunut pada sejarah masuknya musik rock ke Indonesia, khususnya kota Bandung, diawali sejak tahun 70-an. Musik rock yang masuk ke Indonesia adalah musik rock yang berasal dari benua Amerika dan Eropa. Pada tahun 50-60an tatanan nilai dan budaya benua Eropa dan Amerika masih sangat konservatif. Nilai-nilai budaya baru yang diciptakan oleh para generasi muda pada saat itu dianggap sebagai sesuatu yang tabu dan dianggap sebagai ide-ide yang subversif. Pada tahun 50-an para seniman di Prancis dan Inggris biasa mengekspresikan karya-karya mereka di subway atau stasiun kereta api bawah tanah. Karena mereka tidak pernah diberi akses oleh pemerintah pada fasilitas atau gedung-gedung kesenian pada saat itu. Karena dinilai karya-karya mereka mengandung muatan-muatan pemberontakan pada pemerintahan dan dianggap menghujat nilai-nilai konservatif gereja pada saat itu. Utamanya pada saat itu di benua Eropa telah mengalami puncak kejayaan dari sebuah revolusi di berbagai bidang kesenian. Sehingga cenderung menolak hal-hal baru karena dianggap bisa merusak tatanan kemapanan yang sudah terbentuk. Sementara kaum mudanya merasakan sebuah kondisi stagnasi dan kebosanan. Setiap malam para seniman-seniman itu berkumpul mengekspresikan berbagai macam karya 'avant garde' mereka. Dari mulai pentas musik, teater, seni rupa, puisi, performance art, hingga karya instalasi yang rumit. Mereka saling berekspresi dan saling mengapresiasi satu sama lain. Karya-karya yang dipertunjukan pada saat itu memang hanya diketahui oleh kalangan terbatas. Karya yang diciptakan pada saat itu menjadi semacam 'basic' bagi perkembangan semua karya seni yang ada sekarang. Dari sinilah istilah 'underground' untuk pertama kalinya muncul.

'Underground' Era Revolusi Industri

Di tahun yang sama juga benua Eropa mengalami revolusi industri. Ketika sektor-sektor industri di Eropa melakukan transformasi teknologi yang drastis. Demi efesiensi dan mempercepat kapasitas produksi pasca berakhirnya perang dunia kedua pabrik-pabrik di Eropa mengganti tenaga kerja manusia dengan mesin. Hal ini berdampak pada banyaknya pengangguran dan menimbulkan masalah sosial. Di Inggris lahirlah kelompok-kelompok buruh yang terkena PHK mengorganisir diri ke dalam kelompok berbagai organisasi 'working class'. Dengan dandanan khas rambut plontos t-shirt putih dan bersepatu boots dr.Martens, setiap malam mereka menggelar pentas-pentas musik di subway serta melakukan 'squat' atau reclaiming terhadap gedung-gedung kosong bergabung dengan para imigran dari Jamaika, Maroko, dan Afrika. Lirik yang disampaikan adalah lirik protes terhadap kondisi sosial dan kesetiakawanan. Dari sinilah muncul proses eksplorasi musik hingga terciptalah musik heavy yang dipelopori oleh kelahiran band Black Sabbath. Musik yang kelam dan lirik yang mengekplorasi sisi gelap manusia sebagai penyikapan terhadap kondisi sosial pada saat itu. Kelompok ini terbagi lagi menjadi beberapa ideologi. Ada yang cenderung fasis dan ultra nasionalis dan pastinya jadi rasis. Ada juga yang berideologi kesetaraan dan anarkis. Dari sinilah lahir budaya 'punk' dengan segala macam aktifitas seni dan gerakan politisnya.

Puncaknya adalah ketika terjadi peristiwa Paris '68 di Prancis. Pada saat itu mahasiswa sebagai bagian dari 'middle class' atau kaum intelektual melebur bersama para kaum 'underground' dan kaum miskin kota dalam hal ini korban PHK akibat dampak dari revolusi industri melakukan demonstrasi besar-besaran menuntut perbaikan ekonomi. Selama berminggu-minggu mereka membuat barikade di jalan-jalan kota Paris dan melakukan aksi mogok secara nasional. Hingga akhirnya pemerintah Prancis melakukan reformasi total di segala bidang. Salah satu alumnus peristiwa Paris '68 adalah Malcolm Mc Laren yang jadi manajer band punk rock kontroversial sepanjang masa, Sex Pistols.

