TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian all-female rock band, Voice of Baceprot or VOB, has been featured on the front cover of the latest edition of New Musical Express or NME Magazine, a British popular music magazine founded in 1952. As quoted from NME, the rock band is currently on their first tour to the United States.

A year before, in 2022, VOB had done their European tour in Renes, France on their 'Fight Dream Believe Tour' which ran from November 28 to December 10, 2022. The band also performed at the international heavy-metal music festival Wacken Open Air in Germany by invitation in the same year on August.

VOB consists of all-female members from Garut of West Java, namely Firdda Marsya Kurnia as vocalist and guitarist, Widi Rahmawati as bassist, and Euis Sitti Aisyah as drummer.

Indonesian rock band Voice of Baceprot, consisting of Firdda Marsya Kurnia as the vocalist and guitarist (left, yellow shirt), Euis Sitti Aisyah as the drummer (center), and Widi Rahmawati as the bassist (right, blue shirt). Photo: Instagram/@voiceofbaceprot

“In nine years, the #NME100 alums have gone from teenagers playing covers in their rural West Java hometown to some of Indonesia’s most prominent metal musicians,” NME wrote in its Instagram post.

Baceprot which is pronounced ‘ba-chey-prot’ means loud in their native Sundanese language.

Voice of Baceprot releases debut album ‘Retas’

VOB has gained worldwide attention following the release of their latest album entitled Retas. Guitarist Marsya told NME that she hoped the music could fly as far as possible and reach places they had never been to before.

“To us, ‘Retas’ means to open or smash boundaries, much like our musical journey so far,” she said, remembering their struggles throughout the nine-year career.

Guitarist and vocalist Marsya (far left) and bassist Widi (center) and drummer Sitti (far right) from the Indonesian all-female rock band Voice of Baceprot or VoB are seen performing on a stage on their European tour in Renes, France. The Fight Dream Believe Tour runs from November 28 to December 10, 2022. Instagram/@Voiceofbaceprot/PGB

Marsya also mentioned that people have questioned the genre of VOB's music. “We hear people questioning what genre our music falls into. It’s so easy to be fixated on a certain idea of metal and I think we shouldn’t get bogged down by all these boundaries, as long as the music is honest.”

In the NME interview, the three young hijabis also said they have faced hostility, wilful misunderstanding, and contempt. But all of them have hardened Voice of Baceprot and their resilience.

GABRIELLA AMANDA | NME | PGB

Editor's Choice: Indonesian Band Voice of Baceprot to Perform at Wacken Open Air 2022

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