☺FinEst BandS In Philippines(Starting in Davao City)☺: August 2009

Friday, August 28, 2009

Biography of Spongcola.....

Among the dozens of new acts out there, Sponge Cola has risen above the college band cliché and proven to be a formidable part of today’s Philippine rock scene.

Sponge Cola is comprised of Yael Yuzon (lead vocals and guitar), Chris Cantada (vocals and drums), Armo (guitar) and Gosh (bass), all hailing from the Ateneo de Manila University. It was during high school (1998-2002) that Yael met Gosh through the school’s theater guild, Teatro Baguntao. Yael was already known then as a solo performer, but decided anyway to form a band with Gosh and two other co-actors. The group, then called Sponge after R.S. Surtee’s Mr. Sponge’s Sporting Tour, won in several high school competitions which began the buzz not just in their school but other campuses as well.

Through time, some of the members of the old lineup left and were replaced by Chris and Armo, the guitarist of Sponge’s brother band Rampqueen. Another batchmate, Raymond Fabul, began to manage both Sponge and Rampqueen. However, the boys were about to find out that a Detroit grunge band had already claimed the name Sponge. “But we wanted to keep the word Sponge in our band name because people have already associated us with that name,” Yael relays. “So we decided to add ‘Cola’, since it’s an easy enough word to remember.” Sponge Cola, as we know it, was therefore officially born in the summer of 2002.

They came up with the ubiquitous orange self-titled EP in the last quarter of 2003 containing five original songs: “Lunes,” “A Tear,” “Saturn,” “Cigarette” and “Jeepney.” The two songs penned in the vernacular were what made the band catch the public’s attention. “Lunes,” written by Gosh, begins with a catchy bossa nova-esque beat that suddenly shifts to a heavy rock riff, a nuance in arrangement which surprisingly served the song superbly. Second single “Jeepney” was written by a classmate for a school project back in 2001 and is a reminiscent piece on young love during simpler, happier times. The song showcases Yael’s vocal range; that is, his uncanny ability to shift from mellow to screamo.

Through this EP, Sponge Cola was able to get extensive airplay from several local pop and rock radio stations, which helped broaden their fan base across the nation. A bootlegged copy of their version of Madonna’s “Crazy For You” even ended up on the Internet and became so big an underground hit, some listeners believed it was a Sponge Cola original. Though this misconception has been instrumental in increasing Sponge Cola’s popularity, the band has since aimed to transcend the stigma of being a cover band. They pushed their original songs to the forefront, and public response to the band became better than ever; the magic had already begun.

Sony Music Philippines managed to sign the boys for record distribution and now release Sponge Cola’s full-length debut album, entitled Palabas, thus dubbed in allusion to the band members’ theater backgrounds. The album showcases a definitive voice in unadulterated rock, reminiscent of 90s Alternative but laced with enough sing-along pop sensibility-as evidenced by the band members’ individual influences. Gosh was weaned on classic OPM from the likes of Basil Valdes and Martin Nievera; Armo lends to the rock edge, citing bands like Tool, Deftones and A Perfect Circle as influences; Chris admits to being influenced by pop-rock bands like the Beatles and Athenaeum; and Yael trips on everything from novelty songs to bubblegum-pop, from 80s power ballads to The Smashing Pumpkins, all blending into a sound that the band coins as “sad-bastard-testosterone-based pop-rock.”

The first thing you hear when you listen to Palabas is Yael belting out, “Halika na, iyong lunurin ang problema’t kalimutan,” inviting the listener to take notice and drown in Sponge Cola’s unique sound. They are also one of the few local rock bands that boast of using three part harmonies in a lot of their songs, supplied by Yael, Chris and Gosh and as seen in tracks such as “KLSP” and “Una.” Sponge Cola also experiments with unconventional elements that are normally ignored in rock recording, like the samisen (”A Japanese guitar,” Gosh boasts), the striking of amplifiers, cellphone ring tones and actual rain. The final track “Closure” faintly features the sound of a door shutting, before transposing to a melancholic acoustic number. Throughout the whole album, one cannot help but admire the genius behind each member’s musicality. Yael’s melodic prowess is accompanied by Armo’s eccentric and pedal-happy guitar playing, Gosh’s hypnotized bass lines and Chris’ intense drum rhythms.

The group’s songwriters Gosh and Yael take their lyrics from personal experiences or their friends’. “To The Sly and Cunning” deals with the controversial issue of teenage date rape while “Gemini” is a masterpiece about sensuality. Tracks to watch out for are “Stone’s Throw,” written by rock veteran Ely Buendia, and “Jillian,” which is a heartfelt ballad written and earnestly rendered by drummer Chris about loving someone from afar.

The fourteen-track album is a masterful collection of songs that evoke the honesty and turmoil of growing up in today’s globalized, postmodern world. Independently produced, it is noteworthy that four college students were able to juggle academics with recording and mixing in their home studios and playing in several rock venues all at once.