'Underground' Era Flower Generation

Kondisi di Amerika kurang lebih sama. Di Amerika pada tahun 50-an masih menganut sistem politik apartheid dan perbudakan. Masyarakat sosial Amerika pada saat itu terbagi menjadi tiga kelas sosial utama. Kelas borjuis yaitu kaum pengusaha, birokrat dan agamawan yang cenderung rasis dan menjunjung tinggi semangat 'white supremacy'. Kaum tehnokrat yang terdiri kaum intelektual dan mahasiswa. Kaum buruh yang terdiri dari budak-budak kulit hitam. Pembagian strata sosial ini membawa dampak pada pola berkesenian. Pada saat itu para budak kulit hitam yang kebanyakan berasal dari benua afrika oleh hukum yang berlaku pada saat itu mendapatkan perlakuan yang tidak manusiawi. Gaji yang tidak sesuai dengan porsi kerja dan tindakan diskriminatif di segala bidang. Semua gerak langkah mereka dibatasi hingga menimbulkan rasa frustasi yang begitu mendalam.

Satu-satunya saluran ekspresi mereka adalah lewat media musik. Mereka biasanya dipisahkan dari lingkungan kulit putih dengan cara kolonisasi. Dibuatkan area perkampungan yang kumuh atau dikenal dengan istilah 'ghetto' dan sengaja dibuat miskin secara sistematis hingga menimbulkan kerawanan sosial. Setiap malam sehabis lelah bekerja mereka biasanya berkumpul dan memainkan musik. Musik yang diciptakan adalah musik yang sifatnya sangat personal. Musik yang menjadi ekspresi pribadi dalam mengekspresikan segala kesumpekan dalam diri. Lahirlah kemudian jazz dan blues. Musik yang cenderung instrumental. Karena pada saat itu membuat lirik yang bernada protes sosial apalagi dilakukan oleh kulit hitam merupakan pelanggaran berat. Mereka membentuk komunitas dan menggelar konser-konser sederhana di bar-bar kulit hitam. Saling berekspresi dan mengapresiasi sambil meneriakan protes-protes lewat nada-nada sendu dan bernuansa kelam. Kalaupun memakai lirik maka pengucapannya dilakukan dengan cepat, bergumam dan menggunakan 'bahasa kode' yang hanya dimengerti oleh komunitas itu sendiri. Musik yang pada saat itu sangat diharamkan untuk didengar apalagi dimainkan oleh kaum kulit putih.

Dari sinilah muncul sikap DIY [do-it-yourself]. Para musisi kulit hitam ini membuat perusahaan rekaman 'motown records' yang khusus memproduksi artis-artis kulit hitam dan mendistribusikannya ke setiap koloni-koloni yang tersebar di seantero benua Amerika. Mereka membuat jaringan komunikasi dan media komunitas kulit hitam. Mulai mengorganisir diri dalam gerakan yang lebih ke arah politis. Salah satunya organisasi 'black panther'. Lahirlah pionir pejuang-pejuang kemanusiaan yang mengusung isu kesetaraan hak, diantaranya Malcolm X dan Martin Luther King.

Hingga suatu saat Elvis Presley mendobrak budaya konservatif tersebut. Diam-diam dia mendatangi bar-bar kulit hitam yang menampilkan musik blues dan jazz. Dia terinspirasi dari aliran musik tersebut hingga digabungkan dengan musik country. Lahirlah rock & roll. Musik yang pada saat itu mengalami penolakan keras dari kaum konservatif dan kalangan gereja. Rock & roll pada jaman Elvis disebut sebagai 'musik pemuja setan'. Karena iramanya dianggap mendorong anak muda untuk berjoget seronok dan membangkang pada orangtua.

