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By Angelique P. Manalad,
Contributor
Archipelago, true to their name,
brings together as one diverse genre. As with nations, so with
music, there is strength and beauty in diversity. It all comes
together with this band.
In 2004, Pat Tirano, a sound
engineer, guitarist of TOI and producer, with Yan Yuzon, guitarist
of the band Pupil, thought of forming a band but couldn’t seem to
find the right time. Finally proclaiming it a project way overdue,
Yuzon asked Wendel Garcia, his bandmate from Pupil, to become their
drummer. Completing their line-up is bassist Chad Rialp,
vocalist/lyricist of Lady Jane and Yuzon’s buddy from college.
What’s peculiar about them is
that they first recorded before they were even complete as a band.
Rialp joined the group when they already recorded some songs, when
their former bassist decided to pursue another career. “He [Rialp]
already recorded four songs before we were even introduced and met
as bandmates,” Garcia recalls.
Yuzon was very much happy to say
that, “What’s good with this group is that there are no hassles.
There are many bands who have a lot of hassles. Nagsimula lahat
‘to sa maayos na usapan. Whenever there’s a problem we try to
address it right away. And we take friendship very seriously.
That’s far more important than anything else. In fact our own
manager Raymond Fabul is our good friend.”
And true to their name, the band
came together from different genres of music, mixing it all
together. Yuzon is heavily influenced by American 1990s post-grunge
rock and Britpop. Garcia mostly listens to jazz. Rialp is into
Radiohead, Foo Fighters and mostly from the post-modern era of
music. Tirano usually listens to local bands who are still
struggling to get into the scene.
They are proud to say that their
music is not a product intended to please any specific market. They
are simply doing what they love, but will be very thankful if people
will appreciate it as much as they do. They’d rather have people
appreciate their music the way it is, not just because of the demand
of a certain sound. “It’s kind of a conscious effort [for us]
not to sound like anybody else. Among the four of us, we are all
pretty experienced so we’re gonna do what we want to do.
“There are some comments and
comparisons which are so different from each other. And we are proud
of that. Our music sounds familiar. But still it’s unique and
fresh,” Rialph says. “I believe that whenever you have quality,
there will always be a market for you,” Yuzon points out.
Spontaneity characterizes both their musical performances as well as
their friendship.
They note that the Filipino music
scene is very much alive and are amazed to observe that
international artist can only penetrate only during the local music
scenes brief lulls. “That is something that all of us should be
proud of, and not just be proud but support every sort of music that
is out there, any kind of music can offer you something different.
In the end we should just keep on supporting our own. Other
countries our so envious of what we have because they weren’t able
to nourish their talents as much us most of us here were able to
do,” Yuzon cited. “And most foreigners are not as versatile as
artists like Filipinos are. They are threatened by that,” Garcia
adds.
They write songs that are about
their experiences as active members of the society. They are
somewhere in the middle of their lives who would like to perceive
life before it happens and be able to write and sing about it.
Archipelago’s first album is in
the works, as they are still meticulously finishing it up. “Our
name is at stake so we have to be sure it’s 100 percent ready when
we release it. But it’ll be soon, that we assure everyone.”
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