At : Bandung, West Java, Indonesia
29 November 2012. Interview by : Kieran James and
Popo (BUSUK WEBZINE) Interpretation & extra comments by : Popo (DEMONS DAMN & BUSUK WEBZINE)
FORGOTTEN is: Addy Gembel
(vocals), Toteng (guitar), Gan-Gan
(guitar), Diki (bass), and Rifki
(drums).
Kieran James1: First of all can you
take us through the band history
right from the start? This will be
for the history book as well as for
BUSUK WEBZINE.
Addy1: First of all we started
FORGOTTEN in 1994 in Ujung
Berung [East Bandung, West Java,
Indonesia]. We had influences from
Florida death-metal, SOLSTICE,
MALEVOLENT CREATION,
TESTAMENT, ANTHRAX, and bands
like that. We made our first album
in 1997. It's called Future Syndrome.
Our first album's music is like old-
style death-metal influenced by
OBITUARY, GORGUTS, MALEVOLENT,
SOLSTICE, more like crossover DM.
It was released by Palapa Records.
At that time we grew together with
JASAD, BURGERKILL, and
DISINFECTED – that was the first era
of Ujung Berung DM.
Then the second album was in 1998.
It's called Obsesi Mati and released
by ESP [Extreme Souls Production,
Bandung]. This means Willing of
Death.
Popo2: How was the sound different
for the second album?
Addy2: The music is more aggressive
and faster because at that time we
had a lot of influences from old
British grindcore and bands like
TERRORIZER. We found the base for
the lyrics of FORGOTTEN in this
album – sarcastic, cynical, and very
critical of the situation around us.
This was still in Suharto's time. It's
more like punk lyrics. Until now we
have had five albums. The line-up
was different for the second album.
We changed the drummer to Andris;
he played on the second album.
After that in 2000 we released our
third album, it's called Tuhan Telah
Mati, meaning God is Dead, the
most controversial album. After we
released this album we got many
problems from the radical Muslim
groups. We got a lot of oppression
from radical groups such as FPI
[Islamic Defenders' Front]. They
terrorized us, it got banned, and the
radio stations would not play this
album.
In 2003 we released our fourth
album called Tiga Angka Enam,
meaning Triple Six. Toteng and I are
the only originals in the band since
the inception and we are the oldest
[laughs]. Ferly only played on the
first album then he quit to join
JASAD.
In 2007 we re-released our fourth
album on CD because originally it
was only released only on cassette.
This was with Rottrevore Records.
We had to wait seven years until we
released our last album in 2011
called Laras Perlaya.
KJ3: Why did it take so long to
release the last album?
Addy3: You know because of life
changes – people get married and
focus on the family and the job. We
thought we should take a break for a
while and get on with our lives. We
still played onstage. In 2008 we
started jamming again for the next
album and it was released in 2011.
We lived in three decades of
recording technology. For the first
album we did live recording as it's
hard to find a studio for recording.
The second album was the digital
era. The third album was on analog
system and also the fourth. For the
last one we used digital recording.
Of course it's important for our
sound. We analyze over the years
and find a better sound using new
technology…you know,
globalization…
Popo4: Have there been many
changes over time in the lyrical
ideas?
Addy4: We try to respond to
situations in our daily life. For the
first album we were just 17-year-
olds, we graduated from high school
with much anger. We talked about
environmental and social issues in
our daily life. The third album is
more about personal issues and
personal expression. It's very much
a heresy in here, we don't give a
f*** about that, it's for real. The
second album was about social
issues. The record label provided us
money to rent a good studio; we
tried our best to record. The lyrics
are more sarcastic, cynical, and
aggressive. We had many problems
with that album. For the last album
it's more fun, we had no target, the
band is not a job for us [laughs], it is
something you have to do for fun.
We still talk about the same ideas
but it's more metaphor in our lyrics.
The music is more progressive, we
didn't sell out or anything…
KJ5: What is the meaning for you
of the third album title God is
Dead?
Addy5: I read [Friedrich] Nietzsche, I
quote this, I had discussions with
friends who had the same interest in
philosophy.
KJ6: Are your lyrics mostly in
English, Bahasa Indonesian or
Bahasa Sundanese [the traditional
language of the Bandung region]?
