Hard to believe that The Purplechickens have been around for ten years. Those of us who’ve known about them since the beginning, when they were a college band from UP Diliman, have come to expect certain things from this oddly-named independent act: excellent, imaginative songwriting, spirited live gigs, and what I once described as “some of the best lyrics ever to grace a rock song.” When they launched their debut album Here’s Plan B in 2003, it garnered enthusiastic notices from critics, and comparisons to such bands as Radiohead and R.E.M. It’s taken them a while, and they’ve undergone some changes, but they’re back with a new album—Girls, Et Cetera. Reports say that they are better live performers than ever now, and that the new material rocks like you wouldn’t believe.

PULSE.PH: What is the current Purplechickens lineup? How have the changes in the lineup affected how the band works?

MARCO HARDER: The Purplechickens are composed of Aldus Santos on guitar and vocal duties, Marco Harder on guitar, Mikey Abola on bass, and Zig Rabara on drums.

ZIG RABARA: Mikey’s new to the band—we were orgmates in college—and he’s the youngest member. But let’s not get into age talk, for comfort reasons. Haha. Aldus, Marco, and I have stayed on from the “old” (Here’s Plan B) lineup. Mayo Martin is in Singapore and is an in-absentia manok. Aids Arcega left earlier this year so he could do his own stuff.

MIKEY ABOLA: I don’t want to come off as a cheap-ass brown-noser. But the truth is, I started off as a fan of the band. Much of an ego boost, when the rest of the guys asked me to join full-time. I can’t really speak about how things have changed, given that I’m part of the change—haha! How messianic! All I know is that it really pays to be surrounded by people who can from time to time inspire you. Playing with the band is such a treat for me. There’s this inherent happiness in being part of something you don’t have full control over. It’s nice to get tossed here and there once in a while.

MARCO: The band’s dynamics have changed drastically since these personnel changes have happened, the most obvious of which would be the live element. Songs from Here’s Plan B had to be rearranged to better suit the new instrumentation. Individually, it affected us as instrumentalists as well: Aldus had to get used to playing the guitar while singing, while I had to focus on non-rhythmic elements.

ALDUS SANTOS: I mean, I’ve always been a guitar player and I’ve written all these songs on guitar but, coming in now on hard-line guitar duty, it’s like I’m a new member, a new mathematical factor—and I can either be a good factor, or a hole-in-the-head kind of utterly useless one. Gladly, we’re having fun playing live. We’re utilizing more basic guitar tones, but, composition-wise, we’re more complex now, I’d like to believe.

ZIG: I think the band is a little more efficient now as a quartet. First of all, there’s one less person’s schedule to juggle. We can all now fit into one cab when going to gigs. Haha. We’ve also started trying to gig as a trio, in case Marco’s work schedule makes it challenging for him to gig.

ALDUS: The band communicates better now, I think; and by that, I don’t mean absolute non-conflict or a state of perennial agreeability.

MARCO: From a recording standpoint, the sense of urgency to finish the album before 2007 ended was heightened particularly when that other lineup change ensued. We rushed to Skunk Productions and Sugar Mountain Audio in mid-August to record all 12 songs in Girls, Et Cetera and finished in October.

ALDUS: We basically started making this record at Shinji Tanaka’s studio (January, 2007) a different band, and we ended it as a different band in Skunk, Sugar Mountain, and Zach Lucero’s mastering studio. So, yeah, we kind of planned a lot of things which not everyone ended up participated in achieving. The good thing was we were able to fill the gaps pretty well—personally and musically.

This is the Purplechickens’ second full-length release, and apparently, it’s a concept album. Tell us about the concept, and how it came about.

ALDUS: During the launch night of Here’s Plan B, we played, as our last song, what would become the opening track to Girls, Et Cetera: a song called “Girl in Bathtub.” I was amused by that title, and thought of further situating different girl-personas in different milieus. Yes, this is one of those stories: like a pre-named baby. Only, we didn’t have the benefit of having a “second-CD ultrasound.” Basically, I problematized how titles sometimes give away too much—or too little, for that matter—and how these presumptions can be some people’s only interaction with your work. Girls, Et Cetera, in a nutshell, is a disc-long lament for the muses of all art in general: girls. There.

Your first album came out with an accompanying limited-run EP for people who had prepaid for the album. I remember liking one track in particular on the EP and wondering out loud why it hadn’t been included in the album proper, and being told by one of the Purplechickens (I forget who) that it was “too cock-rock.” And yet people who have heard the new material say that it sounds… well, cock-rocky. Is this true? If so, please explain.

ZIG: As a rhythm section guy, I have a favorite expression: “Dapat may bayag.” Yeah, the songs are “ballsier” (if that’s even a word) and have got more attitude. It might be a reflection of things we went through as individuals and as a group. Or it might simply be us getting older. You could probably even call it a nod to our heavier influences, but it’s a reflection of change. And change is good. Of course the wimpy songs in 6-8 [time signature] are still there (and are beautiful) but the other songs have a heavier edge to them. Balls, if you will.

ALDUS: The new songs are cocky, yes, but not in the Kurt Cobain, “distortion,” Pete Townshend-destroy-mode kind of sense. It’s “cocky” in that the nakedness of the songs—as close to the live performances, or as close to “warm” renditions as possible—is kind of bold and brave. We didn’t feel the need to over-layer the songs to make up for whatever insecurities there were, if any—musical or otherwise.

MARCO: If you mean aggressive by “cock-rocky” then I’d have to agree with you. But what I do not agree with is the fact some people seem to think that songs that reek of cock-rockiness do not have any significant musical merit. The songs in Girls, Et Cetera have cock-rockinesses in them simply because the musical intentions necessitated the appearance of those elements, but it is the factor that moved the band to use other elements as well—both in HPB and Girls, Et Cetera.

MIKEY: Honestly, I don’t know. For sure, we didn’t record this album thinking, “Ah! Now’s the time to go all cock-rocky on people’s asses!” I guess we just recorded whatever came out.

Could you give us a track-by-track account of the inspiration behind (and, if possible, a brief description of) each song?

ALDUS: Okay, in order of appearance in the album…

“Girl in Bathtub.” The oldest song from the bunch. We played it, like I said, as the closing song at the launch of our first CD. This sort of sets the chordal mood for Girls. HPB was mostly in D-minor; this one’s mostly on E-minor. The odd breaks were inspired by—among other things—the Itchyworms’ early live performances of the song “Salapi.” Harder and I arranged the said portion on acoustic guitars, while in transit to Cavite in a moving van with Stonefree. It’s a stalk-ish song with quotations from Lorca and what-not. A discordant synth rethinking of “Dream Systems” (from HPB), courtesy of Harder, opens this track.

“Girl Discovers Speech.” This, I think, is a girl-power song, with the main persona repeatedly shushing, “Silence, sir.” Zig’s drumming sets up the doom-laden feel, vaguely reminiscent of Radiohead’s “There, There.” Also something to watch out for is the somewhat disembodied second movement of the song, with allusions to pearl-divers.

“Girl Orders Drink.” Penned by the now-Singapore-based Mayo Martin. He wrote the words on a piece of paper, gave it to me, and I lost it. Most words here are actually my attempts at recalling Mayo’s original. “Orders” is like the pent-up conclusion of a three-song suite, replete with group-screaming and circular riffing—“She kills! She maims!” The thesis: girls, more than being lovely people, are really terrifying, too.

“Girl is Reminded of War.” The calm after the storm, so to speak. Joon Guillen [Outerhope, Musings], a former Manox bassist, helped arrange the second movement. People who loved “Pickle” from our first record will perhaps like this. This is also the last of the four tracks Mayo played bass on.

“Lagnat (Girl in Bus Stop).” I specifically wanted to have more Pinoy songs in this record, and this was the first one that came out. A sore thumb in that it’s pop, yes. We’re proud that we can handle pop somehow, though. The subject is a screwy kind of love: “Ako’y nananalig/na patuloy lang ang ligalig/at habambuhay ka sa ‘king tabi.” Translated: “I pray you stay troubled and effed-up so you’d never leave me.”

“Girl Checks Out.” A couple packing to leave on a trip—the man feeling it’s a vacation; the woman thinking it’s The End. The guys had the lovely idea of splitting the time signature again towards the end, to 7-8. It’s fun but my head begins to hurt after all the counting.

“Patihulog (Girl in Church).” Harder and I—along with our awesome mixing engineer Joe Hernandez—have always been fascinated with Neil Young’s backing band, Crazy Horse. They’re a bunch of guys who, as the critics say, “are all feel and no real technical skill”—but, really, they’re awesome! “Patihulog” became a great opportunity to do a Crazy Horse. Thematically, it’s about free-fall and gravity as metaphors for love.

“Girl in Emergency Landing.” An open letter to a dear friend who recently lost a loved one. Watch out for Ziggy’s odd solo in the bridge, as well as Harder’s lap-steel parts.

“Anumang Oras ay Hindi Mahalaga (Girl Asks for the Time).” I thought the E-Heads’ Carbon Stereoxide was a criminally underrated record. In my conversations with both Adoro and Buendia, as a matter of fact, they both refer to it as a creative peak somehow. “Anumang” is our personal approximation of the art of Stereoxide—melody, drop-tuned guitars, ambient soloing, and all.

“Girl by Windowpane.” “Hello, we are The Purplechickens and we play mid-tempo rock songs using basic soft-loud dynamics.” Well, more than that, actually.

“Girl of Frost.” Ladies and gentlemen, Miguel Abola has arrived. He jump-started this song, followed by Zig. Harder thought of most of the guitar parts and I threw in the idea of doing a Pixies-style “breakdown.” Also, jamming it the first time, I had to come up with lyrics fast; I grabbed a Robert Frost book from my backpack and sang this one line from “New Hampshire” over and over: “Choose what will you be? A prude? A puke?” Watch out for the four-part punk harmony as well.

“Girl Reveals Her Hand.” A breakup where the girl is saying: “Take a picture of this moment,” and the guy is saying: “You will never see me turn around; you will never hear me hit the ground.” Frozen clock. In the outro, portions of (HPB song) “A Break in a Prayer” were sung by Harder. The new guitar dynamics were also showcased here; a riotous punctuation to an otherwise “calculated” record.

[To ALDUS] As an active independent musician/music critic, what are your thoughts on the local music industry today?

ALDUS: It’s alive but the perennial threat of fads is there. The labels are getting more adventurous, however, and that’s good. On the other hand, bar culture has become our salvation, I think; bar gigging has been transformed into a private endeavor, like cinema. It’s no longer about communing; it’s become a haven for adventurous music-lovers to prowl in. The dichotomy used to be CD-buyers and gig-goers; now you have just one big social group—responsible music fans who are not myopic at all, who don’t mind digging in the dirt to unearth good music. Indie still persists though it’s not “in” anymore, which I think is for the better.

Band photos by Grace Mirandilla. Album cover photography by Ian Rica Roxas. Cover graphics and T-shirt designs (Umbrella, Man-Chicken) by Gelo Lagasca of Shrapnel Shirts. Visit the Manox online here.

The Purplechickens’ second album, Girls, Et Cetera, will be launched on December 13, 2007, at Club Dredd in Eastwood. Supporting the band that night are The Lowtechs, Duster, and Imago. Admission is absolutely free.

So anyway! 2007 marked the 20th year of the radio station’s existence, and the 14th installment of the awards show. We missed the pre-show, which featured a performance by Marcus Highway, but we got there just in time for the show proper, and to have our senses assaulted by a sex-themed intro video starring Asia Agcaoili, Ramon Bautista, and various cylindrical fruits and vegetables. Our main hosts for the evening were Asia, who, true to form, seemed to be wearing less and less clothing as the evening progressed (although who can blame her, considering how sweltery it got in the hall), and Zach Lucero, who looked rather dapper in a red sweatshirt that in the wrong context would have gotten him confused with a doomed Star Trek extra.

Chicosci was the night’s first performer, and they started things with a bang, delivering their hit “Chicosci Vampire Social Club.” Over the past couple of years, I’ve really come to admire the way that the Chicosci guys throw themselves into their performances, often risking bodily injury or at least severe loss of dignity in the process, not to mention property damage. (I witnessed guitarist Mong accidentally destroy a new guitar once, when he was spinning it wildly during a gig.)

After Chicosci, it was time for the first award of the night:

BEST NEW ARTIST

1. Hilera
2. Sino Sikat?
3. Giniling Festival
4. Hardboiledeggz
5. Salamin
6. Wake Up Your Seatmate

WINNER: HILERA

And the crowd cheered its approval. While the finalists were being announced, it was clear that Hilera was an audience favorite. The punk-influenced trio bounded onstage; vocalist Chris Padilla looks taller every time I see him, and his brother, drummer Bobby, seems to have shed some of his boyish aura. Ah, they grow up so fast these days.

Ria of Paramita and Armi of Up dharma Down introduced the next performer: none other than Imago! Aia was energetic as ever, and Myrene was rockin’ a pair of sleek leather pants, as the band performed “Walang Mysteryo.” “We love you Aia!” the crowd screamed from behind me. “We love you Myrene!!” But what about the boys?, I wondered. I restrained myself from bellowing “I love you Tim” or “I love you Zach” though. I was very close to the stage and I didn’t want to scare them.

Ron T., Aliya Parcs, and Andrea del Rosario presented the rhythm section awards:

DRUMMER OF THE YEAR

1. Vic Mercado of Bamboo
2. Melvin Macatiag of Typecast
3. Joel Salvador of Chicosci
4. Mark Escueta of Rivermaya
5. Chris Cantada of Spongecola

WINNERS: VIC MERCADO of Bamboo *AND* MARK ESCUETA of Rivermaya

Nice, very nice, and quite unexpected: the voice-over informed us that this was only the third time in the 14-year history of the NU Rock Awards that a tie was announced. The two drummers made an amusing sight as they went up: Vic was lugging this huge backpack, as if he intended to go camping right after claiming his award, and Mark had a jaunty white Moonwalker-ish hat on. At this point, two awards into the ceremony, I was still very happy with the results. (That would change, later.)

BASSIST OF THE YEAR

1. Nathan Azarcon of Bamboo
2. Carlos Calderon of Chicosci
3. Japs Sergio of Rivermaya
4. Francis De Veyra of Radioactive Sago Project
5. Ivan Garcia of Hilera

WINNER: NATHAN AZARCON of Bamboo

Another tough category, which should make Nathan’s victory even sweeter. If I were to guess, his thought balloon might have read something like: “It’s about fucking time.”

The next performer was a band that’s been around for an even longer time than the NU Rock Awards: Tropical Depression, mon. They entertained us with a feelgood reggae number about killer storms. The new Rivermaya performed next, and for most of the crowd, it was probably their first chance to see newest member, 18 year-old Jayson Fernandez, in action. As the band shared vocal duties, though, he was kind of relegated to support status. Understandable enough; he has much to learn, being new at the game. He acquitted himself well, however—certainly he’s the best singer in the group—and we foresee him growing into his frontman duties nicely, reinvigorating the band, and rocking the Rock Awards again. Maybe next year?

Russ Davis and the gorgeous Glaiza de Castro—slated to appear in Quark Henares’ upcoming cinematic opus about the local music scene, Rakenrol—presented the next award:

GUITARIST OF THE YEAR

1. Mong Alcaraz of Chicosci
2. Ira Cruz of Bamboo
3. Mike Elgar of Rivermaya
4. Boogie Romero of Kjwan
5. Steve Badiola of Typecast
6. Junji Lerma of Radioactive Sago Project

WINNER: IRA CRUZ of Bamboo

Yay Ira! *swoons*

Um. I mean—astig, pare.

In one of the more inspired pairings of the night, Lourd de Veyra of Radioactive Sago Project joined the Kitty Girls onstage to present the next performer. Yes, the Kitty Girls: a Pinay version of the Pussycat Dolls, apparently. “Ang babango ng mga kasama ko,” Lourd observed (before describing what he was wearing as an “emo barong.”) He had them introduce themselves one by one—“I’m Tanya!” “I’m Veronica!”—then joined the fun (“I’m Lourd!”). “Yari sila sa bigote ko mamaya, pare,” Lourd leered, to hoots from the crowd.

Hilera performed a lively version of one of the hits off their debut, “Rhyme Without Reason,” with Ivan Garcia leaping on his upright bass and riding it like a pony. Afterwards, the lovely Isabelle of NU 107, sporting a funky pair of psychedelic London-bought boots, joined a couple of guys whose names I can’t remember to present the next award:

VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

1. Bamboo Mañalac of Bamboo
2. Miggy Chavez of Chicosci
3. Steve Badiola of Typecast
4. Ebe Dancel of Sugarfree
5. Kat Agarrado of Sino Sikat?
6. Marc Abaya of Kjwan

WINNER: KAT AGARRADO of Sino Sikat?

Oh, wow! A bit of a surprise, actually—female vocalists don’t take this award as often as you might think—but a very, very welcome one. Sino Sikat?’s debut album was one of the highlights of 2007 in my opinion, and their live performances always impress the hell out of me. Heavy competition, but Kat deserved this, big time. (Hey, did you watch the Rock Awards last year? You may remember Kat’s kick-ass a capella rendition of our national anthem.) Yay for Sino Sikat?!— Even if the annoying question mark attached to their band name blunts any and all written expressions of support.

Mondo Castro (of NU and Pin-Up Girls fame) and singer Champagne introduced a rousing number by 6cyclemind, then musclebound Pontri strode onstage flanked by two very striking, very leggy Brazilian models. The visually arresting trio presented, appropriately enough, a trio of awards:

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

1. Bamboo and Angee Rozul for We Stand Alone Together of Bamboo
2. Typecast for Every Moss And Cobweb by Typecast
3. Lourd and Francis De Veyra for Tangina Mo Ang Dami Nagugutom Sa Mundo Fashionista Ka Pa Rin by Radioactive Sago Project
4. Robert Javier and Jonathan Ong for Moonlane Gardens by Orange & Lemons
5. Robin Rivera for Tala-arawan by Sugarfree
6. Angee Rozul and Kjwan for 2step Marv of Kjwan

WINNER: LOURD and FRANCIS DE VEYRA for Tangina Mo Ang Dami Nagugutom Sa Mundo Fashionista Ka Pa Rin by Radioactive Sago Project

Yay for Lourd and Francis! This was a difficult one to call; I don’t envy the judges who had to make this decision. (I was a judge last year, and this category was a bitch then too, as I recall.) Still, good choice. Lourd asserted that the whole band pitched in on the producing, so the award was really an award for all of them. (The others didn’t get to kiss the Brazilian models though.)

BEST ALBUM PACKAGING

1. Inksurge.com for Twilight of Hale
2. Paolo Lim for Isang Ugat, Isang Dugo of Rivermaya
3. Sarah Gaugler and Clementine for Moonlane Gardens of Orange & Lemons
4. Inksurge.com for Tala-arawan of Sugarfree

WINNER: SARAH GAUGLER and CLEMENTINE for Moonlane Gardens of Orange & Lemons

The girls behind me were screaming for Paolo Lim to win. I was rooting for him too, but I suspected that the girls had reasons that went beyond Paolo’s skill at design and photography. What I really thought should have won though, was Bagetsafonik’s independent release Travelogue, which wasn’t even a finalist. Seriously, have you seen it? It’s frigging beautiful. Instead of a lyric sheet, there are twelve postcards—one for each song—which contain the words, plus art by twelve of the best young illustrators/ designers/ artists working in Manila today. Moonlane Gardens is a pretty enough bit of packaging, but it doesn’t come close.

BEST MUSIC VIDEO

1. “DVD-X” of Sandwich (Directed by Marie Jamora)
2. “FRAILTY” of Urbandub (Directed by Pancho Esguerra and Bluerain Media)
3. “KUNG AYAW MO NA SA AKIN” by Sugarfree (Directed by Marie Jamora)
4. “LOVETEAM” of Itchyworms (Directed by Marie Jamora)
5. “PROBINSYANA” of Bamboo (Directed by Pancho Esguerra)
6. “SUNDO” of Imago (Directed by Marie Jamora)
7. “WILL YOU EVER LEARN” of Typecast (Directed by Pedring Lopez)

WINNER: MARIE JAMORA for DVD-X

Good thing Marie Jamora won. I would be royally pissed off if I were nominated four times in the same category and I didn’t win. I would probably start killing people with the nearest weaponizable object—a nearby chair leg, say, or punchbowl. And of course, there’s the little matter of Marie totally deserving the award. As a matter of fact, if she keeps up this pace, I can imagine a year where all the nominated videos will have been directed by her. It will be a year where people like Pancho Esguerra and Pedring Lopez wander the grimy, cruel streets clutching their WILL DIRECT VIDEOS FOR FOOD signs and choking back bitter tears. Don’t feel too bad for them, though; that just makes them ripe for Rocky-style comebacks complete with workout montages where they regain the Eye of the Tiger.

Sino Sikat? performed next, and what a performance it was: a medley of three songs from their debut, including my two favorites: “So Blue” and “Turning My Safety Off.” The band was in fine form; guitarist Nick Azarcon seemed especially ecstatic, and Kat had the audience wound around her finger with her sultry, powerful voice and her unapologetically sensual presence. At one point, she turned slowly around, undulating and showing off the full 360 degrees of her bare midriff, and elicited one of the more rabidly enthusiastic reactions from the crowd that night.

Roxy of NU fame and Club Dredd’s Patrick Reidenbach introduced the next act, who needed no intro, anyway: Razorback. The classic, recently restarted band got the audience going with their fierce, old-fashioned Pinoy rawk. The amusing Tuesday Vargas, the foxy, sassy Dylan, and the somewhat out-of-it Ely Buendia presented the next award:

BEST LIVE ACT

1. Bamboo
2. Chicosci
3. Typecast
4. Kjwan
5. Radioactive Sago Project
6. Jeepney Joyride
7. Hilera

WINNER: BAMBOO

And, as if to prove that they were worthy of the award, Bamboo performed right after. They did an intense rendition of their cover of “Tatsulok,” a song that was first written and recorded by Buklod. They were joined onstage by two members of Buklod, which added that much power and legitimacy to their performance. They mixed it up a little, adding a snippet of a U2 song, and then ending with a prolonged chant of “’Di matatapos.”

Reg Rubio and Francis Reyes presented the next award. “Mabuhay ang mga bansot!” declared Francis.