Since their conception in 2002, Sponge Cola has played in numerous school fairs, proms, music festivals such as Alliance Francaise’s Fete de la Musique, concerts, on television, and even opening for this year’s MTV Pilipinas awards night, establishing them as one of the hottest bands of this generation. They have not only garnered the adulation of fans but also the respect and recognition of critics and contemporaries. Already hailed by the press as “The Next Big Thing”, Sponge Cola is something to keep an eye on-and an ear out for-in the years to come.

My Chemical Romance released their new album..... "Love Letter To Rock And Roll"

My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way

Forget all that talk about ditching the shtick and focusing on fast-and-furious punk. My Chemical Romance have one sentiment they'd like to get across on their new album, one that echoes what Grand Funk Railroad said decades ago: "We're an American band." "The punk element was something a lot of people talked about.

I think once I said we were pulling out the marching bands, they assumed it was going to be a punk record," Gerard Way told MTV News last month at San Diego Comic-Con, where he was promoting "Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion," the third series of his Eisner-winning comic. "I mean, it's definitely more aggressive, but to me it feels like a celebration of rock and roll. It feels like a true love letter to rock and roll. There's something about being an American rock-and-roll band that we've kind of grown into and we're very proud of. And I think that's what we're celebrating with this record. There's no agenda, there's no mission; it's just about rock and roll."

For proof, check out the fan footage of "Death Before Disco," one of three new tracks MCR unveiled last Friday, during a secret show at the Roxy in Los Angeles. It's a charging, fist-pumping number that recalls the Motor City pump of the MC5 and the L.A. strut of the Knack. And to help them hone in on that vibe even further, they've tapped producer Brendan O'Brien — who's done albums for Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Mastodon, to name just a few — to helm the sessions for the new album. "We're so happy working with Brendan O'Brien," Way said. "We love him, we're having the best time of our lives. It's a total blast. I feel like it's getting close to being finished. We're doing tracking now. There's no title yet. It's crazy — this is the first time we're waiting to get really far into the project before [choosing a title]. I'm actually kind of excited about that. It's kind of 'anything goes' at this point, but I'm so happy with the songs." Way said there's still no release date for the new album, though he added, "It's safe to say it'll come out next year."

This is all keeping with the band's open-ended, fast-and-loose approach to recording and writing, a first for MCR, who — up to this point — have made their living on expansive conceptual fare. "It's actually kind of liberating," Way said. "I'm writing lyrics simply about what the song's telling me, instead of trying to shoehorn something into a story line. I'd say they all have their own little stories. Some of them are direct, real life things that happened to us or me. Some of them are fiction, [because] I didn't want to lose that side.

One of the things I really liked about Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge is that we took people on a journey with each video and each single, even though it was a concept record. The Black Parade didn't do that. It stuck all the way through to this rigid vision up until the end, but this time I'm really excited about giving someone something new every time."

About Slapshock & Schedule Of Gig's This September

About Slapshock

Slapshock is one of the premier heavy metal bands today in the Philippines. The band formed in 1998, when many heavy metal acts were being signed left and right by the major recording companies in the Philippines. Six years into the business, it can be safely said that Slapshock is no flash in the pan. To date, they are the only band amongst those signed during that particular genre's boom that is still visible and active. While most acts have gone back to the “underground,” Slapshock now has five major albums to their name and two compilation albums, too.
Slapshock produces music as loud and violent as its name. Slapshock is usually compared to Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Slipknot, as the band combines hip-hop and heavy metal to feed the market's appetite for brutal, in-your-face rap-rock. Slapshock formed in Manila, Philippines, on February 14, 1996, with vocalist Reynold Munsayac, bassist Lee Nadela, guitarists Leandro Ansing and Jerry Basco, and drummer Chi Evora. Nadela, Ansing, and Munsayac met at college; they were all attending UP Diliman in the Philippines. Wanting to alter their sound, the group dropped Munsayac and replaced him with Basco's cousin, Jamir Garcia, who had just returned from the U.S. While in America, Garcia had a band called Bruce Lee's Curse and was familiar with the East Coast hardcore rap scene; his background greatly contributed to the direction Slapshock would quickly take. The group built up a following in Manila's underground clubs. The band was quickly lumped in with two other almost interchangeable Filipino acts -- Cheese and Greyhoundz -- who pounded listeners into submission à la their foreign counterparts. When Slapshock opened for the alternative metal group Wolfgang during its Serve in Silence tour, the band generated excitement amongst angst-ridden teens in the Philippines as well as scorn from conservatives who felt such bleak, blisteringly noisy music was a bad influence on youth. Older fans who believed they were blatant bandwagon-jumpers ridiculed them. Nevertheless, Slapshock's 1999 debut album, 4th Degree, did well. On August 30, 2002, the band performed at the Folk Arts Theater in Manila and became the first rap-metal act to sell out all 8,000 seats in the venue. The band's songs continued to dominate modern rock radio in the Philippines as its third full-length, Project 11-41, was released that year. Project 11-41 displayed some sense of melody, but a number of critics felt that the group was still too derivative to be taken seriously. Despite that, Project 11-41 was one of 2002's most commercially successful albums in the Philippines, and Slapshock was voted Artist/Band of the Year at the NU-107 Rock Awards.

In the late 90s, rap metal was all the rage on the music scene. Bands like Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine, and Papa Roach took the world by storm. The local music scene, too, was swarmed with rap metal bands. And one of the most successful was Slapshock.

