Band: Medium
From: Manado, Indonesia
Their formation story:
(Shania, bass): "Matthias always had tons of ideas when it comes to hardcore—one of them was starting Medium. He directly asked me to play bass, even though I had literally no clue how to play it (haha). Weirdly, I said yes without even thinking. Then he just started showing me the basics—what to press, how to play the songs.
"After that, we brought in Aziz, Wesley, and Deden. To me, our lineup feels really special because none of us are actually playing the instruments we’re used to."
(Aziz, vocals): "Medium can be described as a band formed by several members who each already had their own bands—namely For Reign, 406, Cease, and Huminoid. The combination of these players brings a unique character, as each of them has a different musical style. But behind it all, Medium is rooted in the common thread of hardcore, inspired by the legendary hardcore bands of the 1990s and further developed to this day."
Their sound in their own words:
(Shania, bass): "Basically, we're really into that raw and dirty '90s sound. What we hope is that when people listen to the new track, names like xElegyx, Length of Time, State Craft, and Morning Again come to mind."
(Matthias, guitar): "All five of us listen to different bands, so all of our answers probably varied. But for me when writing the riffs for this new track and the upcoming EP, I took a lot of influences from State Craft and also bands that came out from Florida like Morning Again, xElegyx, and Drawing Last Breath."
Latest release info:
(Matthias, guitar): "This is one of the four songs that we prepared for an upcoming EP. Just a little shift from our previous material but I think we finally settled our sound with this one.
"Lyrically, it’s about a very close friend who dealt with personal addiction. And how substances could affect not only ourself and our body, but also everyone we love around us. In the end, nobody wants to lose a friend right? We all got each other. No substances could replace that."
(Shania, bass): "Honestly, we wanted to do something a bit different from our previous release. We spent a lot of time talking about references and the kind of sound we want to explore moving forward. The recording process itself was pretty quick—we made the most of the resources we had through the people around us.
"Shout out to Quantum Lab Studio, Skay (For Reign, Scourge of Iron), Iman (Mepuzo), Ainul (Durasucks), Aruloo, and all our friends who directly supported the recording process."
Future plans:
(Aziz, vocals): "We will be releasing an EP with a fresher concept compared to our previous material and will begin our debut tour in several cities across Indonesia to connect the hardcore scene in our city, Manado, with others—so that hardcore bands out there, whether in Indonesia, Asia, or even Europe and America, will see Manado as a must-visit place and a foundation for hardcore brotherhood."
(Matthias, guitar): "Yeah, the EP will be coming later this year with 'Facing What Consumes You' being one from it. We’re in the process of finishing it out right now. Hope for the best it’ll come out around August this year. Maybe a tour after that, who knows."
(Shania, bass): "Actually, right now, we’re in a bit of a long-distance situation with Aziz, so it’s not possible for us to play some shows at the moment. But in the next few months, we’re planning to release our first EP, and hopefully we’ll get to play some MBHC shows later this year."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
(Aziz, vocals): "Cease, Fistful Threats, Scourge of Iron, For Reign, and Huminoid."
(Matthias, guitar): "Shameless plug but check out Make You Pay, '80s-NYHC style meets Boston stuff and also check out Mepuzo, one of my local favorite playing homage to Madball and Everybody Gets Hurt. All No Match familia."
Medium on social media: Instagram
Tagged: medium
