07.09.2007

RIVERMAYA: DIVORCE, LULL, AND RECOVERY

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S BIGGEST BANDS LOSES ITS FRONTMAN? HERE'S ALDUS SANTOS' ACCOUNT OF RECENT UPHEAVALS IN THE RIVERMAYA CAMP

by Aldus Santos

“Nobody knows just why we’re here.”

I briefly stepped out of the smoky confines of Mag:Net Café in Katipunan to catch my breath; my band would not be gracing the stage any time soon. As if on cue, I saw Itchyworm Jazz Nicolas walk towards the gate, surveying the brightly lit marquee with a friend; they both came from another Itchyworm’s wedding—Chino Singson’s—and they had the white shirts, slacks, and immaculate leather shoes to prove it. And then, high fives everywhere. “Ano’ng oras kayo?” he asked. “After Ria Munoz,” I said, “hintayin mo.” A lull in our otherwise spirited conversation badly needed to be filled. “Mag-di-disband na raw Rivermaya, ah,” Jazz offered out of the blue, knowing full well that the nonchalance would be lost on anyone. “Ano?” I said in shock. He shared that he got the news of chief songwriter Rico Blanco’s departure from Rivermaya drummer Mark Escueta himself. The supposed “last gig” happened a full week ago—May 4—at Metro Bar, where Rivermaya shared the bill with Pupil and Sandwich. While everyone set their gossip-addled sights on a possible Ely Buendia-Raimund Marasigan collision (or union, for the hopefuls), an actual crisis was instead brewing in the Rivermaya camp. Reports also said that, onstage, the band openly made allusions to terminality during the gig; “Huli na ‘to!” had been vague enough not to cause serious alarm, but clear enough to cause genuine concern.

“Sa panaginip lang ako nakakatulog.”

The hushed tones in public began when J.B. Leonor, drummer for The Dawn, posted a message on his band’s mailing list that Rivermaya was indeed breaking up, and that their final show would be “later that night,” i.e., May 4. However, there were no reports of any explicit announcement from members of Rivermaya during the gig, save for—to quote a Collective Soul album title—“hints, allegations, and things left unsaid.” It would be a full eighteen days ‘til people—baffled over the events that unfolded at Metro Bar—would hear from Rico Blanco himself; the venue would be that soul-sucking virtual page called Multiply (kidding). Blanco’s page, dubbed A Million Flames (also the name he adopted for his development work) had this message to offer on May 22 of this year:

Dear friends,

I am no longer with the band and management of Rivermaya. I have been with the group from the start, and after 14 great years, I am now quite excited about the chance to finally do other things with my life, [to] pursue endeavors outside of the entertainment spotlight. This is a desire I have made known to my group as early as 2005 and have already postponed several times. I will surely miss the music and the fans and will always cherish the experience. I hope you will continue supporting the group and the whole of OPM. My work is done. Thank you for all your incredible love and support.

Rico Blanco



I found myself in an unenviable predicament: should I chase the scoop (pencil tucked behind ear; coffee and donuts)? Or should I let these guys be? Such is the conundrum of the artist-cum-critic. (But enough about me.) An initial SMS message to Rivermaya bassist Japs Sergio yielded, predictably enough, an unsuccessful outcome. “Pass muna ‘ko with any interview anytime soon, pare. Text or e-mail mo si Lizza,” the bassist said, referring to Lizza Nakpil, the band’s celebrated manager. I then tried doing this and got a polite request for postponement. “Ask me again in a week; I hope you understand,” the eloquent figurehead said, and it wasn’t necessarily a weight-of-the-world kind of feeling she exuded, but, you know, still pretty sad. A third refusal would be the cymbal-crash to my pursuit for clarity, and this time, it would come from Rico Blanco himself. “Bro, I am really sorry, but I will not be able to grant your request for an interview at the moment. I hope you understand, pare. I believe everything I need to say about the issue is already in my statement on this site.”

There are no surprises here. After all, it is somewhat like asking a fire victim—while he’s dejectedly looking at the remains of his stuff amidst charred rubble—how he’s doing. You just don’t do that. At least, not so soon after the tragedy.

“And if you bump into somebody who’s lost, maybe that’s me.”

