Jogja, Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta. Jogja. Whatever you choose to call it, I already like it here. It's the only region in Indonesia headed by a monarchy. Indra Menus meets up with me. He's an archival nerd after my own heart, compiling a backlog of recordings I know all too well.

This is another important hub of noise kids, building synths out of Nintendo's, found and made objects, whatever they can make work. We walk around the central market area, and end at a coffee shop ran by his friend. The amount of dark spaces here that house expertly crafted products amazes me. You just have to know where to look. I finally meet Lintang Radittya, who makes something he calls the "Javanese Modular". Great conversations. Heavy week coming. 

Klepto Opera in a Graveyard

Surabaya. Day one and we head to an old graveyard, tagging along with KLEPTO OPERA, a super unique psyche / grunge / noise act who've been going for over 15 years. They were shooting a video for a new song "Menggilas Dunia". Most of the graves dated back to the mid 1800's, and over 60% of them were dug up by looters. Though they're playing fierce for this band photo, they were ridiculously nice. Though it's Ramadan, obviously not everyone is fasting. A first warung meal next to a skate park that was ridiculously busy by the time we left. Tomorrow, a noise set on the streets. "Noise Bombing" : Round 1. Super glad to be here, Indonesia.