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Dewa Budjana: man & guitar
JP DjwanGuitarist Dewa Budjana says he has found balance in his musical career within his band Gigi and as a solo artist with seven albums of his own
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JP Djwan
Guitarist Dewa Budjana says he has found balance in his musical career within his band Gigi and as a solo artist with seven albums of his own.
The day Dewa Budjana filched Rp 10,000 from his grandfather's wallet marked the dawn of a music career spanning four decades.
In what was to prove the best investment he ever made, the then pre-teen caught a bemo (three-wheeled vehicle) to Denpasar and bought his first guitar.
'That first guitar was locally made. Solo maybe, an acoustic guitar. I bought it new in Denpasar. We were living in Klungkung. I had stolen Rp. 10,000 from my grandfather to buy that guitar,' said Budjana at a cafe in Sanur, Bali. The fates were on his side. Budjana's grandfather was not too miffed at the boyhood theft and there happened to be a guitar player living nearby who would be Budjana's first teacher.
'I learned more and more Indonesian songs from a contract builder who was working in Klungkung at the time. He played guitar after work and I learned traditional Javanese songs from him. He was my first real teacher,' says Budjana of those first 'three or four chords' that would carry this young boy into a future guitar man playing around the world with his band Gigi and as a solo artist rubbing shoulders with guitar greats, such as John McLaughlin.
McLaughlin and the Fourth Dimension will perform in Ubud mid-October along with Dewa Budjana in the Duaji Guruji concert, following McLaughlin's Australian tour.
'The Duaji Guruji concert is a dream come true, to play with John McLaughlin. John is a living legend on guitar,' said Budjana, who will play one song with a musician who opened up a whole new world of possibility on guitar for Budjana.
'Before John McLaughlin I was listening to John Denver, Deep Purple's Richie Blackmoor and then I heard John McLaughlin and it was really complex and experimental guitar,' said Budjana of a turning point in his musical sensibilities.
McLaughlin is ranked 49th among the world's greatest guitarists. Adding further influence to the young musician was Jeff Beck, a guitarist that does not fit into boxes.
'His exploration on guitar, especially electric guitar, we cannot put a label on his music, pop, rock or jazz. It's Jeff Beck,' said Budjana.
Budjana has honed his art year after year since winning the Yamaha Light Music concert with his high school band, Squirrel, back in 1984. It would be 13 long years of session work before Budjana would cut his first album in 1997.
'After winning the concert I moved to Jakarta as a session musician. As a session player we have to learn more of reflection; every day a different producer and different musical director, different characters and different characters in music,' said one of Indonesia's finest guitarists.
He paid his dues in those session years, which while tedious, taught the burgeoning star that he could play anywhere with anyone, and that music is a business demanding tenacity and a strong work ethic, as well as an art form.
'As a session player I had to play all kinds of music, pop, rock, dangdut and keroncong. By 1993, I was growing bored with that. I met another studio player, Thomas Ramdhan and we founded our band, Gigi along with Ronald Christianto, Baron and Armand Maulana,' says Budjana of Gigi's earliest lineup.
Twenty years and 26 albums on and Gigi is still rocking the house; the band played alongside many other Indonesian greats at Soundrenaline 2015 Sunday night at GWK in Bali to a massive crowd.
Budjana said he had found balance in his musical career within Gigi and as a solo artist with seven albums of his own out and more to come.
He heads to Prague next week with his guitar for a 'live recording with Tohpati and the Czech Orchestra for the Duo album', said Budjana whose love affair with guitars has led to the development of his Guitar Museum in Payogan, near Ubud.
Housed over three floors are 34 guitars painted by some of Indonesia's best known artists, including Nyoman Gunarsa, Jeihan and Sri Hardy Sudarsono, and donated guitars from musicians, including Frank Zappa's son Dweezil, Richie Blackmore, Pat Metheny and John McLaughlin.
The guitar museum is Budjana's gift to Bali and his way of honoring the instrument that has become 'guitar for my life and my life for guitar'.
