Black Brothers

Most people today might never know that once a band named ‘Black Brothers’ ever existed in Indonesia but some of them are still familiar with its songs like ‘Kisah Seorang Pramuria,’ ‘Hari Kiamat,’ and ‘Sajojo.’ The band that was previously named ‘Los Iriantos Primitive’ was formed in Jayapura, Papua in the early 1970s and managed by Andy Ayamiseba, a Chinese-Papuan businessman. They went to pursue a more promising career in Jakarta in 1976. Under Andy’s role BB (Black Brothers) signed a contract with Irama Tara, one of major labels in Jakarta owned by Nyo Beng Seng. With the label BB launched 8 albums and 1 Christmas album from 1976-1979 and raised the band to popularity. In 1977 BB got a golden record award and won a trophy as one of the three top bands in Indonesia. And during that time they made roadshow concerts in big cities in Indonesia like Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Medan, Ujung Pandang and Manado which drew thousands of spectators (M.Igir al-Qatiri “Menelusuri Jejak Langkah Sang Legenda”, p.40).This was a great success that equates BB with Indonesia’s great names such as d’Mercys, Panbers, Koes Ploes, SAS, and God Bless. This success was also due to the mighty original lines up of the band: Hengky Mirontoneng Sumanti (Lead vocal lead guitarist), Yochie Pattipeiluhu (keys), Benny Bethay (bass player), Stevie Mambor (drummer), David Rumageang a.k.a Dullah Yunus (Saxophone) and Amri Kahar (Saxophone & trumpet) as well as August Rumaropen (guitarist) and Sandy Bethay (vocal), two replacement players to substitute the position of Hengky and David who left the group in the last two albums (Black Bros 79).

BB was known as a pop rock band but they had a rich and wider musical range. This is due to the fact that most of them used to be musicians in night clubs before joining the band. They could play slow pop mellow songs like ‘Kisah Seorang Pramuria’ but turned fierce in playing funk rock like in Huembello and Samandoye. They also played Keroncong (Indonesian musical style) like in Keroncong Irian Jaya, keroncong Kenangan, and Gunung Siklop. Disco and Jazz were also part of their music composition but what draws Kultur most is their infusion of reggae into their repertoire.

Black Brothers (Stand up from left to right: Yochie Pattipeluhu, Benny Bethany, Stevie Mambor, Hengky M.S. Sit down from left to right: David Rimagesang a.k.a Dullah Yunus & Amri Kahar)

In 1979 most of the band’s members including the manager decided to leave Indonesia. Andy became a resident of Vanuatu. Benny, Stevie, and August lived in Australia while Hengky, Yochie and Amri settled in Netherlands. Now after more than forty years the band has only three surviving original members: Yochie, Benny, and Amri.

In 2015 BB made a homecoming and reunion concert in Bandung with some Indonesian top artists including SLANK. When on stage Kaka SLANK applauded BB as one of the reggae forerunners in Indonesia. Kultur has successfully made an interview session through a video and voice call with Yochie and Amri from Utrecht and Leidschendam to trace the history on how far the influence of reggae as one of the styles in BB’s music and their contribution to enrich Indonesia and South Pacific popular music scene. Following are the details:

BB had a wide range of music genres including reggae during its career in Indonesia (1976-1979). Some people said that BB is one of the forerunners in Indonesia. Kaka SLANK even mentioned it while on stage in Bandung in 2015 at BB’s homecoming concert. What do you think about it?

Yochie: Yeah, that’s true because when I was still in college in 1974/75 I played in the Cenderawasih University band, I never knew any band in Indonesia played reggae in those days. We knew reggae from foreign radio stations. I heard it from Hilversum Netherland and from Australia. Sometimes they would play reggae. So I began to copy the music, how to play it and everything just coming to my mind [laughing]

Do you still remember whose song they played in those radio stations?

Yochie: I can’t remember them. I only listened and they (the broadcasters) spoke really quick [laughing] I can’t hardly remember the names but I tuned and listened to the ones which I considered wonderful and worth listening to.

We thought that maybe you had a collection of vinyls or cassettes?

Yochie: No, nothing. Where could I get one in those days? My father had a Jazz collection like Louis Amstrong and things like that but no reggae at all. And I need to add also that when we arrived in Jakarta there was no reggae nor as such. And if I’m not mistaken, I began to introduce it in BB’s first album (Irian Jaya 1). There’s pop reggae in it (Balada Dua Remaja). We can say a kind of reggae. So that’s the beginning, starting from there.

Yochie Pattipeluhu

What about you Aba Amri?

Amri: I already played reggae before I came to Jakarta. That was in Sorong when I still worked at Pertamina. I had a band named ‘Caterpillar’ and we played at a nightclub in Bahari. On top of a hill there was a nightclub there. That’s the place we used to play music. We already played reggae.

What song did you play?

Amri: Jimmy Cliff. His songs like Vietnam…(singing) That’s about war in Vietnam.

When did you join BB?

