TEMPO Interaktif, Jakarta -Trio blues rock Gugun Blues Shelter akhirnya merilis album terbarunya. Berjudul Gugun Blues Shelter, album yang, menurut Gugun, gitaris dan pendiri Gugun Blues Shelter, telah “menyita energi dan pikiran kami” itu bisa dibeli melalui delivery order.

Andre Harihandoyo and Sonic People dibentuk di Jakarta, Indonesia, pada pertengahan 2006, ketika sang vokalis/gitaris Andre Harihandoyo memutuskan untuk menaruh beberapa lagu yang telah ditulis dalam sepanjang hidupnya. Bukan hanya merekam lagu sendiri dengan gitar, ia memutuskan membawa beberapa instrumen lainnya pada beberapa lagu untuk membantu memberi ide-ide agar musiknya lebih mendalam.

Andre menemukan pemain bass Brian Jonathan dan multi instrumentalis Andreas Arianto, yang keduanya adalah musisi di scene musik lokal. Album berjudul Aerodyne telah diluncurkan pada 2006, dengan drumer Adit Nugroho yang sempat mengisi posisi drum selama beberapa bulan, sebelum akhirnya pergi dan digantikan oleh Tobias Ringga alias Ndut.

Begitu lagu mereka diputar ke dalam pemutar cakram padat, suara gitar akustik yang terdengar segera memberi sensasi menyejukkan kepada telinga yang mendengarkan. Mendengarkan lagu pertama The Break-up rasanya seperti mendengar soundtrack menenangkan film-film komedi romantis versi Hollywood untuk kalangan 30 tahunan.

Terdengar menyenangkan, catchy dengan nada pop yang sederhana, dan manis dibalut vokal Andre Harihandoyo yang empuk, seperti penggabungan antara pola folk pop Jack Johnson dan kontemplasi cinta John Mayer.

Melanjutkan perjalanan ke lagu kedua Justify” yang nakal dan juga I’ll Wait for You yang bernuansa jazz, rasa yang ada masih juga sama tanpa adanya kebosanan.

Hadirnya unsur instrumen seperti upright bass, clarinet, dan juga piano menambah ekpslorasi bagi karya satu ini, eksplorasi yang masih bertujuan sama, yakni memberikan nuansa rileks untuk dinikmati sembari bersantai.

Bagi yang sudah pusing kepala akibat macet di jalan, atau beban pekerjaan yang memadati isi pikiran, Good for the Soul adalah rekomendasi yang oocok untuk sedikit menetralisir.

Grup musik blues asal Indonesia Gugun and The Blues Shelter, yang terdiri atas Muhammad Gunawan (Gugun), John Armstrong (Jono), dan Adityo Wibowo (Bowie) telah mengelar tur di Kerajaan Inggris, Januari-Februari 2009.

Menurut Jono, alasan mereka menganti nama dari The Blues Bug menjadi Blue Hand Gang dan akhirnya menjadi The Blues Shelter, karena nama Blues Bug telah digunakan sejak 10 tahun oleh grup musik asal Yunani.

“Blues selama ini hanya jarang terekspos. Hanya dimainkan di bar atau pub, jadi seakan eksklusif. Padahal tidak begitu,” ujar Gugun, vokalis dan gitaris Gugun and Blues Shelter.

Padahal blues mengandung beragam aliran musik. Mulai dari rock, psychedelic, funk, hingga jazz. “Jadi aliran yang dipakai semua musisi saat ini, baik muda maupun tua,” tambah dia.

Dari segala genre musik yang ada, blues adalah yang paling purba. Kecuali klasik, hampir semua jenis musik terpengaruh musik ini, mulai pop, jazz, R&B, hingga hip-hop.

Tak ada catatan resmi kapan musik ini pertama kali diperdengarkan. Yang pasti, kaum budak di Amerika yang kerap memainkan musik jenis ini. “Ketika Adam dan hawa pertama kali bertatapan, sejak itulah blues lahir,” begitu kata John Lee Hooker, musisi blues yang lahir pada 1917.

Source: Inilah.com

ump to 2010, the blues trio, now called Gugun Blues Shelter, drew significant crowds at the 2010 Java Jazz Festival that ended Sunday, with two shows of their own in the three-day festival.
Their expanding loyal fan base, who knew their songs by heart, begged the band members — Gugun, bass player John “Jono” Armstrong and drummer Aditya “Bowie” Wibowo — to play their favorite songs.

Asked about growing from an obscure band to finally being recognized as a phenomenal blues band, Gugun said: “That’s what struggling is all about”.

The shoulder-length tousled-hair guitarist was sitting behind the stage Saturday after giving an energetic performance.

“We keep trying and focusing on this type of music — and sticking to it. A lot of blues bands make one album, find that not many people are interested in that type of music and then change their style,” he said.

“I started in 1994, performing in blues festival, clubs, making albums and sticking to this type of music. Finally people are listening,” the 33-year-old said.

“It’s feasible for a blues band to make an album and to continue to exist in the music scene in Indonesia. You have to be focused and consistent,” he said.

The key, Gugun said, is to keep the gigs goings.

