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

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.