Important Vision of Aska Rocket Rockers for Young Musicians Behind the Business of Kapal Coffee & Friends

Kapanlagi.com - Not only busy with Rocket Rockers, for the past two years the vocalist and guitarist, Aska Pratama, has been managing a coffee shop. Yes, located in the Buah Batu area, Bandung, Aska and his school friends manage their own Kapal Coffee & Friends.

Aska's interest in the world of coffee started from his activities with Rocket Rockers. Often they moved from one area to another for performances, Aska and other band members liked to explore the local cuisine of the places they visited. Approximately 5 years ago, Aska became interested in trying the coffees available in the areas where they performed with Rocket Rockers.

"All thanks to Rocket Rockers. We often tour many islands in Indonesia and several countries abroad. When we have free time, we like to explore and try the local cuisine. It has been going on for about 17 years. After that, we got bored of hunting for food. By chance, for the past five years, we have often visited coffee shops. From there, we became interested in coffee and our knowledge about coffee grew from every city," Aska said during a phone conversation with Kapanlagi.com on Tuesday (7/7).

1. Meaning Behind the Name Kapal Coffee & Friends

Credit: KapanLagi - Mathias Purwanto

The opportunity to create a coffee shop arose in January 2019. Initially, his friend had a photo studio called Kapal Impian. In the studio, there was a waiting room with a sufficiently large space. From there, the idea of Aska and his friend emerged to utilize that space.

"Why is it called Kapal Coffee? Initially, this place was a photo studio called Kapal Impian. Well, the waiting room was empty. From there, I collaborated with my friend to create a coffee shop. Eventually, it was named Kapal Coffee & Friends. The ship here refers to an airplane, as people from Bandung say. Well, in terms of philosophy, an airplane goes through the process of take off, flying, and landing at its destination. Hopefully, we can also start this well and end happily according to our goal," explained Aska.

2. Not Relying on a Famous Name

Although having a big name as the vocalist of Rocket Rockers, Aska doesn't want that to be a main weapon. For him, the comfort of the visitors is what should be prioritized. He also had to serve his customers himself at the beginning of his business.

"When people go to Bandung, they look for a nice place, good taste, and a lot of choices. The main thing that I prioritize is still the taste and the place. In the beginning, I struggled, I couldn't rely on my big name," said Aska.

3. Kapal Music Corner

Credit: KapanLagi - Mathias Purwanto

Initially, Aska and his friends created Kapal Coffee & Friends as a meeting point for themselves and their friends. However, on the other hand, Aska has a big goal and hope for Kapal Coffee & Shop to become a platform for musicians in Bandung to develop. As a senior musician with the motto of regeneration, Aska wants young musicians from Bandung to take turns appearing in the Indonesian music industry in the future.

To achieve this goal, Aska created Kapal Music Corner every two weeks or once a week. There, young bands from Bandung can perform to introduce their works. Although initially only pop punk bands performed, now bands from all genres can perform.

"What's unique here is that they don't just showcase. But the performing band will be reviewed by other bands or the audience. So there can be sharing here. The first rule in Kapal Music Corner is no getting upset, when receiving criticism, it must be accepted. Hopefully, what is conveyed can be positive input for the band. They must be prepared for harsh criticisms," said Aska.

(kpl/pur/gtr)