Biography
This band was conceived in 1998 and started out as a cover band. Everybody who was around the Jakarta indie scene from that point onwards knew who they were. They performed britpop anthems from Suede, Pulp, Radiohead, Morrissey, The Cure, Rialto, Blur and many more, to perfection. Immaculate on stage performances skyrocketed the group’s stature to become the must-have band in all high school and campus festivals circa 1998-2002.
But, being just another cover band was not good enough for them. They wanted to express their own brand of music and stomp their signature sounds to distinguish themselves from everybody else. Thus, starting from around the year 2000, they started jamming to their own tunes and tried to create their own songs. Unfortunately, their vocalist at the time, Reno, struggled with this push into uncharted territories. After some years of trying to make it work, he gave up and quit the band he fronted.
A mad scramble to find his replacement soon took place. Not an easy task, considering he was already a looming, iconic figure in the indie scene at that point in time. Nevertheless, Lipgloss were determined to make something of themselves. Auditions were carried out and it took the band more than a year to finally appoint Reno’s successor, Agus. This diminutive singer had vast potential and could rapidly adapt to the group’s synergy.
More time was spent to develop new ideas and concepts for a distinctively new sound in an industry already saturated with boring, melodramatic pop-rock songs. Then, stronger than ever, with the help of Fiasco Records for distribution, they finally released their self-made debut album “Asa” in January 2007. The result was an outstandingly fresh and mature-sounding album, nothing short of brilliant. The album is somewhat dark, twisted and edgy, but also exceedingly beautiful and ground-breaking at the same time.
Considering they had zero promotional budgets, “Asa” did very well, particularly in Jakarta and Bandung. Indie publications and radio shows hailed them as a refreshing breath of fresh air, in a time when all bands are starting to sound quite similar to each other. They stayed true to their roots, but took it above and beyond all expectations.
However, nationally speaking, they are still relatively unknown. Being an underground outfit, they are constrained by the limitations common to all indie groups. It is their goal to reach and touch as many people as possible with their innovative new sound. In 2007, they were awarded as one of the best indie bands in the L.A. Lights Indiefest for their song, "Mereka Sebut Timur". The single is included in the compilation album, L.A. Lights Indiefest Vol.2 by Fast Forward Records.
Artist descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
