MANILA, Philippines — “We’re radical then…but we’ve changed. We never claimed this mantel of Emo,” Third Eye Blind’s (3eb) Stephan Jenkins (guitar and vocals) declared, as he explained how the band’s music has changed since their eponymous debut album in 1997.

3eb is definitely not an Emo band. It is an American alternative rock band that emerged in the 1990s with lyrical rock staples like “Semi-Charmed Life,” “Graduate,” and “How’s It’s Going To Be.” Their successful 1997 album Third Eye Blind remains their biggest, selling 6 million copies, according to Jenkins.

However, a decade in the music business has made the band a lot more “integrated,” “louder” and “political,” according to Jenkins who seemed in the mood to give long answers to questions by local journalists during a press conference here.

3eb is scheduled to play a one-night concert in Manila on September 5, as part of the Oktoberfest festivities led by San Miguel Corp.

What kept the band from coming out with a new album?

Jenkins replied, “I came out of a lyrical slump.”

The recent US political climate has somehow inspired Jenkins and the rest of the band to finally finish 3eb’s fourth album, reportedly dubbed Ursa Major. It will be under the Sony label and is expected to come out February 2009.

“We now have a stronger sense of who we are as musicians,” said Jenkins who was with Brad Hargreaves (drums and percussions) and Tony Fredianelli (guitar and vocals).

During the press conference, Jenkins kept coming back to the “US political consciousness” that has recently emerged – hinting probably on the upcoming elections – which he said has influenced the songs in the new album.

The band agreed that writing the new album was “challenging.” In fact, Jenkins who answered most of the questions posed by journalists, explained that 3eb’s new music is “extroverted” now due to more interactivity happening within the band.

Asked about the band’s thoughts on how technology has changed the music industry, Jenkins said YouTube and MySpace have allowed bands to interact directly with their fans and vice versa, effectively removing the once-powerful music executives from the picture.

“Power is now in the hands of the band,” Jenkins stressed, noting that today’s bands “don’t need to dance on top of the table” to make it in this cutthroat industry.

Asked about music piracy and emerging initiatives to let people decide how much are they willing to pay for music online – as exemplified by Radiohead’s strategy to sell Rainbows – Hargreaves retorted, “it’s unstoppable,” referring to music piracy on the Internet.

The Internet has, however, helped 3eb reached out to younger fans who are less familiar with their music. “More youngsters are now embracing our music,” Jenkins said, thanks to social networks like MySpace and Facebook.

By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

YOU satisfy your mouth with food. You satisfy your eyes with beauty. You satisfy your nose with fragrance. You satisfy your ears with music. But before music can be produced, it originates from individual sounds. Have you considered sound as ear candy?

New Media Arts Manila (NMAM) gave people at the Mogwai Film Club a different experience with sound with Minus Ten Decibels. With the dimly-lit atmosphere and fluffy pillows, people sat comfortably as their ears were rocked by the quasi-surround quadrophonic sound system and their eyes blinked at fast-paced abstract visuals. They called it post-music but its roots can be traced to sound art.

Postmodern (or post-post-postmodern, as NMAM’s Blums Borres quipped) and unconventional, sound art is not only hearing but seeing. It is creating sound without instruments. Technology does the magic. As they explain in this video interview, sound artists Blums Borres (left) and Jing Garcia of NMAM get their inspiration from the environment, wherever they may be.

The ordinary becomes extraordinary with technology. It may be noise to others but it is ear candy to those who consider it as art.

Editor’s note: Video contains clips of Jing Garcia’s performance. Interview conducted by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Izah Morales. Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia and INQUIRER.net community evangelist Alex Villafania.

ARE you ready for a “soporific, alphatropic, REM-tropic, quadrophonic post-music event”? Then head on over (it’s free admission) to the second floor of Mogwai Cafe at Cubao X (you know, the old Marikina Shoe Expo), Gen Romulo Avenue, Araneta Center, Cubao.

Dubbed as Minus Ten Decibels, this event is from New Media Arts Manila in cooperation with Mogwai Film Club.

Here’s more info from the press statement:

Featuring the soft murmurings of Manila’s most innovative composers. Snuggle up with your friends on the dimly-lit, pillow-strewn deck of Mogwai’s screening room while low-level noise/ambient/post-music seeps into your auditory canals from our quasi-surround quadrophonic sound system and corrodes your superior cervical ganglion. Video projections by Lyle Sacris, Jason Tan, and Blums Borres to provide illumination for those who seek both light and enlightenment.

