Teeth: Modernity in Indonesia Through Rock Music
Gigi, the Indonesian word directly translating to “teeth,” might seem like a strange place to start when naming a band, but Dewa Budjana (guitar) did exactly that in 1992 with fellow members Armand Maulana (vocals), Aria Baron (guitar), Thomas Ramdhan (bass) and Ronald Fristianto (drums). The group recorded their first studio album, Angan, in 1994 and continued with an album per year for the next five. As alternative rock began to gain traction worldwide, Gigi was no exception, adding an Indonesian flare primarily through language. While the instrumentation is very typical of a rock band (vocals, drums, guitar, bass), they are sometimes played in a way that reflects the traditional musical aspects of Indonesia.
Gigi, from @Allchestra Global TV on Gigibandofficial.com.
A live performance of “Kuingin,” a track off of Gigi’s first album, Angan. Listen for the ornamentation in the guitar’s line, especially in the intro. You’ll also notice that, while the lyrics of the song are in Indonesian, some vocal interjections are in English.
What makes vocal music completely unique is the ability to express literal words. Gigi writes music on a host of fronts, but often puts a focus on religious and spiritual music. Side albums have been frequently released during Eid al-Fitr, making spiritual music prominent especially during the time of fasting. However, other tunes such as “Dan Sekarang?” (And Now?) discuss more stereotypical themes of rock music: love.
Gigi’s recording of “Dan Sekarang?”
Apart from being popular music, that which appeals to a large portion of the population (in this case of Indonesia), the music of Gigi and similar groups offers something deeper to its listeners. When looking at the connection between rock music and religion, like aforementioned, groups like Gigi strive to bring the two together. It has also been found that rock music unites people, specifically in the youth, during Bible study and fellowship (3). This leads to the next point that Indonesian rock music, simply, brings people together, as popular music typically does at the core.
Gigi’s music video for “My Facebook.”
References
(1) Baulch, E. (2011). God bless come back. Perfect Beat, 12(2), 129–146. https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.v12i2.129
(2) Gigi Band Official. GIGI. (n.d.). https://gigibandofficial.com/
(3) Muntu, D. L., & Nusantara, S. (2017). Exposure to Rock Music: Their Relationship to the Religious Habits of Indonesian College Students. Jurnal Theologia Forun STFT Surya Nusantara, 5(2), 58–70.
(4) Ng, S. (2022, October 18). Indonesian rock band Gigi to play First Kuala Lumpur show in 14 years. NME. https://www.nme.com/en_asia/news/music/indonesian-rock-band-gigi-to-play-first-kuala-lumpur-show-in-14-years-3330473
(5) Wallach, J., & Clinton, E. (2013). History, modernity, and music genre in Indonesia: Popular music genres in the Dutch East Indies and following independence. Asian Music, 44(2), 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1353/amu.2013.0020