Old blog entries from our old multiply site (RIP) For new stuff + updates: www.angbandangshirley.com
Sunday, 8 November 2009
themesong lady
if you haven't seen the music video for our debut album's title track, now would be a good time to review. pay close attention to the leading lady :D
now that you've finally seen the video, watch this garnier tvc.
hahaha big time na si leanne!
-owel
Thursday, 29 October 2009
patintero/habulan/larong kalye (from "debut" shirley docu)
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
of gigs, a doppelganger, so much excelsior and halloween
5 things in chronological order:
1. We've been giddly meeting shirley friends the past few gigs so shoutouts to Peso, Mimi (komikon 2009 gig @ megamall) and Meg (Stomp 6 gig @mag:net). Thanks guys!
4. Everyone in the band has always been a big fan of Owel's solo works and we're excited to annouce that he officially releases an ep titled "So Much Excelsior" and you can download it HERE for free!
manuel nicolas alvero - so much excelsior [ep]
1) grand finale (2005)
2) slow dance (2003)
3) so much excelsior (2009)
4) isobel (2005)
5) horoscopic (2004)
love,
kathy
Monday, 24 August 2009
Sunday, 23 August 2009
August 21-22, 2009
Hello all! Ang Bandang Shirley had a good weekend! (see photos as proof haha)
Friday had us playing to a packed SM Skydome for Ragnarok's Asian Finals Championship 2009 then afterwhich decided to hangout at UP Sunken garden to waste time before our scheduled band practice @ Pinoy Penguin haha!
Then saturday, we played @ 6ug for a UP Underground Music Community gig with Ed Baluyot of Versus as our special spectator! hehe.
We miss you Owel!
See you all next week @ Route 196!
Monday, 27 July 2009
Go!
>>kathy
Monday, 22 June 2009
Tsuper Duper Cover
FYI: last year, Level Up! commissioned Ang Bandang Shirley to make a Crazy Karter version of our song Tsuper Duper for their video game Crazy Kart (you'll hear the song whenever you choose the Pinas Map) but we've just discovered this now via youtube: Crazy Kart Music Video by Troydaby - Pinas Theme Song (Tsuper Duper) (Cover)
ang galeng!
quiet is the new loud (reprinted themesongs and tsuper duper videos)
1.) Goodnews! New stocks of newly reprinted and repackaged version of "Themesongs" (in envelope type) is now available in all Odyssey, Astrovision/Astroplus, Fullybooked and SM Records Bars.
Hold on to your digipaks kase i think almost soldout na yun versions na yun tas bili din tayo ulit nitong new packaging para masaya! Collector's item!
2.) FYI: last year, Level Up! commissioned Ang Bandang Shirley to make a Crazy Karter version of our song Tsuper Duper for their video game Crazy Kart (you'll hear the song whenever you choose the Pinas Map) but we've just discovered these youtube wonders now: ANG AASTIG!
TSUPER DUPER CHIPMUNKS VERSION
CRAZY KART PINAS PH: PINAS MAP (tsuper duper as themesong)
AND FTW!
>>kathy
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Sunday, 3 May 2009
weekend gigs, pacquiao, love transfusion, ciudad
incredible labor day weekend gigs! we had a fun set at glorietta 5 also featuring the live debut of selena's song love transfusion. atc was also a blast, lotsa new friends (hi maan, mary, arlene & elle!) and hello to the other people who weren't able to say hi but got to watch us perform. incredible fun, but i learned my lesson to never stand in front of a very loud amp again, by mid-set i was already feeling joe's fuzz factory melting my brain haha.
in other news, congratulations to ciudad for their magnificent video for my emptiness. the launch last night of the video and the meiday bar tour was a lot of fun, with the whole of magnet high street decked out in pacquiao stuff. very good match this am, short and sweet. i enjoyed it, and i'm glad i didn't pay to watch it haha. minus points for martin nievera's national anthem.
catch us next saturday at bigsky for the second installment of meiday meiday this month! random update haha
-owel
Thursday, 2 April 2009
in the zone
Sorry for the late updates but i'm making up for it by being scanner happy! haha. Check out the photos section! I just uploaded some of the our magazine appearances (sosi haha) including the recent one which was a review of "Themesongs" in Pulp magazine aka Pulp Times - March 2009 issue! Nakakalambot ng cheeks (haha iz my newly acquired phrase from Los-udd!) to be compared with Arcade Fire's Funeral and Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism (whoa) --- I'm too lazy to write it here so i scanned it instead haha! Thanks Mr. Jason Caballa for the kind, kind words :)
And oh! in the spirit of me being in the zone of updating: I also uploaded (in the music section) our fun-filled-sando-day Brewrats guesting 2 weeks ago. Enjoy!
p.s. just wanted to greet my co-arian race bandmates haha: belated happy birthday, Selena! and advance happy birthday Joe and Zig!
Thursday, 26 March 2009
top chef
arrested development left me on the cusp of age 29 without having learned to cook. thus, i took the opportunity this sabbatical in Kuala Lumpur has provided to finally face my culinary fears. kailangan din eh. i'm from ang bandang shirley, and food is important to all of us.
armed with a photocopy of a nora daza cookbook, stock knowledge from all those food network shows on basic techniques, and almost zero knowledge about how to work my friend's stove, i decided to learn to cook one dish at a time.
first dish ever cooked: pork sinigang (tom yumerntz)
this is my favorite dish ever, and i was quite overwhelmed that it was the first one i pulled off -- and very deliciously, if i do say so myself. what made this particularly challenging was the lack of a sinigang mix in KL (no way am i going to even try figuring out how a tamarind "works" haha) and kangkong as well. i improvised by using tom yam mix and just okra and sitaw. the sauce was a bit thick with the many tomatoes i used, but still very yummy. my OFW friend was very pleased with this reminder of home.
second dish: pork with tomatoes and rosemary
i had to work with the available ingredients at home as well as consider what techniques were accessible to my limited understanding of how to handle food. i found this recipe on one of those food channel websites, only the original called for capers, which i replaced with olives. it turned out ok, though presentation left much to be desired. my friend said it tasted like a foreign version of adobo. hmmm. the jury is still out on whether that's a good thing or not.
third dish: chinese asado
this almost became a failed experiment because i still wasn't used to guesstimating proportions. i followed a recipe that called for a kilo of pork, and then only realized that i only had about 350g of meat when the entire thing was happily simmering away. i had to throw away most of the sauce (which tasted really good, though, because i used maple syrup in the absence of brown sugar) and the meat was still very black -- but really tender and tasty! it was one of those dishes that went well with a LOT of rice.
fourth attempt: bacon and sunnyside up eggs
so you'd think this'd be a no brainer. wrong! hahaha i realized that making sunnyside up eggs entailed more than just dumping them in the pan and hoping the yolks won't break. i broke my egg (which is fine, since i actually prefer them scrambled) so i tried my best to do the other one without breaking it. i succeeded, but then realized that i didn't have enough oil to cook the yolk on top of the white. lest i give my friend e. coli, i just sort of folded the white over the yolk and flipped the entire thing to cook it.
fifth "meal": goatherd's delight (or heidi wants to lose weight)
because i'd rather not cook if it's just for myself, i usually prepare something dummy-friendly for lunch. in an attempt to be healthy, i put together a green salad with a simple vinaigrette, white bread and cheddar cheese (nothing fancy), and an apple and two cookies to cap it off. it's kind of what i imagined peter the goatherd in heidi would eat in the mountains for lunch. haha, nothing like a little child's play to spice up a tamaderntz meal.
sixth meal: malaysian pansit
JOKE LANG hehehe. hindi ko kayang magluto ng ganito, no. this is what we had when we went to an island getaway last weekend. it tasted good: like pansit, but with more exotic spices and seafood. but it was the only yummy local thing we ate during that outing.
(real) sixth dish: beef with broccoli
awww, the pic is blurred :( even if it's really simple, i'm proud of this one because i got the proportions and flavor right, plus i added a dash of orange juice to take the edge off the saltiness a little. next time, i'll make this with less beef and more broccoli.
yay, so i can cook now. that's all.
love,
selena
Sunday, 22 March 2009
brewrats!
many many thanks to all the new contacts of the ang bandang shirley multiply! i cannot begin to express the gratitude welling up inside my heart for all of you, and especially to dj tado, dj angel, and dj ramon bautista of the fantastic radio talk show brewrats for helping make ang bandang shirley famous (haha)
non-chronological kwento in bullet points
- energizing walk from the boni mrt station to the paragon plaza building because of ricoa chocolate factory smells
- girlie kathy
- baby owel
- mahinhin joe
- "conflict kagad"
- "how many of your fans are jumping jologs?"
