Posted by At almost all the red lights in the city of Bandung, there are street musicians who perform to entertain drivers while waiting for the red light to turn green. No half-hearted, some of these musicians even used microphones, loudspeakers, violins, and even complete band instruments.
Moreover, last April, the Bandung City Government (Pemkot) together with a handful of Bandung musicians intensified the proposal to create the nickname “Musicians City”. Of course, it is impossible for this proposal to be born only from the life of a street musician. So, what music groups from Bandung have become famous on the national stage?
1. Teeth
GIGI Band Photo: Dyah Paramita Saraswati
This band, which plays in the Pop, Pop Rock and Progressive Rock genres, was formed on March 22 1994. This music group has 5 personnel, namely Dewa Budjana and Baron Arafat on guitar, Thomas Ramadhan on bass, Ronald Fristianto on drums, and Armand Maulana as vocalist.
This music group was created after the guitarist, Dewa, thought of starting a band. As a result, he invited Thomas and Ronald. Wanting a band with two guitarists, he invited Baron. Meanwhile, Armand, who was recruited last, succeeded in becoming a sweetener and complement to Gigi. The name “Gigi” itself appeared after all the personnel burst out laughing after Ronald broke his front tooth.
Gigi’s career soared after the album “Dunia” was released in 1995. The songs entitled “Janji” and “Nirwana” were the two milestones that successfully elevated Gigi to the stage of the Indonesian music industry. To date, Gigi has released 13 albums and won dozens of prestigious awards. The last award Gigi won was Best Pop Duo/Group at the 2017 AMI Award. Some of Gigi’s biggest hits are “January 11”, “Nakal”, “Nirwana”, “Andai”, and “Terbang”.
The SIGIT at We The Fest 2017 Photo: Asep Syaifullah/detikHOT
One of the most famous rock bands in the 2000s was actually formed when Rektivianto “Rekti” Yoewono, Aditya Bagja Mulyana, and Donar “Acil” Armando were still in high school in the late 1990s. However, they first moved professionally when they signed a contract with Spills Records, a label company, in 2004. Farri Icksan Wibisana then completed the music group The SIGIT into four members.
Uniquely, the name “Sigit” is actually the name of Rekti’s father. The name randomly appears when they are drunk. In the end, this name actually became an identification mark that took their careers soaring. The name “SIGIT” was then used as an abbreviation for The Super Insurgent Group of Intermperance Talent.
Beautiful works entitled “Soul Sister” and “Did I Ask Your Opinion?” continued to push the name The SIGIT until finally they were offered a contract by the Australian label, Caveman! Records. Thanks to this label, The SIGIT successfully appeared at various festivals abroad. In fact, they also had a concert tour in America.
Even though The SIGIT only released 2 albums and 3 EPs, they managed to win several awards, one of which was Best Album in 2007 from Rolling Stone Indonesia. Some of The SIGIT’s biggest hits are “All the Time”, “Owl and Wolf”, “Black Amplifier”, and “Live in New York”.
3. Peterpan / NOAH
The band Noah was the performing band at the Woman of the most award event at Balai Kartini, Jakarta (21/4/213). Ariel et al appeared attractive at the event. Files/secPhotos. Photo: Hasan Alhabshy
The band previously known as Peterpan has actually become one of the most successful bands in Indonesia. The reason is, their second album, “Bintang Di Surga” (2004), became one of the best-selling albums in Indonesia with sales of more than three million copies. However, they increasingly spread their wings after changing their name to NOAH.
The Peterpan music group itself was formed in 2000. Initially, the music group formed to perform regularly at this cafe consisted of Nazril “Ariel” Ilham (vocalist), Andika Wirahardja (keyboard/piano), Indra (bass guitar), Lukman Hakim (guitar). main), Ilsyah Ryan Reza (drums), and Uki (rhythm guitar). Unfortunately, internal conflict in 2006 caused Andika and Indra to leave the group.
