Local Bands Are Less Worthy, A Reflective Mood from The 10th Psychofest
We’ve been to many gigs that feature both artists from national/Jakarta’s scene and local scene whether it’s in Malang, Surabaya or Yogyakarta. The rise of indie movement in our youth make the demands on these indie bands’ performances at all-time high. It is not without a sacrifice on someone’s end though. As we could see, indie bands hailing from Jakarta sometimes got the upper hand in resources and coverage which make their music become more wide-spread compared to local ones. The impact is when they perform on another region besides Jakarta, they have more rights and opportunity to showcase their music. We have to be careful here, because with this whole narration we do not blame these artists for their upbringings, instead we want to shed a light on the committee who invited these national and local talents in one event.
The 10th Psychofest is an annual series of program that is held by the students of Psychology Department of Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya. This year, the main event took place at Open Space, Grand City Mall and they offered a bazaar for food & beverage and fashion, as well as music performances. We entered with hope of seeing bands like Layung Temaram, Timeless, Cotswolds, Beeswax and Hi Mom! perform their full setlist. Unfortunately, the event started way too late and these local talents were cut in short in order to make rooms for The Trees and The Wild and Kelompok Penerbang Roket. We were taken aback at how the committee treated these talents, we could clearly see that they still want to play their music to the audience. Timeless were steaming hot with their performances and it had to come to an end. Beeswax were still gearing up their set when it had to be abruptly cut. It ultimately led to the elimination of Hi Mom! performance.
We were in a daze because Hi Mom!’s name was clearly present on the official poster, but the Surabaya’s band who has recently put out a new single got no chance of showing their potential. Up to this point we realized something, that sometimes local acts are no more than ornamental show for the bigger ones. This is clearly not a healthy sign for indie movement anywhere since their purpose are to introduce their music as much as they could and attract new listeners with their live performances. A stage no matter how big or small means new exposure to their music, and how could they reach that target without being treated equally. The whole event was pretty messy and even though Kelompok Penerbang Roket and The Trees and The Wild nailed their performances, it still left a sour aftertaste. A little electrical shortage also added more disappointment to the whole celebration that should be filled with much excitement.
We understand that the committee were bounded by many strict rules that were applied by both the venue or the vendors, however, the management of flow during the event should have been more organized. The local talents deserved their stage, and in the point of view of the audience, we also deserved the chance to listen to something new, an alternative to the established sounds that come from Jakarta. Thankfully, the event is free of charge and the tenants of the bazaar were affordable for college students. It also managed to attract a huge crowd that more than 5,000 people showed up that night. The 11th Psychofest (if there’s any) next year should and could be better than this.
