1998: Formation Having achieved mainstream success in 1998,
Ahmad Dhani feels that
Dewa 19's songs are only about love and relationships. Following
Indonesian Revolution in the same year, Dhani needed to express himself in the field of general life and
politics, which he has been interested in for a long time. In an interview Dhani said "I really wanted to make social criticism songs with good music. Previously, social criticism songs did not have sophisticated music". Did not want to be known as a solo singer, then Dhani recruited Andra Ramadhan (his guitarist in Dewa 19), and Bongky Marcel, Pay Burman (who just left
Slank) which he met earlier in a studio. Bimo (the drummer of
Netral at that time) was recruited also, since Dhani like this drumming style. '
1998–1999: Ideologi Sikap Otak''''' Differs from his songwriting style in
Dewa 19 where he use keyboard as his main instrument, Dhani use composed the songs in guitar, resulting in different chord progressions. Ahmad Band then released
Ideologi Sikap Otak, their only album to date, which known for songs such as "Distorsi" and "Aku Cinta Kau dan Dia". The album is currently
deleted in physical format. Compared to some of Dewa's million selling album releases, the Ahmad Band project was only moderately successful.
1999–2021: Inactivity and other projects The band remains inactive since 1999, where Dhani and Andra found even bigger success in
Dewa 19's new formation (notably with
Once as their new vocalist, and Tyo Nugros recruited into Dewa 19) through the album releases of "Bintang Lima" in 2000, "Cintailah Cinta" in 2002, "Laskar Cinta" in 2004, and "Republik Cinta" in 2006. Andra also found success in his solo project "Andra and the Backbone" with Stevie Item (also known as the member of
Deadsquad). Even during the hiatus of
Dewa 19, Dhani also formed other groups such as "T.R.I.A.D", "Mahadewa", "The Rock", and become one of the judge for
Indonesian Idol and
X Factor Indonesia, leaving Ahmad Band out of the equation.
2021–present: Reunion Dhani announced the reunion of Ahmad Band through an Instagram post he made in January 2021. However Dhani used quotation marks in the "reunion", since it will be only Dhani and Andra as the original members will be present in the reunion. Other members present in the reunion are known musicians such as Thomas Ramdhan (from
Gigi), Yoyo Prasetyo (from
Padi and Musikima), Stephan Santoso (from Musikimia), and Ikmal Tobing (from T.R.I.A.D., and Mahadewa). == Discography ==