Resist or perish!

Understanding the mode of resistance among young DIY Indonesian musicians

Authors

  • Oki Rahadianto Sutopo Universitas Gadjah Mada
  • Gregorius Ragil Wibawanto Universitas Gadjah Mada
  • Agustinus Aryo Lukisworo Universitas Gadjah Mada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.40851

Keywords:

Resistance, Neoliberalism, Young Musicians, Indonesia, Do It Yourself (DIY)

Abstract

This article examines the practice of resistance among young DIY musicians in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in the context of the post-reform era. DIY young musicians negotiate how to provide for their everyday economic needs while also upholding their music genre’s spirit of resistance against market commodification. Lately, commodification not only comes from the music industry but also from the state through neoliberal-oriented creative economy policies. Music falls into the category of a creative sector and is seen as a product to boost economic growth. Based on our empirical data, young musicians resist this through DIY practices in their music scene. We show the struggle of young musicians to sustain their musical values of authenticity (otentisitas) and autonomy (kemandirian). Instead of viewing resistance as homogenous, we observed three modes of resistance: the rookie, the in-between, and the afficionado, based on their level of commitment to being a DIY careerist. Our research offers a real-world example of theories around popular music and youth studies based on the experiences of young Indonesian musicians.

Author Biographies

  • Oki Rahadianto Sutopo , Universitas Gadjah Mada

    Oki Rahadianto Sutopo is Executive Director of the Youth Studies Centre and a lecturer in the Department of Sociology within the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). At UGM, he also holds the position of Head of Undergraduate Sociology Program. His research interests include youth studies, youth culture and sociology of knowledge.

  • Gregorius Ragil Wibawanto, Universitas Gadjah Mada

    Gregorius Ragil Wibawanto is a lecturer at the Department of Sociology and researcher with Youth Studies Centre, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences Universitas Gadjah Mada. His research interests include youth studies, contemporary art, media, and education.

  • Agustinus Aryo Lukisworo, Universitas Gadjah Mada

    Agustinus Aryo Lukisworo is a lecturer in sociology at Universitas Atma Jaya, Yogyakarta. Previously, he worked as Project Officer at Youth Studies Centre, Universitas Gadjah Mada. His research interests are youth culture and metal studies.

References

Aspinall, E. 2005. Opposing Soeharto: Compromise, Resistance, and Regime Change in Indonesia. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Baulch, E. 2002. ‘Alternative Music and Mediation in Late New Order Indonesia’. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 3/2: 219–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/1464937022000000138

—2003. ‘Gesturing Elswhere: The Identity Politics of Balinese Death/Trash Metal Scene’. Popular Music 22/2: 195–215. https://doi.org/10.1017/S026114300300312X

—2004. ‘Reggae Borderzones, Reggae Graveyards: Bob Marley Fandom in Bali’. Perfect Beat: The Asia-Pacific Journal of Research into Contemporary Music and Popular Culture 6/4: 3–27.

Bekraf and Badan Pusat Statistik. 2016. Data Statistik Ekonomi Kreatif. Jakarta: Kementrian BUMN.

Bennett, A. 2018. ‘Conceptualising the Relationship between Youth, Music and DIY Careers: A Critical Overview’. Cultural Sociology 12/2: 140–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975517750760

Bennett, A., and P. Guerra, eds. 2018. DIY Cultures and Underground Music Scenes. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315226507

Bodden, M. 2005. ‘Rap in Indonesian Youth Music of the 1990s’. Asian Music 36/2: 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1353/amu.2005.0015

—2010. Resistance on the National Stage: Modern Theatre and Politics in Late New Order Indonesia. Ohio: Center for International Studies Ohio University.

Bourchier, D. 2019. ‘Two Decades of Ideological Contestation in Indonesia; from Democratic Cosmopolitanism to Religious Nationalism’. Journal of Contemporary Asia 49/5: 713–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2019.1590620

Bourdieu, P. 1993. The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature. New York: Columbia University Press.

Bourdieu, P., and T. Eagleton. 1992. ‘In Conversation: Doxa and Common Life’. New Left Review 191: 111–21.

Clinton, E., and J. Wallach. 2016. “Talking Metal: The Social Phenomenology of Hanging Out’. In Heavy Metal Music and Communal Experience, ed. Nelson Varas-Diaz and Niall Scott, 37–56. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

Denzin, N. K., and Y. S. Lincoln, eds. 2008. Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials. London: Sage Publications.

Elliot, J. 2005. Using Narrative in Social Research. London: Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857020246

Fahmi, F. Z., P. McCann, and S. Koster. 2015. ‘Creative Economy Policy in Developing Countries: The Case of Indonesia’. Urban Studies 54/6: 1367–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098015620529

Frith, S. 1996. Performing Rites: On the Value of Popular Music. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Fukuoka, Y. 2014. ‘Debating Indonesia’s Reformasi: Bridging “Parallel Universes”’. Journal of Contemporary Asia 44/3: 540–52.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2014.895026

Gerke, S. 2002. ‘Global Lifestyles under Local Conditions: The New Indonesian Middle Class’. In Consumption in Asia: Lifestyles and Identities, ed. Chua-Beng Huat, 135–58. London: Routledge.

