Is Decided To Leave Payung Teduh and Spills His Frustration on A Lengthy Interview
“Liztomania” was a concert which aimed to highlight Payung Teduh’s career as a successful indie band, but it turned out to be a stage where the vocalist Is, announced his departure from the band. The band have revealed three full albums so far which are “Payung Teduh” (2010), “Dunia Batas” (2012) and “Live at Yamaha Live and Loud” (2016). After their performance on Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, Is said that he won’t be joining Payung Teduh’s activities anymore starting from 2018. For the mean time, Is will join the band and finish all the remaining contract and schedule until 31 December 2018. This sad news was met with various responses from the fans as the band’s recent single “Akad”blew up and broke the record for any indie bands alike in 2017. The single successfully take Payung Teduh to break the barrier between independent and mainstream music, so what made Is leave the band? On a lengthy interview done by the vocalist and guitarist with Rolling Stone Indonesia, it was revealed that he is not content with the band’s current state.
Is admitted to have planned his exit from this project since June, but only revealed the harsh truth to the public last night. Is and Comi first started this band when they were still pursuing their education in University of Indonesia, later on Cito and Ivan were taken on board and completed the formation of Payung Teduh we know now. On the interview, Is stated that miscommunication and fatigue became the main reasons of his departure. “I am tired of playing music. I know I need money since I have four kids. But I wouldn’t trade my soul in musical with… I look tired right? The moment where this should be performed with full spirit and energy. This concert (re: Liztomania) should be the “it” concert. But it was made in the midst of our hectic schedule. It felt forced. There was no practice. It was like any other regular stage,” said Is. He was also frustrated with the communication between the internal team of Payung Teduh, whether it’s between the members or management.
Baing questioned about how bad the situation is, Is frustratingly said that he had to plead other members to practice or record the songs. With their third album being planned to be released some time in December, will Is’ leave push the album back on the shelf? Is reassured the fans that Payung Teduh’s third and final album with him would still be released via KFC Music. With the release, he has fulfilled the promise of finishing this album which more than 90% was done by himself. Is revealed that in the past 3 to 4 years, the band weren’t be able to have a proper rest and they live their lives mostly on the road. Having had a hectic schedule and lots of money in return, did not make Is happy as he could see those two factors made the teamwork within the band unhealthy. “This routine made us unproductive, because we are too comfortable and too fond of performing on stage. This (re: his departure) is the brake. So, we won’t be trapped in that cycle,” he continued.
Talking about his next plan after leaving the band, Is said that he would go back to his roots as a theater player. He is currently working on a book that he writes with his wife. Furthermore, Is also said that the band’s future is uncertain after his absence although two remaining members wanted to continue the project. His leave from the band when they shine the brightest at the moment, is a sudden realization that fame and money could change people, and in return drifted them apart from their initial goals. A frontman’s leave from a band like Is’ case wasn’t the first time, but we hope that his reason could waken up countless bands and musicians out there to not be blinded by the side effect of popularity.