From Zero to Hero: eleventwelfth, The Twinkly Emo Band We All Fall In Love With
When people talk about twinkly emo band in independent music scene in Indonesia, one of the name that always pops up is the rising eleventwelfth. Started out as a project from two people, Almas and Rona, the band developed into a big act that they have never imagined before. The addition of Kessa completed the band and their brilliant debut EP has made its way into Japanese market. Two years ago they were nothing, now their songs are frequently included in Indonesia’s indie music playlist. Check out our interview with these cool dudes before their performance with Turnover in Jakarta on 15 July 2017.
- Hello Rona, how are you and eleventwelfth?
We’re good thankfully. Things are still shaping up to be pretty well for us.
- For those who don’t know about you guys, could you introduce us to eleventwelfth?
We have Almas on drum, me, Rona on vocal and guitar, and Kessa who is also on guitar. We also got helped from Petir known as the lead vocal from Rejected Kids as our additional bass player.
- How was eleventwelfth born and became the band we all know now?
I think we’ve answered this kind of question with The Display before but here we go. I’ve been playing in a band with Almas since we were 12 or 13. Throughout high school days when I was in a band he’s always be my drummer ever since. After we graduated from high school, we kinda lost contact because we continued our education in different cities.
After a few years, Almas contacted me again and asked me to be in a band. Without hesitation I said sure, why not. We started out as a two-piece music project but after a couple consideration, we liked to expand this project as a full band so we asked Kessa to join. Kessa asked Petir to help us out.
- Do you intend to play the twinkly emo music you are known for?
We never had any intention of playing emo music or whatsoever people called it. We just like to play music and want to create one for ourselves.
- That’s cool that you guys do not let a specific genre defines you, but where your inspiration or influence in music comes from?
There’s of course a lot of influence going on within us. Almas started to play drum because of Phil Collins and Kessa started to play in a band because of Sheila On 7, so we have different kinds of inspiration. Because everyone hears different music all the time, nobody hears the same music over and over again, to us if you only hear one kind of music it feels boring.
This EP is a mixed perception of what we’ve been hearing at the moment. So if we started to get inspired by different things in the future, who knows what eleventwelfth might sound in a couple years later.
- One of the most amazing thing we heard recently was the re-release of your record in Japan by Waterslide Records. How could that happen?
This is one of the most surprising thing that ever happened to our band, so we don’t have any kind of plan to release our EP overseas. We have to thank Saturday Night Karaoke for this, because when they had a tour in Japan a couple months ago to promote their split EP, they recommended our band to Kazu who owns Waterslide Records. Kazu really like our band he said, so the first plan was he wanted to buy our records and resell it there. But, after a brief talk with our label, Six Thirty Recordings, we all agreed to release if officially in Japan via Waterslide Records.
- Wow that’s a great coincidence, how many copies do the Japanese label repress and we heard that there are two bonus tracks included there, right?
Approximately 500 pieces if I recall, and they also sent 180 copies to Indonesia so we could also sell the Japanese pressing over here. Yes it’ll also include two bonus tracks from our incarnation when we were still a two-piece music project. The tracks are “self-reflecting room” and “in search of a good company” which you can still listen to on our Bandcamp.
- Does this band have a specific concept for the releases or promotion or is everything done by the record label?
That’s all Six Thirty Recordings doing with a little bit of discussion with us. They’re a really great record label and for trusting us as their first band in their roster for physical release, that’s also cool for our band. They (red: the record label) really appreciate all different kinds of music, just like I’ve said before they are a really great record label. Just look at their roster on their Bandcamp. There’s a wide range of music style and you can see the diversity in their catalogue. To know that they also trust our band as one of their roster among other great bands is really something special to us.
- How was your reaction when you found out that you’re going to open for Turnover?
We’re quite impressed. I’ve listened to Turnover when they were still a punk band. The funny thing is, I listened to them because my girlfriend introduced me to them. So, she is much more impressed than myself, because I could finally play with a band she introduced me to.
- What is your plan ahead after this EP?
We’ll see where this EP will take us, it takes our music to Japan though. So who knows where this album would take us again. If things are going really well, then we’ll continue this as our outlet to express ourselves and maybe start writing again and record our debut album. But even if it’s not, then we’ll still keep playing music hopefully.
- Last question, what is your opinion about The Display?
The Display is way too underrated. This media should’ve been one of the top tier English written websites in Indonesia. Hahaha, thanks for having us!
Well, we are more than glad to have you guys as well and we could not wait to hear what eleventwelfth got in store. Catch their performance along with Indigo Moiré, Fernie Sue and Killed tonight on 15 July 2017 at Rossi Musik Fatmawati before the main act, Turnover.
