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!
 

Recording Diary - Tambol Version

I really intended to write this a couple of weeks ago but I...uhhh...forgot. Hehehe. But my bandmates are really good at this "documenting the recording process" thing so I guess that makes up for my laziness busy-ness.

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

of baguio, owel, sarah g. & cosmo chicks, QLE awards and rico blanco

Hi! It's Kathy and am home on a saturday night and so i write hehe

5 Things:

1. Re SM Baguio: i wasn't able to go with the band (thank you Mei for helping out! we love you!) but according to Joe, there were lots of you who came and watched so THANK you guys!

2. Today is Owel's birthday! Happy Birthday, a! haha.

3. Ang Bandang Shirley "Themesongs" sighting inside Cosmopolitan November 2008 issue with Sarah Geronimo on the cover (haha oo bumibili ako nun minsan haha):

Get Lost In A Song. Don't you just love songs that give you the freedom to feel? When you can pin your emotions on a melody, the resulting comfort is remarkable. The debut album of Ang Bandang Shirley is aptly titled Themesongs. Their tunes can match a melancholic Cosmo chick's typical sentiments, like dreaming of true love ("Kagabi Nanaginip si Morrissey Na May Nagmamahal Sa Kanya"), being stupidly smitten ("Sasamahan Ka Pa Rin"), and evn dreading the upcoming cold, lonely Christmas ("Xmas Lights")

4. Ang Bandang Shirley is Best New Artist and "Themesongs" is Best Album Cover...at the QLE Awards that is! (Thank you Mr. Luis Katigbak! we are very honored )

The QLE Awards

By Quark Henares
Philippine Daily Inquirer

HERE come the cranky old men, sourgraping about how the under-appreciated geniuses of our time aren’t paid any attention.

You know what I’m talking about—people who blog about how blablabla should’ve won and how blearghiebleargh got the nom simply because they ladidad. But let’s face it—awards based on numbers aren’t exactly the most reliable ones; and I know for a fact that 90 percent of text votes for a certain band in this year’s Rock Awards came from only two cell phone numbers.

It just so happened that during one party Erwin Romulo, Luis Katigbak and I were sitting around and pointing out people who were really talented yet never seemed to get any loving from the RA. In other words, we were old man sourgraping. We decided to do something about it, and agreed to collectively write small tributes to our favorites this year.

Hence, the QLE Awards.

Before I begin, I’d just like to clarify that I love the NU Rock Awards. I’ve even written two and directed one. But controversy is always great, so why not use that to highlight and point towards some of the artists who have truly touched us this year?

Best new artist

[Erwin] Intolerant AND Loss Of Control
Just because they’re metal and they don’t give a f**k.

[Luis] Ang Bandang Shirley

They’re not rock gods or avant-garde experimentalists—they’re the people that you meet, when you’re walking down the street, each day. Except that they have an enormous talent for impeccable pop tunes and quirky-heartfelt lyrics. And enormous appetites as well.

[Quark] Taken by Cars

A lot of people accuse Taken by Cars of ripping Bloc Party off. I say they’re better than Bloc Party. “Endings of A New Kind” is the kind of debut that feels like it was made after years of meshing and collaborating as artists, and individually the instrumentalists have that perfect balance of standing out yet sounding completely organic.

Album covers

[Erwin] Up Dharma Down - Bipolar
Not as genuinely complex and dazzling as the band’s music contained within, but it sure does a neat job of inviting us into it.

[Luis] Ang Bandang Shirley - Themesongs
C’mon. That Pepper Roxas cover is all sorts of adorable.

[Quark] Up Dharma Down - Bipolar

....

P.S. It should also be noted that some of our choices, including Ang Bandang Shirley and Up Dharma Down, were not eligible for the Rock Awards this year.

5. I love you Rico Blanco! haha. ang random.

love, Kathy