But with no official statement appearing on Naif’s socials (at the time of writing), the public had to interpret separate statements and interviews given by each member, suggesting a disconnection within the band. It’s an unfortunate fate for a group of friends that started their music career in the mid-1990s with a song titled “Benci Libur” (Hate Holidays), a tune about hating the holidays because they enjoyed each other’s company so much in university.

'Egos were high'

Bassist Mohammad Amil "Emil" Hussein left the band in September 2020, with drummer Franki “Pepeng” Indrasmoro Sumbodo following suit shortly after. However, the fact wasn’t made public until early May 2021 when both Emil and Pepeng started talking to the media about their departure, which then prompted vocalist David Bayu, arguably the band's most popular member, to post a video titled  “Bubar?” ( Disbanded?) on his YouTube channel a few days after, somewhat confirming the band’s demise.

In an interview with The Jakarta Post via Zoom on May 19, Emil, while not giving a direct answer to why he decided to quit Naif, mentioned how the members “didn’t hang out.” 

“We’d meet backstage or on the plane when we’re playing outside of Jakarta, but we didn’t stay in the same room,” Emil said. “We got along fine, but we didn’t hang out.”

Emil added that the situation had been going on since the album Televisi (2007) and suggested members’ family lives and Naif’s busy gig schedule were contributing factors.

Pepeng, in a separate interview with the Post held on the same day, confirmed the group’s individualistic tendency had started as early as the mid-2000s when the band started to really climb in popularity.

“We were all engrossed by our own thing [outside of the band] and it affected the communication between us,” Pepeng said.

After releasing its first five albums with Bulletin Records, a sub-label of Indo Semar Records, Naif started its own record label, Electrified Records. While this gave the members a lot of control and independence, it amplified the individualism in the band’s production process and studio schedule.

“In my opinion, Planet Cinta [2011] was when we started to lose our commonality; each member had their own material and they were unalterable,” Pepeng said. “Egos were high.”

It would take Naif six years before it released another album and its last one, 7 Bidadari.

Fun times: Naif band members (L-R), bassist Mohammad "Emil" Amil Hussein, drummer Franki Indrasmoro "Pepeng" Sumbodo, vocalist-guitarist David Bayu Danangjaya, and guitar player Fajar "Jarwo" Endra Taruna Mangkudisastro (Naif social media/Courtesy of Naif band's Facebook)

While Emil attributed the long gap to the band's search for the right producer and hectic schedule, Pepeng noted that there was also “laziness and apathy".

Emil, who usually takes the role of the band’s producer, said he “wasn’t that involved with 7 Bidadari".

“In my opinion, David was the only one passionate about 7 Bidadari and made it happen, but overall, the album was kind of abandoned by the band,” Emil added.

We reached out to vocalist David Bayu for comment but did not receive a response.

“It only took me two days to record the bass for all the songs, unlike the previous albums where I would completely dive into the treatment of every song,” Emil recalled. “During the creation of that album, we never saw one another.”

That seems to sum up where the band was and where it was heading.

The odd man out

On May 19, guitarist Fajar “Jarwo” Endra Taruna, known for being rather the low-profile one in the band, posted a 40-minute video titled “Naif Jangan Bubar Dulu” (Don’t Break Up Yet, Naif) on his YouTube channel in which he talks candidly and insightfully about Naif in his point of view, adding another layer of complexity to the situation.

Jarwo mentioned that the three other members of Naif had signed an official document issued by the band's previous management — who according to him had resigned after Emil and Pepeng did — legalizing the band’s dissolution. He found the whole thing troubling and refused to add his signature.

In the video, the 46-year-old guitarist said he had been excluded from many internal discussions, which he learned from having seen all the others’ interviews.

He also emphasized that Naif had the responsibility to tell the truth to its fans and insisted on having all four members sit down together and talk.

Read also: Album Review: 7 Bidadari by Naif

“Naif belongs to the public. We have a public service obligation; they have the right to know what happens with Naif,” Jarwo said addressing his bandmates. “Let’s just sit down and have a discussion; it’s the most elegant way to resolve things instead of having one person saying this and another saying that."

We reached Jarwo for comment, but his wife Noni Ara told us via WhatsApp that Jarwo was currently “limiting his public appearances” so people could focus on his video statement.

Popular but not lame

Saleh “Ale” Husein from White Shoes & The Couples Company and The Adams, two of Indonesia’s biggest indie bands at the moment, said Naif had inspired him and many other bands that came after in terms of writing lyrics in Indonesian and blending different styles of music. Both bands covered Naif’s songs as part of a tribute compilation album released by indie label Aksara Records in 2007, Mesin Waktu: Teman-Teman Menyanyikan Lagu Naif (Friends sing Naif songs)

“Bands like Naif showed that it’s possible to write songs in Indonesian without it being cheesy or lame, especially in the early 2000s,” Ale said.

As a pop band, Ale said, Naif’s musical references were also hard to pin down, and that’s part of the appeal.

“What are their influences? The Beatles? Britpop? Or is it The Beach Boys? It’s a hybrid, so you can’t really tell,” Ale continued. “For example, they’re not exactly a rock band, but once Jarwo plays his lead guitar part, they totally sound like one.”

For David Tarigan, a music collector and Indonesian music archivist who cofounded Aksara Records, Naif is truly a special band.

“Back then, bands were trying to emulate their influences as closely as possible, but Naif was performing original songs from the very beginning with so much attitude on stage, and that made them stand out,” David recounted.

Graduates of the Jakarta Arts Institute (IJK), Naif was the first band of the Indonesian underground scene that made it big in the mainstream without losing its connection to its roots, and thus helped pave the way for other indie bands to cross over to big stages.

“I would describe Naif as a bridging band,” David said. “The indie scene owes them a lot.”

More importantly, at the heart of it all, Naif’s pop sensibility appeals to everyone.

“If you were in a band, you would want your band to be like Naif,” David said. “The critics love them, the hipsters adore them, and the general public listens to them. They know what they are doing and they tick all the boxes.”