Smash-ing its way into Asia

By Nur Aqidah Azizi
nur@nst.com.my

Indonesian pop group Smash tells Nur Aqidah Azizi about its future aspirations

WITH its flamboyant fashion style, Indonesian group Smash may be easily mistaken for a new Korean pop group. The Korean pop wave, or K-pop, dominates Asian countries but is also making its way to the West. So it’s no surprise that Smash has jumped on the bandwagon.

Perhaps it’s safe to say that Smash is modelled after K-Pop as there are many similarities.

Aged between 16 and 25, the group members — Morgan, Rangga, Rafael, Dicky, Reza, Ilham and Bisma — admit that K-pop plays an important part in the group’s formation.

“We all love music and dance. We love to choreograph and fashion too. And like many teens, we are K-pop fans,” says Rangga.

“But we still have our own identity. We are from Indonesia and we sing in Malay-Indonesian language. It just happens that our songs are mainly pop, which easily relates to K-pop,” he said.

Smash was here recently to promote its debut album Sm*sh, which was released in Indonesia last year. I Heart You, the album’s debut single, was a phenomenal hit that shot the group to fame.

The sales of the debut album also marked a milestone with one million copies sold within six months and this was achieved despite the rampant music piracy which has hit the global music industry.
“Like any other recording artiste, we too have to deal with music piracy but fortunately, the sales of our debut album has been very positive,” says Rangga.

“We are humbled by this success. It wasn’t an easy feat. Also the fact that the Indonesian music scene is dominated by pop rock bands makes it hard for pop-dance group like us to place ourselves in the industry but we are grateful we have made it this far,” said Rangga.

Not satisfied with being just an established band in Indonesia, Smash is all geared up for international success.

“Malaysia has always been close to our hearts. We have been here many times but this is the first time we are here for work. It feels like home here. We are delighted and excited to meet our fans. Honestly, this feels like a dream,” says Rangga, laughing.

The group’s second single, Ada Cinta is already enjoying frequent air plays on local radio stations, which came as a surprise to the group.

“Ada Cinta is one of our favourite songs in the album. We are honoured and glad that fans here are familiar with the song and that they love it as much as we do,” he said.

Rangga hopes that positive responses towards Ada Cinta will lead to continuous success and support from fans here.

“Just like Rossa, Kris Dayanti, Padi and Dewa, to name a few, we are also hoping that fans here will be able to accept our music. Hopefully we will be able to launch our second album in Malaysia soon,” said Rangga adding that the group also has many fans in both Singapore and Brunei.
Meanwhile, its attempt at acting proves to be fruitful with its first series, Cinta Cenat Cenut 2 currently a hit on Astro Indo Pek Saluran Bintang (Astro channel 141).
All seven members are part of the cast.
“Acting had been quite an experience and we enjoyed it. We want to be as versatile performers,” says Rangga.

From left: Rangga, Dicky, Bisma, Morgan, Reza, Ilham and Rafael

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Smash-ing its way into Asia

Indonesian pop group Smash tells Nur Aqidah Azizi about its future aspirations

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