About Superman
Is Dead
SID, punk rock pioneers of Bali, were
born and bred in Kuta Rock City. The band is three chord attitude-heavyyoung
men in their 20s, by name:
"
Bobby Kool (owner of Electrohell,
lead vocal, guitar,highly personable, a dog lover
and a graphic designer)
"
Eka Rock (owner of Disposable Lies
Merchandise and Multimedia, low ridin' familyman, beer
drinker, laid back bass and backing vocal and a warm
smilin' Rock 'N Roll bandman)
"
Jrx ( low ridin' beer drinking Rock
'N Roll prince charming, drummer and a hairwax junkie)
The name 'Superman is Dead' started its'
evolution from Stone Temple Pilot's "Superman Silvergun".
The name moved on to "Superman is Dead" cause they
like
the idea that there's such thing as a perfect,invincible person
out there.
SID actually stumbled together in '95, drawn
by their common love of Green Day and NOFX. Their influences
soon extended to the punk 'n roll genre a la
Supersuckers, Living End and Social Distortion, andhere they
stay. Some of their better known tracks include, "My Girlfriend
is Pregnant" (true story of
the bassist), "Bali Holiday" (about the Balinese
prostitution scene), "Long Way to the Bar" (self
explanatory!), and so it goes on. They say what they
wanna say, how they wanna say it. In your face, to say it precisely.
SID public image, self described, is "Blitzkrieg 3-Chordsabilly
Beer Punk Rock" (think raw energy of
Ramones vs Living end meets Supersuckers + Sid Vicious' nihilism
.supersonically fueled with beer-soaked Rockabilly attitude.complicated,
eh?!?!).
History? SID produced their first three
albums independently (the boys worked years of crappy night
jobs), with fabulous, small scale indie labels 1997
"Case 15", 1999 "Superman is Dead", 2002
"Bad, Bad, Bad"(mini album, 6 tracks). In March 2003
SID finally signed with Sony Music Indonesia after extended
negotiations regarding their right to sing the majority of
their tracks in English and have full artistic rights over
their 'image'!! With that
decision they single handedly became the first band from Bali
to be invited to sign with a major recording label in Indonesia,
the first band in their nation (to
my knowledge) to be recording majority of songs in English,
AND the first punk band in Indonesia to get the national exposure
and promotion that working with
a major label in a third world country provides. And so the
history of Indonesian Punk Rock begins!
And as for the question that everyone wants
to know.the infamous bomb in Bali happened about 75M from their
home, hangout center, punkrock boutique, bar,
tape shop and rehearsal studio that is also Jerinx' house,
in the heart of Kuta. After panel beating back the rolling
doors of the studio, and shifting a little
debris, rehearsals continued as usual. Yeah, they saw a lot,
it sucked big time, but its' not gonna stop 'em!
And where are they now? At the end of last
year, one of the more respectable music mags here cited SID
as
"The Next Big Thing" for 2003. With the release of
their newest (fourth) album, "Kuta Rock City",
followed by major airplay nationally and in some countries
overseas, coupled with the instant
popularity of their newest filmclip (can you believe they were
MTV Indonesian artists of the months in
June!) SID suddenly find themselves touring continuously throughout
Indonesia. Last week they were in four major Indonesian cities,
on three islands, in
7 days! Sometimes playing for free at underground scene clubs,
sometimes at street skate parties or alternative band festivals,
at lots of universities,
and even occasionally at "classy" venues who would
have probably denied them entrance 12 months ago!
Which means more beers for all.
Last month SID even got a mention in Time
Asia. They remain proud, boys from the streets of Kuta with
a love of punk rock, beers and a good time. Ready for
whatever comes next, excited about the next gig.
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