I can’t believe summer is over. QQ and Rully are in Indonesia, getting some much-needed rest and relaxation and collaborating with guest artists including Ras Muhamad and Vlad Vampi to put the finishing touches on UNIFY. The video for “The World Is On Your Shoulder” from EPISODE ONE is still shown on tv there, and the new album is already generating positive buzz.

Those of you who have heard the advance tracks know that this album keeps the signature Suaka sound while displaying a wider range of influences and musical styles than EPISODE ONE. Rully and Gun trade off on intense guitar leads, QQ’s bass sounds better than ever, and Daisuke holds the whole thing together with solid drum work. The production is especially choice this time around, and the cover art looks great. I think this this is going to be a very exciting release!

Check back soon for more news, including New York shows planned for later this fall. Thanks as always for your support.

A Monday night gig is always a risky proposition, because even in New York a lot of people have to wake up for work on Tuesday morning. But how could we say no to a fellow metal band setting out to tour the East Coast for the first time? So we rallied the troops and invaded The Charleston for a night of musical insanity.

The Charleston is located in the hipster epicenter of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and they are perhaps best known for the free pizzas they dole out with every drink purchase. The venue is in the basement, and I mean BASEMENT: no stage, no backline, and no second bar downstairs. It’s kind of like playing at someone’s house, but with really good sound. I approve.

First up were de omega, who play a heavy brand of vocal-free psychedelic rock. This is a style of music that’s actually pretty hard to pull off, but they do it…and how! Don’t be surprised if you see these guys sharing the stage with Suaka again in the not-too-distant future.

Suaka played second, and rocked the crowd in that special way they do.

Empyrean were the real reason this show happened at all. They are a serious metal band from Orlando who have been playing all over Florida for the past few years. This show was more or less the midpoint of their first East Coast tour, and so far so good…although they had apparently been forced to eat their bass player in a moment of desperation early on. The tragic loss did not prevent them from playing a solid set of solid metal music. Check out them out on myspace for more tour highlights and photos.

We finished out the night with Jolly, who are quite good and somewhat reminiscent of certain phases of Faith No More, and Stark, who displayed an unbelievable amount of rock-n-roll energy and attitude at two o’clock on Tuesday morning.

Thanks to everyone who helped make it an awesome Monday night. See you when the album is done. peace.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but things have been busy – two back-to-back shows on top of family obligations, day jobs and – oh yeah, an album to finish! The plan is to focus on recording in July so we can get tracks to the various guest musicians who will be joining us. The bass and drum parts are pretty much finished, so now it’s all about guitars, vocals, and layering.

Suaka played all new songs at both of the June shows – check out the videos on myspace and below courtesy of Oscar. Thanks again, dude.

For those of you in the New York metropolitan area, Suaka will be playing at The Charleston in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on August 3 with Empyrean > (all the way from Florida!) and others. We should hit the stage around 10pm, full details at http://www.myspace.com/suaka >.

Thanks as always for your support. Hope to see you soon!

I just wanted to let you all know that we have begun recording the drum tracks. Thursday night was the first day, and I’d have to say it went pretty smooth. We did a few tries on each song and kept the good ones

Ever since my first recording experience, I’ve always loved to record with the whole band rather than doing it with just a drummer and the guitar player…it gives us more of that live experience, although of course we have to play to a tempo map that Gun made before the process began.

This time we decided to work with John Meredith in studio in  Mollusk Studios in Brooklyn. The vibe is good, it makes us feel like we are recording at home We managed to stay right on schedule without rushing, and finished up the drums by Saturday night.

Back to our musical direction: having Cipta Gun and Daisuke on board really adds so much flavor and yet we still keep the heaviness of Suaka. We are incorporating groove, feel good melodies, and all those rocking riffs. There’s one song called “Era Baru” (”new era”) that uses an indigenous melody from Padang (West Sumatra) – ding ding ba ding ding  :) – on the choruses. The rest is just various killer riffs cooked up all in one song…

Before I go I just want to say we miss you Robin Hutagaol dearly. Also I would like to mention that late Robin’s mother passed away recently, may they both rest in peace.

Many things have happened around the process of making this album. We dedicate the song called “Treasure” to Robin Hutagaol and family, and to everyone who has had the same experience. Let’s treasure the great moments and enjoy living while God still gives us time to do good things in life….

We will keep you updated.  May God guide Us All.

Love and Respect,
Roots Rockmat of Suaka

The good thing about playing on a Friday is that everyone can really relax and cut loose without having to worry about getting up for work in the morning. This crowd defintely came prepared to have a good time, and Gosha, always the consummate showman, did not disappoint. Not only did he book six solid bands, he also had sexy dancers performing between sets and a DJ spinning a wide range of Asian and other music, and he kept up a steady stream of reminders for people to drink copiously and tip generously. I guess it worked because the audience was extra enthusiastic – chanting along with Rully during Suaka’s set, dancing to all the other bands, and breaking out a full-blown mosh pit at the climax of Firesign’s explosive performance.

