Sheila on 7 enjoying the newfound fruits of pop success

By Helly Minarti

JAKARTA (JP): The scene is now a typical one for Sheila on 7, a new pop group of five lads in their early 20s. Riding a big bus from town to town, they are running through a hectic schedule -- fully booked to next Christmas. Throngs of teenyboppers ask for their autograph, photos and a peck on the cheek whenever the event organizer fails to escort the band safely backstage before and after a show. And onstage? A love-struck sea of shrieking teenagers sing in time to Sheila's hottest hit, Dan (And) -- a sympathetic pop hymn of a heartbreaker.

All this is the sweet fruit of success after selling 350,000 copies of their self-titled debut album, released in March 1999. Which is quite an event, even in a noncrisis era.

The sales are, indeed, impressive but what's more surprising: this new pop-group-in-the-making comes not from a central pop circle like Jakarta, or rock-minded Surabaya or the very musical Bandung. Sheila on 7 is from Yogyakarta -- longtime absent from the glitzy pop world; since, perhaps, the 1980s' Ebiet G. Ade.

It is a classic rise-to-fame story, too. Duta, 19 (vocalist), Erros, 20 (guitar), Adam, 20 (bass), Anton, 20 (drum), and Sakti, 19 (guitar), are neighbors. They formed a band, Sheila, then changed it to Sheila Gank before settling on the current name. They started playing in schools and on campuses before becoming an opening act for major bands like GIGI, /rif and PAS. Soon, their single, Kita (Us), was being played by a local radio station in their hometown, even entering the indie chart, hanging on to the peak for three months.

So they decided to forge ahead with the next step, knocking on the door of two major labels in the capital -- trying their luck to cut an album. One of them responded immediately by offering a three-album contract. And the rest, as they say, is history. Erros, who wrote most of the songs, said: "We submitted like 21 song actually." Ten of those made it on to the first album.

What's special about this group? Especially in a period when almost a dozen new groups have launched their debut albums, yet most of them end up far less than halfway, if sales are the measure.

The five members turned the answers into jokes. "Maybe because we're honest in our songs yet demanding at the same time. Check our lyric, make me your boyfriend," said Erros who composed the song alone with his acoustic guitar at home before presenting it to the other members for joint arrangement.

Part of Sheila on 7's attraction is, of course, their discernible music: something familiar with a slight touch of the latest trend. True, it's just pop at its core with a brush of rock here and there -- a trace of influence taken from world supergroups they idolize -- yet it does not fall into the trap of reverberating super mellow and bland tunes like those of Stinky, a group which made double the sales of Sheila with their first two albums, but which has alienated them from the pop forum because their musical choice is considered old-fashion.

Sheila on 7's simple formula somehow matches that of public's -- which is now being bombarded with MTV. So, it doesn't matter if Duta, the front man, is actually not the role model of a typical 1990s androgynous rock star regardless of his effort of, say, trying to come up with two different hairstyles for two gigs on the same day. Duta may not be as hip as /rif's Andy, but the fans love him anyway. Sheila on 7, a name taken from their original band name, Sheila, and their belief in seven as the number of perfection, has just completed its third video clip.

So young and suddenly famous. How do they managed?

"By remaining as we are. Once (from) Yogya, so we are forever," they said, meaning they will keep the cultural identity of their hometown -- a laid-back, humorous, down-to-earth style. "You should see us communicate offstage, then you'd understand," said Erros. When asked to be specific, Anton, with a smirk on his face, moved his hands like a monkey, and the rest pointed at him.

The five still live in Yogyakarta with their parents and each one has just enrolled in a university in town. They boasted once to the press that they were determined to finish their education. Now the question looming is whether this is realistic, considering their full and tight performance schedule.

"One is left behind already," admitted Erros honestly. Of course, what he meant was the school.

"I think it's happened to me, too. But I think I'm going to let both roll, until one becomes really 'stronger' than the other, although I think I know which one ...," commented Duta with a nod from the other members.

Meanwhile, being caught up in the hype of roaming the pop world seems to be the way of finding the final answer of a "music-school" problem. They said there is no time to play celebrities, nor is there a reason to be aloof from the smell of success.

"We're now living in buses and hotel rooms. Once in awhile, we get a glimpse of Monas (National Monument) as we get off the train at Gambir station, and we say, 'wow, great'! But that's all," said Erros. It doesn't sound like a complaint at all.