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By Grace Marie Rivera, Special to the Manila
Times
Driven by passion for music, seven people came
together and formed the band Junior Kilat. Named as such for the
Visayan hero Leon Kilat of Pantalleon Villegas, the band composes
music of social and cultural relevance. And like thunder, they
struck Filipinos with their music so familiar and yet so new: the
Visayan reggae.
Novelty comedy singers Yoyoy Villame and Max
Urban first introduced Visayan reggae to the Philippine airwaves
during the 1970s. But the beat was not recognized as reggae until
the stardom of Bob Marley. Although it became famous again on the
year 2000, the band members of Junior Kilat thought that there was
something missing. “Reggae is supposed to be local,” says Errol
“Budoy” Mirabiles, the band singer and composer. From here, they
thought of using local dialects such as Cebuano and Waray as the
medium of the music.
The band solicited mixed reactions from the
Cebuano audience that were composed mostly of high school and
college students and the lower class. Conversely, Junior Kilat was
well accepted in the Manila scene by the yuppies. Although Bisaya is
stereotyped as “second rate” because Tagalog is the national
language, Mirabiles and the other band members think of it as an
advantage “There are many Bisaya who could understand us, and at
the same time, we are exotic for non-Bisaya speaking people, they
try to find something that’s ours but something that’s
unique”.
As a proof to this, their song “Ako si M16”,
famous of its onomatopoeic lyrical verses such as “ratatatatat,”
won the NU 107 Rock Awards because of its originality. Junior Kilat
also takes pride on being one of the few if not the first Visayan
band to be invited to play in The Fort.
Mirabiles notes that media centralization and of
the stereotype culture as crude and quaint makes it hard for Visayan
bands to have a career in Manila, leaving them with no choice but to
stay in Cebu. Since the city is small enough for the bands to get
well acquainted with bands of different influences, they tend to
create a mixture of each other’s music, resulting into a new
blend. Unlike big cities that have music trends, Cebu has a variety
to listen from. “We don’t force to make our music hit. We just
do what we love,” professes Mirabiles.
Budoy’s stint in the reality television
contest show Pinoy Big Brother also helped open opportunities for
Visayan music to infiltrate the national scene. Foreigners who
listened to their music acclaimed of its quality. Just recently,
Junior Kilat released its latest album called Enrique de Mallaca, as
a tribute to the believed to be Filipino slave of Magellan who first
circumnavigated the world. For Junior Kilat, Enrique is a great
source of pride for Filipinos. Formed in almost a year, the album
contains completely evolved music compared to their previous albums.
The songs “Granadub” and “Enrique de Mallaca” are dedicated
to Yoyoy Villame who greatly inspired the band’s music.
Open to the thought of spanning the world
through their music, Junior Kilat members promise to stick to their
love for culture by using Bisaya wherever they may go.
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