Ones2Watch Home

Photo: Tiny Studio 

Indonesian trio Grrrl Gang continues to carve out a space for their boisterous, infectious sound with the release of their latest album, Spunky!. The Jakarta-based trio, comprised of Angeeta Sentana (vocals, guitar), Akbar Rumandung (bass, vocals), and Edo Alventa (guitar, vocals), deliver a body of work fueled by joyously spiky guitar riffs and effortlessly cool slacker vocals that turn this 25-minute album into a sprint through vibrant, fizzing sonics that battles the darker forces that lie beneath the exterior of our lives.

Spunky! arrives following significant life changes for the band, including a switch in locale from Yogyakarta, the city where they first formed the band while still in college. "This is Grrrl Gang's first release after we graduated and got day jobs that made us have to move to Jakarta, which is undeniably 180 degrees compared to Yogya," says Rumandung. "But moving to Jakarta enabled us to work with Lafa on Spunky! from start to finish." Rumandung says, "We want this album to show that we've changed, that Grrrl Gang is a band that isn't stuck in one place, and that we always have the urge to discover new things."

Ones To Watch had the chance to talk to Grrrl Gang about the record, its creation, and what fans can do to find their inner 'spunk!'

Ones To Watch: First of all, congrats on the release! How do you feel now that Spunky! is out in the world and people are listening to and loving it?

Angee: Thank you so much! We still feel a bit nervous, but we're honestly just really relieved that the album is finally out after working on it for almost two years now!

Why Spunky? Is there a deeper meaning to choosing that as the album title or did it just sound cool?

Angee: I just love how the word sounds, and I feel that it perfectly describes what we want to convey in the album. You need to be a little bit "spunky" to get through life and its weird cycles.

Tell me about the early days of writing the album. What was the first song you wrote and the last song you wrote for the record?

Angee: I think we wrote "A Fight Breaks Out at a Karaoke Bar" first, and it was quite hard to write it—especially coming up with the lyrics and the melody—because I was having writer's block, but I'm happy that we managed to complete it. The last song we wrote was "Cool Girl," because I had just come up with the lyrics for the song draft while we were at the recording studio already.

Spunky plays off many of the sonic elements of your 2020 record Here To Stay! but also shows a lot of growth and experimentation. How would you describe the process of making this album versus your debut?

Angee: Here To Stay! was basically a discography of all the songs that we've published in the past, and was released to introduce ourselves to the global market. I think we didn't put that much attention and detail to the songs in the discography as much as we did with Spunky! We also wanted to show the world that, hey, we're not stuck with this particular sound only and we have the balls to do other things, as well.

You worked on this album with some fantastic people, including Lafa Pratomo and Iwan Fals! Tell me how this creative partnership came about and what makes for a great collaborator.

Edo: At first, there were several names that came up on our list, including Lafa, and we ended up choosing him as we felt like getting out of our comfort zone, and of course, he is a good producer. Lafa loves to connect with people he's working with, through the connection it makes it easier for us to bring our best at the studio. Looking back at the whole process, it all felt so natural, in a way that pushed us to dig deeper into our sound and embrace what was already there. He was able to bring out a more polished version of what Grrrl Gang is and I think that is great about Lafa.

What is your favorite music moment on Spunky!? 

Angee: My favorite music moment is during the outro of "Cool Girl," where I just kept chanting, "I wanna tear my skin apart / It never glows in the dark." I was reading Berserk during recording and it put me in a weird mood, and for some reason, it made me able to convey all the darkness I have inside that I was afraid to show.

Edo: I feel like "Tower Moment" is my favorite music moment. Well, the draft was really plain and it's kinda just like an "idea" song. During the recording, we came up with a lot of creative ideas and tried so many pedals for the guitar parts. The master is beyond my expectation to be honest, it's one of my favorite tracks on the album.

What is your favorite song to play live?

Angee: "Blue-Stained Lips" is a really fun song to play. I just love how good it sounds when we play it.

Edo: "Spunky!" is really fun to play live. I love the energy when we play it live.

Akbar: "Spunky!" For sure, we even have a circle pit now.

How can fans find their inner 'spunk?'

Angee: You can start by finding your sense of humor despite the messiness that surrounds you.

What are you most looking forward to in the last leg of 2023?

Akbar: THE tour for sure… since we are planning to go to several countries in Asia and Australia

What do you want to experiment more with in the future?

Angee: Personally, I really want to experiment more with my vocals—from more aggressive (and more solid-sounding) screams to effortless vocal runs.

Do you have a message for fans or anyone who might stumble upon this interview?

Angee: Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Grrrl Gang's Spunky! is available now.