Addie MS

When conductor and composer ADDIE MS found his neighborhood’s chorus of street vendors with their distinctive calls too much of a distraction, he relocated to a cozy South Jakarta housing complex, where he makes beautiful music in the comfort of his in-house studio. The Twilite Orchestra director’s afternoon ritual is to take a stroll around the complex while he enjoys a cigar. Friendly, dignified and a self-confessed perfectionist, Addie says he has learned to take it easy, thanks to wife Memes. “I used to be very shy, but my wife has helped me so much,” says the father of two sons. “She says, ‘Just relax’. We learn from each other.”


+FAMILY
When I was young, I thought that having a family would be a burden because of the responsibilities. But now that my kids are growing up, I see that we are friends. With my wife, it’s gone from that passion you have when you start out to companionship. We can joke like crazy people. People know Memes as elegant on stage, but she is wild. She loves to joke around like a man, spontaneous. If I don’t see them throughout the day, then something is missing.

+TWILITE ORCHESTRA
I had a passion for this from the 1980s, because the government didn’t support concert music. I decided to stop other creative jobs, like producing jingles, to focus on the orchestra. That had been pretty lucrative, and it was difficult at first. But little by little we have achieved what we set out to do, like someone who has passed a very difficult examination. I feel that with each concert we hold. It’s like my baby but one that never grows up!

+LAPTOP
In the Twilite Orchestra, I’m not only the conductor and artistic director, but also the manager, which means I’m the decision maker for everything. I’m a bit traumatized by the traffic jams getting to the office; it takes me time to settle down once I get there. But with the laptop I can do everything from home, take care of things at the office, consult with colleagues outside, spend time on Facebook. Actually, Facebook is one of my favorite things now. I’ve met up with former junior high school friends I haven’t seen for years.

+CIGAR
Every day at 4 p.m. I go out by myself and take a walk until it gets dark. I’ll stop and have a cigar. People probably think that I’m considering my music, but actually I’m just letting my mind go blank. I used to be a heavy smoker, I would go through two packets. I quit completely in 1995. The evil thing about cigars is once you try the handmade, you can’t go back.

+STUDIO
I can spend 36 hours in the studio. It’s a decent studio with the basics that I need.

+PIANO
I started with an old used piano when I was 12 years old. I was thankful to have it, but there were a lot of problems with it. There was a lot of slamming! My mother would say, “When we have the money ...” My dream was to have a grand piano. But now that I have one I don’t have the time to play.

+ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, MELBOURNE
I like to be far from crowds, wherever it is. Sometimes we’ll leave early in the morning and go to the gardens in Bogor, but we leave by the time groups of school kids arrive. I quite often record in Melbourne, and one of my favorite things to do is to go to the gardens there. My wife will go shopping, my kids do their thing and I’ll go to the gardens with my laptop. It’s truly paradise for me.

+ Bruce Emond
Photos: Adi Wahono and private collection Addie MS

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