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Screaming girls, an amazing wardrobe, traveling all the time and performing on some of the world’s biggest stages. When it clicks, the life of a boy band member sounds pretty good, but it takes a lot of hard work before you step off a private jet and into a horde of beautiful female fans.
 
9PM, a new boy band consisting of eight Chinese Indonesian members, is putting in the hard work to impress music lovers in hopes of grabbing center stage.
 
The band recently released its first single, “My Baby Girl,” which was produced by Indonesian musical heavyweights Damon Koeswoyo and Pongky Prasetyo. The group shot its first music video last week.

The band members — Marty Eddy, Hanz Boen, Wandy Oentu, Jowie, Rendy Marciano, Budi Santoso, Andy Panduwinata, and Alvin Intan — sat down to talk about their music, having a fan club and their plans for Imlek, the Lunar New Year.

How did 9PM form?

Marty: The idea originally came from us [Marty and Hanz]. Boyband had just became very popular, so we thought to ourselves ‘Why not give it a try instead of just studying and hanging out?’ It all started just for fun, but now it is very good for us to get real life experiences. This all came together at the end of August 2011.

How did you select the group members?

Hanz: We held two auditions. The first one was at Diva Central Park, and the second one was at a dance studio. For the first audition, we focused on vocals, and from that we picked Rendy, Budi, and Jowie. In the second audition, we focused on dance skills and that is where we picked up Andy, Wandy, and Alvin. We publicized the audition information online, with BlackBerry groups, Twitter and Facebook.

Martin: The original concept was to get eight people. But after much consideration, we thought that nine would be ideal as it would be better for choreography as the ninth member could be the center point. But after some disputes, two of our members left. We finally settled on eight members.

We want to make 9PM different from other boy bands. While other bands are lipsyncing, we actually have vocal talent.
 
We also have some dancing skills too. Unlike other boy bands, we are not just selling good looks, we also have skill.

Do you all love Korean movies and music?

Hanz: Andy loves it, all of it. Wandy and Jowie have come to like K-pop recently. But Martin and Budi aren’t really crazy about it, they just want to look and perform like a K-pop band.
 
The idea of 9PM is not to fully copy the Korean style nor it is to become Western style completely. We combine them both. We want to make the group versatile, so nobody can say that we simply copy it from other Korean or Western boy bands. We combine them.

What are the reactions from your friends and family to 9PM?

Andy: My mom supports it, as long as I can balance my studies and my career. Originally, my dad did not agree with it. He told me to finish my studies first. But after some discussion, my dad eventually supported my decision.

Jowie: Personally, my family and friends also supported this idea.

We performed at Tarumanegara University recently and got a fantastic reception. It was beyond our expectations, they treated us as if we were very special.

We even have our own fan club on Twitter called 9PM Lover. Anpan and Wandy have the most followers.

How serious are you all about 9PM?

Martin: We are not doing this just for fun, no. We want to keep this group alive. We want to prolong the boy band era. We don’t want to end in a year or two, we want to make sure it stays popular for a very long time.

We are doing this very seriously, 100 percent. We practice a lot. We have sacrificed a lot of our free time and put in a lot of effort.
 
The great thing about our group is the level of tolerance between the members. We all have our own daily things to do, but we still are committed to this group.

Is there a code of conduct that should never be broken in 9PM?

Martin: We don’t have that. We never limit our members outside the band’s life. We have a high level of tolerance. As long as we keep being professional, it is okay. We settle every issue through discussion. What is the problem and what is the solution? We always see things from every point of view.

You are all Chinese Indonesians, can you speak Mandarin?

Hanz: Andy, Martin, Alvin and Wandy can speak a bit of Mandarin. But when it comes to the local Chinese dialects from their hometowns such as kek or hokkian, they are fluent.

How do you usually celebrate Imlek?

Jowie: We put up festive decorations. On the first morning of the new year, we eat bihun [noodles] with eggs for breakfast, then do the traditional ‘sungkem’ [kneeling down and asking for blessing] in front of our parents to show our respect for them. Then we pay a visit to the homes of other families to get the angpau [a red envelope with cash in it].

Martin: Mine is always a big celebration. We always celebrate it with the traditional house repainting. We have to wear new clothes. We stay up all night together, then wear red clothing on the Lunar New Year day. Then we have the usual lunch with the family.

Budi: But remember, Imlek is always about the angpau!

What are your favorite foods on Imlek?

Budi: Mine is shredded pork and beef cooked in soy sauce, which is as bakpao [steamed buns] filling.

Martin: Mine is lokio, a pickled vegetable dish. We always eat it during Imlek.