IT is rare for Southeast Asians to appear on the global music stage, especially practitioners of that ancient craft known as heavy metal. However, when it does happen, it is usually regional bands playing at exclusively metal festivals.
For Indonesia’s Voice of Baceprot (VOB), the all-female band is once again breaking boundaries, as they are slated to play at Glastonbury Festival later this month. The festival is Britain’s biggest performing arts festival and they are the first Indonesian band to do so in the festival’s 54-year history.
News of VOB’s inclusion at the festival came early last month, and halfway through it, they were listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Class of 2024 as trailblazers in the entertainment and youth field.
In a music scene dominated by men of the tattooed, controversial, raucous variety, VOB’s three female members clad in hijab stick out like sore thumbs, but the scene has always championed individuality over mainstream conformity.
Made up of lead singer and guitarist Firda Marsya Kurnia, bassist Widi Rahmawati and drummer Euis Siti Aisyah, VOB’s songs are sung in a mixture of Sundanese, English and Bahasa Indonesia.
VOB’s 2021 hit English single, God, Allow Me (Please) To Make Music, has over five million views on YouTube and over a million streams on Spotify. Their Glastonbury appearance is set to bolster their popularity even more.
As diametrically opposed as their appearance is to what heavy metal bands usually look like (in the West, at least), the same can be said for VOB’s music, which involves gender, faith, identity, class struggle and global crises. Such pertinent and real issues in their music have also won the band more fans.
VOB are regulars when it comes to playing venues in the US and Europe. Two years ago, the group performed at Wacken Open Air in Germany, which is the de facto big daddy of heavy metal jamborees.
Last year, the band released Retas, their debut album, and for Glastonbury, they will be bringing a set list consisting of old and new songs. VOB’s appearance at the festival is set to shift perceptions of the genre.
