Heruwa from Shaggydog Unveils Ethnic Electronic Tunes “Senyawa Alam”
What happen when you combine ethnic Javanese music with electronic music? It is the idea from Heruwa of Shaggydog to create a piece of music that fuses both elements. Previously he has collaborated with Jerinx from Superman Is Dead in a single called “Samiya”. Now, he prepares a new single called “Senyawa Alam” which has the similar direction with the predecessor. Traditional Javanese song called “Macapat” opens the song with a strong gamelan sounds, then the electronic beats start to come and blends in for the rest of the song. The song previously has been featured in a cigarette commercial which has its own video as well. To create this song, Heruwa was challenged to do something new outside of his comfort zone. The recording session was no longer done in his room, but he took it outside in nature. The sound effects that you hear in this song does not belong to that artificial sound maker, it resulted from mother nature itself and other organic sounds that he recorded while he was traveling across his homeland in Yogyakarta. Starting from the clashing sound of volcanic stones of Mount Merapi down to the sound of angklung at Zero KM Tugu Yogyakarta, it also features the harmony of percussion coming from boats’ spar at Southern Sea.
Heruwa drove the inspiration from five ‘imaginary axis’ located within the city of gudeg, they are Mount Merapi, Tugu, Keraton, Panggung Krapyak and Southern Sea. “I was challenged to become a magician through this project. I recorded everything that I came across on the road with Erix Soekamti. For example, the clattering sound of porcelain bowls from porridge hawkers that eventually becomes ‘gamelan’. Yes, everything and (it is) unplanned,” tells the vocalist of one of the biggest ska band in Indonesia, Heruwa. It resulted in a dynamic experimental sound that transcends boundaries of a traditional ethnic music or traditional electronic music. The single was mastered by Rangga ‘Egha’ Sang Eshayoga and the artwork was created by Gilang Kusuma Wardhana who interpreted the artwork from Raden Saleh called “Gunung Api Meletus di Malam Hari”. The single will be available to be purchasedstarting from April 3 through DoggyHouse Records. You could take a look at the music video below for a little taste of “Senyawa Alam”.
