God gave rock’n’roll to you: Voice of Baceprot pose in front of a packed sell-out crowd at Les Rencontres Trans Musicales. The band may flash the ‘horns’ hand gesture and play ‘the devil’s music’, but they say their religious faith keeps them grounded
when she got the call from Ahba Erza in 2017, asking for help managing VOB. She drove for 11 hours from Jakarta to meet the band in their village, and spent two hours explaining the pitfalls, hierarchy and politics of the music industry, and what to expect from fame. Then she asked if they had any questions. Marsya raised her hand. “How do you eat on an aeroplane when the food is flying all around?” “Yes,” Widi added, gravely, “and how do you pee?” That’s when Nadia knew she had to be part of their journey. In 2017, VOB performed across Indonesia, appeared on national television, and were featured in The Guardian. The following year, they released their debut single, School Revolution, an intricate thrash-metal track that showcased their technical 60
prowess and deft songwriting skills. The single sent the band international, with articles appearing in the New York Times and on media outlets including the BBC, US public radio network NPR, and German state-owned broadcaster DW. Then COVID came along and brought everything to a halt. But Nadia saw this interruption as an ideal time to polish the band’s self-taught skills, so she made the long drive to their village to explain to their families why the three young women should move to the capital, Jakarta. That’s where VOB now share an apartment, although they spend a lot of time at Nadia’s place, splashing about in her pool in between band practice. The trio have spent the past year under the guidance of members of Indonesian rock bands Musikimia and Deadsquad and jazz-bass player Barry Likumahuwa. But getting to this stage THE RED BULLETIN