Amri: 1976. I worked in Pertamina Sorong till late 1975. I went to Jakarta and joined BB and then Dullah ran from his music school in Yogyakarta (Academy Music Indonesia, now Institut Seni Indonesia) and joined us. He played the trumpet. I can play both saxophone and trumpet.

How about you uncle Yochie, when did you go to Jakarta?

Yochie: February 1976. Actually me, Benny, Stevie and Hengky had made a plan to go to Jakarta by ship but Stevie and Benny missed the ship. So me and Hengky went there first and later Andy sent them a ticket.

Where did you guys stay in Jakarta?

Yochie: In Andy’s house (Chiomas 1). We were packed like sardines [laughing]. There were many people there. We and also ‘Black Papas’ [another Papuan band managed by Andy]

When you were in Jakarta and before you made any album, did you ever play reggae?

Amri: We played at a bar named ‘Ankerage’, it was right beside Taman Ria Monas. We played our own songs and other songs which were mostly rock and funk, but sometimes we mixed it with a little reggae. Every Saturday night they would move chairs aside to broaden the space, cuz’ there were massive crowds every time we played. A lot of tourists would hang out there.

What reggae songs did you guys usually play?

Yochie: Songs like ‘Tears On My Pillow’ (a song by Ernie Smith in 1975 that was popularized by Johnny Nash). So we covered the song. We knew the song from the radio in Jakarta so we recorded it using a tape recorder. The song is so nice. So we recorded it and began to rehearse the song.

There are songs with Irama Tara during your time in Indonesia that we considered to be imbued with reggae like ‘Hilang,’ ‘Terima Kasih,’ ‘Amapondo,’and ‘Samandoye’ aren’t they?

Yochie: Yes, they are.

Amri: Here in the Netherlands they praise our music arrangement in Samandoye. They say it is so unique. And also Huembello. They really admire them.

Who’s the man behind the music?

Amri: All of us actually. But these two songs belong to David. It’s him who brought them to us.

Oh, we thought uncle Yochie and Hengky are the men behind most of BB’s music?

Yochie: Yes, almost every song but all of the players are reliable. They are amazing. Stevie, Benny, everyone. We complete each other.

How is the technical in doing it? Did you guys rehearse together inside or outside the studio before the recording session?

Yochie: usually we would rehearse underneath trees [laughing]. We just played and before we went to the studio to record it, Andy would rent music equipment for about one week. So when we came down to the studio everything’s ready. But some of the songs were made directly in the studio.      

What is the reason for infusing reggae to BB’s repertoire?

Yochie: It’s just the music. The rhythm is so wonderful. It touches my heart.

Amri: Yes, it’s because of the rhythm. It’s good. The most important thing is that we can move our feet to the music. What’s the point of playing something that doesn’t match you? If it’s not good then why would I listen to it? Right? Reggae makes me happy. The rhythm moves my dancing feet. So, singing and the beat of the music must be synchronized. We played reggae long before any other bands played it. Later Pance Pondaag also experimented with reggae in one of his songs (Mulanya Biasa Saja). Pance followed our path.

Amri Kahar

Are you a friend of Pance?

Amri: Yes, he is our good friend. (M. Igir al-Qatiri, ‘Menelusuri Jejak Langkah Sang Legenda,’ p.16 mentions that Pance Pondaag used to live in Jayapura. He worked at Bank Exim (now Mandiri Bank). He and Andy, BB’s manager, were also played in ‘The Varunas,’ a band owned by Indonesia Navy.

BB is acknowledged by music researchers in the South Pacific such as Camelia & Michael Webb Gannon as the first band who brought reggae to the Southwest Pacific like Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Caledonia. Is that true? What do you say about that?

Yochie: Yes, that is true, very true. Because when we arrived there, we found out that they copied our songs from here (Indonesia). When we arrived in Port Moresby there wasn’t any reggae music played. Most of them played folk songs, using ukulele. Now in Papua (Indonesia) they also play that kind of music, string band. There were also some who played rock n roll music but there was no reggae at all.

When did you arrive in Papua New Guinea?

Yochie: We arrived at Port Moresby in 1979

Allegedly Raymond Chin from CHM Supersound got permission from Indonesia record label (Irama Tara) to re-release all BB’s songs in Papua New Guinea? Is that true?

Yochie: Raymond made contact with our manager, Andy. But we had no idea about it. Was there any deal about it? We never know.

But the cooperation with CHM became a starting point of BB’s popularity in the South Pacific. Can we say that?

Yes, in the Pacific we made a lot of reggae songs in Pidgin (English creole). I wrote many songs in that language. I studied the language specifically to write songs. The language is spoken in almost all islands there, the language of the islanders.  

How many albums did you make in the Pacific?

Yochie: whoa, I don’t even remember that. Plenty, and there’s a couple of types. Because when we arrived in Netherlands, BB was split. Benny, Stevie followed Andy (to Vanuatu and Australia). Andy didn’t take me and Hengky. So when we wanted to make an album with Raymond Chin, there was only me and Hengky. We made three albums under the name of XB1, that is the ex BB, a fraction of BB, just me and Hengky.

