New duo 'Air' a shift for ex-Pas member

New duo 'Air' a shift for ex-Pas member

By Helly Minarti

JAKARTA (JP): The economic crisis, combined with the current
national political uproar, hasn't seemed to stop pop music from
evolving. In fact, there is still enough space for newcomers to
give it a shot. This has been proved by Air (meaning "water") --
a sibling duo of guitarist Bengbeng and singer Shinta.

It all started late last year when Bengbeng, the guitarist of
the band PAS, compiled his songs and found that some of his more
poppy tunes would be too sweet for fans of PAS, an alternative
band known for their hard sound.

"This (composing those songs) is just something I do outside
PAS," said Bengbeng, who writes all PAS songs in jam sessions.

With a desire to play something different from the band's
usual repertoire, Bengbeng searched for a vocalist. And the idea
of a duo entered his mind. "Like Sweden's Roxette," Bengbeng
said.

He invited a half-dozen singers to try his songs. None
appealed to him. "They were all undoubtedly good -- perhaps that
is the problem. They used to sing in pubs, churning out Top 40
stuff which makes them sound not too natural to me.

"Besides, instead of giving their honest opinions whenever
they didn't feel good with my songs, they improvised with it,"
said Bengbeng, the fifth of seven children.

It never occurred to him that the musical partner he was
looking for was as close as home. That was when he heard Shinta
-- his youngest sister -- sing along to her Alanis Morissette
album.

"It was her morning ritual, every morning at 6:30, she put the
tape up loud and sings the songs her way while I sleep in the
next room. Imagine how I have to deal with that after a long
night doing gigs," recalled Bengbeng, giggling.

But Shinta's raw style -- not even trying to mimic Alanis's
signature style -- finally captured his ears. So, to her
surprise, he offered her a trial.

The two then made a demo and offered that to three major
labels. They picked a name for the group: Air, out of nothing, on
the way to the record company. The three companies gave an
instant nod, and sooner than they knew, they signed a three album
deal with Sony Music, which agreed to realize the first album
soon.

As a member of PAS, which has the reputation of being the
first indie band in Indonesia, Bengbeng is a familiar face on
stage, while Shinta is a student of a state university in their
hometown, Bandung.

"Shinta's only experience is singing in her room. She once
sang in a vocal group, but left. Maybe they couldn't use her
voice," said Bengbeng, joking.

Shinta, who appreciates the music of Morisette and Edna Swap's
Anne Previn, was brought up in a musical environment in the
family -- their late father, Sudjono, was a keroncong aficionado,
her mother, Sri Yanti, was a singer and youngest brother Trisno
(the sixth child) plays bass in PAS.

Their first single, Bintang (Star), a childlike number
delivered in a witty video clip, quickly made its way up the
chart. Its easy-to-remember lyrics soon became a teenybopper
chant. And since its release in February, Air has reached
promising sales of 75.000 copies. Now they are about to start
shooting their second video clip.

Ten out of 11 songs on the album were created by Bengbeng, who
also arranged and played almost all instruments on the record,
while credit for the lyrics went to Shinta and friends.

"Basically I love all kinds of music, including the sweet
ones. And I want to be able to make various compositions, not
only in the rock genre as in PAS band," said Bengbeng, a college
graduate majoring in agriculture.

He grows his love on 1970's rock legends Led Zeppelin, yet he
also admires pop groups like ABBA. "Their song Dancing Queen is
one of the best cuts in pop," said Bengbeng -- a statement that
will certainly surprise PAS' mosher fans (dancing zealots who
throw their whole bodies around in front of the stage at gigs).

Air recently finished radio promos in some cities and
performed in big venues like Fashion Cafe and Hard Rock Cafe in
Jakarta. They are now preparing a one-month promotional tour,
scheduled to start soon after the June 7 elections.

In their last show, Shinta seemed more relaxed communicating
with the audience compared to her few shy words a month before.
Shinta said she didn't have the usual stage fright.

"I was more afraid of disappointing him (Bengbeng), if I could
not get fans to react like they used to at PAS gigs," Shinta
confessed.

Bengbeng says this is nonsense. "Air is like a start-over for
me, I don't relate myself as a member of PAS band when I play for
this duo." he said.

Though considered few in number, PAS fans are a dedicated
crowd who turn the band's gigs into non-stop mosh sessions.

"But I am fully aware that we play for a different audience. I
just want her to be herself and be at ease with that," Bengbeng
said.

While music has been Bengbeng's life for years, Shinta is
still baffled by her brief pop life. While enjoying a decent dose
of local popularity ("Some people on the street recognize me or
suddenly they just hum our song, Bintang.") yet she's still far
from settling herself into a music career.

"I'll let everything roll, one at a time," said Shinta, who
now juggles her schedule between shows and campus.

Air is indeed light, poppy and sweet. Yet Bengbeng's music --
predictably guitar-fueled -- brings some substance to the tunes.
Shinta's lyrics are light in their themes, yet her voice can belt
out a harsher tune, such as in Life is Pain -- the only non-
Bengbeng work on Air, an angst-ridden number tinted by the PAS-
style music of Trisno.

Now, the siblings are trying to manage their musical days by
putting Air and PAS under the same management. Shinta is pursuing
her studies and guitar lessons, while Bengbeng has plans like
making his own solo debut this year and "marrying my love of
music and agriculture in a dream house in the village, next to a
large garden and music studio".