Go, Gerard!: musicians

Showing posts with label musicians. Show all posts

Super Elmo

Elmo Magalona, son of the late Master Rapper Francis Magalona (and sometimes even called the brother of Maxene Magalona) has always been his own man.

Gerard met Elmo at the set of Total Girl magazine photo shoot. He was quiet, shy, sheepishly filling out a paper required for the magazine interview. But after a few conversations and the photo shoot itself, Gerard discovered that Elmo's smart, makulit, engaging, and polite…with the look and few swags of his dad. At 17, he's actually aware of the privileges and pressures of being the son of Francis M, but he's slowly (and surely) starting his own mark in the industry. :)

Gerard robo-swagger punched Elmo! hahaha!

All smiles with her ka-loveteam Julie Anne San Jose :)

She got that super bass!

After 4 fun years spent working at HIP, Nimu decided to move on and seek new challenges. Nimu told Gerard that she was thankful for having had the chance to be hired a week after her college graduation. She learned a lot, working on many, many projects with the smartest people in publishing industry.

Nimu now is working for Summit Media. She's (still) an art director of a tween magazine called Total Girl. Gerard, on the other hand, enjoys the creative atmosphere of her new office. His favorite room is...wait for it...the pantry! But when he's not eating, he sticks a magnet on his belly and jump against the steel wall partitions of the office cubicles.

Anyway...

Who can totally rap Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass"? Julie Anne can!

Julie Anne San Jose is the cover girl of Total Girl Magazine for the month of March (and Nimu's first issue with the magazine! YAY!). Aside from neon polkadots, stripes, and cute props, Julie Anne loves singing...and she can't live without it. Julie Anne can rap "And he ill-he real-he might got a deal-He pop bottles and he got the right kind of build-He cold-he dope-he might sell coke-He always in the air-but he never fly coach" like a pro, but she adds her own swag to it. And sure she got Gerard's heartbeat running away. Julie Anne's voice gave Gerard boom-badoom-boom-badoom-boom-goosebumps and shivers down his metal spine.

Watch "Super Bass" cover by Julie Anne here!

Grab a copy of Total Girl Magazine March issue. Available on bookstores and newsstands nationwide!

David and Gerard

There's no better way to welcome the new season of American Idol

than meeting an American Idol alumnus DAVID ARCHULETA!!

Gerard knows what you're thinking: "HE'S HERE AGAIN???" It's true, he just keeps coming back. Well, as long as Saudi Arabia produces airplane fuel, David will keep coming back here in the Philippines hahaha!

Gerard got the chance to attend the press conference of David Archuleta here in Manila. At the presscon, David said he will be in town to film a show this February with TV5 called Nandito Ako. Gerard probably knows you're next question: "WHY?????" And to answer that: "Why not?" David will be putting down his mic for a while to try his hands at acting along side Eula Caballero and Gerard's biggest celebrity crush, Jasmine Curtis-Smith *blush*. Oh wait ...sorry...David will also be singing the Filipino theme song of the series! Gerard can almost hear David singing a few slang lines: "Nen-deeetow akoooohw umii-bhig sayeowwww...."

David was really nice, simple and game, even giving in to posing with Gerard. He even turned Gerard's wind-up key to see his signature "robo-dance"move.

Hooray!! Cheers to Go, Gerard's baptism of international stars.

In the Company of Wolfgang

WOLFGANG. Heavy metal. Rock. Grunge. Aggressive. Hard. Fast. Loud.

Basti Artadi and Manuel Legarda in their full Tisoy glory.

Wolfgang has been Gerard's favorite rock band and the biggest influence to so many other bands. He remembers having all the cassette tapes of their previous albums (insert age here). Gerard watched their live performance at The Surf and Music Festival in Baler, Aurora last year. His metal throat hurt singing to Wolfgang's "Halik ni Hudas". He even participated full-on in a mosh pit for the first time. And yes, the bruises and the pain after is so worth it. \m/ \m/

Armi Millare

Gerard wipes the raindrops on his forehead and arms while waiting for his photo-op with Armi Millare. It's raining cats, dogs, elephants and hippos that friday night. Friday night and rain are not a perfect combination, Gerard thought. But a chance to meet and say "Hi!" to Up Dharma Down's vocalist turns from perfect into a surreal moment. Yup, a little rust won't hurt him!

Finally, after a minute of waiting, it's Gerard's turn for his 10 seconds with Armi. Can I have a picture with ya, Gerard asks. "Sure. Wow! You're so cute!" Armi says. THUMP!! THUMP!! BOOM!! Gerard's metal heart raptures and dies for a second! Well, Gerard shouldn't be surprised; Armi's pure talent and pretty face would actually make everyone die with happiness. After their photo-op, she rushes out of the soaked B-side to attend another gig.

