Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rizky Sasono, a sixth-year doctoral student of ethnomusicology at the University of Pittsburgh. My dissertation research takes a reflexive approach to looking into the independent music (indie) scene in Indonesia, a social sphere that I am accustomed to. Taking experiential accounts to specify the political dimensions of musical activities, I aim to examine the historical, economic, and aesthetic trajectory of the indie scene in post-reform Indonesia.
This multi-sited study examines the sound of politics and the politics of sound through the lens of audiopolitics, a field that encompasses several thematically rich points. I examine the development of indie music historically, which began to flourish in the 1990s following student activism against President Soeharto's New Order regime. I follow the affective manifestation of indie ethos that manifest in the forming of collectives and their critical approaches to art and music in post-reform Indonesia in the 2000s. As post-reform Indonesia continues to embrace neoliberalism, including in the music scene, reform dispositions continue to manifest fleetingly as subversion to music’s capitalist agendas.
The audiopolitical lens also explores the aesthetics and political agency of indie sounds. I present a political discourse about national identity and the Global North and South dichotomy by presenting regional sounds from indie artists in Sulawesi and performances of Indonesian sound artists on the global stage. As part of my investigation of Indonesia's indie scene in 2019, I examine indie performances surrounding the "Corrupted Reform" movement in 2019 that traverse between moral ethics and performative capitalism.
My gratitude goes out to the Humanities Engage - Immersive Dissertation Research Fellowship - award, which enhances and facilitates collaborative work with institutions and individuals outside academia. It opens up possibilities for research methods and outputs. Additionally, the fellowship award allows me to present some of my research at the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) conference in Seattle in March 2024.
The fellowship objective also brings some challenges. The idea of immersion fits well with my involvement with collaborators, such as Jakarta’s ruangrupa, who has been influential to “the popular” and “the political” in the field of cultural production in post-reform Indonesia. It encouraged me to engage with indie music writers and set up a symposium. It also facilitated me to experiment with research methods – such as taking part in a sound workshop, part of an Indonesian artist’s art exhibition in New York – a method that was not feasible prior to receiving the award. Additionally, I am also challenged to determine the equal benefits and respect for egalitarian knowledge production processes. I am the author of the paper, but I am not the only subject who determines the output. As it stands, mid-way through the fellowship year 2023-24, I endeavor to call attention to one chapter of the dissertation as collaborative writing. As part of the dissemination of knowledge production, the output of the indie music writer’s symposium will be published into a popular book in the Indonesian language. With my collaborators, I strive to look for strategic ways in which sound as a political discourse can be transformed into popular forms. At this stage I continue to evaluate the output with ruangrupa and Laras – studies of Music in Society, two art and research collectives I work intensively with.
