Riding the wave: The Panturas on repopularizing surf rock in Indonesia

There was a lot of giggling and laughter during the conversation The Jakarta Post had with surf-rock band The Panturas, which took place on July 6. Five years since their formation, the Jatinangor-based foursome—consisting of Abyan Nabilio (vocals, guitar), Rizal Taufik (guitar), Bagus Gogon (bass) and Surya Fikri (drums)—still cannot fathom their recent popularity, especially as an emerging rock music act with a niche subgenre.

“We never imagined we could go this far! We never expected we could show up on TV and go on a tour - let alone performing overseas,” said Bagus, evoking both confusion and delight.

Far, indeed. As of early August 2021, the band’s debut studio album Mabuk Laut (Seasick) has accumulated more than 25 million plays on Spotify alone—with its lead single “Sunshine” racking up at least 14 million plays. In June 2021, the band announced their follow-up, titled Ombak Banyu Asmara (The Romance of the Waves), which will be released this year and has been preceded by three singles: “Putra Petir” (Son of Thunder), “Balada Semburan Naga” (The Ballad of a Spouting Dragon) and “Tafsir Mistik” (Mystical Inference).

Band first formed at Padjajaran University in Bandung. While Surya and Rizal happen to be cousins and had been performing together since their high school days, Abyan highlighted that the “official” formation of The Panturas came about “during our first gig as a foursome back in 2016.” When all is said and done, what united the foursome was their inquisitiveness for surf-rock music—despite the geographical fact that they were nowhere near a beach.

“Back then, Surya was into a lot of soundtracks from Quentin Tarantino films,” explained Rizal. “Soon after, he proposed we make something like that, thinking it could be fun. Also, we wanted to tackle any sort of preconception. I mean, people don’t need to live in mountains to make folk music, right?”

That’s why, even though they lived in Jatinangor in West Java, not exactly an area surrounded by surf spots, the band members always “wanted to sort of make our own beach”, said Rizal. Besides Tarantino, the band was also inspired by 60s-era surf-rock bands—"such as [surf rock progenitors] The Ventures and [Indonesian 60s band] Eka Sapta,” he added.

The dynamics within The Panturas could be considered atypical compared to most bands in the Indonesian music industry. Abyan may be the band’s vocalist, but he doesn’t consider himself the leader of the band. “I am a rock star, but I’m not the dominant member here. I’m a team player who happens to be assigned in the front post. Our actual front man is the drummer!” he chuckled.

Referring to Surya being the band’s front man, Bagus added cheekily that “we are more like [popular Indonesian bands] Slank than Dewa 19!” Slank is known for being led by its drummer, Bimo Setiawan Almachzumi, popularly known as Bimbim.

In April 2018, The Panturas released their debut studio album Mabuk Laut under La Munai Records: an independent label based in Jakarta that, as described by Bagus, “specializes in reissuing classic records, such as the Harry Roesli back catalog.” He explained that their unusual collaboration possibly stemmed from the label’s desire “to sign a fresh act with a similarly vintage sound.”

Mabuk Laut consists of seven tracks that were entirely written and produced by the band. Besides diving deeper into their beloved surf-rock genre, “our goal for this album was simply to have an album,” Abyan emphasized. Soon after, the album started ascending the streaming charts and matured into one of the biggest sleeper hits of 2018 and beyond. Funnily enough, the band remains critical of its accomplishment—with Abyan saying the album “fell below, but also somehow exceeded, our expectations.”

Bagus explained their reproving evaluation of Mabuk Laut: “There were some elements that we found unsatisfactory, in terms of either production or instrumentalization [because] we made that album in such a rush. That’s why, when you see us performing that album live, there are some parts that we would tweak beforehand. Regardless, we are grateful for how the album put us on the map.”

The album’s lead single “Sunshine” managed to become an indie crossover hit and remains their most popular track yet. Bagus attributed the song’s popularity to its music video, which depicts a slice-of-life memory of a father and his son leading to a heartbreaking twist. “Indonesians love sad stuff, am I right? And, as it turned out, people loved that song’s music video, especially my pals who had lost their parents,” he said without spoiling more details. As of early August 2021, the music video for “Sunshine” has racked up at least 11 million views on YouTube.

Does this sudden popularity add any pressure on the band’s shoulders? Abyan responded, rather cheekily, by throwing a question of his own: “Who doesn’t like making money?”

Post-Mabuk Laut, The Panturas are currently preparing for their sophomore effort Ombak Banyu Asmara. Their latest single “Tafsir Mistik”, in particular, was produced by Lafa Pratomo and released on March 5. Unlike their previous songs, “Tafsir Mistik” finds The Panturas playing around with other genres, such as progressive rock.

Abyan explained that for their sophomore effort, they were interested in “blending in everything that we have learned so far. We want to keep on growing.” Furthermore, he noted how Lafa had helped the band “mediate all sorts of difficulties. Every time we got stuck, Lafa was always there to offer solutions. He never attempted to dictate us in any way.” Besides engaging with outside producers, the band also teased “a couple of featured artists” for Ombak Banyu Asmara.

So far, “Tafsir Mistik” seems to be replicating the band’s earlier success. With Spotify plays about to reach 1 million as of early August, the song has recently been included on Spotify Asia’s RADAR Indonesia Hub. Bagus theorized that the song’s inclusion might be due to the band’s unique sound, which subsequently adds variety to the prestigious playlist. “Our music is far from being ‘easy-listening’, and RADAR Indonesia is usually dominated by chill pop songs,” he observed.

Regardless of The Panturas’ current popularity on the streaming airwaves, the band avoids saying that their popularity will reignite the glory days of rock music. “I don’t know what will happen next. I think it depends on what people like at the moment,” said Surya candidly. “Will rock music make a comeback? It could do. That being said, I don’t think we could go back [to the past].”

Moreover, The Panturas have never dreamt of someday achieving the iconic status of their rock predecessors—most notably Dewa 19 and Sheila On 7. “We don’t expect to be as massively popular as Dewa 19, but we don’t mind enjoying similar success, either. Scoring a residence in [luxurious neighborhood where Dewa 19’s leader Ahmad Dhani lives] Pondok Indah would be a privilege!” joked Bagus. For Surya, while he is still unsure whether The Panturas can be as iconic as the immensely popular Yogyakarta band Sheila on 7, who broke in the late 90s, he does wish “to have our music as timeless as theirs.”