Suaka was born in the summer of 2001. With heavy metal as the main element from the beginning, they have infused their music (and will continue to do so) with Indonesian traditional music through creative explorations of various indigenous Indonesian melodies.

Founded by veterans of the 90's Queens scene and displaying a wide range of influences from classic Metallica to Samba Sunda to System of a Down, Suaka had their first audition at New York City’s famous CBGB in February 2004. Shortly thereafter, they played at ACME Underground and soon were rocking venues throughout the city and elsewhere, blowing audiences away with their unique stage presence and sound. Early highlights of their career include a live performance for CUNY-TV at Brooklyn College and KarateRice’s first ISFEST in August 2005. Suaka released a 6-song EP entitled “Indonesia” in 2005.

While playing for American rock and metal audiences, Suaka has maintained close ties to the Indonesian community by performing at events such as “Gebyar” in 2004. They opened for legendary Indonesian band GIGI at a tsunami relief concert in New York in April 2005 and on GIGI’s US East Coast tour in September 2005. These shows were so amazing that they led to an invitation to headline an Indonesian music festival in Los Angeles in October 2005.

Suaka’s first album, EPISODE I, was released in 2007 and was produced by Cipta G. Moehammad of Stonedeaf Music. CaDik Design directed the video for the first single, “The World is on Your Shoulder.” In September 2007, Suaka played in Indonesia, including the Bandung Metal Fest at the historic ACC Building. Suaka also had the headlining spot at the first MAXX NOISEFEST in Jakarta, organized by the late Robin Hutagaol of NOXA. They have had radio, TV, and magazine exposure in Indonesia.

Cipta G. Moehammad played lead guitar for the Indonesia shows, and took over the slot permanently following the departure of longtime guitarist Marcel Ferdinand in late 2007. Drummer Daisuke Nagashima (GORO, Bullet Proof Junkies) joined the band in March 2008 and started playing shows in April after only a handful of rehearsals. In addition, the creeping gentrification of Williamsburg forced the band to relocate their rehearsal and recording studios elsewhere in Brooklyn. Daisuke moved back to Japan at the end of 2009, and John Meredith (I Farm, Someday i, GSD) replaced him on drums.

Suaka released their second album UNIFY in April 2010. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.