Almost a year :)

 

the marginals there is a light that never goes out

the SKALAWAGS

the return of the SKALAWAGS

an article from excreta ...

Ang aking alaala sa skalawags

Noong late 80s, ako ay guro sa St. Scholastica’s College at nakatira sa isang maliit na boarding house sa Leon Guinto. Nakilala ko ang isang kapwa Lasalista na si Edwin Aguilar na nakatira sa katabing boarding house at kami ay naging magkaibigan. Siya ang nagpakilala sa akin sa tropa nila Bonglennon, Raymond Sanchez, Ompong at Nonong at nagkaisa kaming bumuo ng banda.

Noong  panahon na iyon, ang banda ko na Insurgency ay nagkahiwalay hiwalay na dahil sa aming mga kanya kanyang trabaho. Sa totoo lang, wala akong alam noon sa ska at punk music lang naman talaga madalas kong pakinggan, pero sila nag orient sa akin sa ska. So nakita ko na hindi masasayang ang mga sinulat kong mga kanta para sa insurgency dahil sa skalawags na ito mapupunta. (Although as fate would have it, magkakahiwahiwalay rin naman pala kami dahil magiging Tropical Depression sila lahat, hahaha, pero at least na irecord naming ang Thank you America under Musika)

Masakit yung yugto na iyon at di kami nag usap usap ng matagal. Si Domeng, two years mahigit bago ko kinausap at si Chikoy pinangaralan ako na ang banda ay hindi kasal. Hehe

So immediately after the break up, pinorma ko ang Marginals at tumagal kami ng mahigit limang taon on and off…. Ang unang album na insecurities ay na release under Aquarius records and Tapes at ang pangalawang album na Balang Araw ay unreleased. Nakaikot pa rin naman kami sa eksena… sa dredd at mayric’s pero never kaming nagkakatagpo ng mga dating skalawags sa tugtugan.  Ika nga nila ay iniiwasan ako noon ni Domeng. Hehe  Naging active din ang Marginals sa local punk scene… dun sa rock a punk series and Angry Young bands compilation tapes.

I would move on to normal jobs and even odd jobs para suportahan ang nanay kong may sakit noon, pero di ko iniwan ang paggawa ng mga kanta… later nung maulila ako, nahilig ako sa tech side ng music para makapag produce ng mga kanta, nagtayo ng studyo-istudyuhan at nag produce ng walong album na personal, isa para sa kaibigang producer para sa bandang PRAXIS at tatlong album ng tatlong bandang alaga ko (Ang Bandang Alamat, Back Pipe, Asherdash) under sunset records. 128 songs total. hahaha

Paminsan minsan, pag may pagkakataon… nakakasalang sa mga tugtugan pero yun lang. Wala sa eksena, walang plano… 5 years ago, napadalas punta sa akin ni Domeng sa opisina … kasama si Edwin, minsan kasama si nonong at lennon. Later sya na lang… 3 years ago sinilip ko sng Jerks sa Tiendesitas and that’s it.

Sabi ko, this year is significant kasi mag 50 na ako so ano kaya magandang alaala bago ako matigok at nakita ko sa youtube ang reunion ng specials. Sabi ko it would be nice to reunite with skalawags… the band who was almost there… hahaha. And alas… isang araw, may bagong chat room sa messenger ko na skalawags ang name at binuo ni Edwin… so eto na. Wish it and it just might come true!

Ang skalawags, unlike other bands nowadays, wala kaming masyadong footprint… ang mayroon lang ay ang mga alaala ng mga nakapanuod sa amin sa marami naming mga nagging tugutugan. At iyon ang nakakatuwa, buhay pa ang mga lolo. Hahaha

So sa June 2, dalhin ang mga maintenance pills at tumungo sa B-side Makati para manuod sa mga Pilipinas Ska Bands… kasama syempre ang the SKALAWAGS.

drive

cover from incubus

3 am

cover from matchbox twenty

Collide

cover version from Howie Day

More Freeway Jams @ Sunset Records

looking for a score (jam session)

I hate it when you make a video, use a score, render it and upload it... then facebook turns it down saying that somebody owns the score. *&^@%%#^ isn't that what music is for? anyway, so we're actually lookig for musical scoring for all the vids we want to put up in FB and now we're forced to simply do the score ourselves. this is a draft version of a jam we started yesterday with my admin director Eugene Baroña and graphic artist Gabriel Nazarene Cibucao...

the crown II (1st draft, single cam)

the crown

The crown is a teaser video meant to experiment for a mini music video I want to do with Belo as an insert to the pageant program. I chose this theme since I thought that Belo fits the role fairly well since all her family are avid shooters and gun owners.

So we did a test shoot along with some photography on the side and we were convinced that she can carry the role pretty well...

