what others can only imagine.

Albert Judiyanto, Jakarta based photographer is one of the best photographers around and is also one of our favorite photographers. There is no doubt he can work a camera. You'll see why..

If someone payed for an all expense trip to anywhere in the world, where would you like to go?
Las Vegas for sure

Who is your favorite photographer?
Juergen Teller, Hedi Slimane

What keeps you up at night?
hunger.

Why do you photograph?
Because i know how to work a camera

Where do you want to be when you wake up?
Playboy Mansion.

ALL PHOTOS BY ALBERT JUDIYANTO

www.albertjudiyanto.com

MUSIC IS LIFE.

Iga Massardi is a very good friend of ours and a hell of a guitarist. I'm pretty sure when you think about The Trees and The Wild, you think about him. He might seem serious on stage but with us.. Oh no no no!

What kind of music captures you and why?
ROCK! I am an aggressive young man who's introverted. So ROCK can really represent me from it's energy, harmony and expression. Rock is very diverse.. From Led Zeppelin to Tame Impala.Well the point is anything expressive.

ROCK! saya adalah pemuda agresif yang introvert. jadi ROCK sangat bisa mewakilkan saya dari segi energi, harmonisasi, dan ekspresi. Rock sangat luas. Dari Led Zeppelin sampe Tame Impala. Intinya sih musik yg ekspresif gitu loh..


If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?
Japan.

Why do you play music?
Me playing music is equivalent to breathing. From the moment I wake up and poo, music is all I think about. Guitar, effects, guitar amplifiers. When other people are thinking about buying clothes, I don't. All I read are guitar magazines. Guitarist & Guitar World Mag.

Kamu ini kok kaya baru kenal saya aja.. *ember.. saya itu main musik sama kayak nafas. dari bangun tidur sampe cebok yg saya pikirin itu cuma musik, gitar, efek gitar, ampli gitar. kalo orang lain masih bisa mikirin beli baju, saya nggak bisa. pedoman saya itu majalah gitar. Guitarist & Guitar World magz.


What's the first album you bought?
I forgot precisely... But if I'm not mistaken, Java Jive.

Lupa persisnya apa..tapi kalo nggak salah Java Jive.

What keeps you up at night?
Internet.

Other than music, what else is important to you?
Nothing. Family, probably.

Where do you want to see your self in 10 years?
At home. Listening to Is This It with my kid.

Where do you want to be when wake up?
In my own room.




All photos by Dimas Wisnuwardono.
( I decided to post both English and Indonesian answers. Some of his answers are just too funny in Indonesian.)

WHO NEEDS REALITY?

It's always nice when you find a musician that's down to Earth, lovely, doesn't think she's a musician, will simply get bored of the music she loves and fall in love with it all over again and is so brilliant. Panda Beach is one of those musicians. Her EP "Last Days Ashore", released last year in the year 2009 was recorded on her phone for the world to hear. She is too shy to perform, adores country and folk music, would love to visit the most beautiful places on the planet and is just pure genius.

What kind of music captures you and why?
There are so many good things about music that anyone will end up with a ceaseless list from contemporary music to roots music. I don't really know where to begin, but I know that I'll always love... country! And to a much greater extent, folk. I will simply get tired of folk and fall in love with it all over again. The word serves many kinds and is so broadly defined. Like an egg. I also love psychedelic rock, cajun, the gymnopedie, ambient, electronic and drone music, and, have I mentioned country?

If someone payed for an all expense trip to anywhere in the world, where would you like to go?
Furano, the lavender farm, Japan. Baden Baden, the spa-town, Germany, and the endless list of beautiful cities, Seoul, Montreal, Casablanca, Marrakesh. I'm a globetrotter at heart. It's mostly for the love of the food and the weather and... the infrastructure.

I heard that you recorded your songs for this EP on your phone? I think that's genius.
Yes, I did. I was just being practical. I forgot things easily so I recorded it before it slipped my mind. Frankly, I don't really know how to record properly. It's either I'm too lazy or too retarded to sort it out.

