Noah (formerly known as Peterpan; and later stylized as NOAH) are an Indonesian rock band formed as Peterpan in Bandung, West Java in 2000, which consisted of six members: Ariel, Andika, Indra, Lukman, Reza and Uki, with Andika as the leader. Most of their lyrics are written by Ariel, who is the band's lead vocalist. The band currently consists of three members: Ariel, Lukman, and David; and is currently on hiatus since New Year 2024.
Starting their career by playing in cafés, Peterpan gained popularity in 2002 after recording "Mimpi yang Sempurna" for a compilation album Kisah 2002 Malam, followed by a debut album Taman Langit in 2003 that was an enormous hit in the country. They gained further popularity in 2004 with their second album Bintang di Surga, which sold over three million copies and won Best of the Best Album in Indonesian Music Awards (AMI) among other awards. A soundtrack album for the film Alexandria released in 2005, also sold over a million copies. Peterpan has won various awards including two MTV Asia Awards for Favorite Artist Indonesia and Best Contribution Award at the 2007 Asia Song Festival. After keyboardist Andika and bassist, Indra split from the band in 2006 keyboardist David joined in 2006, and later became a permanent member after 2 years. Their third and last studio album as Peterpan Hari yang Cerah launched in 2007 continued the band's success. After that, the band agreed to change their name in 2009.
The announcement of a new name was planned in 2010, but it was delayed because vocalist Ariel was arrested that year. After Ariel was released in 2012, the new name, Noah, was announced. Noah regained their popularity in 2012 with their first album, Seperti Seharusnya, which gained huge success by selling over a million copies in Indonesia and winning their second AMI Award for Best of the Best Album. Drummer Reza split from the band in 2015, around the same time Noah released their second album, Second Chance, where they collaborated with Steve Lillywhite. Rhythm guitarist Uki also split from the band in 2019 after the release of Keterkaitan Keterikatan album which won another AMI Award for Best of the Best Album.
As of 2020, Noah has sold more than 9 million albums in Indonesia and is recognized as the best selling alternative pop/rock band in the country. They are regarded as one of the most successful bands in the history of Indonesia's popular music. Three of their albums are included on the list of Indonesian all time best selling albums at #4 for Bintang di Surga, #5 for Seperti Seharusnya, and #15 for OST Alexandria.
History
1997–2000: Formation and early years In 1997, keyboardist Andika formed a school band in Bandung, Indonesia that was called Topi, with Abel as bassist, Ari as drummer, and Lukman as guitarist who joined the band after being invited by Abel. Lukman later asked his friend and a high-school student, Ariel, to be the vocalist since he was interested with Ariel's voice. Ariel then proposed his friend Uki as guitarist and Lukman approved it. Topi played in cafés — starting in the B Club café as their first appearance — birthday parties, independence day celebrations, and art festivals. Uki, Ariel, and Lukman decided to leave the band after seeing no vision for the band and Topi disbanded soon after.
While taking an academic break after graduating from high school, Ariel is requested to join Andika's new band, reuniting with Uki and Ari as well as meeting new additions of Indra (bass) and Nendy (guitar). The band was later named Universe and performed in O'Hara café. Lukman later replaced Nendy due to his mismatch with the band and Reza, Indra's bandmate in Second Act, took Ari's position because he was considered to be unable to follow the band's performance.
2000–2009: Peterpan 2000–2002: Topi's reunion, Kisah 2002 Malam, and Taman Langit Andika regrouped former members of Topi in 2000, the drummer was replaced by Ilsyah Ryan Reza, a college student from Palu. Loekman Hakim, a friend of Indra's elder brother, joined as their lead guitarist. Andika Naliputra Wirahardja suggested Peterpan as the name for the band referring to Peter Pan, the character created by J. M. Barrie, an author (other names they considered were Spiderman and X-Men). But according to Ariel, the name was taken from the name of a rabbit satay stall at the side road in Puncak, Bogor, that Andika and his mom visited while taking a rest on the trip to Bandung from Jakarta. The band was formally founded on September 1, 2000. Peterpan played on Bandung streets and gigged in cafés, with the goal of becoming a house band in one of the city's cafés. They often covered alternative rock and rock songs, (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Coldplay, U2, Creed, Lifehouse, The Calling etc.) at O'Hara and Sapu Lidi cafés.
While Peterpan performed as a Caffeine's opening act at Sapu Lidi, Noey, Java Jive's bassist, Caffeine's manager, and producer who planned to release a compilation album that was later known as Kisah 2002 Malam, spotted the band and asked them to fill a Musica Studio's album compilation as a replacement for a band that left the project. Peterpan recorded three demo songs: "Sahabat", "Mimpi yang Sempurna", and "Taman Langit". "Mimpi yang Sempurna" was chosen for the album. The album was commercially successful, selling a respectable 150,000 copies, and "Mimpi yang Sempurna" was given heavy rotation on Indonesian radio.
Peterpan later toured to several cities like Malang and Makassar as a part of Kisah 2002 Malam's promotion, that made their first appearances outside of Bandung. While on tour, Peterpan covered several bands' songs such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Radiohead, where their debut single, "Mimpi yang Sempurna", was performed as an encore. On 15 December 2002, Peterpan made their television debut in Trans TV's first anniversary, "Setahun Melangkah Trans TV".