IN THE RAW AWARD

1. Subscapular
2. Teenage Hero
3. Kastigo
4. Sutil
5. Reklamo

WINNER: REKLAMO

Wow, Reklamo’s having quite the year. They topped this year’s World Battle of the Bands eliminations and will be representing the country in Singapore. They’ve come a long way, despite the fact that two out of the three members that went onstage to claim their In the Raw award looked like they were in serious need of a stylist. But seriously, congrats!

THE LISTENER’S CHOICE AWARD

…went to BAMBOO. Like you didn’t see that coming.

THE HALL of FAME AWARD

…went to MIKE and ANGELO VILLEGAS. Yes, of Rizal Underground fame.

Sometime amongst all this awards-dispensing, Kjwan stirred up the crowd with their poppiest hit, “One Look.” Vocalist Marc Abaya flew a Philippine flag, and guitarist Jorel Corpus seemed even livelier than usual (if you can imagine that), and led the crowd in attempts to jump in unison and do audience “waves.” Fun stuff! Less fun was Pupil’s performance, which started off with a long strobe-lit intro and loped into a rendition of “Sala” that was fairly unremarkable, especially when you consider what the members have proven themselves capable of in the past. Sugarfree, backed up by a horn section, performed “Dear Kuya,” and won the audience over effortlessly, with sincerity, humor, and an excellent tune. Radioactive Sago Project went berserk with “Wasak na Wasak” and demonstrated how punk you can be even when your whole band is dressed in barong tagalong. Their number ended with a nearly-naked Jun Sabayton running onstage, apropos of nothing. Sandwich delivered one of the strongest performances of the night, not to mention the most stylish—their white outfits were quite spiffy. Also, only vocalist Raimund Marasigan dared to lunge past the VIPs gathered ‘round the stage and go crowd-surfing in the outer circle, where the more rabid fans were. Luckily, he came back intact.

Okay, briefly, the rest of the awards:

SONG OF THE YEAR

1. “WILL YOU EVER LEARN” by Typecast
2. “CHICOSCI VAMPIRE SOCIAL CLUB” by Chicosci
3. “TATSULOK” by Bamboo
4. “SALA” by Pupil
5. “TURNING MY SAFETY OFF” by Sino Sikat?
6. “SUNDO” by Imago
7. “DVD X” by Sandwich

WINNER: “WILL YOU EVER LEARN” by Typecast

Personally, I would have voted for “Sundo” or “Turning My Safety Off,” but I was happy enough that Typecast won this one.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

1. “WE STAND ALONE TOGETHER” by Bamboo
2. “EVERY MOSS AND COBWEB” by Typecast
3. “TANGINA MO ANG DAMING NAGUGUTOM SA MUNDO FASHIONISTA KA PA RIN” by Radioactive Sago Project
4. “TALA-ARAWAN” by Sugarfree
5. “MOONLANE GARDENS” by Orange & Lemons
6. “2STEPMARV” by Kjwan

WINNER: “MOONLANE GARDENS” by Orange & Lemons

My first thought was: You’re shitting me, right? Actually, that was my second thought too. And my third, and fourth, and—you get the idea. I really thought Radioactive Sago Project would bring this one home; OnL was quite literally the last band on this list I would have expected to win. At least we were treated to the deeply odd spectacle of Clem Castro going up onstage and accepting the award “on behalf of my ex-bandmates.” But I would rather have seen Lourd and Co. storming up there in full force and waving a well-deserved award aloft. I would have been happy seeing the Sugarfree trio winning this one too. Or the boisterous boys of Kjwan. Or those Typecast guys. Or Bamboo. You get the idea.

Katwo Librando and Lougee Basabas, two of the best—and hands-down best-looking—lead singers in the band scene today, introduced the next performer, Kamikazee. Throughout their rendition of “Seksi! Seksi!,” frontman Jay Contreras kept gyrating in ways that made me think I had accidentally wandered into the city’s worst gay strip club. Which, of course, was hilarious and totally suited the song. Gotta love those guys. The Dawn was next, and they did a medley too which included a ferocious version of “Susi” and “Iisang Bangka” as an inspiring finale.

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

1. Bamboo
2. Chicosci
3. Typecast
4. Kjwan
5. Sugarfree
6. Radioactive Sago Project

WINNER: BAMBOO

Surprise surprise! Holy crap, that’s what? Six awards, total. Many many congratulations to Bamboo. I’m going to get some sleep now.

For last year’s extensive feature/report on the NU 107 Rock Awards, click here.

Now this is interesting: RCRD LBL, “a brand new music site where all of the downloads are both free AND legal.” Their welcome post goes on to say: “In a world where many people get their music for free, we wanted to create a site where bands we loved could put their music out there for free AND get paid for it. RCRD LBL is a new model and an experiment, putting great music out there for free and with absolutely no DRM. We hope you enjoy the music and support what we’re doing by making RCRD LBL part of your daily music diet.”








This is far from the first and only free-and-legal music site; check out the Fingertips blog, for example, which I’ve been downloading great music from for a couple of years now. And then there’s SpiralFrog, which offers ad-supported free music downloads, but which has gotten bad press for itserrors, intrusive ads, and idiotic use of DRM. (Besides, their service is available “only to residents of the United States of America and Canada,” so screw that. I know, I know: I just made the music-download equivalent of that old restaurant joke. “The food here sucks!” “And such small portions!”)

Anyway, RCRD LBL, which is pronounced “Record Label” (as if I need to tell readers from the most SMS-obsessed country in the world that), is, according to the Wall Street Journal, “a joint venture of Downtown Records, the independent label behind Gnarls Barkley and others, and Peter Rojas, a journalist and entrepreneur who founded the respected technology blogs Gizmodo and Engadget.” They’ve got cred, then. And I have to admit, this is an excellent idea for a mash-up: “In some ways we’re a music blog, written by people who want to bring you cool new music day in, day out. In other ways, we’re a record label, championing, signing and partnering with bands we believe in.”

Of course, that dual nature in itself raises some questions. The WSJ wonders “whether music fans will view as credible a blog that exists largely to promote its own commercial products.” The article adds that “Messrs. Rojas and Deutsch say they will post music from other labels, too, as long as they can secure the rights and think their readers will be interested.”

My first impression? This free download of a remix of Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.,” featuring Mos Def and Spank Rock, justifies the entire venture all by itself. I loved it. I didn’t think “D.A.N.C.E.” could get any funner, but obviously, I was wrong. “‘D.A.N.C.E.’ is easily the most memorable club track of 2007, Spank Rock is the hottest, most-acclaimed hip hop collective in the game, and we’re pretty sure Mos Def is this year’s front runner for the Nobel Freshness Prize. We hope this track will make your day a little bit better.” It did, it did. Kthx RCRD LBL.

Lots of good stuff there: tracks by Grizzly Bear, the Cold War Kids, the Soft Lightes, and other music-blogger favorites.Coolfer comments that consumers now “have a legal alternative to acquire free music — if they happen to like the music offered by RCRD LBL (read: indie rock and electronic).” Note the clause there. “I believe this new model will be very successful in certain corners of the consumer world. [...] those who already frequent music blogs for music will give RCRD LBL good traffic. But how much room for growth is there? The key to stardom for this business model is getting middle of the road consumers to visit on a regular basis. I wonder just how much potential traffic exists for music — even free music — that lies outside of the mainstream.” It’s a good point, even if the idea of what constitutes “mainstream” music now continues to erode. Coolfer concludes, “Revenue from licensing opportunities will be very important.”



I haven’t explored it all that deeply yet, but so far I have nothing but good things to say about the site. It remains to be seen how long the party will last, however. Is this really a viable business model for music today? The WSJ raises the question of “whether up-and-coming bands will be willing to lock up their best songs in a contract that is virtually guaranteed never to generate hit sales.”



Another question is: could something like this work here? I can imagine, say, Terno Recordings pulling something like this off: not beholden to any of the big labels, they’ve also managed to gather a sterling, critically-acclaimed roster of artists almost entirely free of suckitude. Sponsor-enabled free downloads would pay off, I imagine, in greater popularity which could easily translate to more revenue from gigs and merch. Plus, since Terno Recordings releases also generally sport great packaging, it’s not hard to imagine people who have already downloaded tracks — and grown to love them — wanting the physical CDs as well. Look at the very nice artwork on the Drip and Up dharma Down andRadioactive Sago Project CDs: be a shame not to have that on your shelf, even if you only ever listen to the actual tracks on your mp3 player. (There might be a bit of a trend towards more elaborate packaging as added value among the indies, actually: check the physical format of Bagetsafonik’s debut Travelogue, which is a freaking work of art.) The drawback is that I can’t see an act that breaks through with this setup eventually, say, packing Araneta Coliseum — but I could be wrong.



RCRD LBL may or may not be the future of music as we know it, but it’s certainly a worthwhile venture, and one of the few exciting, hope-stirring developments in a year generally filled with doom-and-gloom pronouncements RE: the music industry. It’s not quite the mindbender that the Radiohead pay-what-you-like for In Rainbows deal was, but as an enterprise that seeks to fulfill the needs of all the parties involved — label, artists, listeners and sponsors — it’s off to a very good start.



As for myself, I happen to be one of those consumers who really likes RCRD LBL’s mix of indie rock and electronic material. So I’m going to be dropping by quite often to grab the cost-free, guilt-free, and DRM-free goodness while I can.



How are you discovering/ obtaining/ enjoying music these days? We’re curious. Drop the author a line at luiskatigbak@pulse.ph.

We received a very nice email from some fellow music enthusiasts from down south yesterday. “Greetings Pulse!” it said. “We just want you to know that your webzine has been an inspiration in putting up our own “Pulse of the South” — Eksena.NET. Hope you could inspire more scenesters (and zinesters) in the future! Rock on!”

Glad to be of service, Eksena.NET! We encourage our readers to check out their site — among many other things, they have a vivid first-person piece on the Cebu Metal Scene, a short tribute to Yoyoy Villame, a brief report on Smooth Friction’s last two albums, and the Heartbreaking Lamentations of a Jaded Scenester. They also have videos, a forum, mp3s (including an unreleased Sheila and the Insects mp3), and more.

Rocking electric from the ashes of the acoustic scene of a few years ago, Overtone has come a long way to become the ultra-fun punk band that made such a commotion every Thursday night at the now-defunct Yaku. They moved their legendary Thursday night madness to Il Ponticello, but vocalist/bassist Norby David, vocalist/guitarist Jay Padua and drummer Frank de Castro still feel that they’re just starting out, despite playing music together since they were 16 years old.

Overtone has just released an album, From Inside the Fishbowl, that either makes you want to jump up and down, or raise your fist in tribute. Their brand of Pinoy punk swings from sounding like a raucous party to being quite emotionally moving. Aside from Ponti Thursdays and other gigs, they were also the regular house band for Rivermaya’s much-publicized teleaudition, Bagong Liwanag (NOTE: This interview was conducted before the ‘Maya search ended).

PULSE.PH: How old were you when you and Jay started playing music together? And how did Frank come into the picture? How different was it back then?

NORBY: Jay and I had our first band when we were 14. The 3 of us naman started playing together when Jay and I were 16. Frank’s 2 years older. We were still in our senior year [in high school]. But that wasn’t Overtone yet. It was a pop-jazz band ironically named Overture! Overtone got together in 2003 after all of us went our separate ways; Frank and I joined other bands while Jay started a 9 to 5. Little did we know that we’d have a band of a similar name in the future. Yun nga, pop-jazz yung Overture, so it was totally different back then. I played saxophone for that band and now I play the bass. Another difference is may lead vocalist kami back then. Backup lang kami ni Jay noon. Now both of us are the co-frontmen and we take turns doing lead vocals. Tapos we play rock so if back then the vibe was nice and steady, now it’s fun and rockin’. He he.

Your blurb on MySpace says you’ve reformatted and the result is Overtone. What did you reformat from?

NORBY: Parang evolution of man ‘yung transformation ng band. Overtone kasi started out as an acoustic act back when Paolo Santos was starting his climb to fame. Wala pa si Frank noon, and we played the more laid back pop-alternative stuff. When Frank jumped in, he even had to learn the cajon because that was the trend in bars (well it kinda still is). But after about a year or so, we decided to try going electric at one of our regular venues. I’m not sure where that was. But it seemed to work, and Frank definitely enjoyed playing the drums more than the cajon.

So we decided that we’d go both ways: electric for bigger venues, acoustic for the small bars or as the client specifies. Pero pop-alternative pa rin yung music. The jump into punk happened when we had this gig where the audience was having so much fun that we kept on extending our set and wound up running out of songs to play. So we went with songs we all knew from memory. Ayun. Ramones, Descendents, Green Day. We had so much fun with those songs, they became a permanent part of our repertoire. From then we kept on adding more punk and heavier rock songs onto our list and started shelving the sappy pop-alternative stuff. If you watched us back then and left the country or something, you wouldn’t imagine we were the same band if you came back now to see us. And most of our audience witnessed that transformation.

Where did your punk influence come from? Some say punk is more an attitude than a genre of music, how punk are you guys?

NORBY: I can’t speak for the others, but my influence is the old school punk. All, Descendents, Ramones… I had a punk band in college and that’s where it all started. As to our level of “punk-ness,” I don’t think our lifestyle is at all punk aside from our refusing to get real jobs. Hehehe. Yes, we enjoy our individuality and hate boundaries but we don’t go around protesting about “the man” trying to take us down. We are most punk when we’re onstage. We are impulsive, spontaneous, non-conforming. Hell, we never get onstage with a plan. Basta tugtog lang. Haha!

FRANK: My main influences in punk are old school too. It’s only recently that I got into “new” punk and had to learn the differences, which apparently are plenty. As for lifestyle, the most punk we are is what Norby already stated. We don’t even look punk if you see us. I really think our doing punk music is more because it’s fun than anything else.

JAY: Mine sort of evolved, I was more into Alternative Rock back then, I started listening to a lot of pop punk after that, then later on a lot of the new school punk. The influence was really fueled by the gigs, since we started doing pop punk covers, I just really enjoyed the energy and it was fun. A lot of purists may think otherwise, but the punk slant in our music is really because we just really like it.

A friend of mine once predicted a glam revival, and it seems you guys had already been playing Bon Jovi in Yaku and Ponti, am I correct? Can you describe the vibe of those shows? I hear they were packed.

JAY: It happened sort of like an accident. Back in high school, we were really into glam, since that was the current scene at the time. When we started doing the acoustic gigs, we sort of tripped out and just played those songs from memory and we all had fun with it.

NORBY: Yeah, there’s a clear example of how spontaneous we are. We sometimes fool around with glam during our sets. Actually kahit anong kanta we pull it out of memory when we’re in the mood. Kahit Backstreet Boys binabanatan namin ‘pag tinopak kami. Depende talaga sa dala ng audience eh. Yaku was a big turning point in Overtone’s career. That place was always packed to the brim pag Thursdays. Sobrang saya non! Sa sobrang sikip, we don’t even leave the stage during our breaks unless we have to go to the bathroom. Tapos if you go to the bathroom, 30 mins or more yan kasi you have to squeeze through the crowd. Doon lumaki yung pangalan namin. Sobrang daming raket nakuha namin dahil lang sa maliit na bar na yan.

To this day, when people find out that we were that band that played in Yaku, their faces light up in excitement and nostalgia. When news of Yaku’s closing got around, we were getting calls left and right. Bars were literally battling to get us to bring that Thursday crowd to their business and we also noticed other bars suddenly coming up with Thursday events to capture that audience. That’s where Ponti came in. A lot of our regular Yaku audience followed us there and we made new friends too. Saya rin doon. Lahat ng tao doon kahit bagong kilala lang, parang old friends agad. Tapos ganon din, nasa kalendaryo na nila yan. Basta Thursday, Ponti. Overtone, andyan. We still play there till now.

FRANK: But for the record, going back to glam, it never went away. It’s just that younger kids are only now picking up on it.

Who writes your songs? I really like the Tagalog songs, they’re very moving. Was it easier to write the Tagalog or the English songs?

NORBY: Thanks! Mostly si Jay yung nagsulat. Ako nahirapan ako writing in Tagalog kasi yung influence ko is mostly foreign music. There’s this one song we wrote for a soap campaign that I originally wrote in English, but the client wanted it translated into Tagalog. Tatlong araw akong walang tulog para lang i-translate yon! But I think dahil tinutukan ko yung pagsulat nung Tagalog songs, they turned out to be the better ones. So parang naging blessing in disguise.

JAY: Salamat din! We all had our take on writing songs. If one of us writes a song, the whole band gets involved with some of the lyrics and of course the arrangement. At first we thought we would have a hard time writing the Tagalog songs, but when we started to write them, I guess they just flowed. We all did our part in the song writing process, so every song on the album is really bits and pieces of us.

How do you determine who sings what?

JAY: I think it’s sorta cool that there is no one singer, it sort of brings the attention to the whole group rather than just the front man. Sometimes we can easily determine kung kanino mas bagay yung song, it doesnt really matter who wrote it, but then again the one who wrote it usually sings it since he already knows how to sing the lead for it, para lang mas madali.

NORBY: Yeah, palitan kami ni Jay. Depende kasi eh. Mostly ang nangyari is kung sino nagsulat, siya yung kakanta. But there’s one song na we trade places with lead and backup vocals. Wala lang, para nakakalito. Kasi it’s a serious song, but we still wanted to inject our playful side into it. Hehehe.

Which of your songs in From Inside the Fishbowl resonate most with your life?

NORBY: Lahat eh. Lahat ng topics ng mga kanta nadaanan ko at some point in my life, kahit na hindi ako yung nagsulat.

FRANK: I’m sure if you listen to the album, you’ll realize that at one point or another in your life, each of the songs will apply to you.

JAY: All of it! He he, our songs have very common topics naman that I’m sure everybody has experienced one time or another. Its very personal to me since, most of what I’ve written really happened to me, hahahaha.

If I remember correctly, Mark Escueta’s first band was with you, Norby and Jay. Can you discuss your early experiences and how it all comes full circle now that he’s produced your album?

JAY: Yeah that was the start of our musical careers, hahah. We were first year high school, and the higher batches used to call us “The Smurfs” since we were so tiny, you wouldn’t even see Mark behind the drum set, just his sticks flying in the air hahaha.

NORBY: But our band’s name was really called Feedback. Tukso lang sa amin yung The Smurfs. Sobrang liit pa namin non, mas matangkad pa yung bass sa akin. That’s what sparked my love for this career. At our very first gig, pagsampa ko sa stage it just felt so right—it felt like home. Mark didn’t produce the album. He engineered lang and we recorded it at his studio. But he did help us out when we had creative slumps and when we couldn’t resolve arguments. hehe. Sobrang laking tulong ni Mark sa amin. He’s been helping us promote the album. Sinasama kami sa mga promo shows ng Rivermaya, kahit di kami tumugtog ina-announce niya na bilhin yung album namin. Tapos lahat ng kaibigan niya in the industry, he recommends us to them para kunin kami sa show.

JAY: It’s great that we all remained really good friends till this day, we just all kept in touch, even when Mark started with Rivermaya, we would all still hang out as a barkada every so often. Mark has been very very very helpful sobra! Salamat sa yo Mark!!!

NORBY: He’s also the one who hooked us up with the show Rivermaya: Bagong Liwanag. Kami yung backup band ng mga contestants.

What are your thoughts on the hopefuls in the Bagong Liwanag audition?

NORBY: These guys all have a future in this industry if they chose to pursue it. Ang gagaling. Kahit hindi sila yung makuha, makikita ng buong Pilipinas yung talent nila. So kahit papaano, pwede silang magkaroon ng career because of the show.

FRANK: Actually, they can form their own band if they want. They have enough talent in there for that.

What are your next plans for Overtone?

NORBY: Well we’re already doing the paperwork to get the album into record bars so that it can reach more people. Nauna pa nga yung international market namin. We’re on iTunes store na eh. As for immediate plans, banat lang to give the album more exposure. Medyo sikat na kami sa internet because of our MySpace and YouTube pages, pero outside of that hindi pa eh. Radio guestings, press releases, mall shows, mga ganon. And the Rivermaya show is good exposure for us also. We’re also planning a campus tour with a few other bands. Sana mabuo yon. If anyone wants us to play at your school or whatever event, tawagan nyo lang kami. Hehehe.

Aside from Overtone, what else do you guys do?

FRANK: Once in a while I sideline as a computer tech or as a writer. Though these days with the busy schedule I’d rather just kick back when possible.

JAY: I’m a freelance web designer, I build home theater PCs and I write computer tech articles for a magazine.

NORBY: Ako ito lang. Music for life. Daming nagtatanong sa akin kung bakit ayaw ko magmodel dahil sobrang gwapo ko daw. Eh I don’t like makeup. Hahahaha! Joke lang!

Photos by Eric Fernandez. To see what the modeling world is missing out on, visit Overtone’s MySpace page. They would also be glad if you’d add them on Friendster, too.

The Time Out review points out several of many, many “great critical riffs”: “Portishead’s Dummy is ‘hip hop on a life-support machine’; Sly & Robbie’s backing on Grace Jones’s Nightclubbing ‘felt like the inside of a taxi that knows a secret 30-minute route from Kingston to Studio 54 via Paris and Brixton, but only for the beautiful and damned’; Chic’s music is ‘a sneaky critique of the entire notion of black people dancing away their blues, instead of using them as triggers for political change’.”

Of course, one can always quibble with the choices, if one is so inclined, especially since it seems from some of the writeups that these albums were chosen not on the basis of sheer personal bias, but with an eye towards their influence and artistic merit as well. (Oh, and let’s not forget the use of the word “Greatest” in the title.) So why Radiohead’s Amnesiac but not OK Computer? Why XTC’s Drums and Wires and White Music, and not Oranges and Lemons or Nonsuch or for God’s sake Skylarking? I could go on and on. (At least XTC has two albums listed here: man, fans of The Stone Roses, Nirvana and/or the Cocteau Twins are going to be pissed off.) But the fact is that Mulholland justifies each choice beautifully, and usually manages to link each album to the one before and the one after on his massive list, thus effectively telling “the story of how we got from the Ramones to Outkast.” This book is a delight to dip into randomly, and (I suspect) a delight to read straight through, and even though there are countless music-oriented “greatest” lists to be found for free online, there’s something particularly enjoyable about holding this volume in your hands, flipping through the pages, and letting the album covers and the excellent writing take you away. Even if you don’t always agree with the choices.

There are some ideas that sound good on paper, and turn out horrible when they’re actually executed. There are ideas, on the other hand, that have the ring of total disaster, but somehow turn out all right when they’re finally brought to life. And then there are ideas that sound good to begin with, and turn out even better than expected… But enough about my birth and subsequent illustrious career! Last October 24 marked the first installment of STRIPPED, a new monthly production night at Route 196 on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City.

There are some ideas that sound good on paper, and turn out horrible when they’re actually executed. There are ideas, on the other hand, that have the ring of total disaster, but somehow turn out all right when they’re finally brought to life. And then there are ideas that sound good to begin with, and turn out even better than expected… But enough about my birth and subsequent illustrious career! Last October 24 marked the first installment of STRIPPED, a new monthly production night at Route 196 on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City.

The first STRIPPED gig featured a truly impressive array of talent: one set each by Beng Calma of Drip, Hannah Romawac of Session Road, Ene Lagunzad of The Ronnies, Swissy, and Waya Gallardo. Hannah and Swissy went totally solo, strumming guitars as they sang, while the others performed with no more than one instrumentalist each accompanying them—usually either a guitarist or keyboardist. The stripped-down renditions highlighted the power, skill and charm of each of the five fabulous female vocalists, not to mention their respective tastes in music.

I expected to enjoy Beng’s set, but was blown away by how much it kicked ass. With Ado “Flipperbaby” Ortiz providing electronic accompaniment, she sang stunning, pulse-pounding renditions of songs like Coldplay’s “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” (much better than the somewhat torpid original) and Everything but the Girl’s “Driving”—a song I already liked before, but which gained a distinctive and appealing energy when delivered by Ado and Beng. They even made a song like Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”—a music-blog favorite covered by everyone from Greg Dulli to Nelly Furtado since it hit people’s iPods two years ago—fresh and exciting. (Is it too much to ask for an entire covers album by Beng and Ado?)

Hannah Romawac proved herself up to the considerable challenge of singing such well-loved classics as “Chain of Fools” and “Hallelujah.” Ene Lagunzad, accompanied by Andy of The Ronnies, treated the audience to a set that felt more personal, with songs by Aimee Mann and Janis Ian and whoever it was that sang “Initial Thrill.” Swissy’s set was sugary and soothing, with impeccable covers of songs by artists like Frente! and The Sundays, as well as Terno labelmates Outerhope.

My college friend Waya Gallardo—perhaps the least-known performer in the lineup, though I can’t imagine that state of affairs will last—floored the audience with a selection of show-stoppers, accompanied by Ronnie of The Ronnies. Not one to shy away from a vocal challenge, Waya’s set ranged from David Bowie to Olivia Newton-John, with stops at Queen (“Don’t Stop Me Now”) and Heart (“These Dreams”) along the way, as well as a version of “Proud Mary” that had the audience singing along. And speaking of proud, we’re sure her mother, legendary singer Celeste Legaspi, must have approved, as she watched from the sidelines with husband Nonoy Gallardo.

Those who stayed ‘til the very end got to witness what Waya calls “a karaoke jam with The Ronnies”—she and Ene sang Heart’s “Alone,” (with Waya ending up on her knees and bruising herself in the process), Hannah sang “Crazy for You,” and Route 196 co-owner JP sang “Jessie’s Girl.”

The second installment of STRIPPED is scheduled for tonight, November 7, and will feature Katwo of Duster (yay!), Ria of Paramita, Mike of Mike’s Apartment, Star of Pumping Pluto, Zoe of Troublespots, and, back by popular demand, Ene of The Ronnies. We’ll see you there!

Photos of Beng and Hannah by Mark Laccay, under a Creative Commons license. Lots more pix and other fun stuff at Drip’s Multiply site.

If you love both words and music, as I do, then chances are you’ve got an ever-ascending stack of music magazines at home, as I do. The best music mags provide readers with in-depth information about their favorite acts, fearless reviews of the albums that are out there, amazing visuals and excellent writing, and sometimes even a sense of community. Local music fans are familiar with two publications that go far beyond the usual lyrics-and-chords offerings of your typical “songhits”-type mag: PULP magazine, famous for its twisted, imaginative photo shoots and emphasis on the harder side of rock, and BURN magazine, which encompasses a wider range of genres and brings the actual music to the fans—via a free CD with each issue at first, and now through downloadable podcasts.

PULP has been around for seven years now, which is an astonishing feat in the fickle world of magazine publishing. BURN launched in 2006, but has fast made a name for itself among music aficionados as well. Full disclosure: I used to work for PULP, and then co-founded BURN, before I became the first Editor-in-Chief of PULSE.PH. There is much I admire about both magazines, and about the two people who are running them now: Clarissa “Conch” Concio, Editor-in-Chief of BURN, and Joey Dizon, Editor-in-Chief of PULP. (All three of us used to work in the same place: the PULP/MTV Ink office in Ortigas. I have fond memories of overnight cram sessions to meet deadlines, frequent fast food deliveries, ruthless conversations about music industry people behind their backs, and flexible office hours.) Aside from being EICs, Joey and Conch also kick ass as musicians: Conch plays guitar for Analog, and Joey currently has two active bands, Intolerant and Moyg.

Printed-on-paper magazines are getting harder to sustain, and to many observers, it seems that the future of music magazines is online, with sites like PULSE.PH (ahem). Still, I have to admit that there’s nothing like the feel of holding a well-made magazine in your hands, flipping through it, admiring the pictures and layouts, and being able to read it basically anywhere. (Those stacks of magazines in my room are only going to get taller as the years go by.) The process of putting such a magazine together has its own unique frustrations and rewards, its own pitfalls and advantages. I talked with Conch and Joey about their EIC experiences.

PULSE.PH: As Editor-in-Chief of a print music magazine, what are your basic duties?

CONCH: The most important duty I personally think I have as an EIC is to be sure that my team and I put out a good magazine, on time. And there are a lot of underlying responsibilities and duties under that, like making sure we meet our deadlines, coming up with interesting ideas for features and shoots, deciding which bands and artists to feature, coordinating with the magazine’s sales team, making sure expenses are kept well within the editorial budget…oh, and editing of course.

JOEY: Simplified, to be on top of things… see that the articles are written, the pictures taken and to make sure that pre-prod for the next issue is ready to roll. Being Editor-in-Chief for PULP is a little different compared to other magazines, I guess. I hardly meddle with the business aspect of things, I don’t really like going to meetings and long lunches with advertisers and stuff like that… it’s just not my thing and I’m glad PULP somehow allows me to be this type of editor. Mainly, I’m the type of guy who still wants to go out and watch bands and artists, occasionally get hammered, and I still want to do a lot of writing. So it can get kind of hectic because I have to find time around tasks like making the pagination—which always somehow gets fucked—making sure everybody in the office has something to do, and thinking up new ideas how to make the mag more interesting. So I usually write my articles late at night until the wee hours of the morning because the phone calls and other necessary bullshit that comes with being Editor-in-Chief can’t bother me then.

Could you describe the tone/ flavor/ attitude/ scope of your magazine?

JOEY: Well, PULP started out as a music magazine seven years ago. Our publisher, Vernon Go, always had the dream of coming up with a publication that was both informative and looked great. PULP has always been known as a magazine that caters to a lot of genres, but because of its events like the Summer Slam and because of the fact that we’ve never been afraid to feature underground/independent artists and a lot of members of our staff are themselves in bands, we’ve become known more as a rock magazine. But we’re always trying to widen the scope… be it hip-hop, pop and even jazz, on occasion. Honestly though, there are so many rock bands out there that we never seem to run out of groups like them to feature.

We’re pretty liberal with what we say, obviously. It’s sort of an environment where you’re allowed to go crazy every now and then, because we can get pretty passionate about music. And our readers are just like us—more than a few screws loose, they know how to party, they’re passionate about music enough to run to the center of the mosh pit, and they know what they like. It’s sounds a bit corny, but I learn a little something from most of our readers whenever I run into them at gigs, or events and stuff… they seem to know what they’re talking about, but at the same time, a lot of ‘em have crazy outfits.

CONCH: We aim to be unbiased toward any particular genre and feature not only music, but the lifestyle that goes with it as well. We’re working on tweaking the way features are presented in the magazine so that there are a lot of interesting things in each layout—a lot of sidebars, funny quotes from the artists themselves, timelines, et cetera, and try to veer from straight-up full-page features. We want BURN to be fun, interesting, entertaining and informative.

How do you choose which bands, events, and albums to feature?

JOEY: For bands, I guess personally, I’m a little biased towards independent artists/bands, no matter what type of music they play. I consider it a success for us whenever we put an independent artist/band on the cover, the type of artist any other mainstream publication, broadsheet or media would never dream of featuring in a million years. I’m proud of the fact that we were the first mag to put Urbandub on the cover, during a time when nobody knew who the fuck they were. I’m happy that I’ve been able to do full-length stories on bands like Sin and Badburn, and I’ve gotten to interview and write about a lot of my personal music heroes like members of Madball, Snapcase, Earth Crisis and Death Angel. For events and albums, anything and everything dude… be it bad or good, we’ll write about it.

CONCH: We decide on an editorial calendar at the start of each year, where we work on a particular theme each issue—like the Best of the Year issue, the Green/Environmental issue, the Summer Issue—and we work around that for our lifestyle features. We also try to find out which artists are coming out with new albums, so priority goes to them. We don’t want to play favorites with any band or genre so we try to be as diverse as possible. Our old tagline used to be “BURN: the music magazine for everyone,” and that’s what we still aim to be.

How did you get started in magazines? And why music magazines in particular?

JOEY: I always liked writing, ever since I was a kid. But not formal writing or anything, I’d just write what I thought about certain things. It was my escape, living on base in Okinawa, Japan. As opposed to other writers who love reading books, novels, comic books and all that stuff, I liked magazines a lot more.

CONCH: I got into the publishing industry by accident, really. I’ve always loved to write ever since I was a kid but thought, throughout college, that I’d end up writing copy in an advertising agency. I’ve also always loved music and have been playing guitar since I was 14. A friend of mine asked me to write a piece on The Dawn for PULP magazine back in 2000, I think, and I was asked by Vernon Go if I was interested in being managing editor for MTV INK. And now I’m EIC of BURN magazine! Tee-hee. I guess it was just a matter of time before I married my love for writing with my love for music.

How does being an EIC compare to your previous positions in publications (Managing Editor, Staff Writer, etc.)?

CONCH: When I was managing editor, I knew I could always fall back on my EIC. When I didn’t know how to handle certain problems before, I’d turn to my EIC for help. It’s different now, of course. I do ask the opinions of my staff but I have the final say and that can be scary sometimes, especially with big, important decisions. And, as EIC, the buck stops with me. It’s a huge, huge responsibility—something I didn’t really feel as much as managing editor before. It’s like being all grown up all of a sudden.

JOEY: It’s crazy, and it takes a lot of getting used to… there are even days when I sort of forget that I’m EIC, and when something comes up, I stop myself just in the nick of time from saying “It ain’t MY problem!” Because when you’re EIC, EVERYTHING is your problem. Everything sort of concerns you, what you do and what you don’t do. It has a lot of perks though, and I love it—so don’t get me wrong. I guess it’s just mainly about keeping focused and calm when everything’s going crazy and everyone’s waiting for you to decide what to do.

What are the advantages and disadvantages to being in a band AND also editing a music magazine?

CONCH: Playing for a band lets me experience the local scene firsthand. I go to gigs, get to watch other bands, get to discover new music. I’m immersed in the scene the magazine’s about and that does make working—writing, deciding what bands to feature, deciding on other interesting stuff to put in the magazine—easier. Disadvantages? Hmm. I am friends with other artists and musicians, and I have to double-check myself sometimes about being objective [when it comes to deciding] which bands to feature, how the treatment of the features should be, and reviewing gigs and albums.

JOEY: Generally, the advantage of being in a band and at the same time editing a music magazine, is that you’re familiar with the territory and have some sort of in-depth knowledge about music and artists that’ll undoubtedly save your ass in one way or another. To me, audiences tend to respect editors/writers who actually know first-hand about the shit they’re writing about… I mean, I absolutely hate it when I read articles or music reviews from writers who don’t even know the difference between a riff and a lick. I hate it when editors don’t even know the difference between heavy metal and hard rock, the difference between punk and hardcore, the difference between what’s good pop and what’s just plain useless.

As for disadvantages, I guess being an editor/writer who’s also a musician means that you’re subject to being passionate about a certain type of music or band to a fault; you tend to forget about the other aspects of the magazine, like how putting a certain band on the cover can turn out to be pretty bad for sales or for advertising. I mean, I won’t lie—advertising pays for the bills, it keeps us in business and takes care of all the crazy concepts and shows we all love.

I also think being a musician/editor/writer has its disadvantages if your band sucks… I mean, even though you can try to write as unmercifully and as honestly as you can, if you’re in a band that plays really crappy music, then chances are people will use it against you. I mean, how the fuck can you trash an album from Linkin Park or The Calling when your band is nothing but some John Mayer, Incubus-type of cover outfit? How can you judge which bands deserve to be featured when you’re in a band that plays total crap?

What are the best things about your job? What’s the single high point of your EIC job so far?

CONCH: Interviewing foreign bands and artists? Check. Getting invited to cool events? Check. Discovering new music? Check. Free CDs? Check. I only came on board BURN October last year, and you don’t really get a lot of high points in a span of eight months, since my definition of a “high point” is getting to interview a foreign band/artist I idolize. One high point for me, though is when [the most recent] issue of BURN hit the stands and most everyone who’s seen that issue were raving about the covers and the content.

JOEY: Even though I’m an editor now, I’m still a music fan, so the best things for me are still the little perks I get—free CDs, free tickets to really great concerts and shows and being able to talk to people I really admire. Single high point as EIC? Having dinner with Death Angel. They’re definitely in my list of top five thrash metal heroes. So that was definitely a trip… then when I found out they were fans of my band and the guitar player Ted even had a copy of our second album, I went totally bonkers and almost shit my pants.

What are the worst things about your job? What is the most frustrating/horrible thing to happen on your EIC job so far?

JOEY: Honestly? The fact that whatever the fuck happens, it’s my fault… really. But I do understand the responsibility and the importance of the role, and I guess the old axiom “no pain, no gain,” best describes what being an editor is all about. I mean, you can stay up so many sleepless nights, you can put your social life on hold and you can make so many enemies, and at the end of the day, something’ll still go wrong. But that’s the case in being the go-to guy in any form of work I guess. I mean, I love sleep deprivation, it’s a sick habit of mine… so it’s definitely not anything that petty which gets to me.

I guess what’s mainly frustrating for me is two things: advertisers, and people who have no sense of humor and take things way too personally. I mean, first of all, I don’t hate advertisers, and I even acknowledge and appreciate ‘em… but sometimes, they tend to meddle with concepts and can come up with pretty lame, hard-sell type of ideas that sometimes aren’t in the best interests of the magazine’s integrity. We always are in some sort of fix with our advertisers, not because we want to be in a fix, but because we feel pretty strong about preserving our credibility and will always keep trying to stick to what we’re about. We don’t always win, but at least we fought, right?

And with people who take things way too personally, I guess it comes with Philippine culture… be it musicians, clients, co-workers, whatever. I mean, I can say the most retarded and fucked-up shit today about a band or whoever, and that’d just be my opinion. The next day you got twenty people who want to shoot you, then the next day, a hundred people who are obsessed with the fact you’re an asshole even if they know nothing about you… all because you had to do your job making sure they did theirs, or all because you didn’t like the new band and gave its album a bad review, or because you thought that this band was far more deserving than the other to be put on the cover. I mean, dude… on certain days, it can make a grown man cry.

For the record, I wasn’t editor yet, but my single, worst moment in PULP was interviewing Eric Draiman of this band called Disturbed. That band’s music totally sucks rotten eggs, and the guy’s some stupid fuck who wants to be known as an intellectual rock star. I mean, how is that possible? He doesn’t even know what good heavy music sounds like, much less how it’s made.

CONCH: It’s sometimes difficult to find a middle ground between what advertisers want and what we—the editorial team—want for BURN. But it is, I have to admit, a challenge and it’s good to know that there are some advertisers who are quite open minded. The most frustrating thing that’s happened so far is when we had to cut down pages since BURN wasn’t hitting the quota in terms of sales (ad count). It’s been picking up, though.

What are you proudest of, when it comes to your magazine?

CONCH: Each issue just keeps getting better and better! Every time we put an issue to rest and make deadlines without sacrificing quality, it’s something to be proud of.

JOEY: Hmmm, in no particular order, I’m proud of the fact that we’re still around and doing relevant stuff—seven years is no joke. Again, I’m proud that we put Urbandub on the cover, I’m proud that we are also behind the biggest events in the country like Summer Slam, I’m proud that we brought over some pretty damn good musicians like Death Angel, I’m proud of the fact that we let our writers AND our readers say what they feel, I’m proud of the fact that bands and musicians are now understanding the magazine a little better… I’m proud of a lot of things, just as I still see a lot of areas that can be improved. There’s still a long way to go, but occasionally I like it that I can have a nice, cold beer and a smoke at the end of each day knowing we did our best and not feel guilty about ripping people off.

What do you know now about the publishing industry and being an EIC that you never would have suspected before your career in magazines?

CONCH: That being an EIC isn’t a glamorous job at all. People usually think that EICs just go to all these events, sit in this huge chair that screams “I am the boss” and bark orders at people. It’s a lot of hard work—you get your fingers dirty, you’re the one with your ass on the line if something goes wrong. It’s pretty tough work.

JOEY: Hmmm, let’s see… here’s stuff inside AND outside the publishing industry that I learned. I now know:

1. That being an EIC won’t necessarily make you rich. Celebrity columnists and socialite writers, despite the fact that they write about the most retarded nonsense, will always make more than you do.

2. That even if you do work for a music magazine, it does take a great amount of responsibility and commitment.

3. That people still actually read… I thought everybody was busy with their iPods and cellphones and fucking online games.

4. That record companies aren’t evil… there are just a lot of bands who sign contracts without understanding what’s going on.

5. That a lot of bands and musicians don’t have enough balls to stand by what they say, that they’ll accuse you of “putting words in their mouths” or “twisting the facts” even though you’ve got their voices on tape, should they ever get in trouble.

6. That in the Philippines, if you do a good job at being 100% unmerciful and truthful in the publishing industry, instead of being rewarded, you’ll either get killed or be labeled as “evil.”

7. That there’s no such thing as an unbiased review or article. Only balls (or the absence of ‘em) to back up what you say or write.

8. That ads are important.

9. That parents would really prefer that their sons/daughters grow up to be doctors or lawyers. It’s pretty hard explaining to their friends that their son/daughter is an editor for a music magazine, since the only music their friends know is the music they hear on TV… Erik Santos, Sarah Geronimo, Cueshe… I mean, taking nothing away from those artists, but c’mon.

10. That meeting deadlines will always be a notch more important than writing a killer article.

What more do you want to achieve, in terms of the magazine?

JOEY: A lot more… Sure we’ve done some pretty far-out stuff like I mentioned above, but honestly, there’s always a way to make something better. Ideally, I’d like to see PULP everywhere, not just in leading newsstands and magazine shops… I’d like to see the mag available not just in “music” places and shit like that, but it’d be cool if you could go to the barber shop in some place outside the metro, and pick up a copy and read it while you’re getting a haircut. It may sound wild, but I’d also like for PULP to be distributed outside the country, so those foreigners can see that local talent can kick their asses anytime, any day.

Other than that, it’s generally that continuous one-up of everything we do: a wider scope of the music we feature, better foreign acts to bring in every year for the Summer Slam, and for PULP to have a bigger impact and connection with music fans everywhere, without having to compromise what we stand for. I mean, it’s no deep mission and vision thing for me—I honestly just want to keep the mag evolving into a magazine that is relevant and that actually contributes to the growth of the local music industry. We’ve proven that we’re not bullshitting anyone and that we’re pretty honest, but I also don’t want the mag to be all about bashing and trashing musicians and artists for the sheer hell of it to exorcise personal issues and frustrations, you know what I mean?

CONCH: I want the magazine to garner enough ads to be able to bring back the BURN CD and to be able to add more editorial pages. I want “BURN” to be synonymous with “cool.”

Photograph of Conch by Web Designer + Rock Photographer Mari Arquiza. Check out more of her stuff here! Photograph of Joey provided by Joey Dizon. Visit PULP magazine online here, and BURN magazine here.

Here’s some new-ish stuff to listen to if your ears are tired of formula rock and empty so-called “urban” crap. Granted, these three acts are easily classifiable as pop, but it’s the good kind of pop: catchy without being brainless, influenced by various genres, heartfelt where others would be merecenary. Might sound a little slick for some, but even the most hardcore music nerds may need breathers in-between blasts of experimental noisegasms.

First we have Asa, Paris-born and Nigeria-raised, who delivers sweet neo-soul/R&B. Though comparisons are often odious, I think if you like Corinne Bailey Rae, you’ll probably like her as well. For starters, go and listen to the lovely “No One Knows.” It will make you feel good.

Then we have New York-based symphonic pop band The Sharp Things, “a reaction to the dead-end of indie rock.” Splendid magazine called them “a frothy confection that’s equal parts Cole Porter opulence, brittle Hal David pop punch and lovelorn Left Banke flicker.” Listen to “Cruel Thing.”

And finally, Bella. They’re an 80s-flavored act that “channels its influences from a synthier time — but in a gorgeous, non-ironic kind of way.” I’m not sure if ’synthier’ is a word, but here, it’s perfectly appropriate. Music for Robots called their new album “dancey power pop, pure and simple.” Give a listen to “Give it a Night.” You’re welcome.

Nobody in Helen is named Helen. Unlike certain ’80s bands with big hair, they didn’t name their band after the lead vocalist. And yet, since the vocalist is this tall, curvaceous chick holding a guitar, and the only girl in the band, it’s normal to hear guys in the audience yell, "I love you, Helen!" at their gigs. Some nights, she blithely replies, "I love you too," without missing a beat. Others, she’ll look at their bassist and say, "Hoy, I love you, daw."

Her name is actually Jill de la Torre and Helen, the band, was not initially her idea. Bassist Jonjon Jose invited her to join them in 2003, after being introduced by common friends. Jon and their drummer, Mikah Azurin—who also plays for jazz group Quail Quartet and death metal band Brimstone in Fire—write most of their songs, even the lyrics. Most of the time, they make them too low for her to sing (not intentionally, they are guys with different vocal registers after all). Sometimes, she writes her own lyrics too, such as on the yearning yet seductive "Farcaster," where she croons, "Lapit na, lapit, lapit pa…" thus earning unwanted post-gig invitations on occasion. Unwanted because, offstage, the come-hither look and voice are gone, and med student Jill just wants a quiet corner in the bar where she can study for an exam the next day.

The rest of their songs are in this league of sexy, such as the bossa-tinged "Red Moon," written by Jon, and the anthemic "Experimental Model," which was written by Mikah. Sexy over the signature live drum n’ bass foundations. Live drum n’ bass? Yes, live. Yes, Jon and Mikah can play that fast.

Rounding out the foursome is Wiggie (pronounced Wee-jee) Bug-os, whose bluesy, funk-influenced guitars add another dimension to the band’s sound. Many who hear them for the first time proclaim that they sound like no one else. The band hopes that this will work well for them when they finally release their album by the end of the year. They’ve poured so much time into the recording process that the songs on their demo EP, originally released in 2005, now sound vastly different. Their first "single," "Back in My Home," which was played on the radio and can be heard on their MySpace and Multiply pages, is merely a bare-bones basic version of what the song is now—a bit more haunting, a bit more compelling, a bit more sexy.

PULSE.PH: How was Helen formed?

MIKAH: I met Jon while I was still in one of my former bands, a jazz group called Fish Trio. His band at the time needed a session drummer for a gig, and they asked me to sit in. Later on when his band broke up, he called to ask if I was interested in doing a project, and that became Helen.
JON: Mikah sessioned for my former band around 2002, I think that was an NU107 gig at Zoo. I asked him if it’s okay with him if we’d do a side project and he said yes. We had our first rehearsal around the end of March of 2003 with Sherwin Reyes as a part of our original line up. Puwedeng bumati? Sherwin! Balitaan mo naman kami!
JILL: My good friend was a writer for a paper and she interviewed Jon’s former band. This friend of mine was also the "manager" for the all-girl band I was part of called Chimera. We were content with playing gigs here and there and in one of those gigs we played with Jon’s former band. Jon was so impressed by me that he told my friend I was really really great. Eventually when he left his former band he contacted me and asked if I was interested in being in a band with him.
MIKAH: It took us a long time to really find our sound because it was so different from everything we’d done before.

How do you think you complement each other, as musicians, as people?

MIKAH: None of us come from the same musical background. At most, Jonjon and I both grew up listening to new wave, but that’s it. So when one of us brings in a song in a style that the others aren’t familiar with, we end up interpreting it in different ways, and when the song is finally done, it’s usually a mix of a lot of different elements, and that can be very interesting.
WIGGIE: Just being true to each other, and respect.
JILL: We respect each other, and because of that we work well together—there’s no dissing and fighting or going behind each other’s backs. I think it also helps that we’re all on the stable side, so our personality quirks aren’t so big that we can’t handle each other. As musicians we know our abilities and our limitations, we know who leads and who follows, but it’s more of a democracy—we all have our input when it comes to putting together a song.
JON: Sa music, I think we complement each other by "not complementing each other." Labo nun no?! Ibig kong sabihin eh kinakalimutan namin yung influences namin consciously sa songwriting process, hanggang sa maging natural na yung pag complement sa kanta. Lahat ng gagawin namin sa intstrumento namin ay sa ikagaganda ng kanta. As people, balanse lang siguro with the members… ‘kala mo ang dami no? Pogi si Mikah and Wiggie, pero pinaka pogi ako! Balanse lang, ganun.

How would you describe your sound?

JON: Nako! ‘Yan nga kinakatakot kung tanong eh.
WIGGIE: Kakaiba.
MIKAH: It’s OPM! With a some new wave, dreampop, punk, bossa and a lot of drum n’ bass mixed in.
JILL: Our music is unexpected and complex. It’s also so flexible—it can encompass a whole range of emotions without sounding whiny or redundant.
JON: Eto yung tinatawag na "pakinggan mo na lang" genre. Eto siguro yung bandang busog nung ginawa yung kanta. Kape ka lang while listening to our music pero di sa sosyal na kapihan pero brewed coffee ha, tapos kumakain ka na blueberry cheesecake or super sarap na oatmeal cookies….Yan!!

Why Helen? How do you think the name Helen fits you?

JON: Para sa akin kasi… di ko talaga alam!! Maikli, madaling tandaan, basta’t may maipangalan lang. The music is more important.
JILL: Helen sounded right. When it was first thrown out in the air everyone paused for a moment and let it sink in—unlike with the other proposed names that were discarded so easily.
MIKAH: It was the first name that we all agreed on. My suggestion was "Bureau of Customs" but no one else liked this name.

How do you feel about people recognizing you as Helen, with them thinking that it’s really your name?

JILL: Everytime someone calls me Helen, I’m flattered because I associate that with people remembering our music. The fact that they remembered me and the name meant that they paid attention to our music, listened and, hopefully, appreciated it.

Based on your songs, if Helen were an actual person, what would she look like? What kind of girl would she be?

WIGGIE: Simple lang at may Spongebob tattoo. [laughs]
JON: What a question!! Baliw siguro, pero maganda at sexy!
JILL: She’d be a complicated woman. She’d be bold, she would know what she wants and would try many different things to achieve her goal. She’d be opinionated and wouldn’t be afraid of emotions. She’d be beautiful, of course, but in a way that doesn’t shout "look-at-me". Her beauty would be that which is appreciated more the longer you know her. Just like our music. It grows on you.
MIKAH: She’s the girl you don’t want to introduce to your girlfriend.

How does your songwriting process go?

MIKAH: I usually write on keyboard and make a working demo of the song using a sequencer. I’m not really a guitarist so my stuff comes out really sounding like it should be a keyboard player playing it—but we don’t have one. A big part of the Helen sound is trying to translate all these keyboard parts into something that two guitars and a bass can cover. It can be hard but what comes out always sounds pretty interesting.
JILL: Usually it’s Mikah or Jon who writes songs, sometimes it would be a complete song with the chords and lyrics and we’d tweak it depending on our individual parts.. We’re free to work with our sounds as long as we keep the main thought of the song intact. Sometimes it would be just music and I’d write the lyrics.
JON: Gagawin ni Mikah or ako sa midi yung basic pattern, parinig sa amin, jam, and the really long process of constantly changing the song. After a month iba na from the original, give it another 3-4 months at malayo na talaga sa original. ‘Pag kanta ni Jill, paririnig lang sa amin, tapos ganun ding proseso.

How do you translate to guitar the many sounds that were originally keyboard based? How do you figure this out? Is it difficult?

WIGGIE: It’s not that difficult for me because I have a little background playing the keyboards.
JON: Hmmm… Pogi ka na naman, Wiggie. Mahirap bang mag gitara?! Mga chicks ganyan style eh. I heard that before, "Mahirap bang mag drums?" Pa bati uli, Paolo!! Kamusta ka na diyan!! [This is an inside joke that turned out to involve a handsome but shy drummer and a female DJ's tactics to get him to smile at her. We do not repeat it here, just because.—Joelle]

What song/s do you feel most strongly about?

WIGGIE: "Farcaster," "Red Moon," and "Experimental Model."
JON: "Red Moon" … Puwedeng bumati? Hello Jewel.
JILL: I feel most strongly about “Bitin” because that stemmed from a personal experience. I was also so amazed at how well the words came together—in Tagalog!—in just a matter of minutes, something that hardly happens anymore. I also enjoy playing “Experimental Model.” It’s nice and catchy and it’s fun to play a character, even if it’s just for a song.
MIKAH: I thought "Experimental Model" was fiction but I realized it was really about me.

How are you recording this album? What is your set up and process?

JON: Ah… Using a tape recorder. No, Just kidding, Mikah records the drums kay Shinji …di ko na batiin yan, kilala na yan eh… ‘Pag uwi nung drum tracks sa PC ni Mikah, mag lay-in na kami nung ibang instruments sa PC niya habang kumakain kami nang marami.
MIKAH: I’m recording my drum parts at Sound Creation, owned and operated by duly licensed multi-awarded very friendly easy to work with super-engineer Tanaka Shinji. Everything else is recorded at Bahay ni Mikah at Bahay ni Jonjon recording studio, into my computer. Unless plans change, we’re going to do the mixing ourselves. Hopefully something interesting will come out.

What was the hardest thing about recording your album by yourselves?

MIKAH: Scheduling everyone! And learning how to record at the same time as doing the recording!
JON: Oras!!! Oras nang bawa’t isa. Si Jill nag me-med, Wiggie and I teach taekwondo, Mikah has his work.
JILL: I’ve never recorded anything before so I have nothing to compare it to, but what’s hard about it is, of course, having to put up the money to record by ourselves. There’s also no professional audio techie among us so basically we’re just recording to the best of our abilities. There’s also a disadvantage when it comes to "standardization" of the sound settings since we record at different times and at different places. It’s also hard to find time to record since we all have our day jobs keeping us busy.
MIKAH: Our manager Zarah is and continues to be a big help in planning all the details and paperwork that will go into making this album happen, and we’re really happy about that.
WIGGIE: Ako, ang hinde maligaw sa palo ni Mikah-tok! [laughs]

People say that your music doesn’t really fit into a particular category, or in their words, "Wala kayong katunog." How do you think this helps or hurts you?

JILL: It’s helpful to us since our music sticks out. It’s unexpected, as I mentioned, and that makes people listen. But because we sound different, there are those who aren’t sure whether they like us or not because they have nothing to compare it to. It’s also a challenge to play in front of people who are not so receptive to new things. It’s like introducing yourself to people and not being liked because of the fact that you’re different.
WIGGIE: It’s a compliment for us when they say wala kaming katunog.
MIKAH: It helps because no one can really say, "Helen sounds like this or that band." I guess it hurts from a marketing perspective because you can’t put us into any of the usual sections in music stores.
JON: It hurts kasi ginugulo namin isip nila. It helps kasi ginugulo namin isip nila.

Photographs by Zarah Dominguez, Joelle Jacinto and Jewel Regal.

Join the bewilderment and check out more of Helen here and here. You can also join their mailing list at helenbanda@yahoogroups.com.

There was the obvious worry that her music would sound like a knockoff of her old band’s. Having a voice as unique as Dolores’ is both a blessing and a curse; there was no mistaking The Cranberries for any other band, not with that distinct voice at the helm. The downside of this is that we’d gotten so used to the sound of The Cranberries that it was going to be extra challenging for Dolores to branch out on her own.

And then there was the question of the lyrics. After being in a band that did the whole mushy love thing (albeit in a cool way) and the patriotic/ political thing (which was great at first, but later became tiresome), I wondered: what’s she going to do that would set her apart from her past?

The answer, unfortunately, turned out to be a little worse than I suspected. Are You Listening? sounds like a half-baked Cranberries (sans lush arrangements) album most of the time, and a half-baked Sinead/ Bjork/ Enya hybrid during others. I don’t even want to talk about the lyrics. I’ve heard better rhymes on Sesame Street. I mean, I’ve never heard the Cookie Monster rhyme “sea” with “sea” and “me” with “me.” Unfortunately, Dolores does just this in “Stay With Me.” Other songs are similarly impaired. “When We Were Young” starts off with Cranberries-style vocal acrobatics, and features a chorus with the lyrics “I wanna get out, I wanna go home/ Is anything better than you on the phone (Repeat x2).” Not exactly something you’d expect from a grown-up, respected musician and mother of two.

On “In the Garden,” Dolores channels Sinead O’Connor by way of the music’s simple arrangement and vocals before segueing into a chorus that’s all her. Heavily laced with rock, the chorus complements her beautiful, strong voice. Unfortunately, again, I’ve heard better lyrics on children’s television. Points for effort, though. “Human Spirit” is a quirky mix of pop laced with traditional Irish influences. Unfortunately, the pipes and fiddles only enhance the piece so much, such that you get the feeling that they could have used other instruments to get the same effect. Still, the song has a nice, engaging beat, sort of reggae—but not quite.

“Apple of My Eye” is a soft, simple song whose lyrics fit the arrangement well enough to be more than listenable, though if you listen hard enough, you sort of expect Dolores to segue into “Free to Decide” at any moment. Still, it counts as one of the high points of the album. Another high point would be “Black Widow,” which was supposed to be in the last Spider-Man movie but was pulled out at the last minute. The minimalist use of the piano and Dolores’ soft crooning shows off the depth and range of her voice.

Just like anyone who’s listened to and loved The Cranberries, I want nothing more than to have Dolores O’Riordan’s solo album succeed, and it breaks my heart to face the reality that it’s just not all there. Dolores has still got a powerful set of lungs and one of the most beautiful voices in the industry, but if she wants to succeed as a solo artist, she’ll need to get a new lyricist and maybe a new arranger.

So, to answer the album’s bold title: Yes, I am, but I’m not sure I like what I’m hearing.

Here’s something you should open your eyes to: Traffic: an MTV EXIT Special. As the title implies, it’s about the tragedy that is human trafficking, specifically in the Asia-Pacific region. “We premiered the half-hour documentary at Hard Rock Cafe in front of an audience made up of people from the US Embassy, various NGOs, and press people,” said Lizette Claudio of MTV Philippines.

“Dicta License performed a song commissioned by the Visayan Forum Foundation, one of the largest anti-human trafficking organizations in the Philippines. The song, entitled “Tinangay”, was written by Pochoy Labog and it is a call to empower victims of human trafficking. Christian Bautista, the MTV Exit Philippine ambassador, was also present, and so was US Ambassador Kristie Kenney.” Liz went on to say that “This is a campaign that we’re very proud to be a part of and we’re also very passionate about the cause, since it’s very relevant to Filipinos.”

More info in the press release:

MTV Exit in Manila

MTV PHILIPPINES BROADCASTS THE LAUNCH FEATURE OF THE MTV EXIT CAMPAIGN, TRAFFIC: AN MTV EXIT SPECIAL, HOSTED BY CHRISTIAN BAUTISTA, TO RAISE AWARENESS AND INCREASE PREVENTION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING (October 18th 8:30 pm)

25 September 2007—Traffic: an MTV EXIT Special premiered at the Hard Rock Cafe today in the Philippines with popular singer and TV personality Christian Bautista presenting the documentary. Traffic, the lead feature of the MTV EXIT campaign, is a unique and powerful program which aims to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking in Asia-Pacific. Today it was announced, for the first time, that Christian Bautista is part of the Asia-wide campaign as one of a number of international artists to host the documentary.

MTV researched and produced the documentary with the help of various expert organizations. Traffic features the stories of real people in Asia connected by the trafficking issue, including Anna, who was trafficked from the Philippines and forced into prostitution; Eka, an Indonesian woman trafficked into forced domestic servitude in Singapore; and Min Aung from Burma, who was trafficked to Thailand and imprisoned for 2 years in a factory. Their harrowing stories are told alongside other people in the trafficking chain, including a trafficker from the Philippines who has been forcing girls into prostitution for over 20 years, a young man from Taiwan who pays for sex, an anti-trafficking police officer from Thailand, and a woman who runs a shelter in Singapore for victims of trafficking and other abuses.

The documentary gives an insight into the realities of trafficking, addresses the part that everyone plays in the issue, and provides information on how individuals can protect themselves against trafficking, as well as what everyone can do to help end exploitation and trafficking. Traffic: an MTV EXIT Special has been produced in multiple languages to maximize local relevance, with different celebrities hosting each different language version—Christian Bautista presents the documentary in Tagalog and English, Tata Young presents the documentary in Thai and English, Rain of Korea will present the Korean version of the program, Karen Mok in Mandarin and other artists to be announced shortly will present versions in English, Japanese, Bahasa Indonesian and Mongolian.

Traffic is the launch feature of the MTV EXIT Campaign in Asia and the Pacific, which aims to increase awareness and prevention of human trafficking through television programs, online content, live events and innovative partnerships with local, national and international anti-trafficking organizations.

Christian Bautista said, “I am proud to join Tata Young, Rain, and other celebrities in the fight against trafficking. To hear one of the stories from this documentary of a young Filipina girl who has been trafficked into modern-day slavery causes me great sadness. We need to be aware that the exploitation is going on in the Philippines. Young people’s hopes and desires to improve their lives can make them vulnerable to traffickers. Many people are currently being trafficked in the Philippines and I hope that this documentary and the MTV EXIT campaign will give people the information they need to stay safe as well as encourage others to join the fight to end trafficking.”

Simon Goff, Campaign Director of MTV EXIT said, “We are very proud to be launching the MTV EXIT Campaign in the Philippines. As the Traffic documentary shows, trafficking is of critical importance here both in terms of vulnerable young people being trafficked and in respect to the exploitation of trafficking victims. We hope that this campaign provides key information for people to protect themselves as well as inspire our audience to join the fight against trafficking.”

“This film, made possible with assistance from the American people, is meant to save lives,” said U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie A. Kenney. “Through MTV, it will reach millions of young people, the group most at risk in Asia.”

“We are very proud to be expanding the MTV EXIT Campaign to the Philippines,” Francis Lumen, Chairman and CEO of MTV Philippines commented. “MTV Philippines is one of the most influential platforms to reach young people in the country. By showing this programming we hope to communicate to our audience the importance of understanding what human trafficking is, how to avoid it, and how to prevent it happening to other people.”

Traffic: An MTV EXIT Special, presented by Christian Bautista (English version), will premiere on MTV Philippines on October 18 at 8:30 pm and will be repeated at the following times:

Saturday, October 20 at 9:30 pm (English)
Wednesday, October 24 at 3:30pm (Tagalog)
Saturday, October 27 at 1:00 pm (English)
Monday, October 29 at 5:30 pm (English)
Friday, November 2 at 10:00 am (Tagalog)

Christian Bautista photos courtesy of Perlas & Luna PR Group.

We are The Pipettes
We’ve got no regrets
If you haven’t noticed yet
We’re the prettiest girls you’ve ever met

Oh, I want this album. Been listening to a handful of Pipettes tracks for over a year now, and I have yet to tire of their ’60s-style girl-group charm. (Do yourself a favor and hunt down some mp3s or clips on YouTube. Check out “Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me” or “Pull Shapes,” for starters.)

And today their North American full-length debut gets released! Nice cover. Go RiotBecki! Go Gwenno! Go Rosay! Love those names. Love those songs.

For the average unadventurous music listener, hearing a song by Intolerant is like unwittingly wandering into an Ultimate Fighting Championship: before you know what the fuck is going on, you’re going to get your ass kicked in so many creative, brutal ways. You won’t be able to defend yourself against being battered to a pulp by the experts, but in the end, you just might develop a taste for the blood in your mouth.

Needlessly violent imagery, perhaps—and certainly, if you are instead a longtime fan of heavy music, you’ll find much that is already familiar and welcoming in Intolerant’s music. The fact is, I’m probably the last person in the world who should be writing something about a band like Intolerant, seeing as how most of the music I listen to is, for lack of a better word, pretty candy-ass. (I own almost everything the Pet Shop Boys ever recorded, for God’s sake.) But there’s something to be said about trying to go beyond your usual listening fare, and to be honest, I had reached the point where I couldn’t bear to listen to yet another blogged-about, whiny-voiced, bearded/goateed, quirky/sensitive, American/Canadian independent so-called rock band. That’s why I found songs like “God of War” and “Death Toll Rising” such a refreshing change.

Intolerant’s underground cred is impeccable, being made up as it is of members of two of the more respected heavy acts on the local scene: L.O.C. and Skychurch. Having said that, the very reason Intolerant exists is to push the boundaries a little—in other words, to break the rules of a genre that is known for breaking rules. It’s this spirit of re-creation that makes Intolerant’s music a gateway drug of sorts, which is not to say that it is in any way lacking in speed, power or aggression. Intolerant guitarist Joey Dizon, whose other bands have included Skychurch, DNYD and Moyg—and who, incidentally, is the Editor-in-Chief of PULP magazine, which often celebrates heavy music in its pages—filled us in on his new band.

PULSE.PH: When, how and why did Intolerant come together? And why the name "Intolerant?”

JOEY: Let’s see. I’d say it’s been two years since me, [vocalist/guitarist] Russell dela Cruz and [drummer] Pepo Gohu got together for a beer and started talking about putting the band together. We didn’t have any songs, we didn’t know exactly what we wanted to do, but we sort of knew that, if given the choice, we’d want to create and play music together… I guess because since we’ve always had good vibes between us since years ago, when I started sessioning for Skychurch and L.O.C. was pretty new. It seemed like a long year at first, because we were just jamming on this one song—now known as “Shift”—and just adding on to it, twisting the parts and arrangements and shit like that. We didn’t even have a bass player.

What happened was, Russell had so much riffs and was writing a lot of music which we couldn’t exactly play in Skychurch, mainly because there was a significant difference to ‘em… and we didn’t want to confine ourselves nor alienate Skychurch fans with something totally left-field. Though we’re both pretty open-minded with music, both of us weren’t too comfortable with the concept of a band—which has already established its identity/ purpose—suddenly doing a 180 for whatever the fuck reason.

So we called in Pepo, who we hadn’t seen in ages, and he seemed excited about the whole idea of sort of “breaking the rules” with heavy music… because after he left L.O.C., he pursued many other projects and had a well-rounded sense of music: he was a guitar player, sessioned for other bands and even became a DJ. He also knew his way around the studio, so we knew that he was the type of guy we wanted to work with. Then after a long time of trying out bassists (well, we only tried out one… then drew blanks the following rehearsals…), we sort of all decided to call in Mic Gallegos, who formed L.O.C. with Pepo and played bass for ‘em. He was involved with Moyg then and had his own band Man Down, but he also expressed a lot of excitement, and we found out he was on the same page as we were. I don’t know exactly “why” we came together, there was no real urgent reason to, but it sort of just worked out. What started off as a project band, became something we’re all committed to… probably because there’s a good balance in personalities and musical chemistry. It’s a pretty rare thing.

As for the name, no deep story there. We were nameless for the longest time. At first, it was Reasons for Unrest, but then, we sort of went for something simpler. We each have stories/ interpretations explaining why we’re called Intolerant, but to be honest, they probably change as often as we change socks. Which is often… I assume.

How does being in Intolerant compare to your experiences with DNYD, Moyg and Skychurch?

Personally, it’s way different, and still very rewarding. DNYD was my first serious band with close friends who were really into the hardcore thing… we managed to make a small name for ourselves, we came up with original songs that were pretty okay, but then… we just got tired of it, I guess. We joke about it to this day, because we were just some new band but we sort of acted like… jerks. We had egos and we were pretty strong personalities, so I guess it wasn’t meant to last. Besides, we’re all better off as great friends now.

Skychurch of course, will always be close to my heart… but that band was already made, and had an ethic I dared not fuck with. I was just happy to play guitar with those guys because they were my mentors, and I looked up to them so much. I was always keeping myself in check because Skychurch really is about three brothers who fucking killed any band out there. Period. I will always first be a fan of Skychurch, rather than a “real” member. And I’ll be happy to play for any of those guys any day. I also met my Moyg bandmates through Skychurch, because we were always playing these productions together (alongside Badburn, who are also close friends…), so when they needed a guitar player to fill in, they called me up and I accepted instantly. Moyg is a fun band, great guys to get wasted with, and though things can really get goofy, the band is principled; I get my punk fix with those guys. We’re actually not called Moyg anymore… we’re now called Today Arsenal, and Mic also plays bass with us.

Intolerant is my main band, and I’m really down with it because even though we’re into the heavy music thing, we’ve totally eradicated all boundaries and made it a point to come up with something fresh-sounding. I mean, I don’t want to claim that what we’re doing is totally new, but I admit that I love it when bands don’t only play, but challenge the way people think and feel about music. Also, even though Mic, Pepo and I still have high respect for Russ, the four of us agree that this band isn’t driven by just one person, or dominated by key members, like Skychurch and Moyg sort of was. It’s really about four different musicians really letting loose. I guess that’s probably why it takes us quite a while to totally finish a song… we feel there’s always something more we can add onto a simple progression, or riff. The cool thing about it is, there’s no pressure… we’re not rushing to beat a deadline or anything, though we are teaching ourselves NOT to take too long…

Intolerant is made up of members of "two genre-defining bands in the Philippine underground music scene…” what does Intolerant do that would be familiar/unfamiliar to listeners of Skychurch and L.O.C.?

Definitely, Intolerant can conveniently be tagged as a heavy band, and Skychurch and L.O.C. are pretty good primers (among many) for local heavy music. The musicianship can also be pretty demanding, and we’ve always had high standards when it came to performance… Intolerant really takes pride in playing the songs the right way: it’s loud, it’s heavy but it’s also very refined. Skychurch was very disciplined when it came to performing, and wasn’t the easiest shit to do, but it was, again, very rewarding.

On the other hand, Intolerant is a lot more mature in some aspects… I mean, we even have a ballad-type song, so you can imagine how flexible we are compared to your average metal band. Skychurch had ballads and melody and shit, but they were used as tools. With Intolerant, we wouldn’t be as afraid to use those melodies and that certain approach from start to finish… if that’s what we feel we really want to do.

In a way, Intolerant is also pretty open-minded to having people outside of the genre give a listen. So right now, we’ll play anywhere and everywhere as long as we’re down with the people we’re playing with. Our gigs don’t necessarily have to be limited to underground metal gigs.

Your Purevolume page describes the band as "Metal /Metalcore / Death Metal." For the clueless—meaning myself—please describe the qualities of these genres, and how they feed into the sound of Intolerant.

I guess those labels/sub-genres are mainly for convenience, but it’s pretty hard to take it as scripture… we’re definitely a metal band, we’re definitely willing to play something with melody and unafraid to try out new, more modern elements like progressions and arrangements, and we also won’t think twice about fucking going bonkers and pushing the limits as far as death metal does—blistering guitar work, guttural vocals, double bass drumming, extremely fast yet also extremely slow, and all. I guess it’d be safe to say that we’re all commonly rooted in our love for bands like Slayer, Pantera, Sepultura and even bands not exactly dead-center in the metal heap… bands like Earth Crisis, Strife, Sick of It All, Madball. I know it doesn’t sound pretty intelligent, but put all those influences together, add our own craziness, and that’s Intolerant.

If Jesus and the Devil were to form a band, we’d be the perfect opening act for them.

How does the songwriting in Intolerant work? Please describe the process/inspirations behind some of the songs. ("God of War" is my current favorite).

It either starts with a riff or a drum pattern. Like I mentioned, Russell had all these leftover riffs and what would happen was, we’d tie ‘em together and slave over them for hours in the studio. We’d all add onto those few riffs and play it until we felt it sounded right. It was a very meticulous process, considering we’re four critical personalities… but for some reason, whenever something worked, we were all unanimous in deciding it was the way we heard it in our heads. Pretty cosmic… and funny because we don’t really share the same vices or habits. Or whatever the fuck it is that causes musical inspiration.

Is that a second vocalist on "Left Standing," doing the ‘cleaner’ vocals? And why does "Shift" sound so different from the other songs so far?

On the recorded songs, Russ sings all the vocals so on “Left Standing,” that’s both his vocals. He’s a pretty well-rounded singer, and we are all proud to say that he has a powerful voice and a fine sense of pitch. No studio trickery at all, what you’ll hear on disc is what you’ll hear live… we guarantee it. I mean, there are singers these days who sound bad on their album! (It’s pretty dumb, granted there are so many ways to sound good in the studio… cheating or not). “Shift” is also a really good song that shows how dynamic he can be, and it’s also a very personal song for us. It was the song that sort of defined us during the beginning: it was one thing, but it was also something else… minus the compromise a normal band on the radio would have to undergo. “My Demise” is also pretty complex, yet it’s as brutal as “Shift” is subtle.

“God of War” is also currently my favorite, because it’s really just a mean motherfucker (yes, inspired by the video game, because Russell was hooked!). It’s an all-out, no bullshit, metal-as-fuck track that we all enjoy playing live. Just like “Death Toll Rising…” when we play those two songs live, I think that’s when we’re pulling out the big guns.

There’s a lot of great guitar work on these songs—the searing solos are what a listener inexperienced with this genre (again, such as myself) latch on to first. As a guitarist, who are your heroes/influences?

As a guitarist, there are so many guitar players I look up to. I divide them into groups because it’s sort of like comparing apples to oranges whenever people ask me who I think the better guitar hero is. For downright shredding, my faves are the usual: Satriani, Vai, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman. But as far as heavy metal and rock goes, you can’t go wrong with the late, great Dimebag Darrell… he was the true example of what it meant to be a well-rounded musician: he could shred, but he also had attitude and kicked ass onstage, and was an impressive rhythm player. That’s very important to me… before you become a shredder, you gotta know how to play rhythm… you gotta know your timing. That’s why I really admire guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammet, Scott Ian. They’re not necessarily shredders, and probably not the fastest guys around, but they’ve got personality and they fucking respect the musicians around them and know that the spotlight’s not always on them. Yngwie Malmsteen and John Petrucci can fucking suck sheep balls for all I care. Yeah they’re good, but sometimes there’s a fine line between tasty and just wanking at 500mph. Plus, I’m pretty sure if Dimebag was to ever get in a fight with Malmsteen or Petrucci, he’d kick their asses with one hand tied behind his back. Even if it was a beer-drinking contest he’d win… even non-guitarists who’d listen to the albums all three of them played on would probably agree that Darrell’s playing has the most impact. Because it’s not only technical… it, er… rocks. Really.

How do you build on/develop your guitar-playing?

I’m actually guilty of not always “building/developing” my chops. I got a day job, so I guess that’s my excuse for not always being able to go through the proper rudiments and exercises and whatever. But my technique to keep myself from rusting has always been picking up the guitar at least once a day, and playing entire songs from start to finish instead of just the same licks and exercises over and over again. I also reserve certain days for jamming with other guitar players… usually on weekends, I get together with two buddies and we just crank the amps and go solo-crazy! Sort of like a G3, only goofier and a little crappier, and we’re all Filipino and nobody’s filming the shit. Nobody should.

What’s the line between a good solo and a bad one?

A good solo? I guess a good solo makes a good song even better. A good solo can highlight a song, it can also take you to a different place, or it can simply blow you away. You feel a good solo, not hear it. It’s because it’s the perfect balance with, again, melody and technical skill. That’s what I think, at least… there have been many debates over what the perfect solo is. Many people say that Kurt Cobain’s solos were genius because they were pure emotion, but I, on the other hand think they were just plain crap. It was right for the music, I guess, but in no way would I refer to those solos as “influential” or “essential.” I am one of the very few people, I guess, who doesn’t give a shit about Nirvana or sees them as a great band. I wasn’t happy when Cobain blew his brains out, but I also wasn’t sad. I think I was busy practicing my chops.

I look at guitar solos in a way that it’s sort of like when you’re eating the perfect pizza, then adding another layer of mozzarella: you don’t really need it, but if you do it right, it’ll make it extra special, say on an all-meat kind. But in that regard, it can also backfire… like when you realize that what you’ve got is a cheese pizza… it’s a plus, but it doesn’t really do or mean anything. (I’m hungry.)

Do you personally have any favorite songs among Intolerant’s output so far? Which one/s and why?

They’re all my favorites… all five songs, though I do joke a lot about how much I “hate ’Shift.’” I guess it’s because, like I mentioned previously, we played it for the longest time over and over again in the studio. I have to admit though that I’m pretty biased when it comes to the songs with guitar solos… they keep me on my feet when I’m playing live, because I definitely don’t want to screw up the parts of songs I was given free reign to write. “God of War” and “Death Toll Rising” are current faves because they just make me want to bash somebody’s head in whenever I hear/play them.

In your opinion, what does each member of Intolerant bring to the band, in terms of musical ability and personal qualities?

Well for one, I like to think that we’re no slouches when it comes to our individual instruments/ immediate roles in the band. I’ve been fortunate to play with many musicians from college and afterwards, but the thing I love about the guys in Intolerant is that they all know what they want/want to do and how to get/do it. Though we’d sometimes coach each other in the studio and suggest ideas and shit, we’re all very secure with the fact that we can individually hold our own and don’t need to be told what to do. It’s very liberating.

With Russ, I guess he’s pretty much the most seasoned musician since he was doing the Skychurch thing as early as high school. I mean, he was a fucking influential musician way before he knew shit about calculus or whatever. And our personalities match, because we’re brutally honest even if it means we come off as assholes. Pepo, I’m also proud to say, has such a wide vocabulary of knowledge when it comes to music, and he’s always willing to learn. It really shows in his playing, because it’s pretty well-rounded and unpredictable as far as metal drummers go. He’s got a great attitude too, very sociable but he also knows when it’s time to speak up and fucking pound somebody in the face with the truth. Again, the three of us are pretty extreme personalities, and Mic balances all that out, even though he definitely has his crazy moments too. But yeah, he’s the most grounded guy, and he’s always great company on or off the stage… because he lets us pick on him. Ha!

Seriously, we’ve all been through some pretty crazy shit individually and collectively, but there’s a fine sense of balance among us. I guess I’ve used that word a lot—balance—so it’s pretty important to me personally, be it musically, or within the band. That’s where the dynamic comes from… a sense of balance.

How have the reactions to Intolerant from audiences been, both the underground/ hardcore community and the more mainstream crowds that may have heard you? What do Skychurch and L.O.C. fans think?

I honestly don’t know, and to some extent, I don’t really think about it as much. I’m happy that we’ve gotten a lot of positive vibes from the people who go to the gigs, of course, but even if we didn’t get as much good feedback, it probably wouldn’t interfere with what we’re doing. I was expecting a lot of reactions especially since our first song was “Shift,” but surprisingly, nobody actually went up to our faces and said “Dude? What the fuck?!!” I think Skychurch fans and original-lineup-L.O.C. fans also have a more mature attitude towards music now, just like us. The great thing about it is, there’s quite a number of non-Skychurch fans who actually dig what Intolerant is doing. So I’m pretty sure we’re doing something, or a lot of things, right. We’ve changed and evolved, but we’ve also maintained some aspects and principles worth sticking to as to who we are as musicians and as people.

What, for you, are the band’s most memorable moments/ achievements thus far?

Fete Dela Musique 2007 was definitely memorable because even though we were a new band, things went extremely well. It was a pretty tight set, if I may say so, and that’s when we all realized that all the work and sleepless nights were very much worth it. Our Purple Haze gigs are always memorable because there’s a great vibe to that place, it has great gear which they allow us to crank and we’re almost always playing with our buddies from Badburn and Today Arsenal. We had a pretty great gig in Caloocan a few months ago when this Hong Kong-based metalcore act Shepherds The Weak came and played a show. And our recent out of town trip to Pampanga was a blast because we all got really drunk but still played an amazingly tight set. Same thing with the Olongapo gigs we played in early ’07. Always a great crowd, always really, really loud.

Of course, recording the demo/EP we’re currently giving away was pretty awesome in my book as far as achievements are concerned, because for a rough recording, we all could hear that there was so much potential within the group. I don’t want to sound arrogant about it, but we all pretty much achieved what we wanted to do at that point in time. Right, in the sense, that we got the respect from people whose opinions mattered to us: the cool guys who catch the shows and support us, and our friends from the other bands we play with.

Where can people watch/listen to Intolerant?

Our skeds are pretty tricky by choice, because we all got priorities and we understand that priorities come first. But we’re pretty much playing at least twice a week, most of the time either at Purple Haze, Mayric’s, or whichever venue where the people are cool with our music. There’s also a handful of out of town gigs every now and then. People can reach us through Friendster or MySpace, or email us directly at intolerantmetal666@yahoo.com if they want to ask where we’re playing.

We’re still giving away free copies of the demo/EP at the gigs, and if people want to hear the songs, we’ll be more than happy to email ‘em mp3s of whatever rough recordings we have at the moment.

Is the full-length still set to come out before year’s end?

Right now, it’s the next step for us, we’re totally redoing everything and have new songs, and we’re slowly but surely figuring out how to achieve the sound we want to be heard on our full-length. Studio recording is a whole different beast, but we’re really pushing to get the album out by the end of the year.

What’s right and what’s wrong about the music industry right now?

Hmmm… a lot if it’s wrong. There’s so much useless shit on the air and on the radio, and rock is in a sad, sad state… call me a dick or whatever, but in my opinion, so many bands these days just deserve to beaten to shit. I mean, I’m a music fan, and so many people are bastardizing and making money out of this whole “band” thing. And so many great, great bands are going unnoticed because of this whole slew of untalented wankers “dominating the airwaves.” So many artists aren’t getting the credit they deserve. I’m saddened by the fact that venues would rather choose a namby-pamby G-rated pop/ showband-type/ formulaic group over a band that really has something to offer, or over what an artist like Noel Cabangon or Skarlet has to offer. I mean, I know it’s really the nature of the industry to support anything that sells, but why not extend the other hand to people who deserve it? And it wasn’t as obvious, and as hard-sell compared to a few years ago… now, a majority (not all, mind you) of the industry still supports crap and doesn’t even have the courtesy to, at the very least, choose the most decent artist in the crap pile. Anyone can get a record deal now, even if they’re totally retarded and can’t sing a note to save their life, as long as they’re part of a trend and have the right look. At least a few years ago, Alamid had chops even though they were kind of cheesy… they knew how to tune their guitars and the guy could sing the right notes. But now, any honest musician can instantly name ten bands who deserve to be fucking dragged out in the streets and shot for being so fucking lame.

It’s not totally hopeless though… I still believe that a lot of companies really want to get their shit together, and that a lot of the younger guys are really coming up with great stuff. But I’m not holding my breath and waiting for it to happen… Intolerant isn’t either. We’re just going to keep doing what we do best.

Listen to Intolerant’s songs on their Purevolume page. And visit them on MySpace and Friendster.

Sometimes, a new band breaks out of the local music scene and hurtles forward in a Katamari Damacy fashion—picking up momentum and devotees and getting bigger and better, until they reach perhaps monstrous proportions. Suddenly, they’re everyone’s favorite band. And you watch them blow up and you ask yourself, "Where’d they come from?" This is how I feel about Taken By Cars.

Well, maybe they’re not at monstrous proportions just yet, but they’re getting there. Suddenly, they’re being talked about by everyone—and I stress "suddenly," because they were quite unheard of last year—probably much to the chagrin of bands who’ve been around longer and are taking a bit more time to get noticed. What haters don’t know, however, is that as a band, the members of Taken By Cars have been together around ten years already, without getting noticed much either.

The band was formed while sophomores in high school. The boys were all neighbors and schoolmates: guitarist Bryce Zialcita, bassist Benny Yap and drummer Bryan Kong all knew each other in the first grade, and they met guitarist Siopao in high school. Sarah Marco, their husky, dusky vocalist, was a friend of a friend; the brave girl met up with the boys, without any clue as to what they even looked like, to jam one afternoon. They hit it off right away, and spent the next ten years having fun as a cover band.

"It was only June of last year that we said, let’s take this seriously," Sarah relates. "So we stopped playing covers and started writing songs."

It’s easy to imagine that Taken By Cars always sounded the way they do now—some psychedelic dance, some shoegaze, some punk beats, lots of heart—but their current sound also only really began in June of last year. Stylistically, the band started out as an alternative band before they ventured into blues and classic rock. They covered bands like K’s Choice, Veruca Salt, Flickerstick and, later, Led Zeppelin and ACDC.

"We all have different tastes in music," Bryce tells me, almost apologetically. "So our current sound is like a collective."

"But freestyle," Sarah adds. "We just get all our ideas and put them together, we just get them from whereever. So our music starts out unstructured and then we make it structured."

"It’s a democratic process," Kong further describes their songwriting process. "There’s a lot of give and take, because we’re all friends and we’ve been friends for a long time. We respect each other’s opinions, we meet halfway."

"We ask each other, ‘How does this sound?’ " Siopao contributes.

"Sometimes, when we write it’s a kind of multiple choice," Bryce grins. "What goes into what part, and so on. It’s very fun." The band meets up at Bryce’s house twice a week to jam. It was there that they wrote most of the songs from the album, though it felt more like hanging out than writing songs.

Next thing they knew, here they are, only a little over a year of writing songs, with an album currently being mixed.

"We’re all on the same wavelength," Bryce opines when I ask why writing together came so easy to them, especially when they never tried writing songs before. Always? They nod, yes always. Don’t you disagree at all?

"When we do, we talk about it until we find a middle ground," Siopao concedes. The best thing about being friends in a band, he says, is you can tell each other anything. "We’re very straight with each other, because we’re all thinking about what’s best for the song."

Bryce agrees. "We never really get into an argument. If there’s tension, it’s positive tension."

I wonder by this time how we managed to skip ten years of band history. They all laugh, with Sarah admitting, "It wasn’t exactly ten years, it just started ten years ago. We were dormant, sometimes, for long periods of time."

They each assure me I didn’t miss out much by only coming to know them this year. They played in school fairs, in parties. They had bad names. I pressed for those bad names and they laughed before enumerating. "Sedated," one said with a snicker. "Kung Fu Betty," another smirked. They took on the name Taken By Cars only, you guessed it, June of last year.

"We listen to music in cars," Sarah explains where their current band name originated, with no snark in her voice. "And we’re taken by the music. We wanted our name to come from there. It’s also because our music has a lot of movement involved in it. We have songs that are fast, but also slow and ambient and really chill. If you listen to our album, you’ll hear that the music is pretty casual, you know, not papansin."

Their current sound, as Bryce earlier mentioned, is a fusion of their influences. Bryce listens to jazz, Siopao listens to the blues, Benny is into funk and Kong into prog rock. You can actually hear elements of each in their current sound, and yet the whole scope of it is altogether something else. "It came to a point where we were all listening to the same thing," Sarah explains. As a collective unit, they found out they were individually listening to Bloc Party, Minus the Bear, Joy Division, New Order and the Cure. You’ll find elements from these in their new sound, too.

"Our songwriting process is a conscious effort," Siopao offers. "We know our roles and our sound. For example, Bryce’s guitar sound is mid-range, somewhat spacy. Mine is high-treble, jagged, more aggressive." The rest of the band know their roles as well, with Kong and Benny keeping it all together and Sarah shining powerfully in front of them.

Sarah has another role, as the lyric writer. She says her lyrics depend on the songs, she bases them on the vibe. "The dance songs aren’t emotional, they’re catchy. The slower songs, they’re the emotional ones. I worry that the sad songs sound too… cheesy?" She looks at her bandmates for reinforcement and they all subtly shake their heads. "As much as possible, I like the lyrics to be well thought out. They’re not brainless songs."

Kong shares that they didn’t have it all figured out right away. "Our main goal was to play in SaGuijo," he says. I must have looked at him funny because he adds, "Seriously."

That was the main goal? "That was the main goal," he nods. "Because we were there every week, and we got to thinking, hey, we’re in a band, why aren’t we playing here?" From the time they decided this in June of last year, also the time that they started writing songs, they didn’t surface until October, where they played their first gig as Taken By Cars in Kublai’s Katipunan.

Why did it take so long? "Our attitude was we wanted to go out sure of ourselves," Kong explains. "Rather than force it." Plus, they all had day jobs and writing songs and gigging would have been too hectic for them. They got to play in SaGuijo in the same month, for the prod Peace Sign, with Lahi, Ursa Minor, Southern Grass and Day One Movement. The reason why they remember this is because Bryce has a photo of the lineup chalkboard in his phone. His bandmates giddily tell him to send them copies of the cam pic.

"The scene right now is great," Benny enthuses. "It’s the perfect opportunity for bands to start playing, get their music out."

Sarah agrees. "Everything really started falling into place."

One of the pieces of Taken By Cars’ destiny that started to fall into place was having a chance to record their demos, which you can listen to on their MySpace page. A friend of theirs, Joey Santos of Boy Elroy and Halik ni Gringo, offered his Love One Another Studios, "If you guys want to record." Their demo of "Weeknight Memoirs in High Definition" was picked up by NU 107 and played on the radio, giving the band what they call their cheap thrill. "I mean, big deal right, but I don’t care, it’s another experience altogether to hear your song played on the radio," Siopao laughs.

Ironically, they discovered only after it was played on the radio that "Weeknight Memoirs" was written in the wrong key. They were recording the song for the actual album in Mong Alcaraz’s Danger Danger Studio when their new producer informed them it was too low for Sarah’s voice. The band gamely welcomed the criticism, as they did having Mong as a producer.

"What we never thought would happen was to have a collaborative producer as well," Kong shares. "[Mong] gives his own opinions and ideas when we record and mix and he’s been a really big help. It’s something unexpected, but it’s great. We’re all on the same wavelength in making this album."

