Pamungkas: A Sense Of Solipsism

Could Pamungkas become the first Indonesian music artist to hit an international breakthrough? That’s certainly what this singer-songwriter and producer is gunning for (he does virtually every single thing himself). 10 years ago, this may have sounded faintly mad, but as the internet advances evermore, it’s not such a crazy ambition that Pamungkas has. Having recently released his third album Solipsism, followed by this year’s Solipsism 0.2, we grabbed a chat about his bid for stardom beyond Southeast Asia.

Having extensively toured his native continent and with 2 million streams to his name, Pamungkas’ indie-pop music reflects his influences that include The Beach Boys, John Mayer, Arctic Monkeys, all the way to Disclosure and Jacob Collier. I ask why Solipsism became the title of his latest albums.

“I had the idea a long time ago,” Pamungkas says. “I just never knew when the right time was. It takes a lot of bravery as a songwriter to do something so personal. Solipsism is talking about the self, so it’s a very vulnerable place. And for the people who listen to my music, it’s a lot to understand. Not everyone could just casually listen to it. But it does seem to be the right time.”

I ask if he can remember the original hit of inspiration for this esoteric title.

“Well I like the word,” Pamungkas says. “I think I read it on Twitter or something, and I Googled it to really understand what it means. It sort of explained how I feel towards myself and my ideas. I was home-schooled and I was half-deaf for 18 years – I didn’t even know, so it was like my family was protecting me from reality. So it’s about having this idea of what the world is.”

In case you’re scratching your head at this point, the definition of solipsism is: the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist. Knowing that Pamungkas is also exploring the thoughts and feelings people keep to themselves, I get him to elaborate on this notion a little (especially when everyone has been spending extra time indoors, meaning far less distractions from those pesky inner-dialogues and emotions we all experience).

“A lot of people assumed these songs were about the lockdown,” he says. “But I started writing this music way before the virus. I’ve been asking these kinds of questions since childhood. ‘Who am I? Where do I go?’ Also the idea that as human beings we can only take care of things that we can control, that has always been in my head too.”

Fittingly, Solipsism’s lead single, Deeper, sees Pamungkas surrounded by mirrors. With this being his most personal musical output yet, I ask if he feels he was holding back on the previous two.

“The first album was kind of an accident,” he says. “I was a design student at the time and felt like I wasn’t doing what I love. So I decided to give music a try, as I had a set of songs. I didn’t expect anything, especially a career. I was just doing it out of love and to feel excitement again. So that might be why I didn’t put as much thought into what I wanted to put out back then. It’s always me just riding the wave.”

I mention that the explosion of J-Pop and K-Pop into the US and UK markets have possibly opened some more doors for Indonesian artists looking to expand their horizons.

“It’s very exciting for me because I listen to a lot of UK artists,” Pamungkas says. “The UK is almost like the place where I learned music. I love The Beatles, The Smiths, The Arctic Monkeys. So it means a lot for me to release my music there, and it’s possible now with the internet. Even just getting to talk to you guys, it’s so nice!”