It’s no secret that the Indonesian president is a metalhead, and it’s somewhat comforting to know that the leader of a nation has gone on record as a fan of Napalm Death. Hearing the other side of the story is just as interesting! In an interview with Billboard, Napalm Death frontman Barney Greenway sat down to discuss Joko Widodo’s stance as a proud headbanger. Initially, he said that he didn’t pay it any mind, since he figured Widodo winning the presidency was a long shot at best, but as his chances kept improving, he got more interested :
“It seems as if, with all due respect, there’s a lot to deal with in Indonesia. The human rights issues are quite a big one there. Of course, the historical stuff that has to do with jobs and some other places. Also, of course, big ecological issues with the deforestation. So if he can really get to groups with that, and push aside some of the more dictatorial elements of politics over there, I think he’ll be one of the first politicians that I’ve really felt quite warm to, so we’ll see.”
It’s pretty interesting to note that the guy who wrote From Enslavement to Obliteration actually has reasonably nice things to say about a politician somewhere, and taste in music aside, Widodo definitely has some progressive plans to improve socioeconomic conditions in Indonesia. Greenway also took a moment to talk about Napalm Death’s immediate future, including their follow-up to 2012’s Utilitarian.
“We’re working on another album actually, doing it a little differently this time. Recording it in bits and pieces — what we wanted to do was get a lot of different production on the album, from track-to-track. We always try and move on a little bit with each album.
