PlayBack: The Strangeness - Easy Boys and Easy Girls

2/29/2016 7:54:29 PM

I first heard them as part of that indie music program established and sponsored by a popular whiskey brand. They were listed track number 4 at the CD of Jack Daniel’s On Stage released on 2015.

The Strangeness is something I have never seen live; but one thing that impressed me most about them is they can make old school music sounded like new. The first thing I heard about them was a cover of my favorite Eagles song on YouTube.

But covers aside, Paolo Arcega and his crew was splendid in creating an Jose Mari Chan-inspired video for Easy boys and Easy Girls. Though this 3.5-minute length track had shades of that old Christmas In Our Hearts-quality image, The Strangeness shied away from being the obvious copycat. Like, their song is something you’d like to hear on when you drove out of the metro, be it on a breezy morning or a hot afternoon (well, as long as the rays are complimenting the auditory part well).

As much as the pop scene (specifically, the mainstream) winds back to its retrospect, the alt-rock scene can do so in their own way, to say the least. As tito music as it sounds, this is sometimes, what we need; we might have been missing them from those iconic groups we once heralded before.

Kinda strange, but right.

Author: slickmaster | (c) 2016 september twenty-eight productions

Upcoming: Farewell Fair Weather SAKALI Music Video Launch

3/11/2016 11:09:52 AM

Farewell Fair Weather, one of the top bands in the current music scene, is up for a big night as they will formally launch a music video for one of their notable songs Sakali.

The soul-fusion band, now on their fourth year of existence, has made waves through their previously released singles “Rough Skies,” “What Lies Behind” and “Beyond,” with the latter once rocked the charts of Jam 88.3’s Fresh Filter last year.

They also clinched the title distinction of being “The Chosen One” at the recent Jack Daniel’s Philippines On Stage Indie Music Awards held April 2015 at Makati City. From there, they had a chance to perform in front of a worldwide crowd at Music Matters in Singapore.

While Rough Skies signaled their first entering step via their signature, and Beyond told their journey since then, Sakali, once known as their only Filipino-written song, will tell a story of not just being an emotional force, but also a collaborating effort through director Mr. Melvin Dantes and its visual concepts; something that Mic Manalo describes as a fun-filled one.

As for the auditory part, Manalo and her company also got help from Josh Villena on making its new version, as reported by IndieManila.

The music portal also featured the event as the Gig Of The Month for March, with Autotelic, SUD, and Tom’s Story also performing during the evening. Farewell Fair Weather will also see their merchandise there.

Sakali Music Video Launch will be happening on Saturday, 12 March 2016, at 70s Bistro, Anonas Ave., Quezon City. Show starts at 8:00 PM. Entrance is priced Php200 which comes with one free shot of Jack Daniels. This event is made possible by Jack Daniel’s Philippines, eo+, Teamworks Studios,

See the official press release here.

RSVP on their official event page on Facebook.

Author: slickmaster | (c) 2016 september twenty-eight productions

Weeknights to Remember: SlickMaster’s Memorable Gigs of 2015 (Part 4)

12/31/2015 3:00:36 PM

The post was supposed to be named Fridays and Saturday Nights to Remember only to realized a few things: first, gigs are happening every single weeknight; second, most of them aren’t even planned by yours truly to attend; and third, I have been to almost 70 gigs for 2015.

2015 has been a heck of a good year for me as I discovered Philippine music anew -- and it broods at the place where minority of people knows -- the independent scene. Over the course of time, I attended about 50 events starting from a random night out that happened 24 January 2015 at Route 196. I was then supposed to watch my college friend whose already a musician.

And since then, the Philippine independent music scene became another world conquered by yours truly. I became part of a production group; I was posting anything about gigs for most of the time; and indie music also served as a venue for me to grow as opportunities came from out of nowhere -- be it writing or anything else like photography and videography.

Fast-forward to the year-end, despite attending the last one or two music events of this year from small-time gigs to the big or concert-level ones, I can say I had a lot of memorable evenings. 

Between Archery and Olympics

Between Archery and Olympics Album Launch (24 June 2015 / Route 196 / Project Collab Manila)

My buddy Lih sent me to this gig to cover on his behalf. Yes, for an evening, all I did was taking videos of the event. Specifically, band shots. But moreover, I discovered more artists I shouldhave been listening right now. And BAO was one of them. It’s not surprising that their album launch proved their success at the scene so well.

Franco

Jacktember (5 September 2015 / Buddha Bar / Jack Daniel’s Philippines)

So, it was Jack Daniel’s birthday, and the top three bands from the recent JD On Stage stormed the stage as we joined the entire world in celebrating the success of the popular whiskey brand. Plus Franco also rocked the night away. It was the first I heard them live; and frankly that blew my mind away. 

SUD, on screen and on stage.

Tagaytay Art Beat Hangover (1 October 2015 / Brewery at the Palace / Docdef Productions, Museo Orlina, Brewery at the Palace) 

Fresh from the overwhelming success of Tagaytay Art Beat, Docdef Productions followed it up for everyone who still can’t get over from what has been the indie music’s outside-the-metro show of the year for 2015.

Nico and Vinz

Jack TV Mad Fest 2015 (7 November 2015 / Globe Circuit Events Center / SOLAR Entertainment)

Too bad, I missed the indie music part. But nevertheless, watching MAD FEST was another piece of memorable. Looks like they covered almost all sides from indie to mainstream, plus DJs setting the party vibe for the rest of the evening, especially after the main act Nico and Vinz graced the stage for an hour-long concert,

Paranoid City w/ their manager and Revolver Productions head Cris Ramos

The Last Revolver Gig (29 August 2015 / Saguijo /Revolver Productions)

I once attended a Revolver gig, and it was a tie-up with Docdef Productions last May. And upon researching I found out they are calling it an evening at SaGuijo last 29 August 2015. Never would I thought that after 11 years, Revolver will call it right there. Though I managed to catch few performers during the night, Paranoid City formally gave its curtain call. And for few minutes of my life, I was stunned with musicians from different bands joining the stage one motherfucking last time to make some noise. Perhaps, a farewell one.

The Rest is Noise Year-end (19 December 2015 / Route 196 / Vandals on the Wall)

Ian and MC’s success from Vandals on the Wall proved they are capable of organizing gigs too. They’re not just a media doing lots of reviews and interviews. And true enough, their ninth The Rest is Noise installment left me a mark on the nearend of 2015. Like from 7pm -4am they got 14 artists on the lineup. And despite a not-so-good weather, almost 300 people flocked Route 196. Damn.

| PART 3

Author: slickmaster | ©2015, 2016 september twenty-eight productions

The Scene Around: Jack Daniel's Future Legends Trade and Media Launch

11/7/2015 4:57:17 PM

It was a rainy Tuesday evening (13 October 2015) in Buddha Bar as Jack Daniels Philippines formally launched their program for the independent music scene called Future Legends. 

For the span of two years, several bands will be playing for events organized and sponsored by the whisky label. Also, for the said time-span, there will be Indiefest and as the culmination, the Jack Daniels Indie Music Awards will be held once again on 2017 where from hundreds of bands of variety of genres, only one will be called as the Jack’s Chosen One.

Performers during the evening were the best three bands from the recent Jack Daniels’ Indie Music Awards: Flying Ipis, Autotelic, and this edition’s “Chosen One” Farewell Fair Weather.

Author: slickmaster | ©2015 september twenty-eight productions