Melly Goeslaw

Melliana Cessy Goeslaw (born 7 January 1974) is an Indonesian singer, songwriter, composer, producer, and writer.

She began singing while in the fifth grade, then began writing songs and took work as a backing vocalist for Elfa Secioria in high school.

This led to her family and her moving to Jakarta to further her career.

While providing backing vocals for Katon Bagaskara's promotional tour, she met Anto Hoed and Andi Ayunir.

Goeslaw was born in Bandung on 7 January 1974.

She is the daughter of Melky Goeslaw, a singer and songwriter, and his wife Ersi Sukaesih.

After her parents' divorce, Goeslaw was raised by her mother; with her sister Yuli, who now serves as her manager, was born from a second marriage.

While in elementary school, she enjoyed writing poetry, later recalling that she "was happiest when doodling on paper, writing [her] poetry".

While she was in the fifth grade, she began singing after being convinced by her mother, who was convinced that Goeslaw could sing like her father; although originally she did not want to be a singer.

She later switched to songwriting while in high school, writing lyrics on her napkins and schoolbooks and recording her humming on a Walkman because she could not play any instruments.

During high school, she worked as a backing vocalist for Elfa Secioria.

Her family eventually moved to Jakarta to further her singing career, and she was requested to be a backing vocalist for three different pop singers.

At one point, she was recording at three different studios every day.

The money that she earned convinced her to continue singing.

After replacing a backing vocalist for Katon Bagaskara's promotional tour for the album Dinda, Goeslaw met Anto Hoed and Arie Ayunir.

Aside from married with Hoed later that year, they went on to form the band Potret.

After marrying Hoed, the three formed the band Potret in 1995.

Their 1995 debut album was well received, bringing Goeslaw and her bandmates to fame.

, she has written over 500 songs.

The band's first album was released in 1995, with the song "Terbujuk" ("Seduced"), dealing with "the ultimate material girl", becoming instantly popular.

The popular band between 1995 and 1998.

While with Potret, Goeslaw wrote numerous songs.

Some were written conservatively as they were ordered by singers such as Krisdayanti and Ruth Sahanaya; other songs, generally the more "biting" ones, were used for Potret's albums.

One of the songs on Potret's third album, "Diam" ("Silent"), which dealt with the abuse of women, caused some controversy due to the perceived amount of violence in the music video.

Despite this controversy, it won Video Musik Indonesia's award for best interpretation of a song.

After releasing several albums with Potret, Goeslaw attempted to begin a solo career, releasing her self-titled debut album Melly in 1999.

In 1999, Goeslaw started her solo career with her self-titled debut album, which sold well.

Although Melly sold well, she became more popular as a solo artist after providing the soundtrack for the 2002 hit film Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? together with her husband.

Her later releases include solo albums and soundtracks.

Her second album, the soundtrack for the 2002 teen movie Ada Apa dengan Cinta? (What's Up with Love?, literally What's Up with Cinta?), in which most songs were sung by her and written by her and her husband, led to her being more popular as a solo artist than with Potret; she was also given the nickname the Queen of Soundtrack.

Its soundtrack later won Best Soundtrack at the Indonesian Film Festival.

Goeslaw later provided the soundtracks for 2003 film Eiffel... I'm in Love, 2005 film Apa Artinya Cinta? (What's the Meaning of Love?), 2007 film The Butterfly, and 2009 film Ketika Cinta Bertasbih (When Love Prays).

She considered the writing of songs for Ketika Cinta Bertasbih to be more difficult than her previous work in teen romantics, as it was a religious film.

As such, she felt that she had to be extra careful.

Two of her songs with Potret, "Salah" and "Bunda", were selected by Rolling Stone Indonesia as some of the best Indonesian songs of all time, while her work with Ada Apa dengan Cinta? garnered her and her husband a Citra Award at the 2004 Indonesian Film Festival.

However, Rolling Stone notes a decline in song quality after Ada Apa dengan Cinta?.

According to The Jakarta Post, Goeslaw is one of the most sought after movie songwriters in Indonesia.

In 2005, she released a collection of short stories to celebrate her tenth anniversary as a popular musician; four years later, she directed a concert to celebrate the bicentenary of Bandung city.

Goeslaw's onstage persona has been compared to Björk, with "eccentric" costumes, heavy make-up, and "wild" hair colours.

Her early songs have been described by The Jakarta Post as being "deliberately antagonistic", with controversial themes including materialism, sadomasochism, and violence against women.