A B O U T
Shaggy Dog was formed in Sayidan, a small
neighbourhood on the banks of a suburban river which flows through the heart of
Yogyakarta, a quiet and regal city. On the 1st of June 1997, Shaggy Dog
consisted of a couple of fun partners: Heru, Richard, Raymond, Bandizt, Lilik
and Yoyo’ all of which agreed upon creating their very own special brew of
song, ‘Doggy Style’: a mix of ska, reggae, jazz, swing and rock. Vibes from The
Cherry Poppin Daddies, Hepcat, Bob Marley, Long Beach Dub Allstars to name a
few, along with the ups and downs of daily life, colour the Dog’s sound.
As time went by, the boys played gig after gig,
in malls, cafes, headlining college music festivals and in 1999 they released
their first self-titled LP, under the management of their own label, ‘Doggy
House’. Their debut album sold a staggering 20,000 copies and could be heard
all over the archipelago. Due to the demands of touring, the boys threw the
book at the man and chucked in their academic ‘careers’ to devote their time
solely to the band.
After a hiatus of 2 years, in 2001 Shaggy Dog
released their second album ‘Bersama’, with little back-up or support. The
album was really a labour of love; the manager pawning his bike, the boys seen
busking to raise bus money home. Not as romantic as it sounds…
2003 was to be the break that the boys needed.
Head hunted by EMI Indonesia, Shaggy Dog was to turn major. Not only did the
deal help their financial situation, cracking a deal with a major label helped
them reach the kind of notoriety they could only dream of. Ears all over Asia
pricked up and saw the guys being invited to be part of a Japanese compilation,
“Asian Ska Foundation” which featured Ska from all over the continent.
Finally, in 2004 the boys got the incredible
opportunity to play at the Festival Mundial in Tilburg, The Netherlands invited
by the FESTIVAL MUNDIAL PRODUCTION. Not bad for a couple of pissy lads from
downtown Yogyakarta!
M E M B E R S
(Heruwa)
Born : 1980-04-20
From : Yogyakarta
Instrument : Vocals
From an early age, Heruwa felt drawn to music, listening to The Rolling Stones that he heard being played around him. His father liked playing records by Ebiet G Ade, Broery Pesolima, and Chicha Koeswoyo. Growing up on the ‘island of the gods’ there were so many foreign tourists coming and going and these foreigners provided the young boy with a wealth of musical references. After his mother stopped working as a cook and changed course to open a business in the garment industry, she recruited many young transmigrants from around Indonesia, who helped develop Heruwa’s widening appreciation of music. This is how Heruwa came to know the Stones and Bob Marley.
Then, one of his elder siblings added to his musical knowledge, with the popular music of the era, from Van Halen through to Break Dancing. Heruwa’s very first public performance was during the yearly holidays when he traveled to his grandfather’s home town in Kendal, East Java, when he performed a break dance for the kids of his grandfather’s neighbourhood.
During junior high, Heru often hung out in Poppies Lane, Kuta, a well known tourist haunt with dozens of shops and restaurants, where he was exposed to a gamut of daily sounds, played at high volume from each doorway, the likes of the Doors, UB40, Alpha Blondy, 2 Live Crew, Terror Fabulous through to Snoop Dogg. His appreciation of this fantastic array of music grew, despite not actually knowing what he was listening to at the time, or having any deeper understanding of it.
Ironically, the first albums he ever bought, were by metal bands including Sepultura and Obituary. Despite the myriad of musical styles he’d devoured over this time, the musicians he listened to almost every day were Alpha Blondy and Bob Marley.
It was during his senior high year when his parents separated and Heru moved with his mother to Yogyakarta (or Jogja - as the town is more affectionately called). He attended the Marsudi Luhur Senior High School (now demolished and replaced by a hotel), and met Raymond, Richad and Bandizt. At school he was the only student with a Balinese accent and he didn’t understand the local Javanese language that everyone spoke. At the time, in the mid nineties, Jogja was in the grip of an alternative music trend when Raymond, Heru’s school mate, invited him to go and watch his band practicing at a local music studio, Lathaga, in preparation for their performance for Indonesian Independence day on 17 August. At the time, Raymond (guitar) had a band called Lampoe together with Bandizt (bass) and Aji (drums). Heru’s first ever visit to a music studio was also the day he decided he wanted to join a band. The opportunity came when Lampoe invited him to sing ‘When I Come Around’ by Green Day. His first time on stage was at the Indonesian Independence Day celebration in the boys’ local neighbourhood of Sayidan. The memory that most stands out from that day for Heru is performing barefoot with his legs shaking with stage fright.
