Photo Credit: Ejja Pahlevi

Indonesian dance music trio Weird Genius shared their new single, “Future Ghost” ft. Violette Wautier. With her crystalline vocals, the popular Thai-Belgian alternative pop musician/songwriter/actress reflects on the waning moments of a relationship with poignancy and warmth as Weird Genius draws from a sonic palette that swells from light and effervescent to swaggering, euphoric heights. Listen to “Future Ghost” HERE.

Tragedy and transcendence entwine in the stunning official video, which received a YouTube premiere earlier today. Shot in Bali and Thailand, it tells the story of a haunting love affair – taking viewers from oceanside to hospital bedside and back – and weaves in Wautier’s bittersweet performance. Richard Kyle stars as the male lead. The video was directed by Creamypandaxx, who helmed the official video for “LATHI,” and Weird Genius’ YB. It was produced by Weird Genius.

How did Weird Genius first come together? What’s the story behind the group?

Weird Genius was actually Reza’s idea. He saw a huge interest in EDM in Indonesia, but also the lack of Indonesian producers or DJs. So Reza, who had been a popular Indonesian gaming YouTuber at the time approached Eka who had already been composing pop music for years and also had an actively growing YouTube channel. Our group were received quite well, we had some songs that did really well like ‘Sweet Scar’, ‘Lunatic’, and ‘DPS’. However, our turning point started in early 2020. We had recruited Gerald as the newest member a few months prior (in October 2019) as the co-producer and DJ for the group, and together we made “Lathi”. That song really propelled us to the mainstream, had us noticed by Astralwerks, and here we are, releasing our new single with them, featuring Violette Wautier.

What are the internal dynamics in your group when you write and make music?

We usually begin with the instrumentals so either Eka or Gerald start first, Reza will then write the base lyrics and the three of us work together to finalize. We like to get together in the studio, but ever since lockdown and COVID restrictions we started doing it all online.

What are some sources of inspiration for your music?

As Indonesians, we are grateful to have so many musicians we can look up to in terms of musicality. Melly Goeslaw (and her band ‘Potret’), Anggun, and Yovie Widianto are some of our local inspirations. As to Electronic Music, we have always looked up to the likes of RL Grime, Gessaffelstein, Wilkinson, Diplo, and Skrillex.

Is there a record or artist that made you realize you wanted to be an artist?

(Gerald) For me personally, it was Suicide Season Cut Up! by Bring Me The Horizon and ROMBORAMA by The Bloody Beetroots. I had been super into hardcore and emo before I was even interested in electronic music, so those two albums were sort of a ‘gateway drug’ for me.

Tell us about your new single “Future Ghost”. How did the song come about?

We made the song during the peak of the pandemic where we could barely go outside, let alone to any clubs or festivals. So we decided to make something in contrast to our usual club/EDM sounds, and we wanted the audience to immerse themselves more in the overall mood and messages conveyed to the song. Luckily, our team at Astralwerks connected us with Violette Wautier and her voice was the perfect choice for this song.

What was it like collaborating with Violette Wautier?

It was really fun! We hit it off really well and she’s very eager to go out of her comfort zone and make something that’s different from her usual Thai-pop sound. It’s such a pity that we could only do the collab online, since travelling from Thailand to Indonesia was heavily restricted back then. 

Were you involved in the creative process of the “Future Ghost” music video?

Of course! Reza came up with the majority of the concept with some input from Gerald and Eka. Then Reza helped direct the music video in Bali.

What are some things you really want to accomplish as a group?

Aside from touring the world and working with the endless numbers of awesome DJs/producers and singers, we want to have the world recognize us by our distinctive Indo-inspired sounds and colors, introduce them to the myriad of ethnicities and cultures here and further pave the way for other local artists to be known worldwide.

What is the best advice you have received?

When you turn off your PC or laptop, pull the plug off. It’s going to save you A LOT of money.

How does the music scene in Indonesia differ from the rest of the world?

Indo is home to approx. 1,300 ethnic groups, thereby being a huge melting pot for hundreds of years. Each group has their own traditions and musical styles. Some of them even have electronic music styles that are exclusive to them only (you can look up koplo, funkot, and disko tanah). This means there’s so many cultures to be explored and so many new talents to be had and work with, and this motivates us to go even further and beyond as Weird Genius.