How long have you been making music?
I've never done it before, so the time between May and August 2009 really was my first time in music. I can't even sing. And I'm not, I'm not a musician. But people were so nice to me. I started a page out of... despair? It was nice to see those songs lining up and conversing with some artists I dearly adored.

What are your favorite movies?
I like movies, a lot. I grew up with Betamax. And I still play movies religiously at the end of the day before I go to sleep. At the moment I'm trying to collect The Cremaster Cycle piece by piece through the internet. There's so many of them and I don't know know whether people have widely and completely distributed the series. If you have some, let me know!

Who is your favorite local musician?
Nowadays? This is tough. I like SORE, The S.I.G.I.T, Sketsa, they're all amazing. I also like Voyagers of Icarie, they're really different. At the moment I like Indah Pertiwi! Haha! The one who sings "Baru Aku Tau Cinta Itu Apa". I can't get that out of my head.

What keeps you up at night?
Ghastly creatures? Midnight movies for sure. I sometimes wake up at 3 in the morning with no reason. And I can't really deep sleep before midnight.

Other than music, what else is important to you?
Healthy life! Lunchboxes and... Love.

I don't think I've ever seen you perform. Have you ever performed?
No, I have never performed before. I'm too shy and I think none of the songs are finished, you know what I mean.

Where do you want to be when you wake up?
A sea of pink sand with the loved one!




You can find her on myspace here:
http://www.myspace.com/pandabeachmusic


Download her EP here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?2kzdtt1t2jm

Shelves & Secret Places

Meet my good friend, Aishanatasha Adisasmita. She told me she was "a little white house on a hill", when I asked her to describe herself in one sentence. I have been a fan of her work for such a long time and I so I decided, "why not put Aisha on this so called blog!". So I sent her an email and asked her a few silly questions like what art was to her and so on and so on. A magical little creature, yes she is. I'm a fan.

What is art to you? "I mean, I don't really know what art is. Does anyone know what art actually is? All I know is that it makes me happy. Its like falling in love. I get this excitement and it makes me go crazy. Though it has its dead ends too, like, sometimes when there's really no inspiration, I get frustrated with myself but then I see something beautiful and I fall in love all over again. It doesn't even have to be beautiful, it could be sad, funny, or in anyway that I somehow can relate to. I do it because I feel like it makes me feel safe."

"It comforts me in a way. I don't even have to make anything fancy or grand, just as long as it has some sort of emotional value that I can express. Maybe that's it, art is expressing yourself in any shape or form and most preferably pleasing to the eye? I don't know.. maybe I should look it up in the dictionary or something."

As usual, we always ask our artist's whether they involve drugs into their creative process. "Personally, I have never taken them for a "creative process". But hey, its a choice, right? And some artists, when using them, can truly explore and create something amazing. Although, being a science major, I understand how bodies work (almost) in extreme detail therefore am always haunted by the side effects drugs can cause to your organs and such. There is always curiosity, like everything else, but I am far too paranoid (about health) of a person as of right now. I do think that if its necessary for some people to take them - so long as they don't get dependent, then it is his/her choice."

Aisha

http://zhoor-nahl.tumblr (decided to put all the journal stuff here! way easier than uploading them to facebook!)

Our Childhood Dreams

Nothing can describe how great they are live. They are talented in every way. A musical expression of a guitar duo, Gerald Situmorang and Dimas Wibisana. Definitely bringing something to the table, they offer a different range of melodies and rhythm. With the talent they’ve got, they are surely going places.

We got a chance to interview Sketsa's very own Gerald Situmorang thanks to a generous offer from their route manager which happens to be an old friend of ours after their "Chilhood's Dream" album launch at Barcode, Kemang. Very nice couple of chaps, indeed.

1. Starting off simple. You guys are simply amazing and your songs are even better! Where and who the hell do you get your inspiration from?