Despite a busy couple of weeks that didn’t leave as much time for rehearsal as might have been ideal, Suaka was on fire. The four new songs, which showcased some truly virtuoso guitar work, were definitely the highlight of the set. They also managed to avoid the technical difficulties that plagued several of the other bands – though everyone was able to overcome and put on a great show.

Thanks to all the bands who rocked the house: NoirceuR, Small Mountain Path, JotkaRock, The Royal Lowkick Manah, and Firesign, and thanks to everyone who came out to support them. Special thanks to Gosha and his crew for putting the whole thing together. Check him out at www.myspace.com/sunrisefellow for upcoming projects including We Love Rice Vol. 2.

Suaka plans to spend April focusing on recording, with more shows planned for later in the spring. Stay tuned for updates!

See you next time. Peace.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for coming to the show on March 6. It was good to play in front of a new crowd, and they seemed to enjoy our music. There were some great bands playing that night, like solid metal core band Cristalix, and Same Four Walls who headlined the show – hope to see you guys soon.

Anyway, I am currently playing guitar for a band called Jirapah, whose singer/guitarist Ken Jie and bass player Mariati are my good friends. They have already booked 3 shows in March and April: March 11 at Public Assembly in Brooklyn, March 20th at Lit Lounge, and April 4th at Delancey Bar in Manhattan. Please come and support the band.

Back to Suaka: we are really looking foward to playing a show on March 27th, when we get to share the stage with the band Firesign featuring former EZO singer Masaki, who also joined Loudness after American singer Mike Vescera left. Currently Masaki is playing bass and singing back up for Firesign along with hard rock hellion Aya on lead vocals, Butch from BPJ on guitar, and New York’s hardest-working drummer Daisuke Nagashima. Special thanks to Masaki and Aya for coming to our show last weekend!

Right after this show Suaka will begin recording our upcoming album, tentatively titled UNIFY. We will play a few of the new tracks at the show, such as “Corporatocracy,” “Guide Me Through,” “Self Revolution,” and “Treasure,” which is dedicated to Robin Hutagaol.

Recently we have been working on a new song called “Era Baru,” which is inspired by the democratic election that will take place in Indonesia in April. We are hoping our new leader will focus on poverty, education, the enviroment, eliminating corruption, creating new jobs…I urge all Indonesian citizens to vote for the right candidates.

Dari rakyat untuk rakyat! Unify to face the new challenges in the future.

Peace and love.

Check out out Gig calendar page here.

See you there.

Sadly this month started on a bad note. We lost our beloved friend, Robin Hutagaol from indogrindcore band NOXA ( R.I.P ). He was the most active drummer in the metal scene worldwide. Recently NOXA played at a European festival in 2008. They are one of the few extreme metal bands who have played overseas; let them be the inspiration for all of Indo metallers. Rest well my friend!

Back on Suaka: recently we have been writing new songs. So far the vibe is good. We try to take our minds off winter by writing songs, hot metal riffs will melt the snow outside

Hopefully we can start recording soon. I am very happy that I finally got to use my 8 string guitar on one of the songs, it really adds a new tone…

Once again lets unify in music.

As soon as I heard that In Flames and Gojira had teamed up for their North American tour I was too excited. Tonight I was accompanied by my bandmates Kiki and Gun. At the last minute my good friends Pram and Leslie decided to come to the show too.

First act was a band from Alaska, 36 Crazyfists. I thought they were pretty good even though honestly I’m not really a fan of the band. Their style is metalcore with twist of emo core. The crowd reacted wildly when the singer asked the moshers to mosh from side to side, which reminded me of Lamb of God during the song “Black Label.”

Next up: Gojira, hailing from Bayonne in southwest France. They tore up the the stage with “Oroborus,” a new track from their new album The Way of All Flesh, followed by “Backbones” … then the feel good metal track “Flying Whales” made everyone jump up and down. To be honest, guys, I didn’t even remember what song they closed their set with! Had a bunch of drinks, thank God i made it through the crazy mosh pit.

In Flames was the main band that rocked the show that night, another great band from Sweden. Killer new tracks from A Sense of Purpose like “Disconnected.” Older stuff seemed to please the fans, I overheard one fan who disliked the new album entirely.

Well dude, it’s not so easy to make an album.

Anyway, I brought Suaka’s cd sampler to give away and got rid of a bunch. I ran into this group of people who are really cool, hopefully they will come to our next show!

Peace, guys.