Guitar heroes play mentors

By Pocholo Concepcion
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Four hundred budding musicians turned up at the activity center of Trinoma Mall in Quezon City recently to audition for “Musikhero” (“music hero”), a three-day workshop which starts on Monday in Baguio City.

Some of the country’s top guitarists, bassists and drummers are serving as mentors at the music camp. They include former band mates Jun Lopito and Chickoy Pura of the Jerks; The Dawn’s Francis Reyes, Buddy Zabala and JB Leonor; Rivermaya’s Mike Elgar, Japs Sergio and Mark Escueta; Bamboo’s Ira Cruz and Vic Mercado; Freestyle’s Rommel de la Cruz; Razorback’s Louie Talan; and Side A’s Ernie Severino.

Only 75 of those who auditioned will be picked. By the end of the workshop, the most promising four will comprise a group to represent the Philippines at the London International Music Festival in April 2008. They also become official endorsers of instrument brands carried by JB Music, which organized “Musikhero.”

At the auditions, most of the mentors noted that today’s kids were lucky because they had access to the Internet, which offers a lot of instructional videos from the world’s top musicians.

Louie Talan, bassist of Razorback, Pinikpikan and Spy and also a record producer and engineer at his own Wombworks Studio, remembers learning to play the guitar by reading Jingle Chordbook magazine. Then he honed his skills by jamming with friends.

Francis Reyes, lead guitarist of The Dawn and deejay at NU 107, was also self-taught and researched a lot from the school library in La Salle. “I’ve learned that the measure of a guitarist is his sense of rhythm,” he shared. “I noticed that kids today, nagmamadaling mag-adlib. But the guitar solo is just icing [on the cake].”

For Jerico Salonga Fernando, whose parents established the JB Music chain 30 years ago, the whole shebang is a worthwhile investment. He said he’d like the kids to be proponents of OPM, if not the next generation of professionals who’ll get to travel the world as musicians. “For now,” Fernando said, “I want them to experience how it feels to play with rock stars.”

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