Soundskool of Rock

“CREAM of the crop talaga, Ser!”

I’m not quite sure if Beejay Valero, the clean-shaven guitarist of the band, Project from Jose Rizal University was the first to say it. I am pretty certain, however, that it was a consensus shared by Beejay’s bandmates as well as the other 12 finalists of the Nescafe 3-in-1 Soundskool 2009.

Last week, these finalists all found themselves together in one roof as they learned from music industry stalwarts, from their own favorite bands and even from each other at the much-awaited Boracay Workshop component of the Soundskool competition.

In any other band competition, an all-expense paid trip to Boracay is already quite a prize in itself, expecially given that the majority of them were in the sought after tourist destination for the very first time. “Even in our previous Soundskools, the Boracay Workshop is something that all participating bands would look forward to and work very hard to be a finalist for,” admits Nescafe Marketing Head Yayin Bangcoro. “For us at Nescafe, we see this as an important part in making their dreams come true. Not only does the workshop intend to orient them with the music industry and enhance their skills but it also aims to magnify these young talents as persons as much as they are musicians.”

This particular Band Camp held at La Carmela De Boracay resort had quite a “faculty,” too. Sony BMG executive Vic Valenciano and his Artist & Repertoire man Jinno Mina gave a comprehensive industry orientation that presented the finalists with income-earning options (i.e. ringtones, gigs, modelling, film soundtracks) should they make it big. Band manager Darwin Hernandez talked about how to handle success, Sandwich’s Raimund Marasigan discussed the art of performing in a tone that's a little more serious than what his band demonstrated in their “Procrastinator” music video.

And the members of Pupil minus a fever-stricken Ely Buendia gave an engaging insight on music composition and pretty much told these kids in so many words that there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to writing good tunes. Some just come to you in a flash, others take a little or a lot longer to finish—either way, just better be ready to record or write those thoughts down.

There were also equally enlightening breakout sessions on drums (conducted by Pupil’s Wendell Garcia), guitar (by 6cyclemind’s Chuck Isidro) and vocals (by Nei Dimaculangan). Pupil, Sandwich, 6cyclemind, Callalily and last year’s winner, Letter Day Story also headlined the nightly concerts that also allowed the 13 bands to show their wares. While all of them were very impressive, there were quite a few standouts in my book.

During the Mindanao night, Eevee (shown in picture) representing Philippine Women’s University of Davao made a few ears turned with a potential radio hit in their quirky, “Gusto Ko Lang Ng Girlfriend.” The Evanescence-like Lady Suzette from AMA Computer Learning Center in Tacloban featuring the powerful vocals of Maria Daryl Gerlando made a few heads turn during the Visayas night.

Come Luzon night, University of Perpetual Help Laguna’s In Descent brought the house down with their own brand of old school classic rock and just when everyone thought they’ve heard the best, Mapua Institute of Technology’s Nameless Heroes crashes the party on GMA night and pretty much knocks the ball out of the park with their high octane alternative rock.

There were other interesting stories as well. True to their Ateneo De Cagayan De Oro pedigree, Little School House were the most articulate with their impressive views on nationalism during our interview sessions. Given their close proximity to Boracay and frequent visits here, the members of Iloilo Doctors College’s Sundae Special was hoping the workshop was held somewhere else. The original drummer of Mixed Tape of Lyceum-St. Cabrini College of Allied Medicine died from a vehicular accident a year ago and the band is dedicating a song and their performance in his memory. Project is actually a finalist for the second time and was also in Boracay for the workshop last year.

Despite the fact that they’re just in their teens, the syrupy pop quartet called Play from the Polytechnic University of Quezon City have been playing together since they were kids and could also surprise everyone with their cohesive play. I already believe that vocalist Yu-an Rabago, who sings really well, is on her way to a long career in music regardless of what happens on the grand finals.

And that Grand Finals will take place this Saturday, November 14 at the Ninoy Aquino stadium. All told, I could have done a lot worse last weekend. Thankfully, I actually did much better. Not only is it always a pleasure to spend a few days in Bora but it was certainly a lot of fun for a semi-retired music writer like myself to be in the company of such talented young musicians. Forget Fame. Forget Glee. Want to see real talents with plenty of balls? You can't go wrong with Nescafe 3-in-1 Soundskool this year.