The first time Gerard listened to Up Dharma Down was back in 2007. They're brilliant. Fast-forward to 2011, UDD is still that brilliant band. Hmmmm…brilliant is not the word. Hailed by TIme Magazine as the Asian band most likely to cross over to the lucrative Anglophone market of America, UDD is GENIUS.

If Gerard had a chance to talk with Armi longer that 10 seconds, he would probably ask cliche questions like "Who's Dharma?" "Why did you cut your hair?" or " Why are you so god damn pretty??!" But looking at their cute photo together, he's not regretting any of it. It's the most epicly awesome 10 seconds of his life!!!

http://www.updharmadown.com
http://www.armimillare.com

Dan was Here

It's a bird…

It's a plane…

SpiderDan? Joker? Mang Serapio? Captain Planet? Michael Jackson?...

It's Dan Ramon Geromo! (as his normal self)

Dan lives in costumes, plays for three local bands, was (and forever will be) a superhero, and the only man who can only pull off a spidey costume other than Toby Maguire. He has nothing to fear but but a lame crowd and an empty stomach. His favorite quote: "The best things in life are freaks."

Disguise the limit...

Dan's multiple costume changes inspire Gerard to also try joining cosplay conventions and organize a costume party for his next birthday. This halloween, Gerard will attend his first Trick or Treat party, but he can't decide between dressing up as Edward Cullen or Derek Zoolander—but he can always go as both.

Enter the world(s) of Dan:
http://wonderb.multiply.com/
http://spiderdangeromo.tumblr.com/

http://wonderboarders.tumblr.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/SpiderDan

http://danwashere.deviantart.com/

http://wonderboarders.multiply.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/WONDER-BOARDERS/46520758165

Ebe Dancel

Gerard was there at Sugarfree's final gig at UP Fair last March and it was a sad moment not only for Gerard but for the whole Pinoy music industry. Months after their sensationalized band break-up, Ebe Dancel returns...like Batman!

There's something new about Ebe Dancel. New haircut: ✓ Did he lose some weight:? ✓✓ A new solo album Dalawang Mukha ng Pag-ibig: ✓✓✓ Wooooot! Damn, we miss this guy! Gerard bought his album at SaGuijo and was reading the impressive list of names in the credits. Ebe was able to jam with different musicians for different kinds of songs. Being in a band was cool. But being able to collaborate with musicians is a different trip! Nice one, Ebe! Virtual high-five to you!

Ebe invited Gerard and everyone to join him on his album launch this September 29, 2011, 7pm at Teatrino, Greenhills Promenade. Buy his album, too!! Let's go, yo!!!

Click here to see the album launch poster. :)

Incubus Live in Manila

"If not now, when?" Gerard said this to a robo friend who asked if he's going to watch the concert of the famous rockband Incubus here in Manila. It's the third time of the band to perform in the country, and Gerard can't think of any reason not to watch them. He immediately bought a ticket as soon as he saw posters of the band's concert, and marked the date July 28, 2011 on his digital planner.

The day of the concert came and Gerard was really excited about it. Before leaving his house, he finished a bottle of Space Redbull with petroleum to keep his energy level high throughout the night. Gerard arrived at the Araneta Coliseum around 6pm (see how excited he was!) and headed straight to his seat in the Upper A section. He got a nice view of the stage. The concert was sold-out. The place was packed with all types of human Gerard could imagine. It was the first time he heard loud squeals of fangirls...and fanboys. Gerard ended up squealing, too, when he saw Incubus on stage!

View of the stage from Gerard's seat.

Hello, Brandon!

Mike, howyoudoin'?

Wuzzup, Ben?

DJ Kilmore, I like your dreads!

Jose, 'sup brotha?

"I hear you on the radio..."

"Know that everything moves in circles"

Lineup:

Megalomaniac

Wish You Were Here

Consequence

Pardon Me

Anna Molly

Love Hurts

Circles

Look Alive

Promises, Promises

The Warmth

Drive

Sick Sad Little World

Isadore

Glass

Talk Shows on Mute

Adolescents

A Crow Left of the Murder

I Miss You (Gerard's metal underwear dropped when Brandon Boyd sang this!)

In the Company of Wolved

Nice to Know You

Watch this video of Gerard at the concert. The crowd was insane!!

To: David Bowie

Gerard explored saGuijo (obviously, this is his new happy place) last July 8 to watch David Bowie tribute night titled "Space Oddity". Anything that has the word "space" makes Gerard's metal tummy rumble with excitement. So even though it rained cats, dogs, elephants, and hippos, he braved the traffic-choked streets of Makati to see Hilera, The Purplechickens, The Strangeness, Blue Jean Junkies, and, of course, Ely Buendia and the Diamond Dogs.

Gerard made new friends:

Nan Santa Maria. He's an editor of a youth culture magazine

about the future called Status Magazine.

