Hijabi ‘indie mothers’ embraced by young Indonesian music fans
- Veteran musicians with humorous Islamic pop tunes about serious themes have caught on with young people looking for some levity in their playlists
- They include all-female Nasida Ria that fuses Arabic and traditional Indonesian dangdut music that was once thought tacky and dated in cosmopolitan circles
Forget dancing like your dad, it’s singing by a mum that’s entertaining young Indonesians these days.
At a packed festival in central Jakarta, hijab-clad sexagenarian singer Rien Djamain bursts into an upbeat track about nuclear destruction to a crowd of thousands, mostly Indonesian youths.
Behind the frontwoman of the all-female Nasida Ria band are her fellow musicians, dressed in silver and black sequinned dresses, backing up her velvety vocals with bongos, violins, mandolins, bamboo flutes and tambourines.
“O cursed creator of the nuclear bomb, why do you invite the day of judgment?” she sang on the track Bom Nuklir. Young concertgoers swung from side to side during the macabre ditty, shouting “mother!” at their favourite band members.
Originally formed 47 years ago as a Koran recital group, the band now numbers a dozen performers, fusing Arabic and traditional Indonesian dangdut music, which was once thought tacky and dated in cosmopolitan circles.