BEAT
“We went through a period of self-discovery and self-doubt.
We were quite young, naive, and idealistic—as youths should be!”
It took seven years before you followed up your 2009
debut with your self-titled sophomore album. What
happened in between?
We went through a period of self-discovery and self-
doubt. We were quite young, naive and idealistic—as youths
should be! In my own perspective, it felt like we needed to
grow out of our comforts. Sure, we had made a few good
songs, played around a lot at the time, but we never really
thought of doing anything more than that—or there wasn’t
enough real motivation to do so. It was a tough, profound,
joyful, heartbreaking period, but we needed it so we could
continue making music as we had initially started.
From your first album, your music had an
improvisational, playful vibe, almost like you guys
were just jamming out in a garage. For your second
album though, the songs feel tighter and more
structured. What caused this subtle change?
Our earlier compositions were heavily influenced by
our youth—our life was more carefree and drifty then.
We had more time on our hands and could afford to spend
hours and days playing music, getting drunk and talking
about what could be better in the local scene. When all
of that changed, I believe the music did too. Riffs became
more concise, arrangements had more purpose. We were
on top of our instruments, our expression music-wise.
Signature elements of the band include
unconventional structures and shifting tempos that
could disorient listeners. Is this an organic result of
your songwriting process?
Music preference is a tricky thing, because it is a
matter of conditioning for one and serves as a different
function for each individual. Our music mainly comes
from a place of discontent, so we try to push ourselves as
well as our listeners, and we take pride from doing so. The
latest album is an attempt to amalgamate the intentional
and the organic. Marco would usually have a bare guitar
composition to which we all add our own elements after
jamming, so now we experimented on starting a song with
an idea/theme like “Gerry”—about the death of Marco's
father—or combining my simple composition with Rap’s
riff that made “ISO 100”. I guess there was a lot more
deliberate composing, arranging and collaboration for our
second album compared to the previous one.
What were the biggest changes you observed in the
Philippine music scene from when you first started?
Were you influenced by these changes in any way?
The biggest change in the scene was the shift of
mainstreams’ attention to indie-rock or post-rock. Back
then, I only knew a couple of productions and venues
that accommodated music like ours, which is what drew
us to Terno Recordings. Now, it seems like there's a big
audience for such. I’d even go so far to say that there's a
dedicated radio station for indie music. That's a good thing
for us, because we know people are listening!
With the rise of several new bands/artists, how do
you keep up and distinguish yourself in today's
music scene?
I think we’ve done a good job at setting ourselves
up from the start. We had a somewhat clear idea of what
kind of band we wanted to be back when we started,
so it was easier for us to carry out our ideas. But I do
believe that it is important to continue to listen and be
influenced by others. In a way, that is how you will find
yourself and your sound. You like this kind of music,
good. You don’t like this kind, good too. At least you
know what you don’t like.
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