Rico Blanco is largely (perhaps even unquestionably) perceived to be the brains behind Rivermaya; however, if recent events will grant us an epiphany, it would be that he may not have been its heart and soul all along. While he wrote most of the group’s hits—and by most, it would be wise not to think of a conservative estimate—other members have also shown definite skill. But okay, let’s back up a bit, back to the departure of that strange, charismatic, wide-eyed man called Bamboo. (Yes, him.) In a previous print article I wrote on Rivermaya, I compared the self-styled “Banda ng Bayan” to a monolith that has become greater than any of its individual parts. This theory is especially true, I think, when you consider that Bamboo, frontman extraordinaire, was replaced by Blanco, then a meek geek of a guitar player and backup singer. The belief and general rule, of course, is that a band—a popular one at that—could not lose its lead singer, and that such an event would guarantee instant demise. In elementary advertising terms, therefore, the band’s “branding” is achieved by the unique and definitive voice of the frontman. Rivermaya proved that theory to be a heap of crap, though, and Rico Blanco assumed the singer post in no time.

Now, the obvious counter-argument seems to be that Rico is the chief penman of roughly ninety percent of Rivermaya’s discography, and consequently—contrary to the easy-breezy recovery from Bamboo’s departure—it would be impossible to recover from Blanco’s exit. However, a curious footnote to this would be the fact that drummer Mark Escueta penned “Nerbyoso,” the band’s widely well-received first post-Bamboo-exodus single. Just one LP prior to this, a piano ditty called “If” made decent waves on the—er—airwaves, and it wasn’t a Blanco tune; it was penned by ex-bassist Nathan Azarcon (now with Bamboo, the band). Mike Elgar’s contributions to Tuloy ang Ligaya and Between the Stars and the Waves also show an aesthetic that’s not incongruent to Rivermaya’s so-called “standards.”



But bands are like marriages, and kids will pick their favorite parent at the wake of the divorce, no matter what. Rivermaya’s sort of like Larry King or Liz Taylor in this regard. Imagine what the children of those people had to go through.

“Panahon na naman…”

“Shocking indeed,” Lizza Nakpil told me over SMS, “but I am fascinated by the debate.” Meaning, of course, that there is a debate to speak of, that all is not lost. The outspoken manager then proceeded to show gratitude for my—and the rest of their supporters’—kind words, hinting that, with such a surplus of defense, espousal, and votes of confidence, she feels that all hasn’t necessarily gone to waste. “We get zapped every seven years!” she haphazardly noted, permitting herself a virtual chuckle to ease the tension. She proceeded to go off on a numeric tangent, saying, in hasty yet thoughtful installments, “The proverbial seven-year itch. The Seven Ages of Man according to Shakespeare and Da Vinci. Seven years in every astrological cycle. Rivermaya’s number is five. And one plus four is five. Are we on the brink of something better?” Oddly enough, numerology, which marries an exact science with superstition—almost like the math equivalent of alchemy—is a sound parallel to the present state of affairs. Simultaneously logical and illogical; romantic but firm; but with no real answers to hush the storm.

As Nakpil and the rest of the boys felt for the lights in the dark, inner clarity set in, and I received the band’s official statement dated June 14, 2007, via e-mail:

We confirm that Mr. Rico Blanco has written us a letter of resignation from Rivermaya. We are unable to give an explanation for this action since Mr. Blanco’s statements are inconsistent with the facts. For the record, Mr. Blanco did not make any announcement of his leaving Rivermaya “as early as 2005”, or in 2004 or 2006, for that matter. On the contrary, he actively participated in and benefited from our plans and activities, not to mention the record-breaking number of awards, local and foreign concerts and endorsements during those years. While our artist-management contract was automatically and validly renewed, the same letter contains a bewildering and inaccurate declaration that neither Mr. Chito S. Rono nor I have been his managers since 2003. “Inexistent and of no force and effect” were his words to describe a relationship that has spanned 14 years since the start of his career in the music business. That notwithstanding, we have done our best to deal with the situation with professionalism and to dissuade Mr. Blanco from pursuing a rash course of action, that would delay if not cost all of us our successful entry into the international market. Unfortunately, and despite our best efforts, Mr. Blanco has decided that he no longer shares our vision of a Rivermaya that can spread its wings into Asia. Mr. Blanco has not made it plain as to what he plans to do next and we have not been able to correctly assess our options or courses of action to take, given his leaving the band.

