T

hree-piece band Last Child wants to infuse an honest reality in its lyrics.

One of the band’s singles was circulating on the streets even before the public knew the boys behind the song.

Hummed by teenagers and a hit among street singers, Last Child’s first single “Diary Depresiku” (My Diary of Depression) instantly gained popularity with its sad lyrics and catchy melody.

The band, formed in 2006, previously comprised front man Virgoun Teguh, bassist Dimas Rangga and ex-drummer Ary Ceper, who later left the group.

Virgoun said the three were schoolmates and had their own hardcore bands until they decided to collaborate in order to join an audition for a music festival in another senior high school.

“Since then, we continued to play music together,” the 25-year-old told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a lunch to celebrate their first music award.  

This year marked some milestones in the band’s music career. Last Child just snatched the Dahsyat Award in the newcomer category, outshining two other strong candidates; male singer Budi Do Re Mi and female singer Citra Scholastica.

They also proudly announced the band’s new lineup. Virgoun and Dimas stayed true to their positions, while guitarist Rachmad “Mamie” Firdaus jumped on the bandwagon.

Mamie used to be a guitarist in a rock band until he met Dimas on Twitter a few years ago. He quickly befriended the band members and performed as an additional guitarist in their shows before officially becoming the band’s new member.

“I see my future here. This band’s popular singles happen to be slow, but the rest of their songs are rocking, still in line with my passion and background,” he said.

The year 2012 also witnessed the launch of the band’s second album, “Our Biggest Thing Ever”, which was made after they signed a contract with recording company dr.m last year. A song on the album, “Seluruh Nafas Ini” (This whole breath) features Giselle, a finalist of the 2008 Indonesian Idol singing contest.

Virgoun, who mostly writes the band’s songs, said their first label album was different from their independent album.

The independent album, he said, contained a lot of protest about social issues, while the label album touched on different issues, from love to spiritualism.

Their song, “Diary Depresiku”, played a pivotal role in them elbowing their way into the music industry. The song, which tells of a teenager who is shattered after a parental divorce, has bitter lyrics and a slow melody.

Virgoun said they were inspired to compose the song while hanging around a parking space of stores on Jl. Waru in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.

“We hang out with teenagers who have many problems in their life. One day, we learned that one of our female friends had a bigger problem than the rest of us, so we created a song that later became the anthem of our friends there.”

Having no intention of selling the song to the music industry, Last Child recorded it and shared it with friends via mobile phone in 2007.

The hype of social media such as Facebook and their use of Blackberry helped them to reach a wider audience.  

“To our surprise, many youngsters in the country have become victims of broken homes, so I feel that we can become their voice,” Virgoun said.

The song also attracted some label companies, but they turned down most of the offers because they asked them to change their name or music genre in return for the record contract.

In 2009, they made a content label contract with dr.m when promoting the ring tone of “Diary Depresiku”. Without any advertisement, the song reaped 300,000 downloads, making dr.m offer the band a contract for their pure music.

Morin Chandra, the chief commercial officer of dr.m, said it was not easy to seal the deal as her colleagues in the music industry warned her it would be difficult to sell the young band to television programs.

They also warned her that the band’s song, despite its popularity, contained vulgar imagery, such as scratching arms with glasses and holding bottles of alcohol.

“We tried to ask them to change some lines in the lyrics, but they did not give any response for a month,” she said.

Morin finally set aside her fear and agreed to keep the song the way it was written. She made the video clip for the song and promoted it to television stations without setting her expectation high.

Her decision turned out right. The public welcomed the song and ask for more of the band.

The long process between the recording company and the band yielded a full contract to promote and manage the band.

“Last Child’s power lays in the band’s strong lyrics, which reflect real life, not merely something out of imagination. The boys are also modest and are kind to their fans,” Morin says.  

She said her label company was also selective in choosing a female singer for a duet with Virgoun on the latest album. Knowing that the band’s fans mostly came from middle to low income youngsters, they picked up Giselle.

And now, Last Child has grown from an unknown band to a newcomer in the industry, with many on-air promotions and off air jobs filling their schedule, with some 16 performances on television each month.

The band members said that the American pop punk band Blink-182 and local band Sheila on 7 were their biggest influences.

“When I was learning to play guitar in my junior high school years, the two bands were hype,” Dimas said.

He gave up his graduate study to pursue his passion in music, fully aware that his decision was against the wish of his parents.

When asked why the band was named Last Child, he smiled wide and said it was because the band’s founders were all the last children of their families.

“You know, a last child is usually bullied by his or her siblings. We named our band Last Child to tell people the last child can make them proud.”