Ketika Amerika mengalami krisis ekonomi berkepanjangan akibat perang dunia kedua dan terlibat dalam perang Vietnam, beberapa kalangan seniman 'underground', kalangan akademisi dan para veteran perang menggelar aksi protes anti perang Vietnam serta menuntut perbaikan kehidupan sosial dan ekonomi. Mereka menggelar panggung-panggung festival musik secara besar-besaran. Contohnya adalah Woodstock pada tahun 1969. Panggung tersebut diisi oleh artis-artis multi-etnis. Meneriakan semangat yang sama, 'make peace not war'. Dari sinilah cikal bakal dari kaum hippies. Kaum 'flower generation' yang sudah bosan dengan segala kebijakan konservatif yang mereka nilai tidak sejalan dengan semangat perubahan jaman. Namun kembali gerakan ini tidak berlangsung lama dikarenakan terjadi proses komodifikasi dan eksploitasi besar-besaran oleh para pelaku industri mainstream. Terutama industri yang bergerak di bidang hiburan dan fashion. Pada akhirnya hanya dua elemen nilai itulah yang 'dijual' dan sampai ke khalayak. Band-band heavy metal pada era itu sudah tidak dianggap 'underground' lagi. Beberapa pelaku sub-kultur akhirnya menolak cara-cara tersebut dan lebih memilih kembali pada jalur 'underground' serta mengembangkan sistem mereka sendiri. Pada era 70-an para pelaku komunitas sub-kultur ini telah mampu menciptakan dan mengembangkan berbagai penyikapan alternative untuk melawan arus mainstream. Lahirnya industri indie label yang mengakomodir semangat independensi dan berbagai macam media independen adalah salah satu contohnya.

'Underground' Era Orla

Di Indonesia sendiri pada tahun 60-an ketika Soekarno masih berkuasa, perkembangan musik sangat dipengaruhi oleh kebijakan politik pada saat itu. Soekarno yang berkuasa mengambil poros Jakarta-Beijing-Moskow sebagai garis politiknya di masa perang dingin. Sehingga hal-hal yang sifatnya berbau Amerika dianggap sebagai sesuatu yang kontra revolusioner dan bentuk imperialisme budaya barat. Sehingga musik rock & roll pada saat itu dianggap 'menyesatkan' dan 'kebarat-baratan' serta dilarang dikonsumsi oleh anak muda Indonesia. Terlepas dari segala muatannya yang membawa pada semangat perubahan, segala sesuatu yang datang dari 'barat' pasti dilarang. Semua bentuk kesenian haruslah mengacu pada realisme sosialis dan tidak mengandung muatan borjuisme. Beberapa band seperti Koes Plus mendapatkan perlakuan represif dari aparat keamanan. Beberapa radio yang memutar musik rock & roll ditutup. Petugas keamanan rajin melakukan razia-razia ke tempat keramaian anak muda. Apabila kedapatan mengenakan setelan 'barat' pasti ditahan. Apabila ketahuan menggelar acara musik rock & roll atau istilah Soekarno disebut musik 'ngak-ngik-ngok' pasti dibubarkan. Sehingga pada saat itu beberapa musisi lokal menggelar acara-acara musik rock & roll secara sembunyi-sembunyi. Biasanya mereka bergerilya dari satu rumah ke rumah yang lain menghindari razia petugas keamanan. Dari sinilah awal lahirnya istilah 'underground' di Indonesia.


'Underground' Era Orba

Pasca Soekarno runtuh dimulailah era orde baru. Segala bentuk kesenian yang berasal dari barat mulai masuk dan ikut mempengaruhi perkembangan musik Indonesia. Kebijakan politik yang diambil pada saat itu lebih mengarah kepada politik pencitraan bahwa Indonesia adalah negara yang demokratis dan penuh dengan nuansa keterbukaan. Di tahun 1970-an, musik cadas tidak pernah menyebut dirinya sebagai komunitas musik indie, mengingat pada saat itu Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, atau Uriah Heep merupakan komoditas yang dianak-emaskan oleh industri major label di benua Amerika dan Eropa. Begitu pun dengan musik cadas di Indonesia semacam Giant Step, God Bless, Superkid, atau SAS yang lebih suka mengidentifikasikan dirinya sebagai musik 'underground'. Komunitas mereka sangat bangga dengan sebutan itu, mengingat tak semua orang suka akan musik yang kekuatan bunyinya jauh di atas 60 dB atau jauh di atas batas toleransi pendengaran manusia. Ada semacam pola imitasi yang berkembang pada saat itu. Terutama dari jenis musik yang dimainkan dan pola fashion. Sehingga yang terjadi adalah proses imitatif kebudayaan luar yang datang namun tidak mampu menyerap kondisi realitas yang terjadi di kultur lokal. Banyak band Indonesia pada saat itu yang mencoba menjadi Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin atau Black Sabbath. Mereka benar-benar meniru habis-habisan apa yang sedang terjadi di luar sana. Namun yang diadopsi hanya sebatas musikalitas dan fashionnya saja. Sementara isu-isu sosial yang terjadi pada tingkat lokal sama sekali tidak tersentuh. Mereka lebih memilih memproduksi karya dengan lirik yang dinilai 'aman' dan sebisa mungkin menghindari konflik dengan pemerintah yang totaliter. Fenomena yang dihasilkan pada era ini hanyalah fenomena 'aksi protes' yang diekspresikan dalam aksi panggung yang kontroversial, pemakaian obat bius dan seks bebas.

