Jamrud's new album 'Ningrat' cements status as top band

By Bambang M

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Which is the biggest Indonesian rock band at present? It couldn't be God Bless, Gong 2000, SAS or Super Kid, could it?

Some music lovers consider Jamrud the biggest rock band. This band has released a new album called Ningrat. Some of their hit singles like Surti-Tejo, Pelangi di Matamu and Ningrat are frequently aired on TV and on the radio.

Released in January, the fourth album is definitely selling well. Jamrud's managers, Log Zhelebour said until May, the Ningrat album had sold about one million copies. That means the Ningrat album sold around 200,000 per month.

"Jamrud is a new phenomenon in the history of Indonesian rock music. I don't know how many recordings of their music have been sold in a year," said Log.

Nanik, from Popeye Cassette Shop in Yogyakarta also said that the Ningrat album was selling very well. According to her, many young people looked for the Ningrat album after they saw Jamrud's video clip on TV. "We have already sold about 1000 copies of the album," Nanik said.

According to Log, who also has a recording company, the albums from legendary rock bands such as God Bless, Gong 2000 or SAS have not sold more than 1,000,000 copies. Now, Jamrud's close competitors are Boomerang from Surabaya, claiming that their new album Extravaganza has sold about 500,000 copies and probably Slank, with The Rolling Stones from Potlot alley, Jakarta.

The success of the Ningrat album is not the only sign that this Cimahi, Bandung-based rock band is the biggest in this music genre. At every concert, thousands of fans flock to watch their favorite band that consists of Aziz MS (guitarist), Krisyanto (vocalist), Ricky Teddy (bassist) and Herman (drummer).

Around 5,000 music lovers attended Jamrud's concert at the Kridosono Sports Stadium, Yogyakarta on May 19.

Established five years ago, the band is very popular among the local youth. Formerly the band's name was Jamm Rock, but they changed it to Jamrud when the band recorded its first album.

Jamrud (emerald) is a kind of hard, green and beautiful gemstone. Krisyanto the vocalist said they used the name because they wanted their music to appear like an emerald stone, hard but beautiful.

Jamrud has now achieved fame. Their fans range from children, teenagers even housewives. If you pass a small alley, you may hear children humming one of Jamrud's hits like Ningrat or Pelangi di Matamu.

This may be strange for the band's members, as they wrote the song in rock music style.

"When we were in Surakarta, there was a father who especially brought his little kid just to met us," said Aziz, the band's song writer and vocalist.

Log said, Jamrud's music is very rich, blending rap-metal, hip-metal, rock and other music genres.

Jamrud's power is to explore social and daily problems and wrap them in simple and funny, sometimes, ironic lyrics. They had already adopted this style when they released their third album Terima Kasih (Thank You).

Citing an example, in a song called Puteri, Jamrud tells a story of a disco girl who hates school.Surti Tejo, a song taken from the band's last album, tells about a village boy who suffers from culture shock and changes his attitude after living in a city.

Heavily influenced by Brazilian rock band Sepultura and Panthera from USA, Jamrud's music is also loved by young people in some neighboring countries. Jamrud's albums have sold in some countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia.

"They may know Jamrud from Music Television (MTV)," said Log.

Jamrud has received a number of requests to perform overseas. Next August, they plan to hold concerts in Sydney and Melbourne.

They also held another performance in Brunei Darussalam.

"We face a language barrier when we hold a concert in foreign countries," Azis said.

According to him, Jamrud's fans are only about one percent of Indonesia's population. "So there is still a good opportunity to broaden our fan base," said Aziz. In other words, Jamrud has tried to become more well-known than its senior, God Bless. "Bigger than God Bless ? No, We aren't, we still see God Bless as the best," he said. "If I have an obsession, I would say it is that I would like to play music for twenty more years," Aziz added.