Andy /Rif Almost Became GIGI's Vocalist, Here's the Story

Kapanlagi.com - The music group /Rif has just turned 27 years old. In their career journey, the band consisting of Andy, Jikun, Magi, Teddy, and Ovy has produced eight albums, namely Radja (1997), Salami (1998), Nikmati Aja (2000), Dan Dunia Pun Tersenyum (2002), The Best Of (/rif) (2004), Pil Malu (2006), 7 (2010), and 18 Years Of Rock (2013).

There are so many stories that /Rif has gone through during his career journey. The beginning of /Rif was started by Andy, the vocalist. Before using the name /Rif, Andy and Aria Baron and Iwan formed a band in Bandung called Badai. The name Badai didn't last long because one of their members, Aria Baron, moved to Jakarta and formed the band GIGI.

Actually, when Aria Baron moved to Jakarta to form GIGI, Andy was invited to be the vocalist of the band. However, Andy refused Aria Baron's invitation to Jakarta because he wanted to build and grow /Rif.

"The late Baron decided to move to Jakarta and join Budjana, Thomas, and Ronald, they needed a vocalist. Baron invited me there (Jakarta), I wanted to join. But I preferred to stay in Bandung with the other friends, and I chose to stay in /Rif," said Andy in the virtual Anniversary 27th concert, Wednesday (1/7/2021).

1. Find Other Personnel

From there, Andy decided to find other personnel and eventually the band Badai changed its name to /Rif. Initially, /Rif consisted of Andy (vocals), Iwan (bass), Jikun (guitar), Maggi (drums), and Denny (guitar).

"Badai originally had Baron and Iwan. At that time, the name Badai was an acronym for the names of the personnel. We eventually ended up looking for a simpler name. The name change of /Rif also came with personnel changes. /Rif was taken from Rhythm In Freedom," said Andy.

Aria Baron's role with /Rif is so important. In fact, Andy said that without Aria Baron, /Rif would not have been able to survive for 27 years.

"We were left by our friend, the late Baron. Baron was one of the founders of /Rif from the beginning. If it weren't for Baron, the name /Rif wouldn't exist until now. Although he didn't last long, thanks to Baron, the idea was created. Praying for Baron in heaven," he said.

2. Known in Bandung

Since changing their name, /Rif has been well-known in Bandung for frequently performing in the city's cafes. Eventually, /Rif received an offer to record with Sony Music Indonesia.

At that time, most of /Rif's songs were written in English. Even the song "Radja" that made /Rif famous was initially written in English. This was because at that time, /Rif lacked confidence in writing songs in Indonesian.

"Three English songs, suddenly we tried using Indonesian, but it felt strange. However, it turned out to be a hit," said Jikun.

"Instilling confidence is very important. We were nervous whether people would listen to our released songs or not. But it worked, thank God. Now we are confident in singing our own songs rather than singing other people's songs," added Andy.

3. Still Surviving

/Rif's journey has been long, and now they have been in the Indonesian music industry for 27 years. They are grateful that the band formed in 1992 has survived until now.

"Alhamdulillah, we have been together for 27 years and always in good health. We will continue to create music in Indonesia in the future. Maybe it will be slightly different. Usually, we blow out candles, but this time we won't. This is to keep the flame burning forever, so that our music spirit will always burn," concluded Andy.

As known, in celebration of their 27th anniversary, /Rif recently held a virtual concert titled "Anniversary 27th" on their YouTube channel, Rifband Official, on Thursday (1/7/2021). In their concert, /Rif involved two other guest stars, Fauzan Lubis from Sisitipsi and also Koil.

(kpl/far/nda)