The Upstairs

tempat kumpul para MODERN DARLLING "TEREKAM TAK PERNAH MATI" :

Spoilerfor the upstairs:

Awal pembentukan

The Upstairs dibentuk pada 5 Oktober 2001 di Jakarta oleh Jimi Multhazam (vokalis) dan Kubil Idris (gitaris). Band ini terpengaruh musikal dari band-band beraliran new wave seperti A Flock of Seagulls, Devo, Depeche Mode, hingga Joy Division. Beberapa bulan kemudian, drummer band Metalcore bernama Beni Adhiantoro bergabung dengan The Upstairs. Kebetulan kesemuanya adalah mahasiswa Institut Kesenian Jakarta. Awal 2002 The Upstairs merilis EP bertitel "Antahberantah" dalam format kaset dan CD serta terjual 300 keping dalam waktu singkat. The Upstairs juga mengadakan pertunjukan di Jakarta, Bandung dan Jogjakarta.

Matraman

The Upstairs merilis album pertama mereka yang bertitel "Matraman" di bawah indie label Sirkus Rekord pada tanggal 14 Februari 2004. Tepat di malam Hari Valentine tersebut mereka menggelar pula perayaan rilis album di BBÂ’s Bar, Menteng, Jakarta. Di event ini mereka menggunakan kibordis tambahan bernama Hendra Petroff dari band psikedelik rock That's Rockefeller. Acara pesta rilis album itu kemudian tercatat sebagai pesta paling ramai yang pernah diselenggarakan di bar sempit namun legendaris tersebut. 100 keping CD "Matraman" pun ludes dalam hitungan dua jam saja di acara tersebut.

Apakah Aku Berada di Mars atau Mereka Mengundang Orang Mars

Sebulan kemudian The Upstairs syuting video musik bagi singel pertama mereka "Apakah Aku Berada Di Mars atau Mereka Mengundang Orang Mars" bersama sutradara berbakat Anggun dan Henry "Batman" dari griya produksi The Jadugar (pemenang Sutradara Terbaik MTV Indonesia Awards 2003). Profil The Upstairs pun kerapkali tampil di majalah-majalah bergengsi di tanah air seperti MTV Trax, GADIS, Hai, Cosmogirl, Aneka, hingga Poster.

Petroff Wafat

Tanggal 6 April 2004, The Upstairs diundang oleh stasiun radio MTV Sky Jakarta untuk melakukan wawancara sekaligus live broadcasting di program acara MTV Cutting Edge. Acara ini merupakan penampilan Petroff untuk terakhir kalinya di dunia. Tepat seminggu kemudian ia meninggal dunia secara mendadak karena serangan jantung. Wafatnya Petroff tak pelak membuat The Upstairs kalang kabut. Selain karena mereka tak punya kibordis permanen, The Upstairs juga sudah teken kontrak untuk ikut Weststock Tour 2004. Sebuah tur konser keliling kampus di Jabotabek bareng Club Eighties, Seurieus, The Brandals dan The Miskins mulai akhir April hingga Mei 2004. Usai melakukan audisi mendadak, terpilihlah kemudian seorang perempuan bernama Elta yang dipercaya untuk menjadi kibordis permanen The Upstairs. Penampilan pertamanya terjadi di putaran pertama tur Weststock yang bertempat di Kampus Universitas Trisakti, Grogol pada 23 April 2004.

Kesuksesan singel pertama

Awal Mei 2004, singel pertama The Upstairs yang berjudul "Apakah Aku Berada Di Mars atau Mereka Mengundang Orang Mars" selama dua minggu berturut-turut sukses bertengger di chart No.1 MTV Sky JAMU (Jajaran Musik Unggulan). Sementara di charts stasiun-stasiun radio swasta lainnya seperti Prambors, I-Radio, U-FM, MTV Sky Jogja, MTV Sky Semarang, Swaragama hingga Oz FM singel tersebut berhasil masuk ke jajaran sepuluh besar hingga berminggu-minggu lamanya. Akhir Mei 2004 video klip lo-budget The Upstairs "Apakah Aku Berada di Mars atau Mereka Mengundang Orang Mars" untuk pertama kalinya ditayangkan di stasiun televisi MTV Indonesia yang segera disusul dengan penampilan fenomenal The Upstairs di Jogjakarta pada awal Juni 2004. Tanggal 1 Agustus 2004 lalu album "Matraman" dirilis dalam format kaset dengan pendistribusian secara nasional via label RNB.