Gerard: Since this Bowie night, what's your favorite David Bowie song?

Nan: Not a big Bowie fan, but one song of his that I like is "Rebel Rebel"—coz I love my bands when they're playing hard!

Neil of The ButcherCons. He asked about Gerard's favorite David Bowie.

"Underpressure" is Gerard's favorite song. He likes the collaboration

of Bowie and Queen. Neil likes the song, too!

(see Neil and Gerard's other photo here)

Mike Benedicto (Outerhope) and Jo Aguilar. Mike was there

to support her sister and fellow Outerhope-r Micaela Benedicto,

who was the keyboardist for The Diamond Dogs.

Nino Mendoza and Miggy Matute of Blue Jean Junkies.

Nino: Did you like it?

Gerard: Yup I like it! It was entertaining! Miggy, what's your favorite David Bowie song?

Miggy: I'm sorry but it's impossible for me to choose one favorite Bowie song! I must have at least 10-20 favorites!

Gerard: Whoa!!!

Mikey Amistoso (Cuidad, Hannah+Gabi, Blast Ople)

Gerard: What's your favorite David Bowie song?

Mikey: I don't know any. I was here to primarily to support some friends. But I like Mates of State's version of "Starman".

The main act: Ely Buendia and The Diamond Dogs. Ely Buendia (Pupil) on lead vocals, Nitoy Adriano (The Jerks) on guitars, Wendell Garcia (Pupil) on drums, Jesse Grinter (Gaijin) on guitars, Micaela Benedicto (Outerhope) on keyboards, and Mayo Baluyut (Revenge Avenger) on bass [not in photo]. Sorry if Gerard wasn't in the photo. He was at the bar ordering beer.

Fun, fun, night!

****
Dear David Bowie,

Let's dance to the song they're playing on the radio.

You love the bands when the'ye playing hard.

You feel a wreck without little your china girl.

You've been shot in the head...

It's not your brain, it's just the flame...that burns your change to keep you insane.

Don't forget to take your pills and put helmet on.

There's a starman waiting in the sky, he'd like to come and meet us.

The diamond dogs are poachers and they hide behind trees.

We can beat them forever and ever.

This will be a rock n roll suicide.

Your fan,

Gerard

Ely Buendia and The Diamond Dogs photo by Beverly Dalton.

fête de la musique 2011

The rainy weather made Gerard sneezy, lazy, and fat. He's glad the typhoon was over...it didn't ruined his weekend gimmick: go to Fete de la Musique*.

The streets and alleys of Bonifacio High Street were full of people—music lovers, locals, tourists, hipsters, and every kind of music junkie that Gerard could think of. It was a free concert, too! More than 100 Pinoy bands were there, with more than a dozan genres, playing simultaneously in different stages. The Main Stage was located at the Fort Plaza, while the other seven stages were around the Fort Strip area.

Here are Gerard's three favorite performances of the night:

Gerard went first to the main stage where he met Pierre Le Bourdonac, vocalist of the french rock band Merzhin. Pierre is Gerard's first ami francais. They have the same shaved head. He looks like a cross between R.E.M's Michael Stipe and the host of the Crystal Maze.

It was Gerard's first time to hear french music. He loved it. J'adore! By the end Merzhin's performance, Gerard was saying "bonjour" to greet people, and "au revoir" whenever a friend says goodbye.

Gerard loved the Afro-Brazilian Finale and Escola de Samba de Manila performance directed by Nyko Maca. Every beat of the drums and percussion made Gerard jump and dance like crazy! His arms were swinging non-stop! The girl wearing a fedora hat is Toni Bernardo, the Directoria da Bateria of escola. Gerard wants to be a drum director someday. He wants to buy a white whistle, too!

Gerard's eyes were glued to the stage when the Samba dancers came dancing onto the stage wearing giant colorful headpieces and began shaking their booty. He panicked a bit when fire dancers started doing their routine. He was worried that the flaming rope might burn or melt him! The heat caused shivers down his metal spine, changing his usual red and green color to white and amber. Good thing he brought a handy fire extinguisher (for his emergency purposes only).

After the afro-brazilian gig and a few drinks, Gerard transferred to the The Fort Strip where he saw a huge crowd sitting on the ground and chillin'. He particularly liked the Indie/Punk Stage. Kate Torralba's performance was his favorite! She's a great singer and pianist...plus she's cute, too!

And look, Gerard bumped into John Proctor! John is NiMu's former officemate. It's always great to see friends and colleagues having fun on a Saturday night!

Gerard didn't have time to take photos because he was busy getting lost in the moment. There were many bands to watch in one night that Gerard wished he could just multiply like a Gremlin and be everywhere. But even thought he couldn't, he had the most enjoyable time.

Until the next Fete!

