Words: Shadia Kansha & Saffana Nur Aulia
Photo: Agung Hartamurti/Whiteboard Journal

We’re all familiar with her evergreen hit (raked more than 250 million streams today), or through her songwriting efforts for 88rising’s extensive roster. Stephanie Poetri is not stopping at just that, and it’s not only limited to musical ventures. One of them happened to be video games.

We sat down with Stephanie Poetri as we cherished the greats in her 20s, ranging from her first commercial video game, releasing alternate versions of her songs, to exploring vast emotions reminiscent of her being engaged last year—which found its way to her single, “Adam & Eve.”

So, Stephanie, how’s game developing has been going for you? 

Pretty fun! Um, I’m working on my first commercial game. So it’s a lot, but I believe in myself. 

Namanya Hollowhearth, and it’s actually a little bit inspired from living in Indonesia. Because the whole game premise is you’re a pixie, and then you have to build houses because monsoon season is coming. Jadi, all your pixie friends need a shelter and you use trash from humans to make little houses for all your friends. Jadi kayak, monsoon season like in Indonesia, but also, like, I think we have a little bit of a trash problem here, you know what I mean? 

It’s been really fun, and I think it’s very challenging. I think I learn a lot from not being comfortable. Because I think I’m used to doing stuff dari pertama, especially with music. It’s like, I’m very lucky and privileged; it worked out from the start, but I think game development is one thing where you have to really try and just keep continuing even when. That’s like messed up, you know?

How do you navigate your life between music and game development? Because both are, like, really big passions with interest.

I think it’s actually very easy for me, because I’m also at a point in my life where I’m not necessarily chasing the same things as I was when I was younger. I was definitely trying to be like a star. And I’m just like, you know, I’m very happy with where I am musically. I’m content and I feel just grateful for what’s happened and, you know, if this is my peak, I don’t mind; I think I’m actually in a very happy place and game development is just like another thing I get to do, and the fact that I can like live and sustain myself with music is crazy. 

So, yeah, like I’m finding it very easy to do both, actually. Because also my team is amazing. They schedule [it for me] so I do music for like three weeks and then I have one week where I can focus on game development. 

That’s nice. Do you consider both interests as separate matters or do you always feel like both enrich the other?

I think both help each other. I would definitely say that knowing how to do music really helps with game development because I get to make my own sound effects and like soundtracks and stuff and that’s really fun. But maybe not the other way around. But maybe one day I can make a little game to promote a song or something. 

So, you are also a songwriter, right? You wrote for MXFRUIT, for ATARASHII GAKKO! and for Boogie. Can you tell us a bit about the difference that you experience when you’re writing for yourself and for others? 

Whenever [I write] for others, I honestly enjoy it way more because I feel kind of like just helping a girl out, you know? Helping whoever in the room needs help. But when it’s my own, I feel a little bit pressured to make the decision. So now when I do stuff for my own stuff, I usually do it with my best friend, because I think we both get each other so much. But yeah, when I’m ready for other people, it’s very like I’m thinking way more about the effects of this song. Because you want to get, you know, a viral moment, or you want it to be general enough where people can relate to it. I think that’s like an important part of my type of songwriting because I do a lot of things like pop and K-pop.

When I do my own stuff, I actually try not to think about viral moments; I don’t think about little snippets we could use. I mostly just think about how honest I can be, so that in like 30 years, I can look back and be like, if I listen to this song, I remember what was happening in my life at the time. Which is why all my songs are about him [points at her fiancé], because I’m just trying to be honest. 

I know that a lot of people love a good breakup song. [People] love a good, ‘I hate you’ type of song, but I can’t relate to that, you know? So I channeled that type more so when I was songwriting [for other people]. And then when it’s my own stuff, I’m just as honest and as I can be, which is usually like a love song or something like that.

You’ve been engaged since last year; congratulations! I mean, like other than the previous single, ‘Adam & Eve’, you’re teasing an upcoming album, if I’m not mistaken. 

Yes, in my head, I’m thinking, it’s going to lead up to an album; my team says otherwise they’re like ‘chill girls, chill out.’ But I’m like, but I see it, you know, so it’s like to be determined. 

Ah, I see, so it’s not fixed yet. But, on the topic of albums, writing for them feels like a very big deal. And when you have this thematic thing, you’re pretty much in love. You’re in a very secure relationship. How do you plan to explore all of those vast emotions and put that into the album?

Well, actually, the reason why I felt like it could be an album is because I have a couple songs ready and I feel like these songs feel way too special for me for it to just be a single for it to just be an EP. Like it feels so encapsulating what life is like for me right now in my 20s. I don’t wanna waste it on like a random single, especially because all of them also feel like they have like a red string or something connecting all of them.

