Interview: Ensemble Tikoro

As someone who has always been intrigued by the breadth and dynamic range of variation represented by metal vocal styles, it's very rare that I ever encounter them in isolation. It's kind of like salt, or some other essential ingredient in that way, when preparing a meal- they're always there in the mix, contributing essential flavors and textures, but only rarely being recognized as the indispensable element that they are. That someone would specifically reach into the core of heavy metal and extract a singular pumping heartstring to examine in the cold light of the moon is what fascinates me most about Indonesia's Ensemble Tikoro- their mere existence gives these orations the unsung admirable attention they deserve. 

Forming in Java in 2012, Ensemble Tikoro is an evolving assemblage of regional heavy metal singers and unconventional vocalists of various backgrounds arranged in a kind of choir of the demand—a demonic glee club. They thrive in the display of their guttural vocal aesthetics without further musical accompaniment or enhancements, digital or otherwise. It's just raw, visceral humanity- uncut and unapologetic. 

While the group is primarily focused on live performances, a collection of their selected recordings is now available through Italian international folk label Artetetra Records, germanely titled Hell Chamber. 

With all the weird shit I've listened to over my lifetime, nothing has ever come close to the strangeness or jarring fascination which I encountered between the gums and tucked away around the molars of these compositions. 

I reached out to the band through their label, and they obliged me with an interview. Their responses have helped me understand the band quite a bit more, but they haven't done much to alleviate the shock of my initial confrontation with their sound. It's the kind of work that takes some getting used to—assuming that adjusting one's pallet to their specific infernal aesthetic is desirable... or even possible. 

Check out their Hell Chamber and group leader Robi Rusdiana's responses to my inquiries below:

The following responses have been edited slightly from their original text for the sake of clarity. 

1. Please introduce the project and explain what your goals for it are.

Hell Chamber is an album of archival short-form compositions alongside snippets from commissions. All works have been elaborated between 2013 and 2020. The works only include voice-only compositions, including techniques from extended vocals, extreme metal, throat singing and traditional Indonesian vocal styles. Everything was made to be a little easier for the general public to hear and enjoy.

2. Who are the players/singers on this most recent album, Hell Chamber, and how did they become involved?

Albeit open and in continuous evolution, the ensemble is currently composed of Robi Rusdiana, Mahatma Adi Hartoko, Arum Dwi Hanantoro, Ardyansah, Handriansyah Nugraha, Tandani Mutaqim, Agung Suryana, Mita Kulsum. All members come from a very united community of metal music lovers from Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. We met and joined metal gigs for a long time and in the same way, together, we learned and explored extreme metal vocal techniques until evolving into works that cover a wider range of extended vocals and do not obsess over metal per se.

3. How do you handle the musical notation of the different parts of the composition for each of the singers?
It depends on the number of vocalists needed. In some works, at least a couple of the vocalists ought to be able to execute different techniques, whereas generally, some of the members are especially focused on one technique. The compositions are written using classical notation methodologies with various indexes and captions for players so that non-tonal material like textures and elements contributing to dynamics and moods can be legible.

4. How much creative control do the singers have in their performances?

I don't know if this is an answer, but generally speaking the feeling is that discipline and a strong sense of exploration control the performer while presenting the pieces.

5. What is it about metal music that creates such fertile ground for different vocal styles?

It's definitely the fact that experimentation and new interpretations of what music can be, including metal music works that we like, are just materials we use to find ideas. These ideas are reflected by distinguishing vocal techniques. Every new idea can be interpreted by different vocal styles and the choice is really heterogeneous, so everything becomes really flexible.

6. How does metal's extremity complement and also clash with more traditional styles of performance and composition? How do you accommodate or push back against these aesthetic issues within this project?

Music is always evolving although it keeps a certain substance in regard to different needs and functions. The difference is about focusing on things that complement each other, regardless of whether the music style is traditional or not. The music we do is based on honesty and intuition during the work's development, and trying to avoid trapping ourselves into existing musical systems.