Musica Studio's offered Peterpan a contract and released their debut studio album, Taman Langit, in June 2003. By releasing mega-hits such as "Sahabat", "Mimpi Yang Sempurna" on a piano version, "Aku dan Bintang", "Semua Tentang Kita", "Topeng", and "Yang Terdalam", their debut studio album instantly become hugely popular around the country and made them superstars. The album has sold over 650,000 copies making Peterpan reach a Multi-Platinum Award.Peterpan
2004–2005: Bintang di Surga and OST Alexandria Following their debut album's commercial success, Peterpan held concerts in six cities in Indonesia in only 24 hours on July 18, 2004. The six-cities concerts were also part of promotion for their second album. The concerts were titled "Konser Breaking Record" and included concerts on two Indonesian major islands: Sumatra and Java. The concerts started in Medan, then Padang, Pekanbaru, Lampung, Semarang, and finally ended at Surabaya. Peterpan then received an award from Indonesian World Records Museum (MURI) for breaking a record, by being the first band to hold concerts in six provinces in a day.
In 2004, by releasing a number of monster hits such as "Ada Apa Denganmu", "Mungkin Nanti", "Kukatakan Dengan Indah", "Bintang di Surga", "Di Atas Normal", and "Khayalan Tingkat Tinggi", their second studio album Bintang Di Surga was released in August 2004 and quickly became the biggest phenomenon in the 2000s, not only in Indonesia, but also in the neighborhood countries such as Singapore, Brunei, and Malaysia, where in the latter country that album was awarded 6× platinum. Selling over 350,000 copies in two weeks, by the end of 2005, it had sold a remarkable 2.7 million and to date had sold over 3.2 million copies in Indonesia. This album became the third best-selling album of all time in Indonesia and Rolling Stone Indonesia magazine ranked album #116 on "The 150 Greatest Indonesian Albums of All Time" list. A song from this album, "Kukatakan Dengan Indah", got a place at #140 on Rolling Stone Indonesia'''s "150 Greatest Indonesian Songs of All Time" list. Also in 2004, Peterpan collaborated with Indonesian pop singer, Chrisye, in Chrisye's album Senyawa, specifically on the song "Menunggumu" which was written by Ariel.
The greater commercial success of Bintang Di Surga had led Peterpan to receive recognition and won many awards in early 2005, where Peterpan won an award as Indonesia's favorite artist at MTV Asia Aid in Bangkok. At the Indonesian Music Awards (AMI) 2005, Peterpan ranked top in the nominations by obtaining 11 nominations. Four of them were printed through the song "Ada Apa Denganmu". Of the 11 nominations, Peterpan won 7 awards, including "best music group", "best album", "best graphic design album" and "best production work", due to the album Bintang Di Surga. At the SCTV Music Awards 2005, Peterpan was honored in the "Top Pop Group Albums" and "Most Popular Songs". In February 2005, Peterpan planned to release a video album, later titled Untuk Sahabat Peterpan which contains karaoke's music video and the 6 cities on 24 hours' breaking record concert's documentation, the video album was released a month after.
In September 2005, Peterpan released a soundtrack for the Rexinema movie, Alexandria. The album's release concert was aired simultaneously by six national TV stations, live in their hometown, Bandung, at the Dago Plaza. The soundtrack album included five new songs and renditions of five of their songs from Taman Langit and Bintang di Surga. The song "Tak Bisakah" was able to reap the controversy due to being copied by Indian musicians for the film Woh Lamhe Woh Lamhe with the title song "Kya Mujhe Pyaar". This album succeeded, sold over 1.3 million copies and was recognized as the best-selling soundtrack album of all time in Indonesia (#15 on the list of best-selling albums in that country). At the 2006 Anugerah Planet Muzik which is an annual award given to the most popular artists from Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, and Malaysia Peterpan won two awards as the "Best Duo/Group" for song "Tak Bisakah" and "Most Popular Group Artist". Peterpan also won their second award as Indonesia's favorite artist at MTV Asia Aid.
2006–2009: Andika's and Indra's departures, Hari yang Cerah, and Sebuah Nama, Sebuah Cerita In November 2006, Andika and Indra split with the rest of the band, with both sides citing musical differences and lacking contributions from both of them leading to dismissal. According to Ariel, there were problems since the making of their first album. Indra had also just lost his child. Following Andika and Indra's dismissal, Andika's mother was disinclined if the remaining members were still known as Peterpan and Andika set the plan to threaten the band if Peterpan's name didn't retire. Andika and Indra later formed a new band named The Titans, and signed with international label EMI Music Indonesia, releasing a self-titled album and a single, "Rasa Ini".
In 2007, the remaining members of Peterpan released their third studio album, Hari Yang Cerah. This album produced other popular hits like "Menghapus Jejakmu", "Di Balik Awan", "Hari Yang Cerah Untuk Jiwa Yang Sepi", "Sally Sendiri", and "Cobalah Mengerti". The band also held an album's release concert which also aired simultaneously by six national TV stations, also live in Bandung, but at Gasibu this time. In 2018, the single "Menghapus Jejakmu" became the subject of public discussion after there was an element of similarity in the new song released by Korean Boyband iKon "Love Scenario". Although they have similarities, the meanings of the two songs are different.
In September 2007, they took part in the Asia "Song Festival" in South Korea as representatives from Indonesia.