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White Shoes and the Couples Company
WHITE SHOES & THE COUPLES COMPANY
IS A BAND THAT PLAYING INDONESIAN POP MUSIC, THE BAND INFLUENCED BY INDONESIAN MOVIES SOUNDTRACK FROM THE 70’S AND INSPIRED BY THE SPIRIT OF CLASSIC JAZZ MUSICIANS FROM THE PAST. UPDATED WITH CLASSIC STRINGS ARRANGEMENTS, RETRO DISCO BEAT, EASY LISTENING ACOUSTIC BALLADS, AND SOME TUNES FROM VINTAGE KEYBOARD TOYS THAT MADE IN 1970’S. The music is a swirl of Indonesian retro pop and jazz layered with charming, distinct melodies
White Shoes & The Couples Company ARE:
Miss Sari - VOCAL, FINGER SNAPS
Mr. Rio - ACOUSTIC GUITAR, VOCAL
Mr. Saleh - ELECTRIC GUITAR, VOCAL
Mr. Ricky -CELLO, BASS, VOCAL
Mrs. Mela - PIANO, VIOLA, KEYBOARDS, VOCAL
Mr. John - DRUMS, VIBES
The band started as a trio in August 2002, in an art institute in central Jakarta. Two art school colleagues turn lover from the visual art faculty, Rio (Yusmario Farabi) & Sari (Aprilia Apsari), decided to form a band together with their fellow art school student named Saleh (Saleh Hussein). This was the first formation of White Shoes & The Couples Company, which features Sari in vocal & violin, Rio on rhythm guitar and Saleh on melody guitar. The three of them made their first debut with this formation in a college event. However, the trio formation diverged from their original plan where actually Sari and Rio had keenly asked a married couple to join the band. The couple was Ricky (Ricky Surya Virgana) & Mela (Apri Mela Prawidyanti Virgana), both of whom studied classical music in the same art school. Thus was the "Couple" aspect of the band's name made plural.
Yet the couple was hard to meet since they were busy lecturing and covering for orchestras. Several months later, the couple agreed to join White Shoes & The Couples Company with Ricky on Bass and cello and Mela on viola, keyboards and piano.
The band remained a quintet for two years, until necessity required them to enlist a drummer for live shows. Enter percussionist/vibraphonist, John (John Navid), who joined the band in 2004, and evened out the lineup to three classical music students and three visual arts students.
www.whiteshoesandthecouplescompany.org
White Shoes & The Couples Company recorded their debut album comprising 11 songs under Aksara Records, an indie records label that based in Jakarta. On August 2005, this album was launched by Aksara Records and distributed by Universal Music Indonesia in Indonesia. The album has sold over 15,000 copies, and it’s a major step for an indie band.
www.aksararecords.com
In the same year, White Shoes & The Couples Company has contributed one song in Original Movie Soundtrack “Janji Joni” produced by Kalyana Shira Films. The movie was a big hit in Indonesian Cinemas, and also the single from the band, titled “Senandung Maaf”, becoming a high rotation in every radio in Indonesia. Following this success, in 2006, White Shoes & The Couples Company join another production from Kalyana Shira Films in a movie “Berbagi Suami”. The band recorded two songs for this movie soundtrack.
www.kalyanashirafilms.com
White Shoes & The Couples Company also signed up with Minty Fresh Records, an indie records label that based in Chicago, USA. Minty Fresh has released White Shoes & The Couples Company’s first album on October 2007 and distributed the album to the US, Mexico, Canada, Australia and Japan.
We are honoured to be the part of Minty Fresh, and to be in the same label with other great artists that already there, such as: Veruca Salt, Liz Phair, The Cardigans, The Poems, Ivy, The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group, Prototypes, Papas Fritas, Bettie Serveert, Kahimi Karie, and TAHITI 80.
