Putrika: From Going Solo to Netflix’s Heartbreak High

Erika: Tell me a little bit about yourself and your music.

Putrika: I’m a singer-songwriter and electronic music producer. My background is in singing, so I have sung my whole life and I would say that I create alt soul electronica. I just kind of make experimental music with my synth and drum machine and then I play with my vocal—I feel like that would describe the vibe I have on all my tracks.

Erika: You just released your EP in May; what was it like working on that? And how/when did you know it was complete?

Putrika: I started that project about a year ago, maybe two years ago, because I started making beats and stuff. Especially during lockdown, it was the perfect time to be in the studio in my spare room just creating all these tracks. I’ve had a couple different songs but then I created a different kind of track and I found that I found my sound. I decided to just use the same drum machine sound for all the tracks and everything started to sound like the same vibe. For me, because I did everything by myself, it [knowing] was just reminding myself that this was really my music and then I just released it.

Erika: You have spoken a lot about being born in Jakarta and now living in Sydney. How have those experiences influenced your music and this latest ep?

Putrika: I feel like they were really different, both are really big cities and because Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia, there’s a lot of traffic, it’s full of people, full of sounds, and pollution but also so many nice people, my family is all there. And then I moved to Sydney almost 9 years ago, it’s the same kind of thing, lots of traffic, not as bad as Jakarta of course, but I feel closer to nature here in Sydney, it’s easier to access the beaches and sea or mountains in half an hour or an hour max by car, whereas it was really hard for me to access them back home in Jakarta. That’s why I feel like a lot of my tracks were lyrically like waves, everything around nature, forests and being alone in nature, because I always liked going on walks to look around at the birds and sea. So I think it’s kind of a reflection of my time in Sydney, but also all the synths and all the different sounds are the influence of the sounds I grew up with, with the busyness of the capital city of Indonesia; everything is related.

Erika: Speaking of nature, a lot of your titles are related to nature. How do you pick what they are going to be? Is it decided before, during or after a track is already created?

Putrika: After, I think. Because usually when I create the song I just put a random title on it. Legit, like there was a time that I ate peanut butter toast when I had made it so I just called it “Peanut Butter Toast.” I start to make lyrics and the art comes and then I change the title later.

Erika: Your song Monologue was just featured in Netflix’s Heartbreak High. What was that like? How did you get approached and did you know where/how it was going to be used?

Putrika: Did you find my song through there?

Erika: Yes, well on Spotify, I always look at show playlists because I’m super interested in looking at what they’re finding and how they’re curating their soundtracks and playlists.

Putrika: I’m just curious because I can’t believe that my song could reach people like you in the US. For me that’s just crazy! Yeah, so it was just kind of a surprise because I don’t have that many followers on soundcloud. Like, if you see my soundcloud, I don’t have any followers [laughs] and then this music company that was gathering all the music for Heartbreak High, contacted me and said “Hey, we want to use one of your songs in a scene of Heartbreak High, which is a reboot of this series from Australia back in the 90’s.” 

I had no idea; I didn’t grow up here, so I asked some of my friends and they said they had grown up with it. So then I felt like it was a good opportunity for me to put my songs out there. I didn’t expect anything but yeah I said sure, did all the paperwork and then the series came out and it was huge. I could see my spotify showing streams in the US and Canada listening to Monologue and I was like what!? 

I just didn’t expect my song to reach other parts of the world like you found it through spotify playlists. It’s amazing how streaming platforms allow you to reach so many different parts of the world! Also it’s interesting because the scene that they chose kind of reflected my experience behind that song. Because I sometimes have social anxiety, like I can be extroverted but with a lot of people I sometimes I get a little overwhelmed yet the monologue in my head is saying a lot of things, so it’s like is this the right thing to say? And I felt like that scene perfectly captured what I usually feel in social situations.

Erika: That’s so interesting and I know that you were in bands prior to beginning your solo work. What was the transition like?

Putrika: Personally, it was a little hard because I didn’t have anyone to ask about the work. When I had a band I could ask “Hey, do you like this song? Like let’s jam, etc.” Now everything is by myself, but it’s also nice because I can do whatever I want with the tracks and the lyrics but sometimes yeah, it can be lonely to do it all by yourself, but it’s also nice to make your own creative decisions.

Erika: For anyone who wants to make that shift from band to solo work, what advice do you have? As you mentioned you do everything yourself now, how did you learn to?

Putrika: Just go for it! When I started this, before I started solo stuff, I used to tell myself that the only way I was gonna be able to do this is if I worked with other people, like I needed to be in a band. 

That’s why I would be in a band, we would separate, and then I would find another band, but then I decided that if I wanted to keep creating music and had all these ideas in my head, the only way I was gonna be able to do it was by learning how to produce music by myself. For me personally, I can play basic guitar and basic notes on the keyboard, but I just created the EP with one synthesizer and a drum machine. I just play around with it, sing the bass in my head [imitates sound] and then find the key. 

So literally just challenge yourself, with electronic music it’s so amazing, you don’t have to be musically trained, like a virtuoso of all the instruments, you can just play around with it, have fun because at some point you’ll find your own sound and [be able to] create tracks and release your own songs. 

Erika: That’s so impressive, is there anything you’re working on next?

Putrika: I would love to have an album out next year, that’s my main goal. Because I currently have around 40 songs still in my drafts, I need to finish them all and it’s just a matter of choosing which ones I want to keep working on. I probably want to collaborate with more artists because I also do Indonesian dances and music, so I would like to work more with this group I’m with to create more experimental songs. But yeah the album is on the list for next year!

Erika: Anything else you want people to know?

Putrika: Just listen to my songs! And follow me! (@putrikamusic) 

Erika: Great, thank you so much for this again!

Putrika: Of course, of course!