Special Two

Senyawa almost sound like a Mighty Boosh sketch. A collaboration between extended technique vocalist Rully Shabara and master instrument-builder Wukir Suryadi (playing his own invented instrument he crafted from a piece of bamboo), Senyawa's semi-improvised work is so thoroughly out of this world on paper that it's almost comical. Still, they've rapidly found a following.

The pair will be supporting Regurgitator on their upcoming Retrotech 2012 tour and have previously performed as part of the Adelaide Festival, Melbourne Jazz Festival, and Hobart's increasingly illustrious Mona Foma festival. While their work may sound confronting in print, there's something inherently, beautifully punk within their music that just seems to draw unlikely audiences into the fray.

“[I've been] quite surprised by it all,” Wukir Suryadi says in response to the reception Senyawa's music has managed to squeeze from Australian audiences. “Even though we kind of knew that we would have some kind of success, we weren't sure what that would be. We are quite happy and confident because we are bringing music that came from our lives.”

“Generally, there's never a problem of having our music received by different kind of audiences, especially by pop/rock audiences,” Rully Shabara muses on the situation. “And, when they do appreciate our music, that is much more rewarding – because, to be honest, it's easier to please an avant-garde crowd than it is to please a pop crowd.”

The success is less surprising to the pair because, in a way, it's kind of the point of their work. Rully Shabara and Wukir Suryadi actually formed Senyawa with the intention of standing between movements and genres. Their work fuses traditional Javanese musical forms with the experimentation of the avant-garde and ideas imported from more populist musical genres like rock and metal.

“Senyawa was formed accidentally – right after we jammed on stage and met each other for the first time. We didn't plan anything, Senyawa just happened,” Shabara explains. Suryadi elaborates with a counterpoint: “It was formed out of our anxiety about music. We needed to create an entirely original music.

“There's too much politics in Indonesia, including politics in music. Everything's monopolised. Industry controls the way people think and perspectives – even the type of music that people should listen to. They are more busy with government projects or schools. We just do what we do best.” Shabara agrees: “We certainly get a better reception abroad. Traditionalists protest everything new [in Indonesia].”

What's intriguing about the pair's work is its apparent lack of limits. While one would think that, by virtue of instrumentation, sound and numbers alone, Senyawa's work would be inescapably limited, Suryadi and Shabara seem to have found a phenomenal freedom in their collaboration. They do collaborate with other musicians on a regular basis but, for the most part, they develop their unique, expansive sounds in solitude.

“[Collaboration is] very important [to us]. We always find opportunities to collaborate with artists from any place we visit,” Shabara explains. Suryadi emphasises the point: “[It's] quite important [for Senyawa to collaborate] because it enriches the music with the addition of energy and different memories of other people.”

Suryadi says of the pair's plans at large, “We just go with the flow, we're open to any possibilities as long as it's making us better and can be beneficial to anybody and everybody else.” When asked whether Senyawa could realistically remain a two-piece as their music develops, Shabara is more concise: “Why not?”