Haldol's Cassette Sleeve

Sleeve layout for Haldol's upcoming S/T cassette that will be released on my own label Dispersion Records. The cover artwork is originally white ink on black background, but I invert the color to make it more visible when xeroxed onto color papers (red and purple).

sleeve layout

original artwork (by Geoff from Haldol)

Release Poster I

Poster for Dispersion Records' first two cassette releases, Haldol's S/T cassette (Phily's dark punk) and Eerie's S/T cassette (Yogyakarta's dark punk). The cassettes will be released on September 5th at a local punk gig in Jakarta, a part of Eerie's mini tour. Padang's frantic hardcore punk Hurt also will be joining them on the tour, expect some savage shows!

Release poster

preview of the cassettes

*Bat stock image via this article

Dance, to decadence!

It's been quite around here, but I'll update this blog with a personal post this time. So I've been listening again to "oldschool" EBM lately — which reminds me of the 18 years old me, thanks to High-Functioning Flesh and Body Of Light. I have committed a series of unapologetic, shameful acts at that time. God forbid what I did! I was a "mall goth" back then, it's not like I'm a real one or something now, and I don't want to be labeled anyway. But I've been through all that phase, I learned how to apply eyeliner myself, I had Joy Division and The Smiths bootleg shirts, I even had a Vampire Freaks account! You know, that Friendster-like social media for "mall goths" — for those who happened to like anything from dark electro to visual kei (what the fuck?!), which landed me on dark electro, future pop, "rave goth" type of things. I showed those bands to some of my friends, and they got hooked to the beats too.

After all those embarassment, then I came across bands like Skinny Puppy, Front 242 and Front Line Assembly. I was like, "What the fuck? These bands are weird and dark, but not like, all those rave goth kind of things!" I have discovered bands like Bauhaus and Siouxsie & The Banshees, even more "dance-able" bands like Dead Or Alive and Soft Cell, before I listened to aggrotech and future pop. But no, I've never heard of EBM (Electronic Body Music) at the time, the term and the music — not until I discovered Skinny Puppy and such. It's like a rabid mix of industrial and synthpop, when I heard them for the first time. And then I questioned myself, "Am I going to repent thy sins?" Then I did, I deleted my Vampire Freaks account, and I disposed of my eyeliner. It's been a long time, and I'm revisiting "oldschool" EBM now. It's not like I'm a hardcore fan, in fact, I only listen to a handful. But to celebrate the good old days, I'm going to lace up my boots, and dance to decadence!





*artwork by yours truly, original image via Free Images

Sonic Funeral Records Logo

New logo I did for Sonic Funeral Records, basically they still want to keep their current logo essentials: bat wings and hooded skull. This new logo definitely had those oldschool death metal vibe, click the image to full view.

Dispersion Records

dis·per·sion
"the action or process of distributing things or people over a wide area"

Dispersion Records is my own small record label formed in January 5th, my late mom's 58th birthday to be precisely. The main purpose is to put out releases from bands that share the same aesthetic, visually and musically. The label's first release will be a split tape between two dark punk bands, I will update the info when it's official.

I read an interesting fact about bat, an animal that often associated with scary things: "Bats are present throughout most of the world, performing vital ecological roles of pollinating flowers and dispersing fruit seeds". Thus I came with an idea for the label's visual identity, inspired by old military insignias and vintage biology drawings. Bat Seeds Insignia is a symbol for Dispersion Records, the three seeds represented the label's main pillars: visual art, music and attitude. Now, release the bats!