EXCLUSIVE: Puti Chitara’s Take on Goodnight Concert, Barasuara, and Dream Collaboration
A long black haired lady with energetic moves, haunting vocals and captivating piano play, is one way to describe soloist and pianist Puti Chitara. You might find her as a part of folk-rock six-piece Barasuara, but she has more to offer with her own music and new album “Goodnight”. We had a chance to interview the musician through email, and she kindly responded to our questions and told us about her music, dreams, and future. “Music has been introduced to me since I was little, my mother was also a musician and my father often played cassettes with songs which vary from Indonesian to foreign ones. Then, since I was 6, I started to learn classic piano until I was 12,” recalls Puti about her first encounter with music. If you haven’t known, Puti Chitara already has a solo album before releasing “Goodnight” and it’s called “Sarsaparilla Dream”. In previous album, she composed the music and lyrics while she was in high school and college and it sounded more uplifting than “Goodnight”.
“On the second album I went through many personal experiences, whether happy or sad. During that time, while working I also little by little discovered my music identity which I found very comfortable and could represent my feelings,” adds Puti explaining about the difference between her debut album and sophomore. As a part of Barasuara, the band hit jackpot when they released their critically acclaimed debut album “Taifun” in 2015. The success also affects Puti Chitara in some way and after being asked whether the brand of Barasuara was a curse or a blessing to her, she answered diplomatically. She is completely aware of the risk or impact of Barasuara’s fame and it is not something detachable from her overall identity. However, the singer also wants the listeners to notice that she also has her own music which differs from Barasuara. Puti is also grateful that people got to find her solo endeavor through her involvement in Barasuara, in a sense it feels like a blessing.
Having such a mellow and mysterious image to her new album, Puti Chitara says that her personality is the complete opposite of her songs in “Goodnight”. She plans on releasing an uptempo and cheerful number sometime in the future to introduce another side of her. For now,“Magical” is one of her favorite track from the second album to represent her happy self. Puti Chitara’s dream is to someday collaborate with her favorite songstress, which are Utada Hikaru from Japan or Lana Del Rey. She also cites Monita Tahalea as one of the local musician that she wants to collaborate with. Moreover, Puti Chitara has been busy preparing her solo concert for her new album that is titled “Goodnight Concert”. Goodnight concert will take place at Auditorium Shoemaker Studio, CCM Building, Cikini, Jakarta on 24 February 2017. The concert promises a great ambience in sound and visual that will represent her songs from both albums.
Many fellow musicians like Dika Chasmala, Billy Aryo, Dzulfikri, Bona Ambarita and Yudhistira Mirza from Parisude (Goodnight Concert co-director) as well as her bandmate Gerald Situmorang who contributes to the album participate in the concert. The tix has been sold for IDR85,000 with special merchandise bundling are ready to be purchased at the venue. Contact goodnightconcert@gmail.com or Hanna Dinnalia through mobile phone number +6281318540664 for more information about reservation for Goodnight Concert.
