Interview: Vvachrri
If I wanna conclude these themes with one word, it’s “experience”
This week, I’ve had ‘Catch The Fox, Mother’ on repeat. The single comes from Depok-via-Bukit Tinggi band Vvachrri off the upcoming album Kitten Empire & Doggo Lordship. Enjoying his music is like coming down into Alice’s rabbit hole that telling stories with captivating characters yet devastating, making the record that for me quite inviting concept.
So I’m excited to talk with Adtria Fachri who plays omnipotent role in Vvachrri. hehe We talk about his beginnings, idea behind his songs, inspirations, pro-wrestling and other stuff that can represent himself and the band. I think you’ll enjoy it because Fachri is open and great guy.
How did you learn to play instruments? What’s your favorite one and what’s a new instrument you’re dying to learn?
I mostly learn every instruments by myself and because of that, I’m not really good at the instrument I play. Heck, I don’t even remember any basic guitar chords they taught in guitar books and that’s why guitar parts in Vvachrri are pretty simple and easy. I got my drums when I was a sophomore in high school and it’s still my favorite instrument to this day. I wanna learn how to play piano or any horn instrument because they’re getting popular in emo scene these days (thanks to American Football).
At what age did you start having the idea to be a songwriter and playing in the cool band?
I dreamed about having a band since the middle years of elementary school (grade 4 or 5, so probably 10 years old, I presume). Guitar Hero was on its heyday and I also discovered western bands like Hoobastank, Silverchair, Mew, etc. at that time.
Could you mention bands you are associated with before Vvachrri?
I joined a Depok-based band called What The Sparrow Did To You (WTSDTY) as a drummer in the early 2014. Not really a famous band in the scene, but they surely made a name in Indonesia’s Midwest emo community. Amukredam’s Avin and Bedchamber’s Abi (already left the band before 2016’s only gig) also in the band and I somewhat got influenced by them. WTSDTY is not dead yet but everyone in it is focusing on other project, so there’s no gig or new stuff by WTSDTY for the rest of 2017.
It looks like you live in between Depok and Bukit Tinggi. Tell me about those cities and how did they shape your music? Is there any scene in Bukit Tinggi?
Both Depok and Bukittinggi’s scene mostly composed by conventional Hardcore or Metal bands and that’s make them a bit boring. I don’t really know about Depok’s scene history since I just moved here four years ago, but in Bukittinggi, I certainly sure that today’s scene in that city is just the same as it was decades ago, there’s no change and that’s sucks. There’s some fresh air in Padang tho (100 km from Bukittinggi) as there are some new bands with fresh music, like Ocean Trenches (Post-Hardcore with modern approach, I believe they’ve toured to East Java months ago) and Lajur (a dream pop unit).
As Vvachrri, you’ve done a great job here and hell I appreciate you do it by yourself. That’s not easy. I’d love to hear about how this project came together and how does it make differences in your life?
The name “Vvachrri” (I regretted to choose this name since it’s hard to spell) is already made in 2015 when I was joking about becoming a rapper with some friends. It’s also a homage to bands like Wavves and Alvvays. I made some acoustic mixtape with that alias in January 2016, but I don’t want to associate the mixtape with what I do today with Vvachrri, so I deleted the mixtape from bandcamp, but some of the songs will be re-recorded in full-band format for future releases, if possible.
The “real” Vvachrri started when I was recording Vvachrri’s first song, “Likuita, Embodies”. It was recorded after WTSDTY’s EP recording session is done. The studio where WTSDTY recorded their songs provides everything needed (instruments, effect, etc.) and I had some money that I save to buy Playstation 4. Since PC-exclusive games nowadays are more interesting than console’s and there is an opportunity to record some stuff, I decided to take that opportunity.
This band surely affects me because more people appreciate my existence because of it. I rarely do anything in college beside academic and event stuff and when I released a song out of nowhere, my friends are shocked because they didn’t expect me to do this kind of thing. I also gained some acquaintances in the scene thanks to this band. However, this also stresses me lately since I have hope that Vvachrri could be a big name in the scene, yet I don’t know how to organize this band properly. I still don’t have anybody who could help me playing in the gig or co-manage the band and there’s still no exact date for releasing the LP, but I hope I can overcome these things.
What’s the theme you will say about Kitten Empire & Doggo Lordship?
Well, the LP will be divided into four parts with different theme; Adeline & Bruno (Poet, Her Adeline // Virginia and Woolf // It’s Holocaust, Bruno) tells about a couple whose relationship is disrupted by their own personal demon; Medieval Tamagotchi Battle (Steve the Dragon Slayer and Catch the Fox, Mother) deals about someone’s relationship with their mother. The other two parts are about my relationship with my friends who are passed away. If I wanna conclude these themes with one word, it’s “experience”.
A lot of your material is so emotional and really like part of your personal life. Like ‘Steve the Dragon Slayer’ which covered bullying story and other might talk about mental health and anxiety. For me, it’s so powerful. Also, a lot of musicians now, like coming out publicly about their severe mental health. But what made you decide to write those hard experience and whether it is scary or therapeutic to release those feelings?
