tunesday – get to know komang
In our brand-new issue, the Melbourne artist chats about mythology, dreams, memories and of course, music.
How would you describe your sound? Soulful, electronic, alternative R&B with Javanese and Balinese influences and spiritual, heartful storytelling.
What’s the story behind the name of your EP, Mythologies? The EP is full of mythologies, big and small. I was writing a lot of songs about my family and culture (my mum’s side is Balinese), and was thinking about how our family stories shape us and what building personal mythologies looks like.
Favourite mythological figure? One of my favourite figures (who inspired a song in my EP) is Srikandi – an ancient warrior woman who features in the Mahabharata. In Javanese tradition, stories from the Mahabharata are told through shadow puppets, so she is a shadow-puppet character, too. She’s strong, fearless and many versions of the story paint her as gender-fluid. Also, one of my besties is named after her.
What do you dream about? I dream a lot about jungles (I used to live next to one when I was little) and large bodies of water. My song “Dewi” is about a dream I had of my unborn daughter visiting me. We were swimming through a big sunny pool and laughing and splashing.
When did you realise you wanted to be a musician? I was the kid at school who really wanted to play music but was too shy to be in bands. The moment I decided to give it a go was while watching Hiatus Kaiyote play when I was 18. I was mesmerised and determined to teach myself how to make my own music.
Do you remember the first song you wrote? “Delight” was a Sade-inspired, bossa-style, lo-fi beat about unrequited love. I was learning how to produce at the time and was also going through heartbreak.
Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? Alice Coltrane or Erykah Badu.
Keep up with Komang by checking out her Instagram.
This story comes straight from the pages of issue 113. To get your mitts on a copy, swing past the frankie shop, subscribe or visit one of our lovely stockists.
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