www.mintyfresh.com
DISCOGRAPHY
2005 - OST “Janji Joni” (Aksara Records) single “Senandung Maaf”
- White Shoes & The Couples Company s/t (Aksara Records/Universal Music Indonesia)
2006 - Kompilasi “Thursday Riot” (Parc Suddenly Records / Kenanga Records) single “Kapiten & Gadis Desa”
- OST “Berbagi Suami’ (Aksara Records) single “Sabda Alam”(cipt. Ismail Marzuki) “Bersandar”
2007 - "MESIN WAKTU" Compilation (2007/Aksara Records) single "Mesin Waktu"(written by NAIF)
- White Shoes & The Couples Company s/t ( September 2007/Minty Fresh Records - USA)
- “Skenario Masa Muda” EP (September 2007/Aksara Records)
2008 - Kompilasi Kampus 24 Jam Hits (Januari 2008 / Kampus 24 Jam Hits records) single “Nothing to Fear (2007)” Album Kompilasi Siaga Bencana “Science in Music” (Agustus 2008 / LIPI & Electrified Records) single “Zamrud Khatulistiwa”
- “Skenario Masa Muda” EP (Oktober 2008 / Minty Fresh Records – USA)
2009 - “Senja Menggila” single (Juli 2009 / Aksara Records / YesNoWave)
- White Shoes & The Couples Company s/t (November 2009 / Avant Garden Records – Taiwan)
2010 - single “Kampus Kemarau” ( March 2010 / purapura Records)
- “ PEACE” compilation (April 2010 / Buffetlibre & Amnesty International Catalunya) single “Crosstown Traffic” (written by Jimi Hendrix)
- “Album Vakansi” (October 2010 / purapura records & demajors - Indonesia) CD
2011 - “Album Vakansi” (August 2011 / Desinee Records – Japan) Mini LP CD
AWARDS
“The 25 Most Crushworthy Bands of 2006” by All Music.com
http://www.allmusic.com/
http://wc09.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=61::6<HP
The Best Indie Band in Indonesia in 2006 by HAI magazine (Indonesia)
Based on HAI magazine readers polling
“The 25 Best Bands on MySpace in 2007” by rollingstone.com
“Most Blog Worthy Band on The Planet”
awarded by Yahoo! Music :highest honor of 2007 http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/betterlivingthroughmp3/;_ylt=ArHVchiNqM...
No. 91 in TOP 100 Albums in 2007 by Yahoo! Music
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/yradish/1127/the-best-albums-of-2007-91...
No.84 in The Best 150 Indonesian Albums all the time by Rolling Stone Indonesia magazine (December 2007 Issue)
INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCES
2006 - JAVA JAZZ International Music Festival at Jakarta Hilton Convention Center, Jakarta, INDONESIA
www.javajazzfestival.com
- SOUNDSHINE Music Festival at Annex Building, Jakarta, INDONESIA With Kings of Convenience(Norway), Mocca(Indonesia)
www.soundshineevents.com
- MELODY OF LIFE Music Festival at Central World Plaza, Bangkok, THAILAND with Orwell(France), Sweater(Korea)
www.melodyoflife.net
2008 - SXSW Music Festival 2008 At Habana Calle Annex, Austin, Texas, USA
- CMJ Music Marathon Festival 2008, New York, USA
2010 - Night Festival at Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
CONTACT
Indra Ameng / Personal Manager
+62 818817548
indra.ameng@gmail.com
wsatcc@gmail.com
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it www.myspace.com/whiteshoesandthecouplescompany
www.whiteshoesandthecouplescompany.org
Jl. Tebet Timur Dalam Raya no.6
Jakarta 12820 – INDONESIA
White Shoes & The Couples Company
PERSONAL BIOGRAPHY
Miss Sari (vocals, finger snaps)
Name : Aprilia Apsari
Place & Date of birth : Surabaya 18 April 1981
Email : apreelia@yahoo.com
Favorite Music : The Chiffons, Ella Fitzgerald, Gary & The Peacemaker, Spanky & Our Gang
Occupation : Visual Artist, Song Writer, Musician
Mr. Rio (acoustic guitar, backing vocals)
Name : R. Yusmario Farabi
Place & Date of birth : Jakarta, 11 June 1982
E-mail : aboy_named_rio@yahoo.co.uk
Favorite Music : Pet Shop Boys, David Bowie, Belle & Sebastian, The Walker Brothers
Occupation : Visual Artist, Musician
Mr. Saleh (electric guitar, backing vocals)
Name : Saleh
Place & Date of birth : Jeddah, 21 March 1982
E-mail : aleantipony@yahoo.com
Favorite Music : Shuggie Otis, Messugah
Occupation : Painter, Musician
Mr. Ricky (cello, bass, backing vocals)
Name : Ricky Surya Virgana
Place & Date of birth : Jakarta, 24 Agustus 1981
E-mail : cells2000@yahoo.co.uk
Favorite Music : Jimi Hendrix, Woody Herman, Jacquelin Dupre, Pizzicato Five, The London Suede
Occupation : Musician, Orchestra Player, a Husband & a Father
Mrs. Mela (piano, keyboards, viola, backing vocals)
Name : Apri Mela Prawidiyanti
Place & Date of Birth : Magelang, 26 April 1982
E-mail : sisevi@yahoo.com
Favorite Music : Luluk Purwanto, Ray Manzarek, Cibo Matto, Orange Pekoe
Occupation : Musician, Housewife, Music Teacher
Mr. John (drums, vibes)
Name : John Navid
Place & Date of birth : Binjai, 10 September 1981
E-mail : john_navid@yahoo.com
Favorite Music : Tower of Power
Occupation : Music Teacher, Musician