Walaupun ada beberapa band yang dianggap fenomenal pada masa itu namun hanya sebatas di paparan karya musikalitas dan tidak membawa perubahan secara radikal di tingkat masyarakat. Sementara stigma seniman di mata para akademisi terutama musisi rock adalah urakan, tidak mempunyai intelektualitas tinggi, dan bersikap apolitis. Sehingga muncul kesenjangan persepsi yang sangat lebar antara musisi dan kalangan akademisi pada saat itu. Sehingga beberapa gerakan mahasiswa pada saat itu tidak melibatkan musisi secara aktif. Karena apabila kesadaran untuk melakukan perubahan secara bersama-sama itu dimunculkan pada saat era tersebut sepertinya reformasi tidak perlu menunggu hingga tahun 1998.

Ada semacam kegagapan dalam menyikapi realitas perubahan. Di satu sisi kebebasan untuk menyerap segala informasi dari luar mulai terbuka di sisi yang lain proses pemasungan terhadap kebebasan berekspresi kembali terjadi, bahkan lebih mengerikan dibandingkan era Soekarno. Dan itu secara umum kondisi tersebut diterima begitu saja oleh kalangan musisi pada saat itu. Istilah 'underground' pada saat itu mengalami pergeseran makna. Hanya diartikan sebagai musik 'brang-breng-brong', aksi panggung teatrikal dan kontroversial serta komposisi musik yang rumit dipenuh skill-skill tingkat tinggi. Nilai-nilai perlawanan yang diusung hanya sebatas pada pemberontakan terhadap nilai feodalistik yang sudah mapan namun tidak secara kritis mencari alternatif baru dalam menciptakan nilai pembanding dan nilai tandingan. Baik itu media komunikasi independen maupun sistem ekonomi tandingan yang dikembangkan.

Sehingga yang terjadi adalah gerakan budaya tandingan yang coba disusun pada akhirnya ikut larut dalam dinamika budaya mainstream di mana segala sesuatunya hanya berorientasi pada permintaan pasar [market oriented]. Masa ini berlangsung hingga dekade tahun 80-an.

'Underground' di Ujungberung

Ketika pada tahun akhir 80-an arus globalisasi ikut melanda Indonesia. Investasi asing mulai masuk seiring dengan masuknya IMF ke Indonesia. Dan hal tersebut mulai berdampak bagi perkembangan musik 'underground' di Indonesia, khususnya di kota Bandung. Arus informasi yang kuat telah mendorong beberapa majalah dan rilisan kaset 'underground' dari luar negeri mulai masuk dan banyak dikonsumsi oleh musisi di Bandung. Di Ujungberung sendiri terjadi sebuah fenomena 'shock culture' yang hebat. Ketika lahan-lahan agraris yang produktif disulap oleh para investor asing menjadi lahan industri yang sarat polutan. Kultur bertani dan bercocok tanam yang kental dengan nuansa komunal tiba-tiba secara drastis dirubah menjadi kultur buruh/pekerja yang secara sistematis diarahkan menjadi mahluk asosial. Hal ini jelas berdampak pada perilaku masyarakat secara umum. Muncul konflik-konflik kepentingan lokal dalam menyikapi masalah tersebut. Pemuda sebagai bagian dari sebuah struktur masyarakat menyikapi masalah tersebut dengan mencari saluran-saluran ekspresi yang dinilai bisa mewakili gejolak perasaan mereka. Maka musik metal dijadikan media berekspresi yang dinilai sesuai dengan kondisi keresahan mereka. Musik yang cepat, agresif serta lirik-lirik protes yang sarkastik menjadi pelarian mereka.

