Grrrl Gang is an indie pop/rock band trio from Yogyakarta, Indonesia formed in 2016, consisting of college students Angeeta Sentana, Akbar Rumandung, and Edo Alventa. The formation of the band happened during a car ride one night to fill in the time between classes.
They first took the stage in 2016 that year with only three songs up their sleeves, one of them being “Bathroom”. Alongside “Thrills”, it was released as a double-single in early 2017, which has earned them quite the recognition. In 2018, they finally released a mini album which called “Not Sad, Not Fulfilled” (Kolibri Records) and followed by a 20 city, 3 week tour across Indonesia.
Here To Stay is a discography of the bands output remastered at Chicago Mastering Service by Matthew Barnhart and the band’s first venture onto Vinyl.
Indonesia has one of the most exciting and wild DIY indie/punk scenes in the world right now with Grrrl Gang being one of the stand out new acts there. The band are big fans of the Glasgow/Bellshill scene including Teenage Fanclub, The Vaselines, The Pastels & BMX Bandits and they also love Sarah Records acts such as Talulah Gosh and Heavenly.
In their Own words
“Bathroom” was written during Angee’s last year of high school after getting heartbroken. The first line of the song was actually inspired by her younger brother — who was literally taking a dump while she was playing around with the guitar — but then she took it to a more bittersweet road that expressed how she felt after getting dumped.
“Thrills” came as a prompt that Akbar gave Angee to make a playful, naughty song. It is loosely-based on a real event, but she just ended up dancing with the guy they sing about.
“Dream Grrrl” is an homage to a really close friend of Angee’s, whom she really admires. She is fierce and feisty and intimidates Angee — the type of girl we’d fall in love with.
“Just a Game” is about feeling lonely in a relationship and one-sided feelings. It’s shitty when you can’t really get to your partner.
“Love Song” was originally written for Angee’s ex. He had given her a different perspective about love and healed her in many ways. But in a more general context, it’s about the joy of being in love.
“Pop Princess” is loosely-based on a friend of the band’s, that Angee (lowkey) has a crush on. It’s a classic tale of “dump your shitty boyfriend and come to me.”
“Night Terrors” was originally a poem. By the time Angee wrote this, she had been experiencing many episodes of sleep paralysis that resulted from stress and depression. They recall there was an eerie vibe when they recorded this particular song.
“Guys Don’t Read Sylvia Plath” takes a jab at the expectation for women to stay at home and take care of the kids that is still persistent in Indonesia.
Tour Dates
16-22 Mar 2020 – SXSW Festival, Austin TX
Grrrl Gang SXSW profile
Links
https://www.instagram.com/grrrlgang/
https://www.facebook.com/grrrlgangband
https://twitter.com/grrrlgangband
Spotify
