Jon Dunbar is a copy editor at The Korea Times, as well as editor of the Foreign Community page and curator of the Korea Times Archive. If you have suggestions for possible articles, or wish to contribute articles yourself, contact jdunbar@koreatimes.co.kr.
Indonesian band White Shoes & the Couples Company to tour Korea
Indonesian band White Shoes & the Couples Company / Courtesy of White Shoes & The Couples Company
By Jon Dunbar
The Indonesian pop sextet White Shoes & the Couples Company is returning to Seoul, two years after their last gig, bringing back their sentimental collection of smooth, gentle songs influenced by 1970s Indonesian movie soundtracks, retro disco beats, 1930s jazz and everything in between.
The band gets its name from a fad back then of students wearing white shoes at the time, coupled with inspiration from Big Brother and the Holding Company, Janis Joplin's band.
"The first thing that we thought of for a band’s name, like it shouldn’t sound like a band’s name," Rio Farabi, acoustic guitarist and vocalist, told The Korea Times. "Back in time when the band started, there were so many bands with a straightforward name — The Upstairs, Kebunku, Sekarwati, The Sastro, Brisik, etc. — so I think it's better to sound a bit different."
The group formed in 2002, a couple years after the members first met while studying at the Jakarta Institute of the Arts.
Since their first mini-album release in 2008, the band's lyrics are almost entirely in their native language. But that didn't stop them from breaking through in the West. In 2007, they signed to Minty Fresh, a Chicago-based record label, and in 2008, they played at SXSW in Austin and CMJ Music Festival in New York. This garnered more invitations to tour other parts of the U.S. as well as play festivals in Europe over the next few years. Meanwhile, they contributed to the soundtracks of Indonesian movies, keeping the cinematic spark in their music fresh.
They've been around quite a while already, as evidenced by them having been named one of the 25 top bands on Myspace by Rolling Stone, but their retro sound harkens back to even earlier decades. They primarily point to the 1970s.
"We called it the golden era of pop culture in Indonesia, not just for music but also for movies, movie soundtracks, visual art, books, writers and more," said Saleh Husein, the band's electric guitarist and vocalist. "They also had a huge consciousness of what they were doing at that time, besides the industry and how technology was still developing."
He added some historical context, pointing to the decadeslong rule of President Suharto, which started in 1966 and collapsed in 1998, shortly before the bandmates met.
"Many stories were erased or deleted by that regime, so thinking about what was going on behind us was an urgent thing to do," Husein said. "Maybe around 2000 we had similar kinds of consciousness, fun and ideal waves of feeling for art, fashion, movies, photography and more for remembering or finding what the history behind us is that has never been heard or written before. Finding or reshaping what is cool or not, we believe or not, and celebrating our lives in music and art cultures from our historical references."
Indonesian band White Shoes & the Couples Company poses at a barber shop. Courtesy of White Shoes & The Couples Company
The band has helped put Indonesia on the world's indie music map, while also serving to inspire the next generation of musicians in their local community.
"Little by little for these past 20 years, I'm pretty much sure we've been contributing some butterfly effect to the local music scene," vocalist Aprilia Apsari said. "Sometimes appreciation is not all about us, the receivers, but rather what we can contribute to younger generations in the scene."
She added that they always encourage younger Indonesians to dig more into old Indonesian records.
Their love for physical releases inspired the band's keyboardist Aprimela Prawidyanti to open a record store.
Indonesian band White Shoes & the Couples Company / Courtesy of White Shoes & The Couples Company
"The city has been a hub for music enthusiasts, and we have a great music scene here, making it an ideal place for record shops to flourish," she said.
So it makes sense that the band is releasing their music on vinyl. This upcoming Korea-Japan tour is to promote the vinyl version of their "Topstar Collection" album.
The band will play a DJ set at the Villa Mariana in western Seoul's Mangwon-dong on Thursday, and the main show is on Friday at Morene Sukha. Tickets for the show cost 50,000 won in advance, or 60,000 won at the door.
Visit wsatcc.com for more information.