KUALA LUMPUR: Former vocalist of Dewa 19, Once Mekel insists that there's no bad blood between him and the band's frontman Ahmad Dhani.
The 53-year-old Indonesian singer whose full name is Elfonda Mekel was quoted as saying this yesterday, when asked about Dhani's statement last year, barring Once from performing any of the hit songs he recorded as a member of Dewa 19.
"Nothing happened between us. We're fine. It's just that we haven't had the chance to meet and discuss about song copyrights and other issues related to creative rights (regarding songs recorded when they were still bandmates)," said Once who was here to promote the upcoming Trio Terhebat Vol. 1 concert slated for May 4.
As such, he added that he won't be performing any of those songs at the concert, as he understood and respected Dhani's decision.
"But maybe, if both of us elected to the Parliament, may be we could have a more constructive and positive discourse for Indonesian music industry, despite our differing viewpoints," shared Once, who like Dhani, was a candidate at the recent elections in Indonesia, of which the results would only be announced on March 20.