Indie mothers make moving music - 17th February 2023

Interest in this women's band, Nasida Ria, is growing in Indonesia. The group, which formed 47 years ago, used to read the Qur'an. Nowadays, the band combines Arabic with a traditional type of Indonesian music - dangdut.

Until recently, dangdut and local music were thought of as unfashionable by young people. But Nasida Ria's songs discuss important topics, like Islam and human rights. For example, they might make fun of men with bad attitudes towards women.

Shindu Alpito's a music expert.

Shindu Alpito: "Talking about Islamic songs, Nasida Ria might be the only one that dares to use such witty lyrics. Islamic songs are usually serious with lyrics carefully quoting Islamic teachings. However, Nasida Ria can immerse into a broader society through a language style that is easy to understand and tickling."

The amusing words as well as the music itself are attracting younger audiences, who like to call Nasida Ria 'Indie Mothers'.

Fathul Amin: "I think Nasida Ria is more than just cool. Why? Because all of the members are women who can play more than three musical instruments. And, now they have become mothers, they still consistently play music. Nothing has changed them. That's why I see them as super cool."

Using modern media, the women know how to connect with their young listeners. 27 year old Nazla Zain is the 'baby' of the band.

Nazla Zain: "Nasida Ria is keeping up with the trend by using Youtube and other music applications. We uploaded Nasida Ria's songs from all albums there. So, now youths with gadgets can listen to our songs. That might be a reason why the youths like Nasida Ria."

Lead singer Rien Djamain, now in her 60s, hopes that their music will help and improve young people's hearts. With more than 500,000 followers on YouTube and 38,000 listeners on Spotify per month, the band certainly have the opportunity to do so.