I use personal experience as the source of ideas for the lyrics because I don’t think I would be able to put topics like politics or social condition since I’m not really that “woke”. The other reason is that I don’t have any friends whom I can talk to about my problems or past experience, so I just spit everything in the lyrics. Most lyrics are deconstructed as a story to make it less personal so I don’t feel really scared when I read them again. It isn’t therapeutic too, because I think just putting my problems and past experience to the lyrics won’t solve the problem or erase past memories.
If you don’t mind to share it with us, what is your greatest fear? Does it expose in your creative work of Kitten Empire & Doggo Lordship?
I am an aerophobic but I never state my dislike of flying in the lyrics and it doesn’t affects my songwriting too hahaha.
Your song title, artwork and things you’re working on are sort of imaginative. Where do you draw those inspirations?
Some of the titles and ideas for the artwork came from movies. ‘Catch the Fox, Mother’ is a quote from Foxcatcher (2014) while ‘It’s Holocaust, Bruno’ references to The Boy in Striped Pyjamas (2008). Color palettes that are used for ‘Likuita, Embodies’ and ‘It’s Holocaust Bruno’ are taken from Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and Moonrise Kingdom (2012), respectively. WTSDTY use movie references in their works so I inspired to do that too. I began to incorporate hiragana to band’s logo and some of single’s artwork because I saw some Japanese electronic ads and I think they’re kinda cool. I actually can’t speak Japanese and the attempt of using Japanese letter without ability to speak the language sounds like cultural appropriation to me, so I ditched it from music video and will not using it again for future artworks.
How about the ‘Catch The Fox, Mother’? What’s story behind it? What’s idea do you want to deliver through the music video?
The song is like an opposition of ‘Steve the Dragon Slayer’. While Steve is about a supportive mother-son relationship, Fox conveys the expression of someone who lives under the restriction and ignorance of their parents. This kind of parenting often leads the children to become either mad or numb. I learnt that my friends who bullied me back in school didn’t fully get the affection that they deserve from their parents because those old people were too busy with their business, and that’s pretty understandable. It’s often nowadays that when a case of abuse or harassment happened, people tend to see it from the perspective of the victims, yet they never want to know what’s happening inside the mind of person who doing it. So, I made these two songs in one coherent story. The video that we made for Fox are designed to presents what it feels like to be restricted and ignored through the knife and body movement. I initially planned to make a literal story of mother ignoring her son but I’m not skillful enough to make that kind of video.
‘Likuita, Embodies’ has sort of pro-wrestling reference in the lyrics. But is it about unplanned pregnancy and it’s emotional pressure? How does it relate to Seth Rollins? I like Rollins though.
Yep, it’s based on my high school friend’s rather funny incident which become a gossip among school peer at that time. Rollins’ reference is a random thought tho, since the lyrics were written in a hurry so I can finish the recording session in one day, and that day I watched a match between Rollins/Tyler Black vs Matt Sydal where Rollins does a moonsault from a man’s belly, so I randomly put Rollins’ name in the lyrics. Since the lyrics are too poorly written, I’ll not put the song into the upcoming LP.
Anyway, what’s pro-wrestling promotion/brand are you currently following and why?
I’m a WWE fan at heart despite my love-hate relationship with their products, but I also watch other big companies like New Japan and ROH, mostly their big events and PPV. Besides that, I sometimes watch UK wrestling like Progress and ICW because I’m a sucker for catch wrestling, technical showoff, and English banters. I also watch past matches in promotions like now-defunct UWF where they exhibit MMA moves in pro-wrestling manner and 1980–90’s All Japan when four pillars (Misawa, Kobashi, Kawada, Taue) and gaijins like Hansen, the Funks, and Dr. Death were still active.
Your previous EP was released via Sailboat Records. But suddenly the label called it day. Now, do you struggle to find a new label for the upcoming EP? Have finally you found one?
It’s more “lazy” than “struggling”, actually. I’ve contacted some labels through and there are some that replied some months ago but there’s no more communication ever since and it’s making me feel down. I’ve planned to email more labels tho, so wish me luck.
What albums would you recommend in helping me get over my anxiety?
I believe Emo heavyweights like TWIABP’s “Whenever, If Ever”, Modern Baseball’s “Holy Ghost” and Sorority Noise’s “You’re Not As ___ As You Think” could help someone whenever they got sudden panic or fear. You can also blast metal or hardcore stuff on the speaker like Heaven Shall Burn’s “Iconoclast” or Have Heart’s “The Things We Carry”.
I’ve read your review for the Turnover show. do you have some opinions what are the pro and cons of Nothing and Turnover shows in Rossi?
I didn’t attend Nothing’s gig ’cause I was on vacation with my parents, so I don’t really know what happened during that show. Turnover was kinda funny because I expected some kind of intimacy, chill atmosphere in the crowd, but in reality there are many people went full hardcore (some did stage diving, which wasn’t allowed by the band) in the front row. The organizer did not fully working on the security, but I believe they’ve done their best and it must be appreciated. Every bands in the gig also play to their best and I enjoyed all of them.
Aside from music things, are there any other activities/hobbies you love to do?
I play video games like and sometimes play futsal like other Indonesian men. I also write occasionally for my friend’s website and translate Indonesian writings to English, either paid or for free.
Last questions, it’s kind of funny one. how do you pitch your band to 5 y/o kids?
“Ada orang gendut main band sendiri aje nih”
