Elevation Books is an independent book publisher founded by journalist M. Taufiqrahman as an off-shot of Elevation Records, the record label he set up in 2013 (Full disclosure: Elevation Records has released some of my records). Like the parent label, Elevation Books operates with a fiercely independent perspective, publishing books by either Taufiqrahman's close friends or people he personally admires, including Herry "Ucok" Sutresna, the former leader of legendary Bandung hip-hop group Homicide.I spoke to Taufiqrahman about Elevation Books' young history and it's vision for literature in Indonesia.VICE Indonesia: How did you come up with idea for Elevation Books in relation to Elevation Records? What is the common thread between the two projects?
M. Taufiqrahman: I was thinking how music in this country has a huge fan base—I don't like using the word 'market' here. Everybody loves music, they mostly buy records, patches or tees, but people just don't buy that many books about music. In other places, like in the United Stated, the United Kingdom or Japan, people are buying books about music all the time. You have respected music writers like Chuck Klosterman, Rob Sheffield, and Dorian Lynskey. They have a huge selection of superb books on music, my favorite example is the 33 1/3 series published by Continuum.We, or at least I, have never encountered decent homegrown books on music or books that are not just full of facts and figures or a collection of interviews. As much as I like to champion journalism, great books about music don't have much to do with journalism. I want books like those Chuck Klosterman wrote about growing up with hair metal in the Upper Midwest or what Jonathan Lethem writes in the 33 1/3 series on the Talking Heads 'Fear of Music,' where the entire book is his personal take on the record. People want to read music criticism, not music journalism anymore. People want to hear what others think about their favorite records, people want to have conversation about music.You also decided to use your label's name
As for the name, I used Elevation for the lack of better option, people kind of know Elevation Records and I wanted to stick with that. It also makes people think I am a big shot, running two companies at the same time, when in fact this is only a one-man operation [laughs]. The common thread is music. With Elevation Records, I only try to release music that 'matters,' I want to do the same with Elevation Books.Do you have any specific goals and "rules" with Elevation Books?
I want to focus on music, that's the first priority, and I want the books to be the work of music criticism and not music journalism. I've commissioned two writers to write about two of Indonesia's greatest records and I gave them the freedom to use any analytical tool to approach the subject.Can you tell us about some of the books you've released? How did you hook up with the authors, and what interested you in each work?
We started last year, we've published two books, the latest being Setelah Boombox Usai Menyalak, a collection of writings by Homicide leader Herry 'Ucok' Sutresna. I know him personally and I am a big fan of his work with Homicide, I also know that he is a great writer, a very prolific one.The first book we published is Lokasi Tidak Ditemukan: Mencari Rock N Roll Sampai 15.000 kilometers (Location Not Found: Looking for Rock'n'Roll for 15.000km), a kind of travelogue during my two years in the American midwest, looking for great music, coming to Morrissey gig in the legendary Aragon Ballroom, witnessing a near-riot in Chicago when Rage Against The Machine showed up for Lollapalooza 2008, traveling on a Greyhound bus from Chicago to Cleveland at the height of the recession only to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and most memorably, arriving at CBGB only days after it was turned into a high-end fashion boutique by John Varvatos. I kind of rue the day I came to the CBGB, I kind of hate punk after that. I think the security guard at CBGB gave me a condescending look when I freaked out over the overpriced vinyl offered there, [laughs].How has the response been to the books so far?
We just sold out Lokasi Tidak Ditemukan and now we're down to a few last copies for Ucok's book, but people keep asking for it. We've done a second print for Ucok's book. Along with the fact that Ucok has an army of fans who would buy anything with his name on it, the low price is also helping our success. We want the book to be available to everyone and to have enough margin to continue our operation, a win-win for us and readers.As for Lokasi Tidak Ditemukan, many asked for a reprint but we said no, we think it's better to print a new book with new materials. We plan to publish a new book titled Pop Kosong Berbunyi Nyaring: 13 Hal Yang Tidak Perlu Diketahui Tentang Rock (Empty Loud Pop Sounds: 13 Things That You Don't Need to Know About Rock). It's a love letter to music that matters to me the most. I remember reading Nick Hornby's "31 Songs" and was inspired to find some of the most obscure music he talks about for the book.What do you have planned for the future?
