At last. You have no idea how hard it has been to get to this point. All this trouble for a blog.

First, I did a really nice and really long introduction for candyaudioline’s official blog. I was two sentences away from finishing it when Yahoo Mail sends this stupid notification that I had new mail. I was caught off-guard. I panicked, clicked away, and there went all traces of my beautiful intro. All of it.

Everyone knows the feeling. Your guts turn to water and you slump dejectedly in your seat. But you still have some fire left in you. You start over, thinking to yourself that all is not lost. That’s what I did. I picked up the pieces of fragmented thought in my brain and typed away. This time, I let everyone know how pissed I was. As the new intro took shape, I marveled in satisfaction at all the vitriol. I read it, smirked, clicked. This was candyaudioline history.

And then, I realized I had clicked the wrong button. Everything went poof once more.

Argh. After some trial and error, I finally learned how to work the damned thing. Lo and behold the first entry—“This is candyaudioline.”

Which brings me to the present. I’m just too tired now, after seeing everything disappear into internet limbo. If this intro sounds inadequate, my sincerest apologies.

The band consists of:

Allan Montero – vocals, guitars, songwriter, all-around kingpin and financier
Ralph Romero – guitars, webmaster, keeper of mystique (to borrow from Cameron Crowe)
Ayn Ruth – bass, femme fatale
Selena Salang – vocals, resident paranoid—and I don’t mean this in a cute way, as you’ll discover along the way (yours truly)
Roel … - drums (Sorry, Roel, I never really found out your last name… will update)

We’re from the Philippines. We play indie/shoegaze. I’m still reluctant to use labels because I can’t tell the difference (!). As far as I’m concerned, it’s simple enough—it’s kickass music.

The Latest:

1. We played at “Metallurgica: The Science of Rock” the other night at the Sta Lucia East parking lot. There was a contest for memorizing the line-up (in order: Milk and Money, Kiljoy, Monsterbot, Pentavia, Cover Me Quick, candyaudioline, Moyg, Hammilan, Cog, Cheese). The gig itself was strange. Everybody else was adhering to the metal theme. We tried, but somehow we stuck out, I think. On the other hand, people noticed we were different. That doesn’t necessarily mean they enjoyed us, though. After all, they did go there to mosh.

2. Headed to Mister Kebab as usual for an after-gig bonding session. I think food is an integral part of candyaudioline’s existence. If you look at the name, you’ll definitely note the Freudian connection. Over special chelo, upside down and keema, we discussed how we sounded at Metallurgica, points to work on, and the mailing list (candyaudioline@yahoogroups.com). We like to listen to recordings of our performances because we’re still experiencing growing pains as a band (mostly my fault since I’m still adjusting). On the tape, my voice sounded a little better than the last time, but still too loud when nervous, and some of the guitars couldn’t be heard as much as we liked. Allan tells us kids that what comes out of the board isn’t usually what the audience hears; he says extraneous factors like echo and extra fuzz and blahblah make the actual sound better. It was decided that a live journal be kept for the band and the task was assigned to me. Finally, a concrete contribution on my part.

3. Our EP is almost out. We’re just having a little problem with budget and we’re trying to find the most practical way of releasing the album. Anyway, we hope it’ll push through soon since this will be the first output for this configuration of candyaudioline. Patience!

4. We’ll be part of PULP Magazine’s Summer Slam on April 30, 2003.

Okay, this is it for now. This is candyaudioline’s official blog, aiming to document the band’s endeavors. As blogmaster, I’ll try to be as objective and as accurate as possible. Don’t expect this to be absolute, though, since everything will still be filtered through my perception of the experience of being in the band. Do join our mailing list. Do buy our EP when it comes out. Do come to Buzz Nite every month. Do visit our website when Ralph gets to finish it. Do drop in. Do eat your carrots. Don’t stick one in your bellybutton, though.

Oh yeah… who the hell got first dibs on the username “candyaudioline”? Had to settle for something else. Boo.