Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Nazril Irham

Nazril Irham- Author; Sry85- Wikimedia

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Nazril Irham

Nazril Irham was born on September 16th, 1981. He is an Indonesian musician, singer and songwriter of Minangkabau ancestry. He is known professionally as Ariel or Ariel.

He is the lead singer of an Indonesian band called Noah which was formerly known as Peterpan.

He is well known in the Indonesian pop culture scene because of the albums he has had the opportunity of releasing and the so many songs he has written.

1. Nazril founded his band in 2000

Ariel (Nazril Irham) and Lukman Hakim in a concert- Author; Dhimas Driawan- Wikimedia

Nazril founded Peterpan in Bandung in 2000 with Andika, Indra, Lukman, Reza, and Uki.

Peterpan’s second album which was called ‘Bintang di Surga’ (2004) is one of the best-selling albums of all time in Indonesia.

Peterpan changed their name later to ‘Noah’ after Ariel’s release in 2012. Noah also received commercial success, with their first album Seperti Seharusnya (2012) having sold over one million copies.

2. Started recording career in 2002

Recording studio- Image by Andrzej Nowak from Pixabay

Their recording career started in 2002 when they record their song, “Mimpi Yang Sempurna”, for a compilation album by various artists, Kisah 2002 Malam.

Afterwards, they were contracted by Musica Studios.

Under the name, Peterpan, they released three studio albums: Taman Langit, Bintang di Surga, and Hari Yang Cerah.

They also did a compilation album titled Sebuah Nama Sebuah Cerita and a soundtrack album for the film Alexandria.

3. He changed the name of the band after a few members left Peterpan

Nazril Irham at a private concert in 2013- Author; Dhimas Driawan- Wikimedia

After Andika and Indra split from the band in 2006, they demanded their former band change their name.

The remaining band members agreed and stopped using the name after 2008. Ariel, Uki, Lukman, Reza, and their new keyboardist, David, planned to announce their new name in 2010, but the plan was put to a halt after Ariel was arrested.

4. Irham was arrested on charges of sexual misconduct

Handcuffs- Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

The Bill against Pornography and Pornoaction came into effect in Indonesia in 2008. Thus in June 2010, Nazril was charged with breaking the law by appearing in two sex videos that were found on the Internet.

He claimed the tapes were stolen from his house and posted online without his consent, but the judge argued the pop star did nothing to prevent their widespread distribution.

He was therefore arrested and during his time in prison, his band released an album mostly consisting of the instrumental versions of Peterpan’s songs titled Suara Lainnya in May 2012.

His bandmates routinely visited him in prison while working on the album in order to get his input. Ariel’s 2011 single “Dara” was included as a bonus track in the album.

5. Nazril started writing music when very young

Writing- Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Ariel tried his hand at songwriting during middle school. One of the songs Ariel wrote during high school, titled “Yang Terdalam” (the deepest), received praise from his friends. This positive response drove him to write even more songs.

Additionally, his musical style was influenced by the grunge band Nirvana ever since his teenage days.  Nazril was so keen on Nirvana’s song as he was a great fan of its vocalist, Kurt Cobain.

Nazril’s songwriting was also influenced by the poet Kahlil Gibran.  He was introduced to Gibran’s writings in high school and liked the meaning he found behind Gibran’s poetry.

6. He has won so many awards and recognition in his music career

Awards- Image by Med Ahabchane from Pixabay

Ariel has won numerous awards with Noah, including AMI Awards for Best of the Best Album for Bintang di Surga, Seperti Seharusnya and Keterkaitan Keterikatan. He also won best of the Best Production Work for “Bintang di Surga” and “Separuh Aku”.

In December 2010, Rolling Stone Indonesia ranked Ariel at number 43 on its list of the Greatest 50 Indonesian Singers.

On February 2014, Rolling Stone Indonesia ranked Ariel 28th-best Indonesian songwriter.

7. Nazril’s band song first exploded in 2003

A band playing- Photo by set.sj on Unsplash

In 2003, Peterpan released their first studio album “Sky Garden“. This album turned out to explode the market.

One of the factors that support this album is his best–selling vocal Ariel and its ability to process the lyrics.

Because the lyrics were inspired by Gibran’s works, Nazril’s lyrics have always had an ability to touch the hearts of his audience. 

As time went by, the name ‘Ariel’ increasingly became famous. Nazril’s position as frontman of a rock band, made him become a new idol.  He is now really an idol for music lovers all over Indonesia.

8. He is now in commercials after a successful music career

Photo by Jeremy Yap on Unsplash

Besides a career in the music world, Ariel is now in commercials. He became a model for Sunsilk ad with Amy Lee‘s model.

In addition, Ariel became a movie star, in the Indonesian popular movie “Sang Pemimpi (The Dreamer)”.

9. Before being famous he was still passionate about music

Piano sheet music- Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

Even way before his band ‘Noah’ exploded and became a big thing, Nazril had formed a band that was called peppermint. It only lasted for seven months, however.

This went to show how resilient he was about music and the fact that he had tried a number of times to form something that would eventually be big enough to leave behind a mark.

He was successful at this seeing how his band and his musical skills are recognized all over the world. Their albums have also become very big in Indonesia.

10. He has appeared in a successful drama film

Film- Photo by Noom Peerapong on Unsplash

Apart from singing, Nazril has done other artistic projects like movies. In 2009, he appeared in a drama film that was known as ‘The Dreamer.’

This Indonesian film follows the tale of two village boys, who dream of going to study at Sorbonne University in Paris.

The friends deal with the trials of adolescence while at the same time battling the odds of being able to achieve their goals.  Nazril played a character named Arai, a young man who never stopped dreaming

The film did so well that it received the Bandung Film Festival for Commendable Film Music Arranger award.