Nidji is an Indonesian rock band based in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
. Formed in February 2002, Nidji's name comes from the
Japanese word ''niji'' (虹), meaning "
rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
". The band's music can be classified under the
alternative pop
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...
genre, and the band has cited
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...
and
The Killers
The Killers are an American rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingd ...
as major influences.
The band currently consists of Yusuf Ubay (vocals/saxophone), Andro Regantoro (bass), Randy Danistha (keyboards/synthesizers), Ramadhista Akbar and Andi Ariel Harsya (guitars), and Adri Prakarsa (drums).
The band has released six
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
s: "Child", "Sudah", "Hapus Aku", "Kau dan Aku", "Disco Lazy Time" and "Biarlah". Two of the singles, "Heaven" from the ''
Breakthru''' album and "Shadows", taken from the ''Top Up'' album, were used as background music in the Southeast Asian third season promos for the television series ''
Heroes
Heroes or Héroes may refer to:
* Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good
Film
* ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama
* ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film
Gaming
* ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...
'', and they provided soundtrack music for the Indonesian film ''
Laskar Pelangi
''Laskar Pelangi'' (English: ''The Rainbow Troops'') is a 2008 Indonesian drama film adapted from the popular eponymous novel by Andrea Hirata. The film follows a group of 10 students and their two inspirational teachers as they struggle with po ...
''.
The album ''Breakthru was released in 2005 with an
English-language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
version the following year. The second album, ''Top Up'', was released in 2007.
History
Nidji was formed in February 2002. The beginnings of Nidji came about through the friendship between Rama and Andro. They were joined by Arieland together they wrote a song entitled "Maria". However, "Maria" was not completed until Giring met them and added some vocals.
Afterwards, Andro recommended Adri who had often done jam sessions with him to fill the position of drummer. The four of them then invited Rama to join. At the beginning of April 2005, Nidji added another member, Randy, a keyboard player who was a close friend of Giring.
In 2012, the "Liberty Victoria" song was used by
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
as a new anthem.
Five years later, on April 5, 2017, the band released a new album entitled ''Love, Fake & Friendship''. It is the last album that featured the original vocalist Giring before he left for his political career. From December 2018 to January 2019, Nidji and Musica Studios opened auditions to find Giring's successor. From around 2,000 participants, 10 chosen candidates had the opportunity to perform with Giring and the band. At Giring's final concert "Mimpi adalah Kunci" on February 2, 2019, Yusuf Ubay, who was also a ''
2014 Indonesian Idol'' contestant, was chosen as Nidji's new vocalist.
Side projects
NEV
In October 2013, Nidji formed a
side project
In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style.
Usually these projects emphasize a ...
called NEV (Nidji Electronic Version), which they used as an avenue to explore their
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
side. In this project, they rearranged their songs to the electronic version. However, the remix version will not be released to be an album. They will play it in live performance only.
NEV+
Following the departure of the vocalist Giring and the hiatus of Nidji, the other five members formed a side project called NEV+ (Nidji Electronic Version Plus) in 2017. Its concept is the same with NEV. Without Giring participation, NEV name was changed to NEV+. 'Plus' means the collaboration of Nidji with a number of other singers, to fill in the gaps left by Giring.
In 2018, NEV+ alongside
NOAH
Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...
vocalist
Nazril "Ariel" Irham and
Hivi! former vocalist
Dalila "Dea" Azkadiputri performed "
Janger Persahabatan", a song written by Guruh Soekarnoputra. This song was made as one of the official songs for the
2018 Asian Games
The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...
.
Band members
Current members
* Yusuf Ubay — lead vocals, saxophone
(2019–present)
* Andi Ariel Harsya — guitar
(2002–present)
* Ramadhista Akbar — guitar, backing vocals
(2002–present)
* Andro Regantoro — bass guitar, backing vocals
(2002–present)
* Randy Danistha — keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals
(2005–present)
* Adri Prakarsa — drums
(2002–present)
Former members
*
Giring Ganesha
Giring Ganesha Djumaryo (born 14 July 1983) is an Indonesian vocalist and political activist. He is a former lead singer of the Indonesian rock band, Nidji. On 31 December 2017, he announced his resignation as Nidji's lead vocalist in order to fo ...
— lead vocals, guitar, piano
(2002–2017)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Awards
, -
, rowspan="2", 2006
, rowspan="2", Nidji
,
MTV Indonesia
MTV Indonesia was an Indonesian free-to-air television network, part of MTV. The network was launched on 5 May 1995, It was the fifth MTV version launched in the world, and first to broadcast via free-to-air television. MTV Indonesia later beca ...
Awards — Most Favorite Band
,
, -
,
MTV Indonesia
MTV Indonesia was an Indonesian free-to-air television network, part of MTV. The network was launched on 5 May 1995, It was the fifth MTV version launched in the world, and first to broadcast via free-to-air television. MTV Indonesia later beca ...
Awards — Most Favorite New Artist
,
, -
, rowspan="1", 2014
, rowspan="1", "Sumpah dan Cintaku Matiku"
,
Indonesian Music Awards — Best Original Soundtrack Film
,
References
External links
*
*
Nidji discographyon
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
Nidji discographyon
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
{{Authority control
Musical groups established in 2002
Indonesian pop music groups
Indonesian rock music groups
Anugerah Musik Indonesia winners