The label aims to bridge the gap between the Australian and Indonesian rock’n’roll scenes, to not only provide broader exposure for talented acts, but to introduce fans of both respective countries to the incredible music being created across the ocean.
After meeting Rektivianto Yoewono, frontman of Indonesia’s leading rock‘n’roll band The SIGIT, Hulse felt disappointed that Indonesian bands weren’t receiving the exposure they deserve in Australia. Yoewono, who also founded Badung-based record label Bhang Records, and Hulse formed an alliance to ensure Indonesian music began reaching Australian shores and vice versa.
“Imagine if more Australian bands’ east coast tours didn’t stop in Brisbane, but instead continued north to Bali and then on to Jakarta and Bandung,” says Hulse. “Indonesia is one of our closest neighbouring countries and there’s a huge amount of people there who love rock’n’roll as much as we do in Melbourne. I think we should embrace this and make a better effort to share the great music coming out of both countries.”
Sacred Blue Records is still in its infancy, and like the beginning of many new projects, working with a limited budget can be testing. “There’s a lot of special releases, events and tours I want to do but need to be patient, so it can work in the right way,” says Hulse. “As it’s early days, we’ve only really put out a few limited edition records, but the acts we’ve got on board so far are really high quality musicians from Indonesia that have a solid following building there but not here.
“The scene in Indo is very rich with talented bands of all styles of rock’n’roll and a lot of support from fans. The population is very dense in a small island nation, so shows are exciting and very packed. The main difference in Australia is there are a lot of bars and clubs bands can play shows at, whereas Indonesia does not have as many small scale venues. Perhaps this has to do with the drinking culture here, who knows. But the reality is both rock music scenes are incredibly diverse, with a lot of creativity and great writers.”
Sacred Blue Records will be throwing a launch party which will host six bands including local acts Zombitches, The Slugg, The Grogans and Mia Gruden Jam Band as well as Indonesian rock outfits Mooner and headline act Kelompok Penerbang Roket.
“There’s a lot of really cool music that is born in the small coastal towns of the peninsula and I figured it’d be a great starting point for the label to host those local acts on a bill with the two Indonesian bands. The people down there are laid back, open minded and really love live music, so it’s a perfect scenario. Plus Baha has killer Mexican food and drink so it’s a win win.”
Looking forward, Hulse says we can expect tours, limited edition vinyl, merch and even a physical store in Melbourne in the not too distant future. “It’s early days for us, we’re doing what we can to build an audience so we can better share and expose great music among the community and across the ocean. We’re focusing on Indo and Australian bands and audiences, but of course we are not limited to this, it’s just a great starting point,” he says.
“I’ve got a few Australian bands I’d love to work with to get some music in the hands of Indonesian listeners too, which will probably be the aim for the second half of 2017.”
By Kate Streader