Radikalisme Ideologi DIY Ujungberung

Tahun 1989 ada empat band pelopor di Ujungberung yang sudah memainkan komposisi lagu metal ekstrim semacam Napalm Death, Sepultura, Obituary, Carcass dan lain-lain. Mereka adalah Funeral, Necromancy, dan Orthodox. Mereka adalah angkatan pertama di Ujungberung yang mulai menanamkan radikalisme dalam mengekspresikan karya mereka. Ketika trend festival musik pada saat itu masih berkutat di hard rock dan slow rock, mereka dengan berani mengacak-ngacak panggung festival itu dengan komposisi thrash metal dan death metal. Tampilan fashion yang ofensif dan style musik yang bising mereka bergerilya dari satu panggung festival ke festival yang lain mengusung semangat 'kumaha aing'. Keikutsertaan mereka dalam festival tersebut lebih mengarah kepada pembuktian eksistensi dan pernyataan sikap. Mereka mulai memproduksi lagu-lagu sendiri dengan mengangkat isu-isu sosial yang sedang populis pada saat itu.

Dengan kritis mereka mereka menyikapi kultur festival musik sebagai bentuk dari pemasungan kreativitas. Parameter penilaian yang justru pada akhirnya malah mengkerdilkan makna kejujuran dalam berekspresi. Semangat menurut pasar hanya menciptakan bentuk keseragaman dalam karya dan pada akhirnya melahirkan kebosanan. Media-media mainstream pada saat itu hanya menampilkan informasi musik yang itu-itu saja. Pada tahun 1993 mulailah terbentuk beberapa komunitas musik ekstrim di Bandung. Mereka rajin membuka ruang-ruang diskusi menyikapi realitas yang sedang terjadi terutama di tingkat lokal. Mengorganisir diri ke dalam bentuk komunitas yang mempunyai kecintaan dan minat yang sama. Saling bertukar informasi dan membuat workshop media dan eksplorasi teknologi alat musik. Penyikapan konkret mereka buktikan dengan cara membuat media-media informasi tandingan yang isinya lebih kepada pengenalan kultur ini kepada khalayak. Dari situlah maka mereka mulai merambah acara-acara festival musik di kota Bandung. Dari mulai event 'agustusan' hingga pensi-pensi SMA. Pada masa itu sikap diskriminatif terhadap band 'underground' kerap terjadi. Dari mulai aksi teror secara verbal hingga yang sifatnya fisik. Tidak jarang mereka harus menerima hinaan ataupun cibiran dari beberapa orang yang tidak suka atau bahkan yang tidak mengerti sama sekali tentang aliran musik ekstrim. Band-band yang beraliran punk, hardcore, grindcore dan black metal kerap mendapatkan perlakukan diskriminatif dari pihak penyelenggara. Dari mulai jatah waktu tampil yang dikorupsi, perlakuan pihak sound system yang dengan sengaja mengacaukan setting sound, hingga terror fisik dari preman lokal yang merasa tersaingi.

Sikap tersebut terbentuk karena tatanan sosial pada saat itu pada umumnya masih dihinggapi perasaan xenophobia atau selalu merasa khawatir terhadap nilai dan tatanan baru yang muncul. Mereka selalu merasa bahwa hal baru sama dengan ancaman baru. Pada saat itu parameter berekspresi adalah sesuatu yang dapat menembus batasan yang sudah ditetapkan oleh pihak industri musik mainstream. Paradigma musik yang bagus adalah musik yang berorientasi pada kebutuhan pasar yang dapat masuk rating televisi dan menguasai jajaran top-ten radio. Belum terbentuk mental penerimaan yang baik terhadap hal baru yang dapat menambah khazanah keberagaman, utamanya di bidang musik.

Kondisi nyata seperti itulah yang menjadi latar belakang komunitas Ujungberung bercita-cita menggelar acara musik yang konsepnya menampilkan semua jenis musik underground dalam satu panggung. Terinspirasi oleh pagelaran Hullabaloo #1 pada tahun 1994 yang sukses digelar di Gor Saparua yang menampilkan musik underground dengan berbagai macam aliran. Dari mulai hip-hop, grindcore, pop, punk, hingga musik industrial. Komunitas Ujungberung mengadopsi konsep tersebut namun format musik yang disuguhkan lebih kepada sajian musik dengan distorsi tingkat tinggi. Lahirlah acara Bandung Berisik #1 pada tahun 1995 yang melahirkan acara-acara metal legendaris khas ala Ujungberung seperti Bandung Death Fest, Rebellion Fest, dan Rottrevore Death Fest yang rutin digelar secara berkala menampilkan band beraliran metal ekstrim.