 

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So yeah, they’re love songs, but then there’s also songs about growing up and songs about Indonesia and stuff like that. I don’t know; when I look at these songs, I’m like, okay, wait, this would go so well as like a young Stephanie, like, like project. And I don’t know; I feel like it would be a good album. Because if I’m old, I wanna look back and be like, ‘oh my God, my first album is such a memory of the time.’ 

Usually it’s going to be a lot of pressure, isn’t it? Because the album is just like, wow, very intimidating, big. 

Yeah, everybody also thinks so, but it’s not that deep. I understand people want their first album to be like a hit. They want it to be like Grammys nominated or like top of the row or whatever. And I think, like I said, because I found comfort in where I am, I don’t necessarily need to be more famous or more successful. I’m okay if my project just does okay, like, because at least it’s out there and I don’t wanna regret waiting until I’m like 50 to put my first album out just because I want it to be like a hit, you know?

It means a lot to me, I think more so than it ever has, because before I was like, ‘I would’ve never done an album; it’s not that deep,’  but then I’m like, ‘wait.. but like, it’s not that deep but in a different way.’ Like, if it feels right, it feels right. And like my best friend, who’s a songwriter and singer as well, she heard that ‘you don’t try to make a first album; it just kind of happens’. 

But I get it. When I read your previous interview for Whiteboard Journal for when you made AM:PM, we asked, ‘is it pressure to be an Indonesian musician abroad?’ And you answered, ‘It’s not about pressuring myself to be successful. It’s about making sure that I’m doing it right’.

I feel like it was like such a different person back then. Like I was like a child. Like I was like 19.

Do you have a different perspective about that now?

I think I feel like the word ‘right’ is crazy, you know, to say like. Because what is ‘right?’ Like nothing is ‘right,’ you know what I mean? And what does that mean? Like it’s so vague? What a vague answer. 

It was a noble answer, but if you feel like, you know, ‘right’ is just an abstract concept nowadays, that’s also very valid. 

Yeah, because it could be ‘right’ now and then in like a couple of years, it’s wrong. You don’t don’t know… 

We know that the world is round, but how can we know it’s not actually flat? (chuckled).

In the past, people thought it was flat, you know? Apparently not. Apparently not. 

So you’re not pressuring yourself into making an album, but you feel like what you’re going through and the songs that you’re making right now are worth immortalizing.

Yeah, but still, maybe. I don’t know. Maybe a little? Belum fix, belum fix.

Okay, okay. Let’s just put it in the interview, ‘but no promises.’

Iya. Bilangnya, she’s still… ‘bimbang.’ (chuckled).

Now I want to talk about ‘I Love You 3000.’ Recently, you released the Bridgerton-coded version, right?

Oh my god, yeah, well, it was actually my team’s idea; they were like, ‘have you ever thought about doing an instrument version?’ and I was like, ‘actually yes,’ then they were just like, ‘well, sometimes you just want to put it out because I feel like there’s people online that have been asking for it.’ And I’m like, ‘you’re so right.’ Because they also want to listen to it and like to study. When I’m developing, like game-devving, I only listen to instrumentals. Like I can’t have lyrics because I’m like, ‘What am I typing?’. So they were like, ‘yeah, imagine like somebody wants to listen to your songs, but they don’t want to like singing,’ and I was like, ‘wait, you’re right.’

Like, that makes sense. I think it’s just good to have another version, especially if it is kind of to celebrate like 250 million streams, gitu jadi kita kayak… ‘yeay’. And we were like, taking it so nonchalant. We’re not like pushing it too much.

Really? Because, like previously, you also released the Bossa Nova version, right? 

That one we like pushes it a little bit more, just because that was really fun. Like we originally put that out as like a five-year anniversary gitu kan, and then when we made it, I made it with my friends and it just felt like so fun and also I like to sound way better, like now I can actually sing. And so I really loved it and I was like, I kind of wanted to promote it a bit more, but the strings vision felt more like something fun that we could do to celebrate but also, you know, like that if people wanna to put it in their playlist or something, they can.

Can you name three other genres that you want a remix for ‘I Love You 3000’?

Dangdut version. Tapi kayak ala-ala Garam dan Madu, jadi yang kayak RnB. That would be fun, right? Or maybe kind of like slow koplo. And then I think, I feel like somebody has to have done this like an EDM version for raves. And then, honestly, I don’t wanna do this—someone else should do this—like a medieval tavern version. 

The type that is going to be featured in GOT?

Yeah. I feel like that would be funny.

That would be fun. I hope that this interview inspires someone to do it.

Yeah, I give you permission to put it on YouTube.

So, what’s next for Stephanie Poetri?

Next? I actually have a bunch of songs coming out this year, which is really, really fun. Like last year, I kind of took a break from releases just to kind of focus more on songwriting and the game development, but also like preparing for this year. And then a couple like EDM collaborations, which is so fun—a couple of Indonesian musician collaborations. So it’s really exciting. but just like a lot of releases this year. Um, and hopefully I get married; you know, let’s go.