Scream

Music That Makes You Want to Scream

Aneka Digital Safari is a band absolutely without pretenses.

“We have no philosophy,” said band member Heickel Al Katiri. “We just want to be the loudest band possible.”

Instead of playing standard rock instruments — bass, guitar, keyboard – Aneka Digital Safari, which is made up of Heickel, Ricky Rhavasia and Tafta, manipulates effect pedals and digital devices to create an ear-tingling cacophony.

The band’s name is derived from the title of a 1980s variety show, Aneka Ria Safari, which was taped and aired by TVRI, then the country’s only TV station.

The show is fondly remembered by many musicians over the age of 20 as belonging to the most formative years of Indonesian pop culture.

Heickel said: “We wanted people to think of the show — and that we had a cute name — but then surprise them with our brutal music.”

The band members met in junior high school in Bandung, West Java, and bonded over their classic-rock interests.

But as they grew older, they became intrigued by the possibilities of subgenres of noise music, such as harsh-noise.

The three formed Aneka Digital Safari in 2005.

Heickel said: “We used a lot of weird effect pedals, and merged them with industrial tools like drills, grinders and scraps of metal.”

He said the band also sourced audio samples that could be a bit extreme, for example, an excerpt from a kampong boy’s account of being raped.

While this kind of appropriation might turn some people off, Aneka Digital Safari is following in the footsteps of people like British artist and musician Genesis P-Orridge, who was famous for his sadomasochistic live shows.

Heickel said that Aneka Digital Safari dabbled in sexual imagery and compared their performances to having a “full-time erection.”

The group has released two full-length albums, “Mohel” and “Addiction of Violence.” It has also collaborated with local and international artists by releasing split-singles (an album with one or two songs by each artist).

For now, the group is busy recording material for a yet-to-be-titled new album. In the coming months it will also release a split with Torturing Nurse, an experimental group from Shanghai, China.

Aneka Digital Safari is also busy spreading their love for experimental music by setting up shows and forming a record label.

“We have no name yet for the label, but we already are in the process of setting up gigs for international experimental artists to come play here,” Heickel said.

Later this year, they plan on inviting One Man Nation from Singapore, DJ Urine from France and Gokun from Bulgary to play a show here.

While they do sometimes play regular gigs at clubs and cafes, Heickel said the trio preferred the spontaneity of unplanned performances in “odd places.”

“We have no ideal setting or preferred sound quality for our live shows. What is important is that it is loud,” he said.