The emergence of the Punk Revival in the nineties changed everything. From Green Day, Heru got into Rancid. The first time he heard ‘Time Bomb’, he could only wonder, “What kind of music is this?” At the time there was no internet access, so Heru began searching for references in magazines and from hanging out and talking about and listening to music with mates. He also went through a punk phase, dyeing his hair with coloured markers, fighting with other kids in the neighbourhood, and even getting chased by police.
His friendship with Wiro (Sentimental Mood) helped foster in him a deeper knowledge of the Ska music he was starting to get into. Heru also befriended a lot of friends from out of town, from places such as Malang, Bandung and Jakarta. Through the exchanges that occurred with these broader friendships, Heru continued to gain more musical references. After his immersion in the punk and skinhead culture, he became a ‘scenester’, not only immersing himself in the music, but also everthing to do with the lifestyle including the hair styles, fashion, and even the vehicles, when he purchased a Lambretta scooter, which he bought from a friend for two hundred and fifty thousand rupiah (around US$25).
At the time, Heru was crazy about bands such as Madness, The Specials, and Sublime. He also started buying music by illegally sending US dollars by mail to Moonska Records in New York USA. It worked and he received a packet from the US with CD, VHS video cassette, a catalogue and a magazine. He once even sent a fan letter to New York hardcore band Warzone, but he never got a reply.
As a musician, Heru learned guitar from books and hanging out. The first song he ever learnt was Bengawan Solo, a popular song for the young kids playing guitar around the neighbourhood of Sayidan at the time. And it was at this time, Heru began writing songs about daily life around him. One of the first songs he wrote was Kecoa (cockroach) that went on to be released on Shaggydog’s first album. The song was about the ‘betrayal’ of a friend.
After Shaggydog recorded their first album and busy touring to several cities, Heru decided to defer his university studies as a Graphic Design student at MSD (School of Media and Design), and focus solely on music. From early on in Shaggydog’s career, the band began developing networks amongst the scenesters in the various cities they visited. Letters began to arrive from fans and critics, with a variety of content, including both praises, criticisms, and once even a request from a fan for a mobile phone, so he wouldn’t be ostracized by his friends.
Together with Shaggydog, Heru began to travel the world. The band toured to Europe, Australia, and USA. The first time to go abroad was in 2004, to the Netherlands. He couldn’t believe it, when he got the call to do a concert in Holland with the band, while he was walking along the rice paddy fields in Nitiprayan.
Heru’s passion for researching music and his madness spending hours in front of a computer screen resulted in a deeper knowledge of music. In the early 2000s he was became acquainted with electronic music and started manipulating songs with a synth, mixer and got deeper into the Dub genre, which is a merging of Reggae and Electro sounds. His initial capital went on a Roland Groovebox synthesizer, which he bought from Aryo, the producer of band Technoshit when Shaggydog was recording a demo in their studio. His experimentation resulted in a number of songs including ‘Love to see you Dance’ and ‘Bomb da Town’, which he published on the MySpace site. This was the beginning of a project called ‘Dubyouth’, collaborating with the talents of Andy ‘Metzdub’ Zulfan who was at the time the manager of Shaggydog. Heru believes the market share for Shaggydog is different from Dubyouth, as they tend to appear more in nightclubs, or at art exhibition openings. Together with Dubyouth, Heru also had the opportunity to perform on tour in Belgium and Paris.
Heru’s musical experimentation didn’t stop there - he also created a project called Barokka which involved mixing dangdut Pantura (a local genre of music inspired by rock and Indian bollywood style music), with modern EDM and other new electronic music genres. Barokka is an acronym for ‘The Pantura Rockers’. In addition to his work with Shaggydog, and these projects, Heru was also invited to collaborate with various musicians, including Pee Wee Gaskins, Superman is Dead, Endank Soekamti, Libertaria, and Candra Malik.
Aside from music, Heru’s business insticts also found an outlet with his restaurant business ‘Warung Heru’, located on Prawirotaman Street, Yogyakarta. He is also involved in fashion with his online store @heruwashop. His childhood hobby in Bali, was actually surfing, but after moving to Jogja, and spending most of his time on asphalt, Heru shifted his hobbies to the automotive kind. Now Heru can often be seen riding his big bike around town.
Heru married Annisa Nasution in 2015 and they’ve been blessed with a daughter, Atha Widya Senandung Wahyono.
