ARIAN13
Singer, Songwriter, Visual Artist
What music are you into at the moment?
Let me see.. these past weeks they are:
Junius Reports’ From The Threshold Of Death
A 2011 release but I just found them early this year. Mix Hum, Mogwai, Deftones and Mew together, and I think you will get Junius.
The Devil’s Blood’s The Thousandfold Epicentre
This second album from them is great, although not as great as their first mini album. Evil never sounded this good. If you like New Wave of British Heavy Metal sound or just heavy rock, I think this is for you.
Ken MODE’s Mennonite
Anyone into noise rock will love this.
Midnight’s Satanic Royalty
This is when Venom and Motorhead have a bastard son. Good production too, this one.
Thou’s The Archer & The Owle
They kept releasing good stuff if you are into heavy, sludge metal.
Toxic Holocaust’s Conjure and Command
Metalpunks at its best.
What was the first record you bought—any interesting story behind it?
I don’t really remember, but when I was about eight years old I asked my father to buy me a cassette tape of the band with that surf feel which my dad usually play on his records player. He bought me The Beach Boys on tape. It was the era of bootlegs in Indonesia, so it was ‘The Very Best of’ album.
I think I went to the records store by myself when I was around 10 years old, bought some new wave compilations on cassette tapes. I remember earning money from drawing Japanese robots character and selling the drawings to my friends.
My first CD is also the first CD that I bought, is an album by Faith No More, The Real Thing. At this time I don’t have a CD player, but the format at the time was amazing. Looks futuristic, haha! I think I was 15 years old. There’s this new records store in the north of Bandung where I use to go with my family when I spotted that they started to have CDs. Only 2 albums, though, Faith No More and Soundgarden’s Louder Than Love. I already had Faith No More’s album on cassette tape, but was mesmerized by the CD look.
What are your all-time favorite albums? Why?
Too many! I’ll pick the underrated one, though: Roky Erickson & The Aliens’ I Think Of Demons. Erickson is a brilliant songwriter & lyricist. Before there was The Misfits, he already wrote songs about demons, zombies, ghouls and evil aliens.
What was the worst record you ever purchased?
Can’t remember. Today, I always download albums before I got them in vinyl version if I like it. It’s good to save your money. FYI, I am an avid records buyer. Downloading is a good way to test some music before letting go of your hard earned cash. Haha!
Who do you want to be, other than yourself, next time you reincarnate?
Myself. With better plannings. Ha!
What book are you reading now and what’s the score (1-10)? Borrow or buy?
Most book I bought is art/design books, so it’s not really reading… But I just finished State Of Authority: The State In Society In Indonesia by Gerry Van Klinken and Joshua Barker. Scary insights about this country, basically about the history of local Indonesia gangs, mafia, military and the government. Buy this.
â You might as well want to read this interesting paper about gangs of Indonesia, I just finished reading it as well: http://graduateinstitute.ch/webdav/site/ccdp/shared/5039/Ryter-youth-gangs-and-otherwise-in-indonesia.pdf
What new movie should people see? Why?
Definitely Prometheus out in July 2012. Ridley Scott is directing it and working again with artist H.R. Giger. I’m a huge Alien movie fan and also am a fan of stories about ancient aliens, so I’m really excited to see it soon.
What album do you choose to start your weekend?
Depends on the mood, but usually a dose of heavy metal albums is great to boost the mood. This week I blasted The Devil’s Blood whole catalogue! The result is I finished two huge drawings, got tattooed, and kicked a motorcycle that sounded his horns because I was getting on his way—while I was walking on the sidewalk! I called that motorcyclist, a ‘motoretarded’. Eat that, a–hole. Hahahaha!
And album you choose to end your weekend?
Same answer as above. Maybe blasting some traditional doom metal sounds are good to inspire me to kick some more ‘motoretardeds’!
Arian is in the middle of finishing the recordings for an upcoming new album of Seringai. He is also preparing for Lawless Jakarta, rock n’ roll motorcyclothes store in Kemang, drawing skulls forever, making sounds for #SaveOrangutans, and very busy making money due to the international concerts he wants to see both in Indonesia and Singapore.
SEE ALSO
Rock-n-Roll Exhibition: ARIAN 13
Seringai: Kian Nyaring dan Makin Bertaring
Seringai: Menolak Tua dan Bangga
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⢠This interview was firstly published on The Beat (Jakarta), February 2012
⢠Watch his interview during Thrash Attack concert:
