Pulse.ph : MUSIC + CULTURE
April 4th, 2008
LEAFING THROUGH KITCHIE’S LOVE LETTERS
March 11th, 2008
Composed of four talented individuals: Beng Calma, the adventurous vocalist and the genius lyricist; Malek Lopez,the technical whiz, who also acts as the musical director;Caliph8, the artistic guy in charge of turntables; and Ian Morse, the virtuoso musician responsible for the beats; Drip has certainly made its presence felt in the local music scene, since the band’s inception in 2003. Now, they are here once more to offer listeners another serving of finely-crafted electronic music. Bound by each member’s unwavering passion, they come up with their sophomore album Identity Theft. Read more…
September 1st, 2007
FALL OUT BOY GOES DOWN TO MANILA
Without a doubt, Fall Out Boy features four of the most punchable faces ever seen in a band lineup in all of human history. There’s just something about the hey- look- at- me antics of Pete Wentz (bass guitar, backup vocals, primary lyricist, and phonecam enthusiast), the hats worn by Patrick Stump (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, and primary composer), the glasses- and- hairstyle- plus- piercing combo of Andy Hurley (drums), and the Beastie Boyishness of Joe Trohman (lead guitar) that makes your hands involuntarily ball up into fists. But that’s just if you’re looking at a still photograph of them. Listen to one of their songs—or watch one of their videos—and you will have to admit to yourself that America’s New Favorite Band is, indeed, awesome. No—make that AWESOME, in all caps. Read more…
July 5th, 2007
Some artists seem to come out of nowhere: they emerge full-blown onto record store posters and standees and into your sphere of awareness, and it’s like they always belonged there. Their music becomes such a welcome and familiar presence in your life in such a short time that it’s like a whirlwind romance. But it’s always an illusion—in the same way that you don’t know about how your brand new lover struggled through awkward and inappropriate relationships to become your ideal partner, you aren’t always aware of how an artist developed, how he or she paid the necessary dues. Read more…
May 8th, 2007
So take one kickass vocalist who’s got everything—looks, vocal power, stage presence—who was sick of showbandiness. Give her a band that would let her sing the kind of songs she likes, give her the best musicians in the scene, give her smooth and sexy songs that tread that thin line between jazz and rock, and are several notches above the no-brainers you hear on the radio today. Sounds like the stuff legends are made of. Read more…
March 2nd, 2007
KAPE! ALAK! SUGAL! BABAE! SAGO!
My friend has a minor problem. He wants to buy the new Radioactive Sago Project album but doesn’t know how to ask for it. “Anong sasabihin ko? Miss, meron na kayong Tangina Mo Andaming Nagugutom Sa Mundo Fashionista Ka Pa Rin?Baka masampal ako sa unang word pa lang.” Read more…
January 8th, 2007
CHILLITEES: GOING WITH THE FLOW
It’s a day after the New Year, so it’s understandable that only four of the Chillitees could make it to this interview at Dan Gil’s production outfit, Liquid Post. There’s actually no work at Liquid Post today, so they were leisurely jamming when I arrived. Guitarist Jon Padilla and Bassist Jon Jose were checking out the latter’s new bass amp. To avoid confusion, the band calls Jon Padilla “Astro Jon.” They also once had a nickname for Jon Jose, but it was one he didn’t take to and they don’t call him that anymore. Gino Cruz, the erstwhile keyboardist who came up with the despised nickname, left the band late 2005, leaving Dan Gil to let go of his guitar aspirations and take on the synths instead. The rest of the band is composed of Ryan Armamento on flutes and vocals, Paolo Lim on drums and Uela Basco on vocals. Tonight, we were just waiting for Uela. Read more…
December 13th, 2006
Listen to Pinoy radio for a while, and you’ll realize: anyone can write a love song. Just string a few chords together, bleat some candy-coated words about missing someone or wanting someone, and you might just have the makings of an AM classic for the ages. But writing a really good love song, one that is sincere without being sappy, one with a really good tune that is immediately accessible yet surprising at the same time, one that, dare we say it, contains real Pinoy soul—well, that’s something else. That’s something songwriters have to really work at. That’s also something that Sugarfree seems to be able to do on an astonishingly regular basis. Read more…
October 27th, 2006
