KUALA LUMPUR: Only 17, Obiet Panggrahito sure knows how to navigate his way around the guitar like a pro.
Blessed with a melodious singing voice, the Indonesia-born teen can also recall any song with just one hearing and come up with his own interpretation by utilising his feel for chords.
To top it off, the self-taught guitarist (whose real name is Yohanes Babtista Obiet Panggrahito) is a veritable one-man-band as well -- he plays an eclectic assortment of musical instruments that include the piano, bass guitar and the gamelan.
Fuelled by musical passion, the talented teen will be releasing his yet-to-be-titled sophomore album soon.
Featuring a mixture of ballads and fingerstyle guitar tunes, Obiet will also be working with Radhi OAG on one of the tracks, Si Panda.
Currently signed to Musicscape, Obiet revealed that the album will feature five to six self-penned and composed songs.
“I wrote Si Panda in under 30 minutes. It’s about a person who always lazes around, doing nothing, just like the panda bear,” said the shy and soft-spoken teenager during a quick chat today at Balai Berita in Bangsar here today.
The album, when released, will be Obiet’s first international album, and it is expected to drop some time next month.
Drawing inspiration from various sources, Obiet taught himself how to play the guitar after being amazed by the South Korean fingerstyle guitarist, Sungha Jung, when he was 12.
“Sungha has always been an inspiration to me,” said the boyish guitarist with his soothing vocals.
“People always ask me about my future collaboration, and who that person would be. If I can pick one, I would like to collaborate with Sungha,” he added, with a shy smile. “When Sungha performed in Indonesia three years ago, I was there in the crowd. I was amazed by his performance. I even got my guitar signed by him!” he said.
Hailing from a small mountainous town in Temanggung in Central Java, Obiet started playing music and singing songs at the age of 5.
Encouraged by his music teacher father, who bought him his first guitar, Obiet participated in the Indonesian talent search reality programme for kids, Idola Cilik 2, in 2009.
His skills quickly put him in the spotlight where he finished at fourth place, beating 12,000 other hopefuls.
Right after Idola Cilik 2, Obiet performed in an all-boy group, Icil Divo, whose members also included finalists from the show.
Obiet currently performs as a solo artiste and he has since released a single, Lagi-Lagi, and his debut album, Hanya Dirimu.