I get inspired from local Indonesian acts like Tohpati, Dewa Budjana, Riza Arshad and Indra Lesmana. And I also love musicians like Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays and so much more. Inspiration comes from daily life like watching soccer, for example the song Green Field.

2. Define Sketsa?

It’s a place where I can create music as I like. I take music and making it seriously, and we want people to enjoy instrumental music just as much as any other genre, especially in Indonesia. We got the name from a song by an old fusion Indonesian jazz band called Karimata. Karimata consisted of Erwin Gutawa, Aminoto Kosin at that time and they had song called “Sketsa”.

3. One last question we always ask our artists. Do you ever use drugs to get your inspiration and whats your take on people who do?

Honestly, I totally disagree about using drugs as a tool for getting inspired. And not to brag and all but I don’t smoke or drink, well I drink a little on occasions. No drugs or anything like that because I actually care about my body and you don’t need drugs to get you inspired to make music. There are many ways to get inspired, even from daily life. You can build a song by taking note by note and compose a song. Its up to people if they want to use drugs but I totally disagree.

to hear more from SKETSA, visit www.myspace.com/sketsa

Suma Siapa?

Suma Siapa is one of Limkokwing 's University students. He’s in his last semester of Multimedia Graphic Design. And we found him out of all illustrators around Indonesia and realized, he’s something different, that he’s a good, good, good Illustrator for his age. So we found his e-mail, and started to interview by Messenger hours after. Why MSN? It’s because we didn’t have any money to fly to Balikpapan. Yes, if we have internet, why fly? LOL.

Hi Suma!

Hi!

Straight to the questions (OK!) what kind of artwork do you love to do?

I love to do 2D as in illustrations. Well, I’m not that good with illustrations, but with my limit I can get even better creations out of it. I actually want to try another kind of 2D art, like installation, but I haven’t reached that level, my brain isn’t that conceptual. :P

We actually know you as a photographer, Suma…

LOL. Yeah, I do both!

Hihi, so since when did you like Illustrating?

I've loved drawing since I was a kid, and I doodled when in High School. My sketches were never neat. So then I turned to an Illustrator (by computer), I can’t draw sketches neatly until now, really.

So, where do you usually get your inspiration? Mostly when you’re in a sad or happy mood?

Anywhere, but no “stuff” for sure. The only three things that work are eyes, brain and hands. Ooh, I’m a cheerful guy, see?

What do you think about people who use drugs as a tool to get inspiration?

From the start, my life’s motto is to be clean, no smoking, no drinks and no drugs obviously. How can I ever get to that principle? I have no idea, that’s how I live my life. Loser? Where did you get that? For me, those reasons (re: drugs consuming, etc.) are their alibi's, those are actually for them to fit in around social groups and looking for an identity that is nonsense. That’s the path of life they chose, I can’t have such an ego, but why do you take drugs when you can just stay clean?

Back to the fact that you’re a photographer as well, what kind of photography do you like?
Portrait's are my favorite, but it doesn’t mean I’m not doing landscape and models.

Who are your favorite artists?

A lot! Efan (anaklangit.deviantart.com), yellowdino, darbotz, locals are good! Don’t have one particular favorite artist, I love people who do their best for work.

About those you look up to, did their work influence or inspire you?

YES, even sometimes I do it too much alike, and the results? Not far from the original work which was the inspiration. In my opinion, originality is something rare (it doesn’t mean that it doesn't exist). What I meant was everyone inspires everyone in doing works, then something "new" is created.

Ever think of moving to Jakarta to be a successful illustrator?

Jakarta? Jakarta doesn’t need people like me, Jakarta and Bandung is now full of nuts (in a good kind of way)! Balikpapan needs me more, here, they still lack design sense and their appreciation for art is still low, so let’s just go back to my town and uplift the needs

Suryananda Mahtakusuma // Suma Siapa
Balikpapan, 4 August 1988
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology Malaysia
sumanza_03@yahoo.com