The plan was to continue the lean, small, and independent operation of Elevation Books, so that we can sustain this passion long enough and hopefully continue to release books that can reach a group of people who gets what we're doing. We also will continue to stay away from those big-box chain bookstore [laughs], they will squeeze you dry!The following in an except from Empty Loud Pop Sounds: 13 Things That You Don't Need to Know About Rock, for more information about Elevation Books https://twitter.com/elevation_booksEros Djarot might just be Indonesia's first proto-hipster. In the early 1970s, he was already friends with Bambang Trihatmojo, President Soeharto's eldest son. Bambang voluntarily provided a space at one of his family's homes in Jl. Cendana as a practice spot. Eros was playing with The GIBS while Bambang was occupied with The Crabs. After coming back from finishing education in West Germany in 1975, Eros was instantly acquainted with the disciples of Guruh Soekarnoputra in Gipsy and Young Gipsy. At the family house of Saidi Hasjim Nasution (father of Gauri, Keenan, Oding and Debby), Eros had a lot of discussions about Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Picasso when he was not too busy listening to Saidi's classical music collection. Prior to that, during his stench at a polytechnic university in West Germany, he was busy playing in a few different bands despite his limited guitar skills. It was this environment that ended up shaping him as a musician. However, it should to be noted that in the 1970s, Jakarta was a small hub where young musically inclined people get to meet each other and collaborate. Just like how Harlan Boer met Andi "Hans" Sabarudin before forming C'mon Lennon in mid 2000. Top musicians such as Debby and Keenan Nasution, Fariz RM and Chrisye also met up in Pegangsaan before giving birth to Indonesia's biggest music masterpiece: the soundtrack album for Badai Pasti Berlalu (1977). Fariz only played drums on this album, incredibly of course.As a know-it-all hipster, Eros was also known for having a big mouth and often criticized everyone. One of his favorite targets was Indonesia's movie maestro, Teguh Karya. As everyone knew, out of three Eros' studio releases, two of them were soundtracks of Teguh Karya's movies. After those three albums, Eros stopped writing music and became a film director, he was able to equal Teguh Karya's artistic achievements. Acting like a true renaissance man, Eros then dove into the world of practical politics even though his political career was never as successful as his stint in the art world.You probably think I'll cover the soundtrack of Badai Pasti Berlalu in this book, a masterpiece absolutely deserving to be written about from any point of view. However, I won't do that. I'm more fascinated by my first love: the soundtrack album recorded by Eros for one of Teguh Karya movies two years before Badai Pasti Berlalu. For some reason, Eros' best work was produced for a relatively average movie, even by Teguh Karya's standard. I imagine that when writing music, Eros thinks in three dimensions, imagining the composition of movie scenes and placing the music as part of the whole creation. Perhaps this is the reason why I'm not interested in Barong's Band untitled album that was released almost at the same time as Kawin Lari in 1976. If the untitled album was a mix of progressive rock and classical music, Kawin Lari was light, short, and flow effortlessly with very Indonesian sounds.Truthfully, it's very difficult to listen to Kawin Lari in it's entirety without the film. It seems that the album has never been released in any format other than cassette. There might have been a few copies of vinyl sent to private radio stations for promotional purposes, but none made it to secondhand markets. The Internet also wasn't much of a help, most were MP3 copies of old cassets. The cassette that I own are still in decent condition, but it's impossible to get a prime audio quality out of a 30 year old tape. However, even with the second-rate audio quality, Kawin Lari still shines brightly. It can also be said that two traditional compositions on the album, Indonesia's keroncong tune "Perahu Layar" featuring vocals by Slamet Rahardjo Jarot and "Stambul Kembang Mawar" sung by Titi Qadarsih would lose their magic if it they were listened through a digital, high-quality recording, some music is best listened through cassettes and Johny Alexander's Sengketa Keraton Demak and Kawin Lari are perfect examples of that. There are some typical tapes idiosyncrasies here as well, like how the track "Jakarta" is features on both side A and B, perhaps just to use up the rest of tapes. But just like Eros Djarot's charming imperfect vocals, these "flaws" made the album even more romantic, just like Eros' romantic love for Jakarta.