The name change to NOAH began with Andika (keyboard/piano) and Indra (bass guitar) disagreeing with other Peterpan members who wanted to return to using the name after Ariel was released on July 23 2012. Previously, Ariel was imprisoned in 2010 after being involved in a video case. exciting. NOAH’s first album, “As It Should Be” immediately became a hit with sales of 200 thousand copies in the first three days of sales. Six months after the album was released, NOAH received an award in the form of a Multi Platinum plaque. This album also entered the list of best-selling albums in Indonesia after breaking sales of one million copies.
It cannot be denied, Peterpan/NOAH is one of the most successful music groups in the archipelago. They have won more than 20 awards in their 20 year musical career. Some of Peterpan’s hit songs are “Maybe Later”, “The Deepest”, and “Erase Your Traces”. Meanwhile, some of NOAH’s hit songs are “Half Me”, “The Deepest”, and “My Woman”.
4. Mocha
The Mocca Band performed at the Allo Bank Festival Indoor Stage, Istora Senayan, South Jakarta, Sunday (22/5/2022). The vocalist, Arina, looked beautiful and charming in her yellow dress. He looked cheerful and happy singing Mocca’s songs. Photo: Pradita Utama
The group, which has the term “Swinging Friends” for its fans, became active in 1999. Arina Ephipania (vocals and flute) and Riko Prayitno (guitar) were the two personnel who encouraged the formation of Mocca. The reason is, they have both been actively writing songs since 1997. However, they only showed their strength after forming Mocca, which was completed by Achmad Pratama (bass guitar) and Indra Massad (drums).
Not wanting to be half-hearted, Mocca didn’t immediately release an album at the start of its formation. They spent the first two years practicing together and composing tunes in the Swing Jazz, Jazz and Bossanova genres with nuances of 1960s music. At that time, they only dreamed of being successful because there were no Indonesian bands whose songs were all in English. Economic difficulties in paying for shifts when composing songs also became an obstacle. In 2002, Mocca’s first album, “My Diary”, immediately exploded on the market. In fact, they immediately received the “Best Video of the Year” award at the 2003 MTV Indonesian Music Awards.
Their patience was rewarded. After the album was successful, Mocca immediately signed a contract with one of the indie records in Japan, Excellent Records. With his career increasingly on the rise, Mocca distributed his second album, “Friends”, to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and South Korea. Now, Mocca turns out to be one of the Indonesian musicians that Oppa and Noona most often listen to in South Korea. Several Mocca songs such as “Happy”, “Do What You Wanna Do”, and “I Will” have become Official Soundtracks (OST) in Korean dramas and films
The music group also won several awards at the AMI Award. Music festivals on the international stage have also become a daily staple for Mocca. Some of Mocca’s most successful songs are “On the Night Like This”, “I Remember”, “Happy”, “Teman Sejati”, and “My Only One”.
5. Project Pop
Project Pop Photo: Dyah Paramita Saraswati
This music group with very strong comedy elements is actually the result of the regeneration of P-Project, a music group from Bandung which diligently makes parodies of the world’s most popular songs. Project Pop, which was formed in 1996, actually has 7 personnel, namely Gumilar Nurochman (Gugum), Wahyu Rudi Astadi (Odie), Muhammad Fachroni (Oon), Kartika Rachel Panggabean (Tika), Djoni Permato (Udjo), Hermann Josis Mokalu (Yosi ), and Hilman Mutation (Hilman). Unfortunately, currently Project Pop only has 5 members left after Hilman left in 2000 and Oon died on January 13 2017.
When you hear the song Project Pop, it’s hard to hold back a smile or laugh. However, the true meaning of the story is wrapped up in hilarious, poetic sentences. Having lyrics that are easy to understand and entertaining, Project Pop has also been blessed with various records and awards. One of them was the 2012 Triple Platinum RBT Award after the song “Not a Superstar” was used as an RBT of 1.8 million people.
Even though it has been almost 10 years since they released a new album, it turns out that Project Pop’s music is still a mainstay for almost 400 thousand Spotify listeners every month. Some of Project Pop’s most famous songs are “Memanglah Hari Ini”, “Pacarku Superstar”, “Dangdut is the Music of My Country”, “Anak Superstar”, and “Tuwagapat”.