Blums Borres - Caliph8 - Tad Ermitano - Jing Garcia (autoceremony) Malek Lopez - Pow Martinez (Nun Radar)- Lyle Sacris - Jason Tan - Tengal

Mogwai Film Club located on the 2nd floor of Mogwai Cafe is dedicated to showing all sorts of films from Hollywood classics to underground cinema, art-house fare to Pinoy grindhouse flicks. They are open for membership and will be accepting donations during the show.

Minus Ten Decibels is bought to you by Globe, Intel, and Sony Ericsson.

TIESTO Elements of Life World Tour 2008 organizers Stephen Ku, World Wide Womb’s mastermind, and Don Puno, Alchemy owner and president of Feel Good Inc., talk about the big event taking place on April 19. The venue was recently moved to the World Trade Center to accommodate more people.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia.

By Anna P. Dimerin, Contributor
INQUIRER.net

AH, chemistry. The overwhelming response at the My Chemical Romance concert on January 25 only goes to show that chemistry is not limited to that between two people; it can also spark a reaction between an American rock quintet and thousands of people who just want good music.

When I found out that My Chemical Romance will be performing at the Fort Bonifacio Open Field, I immediately devised a plan to ensure I would see the concert. By hook or by crook, I had to go see MCR live. Much gratitude goes out to a dear friend who supplied me a ticket (without coercion or violence). I was all set to go.

The concert is part of the Asian leg of their Black Parade tour. I arrived at the venue 30 minutes before 8 p.m., the time it was scheduled to start. I don’t know why I bother showing up to concerts early since they hardly ever start on time. But this was MCR, and so I let it slide easily. An hour later, opening act Pop Shuvit came onstage. The band is reminiscent of a Malaysian version of Linkin Park on speed. Pulsating with energy, Pop Shuvit gave audiences a taste of their rap-rock tunes, with a vocalist occasionally singing through a megaphone, and a band member controlling turntables right in the middle of the stage. At one point, Slapshock frontman Jamir Garcia came up the stage for a vocal fusion with the band. Garcia’s piercing vocals complemented Pop Shuvit vocalist Moot’s rapping. The band’s mixture of music is not mainstream yet, and it was a pleasure listening to something fresh. Despite that, their tunes are quite a far cry from MCR’s style, which is what the audience came to hear.

Finally at 9: 30 p.m., the lights dimmed, and as a banner with the band’s name emblazoned on it lowered itself against the backdrop, the audience rose from their seats and erupted in deafening roars. We were greeted with “This Is How I Disappear” as the opening number. MCR vocalist Gerard Way seemed to enjoy watching and interacting with the audience, occasionally requesting for the spotlight to shine on the audience, who, from my standpoint, appeared as a sea of black, much like participants of a black parade. I would twitch whenever Gerard dropped the F-bomb not because of my innocent ears (dear Lord, definitely not because of that), but because of the overwhelming number of children I saw watching with their parents. The band performed “Welcome to the Black Parade” off their third album The Black Parade, and Gerard requested the people to sing along and provide the vocals instead. He was not met with disappointment. Soon after, he’d pump his fists up in the air, and the audience would be quick to follow; such a fine and amusing act of puppetry. It didn’t take long before he exercised his newfound power over the people, and everyone willingly obliged. Indeed, the night was an entertaining interaction between performer and audience.

What I find most attractive about the band is its theatrics. Musically, they sound like Queen and Green Day rolled into one, with an anatomy supplied with powerful orchestrations, the overwhelming twang of guitars as well as the complementary melodic support of a full orchestra (which would have been sweet had there been one in the concert), and the pounding effect of their drum beats. Given the band’s rebellious nature, their songs dominate the “Anti-depressants” playlist on my iPod for a reason. Seeing them live though is a hundred times the experience of listening to them merely through an MP3 player. The concert was also a theatrical experience in terms of mood, reflecting much of what their songs are about — a strange curiosity and fixation with darkness but, at the same time, the glory of rising against any opposing force. The lineup began with upbeat songs in the beginning with bright lights shining against the band, to a more mellow “Cancer” and “Desert Song” toward the end — complete with Gerard’s dramatics of lying on the stage floor, to be capped off with the explosive “Famous Last Words” as the encore.

The concert was nothing short of explosive. The band, despite appealing to a certain niche, pulled off connecting with the audience, male or female, young or old. Indeed, MCR’s energy was contagious as they successfully satisfied their fans in Manila.