People do it anyway…
Balawan, my favorite guitarist, told us about how annoying is the fact that people got his demo CD via Internet by chopping the CD into parts so other people can download part by part. He didn’t like the idea of people getting his CD without pay, of course, but on top of that he just didn’t like the way the pirate edit. People do it anyway… so he chopped his CD into parts and upload the parts himself on his website. At least they get better version, he said.
I like his attitude. It also shows when he was on stage dealing with ‘uncooperative’ or simply slow-in-thinking mixer guy that he was not happy listening to his voice through microphone. He managed his crisis well. He sang the order to the backstage guy since he could not stop the music from keep playing. We had a good laugh! He was so fun on stage. He is original. Have lived in Bali for sometime, I found him really funny since he didn’t mind to show his ‘local touch' when entertaining. He is so authentic for a Balinese goes international!
I’m happy I had a chance to see his show in Jakarta last night. It was part of World Music Festival at Schouwburg te Batavia building in north Jakarta. Old building with charm. He jammed with four other maestros of different musical instruments (keyboard, guitar, piano, and Balinese drum). It was just brilliant! I really enjoy watching live music. There we can see ‘real’ people playing with facial and body expressions that we cannot catch through listening to a CD. Watching DVD is as nice as being in a music hall but of course it gives us different energy. Being with real people playing music and audience is quite an experience. New for every performance. Great!
He is undoubtably very creative in playing his guitar. Last night I saw him performing acoustic-guitars duet with a Chinese maestro guitarist. I saw him in different dimension. Electric guitar surely has richer sound variety and he is so good in exploring its variety. I have been in many concerts of him and every time he introduced a new sound or a new way to play with it. Concert like last night was more wow than his mini concerts in cafés in Ubud where his music then is simplified. I’m proud that Indonesia has good musicians. Many believed we have many artists in different fields that have good place in the world.
His voice sounded better and better. I really like his voice that has similar sound to the sound produced by his guitar. Of course the guitar can adjust to any kind of voice but it’s just nice that he synchronizes his voice and the guitar sound. When I knew him eight years ago, I often wondered about the same songs he played on and on in a café where he had gigs regularly. I thought I’m going to feel bored of his music after sometime. It’s good that he develops into much better by going out of his cocoon in Ubud. Observing a few talented persons like him, I’m happy to see his development.
The two guitarists playing on stage stairs.