Mocca is an
Indonesian four-member band formed in 1997 in
Bandung,
West Java, Indonesia. The band's musical style is inspired by the retro sounds of the 70s, with influences of
swing,
bossa nova,
Swedish pop, and
jazz. The core of the band is Arina Ephipania Simangunsong, Riko Prayitno, Achmad ("Toma") Pratama, and Indra Massad. When playing live, MOCCA is supported by six additional players on keyboards, guitar, percussion, trumpet, trombone, and sax.
While in college, Arina and Riko decided to get together and form a band. For a year, they struggled with performing other people's music, finding themselves bored with the lack of innovation, at which point they decided to write their own songs. In 1997, they composed four songs that unfortunately were not well-received by the rest of the band. After much squabbling and conflict the band split up, leaving only Arina and Riko with their songs.
In late 1999, they asked Indra and Toma to join and Mocca was born. They now had a group with the same vision and awareness of music.
Having signed a contract with FFWD Records, helped Mocca a lot to go international. FFWD is previously a distributor for international indie-pop labels from Japan and Singapore to Sweden. All Mocca's album are distributed by FFWD's partner labels : Fruit Records in Singapore, Small Room in Thailand, Apple Crumble in Japan, Beatball from Korea, and My Honey from Italy
Their debut album
My Diary contains 13 songs written from a girl's point of view and her diary entries. The lyrics are in English, and the music mixes waltz, bossa nova, 70s disco, and rock.
Rolling Stone Indonesia magazine placed
My Diary on their "
150 Greatest Indonesian Albums of All Time" list at number 59. The magazine also ranked Mocca's song, "Me and My Boyfriend" at #150 on "
150 Greatest Indonesian Songs of All Time" list.
With simple and beautiful songs, all in English, the band gained popularity in neighbors countries especially in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Mocca has performed plenty of times in these countries. In 2006 Mocca collaborated with Swedish singer Karolina Komstedt, lead singer of the Swedish pop group Club 8. In 2007 Mocca performed in Japan as one of the headliners, long before that in 2004 they have performed in Okinawa as well. In 2008 they held in Malaysia and several gigs in Singapore too. Mocca’s latest international show was a solo concert held at Seoul, South Korea on May 2009
in 2010, their songs are used for several movie soundtracks in Korea, including Bandhobi and Personal Taste.
Arina Ephipania Simangunsong(vocals and flute) was born on 4 May 1978 in Bandung, West Java, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the
Institut Teknologi Nasional (Bandung), together with bandmate Riko. A fan of
Bing Crosby and
Frank Sinatra, Arina uses stage gestures and musical dynamics often found in jazz and folk-dixie tunes.
Riko Prayitno (guitar) was born on 29 January, 1977 in
Bogor, West Java. Like Arina, he also graduated from the
Institut Teknologi Nasional (Bandung). He began playing guitar at an early age, and began playing professionally with Arina while still in college.
Ahmad Pratama aka
Toma (bass) was born on 27 June, 1976 in Bandung, West Java and has lived there ever since. A product designer by training, Toma has excelled in setting up the key components of their music. His punctual bass tone accentuates the tempo and rhythm set by Indra's drumming skill. His influences include
Sting and
Phil Collins.
Indra Massad (drums) was born on 31 January, 1976 in
Medan, North Sumatra. He and Toma studied product design in Bandung together, and joined Mocca at about the same time. Unlike other drummers that use many tom-toms and cymbals, Indra prefers the simplicity and versatility of a single snare drum. His brush technique during acoustic sessions acts just like seven different mallets making seven different tones.
