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Music

Diskoria Brings Classic Indonesian Disco Back To The Dance Floor

The DJ duo wants to prove that local music can still get people to dance.

It all started with a poster.

Nine years ago, Merdi Leonardo Simandjuntak and Fadli Aat were at a hip South Jakarta nightclub when they saw a poster reading "Do not play Indonesian music unless you want to be banned." Indonesian music was uncool and adding some local songs to your set was a sure way to stop the dance floor dead, or so people thought.

"[That poster] was such a trigger for us to prove that Indonesian music can make people dance," Merdi told VICE Indonesia.

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Turns out Merdi and Fadli were right. The two formed the DJ duo Diskoria, performing at small venues throughout Jakarta, spinning classic Indonesian disco tracks use 70s and 80s nostalgia to provide a danceable alternative to the capital's megaclubs and hip-hop nights.

The search for classic, danceable songs took the pair on a journey through Indonesian pop history, Merdi explained. They needed to create a setlist, and classic rock albums were way too expensive for the budding DJs.

"Old Indonesian rock records were so expensive that we had to try to find other types of vintage Indonesian music," Merdi said. "Pop was the answer. From those old pop records, we found that each album has at least one or two danceable songs. Gradually, we began to insert those songs into our DJ sets."

Earlier this month, Diskoria brought legendary disco musician Fariz RM to Baxter Smith, in Senopati, South Jakarta, for some classic 1980s grooves. The audience danced away to songs like "Barcelona" and "Selangkah ke Seberang." It was something of a comeback for Fariz RM, a man who was facing accusations of drug abuse a few years back. Merdi and Fadli printed "Free Fariz" stickers and handed them out at his trial.

The stickers attracted the attention of Fariz RM, who was more than happy to perform at Diskoria's "Gelaran Suara Disko Vol. 4." "Diskoria came to me with the idea of honoring the local dance music and I was amazed," Fariz RM said. "These young lads have balls."

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The pair behind Diskoria. All photos by author

"Fariz RM has been our idol for a long time," Merdi said. "We are amazed by his work."

Diskoria is now working on a release with Fariz RM compiling some of the artist's more obscure songs for a mix tentatively titled Fariz RM Groove Collection. "After getting to know him, I find him very chill," Merdi said. "He tends to give his collaborators a lot of freedom to create instead of just telling them what to do."

"People are tired of clubs and are looking for local dance music," Fariz RM said of the release.