Band Interview: Voice Of Baceprot

The all-female trio Voice Of Baceprot have made headlines globally with their music, a fresh take on metal, rap-rock, and funk metal. Formed in 2014 in school in rural Indonesia, the three schoolgirls – Marsya (vocals and guitar), Widi (bass), andSitti (drums) – aged 14, began a musical revolution.

Initially drawn to covers of System Of A Down, Rage Against The Machine, Metallica, and Slipknot among others, Voice Of Baceprot soon found their unique authentic voice. True to their name, given ‘Baceprot’ in Sundanese translates as ‘loud’.

Voice Of Baceprot’s debut video, 2018’s ‘School Revolution’, their thrash-funk metal amalgam, has gathered nearly two million views. It is a searing track, raising awareness about the inequality of education, and helped fully stamp VOB’s name on the global map. Since then, the group have gone from strength to strength, releasing follow up singles ‘God, Allow Me (Please) to Play Music’, and 2022’s ‘[NOT] PUBLIC PROPERTY’.

Since their formation, Voice Of Baceprot’s Marsya, Sitti, and Widi have been using their music to build their voices as activists and to raise awareness of the violations of women’s rights globally. Their activism is only increasing and becoming more powerful as the trio age. This is reflected in the single ‘[NOT] PUBLIC PROPERTY’, released in conjunction with the WoW Foundation and Indonesian crowdfunding platform Kitabisa to collect donations for victims of sexual violence and abuse.

During their current tour and ahead of their much anticipated appearance at Wacken Open Air on August 5th, 2022, we had the pleasure of chatting with the trio. You can read that interview below.

1. Hello Voice Of Baceprot, It is a pleasure to speak with you. How are you and how is everything in the Voice Of Baceprot camp at the moment?

Hi, thank you for asking. It has been a fun week. We visited so many place on this tour and we also learned about a lot of things such as another culture, music industry, and many more.

2. Now that we’re (hopefully) through the darker periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, things are moving forward quite nicely for Voice Of Baceprot. Do you feel as though you’re in a good position to take advantage of the interest in what you do?

Even when the pandemic was in the darker period, we actually didn’t see it as a bad situation for VoB. although it is quite difficult. but we don’t stop and keep making something. We continued to make music, released single and even started a European tour at the end of last year. But with the situation getting better now, we hope things will get better too. We can start offline concerts again and meet more people.

3. Talking of that period, how did Voice of Baceprot cope? In particular when the musical industry ground to a halt and no-one really knew what to do?

As we said before, we practice a lot, make music at home, went to an instrument classes for each of us, do several online concerts and tours with limited audiences and strict health protocols. We also spend time by doing our respective hobbies such as reading books, write lyrics, cooking, and doing many things together at home.

4. Was there anything that helped you, as a group, get through the tougher periods and help keep you focused on what Voice Of Baceprot could do during this time?

We just don’t stop talking to each other to strengthen the chemistry. Besides that, we also keep playing music and having fun even though we don’t have many activities outside the house. We watch movies together and while eating the food we make ourselves in our free time.

5. How about positive things that you may have learnt or discovered that you will continue to take forward?

The previous pandemic situation taught us to be able to adapt to all new things quickly. Like interviews and concerts that turn online so we have to learn new technology, and how we stay productive even when boredom strikes.

6. We’re right in the thick of festival season across the world and you’re part of many, most notably Wacken Open Air 2022 on August 5th. What a moment that is going to be. What does it mean to you to be playing such a legendary festival?

Before we got to this point, we had written a lot of dreams to play in many festivals in the world. And Wacken is one of our big dreams. We even included it on our list of dreams ever since we started out in high school. Despite many at the time said that it’s impossible because we are a) young and b) women, we still kept it on the list and just believed in ourselves. Fast forward to now, Wacken has finally given us the opportunity to fulfil our dream, and we promise to give it our best shot.

7. For those who haven’t had the chance to see you play live and choose to see you out of curiosity, what can they expect from a Voice Of Baceprot live show?

We practice very hard for every show we will play. Despite any technical issues that are beyond our control, we will always try to do the best we can by staying true to ourselves while we’re on the stage. And we can make sure that you will remember that performance even if only once in your lifetime.

8. Do you find that happens a lot? Curious onlookers, interested in your backgrounds and life story, come along to see what the fuss is about and later, walk away, as new fans ready to shout from the rooftops about your quality?

It happens a lot. We often run into people who come to our concerts just because they want to prove whether we can really play music. And that’s not wrong at all. Aren’t we all like that? We’re excited to prove to them that they won’t regret it. Usually after that, they become new “Baladceprot” who always send messages on Instagram and take the time to come when we visit their country or city.

9. We’re seeing an important shift in the mentality of how women in rock and metal are perceived. A lot has changed, a lot still needs to change, but things do seem to be improving. How conscious are you of Voice Of Baceprot’s ability to be role-models and why is that important to you?

We never dreamed of being a role model. we just realized that our voices are heard more through the music we play. So why don’t we use that to convey good messages. We also realize that many people learn new perspectives through rock and metal music. So we can’t just have a male perspective. There must be women’s involvement in there to make it more diverse. Not only as a sweetener, but also listen to their voice and opinion. Thats why we are grateful now that recently more and more women are involved in the metal scene and their voices are being more heard.

10. Have you been surprised by the global response to Voice Of Baceprot and the endorsements you have received from so many bands, artists and media outlets?

At first, yes. Especially since our dream was not originally to be famous. But we are still grateful because in the end many people want to listen to our songs and the messages we convey.

11. When you have the likes of Rage Against the Machine endorse you and the messages you are sending, does that add pressure or do you take that and use it to strengthen who you are as a group?

We never take it as pressure. The people out there who actually make it that way. Many people said to us that they have very high expectations of us because of the support and we feel that isn’t our responsibility. We consider their support as support from fellow musicians who support diversity and the youth movement.

12. The modern side of being in a band; social media, likes, follows, views etc. is an important aspect that has helped push Voice Of Baceprot to a global audience. The importance of those tools can’t be understated but they also come with a lot of negatives. Firstly do you feel as though Voice Of Baceprot understands how to utilise it well and secondly, how you balance personal feelings about the system against the requirement for professional use?

We don’t know if we have used it well or not in people’s standards, but what we feel is that we are always learning how to convey various messages through our posts well, not spreading hatred and only using the platform to share musical activities and voice some of the issues that we raise in our songs. while for personal we strictly limit sharing our personal life or our personal feelings. Because we think that’s our own business and not everyone should know about it.

13. Do you think it is possible to use social media effectively to not only spread the word of your music but also to raise awareness of the violations of women’s rights globally?

Of course and we think that’s how it should be. Now social media is used by people from all walks of life. So when we talk about equality, safe spaces for women and children, it can spread faster and it can be read by everyone even without they looking for it. This may be one of the most effective ways to create awareness about safe spaces today.

14. For many fans, it was your covers that initially drew them in, everyone has their personal favourite but what is your favourite cover that you have done?

So far the cover we like the most is “Killing in the Name of” – Rage Against The Machine. We feel that the song is a magical song that can make anyone who hears and play it can feel the rebellious energy of Rage Against the Machine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekH90mZ-9YU

15. Lastly, busy month incoming but what might the rest of 2022 look like and are you as excited about the future of Voice Of Baceprot as we are?

This year we are very excited to finish some song material and start many more concerts in several places. We hope that more good things will happen and the situation will get better for everyone.

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