Indra Qadarsih

Initially born as Indra Chandra Setihadi on April 1, 1971, in Jakarta, Indonesia, he is the son of the famous artist Titi Qadarsih. He is 45 years old. He is a prominent keyboard and synthesizer player. He studied Jazz piano at the Farabi International Music School and also learned music from Yamaha Musik Indonesia. He is also well-versed with programming that he studied from LPKIA, Jakarta. He started off his musical career as a mixing engineer for “Uluwatu (Mojoe)” when the recording was going on at the IQ Studio’s music room. His work as a sound engineer got him many other offers with various bands like 'Chameleon and Dinar'. It was during this that his keyboard skills were recognized, while he was recording for a musical ensemble named “Slank.”

Slank was a band started by Bimbim and initially they prepared cover songs of The Rolling Stones, but they were trying to set themselves up by releasing original songs. Impressed by Indra’s keyboard skills, they offered him the position of a keyboard player in their band in the year 1989. Working as a band member of "Slank", Indra helped the crew achieve great success, as the band belted out hits after hits in the 1990s. "Slank" even won the award for the Best Newcomer category, bestowed by the BSAF. "Slank" was a perfect fusion of various music genres like the Blues, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Pop and most importantly Ethnic Indonesian music. “Kampungan” was the second album released by them and it was a continuation of the next wave music Indonesia had experienced. The fresh music and vivid performances brought fans in numbers to their concerts.

Indra had slowly become a celebrity and a household name. His unique style had left everyone mesmerized. In 1993 and 1994, they released “Piss!” and “Blue Generation” respectively that was met with an even greater fanfare of which "Slank" had become a synonym. They were also the last albums Indra worked in as a member of the band because he happened to quit the band just then in 1996. This move is often a testimony to his severe substance abuse that he had and was facing with back then. Indra entered a coma for a week due to drug overdose and right after then spirituality and religion acted as his savior from the dark and murky world of pills. He has been pretty vocal about his drug abuse and all the obstacles he had to overcome to stay clean. He spreads awareness regarding the same.

He recalls, how back in the 1990s, drug related awareness was at an all-time low and because of the added pressure to perform and excel, their band was exposed to these substances. Some fans also hypothesize that his drug addiction was the reason that got him kicked off the band by Bimbim since Indra's productivity in the creative department dropped. His drug problem also led to a lot of financial difficulties in that phase, but while facing all these adversities, his belief in God strengthened, and he found his refuge in religion. He is now a devout Muslim who abstains from drugs in all forms and practices his religion strictly. He considers this second chance at life as a gift from Allah. He makes it a point never to miss offering his prayers and begs for forgiveness for all his misgivings of the past.

It was after the near death experience, in 2000, Indra formed a band of his own, which was named "BIP" along with two other former members of "Slank", and they started recording the demo versions of the songs their band would perform. He actively sought out producers and sent them these demos so that his band could get a break. Finally, after a lot of hardwork, "BIP" signed a record deal with EMI Music Indonesia, and in 2010, they moved to a secluded area to record their next album. It was at the Hard Rock Café there where the album got launched. The album was completely different than the music produced by Indra when he was a member of "Slank". It was more religious and spiritually oriented. It highlighted the struggles of addiction and the even greater struggles of withdrawals and going clean. He became a voice against Drug Abuse and inspired many youngsters to kick the habit. Indra continues to make more music with "BIP", works for KORG Indonesia and Universal Audio and spends time mixing and experimenting with sound.