Guerra, P. 2020. ‘The Song is Still a “Weapon”: The Portuguese Identity in Times of Crises’. Young: Nordic Journal of Youth Research 28/1: 14–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/1103308819829603

Hadiz, V., and R. Robison. 2013. ‘The Political Economy of Oligarchy and the Reorganization of Power in Indonesia’. Indonesia 96: 35–57. https://doi.org/10.1353/ind.2013.0023

Haenfler, R. 2018. ‘The Entrepreneurial Straightedge: How Participation in DIY Music Cultures Translates to Work and Careers’. Cultural Sociology 12/2: 140–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975517700774

Hatley, B. 2008. ‘Indonesian Theatre Ten Years after Reformasi’. Journal of Indonesian Social Sciences and Humanities 1/1: 53–72. https://doi.org/10.14203/jissh.v1i1.4

Hodkinson, P. 2005. ‘Insider Research in the Study of Youth Cultures’. Journal of Youth Studies 8/2: 131–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676260500149238

—2016. ‘Youth Cultures and the Rest of Life: Subcultures, Post-Subcultures and Beyond’. Journal of Youth Studies 19/5: 629–45.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2015.1098778

Kahn-Harris, K. 2007. Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge. Oxford: Berg.

Lukisworo, A. A., and O. R. Sutopo. 2017. ‘Metal DIY: Dominasi, Strategi dan Resistensi’. Jurnal Studi Pemuda 6/2: 579–89. https://doi.org/10.22146/studipemudaugm.41474

Luvaas, B. 2009. ‘Generation DIY: Youth, Class, and the Culture of Indie Production in DigitalAge Indonesia’. PhD dissertation. Los Angeles: University of California.

—2013. DIY Style: Fashion, Music and Global Digital Cultures. Oxford: Berg.

Mannheim, K. 1952. ‘The Problem of Generations’. In Karl Mannheim: Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge, ed. Paul Kecskemeti, 276–320. London: Routledge.

Martin-Iverson, S. 2012. ‘Autonomous Youth? Independence and Precariousness in the Indonesian Underground Music Scenes’. The Asia-Pacific Journal of Anthropology 13/4: 382–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/14442213.2011.636062

—2014. ‘Running in Circles: Performing Values in the Bandung Do it Yourself Hardcore Scene’. Ethnomusicology Forum 23/3: 184–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/17411912.2014.926631

Moog, S. 2020. ‘Under the Radar: The Everyday Resistance of Anarchist Punks in Bandung, Indonesia’. PhD dissertation. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas.

Naafs, S., and B. White. 2012. ‘Intermediate Generations: Reflections on Indonesian Youth Studies’. The Asia-Pacific Journal of Anthropology 13/1: 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/14442213.2012.645796

Parker, L., and P. Nilan. 2013. Adolescents in Contemporary Indonesia. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203522073

Richter, M. 2012. Musical Worlds in Yogyakarta. Leiden: KITLV Press. https://doi.org/10.26530/OAPEN_420987

Sutopo, O. R. 2019. ‘Learning by Doing: Young Indonesian Musicians, Capital and Night Life’. In Nocturnes: Popular Music and the Night, ed. Geoff Stahl and Giacomo Botta, 79–94. London: Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99786-5_6

Sutopo, O. R., and P. Nilan. 2018. ‘The Constrained Positions of Young Musicians in the Yogyakarta Jazz Community’. Asian Music 49/1: 34–57. https://doi.org/10.1353/amu.2018.0002

Sutopo, O. R., P. Nilan and S. Threadgold. 2017. ‘Keep the Hope Alive: Young Indonesian Musicians’ View of the Future’. Journal of Youth Studies 20/5: 549–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2016.1241871

Sutopo, O. R., S. Threadgold and P. Nilan. 2017. ‘Young Indonesian Musicians, Strategic Social Capital, Reflexivity and Timing’. Sociological Research Online 22/3: 186–203. https://doi.org/10.1177/1360780417724063

Tarassi, S. 2018. ‘Multi-Tasking and Making a Living from Music: Investigating Music Careers in the Independent Music Scenes in Milan’. Cultural Sociology 12/2: 208–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975517733221

Threadgold, S. 2018. ‘Creativity, Precarity and Illusio: DIY Cultures and “Choosing Poverty”’. Cultural Sociology 12/2: 156–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975517722475

Umney, C., and L. Kretsos. 2015. ‘“That’s the Experience”: Passion, Work Precarity and Life Transitions among London Jazz Musicians’. Work and Occupations 42/3: 313–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888415573634

Wallach, J. 2008. Modern Noise, Fluid Genres? Popular Music in Indonesia, 1997–2001. Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press.

Warburton, E. 2016. ‘Jokowi and the New Developmentalism’. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies 52/3: 297–320. https://doi.org/10.1080/00074918.2016.1249262

Woodman, D., and A. Bennett, eds. 2015. Youth Cultures, Transitions and Generations: Bridging the Gap in Youth Research. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137377234

Zemke, K. 2007. ‘“This is My Life”: Biography, Identity and Narrative in New Zealand Rap Songs’. Perfect Beat: The Asia-Pacific Journal of Research into Contemporary Music and Popular Culture 8/3: 31–51. https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.v8i3.28699

Published

2021-07-08

How to Cite

Rahadianto Sutopo , O. ., Ragil Wibawanto, G. ., & Aryo Lukisworo, A. . (2021). Resist or perish! Understanding the mode of resistance among young DIY Indonesian musicians. Perfect Beat, 20(2), 116-133. https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.40851