- novaliches -> baluarte of jumping jologs
- "sinong banda ang gusto nyong makaaway?"
- "papasikatin namin kayo; gusto nyo bang mag double platinum?"
- kathy learned how to use lights at a photoshoot
- owel learned basic use of macromedia flash
- joe learned to keep right near the manila city hall if you want to go to qc and not to sta. cruz
- "guangzhou!"
- "it's a lovely song" (pero hindi naman shirley haha)
- tado reminiscing about viva hot babe myles' "pagkababae" haha
- the jacq ruefner visit ("ikaw na yung pusher namin a")
- "idealistic ako e"
- the engineering connection.
- silent sanctuary and the right of reply
- "para kayong shoegaze na eraserheads"
haha baka may nakalimutan pa ako. next time ulet!
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
a lesson in geography (a not so musical post) [by jing]
ever since i was young, i've always enjoyed looking at maps -- painstakingly deciphering them and imagining myself navigating through not-so-imagined territory ("not-so-imagined" because i know those places exist although i've never been to such places). i enjoyed reading road maps even more than i enjoyed reading telephone directories (yes, very peculiar reading fare, i know hahaha). one of my treasured books then was this dog-eared copy of "ins and outs of metro manila" which i found in my late grandfather's library. eventually my copy of "ins and outs" turned outside-in and fell to the insatiable mercies of termites and silverfish.
nevertheless, my likewise insatiable quest for the road obtained its wish fulfillment when i finally learned how to drive. finally, no more imagined navigating, i thought to myself. to further equip myself, i got myself a new road map book of metro manila (see first photo). this book also proved very useful when i had hearings and consultations to attend in places like caloocan, malabon, and navotas.
when i joined shirley in early 2006 (or was it late 2005? it escapes me), i found myself blessed with such diverse bandmates -- diverse not only in the musical-personality sense, but also in geographical terms. in getting to know people, the question i'm most wont to ask is "where do you live?" or "where are you from?" i guess asking such questions stemmed from my childhood love for reading road maps. whenever i'd hear people answer my questions with "i live at so-and-so...", my mind immediately visualizes the maps i've read and i ask rejoinder questions like, "so is that near this-and-that street?". most times they'd answer yes, not knowing that i've never actually been to those places -- only theoretically.
so when i discovered that my shirleymates lived kilometers apart from each other, i got excited to say the least. in the second picture i posted, i plotted the respective locations of each shirley member and traced the distances that set us apart. glancing at the map, you can say we practically span metro manila in its entirety. despite this jaw-dropping realization, i can proudly say that i've travelled to each and every shirley point plotted on this map. much more so, i'm also quite proud to say that the kilometers which set us apart only bring us much closer to each other. i told you this was a not so musical post.
Monday, 9 March 2009
Recording Diary - Tambol Version
But all's well that ends well, right? I finally managed to start working, which is the first big hurdle for any procrastinator. So here goes...
Late February, we started work on a handful of new tracks some of which, like Pauwi Na and Wealth of Nations, are already part of our song rotation at gigs. Owel mentioned to me that he wanted the drums to stand out a bit more on the new songs--news that I really liked, for obvious reasons--so I locked myself in a room with my drumkit and hammered out my parts so I could attack the recording session with confidence. During the Themesongs recording sessions (as well as the Rizal Day Sessions, er, sessions), most of my drum parts were not final yet. If you listen carefully to the playing on the album vs a gig, you'll notice a lot of changes.
Another thing I did was use a click track. We didn't use a click track for any of the songs on the first album, and sometimes you can hear portions where I got a little excited and rushed things a bit. For the new songs, I intend to use a click as often as I can. An early exception would be Jing's punk-infused Saan Na, which felt better without a click.