"And, again, recording feels like we’re also hanging out," Siopao adds. "That’s how good the vibe is."

"We feel really lucky too," Benny says. "We’ve had Raimund [Marasigan] and Mike [Dizon] drop by while we’re recording and they give their input also. It’s nice that we have the support of other bands."

"Yeah," Bryce says, "because there’s definitely lots of room for improvement."

The album is currently being mixed, and is moving into mastering and post prod. They hope to be done by November, although Kong is pretty sure it’s coming out earlier. They asked Inksurge to do their album cover. "We think they mirror what we do in terms of art," Kong explains. "Like, we’re very particular with how we want the song to come out."

"Yeah," Sarah agrees and elaborates on what Kong means by "particular." "If it’s not the right sound, we really insist a retake. The other day, we ended up mixing up to 2:30 in the morning."

A friend of theirs comes over and says to them, "What band are you again?" They laugh good-naturedly, while thinking twice about telling her, as if they don’t want to let a secret out. While they all do seem like very good friends, you can tell that music is their bond. The boys all went to Hong Kong to watch The Cure together, for which Sarah hasn’t forgiven them yet. How are kids their age such big fans of The Cure? "Bryce and Sarah have older siblings," Siopao says.

"Yeah, I have Tears for Fears cassette tapes!" Sarah grins. "But it’s also friends telling you, ‘Hey, listen to this…’ so you have music bouncing off each other. [Discovering] new stuff, that’s how we’re friends. We just get high on listening."

Siopao nods. "Sometimes, we’d just be hanging out in the car, listening for hours."

Benny smiles. "For days."

Kong shakes his head. "Weeks," he says. "Like that time we just packed all the instruments in the car and drove to Subic. We just went and ate and jammed. And went home."

"We didn’t get anything done," Benny adds. "Or write anything."

"But that was the best weekend," Siopao finishes.

Now that they’ve played at SaGuijo countless times within the past year, what’s the next main goal? "Well, just get the album out, have a good launch," Kong enumerates. Then, quickly adds, "And mix it properly."

"We’re not signed," Sarah shares, "so we’re careful with what we’re doing. But not being signed gives a certain flexibility and freedom. Whatever happens, happens."

"The goal is to just have fun," Bryce nods. "We’re learning more about each other, about the band, about the music. It adds to who we are."

The Katamari Damacy ball is getting bigger as we speak, but they don’t really seem to notice. Bryce sums it up perfectly. "I’m still surprised that we have a gig. Whenever they tell me, you have a gig this week, I’m always, hey, that’s so cool."

Main photograph (the sorta black-and-white one) courtesy of Suyen. The rest ripped off from the band’s MySpace page. Speaking of which, the band’s "Weeknight Memoirs in High Definition" is in the wrong key on that page, but it still rocks. Check check check it out.
 

Now there’s a new production night on the block, and it celebrates the diversity of the local rock scene. SAVE THE MUSIC launched last Saturday, September 22, at Big Sky Mind in New Manila. With a debut night lineup consisting of Greyhoundz, April Morning Skies, Salamin, Severo, and Giniling Festival—and bands like Hilera, Bagetsafonik, and Reklamo, among many others, slated for future installments—SAVE THE MUSIC spans various genres and brings together a wide array of new and old acts, and their respective fans. We talked to one of the organizers, Belle Baldoza:

PULSE.PH: How, when and why did the SAVE THE MUSIC production come together? Who are the people involved, and what are their respective roles?

BELLE BALDOZA: My good friend Liz Bautista and I originally thought of putting together a production that would bring together the various niches of our thriving underground music scene. We are both very much into rock music and all its different sub-genres and are actually very much involved in it (we met back in college working as student DJs, and now Liz is Fashion Editor of PULP while I’m in the PR biz). We wanted to go beyond just staging a normal weekend gig but actually having an advocacy, a campaign to anchor on. Hence the name SAVE THE MUSIC.

Then we decided to enjoin Zach Sycip, the bassist of Severo, to help us out, as he has had some experience with staging prods before. We all pitch in for the band line-up and concept, Liz does the booking for the bands, I am in charge of Marketing and PR, while Zach carries out logistics and stage management for the event. But we all help each other out in every way if we have inputs.

"Conceptualized with a goal to bring together the new movers and shakers of local rock, SAVE THE MUSIC goes beyond bringing the best performers together onstage, it is an advocacy for a new lifestyle all on its own," the press release says.

What is this "new lifestyle"? What does SAVE THE MUSIC want to do that other production nights don’t? What makes it different?

Well, we envision it bringing together the different genres of the local rock scene. We actually jump around different productions and have observed that each has a distinct character. We all want a bit of all the action on the music scene today, that’s why we bring all these different bands together. And eventually we want people to espouse the same advocacy—to keep our local music alive.

The first night featured Greyhoundz, April Morning Skies, Salamin, Severo, and Giniling Festival. What’s the logic behind this lineup? What was the reasoning behind each band included?

The bands we book come from the different nooks of our music scene. We finalized the line-up after some brainstorming and listening in on what people are digging, what bands they would like to watch.

How was the night itself? Any particular highlights/ surprises/ problems?

I am happy to say that the first salvo of the prod was pretty successful—BigSky was packed and people were telling us that we succeeded in bringing together different crowds due to the eclectic roster of bands. They enjoyed all the sets, especially that of Giniling Festival and Greyhoundz. We also had as hosts our lovely friends who kept everyone in great spirits the whole night—MTV VJ Maggie Wilson and DJ Jaybee Jariol.

What’s next for SAVE THE MUSIC? What are its goals for the near future and the long-term?

Well, right now we are working on the line-up for our Halloween Party, which is set on October 30 at Cafe SaGuijo. We plan to stage prods in different gig spots around the metro. We will also be working on producing merchandise with the help of our graphic designer friends, such as shirts and pins that all espouse our advocacy, thereby creating a new lifestyle and contributing something that we hope will be significant in our scene. Basically we are enjoying saving the music!

Photos by Sarah Gonzales. Save the Music was sponsored by Red Horse Beer and BURN Magazine, with some friendly help from Pulse.ph.

My brain takes a second to put two and two together before I chase after him and stop him mid-street. Peter, of Peter Bjorn and John, is chomping on a green apple and looks warily at me as I ask if he is indeed Peter of Peter Bjorn and John. He says he is Peter of Peter Bjorn and John and I stare blankly at him and then he walks away.

Feelings of idiocy and triumph blend together inside me, as I skip back towards the Crystal Ballroom whistling Peter Bjorn and John’s hit "Young Folks".

For a country that doesn’t get a whole lot of sun, Sweden has consistently produced bright and life-affirming music. ABBA and Ace of Base have stepped aside and let a new Nordic sound through. Indie stalwarts like Jose Gonzalez, The Knife, and Jens Lekman are winning the (non-existent) war for Sweden over its neighbor Norway, an indie powerhouse in its own right. PB&J are so far the most visible and they’re making their way down the mainstream, with appearances on American national television. They even have an MTV Best New Artist nomination under their belt.

2006’s Writer’s Block is their ticket to stardom, or at least their ticket to radio airplay and commercial ubiquity. This year their song "Young Folks" was hard to escape. Peter’s extraordinary whistling ability is an added charm; the song sounds like it’s from another era, the 60’s to be exact. If I closed my eyes and pretended it was forty years ago, I would swear it was John Lennon. On "Lets Call It Off," they sound like another 60’s group, troubadours Peter and Gordon.

"Object of My Affection" and "Up Against the Wall" have a more modern feel to them, but retain the same sound that makes the album cohesive, which could be a problem for some. The rest of their songs share the same aesthetic which may or may not be to their advantage. PB&J have a knack for creating poppy melodies with a tinge of melancholy, but a whole album’s worth of that Swedish sunshine could get tiring after a while. Perhaps there’s more than a scientific reason for those sunless Arctic winters after all.

Once upon a time, I boldly ambushed Malek Lopez for an interview for a now-defunct music webzine, and asked, "So what’s electronic music anyway?" Of course, my ignorance pissed him off, and for years I couldn’t muster up the courage to speak to him at gigs. (That changed recently, but only because I’ve convinced myself that he’s forgotten that I’m that stupid journalist from way back when). I know a lot better now, of course, but it’s always a treat when I get a chance to learn more about DJing, electronica, and all related matters, like DJs’ once-secret life outside of raves that seems to be getting less and less secret as time goes by.

This Friday, Jack Daniel’s is kicking off its Jack Mix Series, a special bar tour that involves the creation of new music by its participating, collaborating performers. While the rest of the tour over the next few months will be held in different bars, within different productions, and will mostly feature bands of different genres paired together—such as punk and dance, with Hilera and Chicosci collaborating with Pedicab and Taken By Cars, just to name one crazy night that’s in store—Jack Daniel’s has decided to launch the series with a group of artists for whom collaborations are second, or rather, first nature: DJs.

The Jack Mix Series opens with three sets of DJs playing off each other: Ann Barcelona and Lady Trinity, Mike Cons and Neon8, and Caliph8 and Pasta Groove. Caliph8, a.k.a. Arvin Nogueras, tells me that he’s always been impressed with Jack Daniel’s initiative when it comes to promoting new music, like that time they brought in Treva Whateva, a British DJ whose aesthetic sense runs many miles away from the mainstream. "Of course, the party people started thinning out after a few tunes, but there were people who were introduced to and became interested in this new kind of music, and they probably would never have heard of it otherwise," he shares. "Kami, backstage, we were having a blast."
 

CALIPH8

Caliph8 has been doing collaborations most of his artistic life. He formed Down Earf with Jay Roy and DJ Arbie Won in ‘96 and released perhaps the first indie EP in the Philippines. He also did collabs with Jun Lopito when he was with Reggae Mistress, Third World Project, WDOUJI, Tropical Depression, Betrayed, NTOTN, Radioactive Sago Project, Rubber Inc., Flow 44, and jammed with the Eheads on their last gig, at the NU Rock Awards. He’s now an official member of Drip and the hip-hop-electronic collective AMPON.

He once told me that he’s accepted that the masses will never get his music, but he continues to create music for himself and people who are willing to listen. Hip-hop DJing would probably never advance beyond drunk and stoned kids grinding with strangers on so-called Hip-Hop nights at places like Pravda, Mars, Whereelse, and recently in Prince of Jaipur, without Caliph8 keeping the fire of non-conventional hip-hop burning.

"Those hip-hop nights just play mainstream hip-hop. We don’t stick to just hip-hop, we also do old music like funk, jazz and soul, which are the roots of hip-hop," Caliph8 explains. "I guess you can say we’re music snobs, but it’s great that different performers who are not in that league are being heard. Our market, it turns out, are those who are into electronic."

The Jack Mix Series will be launched at Alchemy in Silvercity mall, where they also hold Hip-hop nights every Mondays—but it’s a different brand of hip-hop, this time. Who attends? "A lot of like-minded ‘heads, and it’s surprisingly growing," Caliph8 relates. "I guess more are becoming well-informed because the scene is flourishing. Not like 1996, where it was depressing, we were just playing our music and hoping somehow that there would be some who would hear us."

Caliph8’s main influences are Organized Confusion, Large Professor, RZA, and Lord Finesse. "When I was younger, I used to listen to mainstream, but I had friends who started to feed me stuff, my much older neighbors. This was the ’80s and I was 9 years old. It was ‘86, when the mobile was still the scene. Anyway, my neighbors owned a mobile crew and as a kid, nakikigulo ako. They had crates of vinyl and I would see all these names. Then I lived in the States for five years, and that’s where I understood what my art is."

It took him time, and the trip home, to actually participate in his art. "I became an enthusiast, supporting subculture, but I didn’t really contribute myself until I got back here," he continues. “There, I was just an observer. Here, I started meeting Masta Plann and FrancisM. You know, FrancisM used to have a radio show on 89.1 and the music he played there is surprising. He was teaching kids what hip-hop was. I’m not a fan of his music but I admire what he did with that radio show.

"In the States, I had a vague idea of what my role was, though that’s when I got into graffiti and then into visual arts. I was also rhyming and getting into turntables, but really, they were baby stages. When I got back, I started DJing, rapping, producing, but primitively, karaoke destruction, you know crossing jacks and wires and figuring how I can make new sounds from that. Almost all enthusiasts go through all that.

"Then, I went to art school in UP and started to really mature. I began to compartmentalize. I mean all these things are related and connected but you have to learn how to compartmentalize them all to get a better understanding of what you want to do, so that it comes out solid when it came to actually doing it.

"I met a lot of like-minded people in the band scene, these are the left field rock heads who hung out in Club Dredd, those who were looking at the fundamentals but looking for more. I sought to distort hip-hop, so I found other forward thinkers to collaborate with. In ‘95, we formed a band called Loudwater, which is the first breed of rap metal, long before the recent rap metal bands who made it big. It was rap metal that was funk-based. There were a few of those bands back then, such as Marben (Romero) of Badburn, he was in a rap metal band back then called Lethal Injection.

"DJ Arbie Won, Jay Roy and I formed Down Earf, which lasted 2 to 3 years. We produced an indie EP titled Knowin’ is Half the Battle. We manually pressed our own tapes, and did our own cover printing. This was ‘97, wala pang indie noon, kami lang. We recorded in Jim Paredes’ studio, which is now Circus Studios, and still has the analog equipment we recorded with. We pressed 300 audio tapes, and CDs and tapes were mass produced for college radio in San Francisco. We have a friend, Hase from Sacramento, who believed in our material and said if we gave him the master, he could bring it to the US and produced under a label. The label was college based and we made it to #7 on college radio. Jay had to go back to New York, so that was that.

"In ‘99 onwards, I was active with collaborations with different people, such as Third World Project, WDOUIJI, we would have gigs and prods in Big Sky Mind. Solo, my drive was video and audio and putting out true school hip-hop."

"It doesn’t matter if it’s old or new, as long as it’s true," quipped Pasta Groove, who is quick to acknowledge Caliph8 as one of the big movers of true school hip-hop.
 

PASTA GROOVE

Pasta Groove is Paolo Garcia in real life. He’s much younger than Caliph8 and Neon8 and says he spent his formative years under Arvin’s wing. "I’m rooted in hip-hop—when I was 12, I was writing rhymes, and by the time I was 15 I was DJing in clubs and guesting on the radio. My influences, there are lots. From James Brown to Bob James, Quantum Spectrum, Common Sense, who’s an artist, an MC. The DJs that I admire are Cut Chemist, Jazzy Jeff, Bobbito Garcia who’s a DJ in New York, and locally, I really have to give props to Arvin Nogueras. I accumulated my tastes from all these DJs who were in the scene. Hanging around Arvin is a good breeding ground. We’re on the same wavelength, which is why I’m excited about the collabo with him for the Jack Mix Series."

PG is living proof that Caliph8’s efforts in getting their music out there were not in vain. "I heard the message," PG nods. "I’m grateful I got that chance. I was surrounded by artists such as Caliph8, Down Earf, Artstrong. DJ Arbie Won was the catalyst. They helped my preferences by giving it direction. It’s a small scene, where we feed off each other. In college, I had isolated myself and made music, but I wasn’t getting it out there. It took Arvin to get it out."

Aside from the weekly Monday hip-hop nights at Alchemy, called Subflex, PG is busy dabbling in video production, editing, sound design, scoring indie films. "I’m also going to put out an EP, which is a collaboration with different live musicians who’ll be riding over my beats," PG shares, then shies when I ask him which musicians. "They’re just good friends of mine, it’s going to just be a labor of love. Release? Sana end of this year or early next year. The EP will have collabs with Arvin as well."

"People think we’re DJs where we just spin music and that’s it," PG adds. "What I do is different, it’s the reconstruction of old songs, in the analog format, which people may think is primitive, but for us, it’s vintage. Analog is actually an icon in hip-hop production. It’s different from DJing because we don’t play music, we recreate it."

"We reinterpret it," Caliph8 affirms. "We create different patterns and put a texture over it. What we do is live sampling, live manipulation. We sit down and let people hear it first, before we mix it live."

"The music we play, we try not to stay in a box," PG continues. "We look into different genres, different eras. We put old music into the set and mix it with the new to make it palatable. We remind people of the old music and how it’s connected to the new. Our main purpose is to remind people of where the new music comes from."

"So, it’s a cycle, this reinterpretation," Caliph8 explains. "Most hip-hop DJs just play the hits, the Top 10, what’s familiar. We try to use the most obscure music we could find and let people listen to that. It’s like feeding meat eaters vegetables, like ampalaya and broccoli. It’s good for you."

Back when PG was still accumulating his own tastes, Caliph8 and his DJ colleagues put up prods in Malate, particularly in Chemistry and Verve Room. "There were explorations," Caliph8 describes. "Merging with other people’s projects, it was an eclectic scene. Collabs with other genres were possible, not difficult. We had no questions, we had no explanations, we just jammed. I think people are open to music now, I see a lot of other acts commissioning music from hip-hop DJs. I have to question the intention though, are the DJs meant to be be just as an accessory or is it an honest collaboration? I’d prefer a challenge, give me the piece and let me see what I can do with it."

Neon8 beside him nods and adds, "Or yung may DJ lang sila onstage, gusto nila concept lang."
 

NEON8

Many of you may now know Neon8 as the guy with the laptop playing for the "Nyko Maca band." He shares an anecdote of how his father calls PlayGround (which is essentially the band that backs up samba vocalist Nyko Maca) his "combo." Nyko Maca + Playground may be getting more and more popular these days, but when it comes to what he does, it’s still hard to explain. “It’s hard for people to look at what I do and place it in the band context, though I’m a composer above everything else.”

Madz Abubakar in real life, Neon8 is a solo progressive house live act. "I’m not a DJ, I do live production performance, original compositions," he clarifies. "Actually, Nyko Maca helped explain what I do somewhat. Since you have live elements, people understand right away that ‘this guy is doing something else.’ Instead of just being concerned about the music, I’m also concerned with software, what to do, production questions and theories. Nyko Maca and PlayGround has given me the opportunity to up my prod skills. It’s not 100% me, it’s a mix of everyone’s influences.

"Lately, I’ve been doing remix projects for bands, and I did two songs for Karylle. I’m also remixing a song by Dice and K9. Working with these people, offering different music, it tests my flexibility as a producer."

Neon8 began his fascination with electronic music in the late ’90s, where there was a hyped up rave scene. "Naaaliw ako," he remembers, "I was thinking, how did they come up with that music? I learned about synths and drum machines. Then, I went to Chicago, where my uncle was a DJ, he did weddings and parties for the Filipino community. My cousin, his son, introduced me to a whole bunch of equipment and that’s where it really started."

He continued this discovery of equipment back home. "I also discovered different kinds of music software. Ian Magbanua [a.k.a. Morse] introduced me to Tutti Loops. I was literally doing all this on our family’s computer, yung PC sa bahay, yung may project ng kapatid mo, nandoon yung files ng Dad mo. Ganoon.

"During that time, I joined Electronica Manila, a forum where we exchanged ideas, anything under the electronic umbrella. My first ever electronic gig was in Alabang, I brought my family computer and I could only play one song. Kasi kung may isa pa," he laughs, "magha-hang na yung computer."

Neon8 would continue to bring his family computer to gigs for the next 3 to 4 years, but asserts that "It was good in that there were gigs. In Gweilo’s Carlos Palanca, there was a regular Wednesday night gig. Kami kami lang, from the Electronica Manila community, yung nandoon, kami kami rin lang yung kinikilig sa ginagawa namin. It was a good learning experience for us, it laid the groundwork, our nature of asking each other how to do all these things started from there.

“The audience caught on din naman. The first year of Fete de la Musique (which had its own venue for electronica artists) walang tao, pero the next year, marami na. Recently, nawala yung electronica sa Fete de la Musique, but tuloy tuloy na yun for the individual artists."

It was in 2005, after the last Fete gig, that Mark Lacay and Malek Lopez encouraged Neon8 to act as the beats person for Nyko Maca. "It was my first time to interact with a live artist and it was a flop." He laughs. "Sabi ko kay Nyko kelangan mag rehearse, sabi niya hindi daw. And then, after the gig, sabi niya sa akin, ‘Oo nga, Madz, kelangan nga.’ Hindi ko pa alam paano sumabay eh, but those were learning points. We did eventually get it. Every gig now challenges me to do more."

They started to write original songs together as a band, starting with Neon8’s original "Turn My Head." "It’s a techie deep house track and I gave it to Nyko to put words into it. Nagsawa na din ako sa orig, so I rehashed it, now it has its own identity. It’s an ever-changing process, every gig is never the same. A song can be slow in one gig, then fast on another gig, and slow on the next."

When asked what he listens to, he says "More progressive dance music. My influences are Global Underground, Kompakt, I mainly listen to breaks or house. Mark and Malek said I had an ear for beats. We in PlayGround [with sax player Alvin Cornista and guitarist Rick Sanchez] do remixes for other bands too. For Nyko, the process is, we three sit down and create a song, give it to Nyko for lyrics, then we change it up."

Neon8 shakes his head at the general DJ scene, but offers a positive side. "The fun part is there’s always new things happening every weekend," he opines. "The scene may not be big, but at least there’s music, music in various areas, and demands for music. Listeners will actually look for more. Now it’s easier, there’s the internet, and it’s easy access, and people still ask for more, though they have to also think more for themselves, look for something new or listen to a different genre. In this way, also, I am able to reinvent myself and my music."

What are his goals in the future? "More of my goals, I plan to move dance music further. I want to get dance music prods on its way, hindi yung rave-type, pero gigs with dance music. I also want our local artists to get outside our shores. Raves, kasi, it’s mainstream dance music. Dance music naman depends on where it’s being played, who the audience is, pareho ba ng wavelength. I want to elevate our taste."

Neon8 is optimistic about the collaboration with Mike Cons this Friday. "We plan a mix of breakbeats. We’ll have an elaborate set-up but we won’t really ‘rehearse’ what we’re gonna do, at most, it’s a technical rehearsal, make sure everything’s working. We’re going to have a thousand songs ready but use only snippets. Put it all together like an orchestra," he smiles.

"Mike Cons is more into soul and I’m more into modern breaks, so we’ll meet halfway sa breaks ni James Brown," Neon8 laughs. "It’s good that we’ll be testing each other’s skills. We may have different tastes in music, but we can come up with something. Something tasteful."

