main: (JP/Prodita Sabarini)

What do you expect from a modest guitarist from one of the nation's most popular bands? A modest album.

Indonesian audiences have known Andra Ramadhan for some time as the quiet guitarist from Dewa 19.

As one of the founders of the well-known pop-rock band (that has released 13 albums and has a fan base of hundreds of thousands) the soft-faced and dreamy-eyed guitarist is a stark contrast to Ahmad Dhani, the main force behind Dewa 19, who is infamous for having a pompous flare.

Andra remains truly modest, even when working on his own project, Andra and the BackBone.

He has dropped his idealistic dream of producing a Joe Satriani-like instrumental solo album, opting instead for a more mainstream pop-rock album.

"It is difficult to produce an album which is entirely instrumental but at the same time will be appreciated by everyone," he said.

"I decided to change course and write songs with lyrics where people can still sing along."

"I told my band members not to be overly idealistic and just make music that everyone can understand," the 35-year-old said.

He set up Andra and the BackBone by recruiting guitarist and long-time friend, Stevie Item, 28. Stevie has filled in as an additional guitarist on a number of Dewa 19's gigs since 2000. Former music journalist Dedy Lisan, 31, was recruited as vocalist after auditioning for the spot.

"Dedi has a character to his voice that I was looking for to sing my songs. His voice has a raspy rock edge but he can still pull off singing a nice slow ballad," Andra said.

They released their self-titled debut album in January 2007. The singles slowly hit the charts and songs like Sempurna (Perfect), Musnah (Vanish) and Lagi ... Dan Lagi (Again ... and Again) are still getting airplay on the radio and are still on the local charts.

Like many Dewa members, Andra wanted to produce his own signature style. Dhani did it in 1998 with the Ahmad band. He is currently also the lead singer for another band, The Rock, while Dewa vocalist Once has released two solo albums of his own.

The guitar as an instrument is central to his new project. "That's the difference with Dewa 19. I focus more on guitar in Andra and the BackBone".

Andra defined the BackBone's music as "Pop that's enthralling and catchy".

Andra said that he, Stevie and Dedy had the same taste in music, and were inspired by the likes of the Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin and the Beatles.

One can quickly recognize the Foo Fighters' influence in the BackBone's faster tunes such as Terdalam (Deepest) and Musnah. Satriani's style can be heard in the one and only instrumental song Surrender.

A different style of music is apparent in the romantic ballad Sempurna, which echoes Norway indie band Kings of Convenience's intro of Homesick.

"Stevie composed the music for that one while I wrote the lyrics," Andra said.

Andra and the BackBone's album was Andra's first experience writing lyrics and he admitted that he went with the easiest theme -- love. All of the lyrics on the album are either about adoration or heartbreak.

For sceptics the lyrics may be overly cheesy. For romantics it would be the perfect soundtrack for everyday life.

"I'm still an amateur in writing lyrics. For now I will try to write something that I know about," he said.

"I don't know much about politics so I won't be pretentious and try to write about it."

He said he drew inspiration from personal experiences, films or friends' stories. The song Sempurna, he said, was inspired by his wife and children.

The band has been successful in avoiding elitist idealism to cater to a wider audience. On Feb. 25, the band received a gold record from their label EMI Indonesia for selling more than 75,000 copies.

Currently, the band is preparing to release a second album titled Season 2 next month.

Andra said the next album will still be in the pop-rock genre. "We'll have at least one instrumental song."

"That's the best way to hang onto a little of my idealism," he said.

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