BEDCHAMBER

Juxtaposing between soft and hard feeling music; Read about Bedchamber, their journey together and their upcoming record.

I found Bedchamber in 2020 during lockdown where I was introduced to their 'Geography' album featuring their more well known songs such as Out Of Line and Falter. Falter was the first song I heard from them personally and I have got to say the song pulls on some heart strings of mine. The soft but electric feeling from the guitars, pulsing beat and blanket feeling vocals just sound so nostalgic and floods my brain with memories, it sounds like a sunset at a beach.

I had the amazing opportunity to ask them a few questions which band member Ratta took the courtesy of answering on behalf of the band:

Where did the name Bedchamber come from?

"It came from our hopeless effort to find a good and meaningful name for the band, so our bassist randomize articles from Wikipedia and stumbled upon “Lady of The Bedchamber”. Despite of having no relevancy with the original reference, we took the “Bedchamber” as we
think the name would mean a space of personal comfort and importance, just like writing music to us. It’s comforting and it’s personal."

Is there a song you have made that has been really challenging to make and why?

"Some of the new songs from our upcoming album “Capa City” is actually quite challenging to make. First of all, the event of the pandemic really made it hard to keep our energy and momentum alive when writing a song. One day we jammed and came up with something good, next time we weren’t able to meet up and have to wait for A MONTH. So it’s a solid factor I think. Other thing is that we tried to apply a new style of guitar playing that comes from a more complex reference, so it took some time to learn and like the new stuff we do."

What is one of your favourite songs you have made and why?

"It’s hard to pick one song from four members but I think there is something funny good about our song “Ride”. When we made the song, Smita was just playing a bassline from one of The Sims’ soundtracks and somehow we want to keep it. So we jammed over it and turned it
into a song that works for the album. It’s a solid proof that we never know where inspiration comes from."

Could you describe a typical sessions of making a song, is there a way you like to approach them?

“Usually we jam in the studio altogether but recently we tried a new way of writing a sketch at home to fasten things up. It was a method we have to adjust because of the pandemic.”

Are there any genres you would like to venture into?

"We’re currently intrigued by the indie bands rabbit hole of a little scene in Calgary, Canada where there are bands who mixed post-punk, garage, and psych pop like Women, Chad Vangaalen and Dories. There are something charming about blending aggressive guitars
with soft pop vocals that we find contradictory at first, but addicting at last!"

Have you made music outside of the standard studio setting, if so; where is the weirdest place?

"One time we tried to practice over video calls using separate computers with each own soundcard. It was a total mess as the timing always buffer. Why did we tried that in the first place?"

What does music mean to you and why did you start making it?

"You know, none of us really see ourselves as musician. We never took proper lesson or go to music school, but music always have a special place in us as we grew up with music. So when we were in college, we made this friendship first and found out that everybody was into some specific type of music, so we started to jam in the studio as friends. Nobody expects to be some kind of a succesful rockstar, but we stayed anyway till almost 10 years now. So I think there is something honest about why we keep on making music till now. Maybe it’s the love of music, the urge to create, the energy we got from performing on stage, the priceless experience of touring, or maybe practicing every week is just our love language towards this friendship we have? We don’t know."

"Don't overthink and keep doing what you do!"

What is the music scene like in Indonesia and has it made an impact on the music you make today?

"We could say that the music scene in Indonesia is pretty rich in big cities. And maybe like UK, some areas are very distinct with specific type of music. Like in Jakarta (capital city), you would find a lot of hip hop/rnb going on, moving on to Bogor (suburban of Jakarta) there is a lot of indie rock gems. There is also Bandung, where the music is really trendy, recently a lot of Turnstile influences right there. Yogyakarta, a city of art & culture, has a lot of experimental stuff going on, and so on and on. The only thing is that due to being an archipelago, it’s hard to connect and tour to the other islands in Indonesia. So often we were irrelevant to the other side of Indonesia and never got to understand what it was really like to be in some other areas. So although being pretty rich musically, I think we didn’t connect that much as a nation."

As I am from England, are there any UK influences in your sound at all? 

"Oh god so many! From 80s bands such as The Cure and My Bloody Valentine to the recent Brexit-core like Black Midi and Dry Cleaning really amazes us and inspire us to always evolve and trying out something crazy.”

What would you like to see more in the industry?

"I think it would be fun if people could no longer associate certain genre to certain type of gender, like metal for boys and pop for girls. We know it’s not the same approach in every culture but as an Asian band we could say it’s still pretty common in our environment. We hope everybody could enjoy listening, buying, and even crowd-surf in every type of gigs with total safety and comfort!"

What is new with the band? 

"We have a new record called “Capa City” that is coming in a month or so! Stay tuned!"

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