Pamungkas has found a new side of himself as the world faced the pandemic.

With the release of his latest single 'Birdy', the Indonesian singer-songwriter is slowly giving a glimpse of who he has become over the past two years. He's gained a fresh perspective on life, making him hungrier to create music and share it with the world.

Bandwagon spoke with Pamungkas about 'Birdy', the title track of his upcoming fourth album, what the music scene in Indonesia is like in the middle of a pandemic, and his hopes for 2022.

Tell us, what is 'Birdy', the single, all about?

To be honest, I don't know for sure what it's about. I think it's a very blunt take for me towards the life that I have now with the music happening. There's so many changes in my life. Plus, now I'm older, I'm turning 29 this year, and I think 'Birdy' is a metaphor. It's an analogy of things that come from time to time, and a lot of times it's not the right time, and me telling it's "Not now". Me keeping up with the life that I'm having now.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Pamungkas (@pamunqkas)

Would you say that this song carries the overall theme of what fans can expect from your upcoming album?

In songwriting-wise, I don't think so. I wrote so many different types of songs. Perspective-wise, safe to say that I'm trying to be braver now in the fourth album. But in terms of the sound, I think it carries this sort of soul of the album—how raw it is. I think it's gonna sound more like that. Less instruments.

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What inspired this album? Where were you creatively and mentally while writing it?

I think for the first time I am sort of patient enough with the fourth album. Usually, when I get ideas, I go to the studio, and then sort of pour out all the ideas. For the Birdy album, I had to wait a year because of the pandemic. Mentally, I am more ready. The hunger and desire to play more music and to create something in the studio is higher now. 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Pamungkas (@pamunqkas)

The pandemic has certainly affected the music industry on a global scale. How have things been for the music scene in Indonesia?

It's been really tough in terms of live shows. We can't really hold anything here. In terms of creativity, we're all musicians entering a very weird dimension of creating and writing music because my fellow friends, especially musicians, in Indonesia, they're finding a lot of different mindsets and perspectives when it comes to writing music. Even myself, I found a very different approach in creating music that I never found before.

Besides releasing your new album, what are your plans for 2022? Any shows coming soon?

The plan is to have a Birdy tour sometime in June and hopefully, it's possible to go outside Indonesia. We'll have to see what's gonna happen with the pandemic.