U2 drummer Larry Muller once said true rock ‘n’ roll and politics were inseparable:
“No matter what’s been going on there’s always been rock ‘n’ roll around the world of politics and social movements, in and around it.”
In Indonesia, this has never been more evident.
The new faces of the anti-corruption drive, which is every day gaining momentum, are the members of rock band slank
Drummer Bimo “Bimbim” Setiawan Almachzumi; guitarist Abdee Negara; guitarist Mohammad “Ridho” Ridwan Hafiedz; bassist Ivan “Ivanka” Kurnia Arifin and lead vocalist Akhadi “Kaka” Wira Satriaji are no accidental heroes.
This is one band that has never changed its tune.
It’s not unlike when John Lennon belted out “Give Peace A Chance” in the early 1970s.
The movement against the Vietnam war grew from a small number of demonstrators to a mighty force, as young people were united in the belief that war is not a solution.
Bimbin said youngsters here could also be encouraged to take up the anti-corruption fight: “Fighting corruption is not only about making arrests but also about preventing it from happening. It’s about changing perceptions. Corruption is bad. I believe we can do it through music and other cultural movements,” Bimbim said.
“A slanker in Kalimantan, who happens to be a police officer, texted me, saying he would keep a close eye on the lawmakers there,” he said, taking a drag on his cigarette.
The guys from slank have gone against the grain from the very beginning of their careers, and grown to be heroes for their fans, or slankers, who now number a staggering 10 million or so across the country.
“The challenge is how to make our music accessible to teenagers and old people, because we speak through our music. If a high school student listened to a slank song, he might wonder whether his father was corrupt. It’s not an idea he can share with his father. It’s shameful to have a corrupt dad,” Abdee said.
Last month, the rock group visited the Corruption Eradication Commission bearing a gift: a 13-track CD of anti-corruption songs.
Before hordes of journalists, the group sang “Gossip jalanan” (Street Gossip), a satirical song about corrupt leaders. They grabbed media headlines and, related or not, the commission caught lawmaker Al Amin Nasution in the same week. slank was showered with praise over the perceived tipoff but it didn’t feel good.
“We’re really sad (because of the arrest). We wish it was just gossip. This country is unbelievably rotten if the people’s representatives too have betrayed the people’s trust, filling their pockets with the people’s money,” said Bimbim.
His band mates agreed, almost in unison.
“We’re proud of being Indonesian, you could call us true nationalists even. We always bring the red-and-white on stage. slank too are enthusiastic. These days, where else you can find a junior high school student proudly waving the national flag if not at our concerts,” said Bimbim, 42, the eldest member of the group.
“It (Al Amin’s case) should have not happened,” Abdee said.
(From left to right) Mohammad “Ridho” Ridwan Hafiedz, Ivan Kurnia Arifin, Abdee Negara, Akhadi “Kaka” Wira Satriaji, and Bimo “Bimbim” Setiawan Almachzumi.
The lawmaker’s arrest came as a surprise for the group. “God works in mysterious ways,” Kaka, 34, said.
“If we think about it too deeply, it seems like the whole thing was orchestrated. But, no. I can only think that it’s God’s will. It’s time to open our eyes and fight corruption at its roots,” said Abdee, who turns 40 this year.
Founded in 1983, slank history started when junior high schools boys Bimbim, Uti, Boy, Kiki, Abi, and Well Welly formed CSC (Cikini Stone Complex) and played the music of their idol, Mick Jagger. The band was short-lived and changed its name to Red Evil, with Bimbim and Kiki still playing.
With this band, Bimbim, Kiki, Erwan, Denny and Bongky not only played Rolling Stones numbers but began to compose their own songs.
Though playing cover music, the band had an incredible stage presence.
Their earliest fans called it, in Betawi lingo, slenge’an, which means reckless, ignorant and indifferent.
And so, Red Evil became slank. With fame and money came drugs. This was cited as one of the reasons why the band changed formation a number of times before settling on the formation it has had for almost a decade now.
While many musicians try desperately to run with the in-crowd through the addition of piercings, tattoos and punk hairstyles, for example, “cool” comes naturally for the guys from slank.
Genuinely humble and minus other celebrities’ “busy being popular” attitude, the guys spared time for an interview on Wednesday at their oh-so-popular base-camp, Gang Potlot, in Kalibata area, South Jakarta.
Casual and composed, Bimbim seems to be the glue that holds his band mates together.
Though staying true to the Rolling Stones influence in their music, slank has left behind it the stereotype of “party hard, die young” rockers.
Kicking their drug habits in 2000, the guys have taken on new roles and are leading the moral movement against corruption, which has seemingly become a trendy pastime for state officials and power holders.
Slank visited the Corruption Eradication Commission last year, expressing its concern over the state of a country where corruption is the favorite pastime of some state officials (and yet no one acts).
They did not give up, paying a second visit to the commission when it came under new leadership.
“After our visit to the KPK, thousands of bits of info on alleged corruption have been sent to us. There’s also some information from a regional secretary outside Java telling us what his bosses do when they steal from the state coffers,” Abdee said.
On Wednesday, KPK chief Antasari Azhar paid a visit to Slank’s headquarters. He likened their relationship to that of a fish and water. With Slank’s popularity and its huge number of fans, it’s not certain who is the little fish and who is the big pond.
Wearing shocking orange shirts embroidered with Bidadari Penyelamat (Guardian Angels) on the back in white, youngsters packed Gang Potlot when the KPK entourage came. They were fierce-looking but totally friendly.
They are not fans of the rock band, they call themselves Slank’s umat (from Arabic ummah which means followers) instead.
“Their emotional attachment to us is absolutely no burden, though it means responsibility. We’re not politicians,” Bimbim said.
“Slankers, whoever they are, have become our eyes, ears and hearts — everywhere,” Kaka jumped in.
“From Slankers, we have a greater knowledge of how many potholes are in one area, for example, than the public works minister,” Bimbim said.
Good management has led to other things. Slank’s management — Pulau Biru — knows how to keep these loyalists within their reach and Slank apparently plays it cool with them, for they have to lead the moral movement too for their umat.
“If a slanker gets drunk, another slanker will reprimand him. It’s not the way it should be. We’ve been there and done that,” Kaka said.
It certainly seems to be Slank’s year with two album releases — one’s in Japanese, the other in English — scheduled for May.
“At the end of this year, we’ll be working with Garin Nugroho to make a semi-documentary,” Kaka said.
“It’s good to be able to dream, you know, but for us it’s best to have one dream at a time. Make it real and dream another one,” Bimbim said.
