Between the Music and Me

I was at 3rd grade when I first learned to play the guitar. My father was my first teacher; he taught me how to wield it like a sword. It took me almost a month to completely memorize all the Major Chords, let alone the different stroke/strum patterns. My interest towards the six-stringed instrument started when I heard my father playing Ang Bayan Kong Sinilangan by Asin, a band famous for their significant influence during the political conflicts of their time. The rhythm of the song was just so alluring that I had to ask him to play it over and over again. Consequently, I begged him to teach me how to play it only to realize that at the end, Feliz Navidad was the first official song I learned.

During high-school, I met a lot of people with remarkable passion as regards to music. Some were my classmates (who later on became my bandmates) while some were bunch of dudes singing their lung outs in hallways or benches, not minding the risk of being reprimanded. I recall how popular Siakol was by that time (man, their music was just all over the place). Anyway, my band joined a number of competitions and even got a chance to play on our Prom Night. It was certainly a splendid experience. Aside from all of these, it was during this time that I embarked on songwriting. I don’t remember exactly how it began, but I know it has something to do with poetry. The first song I wrote had a chord pattern similar to Stephen Speak’s Passengers Seat. Not like it was intended, but it just felt like writing a song with G Major as its key made it all legit that time.

I admit that those songs, you know, were not that of quality. I can tell you that for sure, but I was damn proud of them.

Photo taken in Antipolo, Rizal during our first gig in the North.  

Somewhere in my college life, I met new friends and acquaintances. I chanced on knowing people who had the same passion and enthusiasm towards music. I was into a lot of bands before. I didn’t have any goal or whatnot. I just wanted to be drowned in my music. Not until I got to know Jaydee, Jimboi, Duane, Dane, Mike, Tapz, Prix, Norman, Jireh, Salio, Lacai, Tine, Tadz, Von, Zakk, Tatoy and the others, had I still be ignorant of the music I dearly loved. These were the very people behind To The Tune of Lilies whom I shared the fire with. The first song we recorded was Big Ben’s Having His Snackbreak, a song I wrote when my grandfather passed away. After a couple of weeks, we followed up with Not Even a Shadow, Frank. Little by little, we paved our way to a musical career we didn’t expect to impact our lives at a large extent. We choreographed our moves on stage; wore the same white shirts; practiced our mini speeches in between songs – it was one epic adventure. From winning the Muziklaban Regional Leg to having our own music video (below), the experience was worth a Grammy Award for me. Music gave me the experience far better than I deserved.

But despite all the success we achieved, there’s always an end to everything. That no matter how hard we try to bring the pieces back, it just won’t. The passion, the fire; it will just never be the same. Hence I learned that in every dream we pursue, we must ALWAYS put our HEARTS on it. So that in whatever chapter this book of yours may end up to, you can’t help but be proud of.