Counter Culture

Era 1996 hingga 1997 komunitas musik 'underground' di Bandung mengalami masa perkembangan yang pesat. Konsep kolektivisme dan DIY mulai banyak direalisasikan dalam berbagai bentuk kegiatan kongkret. Dari mulai membuat perusahaan rekaman berbasiskan indie label lengkap dengan konsep distribusi dan promosinya, pembuatan merchandise band, pembuatan media informasi komunitas berupa fanzine fotokopian, hingga kepada penggarapan event yang mengandalkan semangat kolektivisme. Jenis karya musik yang dihasilkan makin beragam dan cenderung makin agresif. Lirik yang diproduksi mulai banyak menyentuh hal-hal yang sifatnya politis. Banyak lirik pada saat itu yang bercerita tentang nasib buruh, petani, dan kaum miskin kota. Dengan frontal mulai melakukan kritik-kritik terhadap pemerintah yang dinilai gagal mengatasi krisis. Industri musik mainstream pada saat itu sedang dilanda kejenuhan pasar. Paska booming Slank dan Iwan Fals pada saat itu tidak ada lagi fenomena musik yang luar biasa.

Media-media mainstream mulai kehabisan bahan berita hingga akhirnya komunitas 'underground' dengan segala bentuk dinamika pergerakannya menjadi bahan eksploitasi berita. Hampir semua media terutama media cetak mainstream yang ber-target marketing anak muda membahas fenomena pergerakan musik 'underground' terutama yang terjadi di kota Bandung. Hal tersebut jelas berdampak sangat besar pada perkembangan musik 'underground' pada saat itu yang seolah-olah di-setting menjadi trend musik masa kini. Melalui peran media mainstream pula hingga akhirnya booming musik 'underground' ini mewabah hampir di semua kota besar di Indonesia, utamanya di pulau Jawa.

Lahirlah beberapa komunitas musik 'underground' di kota Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya, Malang, Yogya dan Medan. Beberapa pagelaran bertema serupa ramai digelar di kota-kota tersebut dalam skala kecil. Di kota Bandung yang notabene adalah barometer musik 'underground' pada saat itu hampir setiap minggu Gor Saparua menjadi langganan acara-acara musik 'underground' yang diorganisir oleh beberapa komunitas di kota Bandung. Gor Saparua selalu dipenuhi oleh massa 'underground' yang rata-rata berusia belia dari berbagai kota di Indonesia. Ada yang dari Medan, Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogya, Malang dan kota-kota lainnya. Terjadilah transformasi informasi dan proses penyerapan kultur. Dari sinilah awal terbentuknya jaringan komunikasi lintas komunitas dalam rangka memperluas jaringan. Beberapa komunitas dari luar kota Bandung dijadikan basis distribusi bagi penyebaran produk dan informasi yang berkaitan dengan aktivitas sub kultur. Bahkan sekarang sudah terbentuk jaringan event yang diorganisir secara kolektif yang rutin menjalin kerjasama penyelenggaraan event 'underground'.

Pada masa itu lahirlah acara-acara musik seperti Bandung Underground yang di organisir oleh komunitas Muda-Mudi Margahayu, Gorong-Gorong Bandung diorganisir oleh komunitas punk P.I., Bandung Minoritas, Campur Aduk dan lain-lain. Namun pada masa itu pula situasi politik dan ekonomi Indonesia mengalami guncangan. Masa peralihan kekuasaan yang diwarnai kisruh pertarungan politik di tingkat elit kekuasaan berdampak besar pada perekonomian. Tragedi krisis moneter yang mengguncang hebat perlahan ikut membawa dampak pada perkembangan musik Underground, khususnya di kota Bandung. Demonstrasi besar-besaran kerap mewarnai jalanan kota Bandung. Daya beli masyarakat secara keseluruhan mulai menurun dikarenakan harga-harga kebutuhan pokok melambung tinggi. Hingga pola konsumsi masyarakat pada saat itu berubah dengan cara mengurangi hal-hal yang dirasa tidak terlalu penting. Acara yang biasanya ramai dipenuhi oleh penonton lambat laun mulai sepi pengunjung. Beberapa organiser yang berasal dari beberapa komunitas independen di Bandung mulai menarik diri untuk membuat event musik 'underground'. Di samping tidak mau mengalami kerugian secara finansial [walaupun pada saat itu dan sampai sekarang tidak pernah mencari keuntungan], juga disebabkan kendala perijinan yang semakin represif terhadap hal-hal yang sifatnya mengumpulkan massa dalam jumlah banyak. Beberapa yang memaksakan diri mengalami kerugian yang cukup besar dikarenakan sepi penonton atau dengan alasan meresahkan dan mengganggu ketertiban secara sepihak dibubarkan oleh aparat keamanan. Beberapa pelaku subkultur 'underground' pada masa itu ikut melebur bersama beberapa organ buruh dan mahasiswa aktif menggelar aksi-aksi demonstrasi menuntut perubahan di segala bidang.