For the bored editor

Watsek by ASHERDASH

WATSEK
Words and Music by Freddie Lim
Produced and engineered by Casie Villarosa
Performed by Asherdash

This song is full of gripes and is dedicated for those crooked people in society. It was because of the melody that the band decided to record it. The lyrics however, were triggered by someone who crossed the path of the band prompting them to think why things are not the way they should. The band's expression of anger was through this song. That's the beauty of being a musician; the expression need not be physical...

--- asherdash

Everything Mica!

After having gone through hell over the last few months and being a selfish ass nursing my wounds, I've not posted much and spent enough time with my daughter. So I'm posting everything Mica today in celebration of her upcoming graduation tomorrow.

Yesterday she celebrated her batch's Baccalaureate Mass and it is a wonderful feeling for a parent seeing his daughter almost all grown up. She passed the De La Salle entrance exam, the only exam she took which we celebrated early this year. I feel guilty having to put her through a certain stage of uncertainty after I was betrayed by the company I loved and I sulked in my own state of uncertainty as she offered "other" options.

She was obviously trying to help me out and ease my apprehensions... that was my mistake. I'm sorry Mica, Daddy can be selfish sometimes. You do know how much I love you and that I'll try my best to be there for you... all the time.

ALAMAT concert DVD teaser

ang bandang ALAMAT

Sunset Records first record for release... coming soon...

the new SUNSET RECORDS logo

designed by Gabriel Nazarene Cibucao, this is the new logo of SUNSET RECORDS

The Awesome Sunset…

the awesome sunset view from my office/studio window...
the label was meant to be
photography by Casie Villarosa

More than ten years ago, I started calling “my label”, SUNSET RECORDS LTD., an imaginary record label I conjured up in my mind just to put something on the record sleeves I was producing. The first (and last) time I released an album, it had Aquarius Records and Tapes as my distributor but it still carried the CASCON label since the album was independently produced by myself and my wife.

After co-producing two more albums with friend and band mate Tony Robles of the Jammer Studios, I started my independent road to self production when I purchased my first recording gear, a Fostex X-18. Since then, I have produced more than five more albums with more than 80 songs unreleased. I was in my 30’s at the time and I wanted to make the "sunset of my life" (knowing that I would probably have a very short but hopefully eventful life) as fulfilling as possible, thus the name SUNSET RECORDS LTD.

After failing miserably at an attempt to make a decent recording studio from my house aptly called the BASEMENT RECORDING STUDIO, because we carved that space from under my house, I had little recourse but to find a regular job where I can earn a steady income yet still have the time and the facility to make records and produce music. So over the last 17 years or so, I made music and kept jobs that I may or may not have been happy with… but that elusive dream of becoming a music producer has never left my mind nor did I ever stop accumulating gear and experience to make that dream come true one day.

The concept of SUNSET RECORDS from the very beginning was to give opportunities to bands and individuals whose break never materialized, an opportunity to record their music in a studio that would allow them to listen to their music in a semi-professional environment. The music recording is for free, there will be no entailed expenses for the musician and most important of all, you walk away with your own CD. Something that might earn you bragging rights in your next drinking session --- that is, if you’re actually good enough to do it.

During those times, I have managed to produce several artists who actually went home with their own CDs, although I never knew what actually happened to most of them. I was able to work with some talented guys from Lipa City, Batangas whose band name was PRAXIS through a friend of mine and the basement recording studio's first producer Marcel Magsino. I was able to digitally remaster Bert Bilas' two independently released albums. And I was also able to officially act as producer for a United Nations Volunteer souvenir album containing volunteer songs.

After I left a United Nations and International Maritime Organization Proramme, (the best decision of my life) I had the opportunity to produce more of myself and my music and I rededicated my studio to SUNSET RECORDS LTD., and the endeavor gave me my biggest break in music yet, to become Musical Director of the Amazing Show… four years later and until this moment (but perhaps not for long), I am Vice President of the Company.

At this point there is nowhere else to go but to expand horizons, thus SUNSET RECORDS is reborn. It will be one of several new businesses I envision to carry on the torch of the Amazing Show legacy. But I suppose much like its predecessor, it will be quite a long and bumpy ride.

With the way I am, I never registered the SUNSET trademark. So imagine my surprise when my admin director and myself finally went to the Department of Trade and Industry and attempted to register the name… no one owns it yet! And so legally, the name is officially mine.

Last year, I started working with two talented bands, ALAMAT and BLACK PIPE and now that the technical and production work is done and options are made as to what to do with the product and which road to take, I have finally concluded that an independently released album is the better choice to make. The task ahead is daunting and the odds are stacked against us, but who cares? Odds are always stacked against me… But so far, this ride has been exhilarating. And since I started calling my life as sunset in my 30’s, then the last several years has been an AWESOME SUNSET!

2nd picture; photography by Johnny Jun

Alamat Pictures from a Friday Night @ the MFC

Here are some pictures of "ang bandang ALAMAT" in one of the Friday Night Parties at the MFC Bar...























photography by Santi Soriano, Joey dela Vega, Casie Villarosa