Formed in 1993 by pianist/composer Riza Arshad and drummer Arie Ayunir.

They started the band together with guitarist Tohpati and bassist Indro Hardjodikoro as a group of a few most prominent young Indonesian musicians. sD music is influenced mostly by the global jazz style with an exotic mixture of Indonesian environment.

The instrumentations are a blend of acoustic and electric idioms. As the richest culture state in the world, Indonesia treasures a vast variety of art and music forms which inspires many new art and music forms around the world.

As for its music, the eastern - Indonesian music, rhythm and culture in particular - and the western idioms blend naturally in the exploration of sD's creative works.

The Band has released four albums entitled "lukisan", "baur" and "Trance/Mission" and "patahan/faults" simakDialog won 2 awards from Anugerah Musik Indonesia (Indonesian Music Awards 2003) – Best Jazz/Contemporary Jazz Album (Trance/Mission), and Best Jazz /Contemporary Jazz Producer (Riza Arshad – Trance/Mission). Recent formation - Riza Arshad, piano and synth Tohpati Ario Hutomo, guitars Adhitya Pratama, bass and Endang Ramdan, kendang, Erlan Swardana, kendang, toys - is carrying a new form of music in different textures, harmonies and sounds that could expectedly be heard on their latest album “Patahan” (=fault)

And now in the process of completing its 5th. During the completion of 5th album the Band has spend time majorly in studio to prepare and hold a workshop for the material.

SELECTED PERFORMANCES : Jakarta International Jazz Festival from 1994 to 1997. Jazz Goes to Campus, Jakarta 1996 and 2002. Solo concert at The Petronas Philharmonic Concert Hall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2002. Kathmandu Jazz Festival, Nepal, 2004. Jazz Merah-Putih Festival, Bali 2003 and 2004. Indonesia Open Jazz Festival, 2004. Bali International Jazz Festival, 2005. Java Jazz Festival, Jakarta, 2005, 2006.

Indonesian eclectro-acoustic yaya that does not disappoint, fusing in little jazz and prog touches to the drone to create a nice mix of ideas and soul. In addition to synths, piano, fretless bass, spoken word and assorted toys that make cool sounds add depth and aura to the five tracks here. All of them clock in over ten minutes, which offers plenty of time to explore the soundscapes they are creating, and for the listener to dig deep for hidden grooves.
That excavation will not go unrewarded, especially on the nineteen minute plus “Kain Sigli.” Especially effective is guitarist Tohpati Ario Hutomo, whose light and crunchy work on “Worth Seeing” is, well worth hearing. This seven piece band has been around in various forms since the early 90’s, and their confidence shows. Another added goodie, sonically, is Riza Arshad on Fender Rhodes, who manages to find new sounds in that old but ever-amazing instrument.
Mike Wood for "Music Emissions"