* Fete de la Musique refers to a music festival. It aims to showcase the music scene across a variety of genres and generations. Gerard read in Spaceypedia (Robot World's version of Wikipedia...and yup he did a little research) that the festival began in France, but is now an international event.

saGuijo Part 3

Gerard realized it's been a month since he last went to saGuijo, so he decided to go there on a Tuesday night. Play4Serve was in-charge—Imago, Shuriken, The ButcherCons, Sandwich and Hijo were there to perform. Gerard missed watching local bands while drinking his favorite beer.

Meet Gerard's new found friends:

Tani Santos (Shuriken, guitars). Gerard asked Tani if he could play with his guitar effects,

Tani said, "SURE YOU CAN!"

Gerard wants to be in a production too. Luckily Revolver Productions' official pimp and gang leader Cris O Ramos, Jr was to there teach him the basics. Cris is always there in saGuijo, holding a cigarette on one hand, and a red horse bottle on the other.

Vocalist of The ButcherCons. His name is Neil....just Neil.

And he's got hair...lots of it.

Vic Mercado (Hijo, drummer), who is very surprised to see Gerard.

Ira Cruz (Hijo, guitars and back-up vocals). Gerard got a bit insecure when he saw Ira. He's an awesome guitarist, and he's good looking too. But Gerard thought "lamang lang siya ng limang paligo sa akin."

saGuijo Part 1, Part 2

Gary V.

Gerard met Gary Valenciano at Space Encounters one Wednesday afternoon.

Gerard and Gary talked about a lot of random things: his three kids, ASAP Rocks, up-coming album, concerts, world tours, and what song he would sing next for a teleserye or movie. Of course, dancing robot Gerard challenged him to a supah dance showdown. They danced "Hataw Na", "Shout for Joy", and "Shake it Off". Gerard didn't keep up with Gary's pure energy...and eventually gave up. Still gasping for air, Gerard thought: he won't be called Mr. Pure Energy for nothing!

Thank You For the Music

Gerard is a terrible singer. He tried joining "XYZ Coordinates Choir" during high school, singing along with friends at a karaoke joint and with minus-one tracks to get his voice better. It's not working. He knows the right note, he just can't make it sound appealing.. it sounds like cutting a piece of metal with a blunt saw. Ugh.

Every time Gerard sings in front of people, he embarrasses himself. He badly needs a voice instructor...or someone who would teach him some vocal techniques. He was giddy when he found out his owner, NiMu, will have a photo shoot with Lea Salonga for one of their magazines. LEA SALONGA...eeeeek!!

Gerard's thought bubble: Lea Salonga...she's so shiny...shimmery..and spleeendiiiiiiiiiiid... (A Whole New World cue here)

Lea gave Gerard some simple steps he should practice: 1) Relax and learn to breathe properly, 2) Practice singing AH EH EE OU (lots of awwww and ewwww), 3) Pronounce every word properly, and 4) Sing from the heart.

These made Gerard feel so much more confident and motivated to sing better. :)

I am nothing but a small voice

I have but a small dream

To smile upon the sun

Be free to dance and sing

Be free to sing my song to everyone..

Praise the Lourd

Gerard bumped into Lourd de Veyra over at Route 196 one Saturday night...

Over bottles of San Mig Light, Lourd said, "Mukang mahaba-habang inuman ito." A man of many words, they talked about a lot of things: kung ano ang suwabe at mabango, kung paano nagbu-buhol ang utak, ang mga alaala ni Batman at kung bakit sa tingin niya may radio active parts ang sago. Gerard was left ZOMG-fied and said this:

ANAK NG ANDROID!

Random Weekend

Gerard wind his key more than 50 times this past weeked. He gave his mechanical body and springs a few good twists and oil change by the time he rode a taxi for the first time, watched local bands, and made new friends.

His first taxi ride was NOT cheap, an 8-minute drive in a that metered taxi costs about 180 pesos...he could have bought a half gallon of ice cream..or 20 packs of pancit canton..or 360 pieces of fish balls..or 36 bags of Nips...or see a movie. Dammit!

Gerard took that taxi to Katipunan, Quezon City and went to a bar called Route 196. It was his first time in Route. The place is cozy. It's a music/bar/art gallery in one. He relaxed on a sofa, and watched The ButcherCons, Radioactive Sago Project, Caliph8+Malekule, and Goodleaf performed that night. He wanted to bring home Caliph8's electronic gadgets. Is there anything better than enjoying a slice of hot slice of pizza in one hand and a cold glass of beer in the other? Gerard's thought bubble: "Hmmmm....this is the life!"

It was also Hijo's first ever gig, (there were a lot of firsts hehe) and Gerard was happy to catch it. Hijo are Nathan Azarcon (vocals and bass), Ira Cruz (guitar and back-up vocals), Vic Mercado (drums), Junji Lerma (guitar) ,and Jay-O Orduna (keyboards).

Gerard's new friends! :)