BASKARA HAMPIR TELAT NAIK PANGGUNG LOCALFEST JAKARTA | TanyaTanya Ep. 58 with Baskara Putra

Conversation Highlights

Baskara Putra joins TanyaTanya hosts Riko Lubis and Bob for a wide-ranging conversation about Localfest, music, and the places and hobbies that have shaped him.

The Localfest Near-Miss

The headline story is how close Baskara’s band came to missing its Localfest Jakarta set. Traffic, rain, and a football match slowed everyone down, and drummer Dias arrived only about five minutes before the band needed to go backstage. The team had backup plans ready, including having another drummer play a couple of songs. As they joke, “on time” had started to mean “late.”

The near-miss leads into a fond look at Localfest’s growth, from a clothing event at a mall to a packed, two-day festival. Baskara expected something more intimate until he saw the scale of the event.

Bintaro Memories

The conversation detours into Bintaro nostalgia, including old hangouts, cheap Monday cinema tickets, and car air-conditioning shops named after Italian football clubs, such as AC Milan and Lazio.

Hip-Hop and Songwriting

Baskara talks about his love of hip-hop and its storytelling. He learned to write lyrics by studying how rappers can conjure an entire life through a few precise details.

He describes discovering artists through Tyler, the Creator, and says Kendrick is a personal favorite. From a casual listener’s perspective, he finds Drake’s music more immediately accessible, but he was still rooting for Kendrick during their highly publicized feud.

Baskara also reflects on how Indonesian hip-hop and alternative music have found a larger audience over time. He sees the current wave as the payoff from scenes that have been building since around 2017.

The Story Behind “Evaluasi”

Baskara initially imagined Hindia as a more overtly hip-hop project. He wrote “Evaluasi” during a period of uncertainty about whether to pursue music or keep working in an office. It became the first song he wrote seriously for Hindia, even though he had not yet decided to make an album.

He also explains why Hindia albums include voice notes and conversations: placing a familiar song in a new context can change how listeners understand its story.

Audience Questions and Hobbies

The hosts field audience questions about Baskara’s setlists, clothes, cats, and Pokémon cards.

• He sometimes rearranges older songs to keep them fresh, but seeing an audience sing along helps him enjoy familiar songs again.
• He jokes that he wears women’s trousers because he finds their silhouettes more interesting.
• His Pokémon-card hobby has become an expensive rabbit hole. He says the prices can exceed a month’s food budget and recalls receiving a rare card worth roughly US$18,000–19,000.

Closing

The episode ends with more laughter about viral comedian Wancoy. Baskara says he can imagine taking a long break someday, but has no plans to stop performing anytime soon.

Personalities

• Baskara Putra
• Riko Lubis, TanyaTanya host
• Bob, co-host