Local boys big in Indonesia

Elephant-riding and river-rafting were only a few of the activities Scraping for Change enjoyed on their summer trip to Indonesia.

The Belmont-based band also performed four shows in the annual Soundrenaline festival for crowds ranging between 15,000 to 70,000.

Soundrenaline, the largest annual music festival in Indonesia, hosted many types of artists from different countries, such as Death Before Disco from Belgium and Crowned King from Canada. But Scraping for Change was the only band that hailed from the United States, and with a number one hit on the chart in Indonesia, they had many fans before they arrived.

Guitarist Sterling Selover speculates the band gave more than a thousand autographs altogether, but autographs were not all the fans wanted. One fan ripped the sleeve off the singer Anthony Andrade’s shirt.

"There was a group of guys that totally bombarded me. I handed one of them a [signed] battery, another a pick, I gave somebody my sunglasses,” said Selover.

After six weeks on Indonesia’s Top 40, "Crazy Mary” from their 2004 album "Heartaches and Danger,” went to number one and stayed there for a week in July 2006, right above Kanye West’s "Stronger.”

"Crazy Mary” is "about this girl I was dating in college and she actually went crazy,” said Andrade, who added that the girl’s name was, indeed, Mary. "It was like a double meaning ... during the time I was going through some problems ... It’s like I want her out of my life, I want this out of my life, I want to start over,” he said.

Andrade, 24, Selover, 23, bassist Manny Gonzalez, 24, and drummer Joe Szulkowski, 25, met when attending Notre Dame de Namur University several years ago.

It all began in 2003 when Andrade was skateboarding one day on campus and Selovar came up to him and they began talking about skating. From there, the band was born and "the other freaks came into the picture,” joked Andrade. Andrade and Selover came up with the band’s name.

"We were driving crappy cars, had no money, scraping for change to buy fast food to eat, get gas and everything. That’s how the name came up; we were always scraping for change,” said Selover.

Their first show was an acoustic set at an Italian restaurant in Lafayette. They estimate they have played more than a 100 shows total, including the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, the Playboy Mansion and of course, many shows at NDNU.

Their ties with Indonesia began when their manager got in contact with Indonesian radio station Prambors 102.2. where "Crazy Mary” hit the airwaves last November. Since then, Prambor’s record label signed the band and released an Indonesian album consisting of 11 songs of "Heartaches and Danger” and all four new songs from their current EP.

Since the band is working on a second album, the EP can only be bought directly from band members and their shows.

"Two, three years [ago] we began to crack down,” said Andrade of when he and his band mates "decided this is what we want to do.”

The band members’ personal tastes range from Foo Fighters to Incubus to Danzig.

"Combine those and throw in a little poppiness, like Green Day and you have what we have,” said Selover.

Whatever their music formula is, it seems to be working for them. After all, their claim to fame was reinforced when they found themselves watching themselves on Indonesian MTV while they were in their hotel room. "It was crazy,” said Andrade.

Selover said one of the most memorable moments during the tour was the rush he felt when he stepped out in front of 50,000 people. Other moments include performing at Bali’s Hard Rock, drinking Indonesian Bintang beer and taking in the Indonesian nightlife.

"It’s crazier that American nightlife. It doesn’t get poppin’ to 1 or 2 in the morning, and it doesn’t stop until 6 in the morning,” said Selovar.

Another highlight was when the band played Hendrix’s "Purple Haze” with one of Indonesia’s legendary guitarists, John Paul Ivan of Boomerang Despite their immense popularity in Indonesia, they’re still in the process of getting known in the United States.

"Here, you really have to work for it,” said Andrade.

But they have many plans in the works such as their upcoming debut on Live 105.3, their music video filmed in Indonesia currently being edited and their new album. Their future tour plans do include next year’s Soundrenaline festival along with " a swoop of Asia and then hit Australia,” said Selovar. But the exception of their upcoming December show in Cupertino, Scraping for Change plans on using their remaining time in the studio.

"A lot of changes,” Selover said. We’re really going to take steps towards maturing more as a band and starting to make more of a full-time commitment to this than anything else in our lives.”