Ahmad Band is an Indonesian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

supergroup formed by

Ahmad Dhani Dhani Ahmad Prasetyo (born 26 May 1972), better known as Ahmad Dhani, sometimes Dhani Ahmad, Dhani Ahmad Manaf, or simply Dhani, is an Indonesian musician, media personality and politician. He was the frontman of Dewa 19 (together with Once Mek ...

in 1998. Initially meant to be Dhani's solo album project, he formed the band since he did not like to be known as a solo singer. The band released one album, ''Ideologi Sikap Otak'', in 1998 and are best remembered for the hit songs "Distorsi" and "Aku Cinta Kau dan Dia". Inactive since 1999, the band reunited in 2021 with Ahmad Dhani and Andra Ramadhan as the original members (also the remaining original members of

Dewa 19 Dewa 19 (pronounced in Indonesian as ''Dewa Sembilan Belas'') is an Indonesian rock band from Surabaya, East Java, led by singer-songwriter Ahmad Dhani. Along with God Bless and Slank, they are dubbed as one of the greatest rock bands in the ...

), among with others. The formation in 2021 includes

(from

) and Andra Ramadhan (from

) as the original members, as well as Thomas Ramdhan (from Gigi), Yoyo Prasetyo (from Padi and Musikima), Stephan Santoso (from Musikimia), and Ikmal Tobing (from T.R.I.A.D., and Mahadewa) as the new members. Past members in 1998-1999 era include Pay Burman (from BIP, ex-

Slank Slank is an Indonesian rock band. It was founded in 1983 by teenagers in an alley street in Jakarta called Gang Potlot. The band is known for songs which are often accompanied by political and socially conscious lyrics. It continues to be activ ...

), Bongky Marcel (The Flowers, ex Slank) and Bimo Sulaksono (ex- Netral, ex-

History

1998: Formation

Having achieved mainstream success in 1998,

feels that

's songs are only about love and relationships. Following

Indonesian Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during p ...

in the same year, Dhani needed to express himself in the field of general life and

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

, which he has been interested in for a long time. In an interview Dhani said "I really wanted to make social criticism songs with good music. Previously, social criticism songs did not have sophisticated music". Did not want to be known as a solo singer, then Dhani recruited Andra Ramadhan (his guitarist in Dewa 19), and Bongky Marcel, Pay Burman (who just left

) which he met earlier in a studio. Bimo (the drummer of Netral at that time) was recruited also, since Dhani like this drumming style. 1998–1999: ''Ideologi Sikap Otak'' Differs from his songwriting style in

where he use keyboard as his main instrument, Dhani use composed the songs in guitar, resulting in different chord progressions. Ahmad Band then released ''Ideologi Sikap Otak'', their only album to date, which known for songs such as "Distorsi" and "Aku Cinta Kau dan Dia". The album is currently deleted in physical format. Compared to some of Dewa's million selling album releases, the Ahmad Band project was only moderately successful. 1999–2021: Inactivity and other projects The band remains inactive since 1999, where Dhani and Andra found even bigger success in

's new formation (notably with

Once Once may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Once'' (film), a 2007 Irish musical film by John Carney ** ''Once'' (musical), a 2011 stage adaptation of the film * ''Once'' (TV series), a 2017–2019 Argentine telenovela * Canal Once (Mex ...

as their new vocalist, and Tyo Nugros recruited into Dewa 19) through the album releases of "Bintang Lima" in 2000, "Cintailah Cinta" in 2002, "Laskar Cinta" in 2004, and "Republik Cinta" in 2006. Andra also found success in his solo project "Andra and the Backbone" with Stevie Item (also known as the member of

Deadsquad Deadsquad is an Indonesian death metal band formed in 2006 in Jakarta. The band was initially started as a project by guitarist Ricky Siahaan of Seringai and Stevie Item of Andra and The Backbone, but later developed into a full band. Career ...

). Even during the hiatus of

, Dhani also formed other groups such as "T.R.I.A.D", "Mahadewa", "The Rock", and become one of the judge for

Indonesian Idol ''Indonesian Idol'' is an Indonesian reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by RCTI Production Team and FremantleMedia Asia. The show began airing on RCTI in March 2004 and became one of the most popular sh ...

and

X Factor Indonesia The ''X Factor Indonesia'' is an Indonesian reality television music competition to find new singing talent, contested by aspiring singers drawn from public audition. The show was adopted from British ''The X Factor'' and produced by FremantleMed ...

, leaving Ahmad Band out of the equation. 2021–present: Reunion Dhani announced the reunion of Ahmad Band through an Instagram post he made in January 2021. However Dhani used quotation marks in the "reunion", since it will be only Dhani and Andra as the original members will be present in the reunion. Other members present in the reunion are known musicians such as Thomas Ramdhan (from Gigi), Yoyo Prasetyo (from Padi and Musikima), Stephan Santoso (from Musikimia), and Ikmal Tobing (from T.R.I.A.D., and Mahadewa).

Discography

* ''Ideologi Sikap Otak'' (1998)

Members

Current members *

- lead vocals, keyboard (1998-1999, 2021-present) * Andra Ramadhan - lead guitars (1998-1999, 2021-present) * Thomas Ramdhan - bass (2021-present) * Stephan Santoso - guitars (2021-present) * Yoyo Prasetyo - drums (2021-present) * Ikmal Tobing - drums (2022-present) Former members * Pay Burman – guitar (1998) * Bongky Marcel – bass (1998) * Bimo Sulaksono – drum (1998–1999) * Jaya Roxx – guitar (1998–1999) * Tony Monot – bass (1999) * Tyo Nugros – drum (1999)

References

Indonesian rock music groups {{Indonesia-band-stub