Who would agree to get paid in BlackBerrys instead of a suitcase full of cash for a recording contract?
Those who haven’t heard about them yet might wonder — with just a BlackBerry for each member, does the band belong to a breed of new talent willing to do anything to release a record?
Well, nope. In fact, they are four famous vocalists coming together for the sake of fun, fun and fun.
“Seriously, all we got from our record deal is these BlackBerrys,” said Pongki Tri Barata, originally the vocalist of pop band Jikustik and now The Dance Company’s bassist. “We just want to have some fun; we don’t do this for the money. So, to prove it, when the recording company asked us how much we would ask [for the deal], we said we wanted stuff, not money.
“We thought they would give us a laptop each, but it was a BlackBerry instead. Well, that’s OK,” he laughed.
The other members — singers Ariyo Wahab (the band’s vocalist), Baim (guitarist) and Nugie (drummer) — shared Pongki’s laughter as they recalled that moment last year.
“Of course, we still get money, but not from the deal,” Ariyo said, trying to look serious but failing. “Our fee is Rp 50 million [US$5,400] per show — that’s how we make money,” he added.
Well, joking or not, the band is convinced it’s one of a kind in the local music industry. Apart from playing fun rollicking music, they are first and foremost a drama band, in which all of them play their own character — pretty much like the Spice Girls. Each member of The Dance Company is represented by a color that describes his personality, and will dress according to his color. They do not use their stage names, but nicknames instead.
Nugie, or Embot, 39, for example, who is famous as a musician with songs about nature and the environment, is represented by the color green. Pongki, or Wega, 33, on the other hand, always dresses in purple, which represents his creative and spiritual character. Ariyo, or Riyo, 36, wears a touch of red, as he’s somewhat outspoken, while Baim, or Bebe, 35, wears orange because of his enthusiastic character.
“Yes,” Baim, the former lead vocal of the Ada Band said. “The difference between The Dance Company and other bands is that, while the others are doing sound checks, we would be busy dressing up in our respective characters,” laughed the husband of Puteri Indonesia winner Artika Sari Devi.
And underneath it all, Pongki went on, “for us, it’s all about having fun and spreading the fun to others”.
“For this project, we don’t want to play serious music. We’re just papas trying to get some money for our families,” said Ariyo, giggling. “If they want something serious from us, just check us out performing solo or in our [real] bands,” he added.
So, we know that all of them are vocalists. Was it hard for them to decide who would be The Dance Company’s lead vocal?
him — he’s the cutest among us. He can really drive girls crazy,” he added, greeted by laughter from the rest of gang.
So far, the four guys admitted, they have had a lot of fun — and money, as they put it.
“We are thankful we have had so many offers,” Pongki said “We are very busy at the moment — just like our lyric says — ‘papa isn’t coming home, baby’. I hope our wives and children don’t miss us,” he laughed.
And, thanks to their uniqueness, the band received several film offers, which they turned down in the end, for good reasons.
“All of them were … sorry to say … so corny,” Pongki said. “They wanted us to play in movies with titles like Kutang [Bra], Tali Pocong [The Corpse’s Rope] and so on. We’d rather not.
For The Dance Company, not all offers should be accepted — no matter how much money they offer.
Being one voice, however, isn’t the only one of the band’s basic rules.
“Our other principle is that first we have to feel happy about everything we do,” Pongki said. “I mean, we’ve all been in bands, so we are well aware there are times when we all get sick and tired of each other.