She was born and raised in Indonesia but her golden voice doesn't only belong to Indonesia. To date, Anggun still holds the status as the only Indonesian singer who has successfully conquered the globe and sold more than 3 million copies in Europe.
Despite being a French resident for years, Anggun still keeps returning to her home country. Recently she came to Jakarta to promote her new album Echoes and shared her opinion about the measure of nationalism.
It is said that Echoes is your most personal album, why?
Each of my album is personal, but Echoes became the most personal one because I produced this album by myself. Before, when I still worked for previous label, everything had to come up with negotiation. The label trusted me to manage the material, and yet they asked me once in a while, like "why this song?".
So I had to work hard [in order to] say, "No no no, don't throw this song away, it's got to stay here." But for this album, Echoes, I had bigger freedom in creating music and in making decisions.
What about the song “Eternal” — that tells a story about losing [someone]?
The song is the story of my deceased dad. I received message that my father has passed away when I was in Paris. Thus I couldn't come back to Indonesia soon. I arrived one day after the funeral.
Every thing that happened in my life always gets me pondered. And for me, death gets me thinking what exactly a human being is. Human is just a flesh and bone, and yet it's the spirit [soul] that makes us human. Some of the books that I have read also confirm that spirit stays [albeit the body has died].
So "Eternal" wants to tell that those who leave us are actually never really leave us. And we can't just keep crying over someone who's gone, because we must set them free. Death is not the contradiction of life. It's the contradiction of a birth.
That's so philosophic...
I like reading philosophies because it does help. Socrates and Plato are some of those who have left a valuable footprint we should learn today.
Does philosophy books help you on writing songs?
Very much helpfull. In fact, the title of this album,“Echoes” is taken from a Greek myth. Besides philosophy, I also read newspapers, magazine and other books.
Which one is harder, writing a song in French, English, or Indonesian?
I don't write songs in French. I can't and perhaps I don't want to. Mostly I write songs in English and they translate the songs to French.
Writing is difficult. It re-embraces just what we have seen and learned. To find the perfect words is difficult. It's not an easy thing. My father once said, you have to write one song after you read thousands of sentences. Hence, I respect writers. My husband is a writer..hahaha..
Do you keep up with Indonesian music industry too?
I do, from afar. So many new comers. I just saw Vierra - they have good musicality and song writing skill. Easy-listening pop, and yet good. I'm a fan of Kotak too. I'm amazed with Tantri [vocalist of Kotak], I want to have a duet with her. And actually Ariel [vocalist of Peterpan] is a good song writer. Too bad, we messed up with his private issue. Actually his film entertains people...haha..
I think there are a lot of Indonesian groups and artists who have potential ability as big as those do from abroad, idea-wise and vocal-wise. But the thing is, if you want to get success out there, you got to move out. For instance, Gigi. Yes, I'm telling you the truth!
Why does it necessary for an artist to move out in order to go international?
The system abroad is far better. The music industry in America is no joke, it's really vast. Same goes with British, Germany, and France. They take copyrights issue seriously. While in Indonesia? Piracy everywhere! Piracy including illegal downloading, has made global music industry sinking.
There are so many artists whose contracts being returned. Take Phil Collins, he doesn't have a contract anymore. Annie Lenox was fired by her label. And Madonna, every time she wanted to release her album, she had to fight hard to get radio airtime.
Besides, if you want to fight for yourself in other country, you have to reside there. Thus, I started from the bottom, because for me it's important. We have to understand the business aspect as well.
When my album released in America for the first time, someone said, "It seems that you have the chance to become big in America. But you have to stay here." I felt reluctant, because it meant I had to work with American producers, I had to have American sense of humor as well. I had to adapt myself again.
So many artists started from the bottom, and yet there's a police who sot stardom just within 2 days.
Hahaha, that's a pop culture phenomena. Director Andy Warhol once said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” He's a true visioner. Today, it seems everybody wants to get famous. But it's all just temporary.
It's like an instant McDonalds french fries you eat right on the spot, because when you take it home, it doesn't tasty anymore. It's not eternal for me.
Phenomena is eternal but the people will always be replaced. The hardest thing is being someone who's irreplaceable and everlasting. It takes struggle.
Even though you've been living outside for a long time, you still speak Indonesian perfectly.
I do. I speak with my daughter in Indonesian. She's fluent in Indonesian. It's my pride.
You can't just measure nationalism from visual attributes, such as wearing Batik or having the coat of arms on your passport. For me, it starts from the language. Indonesian kids should be able to speak Indonesian.
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