Part 1

Name: MANJA
Members: James Sukadana, Nick Pratama, Mark Saputra
Nationality: Indonesian
Current release: MANJA's new single "My Oh My" is out via 12Wired.
Recommendations on the topic of sound:
James: A Short History of Nearly Everything is a great read and really important in understanding our place in the universe and on earth. The History of Jazz by Ted Gioia is also an excellent read for understanding music developments at the turn of the twentieth century. Jazz music was popular at the time, so it gives us an understanding of how popular music developed in the USA.
Nick: The Book of Music and Nature: An Anthology of Sounds, Words, Thoughts. Music is all around us, including in nature. There’s a great quote from it that goes, “The earth has music for those who listen.”
Mark: Not specifically about sound, but the last book about music and sound I read was The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music.

If you enjoyed this MANJA interview and would like to keep up to date with the band and their music, visit the trio on Instagram, and Facebook.

For a deeper dive, we recomend our earlier MANJA interview.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

James (J): When I listen to music, I automatically imagine it being played live. Even when it’s electronic music, I still imagine musicians playing the sounds live. I don’t tend to imagine colours because I’m partially colour-blind (laughs).

Nick (N): I tend to imagine a scene from a movie and get creative, as if I were directing a film on the spot or as if I were performing on stage playing the song.

Mark (M): My listening experience depends on the time of day. If I’m out and driving, I wouldn’t recommend listening with my eyes closed (laughs)! Before I sleep, I usually plug in headphones and picture, see, and hear things. It’s like a different world. Whether my eyes are open or closed, feeling is essential.

How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?

J: I prefer listening with headphones because it’s more immersive. I can really feel like I’m in the middle of the studio, listening to the band play. However, listening to music on a stereo system makes me move a bit more.

N: Listening to speakers is rawer and hits you in the face more than headphones. You feel the “liveliness.”

M: I grew up listening primarily with earphones for my own music listening experience so as not to disturb others in the room as a teen; I find it a more personal connection to the music. However, it might be a different story if I had a good sound speaker system growing up.

Tell me about some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound, please.

J: Aenima by Tool is a great album, not just because of its composition but also its tone. It’s a great example of how only three instruments can fill out the sonic space.



Random Access Memories by Daft Punk is another excellent example of this, where you get the most impressive tones of the acoustic instruments pairing nicely with the electronic synthesizer sounds to take you travelling back to the disco era.



Atomic by Mogwai is an album about a post-apocalyptic wasteland, I think. It’s one of those albums that can really paint a picture of the environment with carefully picked sounds. It makes you feel alone in a dead city, yet it also gives you peace.



N: I love Tom Misch, John Mayer, Dua Lipa, Disclosure, and Adele, to name a few. Each artist brings out a particular characteristic to their sound, whether the vocals, guitar tone, kick, or the piano's acoustics.



M: I agree with James. Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories is probably one of the greatest-sounding albums ever. In addition to sonic clarity and amazing engineering, I love the character and techniques of old-time recordings, like legendary Kenyan musician Fundi Konde’s song “Jambo Sigara” or an old Wailer’s tune.



Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these, and do you have an explanation for the reasons for these responses?

J: A thick and chugging distorted guitar really gets my blood rushing. The whole experience of a metal sound increases my heartbeat like nothing else, especially live. Also, great blues guitarists, such as Derek Trucks and John Mayer, automatically change the shape of my face to a stank face. These are feelings that I can’t quite get from anything else.

I’m not quite sure what the reason is for these emotional triggers. Why do we, as a species, play music or paint? None of these activities are evolutionarily significant for our survival. Yet, art has been one of the most important pillars of our being.

N: My first response would be the drums and the bass. They play a pivotal role as they are the foundation of everything. The sounds can vary from one genre to the other, and explaining them is difficult. It’s more about a feeling that one must experience – an emotion that everyone must experience to fully understand.

M: Nothing makes me move like a good beat, and nothing hits the spot like a good melody! And by melody, I mean just a solo line from a single instrument, like the human voice. Nothing is quite like it. This affinity for rhythms and melodies is quite primal or wired into us.

Beats are like our heartbeats, and melodies are like the sounds of our voice or nature.

There are sounds that can be highly irritating to us and others we would gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both?

J: Ugh, the sound of metal scraping or scratching a blackboard makes me cringe. Other sounds like traffic, construction, and whining can also be equally annoying (laughs). I love being by the ocean. I’ve gone on many camping trips by the sea, where I can listen to waves crashing for days.

N: Anything that involves high-pitched screeches would be irritating. I could listen to the ocean breeze or the rustling leaves of trees for hours.

M: Very high-pitched, piercing noises are pretty irritating. My caveman explanation would be that frequencies that rarely occur in nature naturally make us anxious, such as low rumbles like an earthquake or high and loud pitches like lightning strikes.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

J: I like going to a night market and zone out by listening to the crowd. Amid the hustle and bustle, you can randomly focus on a single conversation and be transported into those people’s world for a second. Without sounding too creepy, it’s intriguing how each person can differ so much from the other.

N: Nature always intrigues me. How everything is in synergy. Take a tropical beach, for example. You hear the waves crashing into the reef, the wind breezing through the trees, and the coconut trees swaying in rhythm.

M: I love the sound of a light breeze and crashing waves. I guess I’m an island guy (laughs). My favourite is discovering an intriguing sound from a less-than-obvious sound source. It always surprises me the sounds some things can make.

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? If so, what was the experience like?

J: Man, the acoustics of a big hall or church. Not much else can beat it, I reckon. There’s this abandoned theme park in Bali that I go to from time to time with my friends. We go to a big hall where they used to have performances, and we bring some speakers, blast some music, and just let the room do its thing. It’s the next best thing to listen to music performed live, in my opinion.

N: No, not yet.

M: No, but sign me up if there is an anechoic chamber anywhere near me!

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

J: Honestly, my favourite place to record and just play is in my room at night when the rest of the world is asleep. I’m sure my neighbours love it too (laughs). It’s a natural high, and I’m addicted to it. There’s something about being in isolation that can really bring the muse out.

But, of course, playing music live in front of an audience is also one of the best feelings. I still prefer playing in smaller venues rather than the bigger stages because I feel more connected with the audience. It’s almost like I can also be an audience member and the musician performing.

N: Obviously, we (musicians) want to record somewhere quiet (laughs). But when it comes to playing or performing, I love to perform when the sun is setting. It’s nice seeing the twilight. Plus, I can get back home early from the gig (laughs).

M: I love recording voice notes on my phone late at night. It’s a pure and instant way of capturing without all the fluff. Siphoning what’s good or bad comes the day you import that file into your DAW (Digital Audio Workstations) (laughs)!