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M. Taufiqrahman: I was thinking how music in this country has a huge fan base—I don't like using the word 'market' here. Everybody loves music, they mostly buy records, patches or tees, but people just don't buy that many books about music. In other places, like in the United Stated, the United Kingdom or Japan, people are buying books about music all the time. You have respected music writers like Chuck Klosterman, Rob Sheffield, and Dorian Lynskey. They have a huge selection of superb books on music, my favorite example is the 33 1/3 series published by Continuum.We, or at least I, have never encountered decent homegrown books on music or books that are not just full of facts and figures or a collection of interviews. As much as I like to champion journalism, great books about music don't have much to do with journalism. I want books like those Chuck Klosterman wrote about growing up with hair metal in the Upper Midwest or what Jonathan Lethem writes in the 33 1/3 series on the Talking Heads 'Fear of Music,' where the entire book is his personal take on the record. People want to read music criticism, not music journalism anymore. People want to hear what others think about their favorite records, people want to have conversation about music.
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As for the name, I used Elevation for the lack of better option, people kind of know Elevation Records and I wanted to stick with that. It also makes people think I am a big shot, running two companies at the same time, when in fact this is only a one-man operation [laughs]. The common thread is music. With Elevation Records, I only try to release music that 'matters,' I want to do the same with Elevation Books.Do you have any specific goals and "rules" with Elevation Books?
I want to focus on music, that's the first priority, and I want the books to be the work of music criticism and not music journalism. I've commissioned two writers to write about two of Indonesia's greatest records and I gave them the freedom to use any analytical tool to approach the subject.Can you tell us about some of the books you've released? How did you hook up with the authors, and what interested you in each work?
We started last year, we've published two books, the latest being Setelah Boombox Usai Menyalak, a collection of writings by Homicide leader Herry 'Ucok' Sutresna. I know him personally and I am a big fan of his work with Homicide, I also know that he is a great writer, a very prolific one.The first book we published is Lokasi Tidak Ditemukan: Mencari Rock N Roll Sampai 15.000 kilometers (Location Not Found: Looking for Rock'n'Roll for 15.000km), a kind of travelogue during my two years in the American midwest, looking for great music, coming to Morrissey gig in the legendary Aragon Ballroom, witnessing a near-riot in Chicago when Rage Against The Machine showed up for Lollapalooza 2008, traveling on a Greyhound bus from Chicago to Cleveland at the height of the recession only to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and most memorably, arriving at CBGB only days after it was turned into a high-end fashion boutique by John Varvatos. I kind of rue the day I came to the CBGB, I kind of hate punk after that. I think the security guard at CBGB gave me a condescending look when I freaked out over the overpriced vinyl offered there, [laughs].
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We just sold out Lokasi Tidak Ditemukan and now we're down to a few last copies for Ucok's book, but people keep asking for it. We've done a second print for Ucok's book. Along with the fact that Ucok has an army of fans who would buy anything with his name on it, the low price is also helping our success. We want the book to be available to everyone and to have enough margin to continue our operation, a win-win for us and readers.As for Lokasi Tidak Ditemukan, many asked for a reprint but we said no, we think it's better to print a new book with new materials. We plan to publish a new book titled Pop Kosong Berbunyi Nyaring: 13 Hal Yang Tidak Perlu Diketahui Tentang Rock (Empty Loud Pop Sounds: 13 Things That You Don't Need to Know About Rock). It's a love letter to music that matters to me the most. I remember reading Nick Hornby's "31 Songs" and was inspired to find some of the most obscure music he talks about for the book.What do you have planned for the future?
