Voice of Baceprot, a three-ladies Indonesian music squad, will perform at the Glastonbury Festival this year.
The young ladies started metal music in high school, but little did they think of making Indonesia proud.
The Indonesian artists were initially “confused” when invited to perform at the Glastonbury festival.
Firdda Marsya Kurnia said, “Because we didn’t know how exciting the festival is, we didn’t know what to do next.”
However, they soon realized they would be the first Indonesian band on Glastonbury.
Meanwhile, Dua Lipa and Coldplay will also perform at the 2024 Glastonbury festival.
Furthermore, Voice of Baceprot is a three-ladies squad. The band has Firdda Marsya Kurnia as its leader, drummer Euis Siti Aisyah, and bassist Widi Rahmawati.
Notably, “Baceprot” is a Sundanese name that means noise. Moreover, many Indonesians speak the Sundanese language.
The all-ladies band has been making heavy metal music for ten years since their early school days.
Moreover, the trio is a symbol of doggedness against religious norms. The Voice of Baceprot band has been to several places, including the US and Europe.
Meanwhile, Rage Against the Machine and the iconic guitarist Tom Morello praised Voice of Baseprot’s music.
He said that after watching it, the band’s music blew his mind away.
However, the Glastonbury stage is the biggest stage performance of the Indonesian band.
Voice of Baseprot Road to Glastonbury Festival
The Voice of Baseprot bank granted BBC an audience before Friday’s historic appearance at Glastonbury.
The band members, Marsya and Siti, are 24 years old, while Widi is 23 years old. Moreover, the trio started their musical journey as schoolgirls.
Marsya and Siti became friends at Singajaya Elementary School in West Java Province, Indonesia.
They met Widi in Junior high school at the school counselor’s office. However, Siti and her two friends were often summoned to the school counsellor’s office for rebellion issues.
Marsya, Siti, and Widi’s love for heavy metal started while with counsellor Abah Ersa.
Siti said that listening to songs from teacher Abah Ersa’s laptop caused an adrenaline rush for heavy metal.
Furthermore, in 2014, Ersa introduced Marsya to playing guitar and Widi to bass and also built a makeshift drum for Siti.
Siti also said music was a means to let go of anger while in junior high school.
Moreover, playing music soon became their motivation for attending school.
Siti and the rest of the Voice Baseprot band dropped out of junior high school. It was because their Islamic principal was against their musical talent.
About 87% of Indonesians are Muslims, and West Java is a more conservative province.
Furthermore, West Java, to some extent, forbids singing and music.
However, the hijab-wearing ladies’ band broke the norm by singing and playing heavy metal instruments.
Voice of Baseprot released “God, Allow Me (Please) to Play” music in 2021 as a plea against the criticisms they faced.
Sit also said the band is mentally preparing for the Glastonbury festival.
She mentioned they are trying “not to overthink how many people would be watching us perform.”
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