Have you ever looked at your significant other and wondered, Gosh, I’m so lucky to have them?

Maybe it’s your first time experiencing such sweetness in a relationship. Maybe it’s your tenth time, but it feels brand new. You’re in love with the tenderness in their eyes when they gaze at you. Your body grows warm in the comfort they provide—it’s undeniable they’ve become your safe space. Your home.

It seems too good to be true, and regardless how long you’ve been with your lover, whether it’s one week, one month, or one year, an unwelcoming voice nags at you, saying, “Would this love even last?”

‘Honey, Baby’ is a depiction of such thoughts that occurred in my very first serious relationship. I had never experienced such a magnitude of reciprocated love before, and it got to a point that I would blindly do anything for him. Unfortunately, it became my downfall. I ended up being from one failed relationship to another, and what kept occurring was that, during a rocky phase within a relationship, I’d find myself at a crossroads. I began to doubt myself and their feelings for me. Yet, I refused to go. My mind stores precious, beautiful memories I’ve shared with my lovers—ones that my heart cherishes so much and refuses to let go. I kept the door slightly ajar, in case they wanted to leave. However, deep down inside, I yearned for them to stay. That’s all I ever wanted.

I suppose, somehow, ‘Honey, Baby’ was my way of letting go.

So, I’m back with another entry and this time I’m going to talk about the music video we’ve released for our new single, “Honey, Baby”.

This has been mentioned several times, but—as you’ve heard—Grrrl Gang was supposed to go to the United States and perform at SXSW in 2020. We were really looking forward to going! It was quite an achievement for us—being a local band that started out playing small gigs on campus—to perform outside of Southeast Asia for the first time. Our visas were ready, we’ve made an extensive itinerary of what we would do in Austin, excluding performing. I even dreamt of us going on a road trip outside of Austin and we swam in a beautiful, glimmering lake with  proud mountains surrounding it.

As we were about to buy the plane tickets, it was announced that SXSW was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak. We were really upset when we heard the news and, I have to admit, there are still traces of disappointment and regret lingering until now. Shortly after that, our government imposed social distancing restrictions, then one by one, all of the shows we had planned to perform in got cancelled and/or postponed until God knows when.

We’re still haunted by the possibilities of what would’ve and could’ve happened if the pandemic never took place. We tried to reflect these questions in the music video for “Honey, Baby”.

The idea for the music video came from Akbar, who has always wanted to make a music video in the style of a mockumentary. With what had happened, we wanted to laugh at ourselves through the making of this music video.

We thought that it would be a great idea to invite Kome as the director, having worked together with her (and Nadine) in the past for our “Bathroom/Thrills” music video, because we felt that—other than being a talented artist in her own right—she has the same cheekiness and playfulness that aligns with Grrrl Gang’s character.

Kome took Riri, as the director of photography, and Alwan, as the producer. We invited our close friends Dara, Kevin, and Cipon to portray us in the music video. We shot everything in Jogja, and it was a whole lot of fun! I have to admit, I didn’t fully participate and dropped by during most of the shooting, because I was preoccupied with final exams, but from the pictures I’ve seen, I was jealous of all the fun I’ve missed.

We are very proud of what we have made with our friends. The music video for “Honey, Baby” serves as our way to reminisce the silliness and excitement that we felt being on tour, and reflects our deep longing to hit the road again and perform for a room full of tens or hundreds of people again. We are patiently waiting for that day to come, but until then, we cherish the moments and experiences we have had together deep in our hearts.

We hope you love “Honey, Baby” as much as we do.

XOXO,

Angee

Hi, everyone! This is long overdue, but we are back with another blog entry! 

Did you notice? When you got to Uncle Lee’s homepage, you’d hear a semi-cheerful song playing in the background, accompanying you as you scroll through the catalogue. I’m going to tell a little story of how that jingle came to be.

It was summer of 2019 in Yogyakarta. I got a call from one of my good friends Debbie. She asked if I could write a jingle for someone she’d just met, Uncle Lee. I remember it was a particularly hot day—the kind of weather that made you feel like your skin was melting off of your bones, and no amount of cold drinks could quench your thirst. The boys and I sought refuge at our drummer Faiz’s house away from the glaring sun with the fan turned up.

We then decided that we’ll devote the day specifically to write a jingle for Uncle Lee’s General Store. I sat down on Faiz’s piano and messed around, doing finger exercises to warm up. Edo was racking his brains for chords and melodies until Akbar suggested recycling old chords for a song we dropped from a while ago for this jingle.

How convenient, we thought.

Sticking with our usual simplistic nature in chord progressions and humming to the melody, we had finally made the first draft! 

Now, what followed right after were the lyrics. Akbar told me to include words, such as “candies” and “board games”, basically knick-knacks one can find in a general store, and so I incorporated those into the lyrics. 

In order to give a sense of wonder and magic into the song, I decided to reflect on what I would usually do to cheer myself up. The answer was RETAIL THERAPY. 

Shopping always gives me the kind of thrill I can’t find anywhere else—it’s THE BEST kind of instant gratification, even though it has a critical impact on my bank account. But, hey, when the whole world is burning, might as well look dangerously good wearing a Grrrl Gang t-shirt!

If you should find me moping around,
Take me somewhere that magic can be found
From candies to board games to t-shirts galore
Take me to Uncle Lee’s store

The planet is dying, no hope to be found
I’d like to spend all my savings account
From candies to board games to t-shirts galore
Take me to Uncle Lee’s General Store

Kisses,
Angee

This is Jackie, Vera, and Debbie. This webpage was made in favor to help uncle lee to join the magnificent of V I R T U A L W O R L D. From now on, this webpage will be run by Uncle Lee and Sandi (thank god there’s Sandi. it took us 2 hours to explain what google is to Uncle lee (No uncle lee, google is not a man so don’t call him “Mr. Google”)) including this blog! We would also like to thank Grrrl Gang for helping us with the jingle. Best jingle ever! Hope we can play together in one stage, someday..

So good luck Uncle Lee and Sandi! If you need something you know where to find us!

P. S.: DON’T TELL YOUR PASSWORD TO ANYONE, UNCLE LEE!