Feature images credit: Lucky Brinanda

Started as a campus band, Fletch is now among the name of top indie bands in Indonesia.

Established in 2015 in the city of Malang, Fletch’s six members (Richard as the vocalist, Rido as the keyboardist, Danti as the ukulelist, Ade as the drummer, Amanda as the violinist, and Naufalia as the bassist) are still going strong in music creation four years on. During December 2017, Fletch launched its debut full length album "Konotasi" which literally translates to "Connotation". Upon listening to it, the album title captures the use of metaphors and figurative lyrics well - delivering messages through their songs with imagery and their distinct musical style.

One of the singles called “Tiga Pagi”, which has an English version titled “3 A.M.” as a bonus track, garnered millions of streams on Spotify. This led the band to make it to the list of “Musicians to Watch Out in 2018” by The Display.

What makes them different from other bands and how do they keep on going?

How has Fletch evolved since its establishment as an extracurricular campus band?

Rido: We were indeed established as an extracurricular campus band, but we always thought about how we could make this band bigger and bigger someday. What we could do at first to evolve was to keep doing what we should do as a band, including making songs, exercising, collecting money to fund our recording, etc. The point is, we never stop.

How does Fletch differ from the other campus bands?

Rido: What makes Fletch different from other campus bands is that we keep going even when we are no longer part of the campus.

In some cases, campus bands usually tend to disperse as the members graduate and go back to their hometowns.

But we simply don't, that's the difference.

Who is mainly in charge of writing the songs? What inspires you to write such lyrics?

Danti: Actually, it's not just one person’s duty to write the lyrics. When someone has lyrics, he / she will share it with the rest of us and we'll discuss it. For the “Konotasi” album, the lyricists are Amanda (violinist), Rido (keyboardist), Putra, one of our managers who also participated in writing lyrics in one of our songs, and I. For my own inspiration, it's more about everyday life, and it's not just about love, even though it seems like that.

What message does Fletch want to bring through their music?

Richard: We want to share what we feel through the lyrics, also through the music that supports the atmosphere of the stories from the lyrics we write.

What kind of music does Fletch want to show to their listeners in the future?

Richard: We would like to add some electric instruments along with certain effects to hopefully sink the listeners deeper into the messages that we are delivering through our songs.