Your first impression upon meeting bossa nova singer Sitti is that she may be too nice for this business. While Sitti is undeniably smart and by no means clueless or naïve, she seems almost too open and trusting to survive the unforgiving music biz: you will wear your Thesaurus out looking for synonyms for “sweet” and “genuine” and “sincere” in order to describe her. Still, one has to remind oneself that Sitti has been paying her dues since she was out of high school — singing in bars and hotels to pay for her college tuition — so she’s familiar with the pitfalls, she’s slogged through the sleepless nights, she’s fended off the DOMs, she knows the score. That she has managed to remain a sincerely sunny person after all that is a minor miracle. (Appropriately enough, she never misses an opportunity to attribute any good fortune she has to God.) And it is that very quality of openness and sincerity, no doubt, that has helped endear her to a legion of fans of all ages who are proud to call themselves “Sittizens.” Who could have predicted that Sitti would revive local interest in the bossa nova genre? Her debut album, Café Bossa, has been topping the charts all year, and it gets played everywhere from car stereos to mall PA systems to restaurants to actual cafés; its platinum status has helped spawn a number of bossa nova bandwagon jumpers. Recently, starting with a concert at the Music Museum, she’s been playing larger venues, with great success. She also has a TV co-hosting gig, on Pinoy Dream Academy. And she just launched a follow-up to Café Bossa — a live album — a little over a month ago. Barely in her twenties, Sitti can truly be said to be sitting pretty. We managed to catch up with the lovely young Sitti and ask her about her new album, her year so far, and what’s in store for the future. Tell us about your new release, Sitti Live! When and why was it decided to release a live album? How was the song selection process done? Sitti Live! was recorded from a performance at the Ortigas Park last May 19… I don’t exactly know why Warner Music decided to record it, but I guess they really wanted to capture the essence of our live performances. Ibang-iba kasi kami pag live, grabe energy, haha! The Portuguese numbers that are new in the live album come from our existing repertoire — we have been doing those songs for months already. I’m really really happy with this release — it showcased musicality more, everything was spontaneous, I was able to play with some of the songs especially “Mas Que Nada,” “Fever,” and “Agua de Beber,” there were band solos — ang saya! But the best part about this album were the memories that came with it — I had such a lot of fun during that gig! You did your first major concert at the Music Museum a couple of months ago. Tell us about the experience… Was it strange to play to a bigger audience after honing your singing style playing small bars and intimate venues? It was amazing! The first was nerve-wracking, as in! It wasn’t that strange performing at the Music Museum, I guess it was the idea of it being my first major concert that struck me scared, haha. Plus we had wonderful guests that made the concert such a success! Arthur Manuntag with his classy voice, Eileen Sison with her samba-crazy dancing, plus her samba dancers, plus of course, jamming with Brigada was a lot of fun. Jon Santos was hilarious! He had the crowd roaring continually for about twenty minutes. Wow! Any significant frustrations/ lessons/ joys that you got from the experience? There were a lot! I was so nervous, I’m not really sure at what point I was able to relax and just have fun, haha. Let’s start with the joys. It was an amazing experience really… to get up there on that stage, and just have fun, and talk with the audience, and just really share the love and music… It honestly felt out-of-this-world for me. I felt unmasked on that stage, with all my emotions flowing out and people seeing me… haha, drama ba? But really, that was how I felt. I wasn’t only singing or sharing the music, I was sharing myself, my soul. It was also a great learning experience for me, in that I realized I expect too much of myself, and no matter how many times people tell me that I did a good job, I would feel small and hollow because I was silently chastising myself for what I felt was a lousy performance, haha! What about the next studio album? How is the work on that going? Work on the next studio album hasn’t started yet, but Warner says it’ll be slated for release early next year. It will contain more Filipino numbers, definitely, just not sure yet if it’ll still contain some covers. Could you tell us more about the songs that you and the band are writing? I really liked the song you unveiled at the first Music Museum concert (“Ironically, it’s not a bossa nova song,” I remember you saying). I’m so glad you liked the song I wrote. As I related then, I initially thought that to be able to write songs, one has to know how to play the guitar or the piano, but boy was I wrong! I was surprised I got to write one! Sobrang nakakahiya to share that song with strangers, haha! Wala lang, I really felt queasy about it, kasi once again I was sharing myself, my emotions, haha! I was able to write two more pero hindi pa tapos. Steven [Mora, her drummer] has written