For a band to stay long in the biz is one tough feat. While most of Slapshock’s contemporaries went back to the “underground,” producing albums and singles under indie labels, Slapshock has stayed afloat longer than anyone expected. For a period of eight years, the band has managed to come up with five albums namely 4th Degree Burn (1999); Head Trip (2001); Project 11/41 (2002); Back to the 2 Inch (2003); and Novena (2004).

After taking a break from the recording scene—although they never stopped performing for true-blue rock fanatics—the band composed of Jamir Garcia (vocals), Jerry Basco and Lean Ansing (guitars), Lee Nadala (bassist) and Chi Evora (drums) returns with a 13-track album called Silence under EMI, featuring the first single “Direction.”

Silence, the new sound
“We have traded our screams for melodies,” Slapshock’s frontman Jamir Garcia shares as they bring out their fifth album. “But the Slapshock trademark sound which is music-heavy, is still there.”

Jamir wrote all 13 tracks of the album, with two songs in Filipino. According to the band, they have grown professionally. And they no longer consider themselves as a rap metal band.

“We’re typically a rock band,” Jamir quips.

Their new sound may be a little softer compared to their previous outings but it’s anything but soft. The brilliance of the band shines throughout the album’s less-lyrics-more-musicality experiment as it promises something “hard, heavy and sing-able.”

“It’s a collective effort,” explains bassist Lee Nadala. We (the band) produced this album. We’re all in this together, solid kami.”
Recorded at the famous Backyard Studio in Cebu, where they also recorded tracks from the album Novena, Silence is actually the extreme opposite of their music.
“We never really left our music. This is just a product of our silence after Novena,” Lee explains.
As they break their silence, Slapshock’s new sound is another surefire hit.
“It doesn’t make sense that we would back down now. We’ve been here for eight years. As long as we’re happy, we’ll do it. This is something that we really love to do,” adds Jamir.
Silence includes heavy riffs and haunting melodies with tunes like “Shed Your Skin,” “Sleepless Blvd.,” “Pagtila,” “Waiting,” “Back Home,” “Divine,” “What We Are,” “Adios,” “Walk Away,” “Last Ride,” and “Stranded.”
Musical journey
Slapshock has come a long way. But the road to success was anything but easy. Luckily, it was music that kept this band together.
“If one is not interested anymore, no passion to do what we do, it’s hard to continue,” says Jamir.
Lee adds, “There’s the money matter, but that is only second to our passion which is music.”
The band admits that at first, they were not aware how the industry works. And this has caused them to lose lots of money.
“Some of our past managers got richer. Thanks to us,” reveals Lee.
“There was this one time that we came across the producer of one of our shows and he told us that they liked the show and hope to invite us again but they could no longer afford us because our asking price is high. We learned that our manager was actually signing us for a higher price when in fact we ask only this much,” laments Jamir.
Good thing they have EMI on their backs now.
“We’re confident enough to say that EMI knows what we really want,” says Lee of EMI Artist Management that also handles the careers of rock bands Hale and Sugarfree.
“There were a lot of offers from other recording companies. But why go if you don’t have problems here? Why go to others if they don’t fulfill their promise?” Jamir points out.
In 1998, Slapshock was still struggling. They were hoping to seal a deal with a major label, but were not able to do so. While they sent demo tapes to different recording companies, it was EMI who signed them.
“Some of the record labels didn’t want to get us because our music is ‘too loud’ for their taste. But when our songs became popular on the radio, all of a sudden these record labels wanted to get us,” recalls Jamir.
Music as principle
While they have nothing against artists—bands specifically—who get their musical influences from prominent bands and other popular music, Slapshock pays high respect to rock acts who, like them, write their own songs.
“If they like to do what they do, then go. As for us, we will not compromise our music for the sake of commercial success,” says Jamir, referring to some bands that take the music of other famous bands as their own. (To give you an idea, The Care and Silver Chair are just some of the victims of these copycats.)
One might notice that Slapshock don’t get as much TV appearances as other bands. They even turned down an offer to appear on the TVC of a popular beer brand. The reason? “As much as possible, we don’t want to appear on TV. If you want to watch us, then go to our live gigs and you’ll be assured of a great show. We don’t perform in variety shows because some want us to perform songs other than our own. Some even want their mainstays to sing with us which would be a disaster because most of our songs are hard to sing,” explains Lee, who is also directing the band’s music videos. “If we want to do a commercial, we can do it. But we’re calling the shots.”
So is Slapshock ready to claim the title as best rock band in the local music scene?
“We don’t want to compare ourselves to other bands. We just do what we love to do. We stick to our principles and set our personal goals,” quips Jamir.

Gig Schedule This September

Sept. 4 Fri. - SM Rosales, Pangasinan

Support OPM!!!!
Astig!

Bamboo September Gig Schedule

5 - The El Rey Theater, LA
6 - Epicentre, San Diego
13 - Jax Concert Hall, Washington DC
14 - Martyr’s, Chicago
19 - Jillian’s, Las Vegas

Thank U For Supporting OPM Music!!!!