Fri, 20 Oct 2000

Ferry voices concern over burning forests

By Matdon

BANDUNG (JP): Popular singers Iwan Fals, Ully Sigar, Leo Kristi, Franky Sahilatua and Ebiet G. Ade have long belted out their concern over the country's social situation and environment through their songs.

Bandung-born singer Ferry Curtis is an artist who is considered by cultural observer Saini KM as another singer who follows in the steps of his senior's.

Performing solo or in group, the 32-year-old singer, who has performed 25 shows from 1990 to 2000, will stage Ilalang Terbakar (The Burning Grass) on the evening of Oct. 29 at the French Cultural Center (CCF) in Bandung.

For Ferry, music is a language of the soul, an expression of the heart which becomes spiritual experience. Anywhere in the world, music has become an integral part of culture and music can be a media of expression or a universal language of communication. Lyrics and songs can unite souls, inviting people to think, making them feel happy or sad, or awakening people's awareness about the meaning of life and love toward the environment.

Each musician or singer has their own unique and individual spiritual experiences about music. In Ferry's experience, his music matured in the streets before entering campuses and theaters. The singer also toured various cities and staged concerts.

After his solo concert in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara in 1998, which was titled Bejana (Container), the singer started a new phase of his life, and maturity in his music. He started performing more concerts, such as Pigura (Frame), while in between shows he prepared music for theater performances or performed collaborative works with other musicians. Recently, he took part in the Geng-Gong show along with noted musician Sawung Jabo.

For his upcoming concert at CCF, Ferry will try to illustrate the set-backs experienced by Indonesians, who now no longer feel comfortable and are even suspicious of one another. Good-natured men, or a green and clean city will transform into grass, which can transform into burning grass at any minute, he told The Jakarta Post.

The singer said he will present 18 of his songs besides for songs titled Rumah Cermin (House of Mirror) which is the work of Saini KN and poet Diro Aritonang's Beri Cinta Buat Aceh (Give Aceh Love). His own songs will include Ibu (Mother), Ilalang Terbakar, Pengemis Tua (Old Beggar), Hijau (Green), Bali dan Gadismu (Bali and Your Girl).

His music, although might rather sound a bit strange, will still feature easy listening music while his lyrics become the singer's strong attraction during his concerts.

Ferry said he dedicated his coming show to the burning forests in Kalimantan and other parts of Indonesia along with the tribes who depend their lives on the forests.

After staging the show at CCF, the singer will also stage the same concert, in Rumah Nusantara in Bandung on Nov. 2 and in Tasikmalaya on Oct. 15 before touring other cities in West Java.