#monday math class

I had given up any aspirations of playing in bands by the time I hit my mid-twenties and graduated from university. Not that I seriously pursued music in my teen years. There was that one gig I played at my junior high graduation party, but I suspect I was asked to sing only because I had decent English pronunciation, not because I could sing like I was the second coming of Kurt Cobain. (Though in true Nirvana style I did trash the mic stand, much to the disapproval of the equipment rental company.) Then in high school I formed a band with a friend of similar musical tastes when we were in junior high together, but as it turned his interests had moved on to hardcore, whereas I was still more Billy Corgan than Biohazard. So that didn't last too long. And you'd think university would be an even better time to find like-minded individuals to start a band with, and you'd be right - if your university was Institut Kesenian Jakarta, birthplace of many fine Indonesian bands. Unfortunately I didn't attend IKJ, and couldn't find anyone to regularly play music with at UI. Being useless at music probably didn't help my cause.

So I ended up becoming a music writer, which is what often happens to frustrated musicians. And it didn't seem I was likely to become President of Indonesia, so I would have to settle for music journalism. And I was cool with that - besides going to gigs for free and getting lots of complimentary CDs, I also got to meet many of my favourite Indonesian musicians, and in some cases even befriend and influence them.

One of those cases was Ario Hendarwan of The Adams, with whom I bonded with over The Beach Boys and Weezer. He suggested we do something together, and after going through the options, I ended up writing lyrics for a song The Adams contributed to the Quickie Express movie soundtrack in 2007. Below is a video some fans made for the song a few years later as a school assignment.

Around the same time, Ario had also started Monday Math Class, with him providing music for lyrics and vocals by Priscilla Jamail. Some demos they put up on MySpace drew some buzz, followed by their first gig invitation. I just dropped by their rehearsal but ended up being asked by Ario to operate his laptop containing the backing tracks. Since all that involved was pressing the space button, I said yes. Along with Gianni Fajri on backing vocals, this was Monday Math Class' debut performance.

We only did one song, because it then started to rain heavily and we couldn't stick around to finish the rest of the set, because Ario had a gig with The Adams afterwards. But from there, Monday Math Class' line-up evolved to include Ezar Darnadi on bass and Gigih Suryoprayogo on drums, while Gianni also ended up playing acoustic rhythm guitar.

Which left me as the odd one out. Having a drummer meant I was relieved of my laptop duties, so I ended up doing background vocals and blabbering in between songs, because Priscilla was a bit on the shy side. I felt like a useless douchebag just standing up there and yakking, so I figured I had to make a more meaningful contribution. Co-writing some songs helped, but I still felt like a liability onstage.

And then Sir Dandy happened.

Sir Dandy - Dandi Achmad Ramdhani, or Acong to his friends - was previously known in the scene as the frontman of Teenage Death Star, proud proponents of the philosophy "Skill Is Dead". Their shows were always raucous affairs, with the line between band and audience being obliterated, along with any semblance of musicianship with instruments getting unplugged, players forgetting their parts, and so on. Here's a video from their album launch show in mid-2008:

Almost a year after that show, Sir Dandy announced he was doing a solo performance at Jaya Pub as part of Superbad, the monthly showcase for emerging bands and old faces from Indonesia's independent scene. I was there to check out another band, but it was Sir Dandy's performance that left a lasting impression:

In its own way it was just as chaotic as a Teenage Death Star gig. But just the sheer audacity of being able to write such simple songs and play them with no fear - and making the crowd go wild - despite just starting to learn how to play guitar. It inspired me to go home and pick up the acoustic guitar lying around at home. Lack of progress beyond the C, D, E, G and A chords led to me losing interest - but seeing Sir Dandy made me think those chords were more than enough to do something with.

It was like a door unlocked in my mind. Suddenly I was able to write songs on the guitar on my own, whereas previously I had to rely on others. I also made use of friendships with musicians so I could learn how to play their songs, like Sore's "Mata Berdebu". Inevitably, I ended up wanting to play guitar for Monday Math Class too.

Inevitably I'd discover it's not that easy playing guitar for Monday Math Class with such limited capabilities, and I probably ruined a few shows because of it. But I still wanted to play, so I decided I needed some practice at an easier level, then work my way up. I got in touch with Acong and asked him for the chords to Sir Dandy's songs, and I learned them at home. I even started coming up with my own lead guitar parts! Eventually Sir Dandy had some gigs, and Acong invited me to join him. Not knowing any better, I said yes. We were a duo probably more like Tenacious D or Flight Of The Conchords rather than The Everly Brothers, and managed to score an opening slot as the launch of Sore's Sombreros Kiddos EP.

All this gave me more confidence for playing in Monday Math Class, and just in time, too - we got asked to play at the Java Rockin' Land 2010 festival, in front of our biggest crowd to date.

OK, maybe it wasn't a vast improvement, but certainly much better than when I started. Save for a show a week or so later, we haven't played live since then. Call Aldri at +628179847777 if interested. The current line-up of Monday Math Class is Priscilla Jamail (lead vocals), Ario Hendarwan (lead guitar), Ezar Darnadi (bass), Ildo Hasman (drums), Muhammad Asranur (keyboards) and myself.

Meanwhile, Sir Dandy was also evolving. Somehow Acong managed to hook up with Widi Puradiredja of Maliq & D'essentials, who offered to produce his album. We had a show line up and the three of us rehearsed. Then an hour before playing, Ade Paloh from Sore showed up to play bass. Eventually this sort of thing would become the rule rather than the exception.

The current line-up of Sir Dandy And The Boys In The Band - as Acong would eventually call us - started to come together in January 2011. We had a gig at Galeri Nasional on the same day as Widi's wedding, so I suggested Ildo - whom I was playing with in Monday Math Class - on drums. A day before we were supposed to rehearse, Ade got sick, and rather than look for a replacement bass player, Acong said just the three of us would be fine. We rehearsed in Ildo's room/home studio, and just as were about to finish, Herald Reynaldo - lead singer of L'alphalpha, Ildo's other band - dropped by. On a whim, we asked if he was interested in playing bass for the gig, and he said yes. But before we could rehearse again, Acong had to go home and I ended up trying to teach the other two. Plans to rehearse again fell through, and so the first time all four of us played together was at soundcheck for just one song. But I think it went well.

Ade returned and Ildo kept his place for the next Sir Dandy gig at Backyard Coffee, situated on the lower floor of Organic Records' base of operations. Widi just watched, then decided he wanted to play keyboards at the next show. And so the debut performance of the main Sir Dandy And The Boys In The Band line-up was for Superbad at Jaya Pub, which is also where Sir Dandy's first ever solo show took place.

Since then Sir Dandy And The Boys In The Band - with the occasional fill-in guest such as Twentyfirst Night's Dimasz Joy Adithya, Maliq & D'essentials' Ilman Ibrahim, Homogenic's Grahadea Kusuf, Hightime Rebellion's Rendy Surindrapati and more - have played a number of unlikely high-profile gigs, including the Java Soulnation festival, Djakarta Artmosphere, PL Fair at Lebak Bulus Stadium, Terusik Traxkustik All Star Edition (in my office's backyard, funnily enough), opening for Tame Impala and !!!, and Java Rockin' Land at the same stage where Ildo and I had played with Monday Math Class a year earlier: