interviewed by a music mag thru email...

here's an interview done thru email by one music paper. i decided to put this in the blog just incase most of what i've said don't come out on print... hulaan nyo nalang kung anong music
paper. probably out na siya by august...

PRODUCTION GROUPS QUESTIONS:

1. Tell us about the history of the production, andwho’s involved.

i don't really consider Buzz Night as a production group. to me, it's more of a consortium where people know each other, likes almost the same stuff, believes in almost the same things and eats almost the same stuff (chicharon bulaklak at mayrics, combination of special chelo, ox brain, upside down with "sugarspree" fruit shakes at mr. kabab and chorizo with rice at colasas). Buzz Night as we now know today being, a monthly affair has been going on since the middle of 1998. but before this, it started out as a twice a year afternoon affair during the early part of the 90's. Richard Tan of BackBeat was the brains behind the early buzz events. during this peroid, unsigned bands like the youth, eraserheads, color it red, feet like fins and alamid among others were just some of the acts that grazed most of the buzz events. by the late nineties, it became a vehicle for bands/artist who were into new wave, shoegaze, ethereal, post-punk and other non-mainstream musical forms. bands such as sonnet lviii, archaster, skies of ember, aspirin, bad days for mary, soda jerk, candyaudioline, aga mulach experience, choking brownies among others were just some of acts who were able to make an impact on their target crowd. 2000 - 2003 was the high point of buzz night. it was a time when "indiepop" caught the fancy of people who had discriminataing musical taste world wide. bands such as dorian of juniper bells, colour contest, soft pillow kisses, carnival park, apple orchard, the fantasy lights, and even "cult favorites" skies of ember became minor sensations partly because most of them were part of two independently released compilations, "uno documento compilo" from documento records and "mutual admiration society" from definition records, (this one is responsible for putting the philippines way high up there as one of the countries that produces top-class "indiepop" music). during this time, we saw a batch of really talented young upstarts among them were judith, populardays, weedisneys, spring boutique, daydream cycle. 2004 signalled the end of buzz night's happy period. maybe everyone got fed-up with indiepop. the core crowd decided who was cool and who was not. some of the bands found it hard to carry-on because of many factors. in short, buzz night ran out of bands. in fact, for two months in the middle of 2004, three of my bands plus a few bands who didn 't really fit in with the buzz concept had to play in one night. because of this, i decided to scrap the idea of buzz night being an all "indie" affair. in the succeeding months, i opened the door to bands who makes music that's challenging enough for my standards. and this time, i really had to lower my standards.


2. Do you have a criteria, or any specific genre that you require for the bands that you get to play in your gigs?

indiepop, dreampop, noise and shoegaze are the types that i really like to have in buzz night. aslo post-punk, old skul punk, synth, trip-hop anything that is musically and sonically challenging. pero as of the moment, i have to make do with what's there at present.

3. How many bands do you get to play per night?


six to eight bands per night playing 4-5 songs each...


4. Are there any mainstay bands in your prod?

for the past 8 months it's always been populardays, tether, sunsetdrive and candyaudioline.

5. Do you do this for the money or the music?

i'm doing it for the money. but in all honesty, it would really make me happy if new bands with almost the same calibre as that of sonic youth, malory, brittle stars, stereolab, the charlatans and even the damned start poping-up every now and then and become regulars at buzz night.

6. Frequency of prod nights every month?

there was a time that we were on twice a month but buzz night is now a once a month affair happening every 3rd or 4th saturday of the month.

7. Tell us about your worst and best prod nights.

the worst was during july 2004. because of a powerful storm, there was a power shortage in that part of España. from 220, power at mayrics way really low yet we still decided to push thru. the result was really a disaster to a point that the PA system at mayrics almost caught fire. as for the best, there are so many but here's one although i can't really recall the date. it was that time when nico of down boy down played his first ever solo gig. he was so nervous that he had a hard time finishing a song, still everyone was all eyes and ears for him. by the time for him to do his last song he decided not to push thru but everyone begged him to finish his set and to everyoner's relief, he did... music, humor, art, tension and beauty... fucking brilliant.

8. Any funny experiences?

i wasn't there to witness it but just last year, i guess, some stupid guy from one of the bands did a full-monty...

9. What are the freebies or perks you usually get from this?
not much really, i just get to meet new faces and make new friends. who we get to treat at mr. kabab or at timog food plaza while sharing with him the joys of being in an unsigned slightly off kilter band who gets to play stuff that they truly want and in the process, discovering that all of you like eating a lot, listen to mostly the same stuff and have the same dreams of being able to go inside a really cheap videoke bar, strip joint and gay bar

10. Do you sell merchandise?

not yet. there's nothing to sell...

11. What’s the prod’s favorite bar?

we only play ay mayrics where all great bands are........ great?

12. Least-liked bar?

13. What do you think of the music scene now? How do you contribute to its growth and evolution?

no coment... nasusuka lang naman ako... as for what i can contribute to it's growth and evolution? i've already done my part. hindi nalalayo sa situation ng philippine movies ang music scene natin... there was a time when some movies try to be a bit intellegent so that it would be at par with what is being offered in other countries. pero walang nangyari because most of the fans couldn't relate to it. same with the music scene. kailangan tumalino pa ng konti ang audience natin then growth and evolution would follow. sadly kung sino pa yung may kakayahang o nasa posisyin gumawa nito. sila pa yung dahilan kung bakit ganito tayo sa ngayon at sa matagal pang panahon.

eto na yun...

thanks...