I'm also gunning for a more consistent sound this time around so I'm using the same set of gear for the songs. Here's a photo of the rig I used at my last recording session:
Cymbals (Zildjian)
13" A Custom Projection Hihats
18" A Custom Fast Crash
19" K Dark Crash Thin
20" K Custom Dark Ride
Drums
14" x 5.5" Ludwig Acrolyte Snare [Remo coated Ambassador on top, Evans reso on bottom]
Yamaha drumkit (13" and 16" toms, 22" bass drum) [Remo Pinstripes on everything]
Except for the Yamaha kit, which is the house kit at Love One Another Studios, the rest is the same equipment I lug around in my yellow gig bags (also in photo) at each and every gig. Yes, I bring a LOT of gear. It helps me play better knowing I'm playing gear I'm used to. (Btw, those two dashing icons of virile masculinity are LOA engineers, Pancho and Wacky.)
I guess that covers drums for now.
Ciao.
Zig
recording diary 03/07/09
some interesting moments include:
1) pancho asking - "wala ba kayong mga kanta na may distortion?" leading to a bit of fuzz factory overkill haha
2) the new palm-muted chording in nakauwi na and the lessons learned by engineer joey from his boy elroy recording experience
3) pancho stating "you are such a mammal"
4) ean stating "nonsense yung b-string mo e" (band conflict! haha)
hahaha.
pics!
-owel
Monday, 2 March 2009
recent history
pic by joey alvero
we've been gigging a lot recently and our set has been mutating, featuring different permutations of old vs new songs. also, sickness and wealth issues have caused some of members to miss a few gigs. this post is dedicated to the ang bandang shirley extended family members: mikko quizon of abs combo, as well as mikey amistoso and justin sunico of ciudad.
more gigs to come, more new songs to learn, more family haha labo
-owel
(pictures by joey alvero, brendan goco, and luis buenaventura II)
Sunday, 1 March 2009
themesongs track 10
i think owel had a clear vision even then that he wanted shirley to go far, but most of us were going about this recording thing tentatively. he had a riff, though, and we all fell in love with it immediately when he played it for us during practice. we jammed some more to get the drum tracks pat, but it was still largely unfinished and the deadline was looming.
then there was the problem of finding the right recording studio. although most of us had day jobs, almost half were still studying, so we didn't have much of a budget. up dharma down's bassist, paul yap, recommended the fledgling Love One Another Studio, run by boy elroy guitarist joey santos. we decided to check them out and found instant chemistry with the studio's staff (plus, the name is just so shirley).
so zig puts his amazing drum skills to work, to which jing adds a perfect bass line, then owel lays in the guitars and that lovely, lovely riff. earlier, we'd all agreed that we didn't want to do a straightforward Christmas track. so owel penned a few sad lines, injecting some subtle verbal hints of Christmas ("disyembre", "regalo" and "kumukutikutitap") here and there -- and we had our Christmas track for all seasons!
the song was mostly constructed in the studio, adding the elements one by one. i remember one recording session where heidi was adding her synth parts and there was this one particular note that underwent a particular effect that sounded borderline noisy but just perfectly capped off the bridge part ("itong regalong bubuksaaaaan" TWENNGGGG!). we didn't have the melody until it was time for us to lay in the vocal parts, and i was quaking in my shoes for the dreaded moment when i'd have to sing because i had no idea how to make melodies. this sounds stupid, since i'd done okay in the four months or so since i'd officially joined shirley, but we had existing melodies for those songs to which i only had to listen a few times before i could add my harmonies. the process for "xmas lights", on the other hand, was entirely new and frightening for me.
at the time, i was scared that owel would one day find a reason to kick me out of the band since backup singers have always been found throughout history to be dispensible. so i told myself before my vocal take, "suck it in, selena. it's make or break time," and steeled myself for the recording process. but joey and owel were very supportive when it was my turn to sing, and they never tired of giving me time to practice my harmonies, repeating the track whenever i felt like i hadn't gotten it yet, so that it ended up being an effortless session after all. owel was pleased, and i was amazed to discover that i could actually be musically creative.
after recording the song, we realized that we had enjoyed working with Love One Another so much that we wanted to continue working with them and we resolved to start making our first full-length album ASAP.
jam 88.3 accepted "xmas lights" and included it in their compilation, as well as played the track during the christmas season of 2006. but shirley friends continue to request the song even during the rest of the year, so i guess it was able to transcend owel's description of it at gigs, "a seasonal longing song reminiscent of 'pasko na sinta ko'."
