The BBC has published the 2024 edition of its “100 women” list and included the singer/guitarist of Indonesian metal trio Voice Of Baceprot.
Firda Marsya Kurnia is named alongside politicians, activists, entertainers, astronauts and more on the latest version of the annual list, which the broadcaster says highlights “inspiring and influential women from around the world”.
Kurnia, who’s in her mid-20s, has fronted Voice Of Baceprot since she co-founded the band in 2014, while still in school. The hijab-wearing Muslim trio, rounded out by Euis Siti Aisyah (drums) and Widi Rahmawati (bass), became viral sensations with their nu metal covers during the late 2010s. They also pen original music, having released debut album Retas last year. Their lyrics tackle topics like patriarchy, sexual assault and freedom of expression.
Though they haven’t released new music in 2024, Voice Of Baceprot played Glastonbury festival this summer. It marked the first time in the event’s five-decade history that an Indonesian band performed there.
During the three-piece’s ascent, Kurnia and her bandmates faced abuse from some fundamentalist Muslims in their home region of West Java. In an interview with The Guardian last year, the frontwoman said she once had a rock thrown at her, with a note attached telling her to stop playing “devil’s music”.
“It was truly scary,” she remembered, “but I loved music, so I didn’t care.”
The BBC writes of the musician, “Challenging gender and religious norms is something Firda Marsya Kurnia is comfortable with, as lead vocalist and guitarist in the all-female, hijab-wearing heavy metal band Voice Of Baceprot.”
It adds, “Singing in English and Sundanese, one of the most widely spoken languages in Indonesia, the trio’s lyrics express their frustrations with patriarchy.
“There has been pushback from more conservative Muslims, who did not respond well when the band ventured into heavy metal. But the band have come a long way since they started 10 years ago at their village school in Garut, West Java. This year they performed at Glastonbury, the first Indonesian band in the music festival’s 54-year history.”
Kurnia isn’t the first hijab-wearing rocker to make the “100 women” table. In 2016, the BBC included Meliani Siti Sumartini, an Indonesian metal guitarist and vocalist whose covers of Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold and more made her a Youtube sensation.
