Deden Noy, an Indonesian musician who turned his dreams into reality

     

    Deden Noy (29) lives in the village of Batu Lambang in the Bengkulu province. Since he was in middle school, Deden admired Mike Portnoy, an american musician. It all started when a friend of him gave him a VCD album of the band Dream Theater.

    Since then, Deden said he idolized and made Mike Portnoy a role model in playing the drums, and his admiration for the american musician was immortalized by adding the name Portnoy behind the name of his first child, Tama Aditya Portnoy (10)

    When Deden graduated from high school, he began working as a scavenger. "Day and night I look for used trash to sell. In the area I can't make a living relying on my drum skills," he said with a laugh.

    Things got worse in 2016, when the price for the garbage Deden collected had dropped. Even so, he learned the art of recycling; or how to turn old garbage into new stuff. The skill that he had learned was definitely worth it, as it would be useful later on in his future.

    As the pandemic took over, Deden changed his career from garbage-scraping to selling pulse and smartphone accessories at a counter. But very few people were buying his products, and he found it difficult to make it financially.

    To make use of his extraordinary music & craft skills, he found a way to turn old pieces of trash into drums and cymbals and then started to play, record and upload songs from group bands around the world.

   After playing and recording dozens of songs, Deden's game plan finally paid off. A song of the Dream Theater that he recorded,  "metropolis part 1"  on YouTube was a big hit. It caught the attention of many medias and even Mike Portnoy himself.

    Then, Mike Portnoy shared Deden's video and it was played by millions of people from around the world. "His talents are indeed incredible", said Portnoy on his insta account. The seasoned drummer is also in the process of delivering a brand-new drum kit to Deden, with the help of the TAMA Drums and Sabian brands.

    Deden expressed his gratitude for the appreciation and  support from Mike Portnoy, and wrote a comment on Portnoy's instagram post: "Surprise in the morning, it feels like a dream. Thank you everyone for your support so far."