Addy6: The lyrics are in Bahasa
Indonesian. On the second album I
used Sunda lyrics in one song. In the
new album we collaborated with
traditional musicians TARAWANGSA
and BELUK.
Popo7: Why did you choose to
collaborate?
Addy7: At the start I did research on
traditional Sunda music. We tried to
do mapping. Much traditional Sunda
music is rare because of the
situation [i.e. rapid westernization
and modernization]. They don't have
a new generation to continue the
music and the tradition. I'm quite
interested in that music. At a band
meeting I proposed this project with
them. They were interested and
agreed. It's hard at first to match the
two styles. They are very extreme to
me. We play differently and it's hard
to find a formula to mix it. It took
almost one year to do it with them.
We try to understand each other's
music. We did it. We agreed not to
label this music as "traditional". We
agree that this music is simply
music. We came to do something
out of the box.
KJ8: Were you influenced by what
JASAD has been doing in terms of
the new Sundanese DM genre?
Addy8: No, the inspiration just
came.
Popo: Not only JASAD makes the
traditional music.
KJ9: Where have you had
distribution arrangements?
Addy9: We were distributed in
Europe, in Germany, collaboration
with a local label in Germany,
Morbid Records. That was for the
first album.
Popo10: If people asked why do you
play a western style of music when
you are Indonesian people how
would you respond?
Addy10: I don't label DM as a genre.
It's a global music. Music is a global
language. It can happen everywhere.
Of course the root came from
Europe but in every city and every
country they do mutations. We have
different issues from America and
Europe, we are not copycats. We try
to respond to our local situation. We
do not sing about Iraq and Palestine.
We sing about issues in our daily
life.
Popo11: When did you first know
about DM and what was your first
album?
Addy11: OBITUARY, Cause of Death,
13-years-old, when I was in junior
high-school,`1992.
KJ12: OK, changing the topic, why
do you think the DM scene in
Ujung Berung became so strong?
Addy12: Ujung Berung [UB] is like an
isolated city. For the first time UB
had ugly cultures. World Bank came
with big money and changed the
agricultural culture into
manufacturing culture. I saw
everything change so fast as a
teenager. I saw it all change from
fishing on the lake to the factories.
Our catharsis is the music, we run to
the music. We needed more
aggressive music, we found DM at
that time. We thought this is for us.
The population of UB is middle-class
and lower-class. We lacked
information and education at that
time. We were very isolated. We
became closer to each other. We
had the same problems and the
same interest in the music.
Brotherhood is so important, we
value and support each other – that
is the base value of how UB metal
became so strong.
KJ13: Who were the most
important bands or people?
Addy13: In 1950, the revolution, we
got liberated from colonialism.
There were so many traditional
[artistic] things in Bandung. After
Soekarno's fall then came Suharto.
We got oppressed so much, we had
long trauma, artists and musicians
were suppressed, how to express
ourselves in music? After Suharto
fell came the explosion, traditional
arts became reborn and inspired.
We started to dig again our basic
culture and we tried to mix it with
DM.
KJ14: What is your comment on
the UB scene today and can you
suggest any good young bands?
Addy14: This era is different. Now it
is easier to get information and find
anything you want, just click Google.
It impacts on the younger
generation. They learn so fast about
music and technology. We have the
base values.
KJ15: Can the young bands
maintain the values of UB DM
which the older bands have built
up?
Addy15: The young bands can keep
the basic values. UB is a very small
town, everyone knows each other.
Popo16: Is it fair to say 90% of the
biggest and oldest Indonesian DM
bands are from Bandung?
Addy16: Not the biggest, I just feel
old [laughs]. We were an influence to
the other cities about how to build
the scene and how to make good
music.
Popo: And how to build networks
between the towns?
Addy: Yes, many friends came from
other towns to learn how to build a
community, how to have social
engineering in a community. From
Malang, Bali, and Yogya [Yogyakarta]
they came to visit us and learnt how
to build a community.
Popo17: What are the best aspects
of the UB community?
Addy17: Best are that we are proud
of ourselves, we do interesting
things, we impact on each other, and
we have conflict resolution.
Popo18: The worst aspects of the UB
community?