Heru is a musician that started it all from the ground up. He never dreamed he would actually become a musician that would release so many albums, write songs that would become so popular, or perform concerts in various countries. His ambition when he began was quite simple, to one day perform in Kridosono Stadium, Yogyakarta.
Microphone
(RAYMOND)
Born : 1978-11-09
From : Yogyakarta
Instrument : Lead Guitar
Raymond's childhood in his family was very harmonious. Numerous young people would come to his house everyday to learn guitar or to just ask his father to tune their guitars.In 2009, Raymond's father passed away and then a few months later his mother also died. In remembrance of them both, Raymond now likes to collect vinyls. He diligently hunts out the favourite music albums of his parents.The first cassette that Raymond bought was Metallica's Black album, when he was still in junior high school. At that same time, he began to learn guitar from his brother, Alexander. Although it was still difficult for him to reach the guitar chords, seeing his older brother who was already proficient further spurred him on to learn the guitar. During junior high school, he also formed his first band with his primary school friends, called Jibres, whose band name came spontaneously. They rented a music studio every Sunday and practiced for as long as they wanted.Raymond along with his schoolmate Heru (Shaggydog's vocalist) often went to Sayidan during senior high school. He got to know Bandizt (Shaggydog's bassist) there and they formed a band called Lampoe. Raymond's favourite bands were Pearl Jam and Collective Soul, while his favourite song was 'Sampah' (Trash) by Netral. When the punk era hit, they also transformed, starting with dying their hair different colours, and playing Rancid. Then they formed Shaggydog. After graduating from senior high school, Raymond chose not to go to university and once Shaggydog's schedule became fuller, he decided to focus on music.In terms of musical matters, Raymond admits that he is the most fastidious member of Shaggydog. If something in a song does not feel right to the ear, then he will immediately re-arrange the song. He was also in charge of the tunes in songs like 'Kembali Berdansa', (Back to Dancing) and 'Tonight'. He usually provides a few options of musical arrangements, which are then perfected by the other band members. According to Shaggydog band members, they have a very strong 'chemistry', such that music usually immediately flows only through eye contact with one and other. Although sometimes there are debates and differences in opinion between them, the atmosphere is seldom heated and issues can be resolved on the day. "Shaggydog personnel share a mutual understanding and respect," Raymond said.Playing music for Raymond means 'freedom' without any burden, which is what he does with Shaggydog. "That's called playing music," he asserted.Raymond's love of metal music has not been abandoned. On several occasions, he has performed using guitar distortions with the veteran hardcore Jogja band, Something Wrong.According to Raymond, Shaggydog's current image has been formed based on what you see. Although they have many 'gimmicks', in terms of musical matters, this band knows where it is going as it has a direction: Jamaican Music. (*)
fender Jaguar
fender telecaster
Ampli
marshall jcm 900
Efect
MXR GT-OD (Jim Dunlop)
caveman overdrive (oddfellow)
DC10 Ciok
MXR ten band EQ (Jim dunlop)
TU-2 (Boss)
OD-808 (Maxon)
DOD envelope filter 440 (Digitech)
Nova Delay (TC electronic)
RV-5 (Boss)
Line 6 relay G-50 Digital Wireless
(BANDIZT)
Born : 1973-10-09
From : Yogyakarta
Instrument : Bass
Ampli:
Ampeg AVT210AV bass speaker cabinet
stack
peave TKO 115
DI box radial J48
Boss Bass equalizerBoss Bass chorus
(RICHAD)
Born : 1977-04-02
From : Yogyakarta
Instrument : Guitar
-Radix
Amp:-Marshall Vintage-Modern
Efect:-Cry Baby Model
-GCB-95.
-Boss Digital Delay DD-3-Boss Super Overdrive SD-1-Boss Blues Drive BD-2-Boss Equalizer GE-7
-Perception wireless 45 (AKG)
(YOYO)
Born : 1980-04-21
From : Yogyakarta
Instrument : Drums
Drums Custom Maple
Kick 20x20
Octoban 6x5
Tom 12x5.5
Floor 16x14
Snare OCDP 14x5.5 Maple
Snare Ludwig Black Beauty 14x5 Brass
on Brass
Snare SMDC Brass 14x5
Cymbal
Paiste Signature Combo Crisp Hihat 12inc
Paiste Signature Dark Crisp Hihat
13inc
Paiste 2002 Crash 18inc
Paiste Signature Power Crash 18inc
Paiste Signature Blue Bell Ride 22inc
Zildjian K Crash Ride 20inc
Paiste Alpha Medium Swiss Crash 18inc
Paiste Signature Splash 8inc
Paiste 2002 Accent Cymbal 6inc
(UMBEL)
Born : 1978-09-23
From : Yogyakarta
Instrument : Keyboard
music school run by a family of musicians who created songs of struggle (Kusbini). At that time, Lilik who is from Sorosutan in Yogyakarta was taught
directly by Mas Doso, the son of Kusbini. Lilik was born in Yogyakarta on 23 September in 1978 was also involved in the Puspa Jelita Keroncong Orchestra led
by his father.