Yeah, cream of the crop, indeed.

For more information on the finalists and how to get tickets for the Grand Finals, please visit the Nescafe 3-in-1 Soundskool 2009 home page here.

Here's a performance by Nameless Heroes:

The Most Improved Channing Frye

KOBE was here. T-Mac was here. Gilbert Arenas was here.

We all know Manila is now a favorite destination of NBA players to conduct basketball clinics, promote their new shoes and play one or two goodwill games. Back in 2006, Channing Frye, a lanky center who was only in his sophomore year in the league, was in town along with already rising star Andre Iguodala for a promotional tour dubbed as NBA Madness 06.

Me and my good friend Lawrence Casiraya were assigned to feature both players for the Manila Bulletin. Although we got to interview both, Lawrence asked me if he could write about Iguodala so I ended up with the less heralded Frye, who was actually a standout from the University of Arizona during his college days. Drafted by, and at the time, still playing for the hard luck New York Knicks, Frye was then its starting center and not a few souls predicted him to be a rising star himself. Although initially compared to Marcus Camby, who had a particularly stellar stint with the Knicks, his perimeter game is actually more reminiscent of Ralph Sampson's, a player considered to be ahead of his time.

But injuries and lack of defensive skills prevented Frye from immediately realizing his own potential as his production dropped with every succeeding season following his rookie year. After two seasons with the Knicks, he was traded to the Portland Trailblazers where his stats continued to decline, I was about to write him off to a journeyman career (and a very short one at that) when he signed up with the Phoenix Suns, his hometown team.

That' s when he started to make noises during the pre-season with his winning play. Now, just three games into the season, the Suns' starting center is already averaging a career high 19 points per game and made six three-point shots in two consecutive games. If he stays healthy and keeps up this pace throughout the season, he should be a strong contender for the Most Improved Player award on what could also be his breakout year.

His finesse game should remind Suns fans of the well-loved Boris Diaw rather than the failed experiment that was Shaquille O' Neal. Well, what Channing Frye reminded me of is to post this slightly revised version of that 2006 article that I wrote:

CHANNING FRYE
By EDWIN P. SALLAN

FOR the last two years, wearing a suit during game time before donning and taking off your playing uniform is now a strictly implemented NBA dress code. While there are players who expressed their displeasure over their inability to wear trendy hip-hop get-ups and matching bling-blings, the dress code was never an issue for New York Knick Channing Frye.

“The Knicks have a stricter dress code than other teams,” he reveals. “We’re required to wear them on the team plane and we’re required to wear them 82 games a year.”

Not that it’s ever a problem even for a lanky center who stands 6 feet 11, weighs 248 pounds and has one of the most expansive wingspans in recent NBA history. “I’m a real laid-back kind of guy so I’m very comfortable wearing suits,” Frye says. “I’m just myself and really don’t care about fashion trends. Besides, the ladies love a man who wears a good suit.”

Well, Frye who was recently in town for the annual NBA Madness 06 tour, does look like a guy who wears his suits well just as he looks very comfortable wearing his number 7 Knick jersey on the court. As a rookie, the former All-American and Arizona Player of the Year averaged an impressive 12.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 24.2 minutes a game.

But even with some equally exciting young talent around like Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford and Eddie Curry, All-Star veterans like Stephon Marbury and Steve Franchise plus a cerebral coach who recently won a championship ring with the Detroit Pistons, the Knicks, touted to make a big bang last season only managed a mere whimper after wining only a little more than 20 games and again failed to make the playoffs.

“It was hard getting used to all the losing,” he admits. “But it was always business to me as I try to give it my 110 percent. But it’s time to move on, I’m glad we’re starting over and doing the right thing.”

The “right thing” that Frye is talking about is of course, the recent firing of coach Larry Brown, who as good as he is on paper, failed to take the Knicks into the promised land—not even anywhere close to the road to NBA gold. And Frye, who mostly came off the bench as a back-up to the fading Antonio Davis (who has since faded away) was among the young players who expressed their disdain over the way they were utilized by Brown.