Addy18: We don't have the facilities
or the supporting infrastructure. The
government still does not know how
much potential we have, we give a
lot to people here, and we help the
jobless problem. Many people find
jobs in our community such as crew,
merch shops, and in recording
studios. We give a lot to the society,
to the people. The government
closes their eyes to what we are
doing now.
Popo19: You pushed Adyth to get
new spirit to get back to
DISINFECTED when he was working
in Jakarta. Why did you want to
inspire Adyth?
Addy19: He is my guitar hero, I love
DISINFECTED. I was sad DISINFECTED
couldn't exist. I told him "come back,
we still need you, do it for fun".
KJ20: What are some good young
bands in UB now?
Addy20: UNDERGOD.
KJ: They are still young?
Addy: Yes.
KJ: SAFFAR?
Addy: Yes, they are good too.
DEPRAVITY SAVAGE, I love that band,
they are different.
KJ: Busuk Webzine will sponsor
the new album by DEPRAVITY
SAVAGE.
Addy: Cool!
Popo21: Do you have plan for tour?
Addy21: For next year we just focus
on our next album. After the next
album is finished we will start to
tour again.
Popo22: What is your most
memorable gig?
Addy22: It's kind of a hard question
[laughs]. The most interesting were
when we started the band,
1997-2003. We did not have so
many pressures. We just had fun,
played with the band, and met new
friends. That was the most
interesting experience in our
careers.
Popo23: Many people think
FORGOTTEN is satanic. What do you
think?
Addy23: I think the people who hate
us are still human. I try to still
communicate. I don't believe
violence can fix everything. They
don't want to talk with us.
KJ24: What do you think of One
God movement [Islamist metal] in
Jakarta?
Addy24: As long as they are not
fascist it's OK. It's good to be
different. It's their right to be
different and believe. As long as
they don't push beliefs it's OK for us.
What they are doing is very good for
their business. They are selling their
God, like SLAYER is selling the
satanic.
Popo25: Do you write all the lyrics?
Addy25: Yes.
KJ26: Can you give us your
comment on each of the following
UB bands: BLEEDING CORPSE?
Addy26: Still the fastest and most
brutal band in Bandung!
KJ: UNDERGOD?
Addy: Unique.
KJ: JASAD?
Addy: Oldest, with the fresh blood.
KJ: Abaz [new drummer for
JASAD]?
Addy: Yes.
KJ: SAFFAR?
Addy: They have a good fortune.
KJ: Very brutal!
Addy: Very brutal!
KJ: What do you think of women
in the metal scene such as Popo?
Addy: It's good. It's not forbidden in
the metal scene.
KJ: Neither forbidden nor
forgotten!
KJ27: What is your comment on
the relationship between death-
metal and black-metal in
Bandung?
Addy27: We grew up with them, we
are close with them. BM does not
have the guts in Bandung. They just
don't have the guts. In 1999 a major
magazine tried to make a report
about the BM scene and it concluded
that BM was satanic. They [the BM
bands] are shy to show up. They got
afraid. They are not too productive
in here.
Popo28: How do your wives and
girlfriends respond to you playing
DM?
Addy28: So far we don't have a
problem and even our parents. On
national TV we scream "God is dead"
but they [parents] don't have a
problem with that. We give full
information to them. They don't
have any misperceptions.
Popo29: Best memories of a show?
Addy29: I got drunk onstage and
forgot what I was doing [laughs].
That's the best memory.
Popo30: What are you expecting
from the new generation of
metalheads?
Addy30: More tolerance, more
respect, that's the basic when you
want to grow your community to
make it bigger and more open-
minded. Be proud of what you have.
Tolerance here is still a big problem.
KJ31: How do you feel when you
see so many high-school boys
wearing your tee-shirts?
Addy31: It's kind of weird you know,
like watching yourself on TV [laughs].
Why do they buy our shirt? As long
as they like it it's OK.
KJ32: Tell me about the
FORGOTTEN book.
Addy32: For the last album I liked to
write about everything which I saw. I
tried to write a mega story and I
gave it to my players. They tried to
make music from our story. That's
the first creative step as to how we
make music. We had an idea of why
not make a book. I gathered
everything in my journal and put it
in a book. I got inspiration from the
Bible for the style of pictures and
sketches, the old Bible.
KJ33: Have you got a religion?
Addy33: My religion is humanity. I
believe religion is a social
construction. It did not come from
somewhere, it came from here.
