Image courtesy the band
Terapi Urine are Indonesia's reigning kings of "comedic grindcore." The band, whose name means "Urine Therapy," leans into the more ridiculous elements of a genre of music built around 30-second blasts of atonal fury, penning hilariously absurd punchlines with plenty of punch.At times, the band seems concerned with sarcastically capturing the the ennui of regular life, penning lyrics like "Going abroad / Take a selfie / Use annual leave / Insta-Story." Other times guitarist Andry Novaliano goes for the absurd, singing about gardens full of ghosts, or castles named after classic thrash metal bands.There's no joke to dumb, no gimmick too corny. When that annoying Indonesian meme "Om Telolet Om" "went international," Terapi Urine was in on the joke almost immediately. Now they're back with Petenteng, something they're calling an "Instagram Album."VICE: What the hell is an Instagram album?
Andry: It's just a collection of songs released on Instagram. It's that simple. [Laughs] I don't remember exactly how the idea came about, but we were hanging out together and [our bassist] Qui was like, 'Let's do an Instagram album! Our songs are already less than a minute long. It's perfect.' And like a blessing from the sky, we all immediately said 'yes.'So is Petenteng ever going to leave Instagram?
So far, we don't know what kind of impact of the album made. We put it out on Instagram since it was easy and it fits the platform well. Anyone can just click a song and listen to it. There's definitely some technical aspects that we have to overlook—the compression of the songs, the slight compromise on the audio quality—but we don't think it's really a big deal.Yeah, it's not like you weren't already writing short songs. But, aside from the Instagram thing, what makes this different from any other Terapi Urine release?
Honestly, nothing. There's nothing different about our tracks compared to other grindcore songs. I mean, if you compare us to the US grindcore outfit [now called] Anal Trump who will release a 30-song album that's less than three minutes long, we're nothing. Perhaps what makes it different is how each of our egos got a nod in this EP. Everyone has their own musical and lyrical ideas, so when we put them together, it gets really bizarre.You all have a reputation for being pretty funny. Is this Insta-album going to make me laugh?
Humor is relative. What's funny to us, might not be funny to someone else. So it's really hard to say how funny an album is. All the music and lyrics were written pretty spontaneously while we recorded. The jokes were funny at the time. At least they were to us. But whether it translates in the EP or not? Who knows? It's all a mystery.A lot of bands in Indonesia want to be seen as 'serious.' But for you guys, this is all a joke, right?
To us, humor forces someone to be honest. When you lie, you sin. When you sin, you're far from the blessing of the almighty God. When you're far from the blessing of the almighty God, you'll end up in hell forever.Look, if you don't humor well, then don't do it. If you're not that funny, then don't do it. But what do we know? We force our humor all the time. There's a lack of humor in rock music? Really? I don't know. If there's a lack of humor, then let's add some. If there's too much, then subtract it. Balance is good. No need to worry about it. Just chill yo.What is Terapi Urine? Is it a band? A comedy group?
Honestly, we don't see Terapi Urine as either of those. We all think of Terapi Urine as a project that lets us all hang out together. It was never in any of our minds—especially mine—that Terapi Urine was going to turn into something real. Four of us are married with children. All of our wives understand that Terapi Urine is an outlet for their husbands to express themselves so they don't go insane.So then how do you describe Terapi Urine to your friends?
Terapi Urine is a bunch of failed musician who saw their dreams of becoming rock stars slip away. [Laughs] If you ask me about the future of the band, I'll just say what matters most is that we are currently happy. That's it.This interview has been translated and edited for content and clarity.
Advertisement
Andry: It's just a collection of songs released on Instagram. It's that simple. [Laughs] I don't remember exactly how the idea came about, but we were hanging out together and [our bassist] Qui was like, 'Let's do an Instagram album! Our songs are already less than a minute long. It's perfect.' And like a blessing from the sky, we all immediately said 'yes.'So is Petenteng ever going to leave Instagram?
So far, we don't know what kind of impact of the album made. We put it out on Instagram since it was easy and it fits the platform well. Anyone can just click a song and listen to it. There's definitely some technical aspects that we have to overlook—the compression of the songs, the slight compromise on the audio quality—but we don't think it's really a big deal.Yeah, it's not like you weren't already writing short songs. But, aside from the Instagram thing, what makes this different from any other Terapi Urine release?
Honestly, nothing. There's nothing different about our tracks compared to other grindcore songs. I mean, if you compare us to the US grindcore outfit [now called] Anal Trump who will release a 30-song album that's less than three minutes long, we're nothing. Perhaps what makes it different is how each of our egos got a nod in this EP. Everyone has their own musical and lyrical ideas, so when we put them together, it gets really bizarre.
Advertisement
Humor is relative. What's funny to us, might not be funny to someone else. So it's really hard to say how funny an album is. All the music and lyrics were written pretty spontaneously while we recorded. The jokes were funny at the time. At least they were to us. But whether it translates in the EP or not? Who knows? It's all a mystery.A lot of bands in Indonesia want to be seen as 'serious.' But for you guys, this is all a joke, right?
To us, humor forces someone to be honest. When you lie, you sin. When you sin, you're far from the blessing of the almighty God. When you're far from the blessing of the almighty God, you'll end up in hell forever.Look, if you don't humor well, then don't do it. If you're not that funny, then don't do it. But what do we know? We force our humor all the time. There's a lack of humor in rock music? Really? I don't know. If there's a lack of humor, then let's add some. If there's too much, then subtract it. Balance is good. No need to worry about it. Just chill yo.What is Terapi Urine? Is it a band? A comedy group?
Honestly, we don't see Terapi Urine as either of those. We all think of Terapi Urine as a project that lets us all hang out together. It was never in any of our minds—especially mine—that Terapi Urine was going to turn into something real. Four of us are married with children. All of our wives understand that Terapi Urine is an outlet for their husbands to express themselves so they don't go insane.So then how do you describe Terapi Urine to your friends?
Terapi Urine is a bunch of failed musician who saw their dreams of becoming rock stars slip away. [Laughs] If you ask me about the future of the band, I'll just say what matters most is that we are currently happy. That's it.This interview has been translated and edited for content and clarity.