Jakarta, IO – Indonesian superband Dewa 19 is releasing a new song, “Love is Blind”, in cooperation with major international musicians, including Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (member of Sons of Apollo, former member of Guns N’ Roses) on guitar, Simon Phillips (former member of Toto) on drums, Derek Sherinian (former Dream Theater member) on keyboard, Dino Jelusic (Whitesnake) Jeff Scott Soto (Sons of Apollo) for the vocals, and Billy Sheehan (member of Mr. Big, Talas) as bassist.
Dewa 19 frontman Ahmad Dhani admitted that he originally went through other options for the collaborative venture. “For example, I originally offered the song to our own former vocalist, Once (Elfonda) Mekel to sing, but he rejected me outright. So I made many calls, and ended up with the available personnel – the ones who finally made the record,” he declared when interviewed in Thamrin, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday, 4 April.
Dhani declares that he is happy with how “Love is Blind” turned out: “I am very satisfied! The personnel singing and playing show that they think the song is great. You can just feel their hearts and souls in it!”
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The “Love is Blind” final music video also differed from the initial plan: “I originally wanted to do it outdoors. A bit cheesy, I know, but I wanted to look real ‘American’! Unfortunately, January in the USA is full of bad weather. That stopped us from actually shooting the video outdoors. Finally, Derek convinced us to make the shoot on a green screen instead.”
The “Love is Blind” official lyrics video was released in March, with the official full music video released on 04 April 2023. (rp)