Young Indonesian Musicians, Upward Career Mobility and Feeling at Home

Abstract

This chapter explores narratives of young Indonesian musicians who are working to achieve upward progression in their field of music at the same time as they seek to remain connected to place. Using participant observation and interview data, this chapter explores narratives of young Indonesian musicians keeping the balance between a sense of local belonging and building upward career mobility. The narratives of young Indonesian musicians in this study demonstrate that embeddedness within family and local community, the ability to contribute to society, the maintenance of musical idealism and feeling at home are considered important to aspects to becoming a successful musician. In contrast to the dominant perspective of youth studies which is largely metro-centric focused, for the young musicians in this study, to achieve career progress is not only a matter of recognition, fame, and financial gain. Belonging to place and to the people that matter to them also remains important. For young musicians living in Indonesia, the ultimate meaning of ‘home’ is a space where they can make sense of what happens in everyday life, make sense of their career, and also predict a relatively clear vision of the future.