Pada saat sulit tersebut justru komunitas Ujungberung banyak mengalami kemajuan yang signifikan. Banyak band-band baru terbentuk dengan semangat dan idealisme yang tinggi. Beberapa band seperti Jasad, Sacrilegious, Sonic Torment, Burgerkill dan Forgotten bahkan telah mampu memproduksi dan mendistribusikan album perdana mereka secara independen. Pada masa itu komunitas Ujungberung mulai membangun basis ekonomi komunitas sebagai bagian dari pemberdayaan ekonomi komunitas dengan cara membangun distro Rebellion yang khusus menjual produk-produk band Ujungberung dan komunitas musik lain di Bandung. Semua murni dilakukan atas dasar dorongan insting untuk bertahan hidup.

Ekonomi Kreatif

Dinamika pergerakan komunitas 'underground' sebagai bagian dari sebuah sub kultur di Bandung khususnya di Ujungberung ternyata membawa dampak pada sikap kemandirian ekonomi. Semangat kemandirian atau independensi yang mereka usung telah mampu menjadi trigger atau pemicu bagi eksplorasi kreativitas. Tidak hanya di sektor karya musik saja namun telah meluas pada sektor ekonomi. Spirit pemberontakan yang mereka usung telah mampu menyelesaikan beberapa persoalan sosial yang ada khususnya dalam hal penyediaan lapangan kerja. Di komunitas Ujungberung sendiri sejak tahun 2004 hingga sekarang telah terbangun beberapa unit bisnis yang berbasiskan komunitas. Dari mulai usaha sablon, distro, konveksi pakaian, studio rekaman, perusahaan rekaman indiependen, jasa distribusi, studio rekaman, usaha penerbitan, toko buku dan usaha warnet. Semuanya murni dikelola oleh para pelaku komunitas 'underground' Ujungberung dan melibatkan tenaga kerja dari lingkungan yang sama. Beberapa pelaku komunitas ini terlibat aktif sebagai kru band dan teknisi studio rekording di kota Bandung. Semuanya saling bersinergi dan menciptakan perbaikan ekonomi minimal bagi para individu dan internal komunitas.

Semua bentuk kreatifitas yang diusung oleh para pelaku industri kreatif dalam hal ini adalah pelaku sub kultur telah mampu memberikan 'wajah' pada kota Bandung. Beberapa gelaran event musik yang digelar di Bandung selalu dijadikan tolak ukur dan parameter perkembangan musik bagi kota lain. Bentuk dan perkembangan fesyen dikota Bandung selalu menjadi trendsetter bagi perkembangan industri fesyen di Indonesia.

Pada tahun 2008 hingga 2013, kota Bandung oleh British Council dijadikan proyek percontohan sebagai 'creative city' di kawasan asia pasifik. Sebuah kota yang memang secara budaya berhasil dibangun citranya oleh komunitas kreatif berbasiskan indiependen. Proses pencapaian tersebut dilakukan atas dasar insting untuk bertahan hidup dalam mensikapi situasi. Jiwa yang kritis dan semangat 'pemberontakan' memanfaatkan potensi yang seadanya namun didukung oleh semangat kolektivisme yang tinggi hingga berhasil mengatasi semua hambatan yang ada - meski tanpa daya dukung yang kuat dari pemerintah berupa kebijakan dan fasilitas yang layak untuk mengekspresikan energi kreatif mereka. Mau didukung atau tidak mereka tidak peduli, karena secara sistem mereka telah teruji kemandiriannya.

Tapi kata kunci dari segalanya adalah keteguhan prinsip. Panceg Dina Jalur, tidak gamang menghadapi perubahan. Membaca segala bentuk perubahan sebagai kulit saja bukan sebuah inti. Sehingga ketika harus menyesuaikan diri dengan perubahan tak lantas kehilangan diri tenggelam dalam euphoria di permukaan. Segala pencapaian itu juga harus dikelola dengan sinergi yang positif antara lahan-lahan garapan kreatifitas, sehingga akan terus berkembang dan pada gilirannya memberikan hal positif bagi masyarakat luas.