From Dewa to Sheila, the young rules the Indonesian music scene

JAKARTA (JP): There is no business like show business, as some people say it. Just take a look at the Indonesian music scene in this past two or three years.

Despite the monetary crisis which battered the country, some musicians/singers have managed to sell more than 500,000 or even over a million copies of their album.

That is such a fantastic number as the crisis had made it difficult for producers to even sell 100,000 copies.

Some are old names, but surprisingly there are several new talents who have overtaken their seniors in album sales.

Take Sheila on 7 for example. The band has set a record by selling 1.2 million copies of their self-titled debut album which was launched by Sony Music in 1999.

And then there is Padi, a group of college buddies from Surabaya. Their debut album, Lain Dunia (Different World) has sold over 600,000 copies.

Meanwhile, another band Dewa which has been around longer, continue to sell hundreds of thousands of copies of their latest album Bintang Lima (Five Star) which was released recently.

They are all young -- in their early 20s and 30s -- healthy, wealthy and wise. How did they get into show business? Below are their profiles.

Dewa

They has been crowned as the highest-paid band.

First established in Surabaya, East Java in 1987, the band was originally called Dewa 19.

The name Dewa (God) stands for each members name: Dhani (keyboard, guitar), Erwin (bassist), Wawan (drum), Ari Lasso (lead singer) and Andra Ramadhan (guitar), and 19 for their age.

It took them five years to release their first album, Dewa 19 with its hit song Kangen (Miss You). Their careers quickly took off and they became a prominent pop-rock band.

Four albums then followed: Format Masa Depan (Future Form, 1994), Terbaik Terbaik (The Best of The Best, 1995), Pandawa Lima (Five Pandawas -- knights in the Mahabharata legend, 1997) and their latest, Bintang Lima (Five Star, 2000).

However, there has been some changes in the band's lineup.

First, Wawan left not long after the first album was released. Several names replaced him such as Grassrock drummer Rere, Aksan Syuman, and Netral drummer Bimo.

Vocalist Ari Lasso left the band after their fourth album, followed by Erwin. The band currently comprises Dhani and Andra, who were the original members, plus new members, vocalist Elfonda Mekel or Once, and drummer Wizztyo Nugros.

Anyway, the band Dewa is closely associated with Dhani as he is the brains of the band.

As a songwriter and producer, many acknowledge his talent in writing catchy progressive rock songs with poetic lyrics, although some have criticized him for picking a little bit from here and there, with one song resembling Queen's, another Van Halen's and so on.

Dhani is also known for his remarks and moodiness which are often perplexing, if not annoying to fans and the media. He was the one who fired Aksan for being "too jazzy" and Bimo for being "too rock".

The most recent incident was when he got into a fight with a member of the Bunga (Flower) band, when he suddenly jumped onto the stage and disrupted their performance.

That kind of things do happen in the rock music scene.

Padi

There is a joke about this Surabaya-based band. If there is a U2 impersonating contest, then U2 itself will only get the second prize. The first prize will go to Padi.

Got the picture?

That is an exaggeration of course, but those who are familiar with U2 will see a strong resemblance between their music and Padi's.

While originality is one thing that a band should have, influence from predecessors is unavoidable.

However, if we look back at the musical history of each of Padi's members, there was hardly a trace of U2 in their music.

While admitting to like U2, guitarist Piyu -- who wrote almost all of Padi's songs -- drummer Yoyo, guitarist Ari and lead singer Fadly mostly played heavy metal before they formed Padi in 1996.

Except for Rindra, the bassist who used to be in a band that played jazz. All the members of Padi went to the same university in Surabaya.

In 1996, they teamed up and formed Soda. A year later, they changed their band's name to Padi, which means rice, because they thought it was more representative of them.

Ironically, it was this name that caused them to be rejected by record companies when they showed their demo tape.

"They said rice is poor people's food," laughed Piyu, who once joined Dewa as an additional musician, as quoted by a magazine.

Sony Music then got interested in their music and Padi's debut album was released in 1999.

Now, they are working on a second album, which they said would be heavier and more rock.

Padi is also active in antidrug campaigns, especially among teenagers.

"We were junkies before and we realized that it ruined us," said Piyu.

Sheila on 7

Like them or not, Sheila on 7 is a phenomenon in the Indonesian music scene.

Despite the strange name (Sheila according to the members is an adaptation of the Kelt word for music and 7 for the seven notes), and the lack of character in their music, this Yogyakarta-based band is a symbol of the revival of young musicians.

Formed in 1996, Eros (guitarist and who wrote almost all of the songs), Duta (vocalist), Adam (bassist), Sakti (guitarist) and Anton (drummer) have achieved national success ever since their debut album was launched last year.

Their album has sold more than 1.2 million copies, thanks to their ability to produce easy listening pop/rock songs with catchy tunes.

And most of them were barely 20 years old at that time.

Now, a year later, while we have not yet recovered from the hang over of five (yes, FIVE) videos of Sheila on 7's first album, they have already released a second one called Kisah Klasik Untuk Masa Depan (Classical Story for The Future).

It has the same formula as its forebear. And guess what, within two months after the album was released in September, it sold around 800,000 copies.

Fame and fortune are now in the boys' hands and they are no longer penniless college boys who have to borrow money to come to Jakarta to show their demo tapes to record companies.

Check out their comments which shows how wealthy they have become.

"I like materialistic girls," Anton once said when he was asked about the type of girls he liked.

Why is that?

"Because I can afford to buy them things," he said, laughing. No kidding, huh.

But they were shocked when four girls died in a stampede during their concert in Lampung last month. The tragedy could have been avoided if the organizing committee had not allowed the venue to be overcrowded with Sheila on 7 fans. (hrd)