“You can’t just release an album and then not play your music, you have to perform,” he said.
Gugun Blues Shelter is doing just that. Aside from performing in local and international festivals as well as touring in the UK, they play in blues clubs, cafes, universities, art centers and also malls.
Gugun, who is said to remind blues aficionados of legend Stevie Ray Vaughan — when it comes to guitar playing, started Gugun and The Bluesbug as a solo project.

In 2004, he released debut album Get The Bug with Jono from the UK and Iskandar on drums. He recorded his second album Turn It On with Arditya on the bass and Agung on drums.

While the local scene hadn’t recognized Gugun’s genius guitar playing yet, the band received more attention outside Indonesia, especially when touring repeatedly in the UK.

In 2009, Gugun and his musicians were the only Asian band — out of a total of 30 — to perform at the Skegness Rock and Blues festival.

In 2008, Gugun teamed up with Bowie, a 25-year-old drummer prodigy whom Gugun dubbed as “the most wanted drummer in Indonesia”. Bowie has played with jazz singer Syaharani, jazz guitarist Tohpati and singer Alena.

In 2009, Gugun reunited with Jono, 30, and changed the name of the band to Gugun and the Blues Shelter.

Gugun said that since the Blues Shelter, the band was no longer his solo project, but real teamwork. “I really hope this [line up] will last.”

Jono, in fluent Indonesian, said he had met Gugun in 2003, jamming with him at BB’s blues bar in Menteng, Central Jakarta. He returned to the UK in 2006 to continue his studies.

After a little while, he decided to return to Indonesia in 2009. “I don’t like it in England and I really miss playing with the band,” he said.

“While I was in the UK, Gugun came three times and played there. And the audience reception was always very good. I see there’s a future for the band,” he said. “And for that I have to be in Indonesia for band practice and for it to be able to develop,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bowie said he had chosen to join Gugun because he felt he had found a family.
“I feel really comfortable with Gugun and Jono. Not only musically but also personally. The band is the family I have always dreamed of,” he said.

Gugun Blues Shelter has independently released a new self-titled album, which is a replacement of the planned Set My Soul on Fire album that failed to be released due to conflict with the band’s label.

Gugun said the new album was darker than previous Bluesbug’s albums. The new album is a means for the band to unload their emotional baggage from their fight with their label.

“It’s about the hurt and regret,” Gugun said.

The album also contains political songs criticizing officials appearing on large billboards in public spaces.

Bowie added the album had a gloomy song about the time they were recording in the UK. “It was minus 10 degrees there!” he said.

The band recorded the album in two months. Gugun described it as more spontaneous, rich in all instruments: Guitar, bass and drums.

They are scheduled to go on a summer tour in the UK this year, to perform at the Timbre Rock and Roots festival in Singapore late this month, which is making Gugun and his band members excited and nervous at the same time.

“The line up for the festival includes Buddy Guy, Gipsy King, George Holland, and Buena Vista. A lot are Grammy award winners. We’re quiet nervous but we’ll give it our best shot,” he said.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Penampilan pertama Gugun di BBJ pada Maret 2009 mengundang banyak penonton, dan banyak yang meminta BBJ untuk kembali menampilkan trio pengusung funky blues ini. Jadi jangan sampai kelewatan lagi ya. Apalagi mereka akan membawakan lagu-lagu yang superbaru, yang baru diciptakan minggu lalu.

“Diciptakan secara langsung di studio, kita main sambil menulis dan mengaransemen lagu,” kata Gugun yang datang ke kantor Warta Kota pada Rabu (20/1) malam.

Karena digarap sambil nge-jam, makanya lagu-lagu baru itu penuh dengan eksperimen yang mereka sendiri juga terkaget-kaget waktu mendengarkannya kembali. Ada lagu yang memasukkan hentakan British indie vibe, sementara lagu lainnya memasukkan suara angklung.

“Puas tapi penasaran. Kok bisa bikin musik seperti itu,” kata Jon Armstrong, sang bassist.

Menurut Gugun gaya bermusik mereka berkembang sesuai dengan perkembangan zaman. Hal itu pula, katanya, dilakukan pemusik blues Amerika Serikat (AS) sehingga musik blues tetap berkembang.

“Kalau bapak-bapak (tokoh) blues masih hidup, mereka juga pasti juga melakukan eksperimen-eksperimen,” kata Adityo Wibowo alias Bowie, drummer GBS.

Dengan sangat yakin mereka bertiga berpromosi bahwa lagu-lagu yang akan dibawakan di BBJ akan lebih asyik daripada lagu-lagu yang mereka nyanyikan di pergelaran Blues Festival, November lalu.

“Mengekplorasi area baru dari bermusik,” kata Jon. Penonton dipersilakan bergoyang dan menari.

Lagu-lagu ini juga yang akan menjadi materi album baru, yang rencananya akan diberi tajuk GBS, yang akan siap edar pada Maret 2010 di acara Java Jazz 2010 dan Rock and Roots di Singapura.

Jadi, kalau penasaran seperti apa sih gaya GBS yang baru, dan mau sneek peek album terbaru GBS, ya datang saja ke BBJ pada pukul 19.30. Pentas ini terbuka untuk umum dan tidak dipungut biaya. Silakan bergoyang, silakan menari.