“I’m from Arizona and I grew up watching the Phoenix Suns and rooting for the home team but it’s definitely an honor to play for the New York Knicks and I’m glad they drafted me,” he enthuses. “Now that I’m here, I’m giving it everything I got. I’ve set goals for myself this coming season. I have to be mentally tough, take games as they come, don’t get caught up in the media and spend a lot of time in the gym.”

Frye got to display some of the form that made him pick number 8 in the NBA First Round Draft of 2005 (taken way ahead of now All-Star Danny Granger of the Indiana Pacers) in two instances during NBA Madness 06. In the basketball clinic that he and Philadelphia 76er Andre Iguodala conducted for the Special Olympic Philippines and the Bright Child Program of the Council for the Welfare of Children, Frye provided the young representatives of the two organizations a ringside experience of the so-called “NBA Magic.”

In the wildly anticipated Celebrity Jam, Frye and Iguodala both took local celebrities like Richard Gomez, Richard Gutierrez, Wendell Ramos, Antonio Aquitania and Anjo Yllana to school with a dazzling display of flashy moves and slam dunk prowess that were nothing short of awe-inspiring. His play in particular has drawn a lot of comparisons to Marcus Camby, who was a fan favorite at New York before he was traded to Denver a few years back.

“Marcus Camby is a great player and I know the fans loved him when he was here,” he says. “It’s nice to be compared to him but I’m a little taller and I’m a little longer. I’d like to make a name for myself while I’m here in the NBA and right now, I see myself as a student of the game and will always work hard to achieve my goals.” As for his own NBA heroes, he cites Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant as the ones he look up the most.

Off-court, Frye is indeed the unassuming, laid-back kind of guy that he describes himself to be. When not playing basketball, he just loves to read books, listen to music and go fishing in Wyoming. Yes, he also plays videogames, too and like Iguodala loves to play Pingpong in his Xbox 360 as well as frag everything that moves in Halo 2.

But just like Andre Iguodala, Channing Frye also doesn’t play NBA videogames at all. “You know, I should be better than what those games make me out to be,” he smilingly complains. “I shouldn’t be missing shots.”

Now watch Channing Frye in top form in a recent game against the Minnesota Timberwolves:

Remembering Rene Requiestas

WHEN Eric Ramos took over as Editor-In-Chief for MAXIM Philippines early this year, he wanted a more thematic approach for the magazine. To his credit, the succeeding issues under his watch provided a lot more substance than most people would give the magazine credit for. There was still a lot to see (if you know what I mean) but there was also a lot to read about.

Personally, I thought a comedy issue for the magazine was a great idea because as cliched as it sounds, laughter was and will always be the best medicine, which in turn should always translate to good reading.

One of my assignments was a tribute piece on the late comedian Rene Requiestas. And because it's All Souls Day today, I am posting that article that first appeared on MAXIM's June, 2009 issue. And yes, because it's MAXIM, there are plenty to laugh and yes, smile about in that particular issue, so if you can, please try to grab it and other back issues still available on Book Sale and other magazine stands. Ganda Lalake! image scanned from the magazine itself.

TOOTHLESS GRIN AND LOADS OF LAUGHS
By EDWIN P. SALLAN

FOR much of the mid-80’s to the early 90’s, the late, great Rene Requiestas provided the kind of laughs few gifted comedians are capable of. With his trademark toothless grin and real street smarts, Rene was a living cartoon character that looks hilarious enough to elicit instant chuckles without even saying a word.

Yes, he was the kind of Looney Tunes spark plug that turbo-charged just about any project he was involved with, be it TV series like Sic O’ Clock News (where he first got our attention) and Palibhasa Lalake (his brief stint as Tita Minerva’s crazy brother has got to count as some of the show’s funniest moments) or films that quickly became franchises of sorts such as the Starzan, Pido Dida and Elvis and James series.

According to the Internet Media Database or IMDB.com, the very brief film career of the one-time cigarette vendor consisted of only around 35 films from 1979 to 1993, the year he succumbed to tuberculosis. To say that Rene Requiestas continues to be missed remains an understatement as his unique brand of comedy had a lasting impact that many tried to copy (i.e. Richie D’ Horsie, Long Mejia) but was never quite duplicated as some of his more memorable screen gems will show.

