JP/Zul Trio Anggono

Joining the cast for the musical Laskar Pelangi, singer Dira Sugandi is getting busy as she is also preparing for the release of her new album.

Like other ordinary young women, Dira Yulianti Sugandi, 22, was enthusiastic when lining up for hours for a front row seat at the concert of jazz band Incognito. It was in her hometown, Bandung, back in 2001.

During the concert, she danced and sang along — she knew all their songs by heart. She was surprised when Incognito vocalist Xavier Barnett offered her the microphone and asked her to sing Still a Friend of Mine with the band.

After the impromptu song, Barnett asked her to meet after the gig. It might be a coincidence, it might be destiny — but the moment changed Dira’s life. The next day, Barnett introduced her to his producer, Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick.  

A year later, International Java Jazz Festival promoter Peter F. Gontha called her and asked her to sing with Incognito during the band’s tour in Bandung. The band realized Dira’s talent and they invited her to perform with them for the rest of their tour in Surabaya, Medan and Makassar.

“I’m very close with Bluey and the band members. At that time, I was still studying in college and Bluey told me to finish my studies first. I did as advised,” Dira told The Jakarta Post recently.

Born in Bandung on July 29, 1979, Dira said that she has been singing since she was four. “My mom said that I often jumped on the table and sang,” she said, giggling. She said her talent must have come from her mother and grandmother, both of whom were singers.

Dira entered the singing world when she turned 17. It was after she graduated from high school.

She took a singing course at the renowned Elfa Music School, established by prominent musician Elfa Secoria, before deciding to continue her study at Pelita Harapan University in Jakarta, majoring in classical music.

She began singing jazz when she performed at cafes about six years ago, replacing Rieka Roeslan, a former member of jazz band The Groove. “At that moment, I only mastered around 10 jazz songs. Since I had to perform regularly, I was ‘forced’ to learn more jazz songs. Then, I began to fall in love with jazz,” she said.  

“I was been familiar with jazz since I was a little. My papa often played songs from Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra, while mom listened to Michael Frank, Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire.”

Just right after she finished her studies at Pelita Harapan University in 2006, she flew to London and started recording her debut album with Bluey’s assistance.

“Indonesia has a lot of great singing talents. I was hoping that if I had an international album, I could help open the door for other Indonesian musicians to do the same,” she says.  

The 11-song album titled Something About the Girl is a mixture of jazz and blues. It was released in the United Kingdom and Japan in March this year.

“Just like its title, this album is so me. The tracks are based on my life story and all of them are new songs except one track titled “Hand on Your Heart”, a cover version of a song popularized by Australian singer Kylie Minogue.”

The album also includes two Indonesian tracks — Kami Cinta Indonesia (We Love Indonesia), created by the late musician Harry Roesli, and Ku Cemburu (I’m Jealous), written by Rieka Roeslan.

“People in many countries such as the United States, Europe and South Africa have warmly welcomed my album.

They even emailed me and asked me to perform in their countries,” she reveals.

Dira herself has spread her wings and performed live with several international musicians. One noted performance was a duet with American singer Jason Mraz in a song called Lucky during the 2009 Java Jazz Festival, where she also won the Indonesian Young Jazz Talent Award.

“Jason was really nice and he did not make me nervous on the stage,” she said.

Earlier this year, she had a duet with Jason at the Music Matters event in Hong Kong, singing the same song. In last year’s Java Jazz Festival, she had her chance to introduce her album to local music lovers with a solo performance.

Her fans in Indonesia have to wait patiently to enjoy Dira’s debut album. At the moment, she is busy preparing for the musical Laskar Pelangi, adapted from Andrea Hirata’s best-selling novel.

“I really want to release the album now, but I think it’s not possible because I’m still very, very busy for the musical,” said Dira.

“Once you release a record, you have a commitment to promote the album. You cannot just let it go. So, right after I finish the Laskar Pelangi project, I will straight to promote the record.”   

Laskar Pelangi was written by Andrea Hirata in 2005, based on the author’s experience. It is about an inspiring teacher and her 10 students in the poverty-stricken Belitung, Bangka-Belitung province.

The novel, which features humanistic touches, became a phenomenon in Indonesian literature and has sold more than 500,000 copies.

The novel was later adapted into a motion picture by filmmakers Riri Riza and Mira Lesmana, famous for blockbuster films such as the children’s adventure movie Petualangan Sherina (Sherina’s Adventure) and teen flick Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (What’s Up With Cinta?)

The film, featuring Cut Mini Theo, Ikranegara, Lukman Sardi and Mathias Muchus was released in 2008 and scored a huge success.

Now, Riri and Mira aim to take Laskar Pelangi to new heights by bringing the story to stage. Sitting in the director seat is Riri, while Mira worked on the script. Erwin Gutawa is the composer and Jay Subiyakto is the artistic designer.

The musical itself will show at Taman Ismail Marzuki Fine Arts Center in Central Jakarta, from Dec. 17 to Jan. 9.

Dira exclaims that she never planned to be in the acting world.

It was Erwin Gutawa who offered her an audition for the role of the teacher, Muslimah, described as a loving, tender, patient and smart fighter.

“I came to the audition in Bu Muslimah’s Muslim attire, with a long dress and a long-sleeved blouse. Everybody made fun of me, saying that I looked different,” says Dira, who is a big fan of the novel and the film.

Two weeks later, she received good news: She was appointed to join in the cast. She is one of three actors who will play Muslimah (the others are Lea Simanjuntak and Ekadeli). “It’s very nerve-racking because I’ve never acted before, but I’m so excited.”

“Of course acting is way different from singing. In a musical, you have to focus also on the acting, blocking, dancing and singing,” she says, adding that she has to train every day, from 10 in the morning to 8 in the evening.

In a bid to get into character, she said, she watched the movie again and again.

Dira said  Muslimah was a hardworking yet naïve woman who was fully dedicated to developing her school.

“It’s kind of hard to portray the role because the story takes place in Belitung Island a long time ago. The problem is I have never been to Belitung before,” she says.

“I plan to visit the island for around two days to know more about the place and the people in a bid to get the feel.”

Another challenging part is she has to sing Malay songs for this project.

“Mbak Ubiet (nickname of prominent singer Nyak Ina Raseuki) once said that as a singer I had to be able to master any kinds of songs,” added Dira, who is also the niece of renowned actress Christine Hakim.

In the meantime, she told of pressure over playing the character.

“I feel a huge burden of playing in this musical. I’m afraid that my performance will not meet the audience’s expectation because so far people know me as a singer”.

“I’ve already discuss this with Mas Riri and he consoled me. He said, ‘Calm down, Dira. We’re on one team and we’re in this together’.”

Will she want to act again in the future, on the big screen, for instance? “Well, maybe. I don’t know yet,” she said.

Apart from the bright lights of entertainment world, Dira said she never forgets her roots.

“All I want is to make my parents happy. I want to buy them a house. I also want to finance my little sister to continue her study in medical school.”   

In her spare time, she likes to keep her body in shape and fit by exercises ranging from muay thai, pilates, yoga, swimming and jogging.

“I also love learning traditional dance. I used to learn jaipong (West Java traditional dance) and now I want to learn more dances.

But due to my hectic schedule, I have to postpone the activity.”

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