Sunset Fair organizers have announced that Timorese recording artist and songwriter Boy Clemens will be performing at the launch of the event in Dili, Timor-Leste on September 11th, 2010.
Paulus Boy Ratamila Clemens, aka Boy Clemens, was born in Kupang, Dec 16th, 1968. His mother is Timorese, although she lost contact with her family in the strife of Timor-Leste’s struggle for independence.
Boy Clemens said that he started to love music as a child. He was already playing in bands when he was at junior and high school. As a college student, he started to perform in cafes in Jakarta and sang regularly at church; this led to him joining an “a capella” group, Talenta. His key influences are black music and jazz.
Boy Clemens’ big break came when he met renowned Indonesian composer Erwin Gutawa, who asked him to sing backing vocals with his orchestra, which helped him to develop his distinctive voice and musicality, as well to gain experience of working across a wide range of different genres. Appearances on Indonesian television soon followed and Boy Clemens started to write his own material. The result was his debut album, “Forca de Amor”, which he composed, arranged, mastered, produced and distributed himself, without the support of a record label.
The spirit behind “Forca de Amor” is Boy Clemens’ pride in his Timorese heritage: “I want to tell the world that Timor-Leste has a beautiful cultural tradition” he explained.
The songs on the album span a variety of musical styles, with lyrics in Tetum (an indigenous Timorese language) and themes touching on peace and reconciliation, love of nature and the country’s stunningly beautiful landscapes. Overall, the sound of Boy Clemens is melodic and laid-back, perfect for easy listening as you watch the sun go down after a day at the beach. This is why the track “Areia Branca” (White Sands) has been selected as the anthem for the Sunset Fair, a weekly event in Dili featuring entertainment, food and local handicraft stalls, which is being launched on September 11th - on the Dili beach that inspired the song.
“I made that song to remind people that the beauty of the ocean belongs to them. But I had never seen the beach when I wrote the song – I had only heard stories from the people how beautiful it is. The song is supposed to call people around the world to see that Timor-Leste also has a beach that is just as beautiful – if not more – than beaches in Bali or elsewhere”.
Now Boy Clemens will be travelling to Timor-Leste to participate in the concert for Sunset Fair launch: “Who could have imagined that I would be performing my music in that very place?” he said, laughing, “I’m so excited. It feels so good. It must be my destiny”.
Boy Clemens’ album, “Forca de Amor” will be on sale at the Sunset Fair. For further information, email boyclemens@yahoo.com or call +670-7234715. Listen to "Areia Branca" here
