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DEWA
The band DEWA was formed by Dewa Gede Suwija who was born on the outskirts of Denpasar, the capital city of Bali in Indonesia. His family hail from the town of Klungkung. Picked up his first guitar aged 12 years old - it was just a hobby for most people, but those six strings and the smooth glossy wood, for Dewa, became something more. For him it was the beginning of a love affair- an affair that to this day he remembers so vividly. "It was raining and I blagged my mum I need money for school and instead I took a trip down to see my cousin coz I knew he was selling a guitar about 15,000 rupiah (1 pound) and bought it off him - This was one of the happiest days of my childhood and it marked the beginning of something big for me." Dewa was introduced by western tourists to the sounds of influential Western musicians from The Beatles, Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix to Bob Marley and it was here that his unique style and skills on the guitar began to be noticed. Moved to UK 1988 and lived here ever since. His sound became so distinctive. 1992 in a quick visit back to Bali Dewa was crowned as the best guitarist in a national competition with his band then called Denpasar Session. Returned to the UK with Manchester set in his radar. He said: "I had heard about the Manchester music scene, you know Happy Mondays, Simply Red and The Stone Roses and thought I gotta get involved in this." He was young in foreign territory and struggling to adapt to the British language and way of life, but his persistence did however pay off. He enrolled himself on a Jazz course at City College Manchester, managed to meet a "great group" of musicians that shared his dream. He became a freelance session musician also formed the band 'Batsocats' which released their first album NINI 1996, dedicated to his grand mother 'Nini"who he was close to and had passed away. He immediately started gigging around the country, performing the latest in acid jazz and supporting James Taylor Quartet on tour. This is when things began to get really exciting. He found himself thrust guitar first into sessions organised for the BBC, Jazz FM and a collection of up coming independent artists. Despite plucking success Dewa still felt something was missing, he longed to get back to the fast-paced Rock N Roll music and culture. He decided to leave 'Batsocats' and formed 'DEWA.' 2001 'DEWA' produced the LP 'With or without you.' This was recorded in Revolution studios, renown for hosting bands such as 'The Who.' 'With or without you' then mixed and mastered at famous ABBEY Road Studio, London. DEWA also became the second artist to showcase his music at ABBEY Road Studio (after Sheryl Crowe). 2003 'DEWA' released an album entitled 'Alligator' and managed to gain recognition of his work in the Japanese cities Tokyo and Sapporo. He returned back to Bali 2005 to promote the 'Balinese' album 'De Mejudi' which in English means stop gambling. The Balinese government then approached Dewa to work closely on a campaign to stop gambling, using his song as trade mark coz gambling has become a big problem everywhere. His charity work promoting social engagement meant he had become somewhat of a role model for young people in Indonesia, He also become ambassador for UNICEF to set up a community empowerment initiative to educate people on awareness of HIV/AIDS. In 2007 'DEWA' released the critically acclaimed 'Time is Master' the sound of Indie alternative which fuses rock, blues, jazz and reggae vibes with dark club beat.
Written by Martin Baxter |
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