Ciri khas

Selain karena ciri musikal mereka yang danceable, lirik-lirik lagu yang jenaka, The Upstairs juga terkenal karena kharisma frontman mereka, Jimi "Danger" Multhazam yang eksentrik dan pandai bersilat kata jika sedang manggung. Setelah melalui serangkaian pergantian personel dalam band, kini formasi terakhir The Upstairs adalah Jimi Multhazam (vokal), Kubil Idris (gitar), Bani Adriantoro (drum), Alfa Chaniago (bass & keyboard), Alta Emanuella (keyboards & synths), Delvy Maryati (vokal latar 1) dan Futi Rievana (vokal latar 2).

Diskografi The Upstairs

[B]EP[/B]

* Antahberantah (DIY / Januari 2002)

Album

* Matraman (Sirkus Rekord / Feb 2004)
* Energy (Warner Music Indonesia / Maret 2006)
* [[Magnet (album)|Magnet /2009

Spoilerfor tambahan:

THE UPSTAIRS


Jimi Multhazam (vocals)
Kubil Idris (guitar)
Beni Adhiantoro (drums)
Alfi Chaniago (bass & keyboards)
Dian Maryana (backing vocal)

Home-grown new wave rock group The Upstairs, have been doing just that - creating waves and in the process, proving that Indonesias underground music scene is alive and well.

The lead singer and driving force behind The Upstairs Jimi Multhazam is a charismatic cat. Hes been captivating audiences with his on-stage theatrics and electric energy, mimicking 70s punk rock legend Iggy Pop as he prances around the stage wearing white sunglasses and extra-tight black & white striped pants sporting a Mick Jagger hairdo.

Seeing the band kitted out in their chinos, spangly shirts and, pop art prints and white sneakers, you could hardly miss their retro credentials. Says Jimi, when the group was formed back in October 2001 we were heavily influenced by overseas bands like A Flock of Seagulls, Joy Division, and Depeche Mode, but we like to complement the synthesizers with heavy guitar lines.

The Upstairs beginnings were DIY in the truest sense. They produced and distributed their first EP, Antahberantah, in 2002 by themselves and simply through word of mouth and audiencde reaction it, sold like hot cakes. Known for their free form style of lyricism, eschewing rhyming, the band members include Kubil Idris (guitar), Beni (drums), Alfi Chaniago (bass & keyboard), Elta (keyboard & synths) and Dian (backing vocals). Looking at how the band came together, its clear that theyre not just a bunch of wannabes, copying big names acts like The Killers or Franz Ferdinand but genuine domestic pioneers with their own ideas. FYI, The Upstairs even had formed long before those two nu-wave international acts were born.

So why did they choose the new wave genre at a time when our local music chart is saturated with RnB and punk-rock? We did follow mainstream music at first and even played some rockabilly in our early days, Jimi explains. But we soon realized by the time we produced our album there would be thousands of bands out there doing the same thing Jimi goes on to explain that during their early experimental sessions he and Kubil, enjoyed fusing their music with synthesizers creating the weird sounds that would eventually lead to the bands current sound.

Jimi loves to imitate the James Brown shoe gazing move while wearing hilarious and outrageous outfits on stage. His tight ankle high jeans, striped shirt, scarf and white framed sunnies are the bands trademark. He says I was heavily inspired by the styles visible in the movie The Outsiders.

On Valentines Day in 2004 the band released their CD debut Matraman (also their second studio recording). At the launch party at the famous BBs Club Jakarta, 100 CDs sold out in just two hours. Their moment of glory finally came on the 19th September 2005 when they sealed a contract with Warner Music Indonesia and gave birth to their first major label album Energy with the lethal Disko Darurat (Emergency Disco) on its track list. Theres a certain symmetry to such a pioneering band supporting one of the men who made dance music what it is today. Thinking outside the box.

Taken from:
THE BEAT Magazine
[August 2006 edition]
www.beatmag.com