WHO says students and teachers cannot jam together? In fact, some have decided to form a band. Known as Jeez!, this band was formerly called “The Faculty of JLDDG.” It is composed of Reagan Maiquez, Giselle Hernandez, and Nicolo Masakayan --instructors from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), Paul Fonte, an alumnus of UPLB and Kit Manlangit, a UPLB Civil Engineering student. Maiquez started the band in September 2007 with Hernandez, Masakayan and Manlangit after being inspired by the song “Pero,” which Hernandez sang for him. “Pero,” which Maiquez wrote, immediately became the band’s first song. Every Friday, the band plays at Baan Thai, a Thai restaurant in Los Baños. But their performance during First Philo Night, a culminating class activity of Philosophy students in the university on September 20, 2007 was what they considered their first gig. After a year, the band was renamed Jeez! It was also in 2008 that Fonte joined the band who played the bass. Manlangit took the drums, Masakayan the lead guitar, Hernandez the vocals and Maiquez the other guitar. Maiquez, however, left the band this year. Hernandez and Masakayan says the Beatles and the Eraserheads inspire their music. This year, Jeez! is planning to cut an album under the tentative title, “Love, flirt with me, please.” The album will include seven songs: Pero, Takbo, Finally (Chinese Noodle Soup), Meatless Diet, Love is Evol, Idlip and Love Rains. Most of their songs tackle the different perspectives and stages of love, according to Fonte.
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WHO says students and teachers cannot jam together? In fact, some have decided to form a band. Known as Jeez!, this band was formerly called “The Faculty of JLDDG.” It is composed of Reagan Maiquez, Giselle Hernandez, and Nicolo Masakayan --instructors from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), Paul Fonte, an alumnus of UPLB and Kit Manlangit, a UPLB Civil Engineering student. Maiquez started the band in September 2007 with Hernandez, Masakayan and Manlangit after being inspired by the song “Pero,” which Hernandez sang for him. “Pero,” which Maiquez wrote, immediately became the band’s first song. Every Friday, the band plays at Baan Thai, a Thai restaurant in Los Baños. But their performance during First Philo Night, a culminating class activity of Philosophy students in the university on September 20, 2007 was what they considered their first gig. After a year, the band was renamed Jeez! It was also in 2008 that Fonte joined the band who played the bass. Manlangit took the drums, Masakayan the lead guitar, Hernandez the vocals and Maiquez the other guitar. Maiquez, however, left the band this year. Hernandez and Masakayan says the Beatles and the Eraserheads inspire their music. This year, Jeez! is planning to cut an album under the tentative title, “Love, flirt with me, please.” The album will include seven songs: Pero, Takbo, Finally (Chinese Noodle Soup), Meatless Diet, Love is Evol, Idlip and Love Rains. Most of their songs tackle the different perspectives and stages of love, according to Fonte.
WATCH INQUIRER.net assistant editor Erika Tapalla's interview with Filipino indie band Menaya for Soundtrip. Formed in 2005, Menaya makes a comeback with its second album after a three-year hiatus, Video taken by INQUIRER.net production specialist Rastle Lozano.
THEY formed around the time the Eraserheads disbanded. Thus, they christened themselves after one of Ely's female characters.
Ang Bandang Shirley, however, is no E-Heads tribute band. They were brought together by a common love for Canadian indie supergroup Broken Social Scene.
But they do love Ely, Marcus, Buddy and Raimund.
In MySpace, they likened themselves to BSS "if they listened to the E-Heads, a happier Jeff Buckley with Dong Abay's street smarts, Sugarfree's heart inside the baby of Radiohead and Feist."
They do channel that BSS spirit and vibe. Fortunately for us, though, not all eight of them came to our acoustic session or else we would have been scratching our heads figuring out how to fit them in our tiny studio.
Here's Owel, Selena, Ean and Joe singing a few songs from their recently-released album "Themesongs"
Check out more stuff about the band (including Ean jamming with +/- (Plus/Minus)) on their Multiply page. Also, here's the video for the first single off the album "Themesong".
By Marjorie Gorospe
“Friendship is the secret why we’ve come up with good music,” Filipino rock band BOK76 says.
Calling each other “bok,” which means “brother,” the band’s members have been together for at least nine years – all in the name of music.
Also known as “Bonded on Kinship,” this Filipino band is composed of Erwin Bautista (vocals), Donini Montealegre (guitars/vocals), Jay Castelo (drums/percussion), Owee Nicolas Paz (bass) and Elwynn Dayrit (guitars).
Bautista and Montealegre have been together since grade school. The two had been “rivals” in many competitions but eventually they became friends.
According to Bautista, the band's music reveals each member’s experiences.
Montealegre composes most of the songs while the rest of group adds other elements to complete the music.
“Don is the band genius. His ideas inspire the group,” Bautista says.
The band has released its album “Revelations,” which is composed of 12 tracks, including the band’s latest singles “Last Kiss” and “Traydor.”
“Nagpapasalamat kami sa mga traydor [We’re thankful to all traitors],” Montealegre jokingly says. This song was among the most requested songs in gigs in local bars. “Traydor” has also been the band’s ticket to local radios.
As I listened to their other songs, the band’s lyrics are often sad portrayals of life. Most of their singles tackle bitterness. BOK76, however, have happier music. Their influences vary from new wave, rock, blues, metal and Japanese, says Bautista.
“We just want to reveal that BOK76 is here and we exist,” Bautista says.
BOK76 is set to release a music video of a new single “Sa Panaginip,” which is due this December.
JUST like Charice Pempengco and Arnel Pineda, Filipino indie band Workshop is making waves on YouTube, a popular online video sharing website.
Apparently, American rock band Firehouse -- yup, that 80s rock group that popularized songs like "I Live My Life For You" and "Love of a Lifetime" -- has noticed a Workshop cover of their song "I Live my Life for You" on YouTube.
In this video interview with INQUIRER.net executive editor Leo Magno, Workshop recalls the story of how Firehouse discovered and even acknowledged their performance, as the American rock band decided to embed their video on their official Firehouse MySpace page.
By Marjorie Gorospe
Filipino indie rock group Menaya has some news.
Having had its share of radio airplay, Menaya’s second album ominously titled, “The Worst News,” is by far delivering good news for the group.
One of their songs “Safer” has topped the charts of NU Rock 107 for five weeks, while another song “Favorite Sin” is climbing, according to Brian Sombero, vocalist of the group. You can listen to theirs songs from their MySpace profile or view a music video of "Safe" on YouTube.
Menaya is composed of Brian Sombero on the guitar and vocals, Hepe Lavador on Drums, Mike Bacalzo in guitars and Gil Olivar on Bass.
The group’s major influences include Mafia, Myriads and The Stills, which are foreign acts playing different genres of indie, post-punk, alternative to heavy metal music, depending on your taste.
Sombero could not say what sets the band apart from other local acts emerging from today’s generation of indie bands. However, he says indie (independent) rock means the opposite of mainstream.
“This is our music and hopefully more people will embrace it,” he adds.
Hepe Lavador adds: “We cannot deny that most Filipinos listen to foreign music but we should also try to listen to original pinoy music and realize that our own music is not that ordinary.”
The group is happy where it is now. But it is hoping to break the international scene “one step at a time.”
Menaya is already earning a name, as it was recently tapped to become frontact for local singer and performer Ogie Alcasid with the Idols.
Alcasid’s concert is produced by The Underground Studio Inc, apparently owned by the Menaya vocalist Brian Sombero.