Catch Caliph8, Neon8 and Pasta Groove at The Jack Mix Series launch at Alchemy, this Friday, Sept. 28, 2007, and find out first hand what they all meant by elevating taste. You can also find out more about Electronica Manila here.

If you grew up in the Philippines but aren’t familiar with any of the Apo Hiking Society’s songs, I’m guessing that you were the product of a secret government experiment in total sensory deprivation, and that you’ve only recently escaped and have somehow gotten internet access. Thank you for visiting Pulse.ph and OH MY GOD THEY’RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU! RUN!! Just kidding. Knowing how our government works, it’ll take them days to even realize that you’ve escaped from your containment facility. In the meantime, if you possess any superhuman abilities, particularly the ability to bend time or type fast, Pulse.ph is hiring.

Anyway. The music of the APO is one of those rarities in Pinoy pop music: ubiquitous yet not unwelcome. There’s more to the APO’s longevity than the Pinoy’s penchant for nostalgia and sentiment. It all comes down to the songcraft: they have created 26 albums of memorable, insanely catchy pop, both immediately appealing and clever. Even if the original recordings may occasionally seem dated or passé, the songs themselves are so strong that reinterpretations by contemporary bands resulted in perhaps the best of the recent spate of tribute albums (I’m talking about the first APO tribute album here; I haven’t gotten my hands on the second one yet).

Like me, you may be interested in checking out how the trio puts on a show these days, almost four decades into their illustrious career. If so, you’re in luck; they’ll be playing soon, at the Music Museum. Here’s the press release:

The APO at Music Museum

After the resounding success of “Mga Kuwento ng APO… 38 Years of Music and Friendship” held at the PICC Plenary Hall last August, the APO HIKING SOCIETY are all set to reprise their show at the Music Museum on October 12 and 13, 8:30 p.m. with a new show title, “The APO Collection.”

Jim Paredes, Boboy Garrovillo and Danny Javier of the APO have stayed on for more than three decades in the music scene, and show no signs of stopping. APO has waxed 26 albums, mostly certified multi-platinum or gold records, and starred in hugely successful major concerts here and abroad. This exceptional trio combination makes them a total entertainment team that is unparalleled in the country, three distinct personalities with great chemistry.

“The APO Collection,” which is presented by The Thirdline, Inc., promises an evening of pure entertainment that will treat the audience to a journey showcasing decades of genuine Filipino music. Even after 38 years, APO continues to inspire every Filipino, which brings out the pride of being Pinoy every time we hear their songs.

For ticket reservations to “The APO Collection,” call The Thirdline, Inc. at telephone numbers 426-0103, 426-5301, 0918-9379209, 0917-5324556, 0921-6650923. Tickets are also available at all TicketWorld outlets or call 891-9999 or visit the TicketWorld website www.ticketworld.com.ph

“The APO Collection’s” media sponsors include the Manila Bulletin, Crossover 105.1, Jam 88.3, WRR 101.3. RJFM, Dream FM, and Liquidpost.

"Wouldn’t that be great?" I was talking to Cris Ramos Jr., who, like me, was covering the press conference for Christian Bautista’s first major solo concert for the year: “Christian Inspired,” coming very soon (October 6, to be exact) to the Cuneta Astrodome. I was spinning a highly unlikely scenario involving the much-loved and acclaimed singer, who has amassed an enthusiastic following both here and all over Asia. "That would be the most exciting presscon ever." Cris laughed in agreement; it would certainly have solved our perennial problem of what angle to use while writing about an event.

Fortunately for the reporters assembled there, no such scenario actually took place in real life. Christian Bautista, as always, was charming, polite, disarmingly self-deprecating, gently funny, and had great hair. Seriously, his hair is a thing of beauty. Not too neat and not too messy: just messy enough. The reason I cropped my head close is because I will never achieve hair like Christian Bautista’s. (Small wonder that Bed Head was one of his sponsors, dispensing freebies at the presscon. Thanks for the hair spray, guys; I have no use for it, but I’ll pass it on to someone who actually has something to spray.)

Stage director Freddie Santos—another person who has no use for hair spray—spoke first, taking the makeshift stage that had been set up inside Tempura, the presscon venue. With a combination of almost-unsettling authority and insider humor, he told us about the show they had put together for Christian. First, he clarified, despite the title, this was not going to be a showcase for inspirational (i.e. religious) songs. Instead, it’s dedicated to Christian’s inspirations in life, which all begin with the letter F: Family, Friends, and Freddies… I mean, Fans. Freddie Santos also stressed that this would be a “concert talaga, hindi TV special”—meaning no cheesy production numbers and no cheap tricks. They would focus on the music, and Christian. In fact, Freddie Santos said, he was trying to figure out a way for Christian never to leave the stage during the whole running time of the concert, even if he needed a wardrobe change.

But focusing on the music doesn’t mean the concert will be without spectacle. According to the press release, the concert “will highlight the use of “Watch Out,” an enormous multi-display presentation technology with the dimension of 9X42 feet that will surround the stage. It is the same projection technology that Celine Dion uses in her long-running show at the Colosseum, Las Vegas strip.” Also, Christian will have special guests, such as “fellow ASAP ’07 mainstays Toni Gonzaga and Sam Milby, with the special participation of Kuh Ledesma, Joni Villanueva, Tricia Amper Jimenez, Sam Concepcion and Mr. Gary Valenciano.” Mel Villena is musical director, and technical director is Mart Miranda.

For those who are unaware of the man’s achievements, Christian’s self-titled debut album reached Double Platinum, and his second album Completely is near the Platinum mark in Indonesia. His hit single “The Way You Look At Me” was no. 1 foreign song in Singapore last year. Christian’s recent concerts in Indonesia (Bali, Surabaya, Jogjakarta, Jakarta, and Medan) were sold out. Despite all this success, he remains approachable and helpful; a magazine editor-in-chief of my acquaintance will be forever grateful to him for agreeing to a rush interview when her main feature, for various idiotic reasons, failed to materialize.

And speaking of helpful: “Christian Inspired” is also a benefit concert for the construction of a school building at the Imus Unida Christian School in Cavite. “I was very much involved with this school when I was still a student,” he said. “I had very good memories there and my experience there has helped me gain confidence.”

So go and have a good time at “Christian Inspired”—there won’t be any substance abuse, profanity, or excessive violence, but there will be Christian’s voice, Christian’s songs, a slew of guests, a visual spectacle, and, director Freddie Santos promised, some surprises to make it well worth your while.

Photos provided by Stages Production Specialists, Inc. For tickets to “Christian Inspired,” call Ticketnet at Tel. No. 9115555 or 9114087. Tickets at PhP 200, 600, 1,500, and 2,000.

New bands come and go, and it can be hard sometimes to distinguish between them, particularly if they’re all following certain templates: whether they’re showbands-in-the-making or pogi-rock lemmings, sometimes your ears just want to weep, “Enough. Enough.”

Big However is refreshing for a number of reasons. First, of course, there’s the music itself: ranging from gently soothing to heart-pumpingly soaring, sometimes within the same song, it recalls 90s influences, and could very well put you in mind of a more stripped-down 10,000 Maniacs, with faint echoes of Juliana Hatfield and other identified-with-the-90s female rockers here and there. At first, I assumed the band name itself was meant to evoke 90s indifference—it was, after all, the era of “well, whatever, never mind”—but there’s a better reason for it, as I soon learned.

Second: if you listen carefully, and especially if you were once upon a time an enthusiastic student of literature, something about the lyrics might strike you: the word-choices, the turns of phrase, the imagery, are all a little better than you might expect from your usual pop-rock fare. And you might notice that two of Big However’s songs so far are adaptations of pre-existing poetry: Beni Santos’ “Bago ang Wakas”—transformed into a song called “Katahimikan”; and Emmanuel Lacaba’s “Kundiman.” There are good reasons for these qualities as well.

Three-fourths of Big However—Don Alanis on lead guitar, David Naguna on bass guitar, and Don Salvani on drums—are based in Naga. The final member, a Manileño named Mookie Katigbak, is both their vocalist and their not-so-secret weapon.

Mookie is a familiar face on the local literary scene, widely acknowledged as one of the best young poets in the country. She attended the National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete in 2002, earned her MFA from the New School University in New York City, wrote the libretto for an original musical, won a Palanca Award in 2005, and recently took home this year’s grand prize for poetry at the Philippines Free Press Literary Awards. We talked to her about her band, their influences, and the distance, or lack thereof, between poetry and pop music.

PULSE.PH: When, where, how and why did Big However first form?

MOOKIE: The band formed accidentally in 2005 when I met Don Alanis in Naga City. I was visiting my sister who was based in Ateneo de Naga. Don was the husband of a friend of hers and a really good guitarist. We decided to jam. He lent me his guitar and the only song I knew how to play was Dylan’s "Most of the Time." He complimented me on my singing (not my guitar playing) and gave me songs he and his band had been working on on-and-off for the past ten years. The only thing they needed were lyrics. I was happy to comply.

Where did the band’s name come from?

The name comes from an old writing workshop strategy wherein a literary giant would begin a session by complimenting the good parts of a story—say, its plot and characters—and then go into hardy, often wincing critique by saying "The story was good, etc. … However…" That, in workshop lore, has come to be known as the Big However. [smiles]

Name some of the band’s inspirations/influences, and what you think they have contributed to the sound of the band.

For Don, it’s Led Zep, Soundgarden and the Beatles. I’m a Dylan and Joni Mitchell fan. All influences have allowed a folk-meets-rock sensibility.

How does being a poet affect your lyric-writing for the band? Do you feel that poets have a harder or an easier time writing song lyrics? Why?

I do it for levity. Poetry is serious stuff. When I write a song, rhythm and rhyme come out entirely unplanned. I think I get that from my training in poetry. Poets should have an easier time of it—if they let go and see what happens.

Describe the first time you guys played before an audience composed mostly of strangers.

Well, I think it was raining, the amp was busted, the audience was a Catholic high school crowd in Naga City. And I did not do the happy jig when the gig was over. [smiles]

Tell us about the Big However’s song-adaptations of poems. Describe the process of choosing/adapting.

Sometimes I would listen to the music and they would recall certain lines that I’d memorized from poems. So it would be a matter of the music choosing the lines.

Tell us about the inspiration behind some of the band’s originals—particularly "Ballad for Any Weather" and "Autopilot."

Autopilot was my "I refuse to think" song. It came at a time when I was overthinking everything—poetry and art and life. "Ballad" was a kind of homage to New York because I spent a couple of years there. So it’s about wanting something familiar in a strange place—like wanting a letter from the only person in the world who really knows you, or some such 22-year-old sentiment.

What, for you, are the band’s most memorable moments/achievements thus far?

Being a successful creative team just because it never occurred to us that we couldn’t make solid songs. Don was always a great musician but I had never written a song prior to our meeting. It didn’t occur to me to say no.

Also, when we finally did a professional recording, Don did these great improvs for "Ballad" that gave us all goosebumps. And I think that happened because his melody complemented the lyrics and vice versa. The music became expressionistic in the best and least-pretentious sense of the word.

Another great achievement is being fed well after a gig… for free!

Soon after this interview was conducted, Big However opened for Bamboo at a gig in Naga. “It was wild!” Mookie recounts. ”First time I’d ever seen a crowd that massive, or a real Pinoy rock star. I’m trying to get the band over here so we can do Manila gigs soon.” That’s certainly something to look forward to.

Photos provided by the band. Many thanks to Sarge Lacuesta.

The album starts and ends with the Mickey Mouse Club theme songs. Of course I remember the cartoon of the “Mickey Mouse March” with Donald Duck jumping in and yelling his name in between each “Mickey Mouse!” sung by the Mouseketeers. I think the inclusion here in this format is a good representation for the two most beloved Disney characters, as well as Donald’s segment on Mousercise, “Ducks Dance Too” on the second disc.

As much as I want this to be an album of all my childhood memories, I have to acknowledge that they tried their best to include more favorites, more “hits.” Songs like “Someday My Prince Will Come” from Snow White, “When You Wish Upon A Star” from Pinocchio, “It’s A Small World,” “Cruela de Vil” from 101 Dalmatians, “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers” from Winnie The Pooh, “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid, “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast, “A Whole New World” from Alladin, “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata” from Lion King, “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas, “Strangers Like Me” from Tarzan, “Why Not?” from Lizzie Maguire and “Breaking Free” from High School Musical. There are more of course, but you know, 50 songs.

They also included songs not just from the animated films but from the Broadway musicals as well, serving different versions of “Beauty and the Beast” and “They Live in You” from The Lion King, which featured more African-inspired percussion.

There are times that the songs fade out, I’m guessing so that all fifty songs fit in the two discs. What happens sometimes is that the songs are bitin, ending too too soon, particularly on “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from Cinderella and “A Spoonful of Sugar” from Mary Poppins.

My absolute favorites on this album are “Baby Mine” from Dumbo, the absolutely gorgeous “Little April Showers” from Bambi, “The Siamese Cat Song” and “He’s A Tramp” from Lady and the Tramp, “Once Upon A Dream” from Sleeping Beauty, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from Mary Poppins, the ultra-jazzy “I Wanna Be Like You” from the Jungle Book with the beloved scatting duel between Baloo and the monkey king Louie, “What’s This” from Tim Burton’s A Nightmare Before Christmas, “The Bells of Notre Dame” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (though it’s not easily listening for when you want background music at work), “Colors of the Wind,” “Reflection” from Mulan, and the tearjerking “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2. I’m also glad that they included the film versions of the songs and not the for-marketing versions; as much as I like Christina Aguilera (well, in general), I think the Lea Salonga version of “Reflection” is more touching.

Listening to the entire collection in one setting is also a kind of history lesson on soundtrack technology: you can hear the songs advance from amusing ditties to symphonic works of art. I have to say though that I don’t very much care for the songs at the end of the second disc, which are Hillary Duff’s “Why Not?” from the Lizzie Maguire movie and “Breaking Free” from High School Musical. Does this mean that Disney has become less magical now than it has been for the last 50 years? Or that I’m too old for Disney? Such serious considerations, yes.

There are about two or three good enough songs on Life in Cartoon Motion, and that already includes the single “Love Today,” currently a cable channel’s theme song for the season. The song is undeniably catchy and interestingly flamboyant, much like its all-too-obvious influences: namely, Freddie Mercury, the Bee Gees and, a lot of people will say, the Scissor Sisters. A song with a danceable beat and playful vocals, “Love Today” surely has the makings of a par-teh! favorite.

Two more songs follow the same vibe as “Love Today.” One of them—“Big Girl”—seems to employ an identical beat; in fact, the two songs almost sound the same. Only, with a refrain like “Big girls, you are beautiful,” the song sounds like it should be the theme song of the Dove Self-Esteem Fund or any similar women’s support program that Oprah Winfrey or Tyra Banks would vehemently support. “Relax (Take It Easy)” for me is a much better song, if not the best on the album. It is danceable but toned down and puts you in a sort of mindless state, which is what danceable pop should at least achieve.

I would have liked Life in Cartoon Motion better if it was an all-out disco pop album. That would have justified MIKA’s overused, oftentimes overstretched falsetto. Sadly, apart from the three songs mentioned, the rest of the CD sounds like some outdated, juvenile musical. Certain songs are overly dramatic (“Any Other World” and “Happy Ending”), complete with life excerpts of some woman, predictable orchestral elements and hallelujah parts by a girl’s choir (he likes children as backup singers, this guy); and others are just plain infantile (“Lollipop” and “Billy Brown”). “Lollipop” is a cutesy-but-ironic jump-rope ditty that gets old too fast and is filler in an album full of fillers, while “Billy Brown” is just a gay nursery rhyme that discerning gay men wouldn’t enjoy. Musically, these songs don’t do anything but bat their false eyelashes at the listener.

The rest of the songs, meanwhile, oscillate from weak to excruciating. “Grace Kelly,” apparently a very big hit in the UK and the album’s first song, almost turned me off from the whole thing—mostly, because MIKA’s “Freddie Mercury” voice reaches such a high point of being irritating. I really think he is not at all a bad singer but he has to quit impressing himself with his own falsetto. He could have redeemed himself with more melodious (though very Robbie Williams) songs like “My Interpretation” and “Stuck In the Middle,” but then the songs themselves are quite bland in composition, however palatable they may otherwise seem to juvenile pop listeners.

Life in Cartoon Motion is somewhere between trendy novelty and potential breakthrough pop, and whatever real substance it may lack, can always be made up for by good marketing. However, while a pop album may not really require substance and depth, I guess I still expect more from an artist who takes himself so seriously as to spell his name in all-caps.

Chances are, you’ve probably heard of Brigada already, or better yet, you’ve actually heard them live and in all their glory. Brigada is the Philippines’ first samba bateria, a percussion ensemble that’s most likely going to get under your skin, as well as get you up on your feet. Inky de Dios is their founder and leader—he also started up the Hairy Dawgs, a precursor of Brigada, but first gained deserved acknowledgement from fellow musicians as part of Pinoy reggae pioneers Indio I. Brigada plans to release their debut album by the end of the year.

PULSE.PH: What other bands have you played for, leading up to the current ones? Which would you say were important in your musical development?

INKY DE DIOS: I’ve played, sessioned, jammed, or recorded with: Indio I, Brownman Revival, Piranha, Brownbeat Allstars and POT over the past 15 years or so. Currently I’m playing for: Brigada (musical director, percussion), The Out of Body Special (keys), Ten (vocals, acoustic guitar), Marshmellow (piano). I would say that Indio I and POT were the most important in my musical development because they were the first truly professional bands I played for. These were hardworking, gigging bands, and playing for them was basically my on the job training, confirmation that being a musician is a legitimate profession. Of course, being a musician is more than playing a lot of gigs so I’d say my current bands are the biggest influence in my musical development right now.

Did being a music major lead you towards the diverse spectrum of music you are currently playing? Or did it have no effect whatsoever? If the latter, were you disappointed? Other thoughts?

I think it’s a bit of everything. Being a music major exposes—even forces—you to be open to all sorts of music. On the plus side, you gain an innate knowledge of the structure, form and inner workings of music, sort of like blueprints of a building or the encoding language of computers. On the downside, your appreciation of music changes too. Sometimes you can’t turn off the training and you can’t even appreciate a catchy pop song anymore. I’m trying to find the balance between, say, a second inversion on the borrowed II leading to the V, back to the root and that riff just kicks ass.

Where did you discover the samba bateria? What inspired you to form your own bateria group here?

It was when I studied in England [Liverpool] in 1998 that I discovered samba when played by a bateria [percussion ensemble]. I was just on my way to a club one night and I heard an amazing sound about a block away. It was a bateria of around 20 people and the memory still gets my blood racing. I joined the Liverpool Samba School the following week and learned how to play samba. When I got back, I missed playing samba so much I looked for people who understood. Unfortunately, the Philppines has never progressed beyond bossa nova, which is ironic because samba is the root of bossa nova.

Was the forming of this group harder or easier than you imagined it would be?

It was hard in the beginning, but I’m still amazed at how easy it was to gain momentum. I don’t confess to be a bonafide percussionist, but I believe playing samba goes beyond playing percussion. If you tap into that spirit and let it loose, you’ll find your groove, and playing, dancing and singing samba will be easy. The great thing is that with all my years of studying music, I figured out how to teach ANYONE how to play samba with enough time and patience. I can hit them with terms, theories and notes for hours but if they don’t listen and feel the music and the spirit behind it, well, it isn’t samba.

Who were the first people who came on board? What kinds of percs were there initially?

I was fortunate to meet Toni Bernardo who was a percussionist and a sambista [a person who palys samba] like me way back in 2000. I had collected a few bateria instruments over the years and so had she. We were both excited in forming a bateria, the first in the Philippines. She called up a few friends and we started jamming in UP, behind Vinzon’s Hall where the jeepneys parked. The group came to be known as Hairy Dawgs. Initially we had a couple of surdos [brazilian bass drums], some tamborims [small high pitched hand drums] and other basic instruments of a bateria.

How many members are there now? What is the vibe like currently? How does a regular practice session go?

Well, around 2005, Toni and I went our separate ways and I formed Brigada, which is the group I run now. There are 10 core members with about 10 trainees and whoever comes in to practice on Wednesdays. The vibe is totally informal, with the core members teaching everyone how to play the instruments, and then I try to get them to play samba. I try to identify what instrument the person is comfortable with we go from there. We learn around two pieces every week. It’s always a challenge teaching especially if the person has no prior percussion experience, but I never get tired of hearing anyone play samba. When a bateria starts grooving for the first time it still gives me goosebumps.

How do you write your original songs?

Most of Brigada’a pieces are either standard Brazilian bateria rhythms, or variations on the pieces I learned from the Liverpool Samba School, or whatever sounds good if played by a bateria. I usually write new pieces with the core group. New pieces come from anywhere, so I try to remember any flashes of inspiration that come to me before we practice. Then it’s either a long process of finding what works or a quick jam with what works already. Sometimes someone else will come with an idea and we work with that. So we try to keep it an organic process. It might take longer sometimes, but by the end everybody has had a say and we all feel good about playing the finished piece.

Are your live gigs these days more or less set in stone, or is there still a lot of room for improvisation?

It depends on the gig. If it’s a corporate event, then we have a set of songs with set arrangements. For other gigs, there’s room to play around, have friends jam—like Nyko Maca, Eileen Sision or Sitti—and have even more fun. Brigada has been playing so long that if I decide to toss in a break or a turnaround, they can easily pick it up with a few whistle blows or even a look. It keeps things fresh and interesting.

Tell me a little about Ten.

I’ve been a songwriter since I was 13 years old. And although playing instruments is something I love to do, writing songs is the one thing I want to be good at. Ten is where I can take all the things I’ve learned about music and put it into song.

What other projects are keeping you busy right now?

I work at Circus Studios in Loyola Heights as a sound engineer. I also teach samba at Miriam High School, and I do session work as a musician and/or a composer.

Pix courtesy of Jorel Corpus (who is a lot thinner now than he is in these photos). Thanks Jor!

Not too long ago I found myself in an unfamiliar bar in Quezon City, watching a bunch of bands I had never heard of before. Normally, this would be a recipe for a quick spiral from teeth-grinding annoyance to suicidal depression, but I lucked out, and found myself liking the show, for the most part. There was one band in particular that I enjoyed. They played originals that sounded like soundtracks to courtships and car chase scenes, to acid trips and alien abductions. Gleeful guitar-pop with enough rough edges not to be wimpy, and enough sweetness not to be mere noise. They had a real sense of fun, and seemed unafraid to laugh at themselves (or, for that matter, at other people). Soon after, I learned their names: They are Rocky Teodoro on vocals and guitar, Allen Samson on bass and vocals, and Iñigo Mortel on drums. They are The Haneps.

