About Us
DeKa was formed by Ricky Destiawan in 2018, when he was entrusted by the 'Puppet Theatre: Den Kisot' to create the music for the show.
One of the iconic features of DeKa is that all the instruments used by the musicians are made of bamboo; guitar, bass, violin, kendang, kacapi, cajon, etc. all use bamboo as the basic material by Endo Suanda’s invention, an ethnomusikolog and initiator of DeKa.
The name of our music group, DeKa, is derived from the abbreviation "Den Kisot," the main character in the performance "Puppet Theatre (Wayang Golek): Den Kisot". This performance is an adaptation of the classic novel "Don Quijote" by Miguel de Cervantes, with the script rewritten by Goenawan Mohamad and directed by Endo Suanda. We chose this name because Den Kisot embodies the spirit of adventure, idealism, and the courage to dream big, which aligns with the vision and mission of our music group.
The Story
Deka fundamentally is a music group that embraces the concept of 'compositional possibility' through an interpretive and eclectic method drawn from various sources such as literature, traditional Javanese music, world music, and popular music. It all started with musical works for puppet theater, adapting scripts like Don Quijote, which require interpretation of setting, emotions, character portrayal, or stylistic identification, etc.
Subsequently, Deka became familiar with interpreting poetry (works by Goenawan Muhamad) into dramatic music, arranging world music pieces, often incorporating elements of style, structure, and even patterns from different genres deemed intriguing in each Deka musical composition. This method isn't deliberately pursued but has become a habitual practice in almost all of Deka's music compositions written by Ricky Destiawan (composer). Each piece undergoes a process where the essence of the source material, be it a literary work or a traditional musical piece, is deeply understood and then reimagined through Deka's unique lens.
​In essence, Deka's approach to music composition is one of synthesis, weaving together diverse influences into a cohesive and expressive tapestry. This results in compositions that not only pay homage to the original sources but also stand as distinct artistic statements in their own right. Overall, Deka's music embodies a spirit of exploration and experimentation, pushing the boundaries of what is possible within the realm of music composition while remaining rooted in cultural and artistic traditions.
So far DeKa has 7 members, namely Dinar (Vocal) Maulana Agung Pamenang (guitar), Wahyu Winata (bass), Sofyan Triyana (Flute & Suling), Ricky Subagja (Kacapi & Clarinet), Erlan Swaradana (kendang and percussion) and composer and arranger Ricky Destiawan (Violin & Tarawangsa).