In 1995, Lilik continued his musical education studying violin at Yogyakarta Music High School (SMM). At that time, he also became interested in playing the piano. Puspa Jelita Keroncong Orchestra that was led by his father then developed into a campursari music group, which consisted of Lilik and his extended family. Lilik was the keyboard player in this group. Lilik still remained active in the Puspa Jelita musical group once Shaggydog become renowned and had a busy schedule. In fact he was involved in their two albums titled Keroncong Aseli (Real Keroncong) (1997), and the campursari
album Gudeg Ayu (Beautiful Gudeg) (1998).
The Puspa Jelita songs are still often played on local radio. Both of these albums were recorded at Retjobuntung Studio in Yogyakarta and produced by Ahonk, a financial backer from Semarang. Unfortunately, to this day Lilik does not have the actual albums of these works. The unfortunate thing is that after the 2006 earthquake, many of the campursari group's instruments were damaged and destroyed.
Although Puspa Jelita is currently not performing much, Lilik and his family still frequently play music together. However, their keroncong orchestra
occasionally still performs at various celebrations like cultural festivals and marriage ceremonies. Lilik also often plays as a keyboard player at marriage
parties.
As a child, Lilik was an active football player and joined the PS Mas Club that regularly practiced in the Minggiran football field. As a winger, Lilik got the chance to be a core player for the Yogyakarta U-16 PSIM tournament. However, after finishing SMM, he did not continue sports activities for fear of injury and not being able to play music.
During school, Lilik was a crew member for Meto, a progressive pop band made up of SMM students that was always the star at various music festivals. At that time, the punk subculture had swept through Jogja's youth and although Lilik was interested he never got into the punk-style. Aside from worrying about being scolded by teachers, his soul was still strongly connected to classical music.
Lilik crossed paths with Shaggydog personnel when he was introduced to Raymond by his neighbour. Almost every afternoon after school, Lilik made time to hang out at Marsudi Luhur Senior High School, Raymond and Heru's school. As he was studying at music school, Raymond invited Lilik to join Shaggydog. At that time, Lilik had never heard ska music before. This music from Jamaica was strange and funny for him. It was like listening to music at a circus show or music from a comedy film. He immediately embraced some of the materials and he even offered to invite his three schoolmates studying brass instruments at SMM to join.
After completing SMM, Lilik went on to study ethnomusicology at ISI Yogyakarta. However, due to Shaggydog?s busy schedule at that time and feeling that he chose the wrong course, he did not continue to go to lectures and eventually received a drop out letter from the campus. After studying at ISI Yogyakarta, he realized that the department was not going to turn its students into musicians, but researchers (ethnomusicologists) and he finally decided to focus on playing in the band.
In Shaggydog's early days, Lilik's role was to create the brass section arrangements and refine materials from his colleagues. He also contributed to songs. Both the music and lyrics in 'Doggy Doggy', and 'Damai Sejahtera' (Peace and Prosperity) were created by Lilik. As Lilik is proficient with a variety of keroncong instruments, he also brings a unique quality to Shaggydog. It is this that distinguishes Shaggydog?s music style from other ska bands.
Lilik has many other pastimes aside from music. He is a broker for Javanese limasan and joglo structures. If someone is interested in finding a limasan or joglo, he promptly takes the prospective buyer to the location of the structure. He also owns a batik business and runs a small eatery selling catfish with his wife Meta Kusmiati. Lilik and Meta have two children Muhammad Naufal Sugiyarto and Zafira Husna Sugiyarto. At present, in addition to wanting to make his village, Plumpungrejo, into a tourist village, Lilik also plans to open a restaurant serving typical Palembang food such as tekwan, pindang fish, and tempoyak. (*)
-Yamaha MOX 6
-Pedal sustain
-Amply : Rolland KC 550: peavey 300 kb