7. How does Indonesian culture and folk music guide the conception and performances of this group?

The culture of daily life lived today by normal people is the basic concept for us when starting to create and present the works we make. We are not making a reiteration for any old tradition or culture. Is not about nostalgia. Is about what people do in the streets every day: from the different accents of people from different areas you may find at a bus terminal in Cicaheum

8. What role does Indonesian puppetry have in inspiring and influencing the performances of this group?

For us it is very inspiring in terms of vocal techniques and timbres, as well as interpretation of characterization. For those who don't know, the puppet master (dalang) executes all puppet voices and thus has to learn different vocal techniques to embody the characters and express them to the public.

9. Do you hope that the music you make through this project can be enjoyed as one might enjoy other music, or do you suggest that the listener approach these performances in another way?

For us this music and concept is very liberating in terms of what we think about its fruition. It's about that feeling. Listeners can like it or not, but the important thing is that the music we present is able to make people think and enjoy sound in a different way from music in general, hopefully.

10. Is there anything else you'd like people to know about this project that hasn't been brought up yet?

Actually recording music is not our main goal. The music we collected for this album, like all of our compositions, will continue to develop and will never be finished. As for other works we didn't record, for us it's about the live thing: come to our shows and enjoy all the dimensions that no recording media or music album will ever provide.

Hatur nuhun mang!

Translation by Luigi Monteanni

All photos by Kevin Saputra (@kevinesaputra). Courtesy of Artetetra Records.

Original responses in Indonesian are below. 

1. Hell Chamber adalah sebuah album dari nomor-nomor berdurasi pendek Ensemble Tikoro. Ini dibuat agar sedikit lebih mudah didengar dan dinikmati oleh masyarakat umum.
2. Robi Rusdiana, Mahatma Adi Hartoko, Arum Dwi Hanantoro, Ardyansah, Handriansyah Nugraha, Tandani Mutaqim, Agung Suryana, Mita Kulsum. Mereka adalah komunitas pecinta musik metal di Bandung. Kami bertemu dan bergabung dalam gigs-gigs metal. Bersama-sama belajar dan mengeksplorasi teknik extreme metal vocal hingga mengolah extended vocals yang lebih luas.
3. Tergantung dari nomor karyanya. Ada yang harus bisa melakukan banyak sekali teknik, namun ada yang difokuskan ke dalam satu teknik. Komposisi ditulis dengan menggunakan classical notation dengan beragam index dan keterangan untuk pemain.
4. Disiplin dan daya eksplorasi yang kuat menjadi kontrol untuk pemain dalam menyajikan karya.
5. Eksperimentasi dan interpretasi baru dari musik atau karya metal yang kami sukai menjadi bahan untuk mencari ide yang membedakan teknik yang diolah.
6. Musik senantiasa berkembang namun dalam substansi yang hampir sama, dengan dasar kebutuhan dan fungsi yang berbeda-beda. Perbedaan justru menjadi hal yang akan saling melengkapi, terlepas gaya musik tradisional atau bukan. Peristiwa yang kami suguhkan berlandaskan dari kejujuran dan intuisi dalam berkarya, bukan menjebakan diri pada sistem-sistem musik yang ada.
7. Budaya keseharian yang dijalani hari ini menjadi konsep dasar dalam berkarya dan menyajikan karya yang kami buat, tidak harus membuat re-literasi atau bernostalgia pada tradisi atau kebudayaan lama.
8. Sangat menginspirasi dalam segi teknik dan timbre vokal, juga interpretasi pemeranan sebuah karakter.
9. Sangat dibebaskan, pendengar boleh menyukai atau tidak, yang penting musik yang kami sajikan mampu membuat orang berpikir dan menikmati musik dengan cara yang berbeda dari musik pada umumnya, semoga.
10. Sesungguhnya rekaman atau merekam musik bukan tujuan utama kami, karena karya musik yang dibuat dalam album ini akan terus berkembang dan tidak akan pernah selesai. Begitupun dengan karya-karya lainnya yang tidak kami rekam ke dalam bentuk audio, datanglah langsung ke pertunjukan kami, menikmati semua dimensi yang tidak bisa disajikan oleh media rekam atau sebuah album musik.