Do you still remember what songs in those three albums? Maybe one or two of them.

Yochie: ‘Hula Reggae’ was quite popular there and also ‘Mi Ted Long SP.’ SP stands for South Pacific, it’s a brand of beer. So “Mi Ted Long SP’ means I’m crazy about enjoying SP. These two songs were very famous all over the Pacific.

You and Hengky wrote the lyrics?

Yochie: I wrote all the lyrics, the music, everything. So only me and Hengky. That was the first time I used the MIDI program, MC 500 sequencer. A device that enabled us to make a complete music like a band with just one person operating it.

It seems like Sajojo is also included in that project? It is quite a well-known song in the Pacific and Indonesia.

Yochie: Yes we sent songs to Raymond and he unsolved them in the Pacific. They became big, including Sajojo. Sajojo became a hit first in Pacific and then Indonesia but they also play the song in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Italia. The song was brought by David. He wrote the song. Using only a guitar he sang and manually recorded it and sent it over to Netherland. David asked me to make the music, so that’s when I decided to make it into reggae. I sent it back to David and he brought it to Irama Tara and Boom ! In Indonesia they used it as a gymnastic song. So reggae became a hit.

The song ‘Vanuatu’ uses the music of ‘Jayapura’ and ‘Nogat Mani’ uses music of ‘Amapondo’ Whose idea is it? Who changed the lyric?

Yochie: I wrote ‘Vanuatu’ first in Pidgin but Irama Tara asked me whether I have a new song? So wrote ‘Jayapura’ in Bahasa. While ‘Amapondo’ was first recorded in Indonesia but later I changed the lyric into ‘Nogat Mani.’

What does ‘Nogat Mani’ mean?

Yochie: No money, no everything.

Was it a testimony of your situation in Papua New Guinea?

Yochie: Yea, sort of. But we look more on the commercial side of it.

Your younger brother, Boyke Pattipeluhu (drummer) also played reggae with Abresso. Is it because your family has been exposed to the music before?

Yochie: My family used to listen to foreign radio stations at home. Me, my older and younger brother, Yopie, Boyke, everyone in the family. We listened and tried to imitate the music. Boyke is a fanatic reggae lover. He loves this music so much.

Black Brothers

Many of today’s generation in Indonesia and Papua have played reggae. Is there any talent that you consider worth listening to?

Yochie: yes. the R & B event is so fantastic in Papua, particularly Epho, the rapper. He is great. It seems like there’s a competition between R&B and reggae.  

How about from reggae itself?

Yochie: Well, reggae is just like an ordinary thing because there are a lot of people playing it. So where are we going to head when it is stagnant? In R&B they have a lot of variation, they have rappers and everything.

What is your message to the new generations who play music, especially reggae?

Yochie: They are all good. So what else can I say? They are good, somehow many are still trapped in alcoholism. So my advice is to stop drinking alcohol. It’s better to just focus on making music.

What about you Aba Amri?

Amri: From the youtube, I can see that the youth make reggae but still cannot penetrate the center. Pop music still rampantly rules.

BB are still productive making songs. Do you still use the name of BB? Are there any new reggae songs coming up?

Yochie: oh yes, I have prepared ten songs but mostly around BB’s old characteristics because there are a lot of requests from the BB’s fans, not only from Papua but some other places in Indonesia like from Bandung and Medan.

Any reggae songs in the album?

Yochie: oh yes, two songs

Dancehall (Reggae for party) or conscious reggae? Choose one and give a reason!

Yochie: Wow, both. A lot of People love to dance. So a little dance can be good but lyrically the message must be positive to give advice and things. I want to make a song that raises awareness.

The two last questions that probably represent people’s curiosity. Why did BB leave Indonesia in the peak of their success?

Yochie: BB went to Papua New Guinea for a cultural exchange agenda and so we went there. After the show, somehow Andy said we would not go back to Indonesia. So Andi prepared all the tickets and we boarded to Netherland.

Amri: They said me and David will soon join the band in Papua New Guinea but it turned out that they flew to Netherland.

So the route was Papua New Guinea first and then Netherland, Vanuatu and Australia?

Amri: Yes, they went for the show in Papua New Guinea. It was all under Andy’s guidance. We are only musicians but Andy is a man of politics. so they left me and David but in 1991 I decided to join Yochie and Hengky in Netherland and live there until today.

Why did BB split? Andy, Benny, Stevie and August went to the Pacific (Vanuatu and Australia) and left you and Hengky in Netherland?

Yochie: Yes, what a pity to me personally. In my heart I cried. How could it happen? Maybe that’s our fate. But like I said before the split was not because of us (musicians), honestly. After we came back from a six month tour in the Pacific (Vanuatu, Solomon) Andy made a decision to depart without me and Hengky. I was so sad. But we were still family. Several times Andy visited Netherland and we met but we never talked about it anymore.  

(Yedi)

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