Musician Dwiki goes back to his roots
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Ask an Indonesian musician about his or her favorite musicians or songwriters and, sooner or later, the name Sting will come up.
The reasons are varied, but for Dwiki Dharmawan, it has something to do with idealism.
"I think Sting is the happiest man when it comes to making music. He is commercially successful but still stays true to his idealism. While here, it's very difficult to do that," said the 36-year-old musician.
Having been a professional musician over the past 20 years, Dwiki knows all too well the struggle to survive in the Indonesian music industry if your genre does not sell.
In his case, it is jazz.
"That's why I really admire my seniors who stick to their choice of genre though the situation isn't accommodating," said the soft-spoken man.
Dwiki first appeared with Krakatau band as a keyboard player, when he was 17 years old. The band played jazz rock and fusion, although it later switched to more ethnic-based music.
The band's first album in 1986 the was more pop than jazz.
"That's because we had to compromise to the market taste," admitted Dwiki, who is married to singer Ita Purnamasari.
After six albums, Krakatau went on hiatus and that was when Dwiki started to venture into music-arranging and backing other musicians/singers.
He is also known as a songwriter, the most famous being his religious ballad Dengan Menyebut Nama Allah (Saying the Name of Allah) sung by Novia Kolopaking. He also arranges music for films and TV series.
Together with Krakatau and sometimes with other musicians, Dwiki often performs in other countries, such as in Cannes, France, in 2000 and the same year at the Asian Song Festival in Manila where he won the grand prize together with singer Rita Effendi.
He is also the owner of the music school Farabi, which now has hundreds of students.
"Most of them, however, only do it as a hobby. I'm lucky if 1 percent of them turns out to be a musician. Because it's still difficult to find musicians for my orchestra, for example. My cello player has just passed away -- it's hard to find one for replacement," he said.
This year, however, is a special time for Dwiki as he has just released his first solo album called Nuansa (Nuance), with most of the numbers instrumentals. Here, he return to his roots, jazz.
"But this is not really a jazz recording. I'm open to all kinds of music. You know, the music industry likes to categorize music too much. It sometimes reduces our freedom to create music."
The album, he added, is his special offering for the public here and also marks his musical journey.
"Some songs were recorded in 1996 and 1997. They're not 'second-hand' songs. It's just that I've never thought of recording my own album. But, then, there are many songs already so why not make it into an album?"
The album also shows Dwiki's acquaintance with foreign musicians, like American Mike Stern and Australians Steve Hunter and Glenn Wilson.
"Some of the collaborations are coincidental. Mike Stern, for example, came here in 1997 and we did a jam session. So, why not go into the studio and record it?
"Other foreign musicians, we collaborated when I visited them through a friend of mine who knows top musicians in the music industry."
Usually calm, Dwiki can also get excited, especially when he talks about the lack of music appreciation in this country.
"When I won the grand prize in Manila, for example, there was so little publicity. I mean, we do something for this country in all sincerity. But, so far, the government gives so little attention to music. Unlike sports, which were given big money but hardly achieve anything," he said wryly.
"People in the music industry are standing on their own feet. We contribute something through taxes. But we never receive support. We complain all the time about piracy, but the government never does anything."
As for his next project, Dwiki will work on his wife's new album.
"After 'abandoning' her for six years, I'm now collaborating with her. Well, she already had her own music arranger."