one song, it’s a very nice one, and Erskine [Basilio, one of her guitarists] has a lot of instrumental compositions that hopefully we get to put lyrics into. Writing songs is such an experience! You have to finish the composition as soon as you think of the melody ‘coz it’s so hard to leave it hanging — ang hirap balikan nung nararamdaman mo at that time. Tell us about Pinoy Dream Academy. Why a TV hosting stint? How has it been so far? Any particularly good/ not-so-good experiences? Hosting was an opportunity that just happened, alam mo ‘yun, I didn’t ask for it — it was given to me. I’ve always been a firm believer of reasons or purposes behind everything that happens in life, and so I gladly accepted it. It has been quite an experience so far — everyone on the set has been so good and nice and welcoming, such that I am very comfortable with them. Not-so-good experiences? A lot, haha! there are times I stutter and don’t feel like myself, too quiet; I forget my lines… But it’s all part of the experience and I believe that everyone went through those episodes too. How do you feel about the Pinoy music scene now? The music scene is much more colorful now, lots of bands and groups coming out with a nontraditional kind of music. People are more experimental now, they explore and expand. Creativity abounds. Artistry and musicianship proliferates. Masaya kasi we’re not bound to traditional pop and R&B anymore — more choices for the listening public. What do you think of the other artists who offer material beyond the usual rock and pop music — artists who are sometimes even on the same gig lineup as you, like Julianne, Nyko Maca, Brigada, the Brass Munkeys, the Chillitees? I love the artists you’ve mentioned! Julianne with her neo-soul, Nyko Maca with her electrosamba, Brigada and Brass Munkeys — I’ve jammed with them and they are awesome. Chillitees – whoa! The variety! And the passion! It’s amazing, really! How do you feel about other local bossa nova performers cropping up in the wake of your success? I honestly am happy with other artists doing bossa nova, especially the higher profiled ones. Cafe Bossa’s aim, at least for me, was to introduce bossa nova to the Filipino listener, encourage them to listen to it, to search for it in the internet and get to know Astrud and Antonio… and hopefully this interest would transcend to standards and jazz, since hindi naman sila magkakalayo di ba? In fact they call bossa nova Brazilian jazz. [smiles] So with other artists doing bossa nova, it just increases the genre’s popularity and there’s nothing else to feel but happiness and gratitude that it is the case. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but regarding your family and your old friends — how are they dealing with your newfound fame? I have less time for myself and for my family now… have been unbelievably busy. Can’t even check my email on a regular basis. Haven’t checked my Friendster in months! It’s just really funny how fast things happened… All I can do now is follow my schedule and make the most out of any free time I have. I’ve also learned how to be more appreciative of my family and friends. They are handling it fine, they haven’t changed at all, they’re actually worried I will, haha! Worried that I might change with this level of popularity I’m experiencing. I am grateful for all the opportunities that have come my way, but the things I am most thankful for are the people who come and watch our gigs, and I hope and pray that they’d really enjoy themselves and leave happier. What was it like being interviewed by Sharon Cuneta? Oh my, that Sharon guesting — that was something! Imagine being interviewed by the Megastar and getting to sing with her pa! Wow talaga! If you were to imagine that someone made a movie based on your life so far, what scenes do you think should be in the trailer? Haha, nice question! Let’s see… hmm… I guess my first major concert should be there, as well as my first public singing engagement, when I was in pre-school singing “One Moment in Time”! [laughs] Working my way through college and all the cramming I did, haha. And oh, my proudest moment — when I was able to graduate on time and was awarded the Dean’s Medal. [beams] 2006 has been a very eventful year for you, to say the least. Looking back, what are the most amazing things about the past few months? Launching the album at the Podium, and being incredulous because there were actually people lining up for my signature and wanting to have their photo taken with me, haha… The gigs themselves, where I had so much fun. Watching the album Cafe Bossa climb up the chart — I actually remember being so thankful when it was Top 17 at Tower Records — February ‘ata ‘yun — not knowing that things would actually be better! The nerve-wracking TV appearances. And what is in store for 2007? What’s in store? More music. More love. More passion.
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