post 53

A Belated Happy Birthday to Edwin. Feb 18 pala yun... hehe.

Sana maging masaya ka talaga... ¸

What else.... hmm... Oh guess what. I failed the UPCAT. Wow. Surprise. Wow... Slow-mo fascination... Hehe. Dapat tawag dun Activist Pro-Freudian Saksakan College eh.

By the way... meron na akong "Magic Carpet Ride" ni Nino Avenido ng Happy Meals/Greyhoundz... Oh yeah! :)

Ahhh... what else... may gig pleasure box sa Millenia tonight-- 8pm... Opening act kami para sa Fuseboxx. :)

I'm also in the midst of reading Freud and Behaviorist books... Da Vinci Code's the bomb! :) Read it. Hehe. And I'm reading the second chapter of the Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck.. Whoppeedoo... :)

Ok..Here's my waaaaay overdue interview with the man... Alexis Sarmiento of Plane Divides the Sky. Si Mr. Screamo.... Hehe.. :)

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01. How's life treating you so far?

i eat three times a day, i have a home and i have family and friends - i got no right to complain


02. Describe your mood right now (or has it been that way for quite some
time now)?

frustrated but content and optimistic


03. Ok.. I hope you're in the mood for this. Compare FOE with Plane Divides
the Sky. In what ways were they different? ... besides the fact that the
latter is your main band right now.

i'd like to think that f.o.e still exists within plane divides the sky...back then nung f.o.e pa kami, yung samahan ng banda yung pinaka importante sa amin and up to now its still like that, we're all brothers and the band is our family. behind the music ganon talaga siya, pero syempre musically speaking we've experienced a lot of growth, lalo na with two new members in diego and david nagkaroon ng bagong dimension sa music. Plane Divides the Sky is like the "teenage" version of f.o.e -a lot more experiences and lessons learned that led us to become more open-minded and experimentative towards our music and music as a whole. Ayokong sabihin na mas seryoso kami ngayon kasi dati pa naman kami seryoso sa mga pinaggagagawa naming. Mas tama sigurong sabihing mas sigurado kami ngayon sa mga gusto naming gawin at mangyari.


04. In terms of creating the lyrics, how has it been dissimilar? Or even
technically speaking?

halos pareho lang naman pero syempre ngayon, mas alam ko na yung ginagawa ko. Alam ko na kung ano yung gusto ko mangyari chaka alam ko kung ano yung kaya at more or less hindi kayang gawin sa boses ko. Ayun, tapos dahil dito, alam ko na kung possible kong kantahan yung mga compo. minsan pinapababa ko yung key ng compo kung mashadong mataas para sa boses ko and vice-versa. Ang laking hassle kasi kung sa recording mo nalang malalaman na di compatible yung boses sa key nung kanta.


05. Why did FOE have to be one of those transitory bands? Why'd you guys
break up? Boy Elroy ba kasi?

what are you talking about? we didnít break up. Do you call Conrad leaving and us finding a replacement breaking up? Nagpalit lang kami ng pangalan.


06. In your history of being a band, what was the first song you helped
create?

all of the songs are joint efforts of all the members ñ wala pa jan yung lyrics. As much as possible, no one should be left out during song writing sessions. Tapos pag naayos na namin yung music, chaka ko siya babanatan ng melody at lyrics.


07. What happened to "11 am"?

hehe.


08. In recording "Panic in the Skies," how did it relatively go?

recording persey was relatively easy since alam na naman namin by heart yung mga kanta. Yung production yung malupit. Tamang pawis, luha at dugo talaga. Hindi madali maging independent artist pero sobrang rewarding dahil alam mong ikaw ang nagtrabaho ng buong-buo para sa album niyo.

09. Any regrets?

none. I gave it my all, and even more. Yung mga kabanda ko mukang meron, di kasi sila masyado nakatulong noon kaya nagiguilty sila ngayon at gustong bumawi.


10. How many songs did you scrap?

almost half of the songs in the album were written in a week. Nagkulong kami sa bahay and wrote songs for around 3 days tapos the rest of the week we were jamming the songs to prepare for recording. Yung isang kanta nga sa studio na talaga nabuo nung recording. I wouldnít recommend this method to anyone, but we were really pressed for time so we couldnít afford to scrap songs. We really had to make sure that the songs we were writing would actually work. Itís a good thing that we got lucky, medyo nakapagsulat kami ng mabilis.


11. Is Eric Perlas a good producer?

the album says it all man. ikaw, what do you think?


12. What do you REALLY think of your band?

I think of the band as an extension of my family


14. How do you guys practice? Any special formula?

kailangan maraming protinang nakain si lenÖtapos mas ok rin kung yung jamming ay right after ng regular spa treatments ni jep at manicure/pedicure ni diego galing parlorÖkami ni dave basta nakainom nagiging creative naÖyanÖyan talaga yung formulaÖ


15. By the way, I was in your practice one time.. Diego let me in. He said you skipped practice just to watch LOTR just before the gig that night... Why'd you do that...?

ahÖikaw pala yung sinabi nila saken na biglang pumasokÖhehe, usapan kasi Friday yung jam, as much as possible kasi umiiwas kami mag jam right before a gig, so I had plans na for Saturday. Wala kaseng nagpareserve sa kanila kaya ayun, nawalan ng slot sa Friday. nahiya naman ako mag cancel for sat.


16. Hey... what's college like?

to me its highschool with less rules and more responsibilities. Depende na sayo yon kung magiging masaya siyaÖat sa course mo syempre, hehehe


17. What do you think of Mrs. Bernardo?

sheís one of my favorite teachers. Iím not sarcastic.


