| Samsons | |
| Origin: | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Genre: | Pop, rock |
| Years Active: | 2003–present |
| Current Members: |
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| Past Members: |
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Samsons is a pop-rock band formed in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2003. As of 2022, the band currently comprises Adrian Martadinata (vocals), Irfan Aulia (guitar), Erik Partogi Siagian (guitar), and Aldri Dataviadi (bass).
Samsons are known for their orchestral musical arrangements and for their anthemic singles, including "Naluri Lelaki", "Kenangan Terindah", "Bukan Diriku", "Akhir Rasa Ini", "Di Penghujung Muda", "Luluh", "Kisah Tak Sempurna", "Hey Gadis", "Seandainya", "Tak Bisa Memiliki", "Hening", "Tak Ada Tempat Seperti Surga", and "Masih (Mencintainya)".
The first album, titled Naluri Lelaki, released on 25 November 2005, was a major success for their debut in the music industry. It achieved multi-platinum awards for record sales, as well as winning various award categories at the Anugerah Musik Indonesia (Indonesian Music Awards) in 2006. The categories include Best Newcomer, Best Group/Duo, Best Song (Kenangan Terindah), Best Album (Naluri Lelaki), and RBT (Ring Back Tone) Award. Popular singles from Naluri Lelaki are as follows; Naluri Lelaki, Bukan Diriku, Akhir Rasa Ini, Kenangan Terindah, and Di Penghujung Muda. During its heyday, this song occupied the first position on the MTV Ampuh chart from Agustus 2005 to December 2005.
The second album, Penantian Hidup, released on May 25, 2007, was produced in three countries (Indonesia, Australia, and United States). In this album, for the first time Samsons worked with an overseas orchestra group called Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra, which contains 55 of Australia's best musicians, playing an orchestra arrangement written by Erwin Gutawa. Penantian Hidup was mixed by a senior mixing engineer from Australia, Guy Grey, in Singsing Studio, Melbourne. The mastering session for Penantian Hidup took place in Sterling Sound, New York. Mastered by Ted Jensen, an American mastering engineer, who has mastered for The Eagles (Hotel California), Green Day (American Idiot) and Norah Jones (Come Away With Me). Hits from Penantian Hidup include "Kisah Tak Sempurna", "Luluh", "Seandainya" and "For You".
In celebration of the sales for Penantian Hidup reaching platinum status, Samsons released an extended version of the album in 2008, named Penantian Hidup: Platinum Edition. Samsons dedicated the album to Samsonia, a term for supportive and loyal Samsons fans. The Platinum Edition album contains the eleven songs included on Penantian Hidup, plus three new songs titled "Tak Bisa Memiliki", "Hening" and "Devil's Box".
In 2009, Samsons released their third, self-titled album, SAMSONS. The album was produced in Aquarius Studio, Jakarta, and recorded using the analog system - due in part to Samsons' distaste for recording as an art fading away. SAMSONS popular singles include "Tak Ada Tempat Seperti Surga", "Masih (Mencintainya)" and "Percuma".
In 2013, they released their fourth album, Perihal Besar, featuring the hit ballad "Di Ujung Jalan". This album was a debut for the new frontman, Ariadinata, who joined Samsons in 2012 after the first vocalist, Bams, decided to split from the band in late 2010. Beside "Di Ujung Jalan", Perihal Besar also has some other hits, like "Langit Runtuh", "Lara" and "Indonesia (Bersatulah!)".
In late 2016, Samsons released their single, "I Love You". The song is a lead single from their fifth album. The song was inspired by the birth of Irfan Aulia's daughter. In this song, Irfan talks about the feelings of love at first sight, from the view of a father to his daughter. Not leaving their trademark in music, in this song Samsons back with an epic orchestral arrangements. This time, they had the opportunity to work with the Budapest Scoring Symphony Orchestra. The Orchestra consists of 55 classical musicians based in Budapest, and plays an orchestral arrangement written by Irfan himself.
In 2017, Samsons returned with their single, "Cinta Mati". It is a ballad piece with the theme of love, from their upcoming fifth album. The song was written by Irfan Aulia in 2012. Before being performed by Samsons, "Cinta Mati" was originally released and sung by Marcell Siahaan in 2015. Samsons performed the song with a new arrangement. Similar to "I Love You", in "Cinta Mati" Samsons worked with the Budapest Scoring Symphony Orchestra on the rearrangement of "Cinta Mati". The Orchestra included 55 players in total, with 40 strings players, 7 woodwind players, 7 brass players, and 1 percussionist with a background in performing for movie scores.
Orchestral sound also appeared in Samsons' discography in 2007 on the album Penantian Hidup, where they collaborated with the Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra.
On 18 December 2020, the band released their fifth album titled V ("five" in Roman numerals) that contained twelve songs, three of which were singles released prior to Kondwe's departure ("I Love You", "Cinta Mati" and "Tuhan Tak Pernah Salah"), but do not include "Electrify My Soul" that released on 22 November 2019. The last single of the album, titled "Jika Nanti" also released on the aforementioned day. V was the band's last album with Aria Dinata as a vocalist.
On 5 March 2022, the Samsons announced that Adrian Martadinata would become their new vocalist. Samsons had been familiar with Maradinata since 2008. Irfan admitted that Samsons wanted to hire Martadinata, not just as a singer, but also to contribute in other ways to the production. Irfan remarked that Martadinata was a great "single maker". Martadinata said that Samsons is a well-known band to him, and that contributing to production - not just vocals - was his own desire as well. However, he did not accept the initial offer from Irfan, instead asking him, "why choose [me] instead of finding a younger one"?. Martadinata stated that Irfan's response was that he "wants to find a bandmate [he] can get along and have a lot of fun with".[1] Martadinata became an official member of Samsons and the band subsequently released two new singles: "Rayu" on 25 March and "Rasa yang Salah" on 9 September 2022.