Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?
L: LunariaN is a rock band with a penchant for incorporating non-rock excerpts or elements, and it ranges from traditional to electronic music. We love to have surprises in our music.
PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc.
L: The members are Rivelino Ismaya as vocalist / guitarist / synth / other instruments, Anink Edyson on guitars, Immanuel Willy on bass, and Ekky Setiawan as the drummer.
We think 2010 is the year where LunariaN was really born, with the current members. We met online, if you can believe that, Rivelino was looking to make a band and he made this sort of announcement thread on a website called Kaskus, you can see it as Indonesian Reddit. Rivelino already had some songs in hand. Ekky joined first, then Willy a couple of weeks after. Anink joined later in 2012 after Ben, the first guitarist, took off.
We released an EP in 2011 called Experimental Thinking through Phoenixx Records in Manchester-UK, performing from stage to stage in Indonesia, before for some reason we had to pause in 2014. Last year we picked up the pace again, finished our first album which will be out this May, while releasing 1 song each month since January. Currently we’re planning a small tour to promote it after its release.
PD: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?
L: Rivelino: while it is difficult to narrow it down, I would say the European classical music I listened when I was a kid, I remember when it was still the era of cassette, I would always happily wait for my sports lesson because my teacher would play Beethoven’s Fur Elise during the warm-up. Growing up, I started to like hunting for a “deeper” grass root kind of music, I grew fond of European traditional music.
LunariaN’s lyrics cannot be described as bright or joyful, they are mostly complaints conveyed in a poetic manner. So far we’ve talked about the search for god, digital era mentality, world control, love and hatred, forbidden love etc. For the next album we are conceptualising lyrics that will talk about science, because the album will be in that neck of the woods, should be interesting.
PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?
L: We would like to not deviate from who we are, freely creating based on what we want -– we are a firm believer that music is created for the listeners, and the first listener is the musician. A big bonus would be if in the future when someone hears our name, they will say “oh that is one good name that happened to music”
PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?
L: Currently where we still have no manager, we are quite happy that our songs have been played in so many independent radios around the globe, to us it gives a reason to continue doing what we do, albeit our music is very different from what is usually going around in Indonesia. Throughout our career, aside from being able to create and perform, what makes us happy the most is gaining new friends and meeting new people – which sounds cliché, but that’s how we feel.
PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new artists emerging from bedrooms in the day of the home studio. How is that going?
L: It definitely has its own challenge. For us it has been going ok with its struggle; some risks have been and are being taken. I think the most important thing as an artist is to be 100% of what you produce, and we are sure about what we have on our plate, and then it’s just a matter which way befits your music the most.
PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?
L: For the time being we’ve got some gigs ahead, while planning on our own small tour after the album release on May or June.
PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?
L: When they have to pay to download, of course it is ok, it’s a modern version of song purchase. The problem is when it is illegal downloading, that does hurt us as an artist.
There is a lot of streaming services today and it’s impossible to have a monochromatic take on it. I would say I do not like Spotify that much because of the percentage they give to the artists. It almost looks like they are trying to compensate it by having features to use in social media that gratify the need of visible approval online, which in turn will urge the artists to be ok with it. Can’t really speak about the other streaming services, don’t know that much about them because Spotify is the biggest in Indonesia. But now we’ve talked too much, hahaha.
The great thing about these services is the accessibility. It certainly helps in a big way for your songs being known to a far wider amount of people.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
L: Ekky: Bon Jovi’s Welcome to Wherever You Are. That song is fantastic! For me it’s the best from Bon Jovi although not as famous as many others.
Willy: Ask me again when I’ve just finished watching a Viking movie….
Rivelino: DdiamondD by Battles. Math rock bands appeal to me in a different way, and this song is among them that take the prize. I would say it sounds to me like a planned chaos.
Anink: Ku Menangis by Rossa. For the simple reason that my mom loves that song.
PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?
L: Which musician likes music industry again? Haha. But we do not want to change anything, though, never crossed our mind anyway.
PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?
L: Wrestling with all the responsibilities that come with releases – promo and stuff. We’re going to release our full album in May, so we’re planning a few things too with regards to that.
Aside from that, we are beginning to muster materials for the next album, which will have a stronger concept in it.
PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?
L: You can definitely go to one of these:
- Youtube: LunariaN Music.
- Most streaming services.
- Facebook: LunariaN
- Instagram: lunarian. Music
- Twitter: LunariaNtheband
- Soundcould: LunariaN
- Reverbnation: LunariaN
LunariaN links:
Band/Artist location – Jakarta, Indonesia
Facebook – You Tube – Soundcloud – Bandcamp – Reverbnation –
Twitter – Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Amazon – Deezer – LinkTree – Last Fm
Check our page for LunariaN