The plan was to continue the lean, small, and independent operation of Elevation Books, so that we can sustain this passion long enough and hopefully continue to release books that can reach a group of people who gets what we're doing. We also will continue to stay away from those big-box chain bookstore [laughs], they will squeeze you dry!The following in an except from Empty Loud Pop Sounds: 13 Things That You Don't Need to Know About Rock, for more information about Elevation Books https://twitter.com/elevation_booksEros Djarot might just be Indonesia's first proto-hipster. In the early 1970s, he was already friends with Bambang Trihatmojo, President Soeharto's eldest son. Bambang voluntarily provided a space at one of his family's homes in Jl. Cendana as a practice spot. Eros was playing with The GIBS while Bambang was occupied with The Crabs. After coming back from finishing education in West Germany in 1975, Eros was instantly acquainted with the disciples of Guruh Soekarnoputra in Gipsy and Young Gipsy. At the family house of Saidi Hasjim Nasution (father of Gauri, Keenan, Oding and Debby), Eros had a lot of discussions about Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Picasso when he was not too busy listening to Saidi's classical music collection. Prior to that, during his stench at a polytechnic university in West Germany, he was busy playing in a few different bands despite his limited guitar skills. It was this environment that ended up shaping him as a musician. However, it should to be noted that in the 1970s, Jakarta was a small hub where young musically inclined people get to meet each other and collaborate. Just like how Harlan Boer met Andi "Hans" Sabarudin before forming C'mon Lennon in mid 2000. Top musicians such as Debby and Keenan Nasution, Fariz RM and Chrisye also met up in Pegangsaan before giving birth to Indonesia's biggest music masterpiece: the soundtrack album for Badai Pasti Berlalu (1977). Fariz only played drums on this album, incredibly of course.As a know-it-all hipster, Eros was also known for having a big mouth and often criticized everyone. One of his favorite targets was Indonesia's movie maestro, Teguh Karya. As everyone knew, out of three Eros' studio releases, two of them were soundtracks of Teguh Karya's movies. After those three albums, Eros stopped writing music and became a film director, he was able to equal Teguh Karya's artistic achievements. Acting like a true renaissance man, Eros then dove into the world of practical politics even though his political career was never as successful as his stint in the art world.You probably think I'll cover the soundtrack of Badai Pasti Berlalu in this book, a masterpiece absolutely deserving to be written about from any point of view. However, I won't do that. I'm more fascinated by my first love: the soundtrack album recorded by Eros for one of Teguh Karya movies two years before Badai Pasti Berlalu. For some reason, Eros' best work was produced for a relatively average movie, even by Teguh Karya's standard. I imagine that when writing music, Eros thinks in three dimensions, imagining the composition of movie scenes and placing the music as part of the whole creation. Perhaps this is the reason why I'm not interested in Barong's Band untitled album that was released almost at the same time as Kawin Lari in 1976. If the untitled album was a mix of progressive rock and classical music, Kawin Lari was light, short, and flow effortlessly with very Indonesian sounds.Truthfully, it's very difficult to listen to Kawin Lari in it's entirety without the film. It seems that the album has never been released in any format other than cassette. There might have been a few copies of vinyl sent to private radio stations for promotional purposes, but none made it to secondhand markets. The Internet also wasn't much of a help, most were MP3 copies of old cassets. The cassette that I own are still in decent condition, but it's impossible to get a prime audio quality out of a 30 year old tape. However, even with the second-rate audio quality, Kawin Lari still shines brightly. It can also be said that two traditional compositions on the album, Indonesia's keroncong tune "Perahu Layar" featuring vocals by Slamet Rahardjo Jarot and "Stambul Kembang Mawar" sung by Titi Qadarsih would lose their magic if it they were listened through a digital, high-quality recording, some music is best listened through cassettes and Johny Alexander's Sengketa Keraton Demak and Kawin Lari are perfect examples of that. There are some typical tapes idiosyncrasies here as well, like how the track "Jakarta" is features on both side A and B, perhaps just to use up the rest of tapes. But just like Eros Djarot's charming imperfect vocals, these "flaws" made the album even more romantic, just like Eros' romantic love for Jakarta.