Be that as it may, Rivermaya is not ready to turn its back on its fans and the many relationships we have built in the Philippines and in the rest of the region. We are committed, more than ever, to follow our dream of bringing Original Pilipino Music to our neighboring countries, and to finish what we have started, in the name of all Filipino musicians. We have seen for ourselves how the power of OPM can transform the image of the Filipino abroad and how, in our own small way, we have given our fellow Filipinos working abroad newfound pride in their country. The road ahead will not be easy, in fact it will be a monumentally difficult one—and already the nay-sayers and doomsday experts abound -- but we are ready to pray hard and work even harder to take on the task ahead. We take heart in the thousands of text messages, phone calls, and email we have received from friends in and out of the country, asking us not to give up the fight. Thanks to them, our hopes and courage are intact. We salute all our comrades, past and present, but we continue to believe that no one member of Rivermaya is greater than the whole. In the next few weeks, we will finalize our plans on how we intend to face these new challenges—and we will share them with you every step of the way. Only with your support and God’s help can we even begin the incredible journey ahead of us.

Lizza G. Nakpil
Co-manager, Rivermaya

“Could it be fate or random circumstance?”

Discrediting Rico Blanco, of course, is out of the question. From “Awit ng Kabataan” to “Isang Bandila,” the Pacita Village-bred rocker who used to dye his hair purple is really a tunesmith of the highest caliber. I think all bands, at least in principle, want to exercise—if not, merely project—absolute democracy. However, there are very few who are able to achieve this. Overseas, R.E.M. of course comes to mind, adopting a fully democratic system of songwriting crediting. In all of their tunes, the alphabetized billing is, at best, a show of brotherly solidarity: “All songs written and performed by Berry, Buck, Mills, and Stipe.” To flashback even further, The Beatles released non-Lennon-McCartney songs, too, and they were promoted very well. The Eraserheads, of course, were great in this aspect, displaying equally distinct (and equally powerful) personas that were all memorable. Rivermaya is like all these bands, too, for all the right reasons already aforementioned. However, there is some imbalance in the “Blanco-centrism” of the past few years, i.e., Tuloy ang Ligaya onwards. Someone taking leadership is a good thing—it has a balancing effect—but, upon the loss or dissolution of this default leadership, recovery would not always be quick. In fact, it perhaps will never be.



Surprisingly, however, they did recover fast, thanks in no small measure to their supporters, colleagues, and their ever-loyal fan base, mostly seen in The Ground, the band’s mailing list. The impassioned exchanges between members and fans alike during the past month or so have been poignant and affecting. Drummer Mark Escueta’s steadfastness in addressing all posts individually—simultaneously exuding mournfulness and optimism—provided the much-needed glimmer of hope. What begs to be mentioned, however, is Escueta’s show of ill-tempered displeasure, pointedly espousing values like “respect” in the context of Blanco’s actions and claims. In any case, I think it’s entirely his (and his bandmates’) deal and nobody else’s, and that everyone should just respect this.

What the debate-hungry naysayers are forgetting is that bands are comparable to (professional) friendships, too—so, Don Corleone be damned: it is not just business; it’s personal.

“Nariyan ka pala, nagluluksa sa dilim.”/“Sayang ang luha.”

E-mails and text messages the weekend before June 25—Monday—were circulated by Rivermaya. Amid all the second-guessing and the general feeling of limbo, the band came up with an “open letter to the fans” in the form of song. The single was called “Sayang,” initially meant to be an NU107 exclusive. Japs Sergio boldly stepped up to the plate and lent his steady, breezy vocal work, backed by an acoustic guitar layer that’s practically melancholy-inuman fodder. The band’s relationship with their supporters is truly something else, as the boys showed in this particular move, especially when Sergio croons, “Bakit naman ako aalis? Pinamana ko na sa iyo ang aking puso.”

However, not surprisingly, the single is sheer first aid. In an interview with Francis “Brew” Reyes, the band announced that it will be holding auditions for the singer position, emphasizing that applicants need not be pressured to sound like “any of [their] past singers.”

The Rivermaya monolith will now be put to the test. Results will surely prove to be interesting, to say the very, very least.



Photos by Eric Fernandez.

Acknowledgements to Rico Blanco, Lizza Nakpil, Japs Sergio, and The Ground

Aldus Santos’ band, The Purplechickens, now has a new site over at Multiply. His book’s site is still on Wordpress.

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