Starzan: Shouting Star Of The Jungle. We all know Joey De Leon has a knack for finding and developing great talent and in Rene Requiestas, he found the perfect sidekick. In this laugh-out-loud Tarzan parody, Rene played Cheetae, loudmouth foil to Joey’s Starzan. Although more effective in small doses here and there, Cheetae was such an onscreen presence that he stole not just a few scenes but perhaps the whole movie itself from Starzan himself. When Rene first yelled, “Cheetae, ganda lalake!” followed by an echo that would reply, “Ulol! Sinungaling! Panget! Panget! Panget!..,” the film’s succeeding two sequels (Starzan 2: The Adventure Continues and Starzan III: The Jungle Triangle) were pretty much guaranteed.

Elvis and James, The Living Legends. As James Dacuycoy, Rene came out firing on all cylinders in a role that required him to not just sport a greasy pompadour but to even perform a few song and dance numbers that literally brought the moviehouses down. While Joey De Leon’s Elvis was the star of the show and its succeeding sequel, Elvis and James 2, it was Rene’s James who stole every scene he’s in. Classic sequence: When Elvis and James decided to crash a field trip wearing only their beach wear, we just couldn’t stop laughing when Elvis later carried a stiff and “frozen” James upon their tour bus’s arrival at, unbeknownst to them, Baguio City, the country's cold summer capital.

Pido Dida. Before she became a box office queen via the “massacre” route, Kris Aquino became a box office queen by legitimately eliciting laughs as Dida to Rene’s Pido in this blockbuster trilogy. Pido and Dida are orphans who grew up in the convent but later adopted by a leader of a crime of syndicate. As their adventures and misadventures continue, they later got married in Pido Dida 2: Kasal Na and Pido Dida 3: May Kambal Na. Loads of slapstick fun, this franchise proves that Rene is more than just a sidekick and can actually carry an entire movie (and its sequels) by himself.

Michael and Madonna. Made at the height of the popularity of both The King of Pop and the Material Girl, Rene is Michael to yes, Manilyn Reynes’ Madonna. Manilyn, then a cash cow for Robbie Tan’s Seiko Films was an ideal leading lady as she provided laughs of her own and together with Ogie Alcasid gave some semblance of real singing talents as well. It worked too, as Michael and Madonna 2 hit the big screen a year later, thanks also in large part to Rene’s rolling-down-the-aisle kind of humor.

Alyas Batman en Robin. Rene’s final team-up with mentor Joey De Leon turned out to be his very last film prior to his demise. Instead of playing sidekick Robin, Rene played arch-nemesis Joker who has an uncle (Panchito) that he calls, you guessed it, Tiyo Paenguin. Arguably the funniest Batman movie ever made, it is strictly played for laughs and the aptly named Joker has more than enough jokes in his arsenal to literally go out swinging. As a matter of fact, the movie has what foreigners call a bizarre ending showing Batman, Robin, Joker and Tiyo Paenguin in a “music video” performing an adaptation of Danny & The Juniors' rock and roll classic, “At The Hop.” Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger have nothing on this Joker.

And here's that "bizarre" ending of Alyas Batman en Robin:

Top 5 Free Photo Apps for iPhone

EVEN though it doesn't have a great camera compared to other current smartphones, the iPhone has a whole slew of apps that can make your photos look great. And a good number of them are absolutely free although you may need an iTunes Store account to download them. If you like taking photos with your iPhone and want to have fun with your shots even before uploading them to your computer, then here are five must-have free photo apps that you should not do without:

Photoshop Mobile. Call it a bite-size version of the standard-setting photo editor. It’s not anywhere like the Photoshop we know but you can certainly crop, rotate, change color, soft focus, sketch and other one-touch effects.

Snapbox. It’s an all-in-one solution for the weekend warrior photographer with a wide range of photo filters and effects including Auto Correction, Lomograph, Noir, and Cinema. It also does not reduce the resolution of photos it processes like other apps.

Pop Art Lite. You want your 15 minutes, then by all means Warholize your iPhone pics with this nifty application. Does one thing and does it very well. An effortless way to have fun with your pics.

Flash For Free. Because the iPhone’s camera doesn’t have its own flash, this is perhaps the next best thing. Brighten your photos especially at nighttime with this simple but must-have app.

Crop For Free. From the makers of Flash For Free, also does one thing and does it very well. You can crop your photos
multiple times without losing image quality.

