Potret's minimalist sounds refresh local pop music

By Helly Minarti

JAKARTA (JP): The philosophy of "less is more" is well applied by Potret, a local band whose latest hit Salah (Wrong) has been dancing around the top of the Indonesian pop charts for the past few weeks.

Three people form the group: Anto Hoed, bass guitar, Arie Ayunir, drummer, and Melly Goeslaw, vocals. But fewer people does not equal less substance.

"We like to be minimalists in sounds and scores, and simply cut the flowery way of playing music as well as in writing lyrics," said Anto.

Anto, 33, and Arie, 34 -- both look much younger -- have been good pals from way back. Melly is Anto's wife. The idea of setting up their own band came in 1994, when the three worked together as supporting musicians and back-up vocals for Katon Bagaskara's solo album.

In 1995, they produced their first album, Potret (Portrait), by themselves.

"It was done quickly, only two weeks of recording, due to budget constraints," Anto said.

Though they only sold 60,000 copies, Potret enjoyed a distinctive spotlight in the Indonesian pop scene. In a sea of trendy, complicated tunes, they startled audiences with their striking minimalist music and risque lyrics.

Their first hit, Terbujuk (Seduced), tells about a too-honest material girl's confession: kurayu dirimu/ku pikat dirimu/ku buai anganmu/kamu pun terbujuk/semua yang kuberi/hanya kamu seorang/hanya semata agar aku terwujud/yang kumau hanya satu/isi di balik kantongmu (I woo you/I entice you/I caress your dreams/you are seduced/all that I give/to you alone/is only to realize/ the one thing that I want/is what's behind your pocket).

This risque pattern is repeated in their newly released second album, Potret II, which took them only a month to record. Again, they play with light tunes and mischievous lyrics, which are well thought out and arranged. Salah, for example, is about a girl who cheats on her cheating boyfriend, while in Mak Comblang, a girl tells how she gets a crush on a boy whom her girlfriend has asked her to pass love letters to.

It's only been a month since the album was released, but 65,000 copies have been sold, more than the total sales of their first album. This time, pop music fans are not questioning Potret's style as they did with their first album. Instead, the fans are entranced by the band's simplicity and straightforwardness.

Once being the subject of criticism because of their lyrics, now, they are adored. A flock of teenyboppers swarmed around the stage in Bandung, where they played recently. While the lively Melly simply stretched the microphone out to them, they sang along to every line of Salah, screaming the lyrics in delight: slalu ku bilang/aku tak sebaik kau fikir/tak pernah ku nantikan kamu/ku cinta kamu bukan berarti/ku tak mendua/sayang kau nilai aku salah (I've always said/I'm not as good as you think/I've never waited for you/I love you but that doesn't mean/I've always been faithful/darling you've misjudged me).

"It's the simplicity we crave," said Anto, who, at one stage, lived in Paris for five years.

Simple music and simple words. This does not mean less musical instruments. "Sometimes we use lots of instruments if we have to, but we minimize the sound by simplifying the way we play," Anto said.

For Arie, who also plays drums for Simak Dialog, an emerging young jazz band which plays more serious and complicated tunes, Potret has become an adventure.

"Perhaps because I have played enough complicated tunes, this makes me want to play something simple; simple but still something," said Arie, who has a basic drum set consisting of bass drum, snare drum and cymbal, for Potret.

Though they do use keyboards when they need a melody, guitar is always their first option.

"It's easy for us to create the guitar sound in our mind since we both play the beat tunes -- bass and drum. Once we agree to it, we use a proper guitarist to play them," he said.

Arie studied music at the Jakarta Arts Institute before he continued his studies in an American college.

On their second album, Potret is accompanied by some of Indonesia's best guitarists as well as other musicians to create every song's character. Guitarists to lend their expertise included Dewa Budjana, from Gigi, Tohpati, from Halmahera, and Raidy Noor. Indra Lesmana, on piano, played on Bunda (Mother).

While Anto and Arie shared the job of arranging the music, composition was handled by Melly, the daughter of singer Melky Goeslaw.

"Melly seems more comfortable singing her own songs. Besides, she's really captured the band's character," said Anto.

Melly commented: "To be minimalist in music is a deliberate concept, but the creation of the bold themes in the lyrics is something spontaneous."

"When I wrote those songs, I was just expressing what came into my head. It was all a matter of coincidence," she said, explaining her songwriting.

Potret's refined style may come from the trio's long-time careers as professional musicians and singer. Melly has been doing many backup vocals for various artists on stage and in recording studios. Anto and Arie, who meticulously designed the album's cover and sleeve, have played with various prominent musicians with rich music backgrounds.

"I have played bass for many popular artists, from Titi DJ and Katon Bagaskara, to experimental musicians Inisisri and Saptorahardjo. I've even tried playing dangdut," Anto said.

Arie, whose genuine love is the blues, has shared stage with big names like Indra Lesmana and Iwan Fals.

The trio has just shot its third video clip, Bunda, following the simple, yet much-applauded Salah and Mak Comblang. The fourth, Trocadero, is scheduled to be shot in Paris, in December.

Even though they do not plan to hold a promo-tour, their schedule for November is already filled with gigs at schools, on campuses and in pubs. Having once being called a "small distinctive spot" in Indonesia's pop music scene, Potret seems to have become a phenomenon.