Recently in Emo Category

By Izah Morales INQUIRER.net ON stage, you see them bringing the house down as they rock the house with their eardrum-popping music. But off stage, they are your ordinary people like you and me. Vocalist Henry Allen of Filipino rock band Faspitch, for one, says he and his bandmates play computer game Warcraft for pastime. “We’re a geeky band. We grew up playing computers,” added Faspitch bassist Trevor Bicknell. Faspitch is composed of Allen, Bicknell, Trick Berganos (guitars), and Russell Manaloto (guitars). They made their debut on the airwaves with the single, "Staying This Way" and eventually earned people’s attention with the song, "A Day Before Pisces." Allen describes their music as “new metal hardcore” with little elements of Emo (emotional). But he quickly added that they continue to experiment with their music, stressing that they don’t have a fixed sound. Just like Faspitch, Cebu-born Filipino rock band Urbandub vocalist Gabby Alipe disclosed that off stage, they often hang out at home. “Sobrang normal lang kami [We’re just normal people],” said Alipe. Alipe admitted though that on stage, they always perform with much pride. “On stage, ‘yung nakikita ng tao, mayabang kami [the people you will see are very proud],” said Alipe. But before Urbandub became popular, bassist Lalay Lim recalled how they started, playing in gigs without pay or receiving a talent fee of P2,000 for a set of 15 songs. For all-girl rock band Nyctinasty, vocalist Noodle Perez said the band had to do some sacrifices for their schooling. The all-girl band plays a mix of punk rock, progressive, metal pop. “Hindi girly ang dating ng music naming [We’re not your typical girly band],” said Perez. While they want their music heard, Perez said they declined to reveal their ages. These local bands have achieved an extraordinary status. But after the volume fades out and they go off stage, they are just like any ordinary people living their dreams extraordinarily.

By Erwin Oliva INQUIRER.net I THOUGHT it was about a little fish that got lost... er, oh, that was Nemo! Okay, this has been "bugging" me since I heard a teenage kid say to hairstylist, "I want an emo haircut." What is an emo haircut? And why are kids today going gaga over anything that's emo? For starters, emo, as shown by the need for disambiguation in Wikipedia, is a topic that leads to other topics. So that means, emo can mean different things to people, as this blog attests. I understand emo as I understood the headbanging rockers in the 80s, the grunge movement in the 90s, and well, the hippies in the 60s and 70s. But again, these are terms that are often used loosely (read: abused). This article, however, reveals that the term emo emerged, well, back in the 80s. Excerpt:

The term "Emo" is not derived from the word "emotional" as I was falsely led to believe before delving into further investigation. In fact, it is derived from the word "Emotive". Emotive, noun: tending to arouse emotion. This is a key piece of jargon when trying to understand the most confusing Emo world. The "Emotive Hardcore" music genre began to flourish in the late 80s, led by bands such as the likes of Rites of Spring. The term Emo was, believe it or not, a somewhat derogatory term used to put down fans of the new wave "Emotive Hardcore" bands. But, after a huge boom from the genre over the last decade and a bit, the term has been stolen by "stupid little boys who cry and wear eyeliner," as Jack, 15, so eloquently puts it. Now many teens who have never even heard of the word emotive or listened to real Emo music, claim "Emo" as their own. Because of this apparent label theft, ironically, emotion, namely anger, has been aroused amongst non and anti-emo teens.

One thing evident here is that emo is a relatively new term used by today's teens to express themselves in music or in fashion. Back in the 80s, we called it punk, new wave, or whatnot. Or something else. This article also explains it further. Ian MacKaye who happens to be the "Grandfather of Punk" was reportedly the person who coined the term "emo." Some people don't agree. You can find more useful stuff about emo here. And more definitions of Emo from the Urban Dictionary. Now, back to reality...