SID, punk rock pioneers of Bali, were born and bred in Kuta Rock City. The band is three chord attitude-heavyyoung men in their 20s, by name:
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Bobby Kool (owner of Electrohell, lead vocal, guitar,highly personable, a dog lover and a graphic designer)
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Eka Rock (owner of Disposable Lies Merchandise and Multimedia, low ridin’ familyman, beer drinker, laid back bass and backing vocal and a warm smilin’ Rock ‘N Roll bandman)
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Jrx ( low ridin’ beer drinking Rock ‘N Roll prince charming, drummer and a hairwax junkie)
The name ‘Superman is Dead’ started its’ evolution from Stone Temple Pilot’s “Superman Silvergun”. The name moved on to “Superman is Dead” cause they like
the idea that there’s such thing as a perfect,invincible person out there.
SID actually stumbled together in ‘95, drawn by their common love of Green Day and NOFX. Their influences soon extended to the punk ‘n roll genre a la
Supersuckers, Living End and Social Distortion, andhere they stay. Some of their better known tracks include, “My Girlfriend is Pregnant” (true story of
the bassist), “Bali Holiday” (about the Balinese prostitution scene), “Long Way to the Bar” (self explanatory!), and so it goes on. They say what they
wanna say, how they wanna say it. In your face, to say it precisely.
SID public image, self described, is “Blitzkrieg 3-Chordsabilly Beer Punk Rock” (think raw energy of
Ramones vs Living end meets Supersuckers + Sid Vicious’ nihilism .supersonically fueled with beer-soaked Rockabilly attitude.complicated, eh?!?!).
History? SID produced their first three albums independently (the boys worked years of crappy night jobs), with fabulous, small scale indie labels 1997
“Case 15″, 1999 “Superman is Dead”, 2002 “Bad, Bad, Bad”(mini album, 6 tracks). In March 2003 SID finally signed with Sony Music Indonesia after extended
negotiations regarding their right to sing the majority of their tracks in English and have full artistic rights over their ‘image’!! With that
decision they single handedly became the first band from Bali to be invited to sign with a major recording label in Indonesia, the first band in their nation (to
my knowledge) to be recording majority of songs in English, AND the first punk band in Indonesia to get the national exposure and promotion that working with
a major label in a third world country provides. And so the history of Indonesian Punk Rock begins!
And as for the question that everyone wants to know.the infamous bomb in Bali happened about 75M from their home, hangout center, punkrock boutique, bar,
tape shop and rehearsal studio that is also Jerinx’ house, in the heart of Kuta. After panel beating back the rolling doors of the studio, and shifting a little
debris, rehearsals continued as usual. Yeah, they saw a lot, it sucked big time, but its’ not gonna stop ‘em!
And where are they now? At the end of last year, one of the more respectable music mags here cited SID as
“The Next Big Thing” for 2003. With the release of their newest (fourth) album, “Kuta Rock City”,
followed by major airplay nationally and in some countries overseas, coupled with the instant
popularity of their newest filmclip (can you believe they were MTV Indonesian artists of the months in
June!) SID suddenly find themselves touring continuously throughout Indonesia. Last week they were in four major Indonesian cities, on three islands, in
7 days! Sometimes playing for free at underground scene clubs, sometimes at street skate parties or alternative band festivals, at lots of universities,
and even occasionally at “classy” venues who would have probably denied them entrance 12 months ago!
Which means more beers for all.
Last month SID even got a mention in Time Asia. They remain proud, boys from the streets of Kuta with a love of punk rock, beers and a good time. Ready for
whatever comes next, excited about the next gig.
