Jubing Kristianto closes his eyes to concentrate as he concocts clever jazz riffs with materfull ease (JP/Rhianon Horrel)

Jubing Kristianto talks about his musical influences, his time as a *salary man' and where he sees himself in five years time.

Why is Jakarta the favorite destination of classical guitarist Jubing Kristianto? Cheap cigarettes! "I can buy these everywhere," he laughs.

"If I go to Australia you must find a 24-hour store to buy them and it is very expensive."

There is a lot more to Jubing than his smoking habit though. The Indonesian guitarist played a charity gig in Jakarta in December to about 50 people, in support of a charity for children with cancer. Sitting on a wooden stool, the musician had his eyes closed and a thoughtful look on his face as he impressed the audience with his accomplished finger plucking. Switching easily between tunes and tones, he was accompanied by vocalist Reda Gaudiamo and performed several classics including "Raindrops keep fallin on my head".

After playing "Hujan Fantasy", "Sunshine on my Shoulder" and "Once upon a Rainy Day", the audience yelled for an encore.

As a classical purist Kristianto never took to the electric guitar.

"The sound *of an electric guitar* is different; it is not a natural sound. The sound of the acoustic guitar is the sound of the body vibrating, it is wood; it is a living thing so it has a soul," Jubing laughed, saying he plays the acoustic guitar at home.

"From electric guitar all the songs come from technology. It is a different sense, a different feeling."

Despite his love for Jakarta, Jubing says he admires the venues in Australia and their professionalism. He has played there three times in as many years.

"In Indonesia we say luarbiasa! (extraordinary). It was a very new experience for me because I played at the Opera house last August with a quartet and it was something different. The building is so great - right at the seaside."

The 42-year-old says the quartet, "Punakawan", is not a permanent gig but that they play together when possible. They only play traditional Indonesian music, "but with a modern style", Jubing said.

"There is a piano, then I play classical guitar, then the bassist - kind of a rock bassist, then percussion and drummer, so it is a very unique style of music."

The multitalented Jubing became a professional musician almost six years ago after a 13 year career as a journalist; he also has a degree in criminology from Universitas Indonesia. He realized he could not be the salary man and work in an office like his parents wanted. With a *been there, done that' attitude he followed his heart towards music.

"Actually my dream was to be a guitarist from my childhood and my parents wanted me to go to college, to work, to go to the office, become a salary man. I did that and then at one point I realized it was not for me."

"I often think - what is the purpose of playing music? The more I think about it, I think it is for sharing with other people. I am not a rich guy. I just give music."

Success was a surprise for the guitarist; about 10,000 copies of his first album Becak Fantasy have been sold since its release in 2007. The follow-up, Hujan Fantasy, was released last year and Jubing is now working on his third album, which he hopes to release in July. He explained how the Indonesian music industry is too segmented.

"All the music industry gives space for is popular band music. I am so lucky I found this young producer from Semarang, my home town, who gave me a chance."

Jubing has won the Yamaha Indonesia Guitar Festival several times and says his parents have always been very supportive of his decision to play guitar.

They themselves both sing and dance. "I cannot sing because my voice is not good. My guitar playing is better than my singing," he said laughing.

With rhythm running through his veins, he says in five years time he will still be strumming a guitar. He would like to travel around Indonesia more and play in different places. "I mostly play in Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta. Perhaps someday I will go to Papua."

He has a thoughtful philosophy on music and Jubing says he was inspired by the two great John Willams - "From John Williams the guitarist I learnt about how to make the sound from the acoustic guitar more delicate and sweeter because he can produce many sounds with only his fingers. From John Williams the composer I learnt how to arrange so many sounds into one piece of music."

"I like traveling from one place to another, finding new landscapes and in this case it is sound. If it is any kind of sound that I have never listened to before and the sound is amazing or interesting then I try to play it on my guitar."

"If I go to Australia you must find a 24-hour store to buy them and it is very expensive."

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