18. Back to Plane Divides the Sky, I like how you guys fuse emo-sounding
hardcore rock with metal and a sort of latino touch to it. What bands and/or artists have influenced you to come up with such music?

jazz artists syempre like incognito, for exampleÖ May certain mood or minsan ìlandiî kasi sa tunog ng jazz chords kaya siguro may ìemoî na tunog na naaassociate samin dahil sa halos lahat ng kanta jazz and broken chords ang gamit ni len. Sa fusion naman na sinasabi mo, marami kasi kaming hilig na gusto naming ma-incorporate sa music namin so we try to find a compromise between these types of music and make them mesh with each other. Sa pag halo-halo ng music, wala talaga kaming influence doon, but with the different parts of it, andyan syempre ang Thursday at glassjaw kasi madalas din gumamit ng jazz chords ang mga ëto, meshugah at dilinger escape plan kasi nakakagago yung odd time nila chaka yung mga swabe gaya nga ng incognito chaka sade na malamig sa tengaÖ


19. Can you give me a concrete technique on how a person could scream like
what you did in "College CoED"?

tinanong mo na yan sakin dati eÖwala talaga mehn. Pero kung talagang makulit ka, subukan mo magpractice sa tapat ng maliit bowl or better daw sa toilet tapos sumigaw ka lang ng sumigaw. Si ian tayao ang nagsabi niyan saken dati, tignan mo naman kung pano sumigaw yonÖbangis.


20. It's always what you wanted to do, huh?

yehÖever since bata pa ako, lalo na nung napanood ko dati yung sonic youth at eraserheads ng live.


21. What songs can you play on the guitar?

what do you mean? If you mean songs from the album, I can play all of them, except yung mga solo ni len. If you mean in general, di ko na maalala lahat, grade 3 ako unang humawak ng gitara mehn,medyo matagal na yunÖang rhetorical naman ng tanong moÖ


22. What's "Color and Style" all about? What do you actually say in the
chorus?

îbecause to say we overcame means everything to youÖI swear I tried to find the light in this, and I held on tightÖî ...i get this impression that you're in love dude...hehehe wala lang


23. What's your favorite track in the album?

college, kasi ang sarap tugtugin ng live. :D


24. From where I come from, you guys are very famous. Any thoughts on fame?

talaga?!? Taga saan ka ba?baka pwede kami magbenta ng cd janÖaheheheÖ seriously, deins naman kami ganon ka sikat mehnÖand honestly, being famous is not on my list of priorities. I mean, thereís no greater reward for me than to have people actually appreciate the music we make, pero other than that, ewan ko na. kung sakin lang kasi, mas gugustuhin ko pa na may limang taong nakakakilala sa amin pero natutuwa talaga at naiintindihan yung ginagawa namin kaysa sa maging sobrang sikat nga pero sumasakay lang yung mga tao at wala talagang nakikinig.


25. Oh yeah... what do you look for in a girl?
woahÖwhereíd that come from?!? hmmmÖsomeone I donít always agree with but whose decisions I respectÖkagaya ng girlfriend ko..

26. Any unusual hobbies?

none that I know ofÖ


27. What band are you listening to right now?

peter Gabriel


28. Last CD you bought?

twisted halo


29. Top 3 albums you're proud of?
Adrenalin by Deftones ñ ito yung una kong cd ever, grade 5 ako nun I think. Deftones batas. Circus by Eraserheads ñ ito yung paborito kong OPM album
The Satellite Years by Hopesfall ang ganda lang talaga plus wala nun dito kaya mayabang ako dahil ako lang meron, hehehe


30. What advice can you give my band right now? We're a cover band
struggling to compose our own. I play the drums.. and we've played more than
a few times already... We're called "and more".

just keep on practicingÖyung problema sa ibang banda, inuuna ang porma sa tunog kaya di maganda ang lumalabas. Tunog bago porma talaga dapat. donít be afraid to try new stuff outÖand most important of all, when writing your songs, just write what you know. Maximize what you know but never go over it.


31. I have this friend, who idolizes how you sing. I think he wants to do
what you want to do. What advice can you give him?

the most important thing is that he should be comfortable with what heís doingÖmas ok if he can develop his own style that heís comfortable in. mahirap kasi kung pilitÖimportante talaga yung comfort, internal yung instrumento niya ehÖ


32. Thanks... Alexis, who do look up to anyway?

vocalist? Si mike patton!


33. What religion do you believe in?

I was born into Catholicism and was raised to not just believe but understand it as wellÖthis doesnít mean I donít respect and try to understand other religions thoughÖ


34. Why are you interested in Astrology?

bata pa lang ako may fixation na talaga ako sa langitÖ


35. When's your birthday?

November 12


36. Uy.. pareho tayong scorpio... Hehe.. So far, is the money good in the sales of your album?

its never about the money man.the more important thing here is to share the music with as much people as possible.. ang concern lang pagdating sa sales ay makabawi para may pondo pang second album para makapag share pa uli ng musicÖ


37. Favorite Book?

catcher in the ryeÖ yan din ata binabasa niyo ngayon kay bernardoÖ


38. Favorite Smell?

pinipritong tuyo. yum.


39. What sets you apart from other people?

maiksi pasensya ko pero sobrang understanding akoÖhehe labo


40. Ok.. to end, what is music to you??

music is the unlimited and unending soundtrack to lifeÖ
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Alexis... thanks. More power to your band. :)