According to their MySpace bio, The Haneps are “influenced by British music icons The Beatles, The Kinks, Cream, The Who, Radiohead, Blur, Coldplay, Tears for Fears, and Morrissey (among others).” It goes on to say that ”the band’s sound is jokingly referred to as “brip rock” – a happy union of Britpop and Pinoy Rock.” They released a four-song EP last December (entitled, amusingly enough, “Han-EP!”), and are gearing up to unleash a full-length album soon. They also give fun interviews, as you will see if you do not suddenly develop a serious reading disability between this paragraph and the next.

Why call yourselves “The Haneps”?

ROCKY: The short and corny answer: All of us are hanep. The long and in-depth answer: there is none.
ALLEN: I have my own explanation why we’re called The Haneps. Hanep was derived from the pinoy insect Hanip. That’s it.
INIGO: Allen is an idiot. But since he’s brilliant, he’s ok with me. I like the name because it doesn’t really say anything about us or our music, maybe except that we like what we do very much. Plus, it’s catchy without being obscene, and psychedelic without being too long

How did you guys first get into music? What made each of you want to be in a band?

ROCKY: Discovering the music of the Beatles in high school made me want to write my own songs and form a band. To me, music is the ultimate form of self-expression, because you can communicate abstract and complicated mysteries in just 5 minutes or less.
ALLEN: I started playing band music in our church during masses and seminars. I liked the freedom and creativity that goes with playing good music.
INIGO: I got into music because practically everyone around me at least listened to music. I wanted to make music because not everyone did it, eh as a teenager I wanted to be different, so that’s one motivation.

Judging from previous interviews, unlike some bands, you guys aren’t childhood friends or former classmates or anything. (Allen met Rocky on PinoyExchange and Inigo met Allen for the first time when they jammed as a band.) To what do you attribute your gelling as a band, especially since you guys have claimed that you all have very different influences? How has the interpersonal/musical dynamic of the three of you evolved?

ROCKY: As far as "gelling" is concerned, I use it everyday on my hair, to keep it spiky. Oh, you mean "gelling" as a band? Sorry. Well, for some reason, the three of us get along pretty good together; I think it’s basically because, deep inside, we’re all wacky nuts. Regarding our different musical influences, I’ve got this to say—there are only two types of music: good music and forgettable music. We gel because we make good music.
ALLEN: I believe we bring into The Haneps the lessons we’ve learned and unlearned from past musical experiences. I see our musical differences as one of the factors to our longevity. It’s fun trying to come to a compromise during jammings and recordings.
INIGO: We also have patience and we always keep our egos in check. And we do it all at the same time. And we talk a lot, keep communication going, and we think about what we do and what we’ve done. In that sense, we’re very sensible people, really.

“Chunami” and “Love Drive” have been getting radio airplay. Tell us a bit more about those two songs—how they came together, why they were chosen as singles, how representative they are of “The Haneps sound.”

ALLEN: The songs are upbeat and fun, perfect for introductions.
INIGO: Those two songs actually begin and end our sets.
ROCKY: When I write a song, sometimes I have a specific concept in mind. "Love Drive" is one of those songs—I wanted to write a song specifically for listening to while you drive. I took the concepts of driving songs like "LA Woman" and "Highway Star" and made them my own. "Chunami" is one of those songs that was written quickly. I was in Puerto Galera, and at that time, the waves were furious—they could really drag you under. Out of nowhere a guitar riff entered my mind, and I tied it up with the idea of the giant waves—the tsunamis. In both cases, I brought these songs to Inigo and Allen, and they filled in the blanks and helped arrange the songs. They were chosen because they represent The Haneps well—they hit hard, they hit fast, and they leave you wanting more.

 How do you come up with the subject matter for your songs? (Some of them seem to have very specific references, like “Chocolate Kiss.”) Your MySpace profile says that the band “relies on lyrical and musical hooks to delight listeners.” Explain what you mean by “lyrical hooks.”

ROCKY: A lyrical hook is a word phrase or sentence that captures your audience’s attention, pretty much like what a musical hook does. "Chocolate Kiss" is a good example of a lyrical hook; so is "Love Drive." I’m a writer by profession and devour books of all kinds, so I know when a certain word combination has potential or not. Here are several other examples, which I plan on making into songs soon: "Monsoon Mami," "Happy Ninja," and "Magnetic Yes."
INIGO: Rocky has this thing he calls "painting with words". The words don’t necessarily mean anything, but since they contribute to some sonic atmosphere, they have some merit of being there. If they convey meaning to you, then better!

When I watched you guys at Purple Haze, the songs I liked most were not on the EP. Tell us more about those songs, and the other tracks that will be on the upcoming full-length album.

ROCKY: Thanks for watching us. I guess you’re referring to “Chunami” and “Cagayan.” Cagayan is a "love" song I wrote long ago, transformed into its current psychedelic state by The Haneps.
INIGO: It’s about love lost in some distant land. It’s our cheesiest song, so far. You’ll like it.
ROCKY: Everyone who listens to us has a different favorite song, so we decided to put them all in the upcoming album.
ALLEN: We plan to have songs in every Pinoy radio station, he he.

And speaking of the upcoming album, how’s it coming along? How is the experience of the recording process so far? How is your songwriting process developing? Is a definite release date in sight?

ROCKY: We’ve recorded 7 songs so far, and 3 to 5 more are on our to-do lists. Recording is great, it’s always nice to see one of your songs develop, much like watching a son or daughter grow up. Not that I would know much about having a son or daughter, mind you.
INIGO: Songs are going to tape slowly, as we can only work on it once or twice a week—we take our day jobs seriously. No definite release for the album though. Right now, we’re in the middle of talks with some labels, so the originally-planned independent release will be set aside for the meantime.
ROCKY: We’re talking with some people now, but definitely the album will be coming out soon, whether through indie or major label channels. Definitely this year. Cross your fingers and hope for the best for us!
ALLEN: It’s still a continuing learning experience for us. Hopefully the album comes out the way we envisioned it to be or not to be.

It’s always interesting when a band strays from the usual four-person setup. You guys have settled on three as your magic number. How did you decide on that, and did you ever consider taking on more members?

ALLEN: The line-up is not yet final. We plan to add 11 more members. Just kidding.
ROCKY: At the beginning, we really wanted to be a four-piece band, but we couldn’t find a keyboardist. We started playing gigs and got used to being a three-person outfit, so we decided to stick with the current line-up. Besides, people say that our sound is already "complete."
INIGO: I thought it was cool to be 3 because it wasn’t 4, as in the usual. So we’re unusual. So you’re right about "straying". But I guess it also makes it easier to be in tune and in sync, because you only have 2 other members to coordinate with. I think because of this, without any one of us being very good at our instruments, we’ve managed to sound "tight" to some people.

Let’s talk about the local music scene right now. What’s good or bad about it? Where do you think it’s heading and where do you think it should be headed?

ALLEN: I see local music as maturing with every new artist introduced. I’d like to compare it to J-pop, where all musical styles are appreciated.
ROCKY: Good: Kids are starting to pick up guitars and form bands again. Bad: Still too many revivals and bandwagoning, playing what is currently "uso". Musicians should concentrate more on making original sounds that stray from the usual formulas.
INIGO: What’s bad is that everyone sounds the same, production-wise. Like nobody wants to make a different kind of sound anymore, as in a different sonic quality. Take 2 different records from 2 different genres and you’d think, well, they sound the same, as if they were in the same recording session with the exact same people, using the exact same sound engineers. Areglo lang ang pinagkaiba. What’s good is that because of that, it’s so easy to sound different nowadays. You just don’t do what you always hear. With all things saturated, the only way to go is to get out, to think of change. Change always feel weird, but with all things weird, they can tickle you a bit.

Could each of you comment on the other two people in the band? What do they bring, in terms of musical abilities and personal qualities? What makes them integral to The Haneps?

ALLEN: Rocky is a lyrical and musical genius. Inigo is an instrumental genius. Bukod sa drums, ang lupit din mag-gitara!!
ROCKY: Inigo is a wacky nut. He usually helps shape the songs into their current "Hanep" form with his great drum fills and 60s-style drumming. Allen is also a wacky nut. He usually helps arrange the songs, and fills the "holes" of a one-guitar band with his excellent bass lines. Actually both of them do. Also does back-up vocals, making it easier for me to sing lead vocals.
INIGO: Rocky has been the main songwriter so far, in as much as he has a deep archive of songs he’d written from way back. Allen has some amazing arrangement ideas, and they come spontaneously, sometimes on the rehearsal before the gig, that if you hear our songs live and think that they’re different from the record, it’s probably Allen’s fault. These two people have a strong sense of song structure that I’m still learning from.

Photos provided by the band. Visit The Haneps’ MySpace page and sign up on their mailing list!

It’s a warm night in Los Angeles. Temperatures soared into the hundreds earlier in the day; at 8 PM, the sun’s still out, but it’s making its way behind the mountains, casting long shadows on the eager (and mostly bearded) Wilco fans in the Greek Theater.

Thirty minutes later the five thousand-seat venue is packed, night has finally descended, and the men of Wilco walk onto the stage.

Before anything else, if you, my dear reader, are unaware of who Wilco are, the first thing you must know is that they are the most awesome band on the planet. Obviously I am a very big fan.

But a quick Google will tell you anything you need to know about them. Album and concert reviews are pretty much unanimous (four stars, thumbs-up, album of the year, etc.). They’ve been described as America’s Radiohead, not because of any similiarities with sound, but because of their ability to constantly experiment and the sheer quality of their musicianship. They’ve also won a couple of Grammys too (in case you needed The Establishment’s seal of approval).

Wilco opens with “You Are My Face,” a slow burner from their new album Sky Blue Sky. The album’s been out since May, and each song off it is greeted with a warm familiarity. They go on to play seven more songs from SBS throughout the evening, with the beautiful and funny “Hate It Here” being the best of the bunch.

However, the riotous applause is saved for the songs from their near-perfect 2002 release, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

“I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” succeeds in breaking everyone’s heart and “I’m the Man Who Loves You” also receives great yelps from the crowd, especially when Jeff Tweedy dedicates it to his wife Sue.

Since the inclusion of guitar master Nels Cline and two keyboard players (Mikael Jorgensen and Pat Sansone) three years ago, all the older songs have received amazing boosts. In particular “Pot Kettle Black” and “Jesus Etc.”, both already great songs, have improved greatly from their recorded versions.

But “Via Chicago” is the biggest surprise. The song begins with a lone spotlight on Jeff and his acoustic guitar, singing “I dreamed about killing you again last night, and it felt alright to me.” The audience settles in, thinking it’s going to be a lighter-in-the-air time, but then Glenn Kotche starts wigging out on the drums and the lights go crazy and everyone goes nuts. Then in a split second, Glenn stops, the lights go back to just Jeff, and the audience scratches its collective head wondering if we really saw that.

I sit with rapt attention for two hours even though I am seated near the back of the theater, the people in front of me are making out the whole time, and I can smell illegal substances in the air (just say no, people, just say no!). But as far as I’m concerned, it’s just Wilco and me. Obviously when you see your favorite band live for the first time it’s going to be awesome, regardless of seating arrangements and the distractions of the crowd. There is nothing like seeing a band play live, no matter how good the album versions are.

I actually felt John Stirratt’s bass thumping under my ass and the lighting design really helped the songs reach their peak. Wilco was at their best, and despite a bout with adult chicken pox a week earlier, Nels Cline killed. He strangled that guitar and made it his bitch. Jeff did his funny banter while the rest of the band prepared for the next song. He good-naturedly berated a guy for waving a lighter around and waited politely as latecomers found their seats.

Bootlegs, live DVD concerts and the conveniece of YouTube aside, there is no substitute for the real thing.

Photos taken from the band’s MySpace. Visit Wilco’s official site too.

That’s the main message here, I think: the emphasis on the keeping of the status quo (well, also the resolution of the month-long cliffhanger that You-Know-Who’s sudden exit entailed). After every wager is the revelation of the dealt hand. Past every educated (or uneducated) guess is the answer sheet, shoved across the test-taker’s desk like unwelcome news. After all, don’t people always want to be right? Don’t they want to be vindicated in their accuracy? That a band bereft of its central figure be forced to call it a day? Well, whoever those “people” are, I bet they’re whistling made-up tunes, eyes on the ceiling, in silent denial, with their wrongness resounding like a quiz-show buzzer.

The EP opens with the buoyant and self-referential “Banda ng Bayan,” another Sergio number. The ‘Maya bassist—also one of the moving forces behind Daydream Cycle—takes on the huge challenge of being the doorman at the new house, the first voice who greets you, the Big Unfamiliar Other. “Nagsisimula pa lang; teka muna, pakinggan niyo kami kung ayos lang,” the bassist offers in the song, only thinly veiling the matter at hand, as if to say, “Please don’t kill us for trying.” But, of course, being no mere newbies, the members of the band triumph over the rabid expectations. No bitterness here, just sheer momentum, and nostalgia is left at a minimum (melodical allusions to “Panahon na Naman,” “Ulan,” and “Elesi”—as well as a reprise of the main guitar-line from “Kisapmata”—adorn the opening track’s outro).

Mark Escueta’s songs, meanwhile, are interestingly schizophrenic. On the one hand, there’s “Sumigaw,” an all-around party song, whose optimism outshines, I think, even “Umaaraw, Umuulan” (“Harapin ang hamon ng buong mundo. Handa ka na ba? Asahan mo na hanggang sa huli, nandito lang kami”). The said track also nailed it as the new station-I.D. theme of ABS-CBN’s UHF channel Studio 23. On the other hand, there’s “Olats,” which would have been scathing for its irony, if not for its droll approach to the concept of calamity or “tough luck” (“‘Ayan tuloy, nadisgrasya; steady ka na kanina. Kawawa naman tayo!”). Escueta’s tongue-in-cheek, “you gotta laugh about it” approach to the band’s initially unlaughable crisis is admirable and amusing. Guitarist Mike Elgar’s “Nawawala,” meanwhile, is a great middle track, a mood piece of sorts that conjures up a campfire feel, or a folk-séance (“Habang ‘andito tayo sa mundo, maraming bagay ang nagbabago”). In any case, Elgar—who acted as a sort of secondary writer on earlier albums Tuloy ang Ligaya and Between the Stars and the Waves—diverts from the relative straightforwardness of his bandmates’ respective writing styles.

What seems apparent (though not at all detrimental) is the uncertainty in the voices. The five songs in Bagong Liwanag are sung by their respective writers, all of them relegated to the wings in the past, when it came to vocal duties. Okay, wait. You know how it is when some guy at work goes on leave for an emergency, then you have to replace him, and you’re thinking you know you can do it, but at the same you have to admit to yourself that the terrain is unfamiliar (say, you’re a copy-editor and the guy on leave is a layout artist)? The irresponsible among us will piss and moan; the bold and brave will passionately try—‘Maya obviously falls under the latter, and succeeds fairly well. A friend of mine told me that, while she agrees with me on the note of “uncertainty,” she believes that the band (or the band on this EP) is “reassuring,” which is something I also want to echo: just as journalism revels in precision and poetry in romantic limbo, so does great music in its beautifully flawed humanity.

Rivermaya, for this installment, is both certain and uncertain—certain about the material, uncertain about the subject matter, which is to say, how does one recover? I mean, really? How does one rise above the wreckage? Thankfully, Elgar, Escueta, and Sergio think and act fast, and here is their collective response—an epistolary mini-record that’s meant to speak and not speak, to commemorate but move forward, and, most importantly, to sing to their heart’s content.

(By the way, yes, Bagong Liwanag is a five-song EP, but it has eleven tracks. Let me explain. Apart from the five “proper” songs, there is a recited audio track of band acknowledgements; after that, five instrumental (a.k.a. “minus one”) versions of the songs for people to pretend-‘Maya to. The lyric sheets are also laid out with chords a la “songhits,” to satisfy ‘Maya guitarist fans. Paolo Lim’s vibrant yet warm sleeve design—a collage of backstage passes, pins, buttons, and tickets—doesn’t hurt, either.)

Taking a break from the Britpop strains of Between the Stars… and going back to their successful brand of OPM-rock vernacular (reminiscent of, say, Rivermaya, their self-titled debut, and Tuloy ang Ligaya, their other debut), the band is slowly easing back to its old clarity. Though obtuse artfulness is something this band is also good at (Trip and Atomic Bomb somehow come to mind), this time, they show that they really have got something to say, beyond mere pretty soundscapes. While auditions for the singer post (and other instrumental posts) have already been wrapped up—a weekly TV special will reportedly start airing September 16—Bagong Liwanag effectively poses the question, “Do they even need it?”

Currently, he is producing records for the hard rock band Metallica, the nerd power-pop band Weezer and the legendary Neil Diamond. Rubin works slowly — it can take him years to finish an album. “A lot of that is because of the songs,” Rubin explained. “I try to get the artist to feel like they are writing songs for the ages rather than songs for an album. As they write, they come over and play the songs for me. For some reason, most people will write 10 songs and think, That’s enough for a record, I’m done. When they play the songs for me, invariably the last two songs they’ve written are the best. I’ll then say, ‘You have two songs, go back and write eight more.’”

It’s a great interview, which not only takes us behind the scenes of Rubin’s work process, but also describes his ideas on how to deal with the massive recent changes in the way people discover and buy music. Lots to think about. And, if nothing else, the article makes me look forward to what Rubin will do with The Gossip — one of my favorite new-ish bands — and plain-faced opera singer Paul Potts.

Rubin paused. “That’s the magic of the business,” he said. “It’s all doom and gloom, but then you go to a Gossip show or hear Neil in the studio and you remember that too many people make and love music for it to ever die. It will never be over. The music will outlast us all.”

This week, the Revolver production night celebrates its third anniversary, and they’re doing it in a big way—with excellent acts like the Chillitees, The Dawn, Nyko Maca + Playground, Pedicab, Sandwich, Sino Sikat?, Taken By Cars, Ciudad, Corporate Lo-Fi, Itchyworms, Queso, Salindiwa, Urbandub, and more, playing on four different nights and three different venues, spread out through September. Great!, you say. But what’s a production night and what is Revolver?

“A production night is basically a night where you get to showcase bands in a venue, which most of the time is a bar,” explains Cris Ramos, Jr., the main driving force behind Revolver. “Basically, a lot of bands do this so that they can have a regular gig and at the same time book other bands that they would like to help.” Cris is a familiar face on the local music scene; he used to write a music column for the Manila Times, and was the co-manager of Narda. He has also contributed to publications such as BURN and PULP magazine, and describes himself as an “ex-major label hack.”

Revolver started simply enough: named after Cris’ music column, which in turn took its title from his favorite Beatles album, it started out as a one-off gig that Cris organized “just to find out how it feels like,” as he was “inspired by two of my fave prods—Admit One and Play4Serve. And before I knew it, it had turned into a regular prod that I do with some of my friends.” Revolver used to take place once a month at SaGuijo Café and Bar in Makati City, but has since become even more frequent—it’s closing in on its 50th gig by now, I believe—and has been held at different places such as Route 196 and Bar 42.

“The concepts behind it, I guess, would be a). To have some great bands play and b). To have fun. Since I don’t have a band, I just have a roster of semi-mainstays who play approximately once every three months.” The lineup is quite fluid, but in the past, these mainstays have included the Chillitees, the Itchyworms, the now sadly defunct Narda, Pedicab and Salindiwa. “As far as the lineups and show concepts go, the main idea is ANYTHING GOES.” For example, “We bring a videoke machine to SaGuijo and have some bands cover videoke classics once a year.”

Cris has some words of advice for people who might want to start their own production nights. “Getting financial sponsorships would be great, but it’s a long shot… You have to be fair. One must realize that it’s hard work too, but at the same time, if you ain’t getting any measure of fun out of it, it’s not worth doing at all. Never stoop down and require bands to bring X amount of people or sell tickets. Make sure everything’s ironed out with all the people involved—the bands playing, the venue’s management so on and so forth. And please have food and beer for the bands playing, especially if it’s just a gate share gig, make sure they enjoy as much as the people watching.”

“And yeah,” he adds, “Do not take your audience for granted. While making hakot your friends is one effective measure, it will only get you as far as a few more gigs if you don’t give them other reasons to go to your gigs. Have some pride—put some quality acts in your line-up!” That’s a principle Cris takes to heart, and which he follows almost to excess—some Revo prod nights have been so packed with acts that it’s almost overwhelming.

“And one last thing: this one’s the most important, this is something that has been handed to me from the people behind the productions that I admire: THE PARTY IS THE SECRET.”

Asked to recount some high points in the history of Revolver, Cris says, “We are proud to have featured great bands such as Up dharma Down, Hale, Drip, Urbandub, Sugarfree, Cambio, Twisted Halo, Sandwich, Imago, Color it Red, Dong Abay, among others. We are also proud to have brought some bands to SaGuijo for the first time, such as Betrayed, Greyhoundz—back when SaGuijo was apprehensive about having “metal-oriented bands,” Pedicab, Hilera—the best audition band Revolver ever had! Johnny Alegre Affinity, El Mercurio, the Youth, Wake Up Your Seatmate, Love Core and Switch.”

“We are also proud of having been able to collaborate with Admit One and Play4Serve to pay tribute to Wolfmann during Admit One’s anniversary show [in 2005]. We’re proud of even being compared to and lumped with these productions; it’s definitely an honor… We are also proud to have thought of doing this long before doing a production became ‘uso’ and numerous new prods sprouted out of nowhere. We are proud that without us asking, Jugs Jugueta said ‘Cris, i-book mo ang Itchyworms sa Revolver basta walang conflict sa sked namin…’ We are proud of organizing Chillitees’ and Narda’s own album launches. And we are proud that our gigs with 20 people are every bit as fun as our gigs with 200 or more, for all the people concerned.”

When asked what’s in store for Cris Ramos and Revolver in the near future, Cris answers, “Well, I need a day job to sustain all these things, so I’m looking for one right now. And I hope to book more great bands in the future.”

Check out Cris Ramos’ Multiply site for Revolver updates and other fun stuff.