KJ34: What other Indonesian city
metal scene do you like?
Addy34: Malang. They had a
situation like in Bandung. The
architect who built Malang is the
same as in Bandung in the colonial
era. We have the same culture
although Malang is not Sundanese.
KJ35: I know John Yoedi often
likes to ask this question: What
are your favorite Indonesian
bands not from Java?
Addy35: I like DJIN from Medan. I
like BARSIMBAH-DARAH, grindcore
from Bali, and DEAD VERTICAL from
Jakarta.
KJ: From outside Java! It's hard to
think like that?
[All laugh.]
Addy: ENGORGING from Samarinda.
KJ: We had our first BUSUK
EXTREME METAL FEST in
Balikpapan last week.
Addy: I know DEVASTATION
(SAMARINDA). They need to find the
right studio for their music.
KJ: That's the problem in East
Borneo.
Addy: Yes.
KJ36: What are your comments on
BUSUK WEBZINE?
Addy36: I read it, it's cool. You
should make a print copy. Internet
here is still expensive for some
people. You need to make a physical
copy, it's good for collectors.
KJ: But physical copy has
deadlines!
Addy: Yeah, and everyone hates that
[laughs].
Popo37: When people say you are a
big band in Indo and you influenced
many bands in Indo, what is your
response?
Addy37: OK, first…
Popo: Are you happy?
Addy: We are not a big band…
Popo: Like PETERPAN?
Addy: We are not PANTERA man; we
are not trying to be famous. We try
to share our perception to the
people. We used English in our first
album but never after that because
people do not understand the lyrics.
It's good to share our opinion with
the people. People can agree or
disagree – that's good to build
opinion in people so they can think.
Popo38: Did the radio ban affect
your lyric writing at all?
Addy38: We don't give a f*** about
that. We started this band for fun;
it's not a job or a career. We have
nothing to lose from any ban.
Popo39: You could still play shows?
Addy39: Sure, we have connections
with the other cities; we can still
distribute our album. We are not
trying to make money from the
band, we have nothing to lose.
Popo: Yes, yes, yes.
Addy: FUNERAL INCEPTION
(JAKARTA) had the same problem as
us.
KJ: And UMBRA MORTIS
(JAKARTA) so they changed from
black-metal to power-metal.
Addy: I can show you the SMS from
the radical Muslim group, too bad
my cell phone has no batteries.
Popo40: We have two languages on
BUSUK WEBZINE, what do you think
of that?
Addy40: It's good. Indonesian people
do not have a literate culture, we
have oral histories. It's good for
people to read to get information on
the metal scene and it's good for
documentation. My criticism is you
should still make physical copy.
Internet is still expensive and a
problem outside Java. We have a
lack of technology outside Java.
Popo41: When people in USA and
Europe read this interview what do
you want them to know?
Addy41: The relation will be more
dynamic. People can learn about the
dynamism of the [UB] community,
how big we are, it's good for them to
know. We try to make more
international relations with US and
Europe.
Popo: What would you want to say to
them?
KJ: Any message for them?
Addy: Basically we play the same
music, we have the same [metal]
culture but the problems are
different. Here the problems are
more real. Here metal is only for
fun. We can't feed our wives and
children from our band. We try to
make metal as basic as we can in
economic terms. We do what we
can, given our economic
circumstances. JASAD or
DISINFECTED could be rich in the
USA or Europe.
KJ42: Any message for the fans in
Indonesia?
Addy42: Support for what we do,
that's it. Thank you for the support
for so many years, 19 years now.
Popo43: Do you have any further
suggestion for BUSUK WEBZINE?
Addy: Make physical copy.
KJ: It costs money but maybe…
Addy: It's very chaotic in my
experience to look or information
on the internet. It's chaotic to try to
open up many pages. You need
more stamina to read off the LCD
screen. Maybe I'm just too old
[laughs]. That's why I don't like
eBooks, it's very tiring.
Popo44: Do you have a plan to
translate your book to English?
Addy44: Of course I really want that.
So many friends from Europe want
to read the book.
KJ: Any last comment?
Addy: That's enough! It's a very nice
interview.
[After this we were getting tired, it
had been a long night. We bought
some merchandise, took some
pictures, and then Bobby Rock came
to pick us up.]
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