- selena
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Ang Bandang Shirley on Pulp Magazine
8 pages of Ang Bandang Shirley's oral history as written by Mr. Jason Caballa :) Buy your copies shirley friends for it is going to be the future almanac of shirley trivias haha!
p.s. There's also an article about us in Fudge Magazine (Watchmen cover) and our album cover for "themesongs" was tagged as one of 2008's best in this month's UNO Magazine (with Dylan on th cover) hehe :*)
Monday, 16 February 2009
Supreme Mood Music Playlist
Just wanted to share this: Ang Bandang Shirley's Supreme Mood Music Playlist (the soundtrack of our lives) which came out last saturday (February 14, 2009 -- belated happy birthday Atty Jing! ) for The Philippine Star's Supreme section :)
When Selena wakes up, she listens to..."Regret" by New Order
The song that Jing sings in the shower is... "It's 5" by Architecture In Helsinki
While having breakfast, the song Zig is humming to is... "Mushaboom" by Feist
In the car, on Heidi's way to work, the radio is playing..."Disconnection Notice" by Pupil
At school, Owel's mind is tuned to..."Where You Go, I Go Too" by Lindstrøm
On lunch break, Joe can hear..."Cantaloop (flip fantasia)" by Us3
Back at work, Kathy's motivational soundtrack is..."Windsurfing Nation" by Broken Social Scene
Merienda time, Zig grooves to..."Satan said Dance" by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
After 5, the best chillout tune for Selena is..."I Don't Know What I Can Save You From" by Kings of Convenience
Ean's dinner tastes better with the sound of..."The Spell You're Under" by Versus
To get the night started, Owel plays..."An Eluardian Instance" by of Montreal
To get in a party mood, Jing plays DJ to the sound of... "Bottom Line" by Big Audio Dynamite
Kathy embarks on a sweet dream journey listening to..."I Start to Melt" by Peter Bjorn and John
>>kathyg
Thursday, 29 January 2009
ang bandang shirley & crazy kart
PHILIPPINE LANDMARKS IN CRAZY KART ADDED (ARTICLE HERE)
...."Another element in the game is the addition of an original Filipino song entitled “Crazy Karter Sweet Lover” performed by Ang Bandang Shirley..."
Monday, 26 January 2009
post themesongs shirley
=jing=
^^^
a wombat
<--- a dingo
Sunday, 11 January 2009
ang bandang shirley on Imagine Magazine Issue 3
Gondry-esque photo by Aldwin Aspillera with a fun article about us bordering on food & eating (haha ang galeng!) by Luis Katigbak + photo art spread inspired by "Kagabi nanaginip si morrissey na may nagmamahal sa kanya".
Thanks imagine magazine!
here's an excerpt:
Ang Bandang Shirley's first album, Themesongs, serves up tasty guitar lines, delicious harmonies, crunchy drumming and melodies that melt on your tongue. Oh, and the lyrics are sometimes tart, sometimes sweet, often nutty. If it sounds like i've got food on the brain, that's not so strange -- after all, so does the band. "We're all healthy eaters", singer Selena Salang declares. It's funny that a band whose songs are often light and fun should be so literally heavy. As guitarist Ean Aguila says, "Kung marinig mo kami, 'di mo iisipin, pero 'pag nakita mo kami, mare-realize mo na -- mahilig kami kumain. Bonding namin, pagkain. Before a gig, kain, after a gig, kain. Walang gig, kain". Lead singer Owel Alvero wrote on their site, "You have no idea how common a phenomenon hunger tantrums are to this band. We want food now, haha!"...
Saturday, 3 January 2009
ang bandang shirley on tim yap's 29 people to watch out for in 2009!
never in my wildest dreams would we be found discussed in the same article as anne curtis, sarah geronimo, and john lloyd! many many thanks to DJ Benjo Marquez for the kind words! happy new year everybody!
-owel