And here's a review of Photoshop Mobile for iPhone:

Up Dharma Down “Rocks” 16th NU 107 Rock Awards

LIVING up to the much-anticipated show's high definition billing, Up Dharma Down, a band that "progressively blurred the lines between genres in a constantly evolving landscape” was the big winner in last night's NU 107 Rock Awards.

The genre-busting Up Dharma Down snagged the coveted Artist Of The Year, Album Of The Year for their widely-acclaimed Bipolar (no sophomore jinx there) and in a tie with Sugarfree's Ebe Dancel, Vocalist Of The Year for the foxy-looking Armi Millare, who also sang the national anthem before the main show started.

Having previously won the NU 107 Rock Awards in 2005 for the In The Raw category and again in 2006 for Best New Artist and Best Female Award (no such category this year), the band was a heavy favorite right from the get got, having garnered a total of 10 nominations this year.

While the crowd was noticeably thinner (owing perhaps to the bad weather) even as the awards returned to its well-loved venue at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, NU 107 main man Atom Henares was right on the money when he called it “one of the best Rock Awards show” in recent memory. For starters, the terrific hosting tandem of Ramon Bautista at ang napakaganda at napakabango na si (translation: and the beautiful and radiant) Iza Calzado certainly knew how to set the pace and liven up the proceedings with their mostly hilarious banter. Just about every performing artist brought their respective A game and yes, there was a moving In Memoriam portion that included a nice tribute to posthumous Hall Of Famer awardee Francis M.

But back to Up Dharma Down, their feat pretty much validated what their producer and Terno Recordings head honcho Toti Dalmacion thought about them all along. In a feature story that I wrote for IMAGINE THE GROOVE magazine on the maverick music guru, here's what Toti said about the band just shortly after the release of Bipolar.

“I guess there’s always one artist in every label where it’s like Boom! And you feel the connection right away,” he enthuses. “That’s how I felt when I first saw them at Miriam College. The sound was refreshingly different with soulful vocals even though the sound itself is not exactly soul.”

Toti is proud to declare that his relationship with Dharma has been “rosy” right from the beginning. “They have now emerged as our flagship artist along with Radioactive Sago but I think Dharma has a more crossover sound,” he beams. He is excited over the consistently rave reviews that the band has been receiving not just here but just about everywhere else. One feedback he’s particularly excited about came from Paul Buchanan (of the influential new wave group, The Blue Nile) who he considers as one of his musical heroes.

“Paul Buchanan declared Up Dharma Down as his favorite group and that’s an encouraging development since I’m already eyeing the international market for Terno,” he says.

At this year's rock awards, Up Dharma Down's performance was also a first of sorts in the sense that Armi was standing up instead of sitting down, which she usually does during their performances' entire sets. While I personally have no problem with the music itself, I've always believed their stage presence could use a big boost if Armi will lose the keyboard (you know she can still play that during recordings and just get a session musician to do those parts on stage) and just simply front the band. She certainly has the looks for it and with a little more confidence, maybe the moves, too. But then, that's just me.

Other winners last night were Peryodiko, Hilera, Rico Blanco, Sugarfree, Bamboo, Chicosci and Kamikazee. I'll talk about some of those other winners in future posts here. Meanwhile, here's the music video for “Sana” from Bipolar, directed by Pancho Esguerra who also won Best Music Video for Bamboo's “Last Days On Cruise Ship”:

Got Ovi Mail? Win Ayala Mall EGC's!

Uh, Guys,

Here's a little reward for tuning in here. I got three ways for you to win an Ayala Electronic Gift Check worth P1,000 pesos each from OVI by Nokia!

Got a best food discOVIry?

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To find out more about Ovi Mail, check out this video:

Film Review: (500) Days Of Summer

WE can romanticize, sugarcoat and read too much into it all we want but the fact of the matter is there is really no rhyme or reason when it comes to love. People fall in and out of love not because of anything but because we just wake up one day and feel what we feel towards the other person. There may be some mitigating circumstance along the way but for the most part, people just fall in and out of love. Period. Just like that.

In this refreshing and honest take on the subject, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a greeting-card writer is a hopeless romantic who found out the hard way that no matter how many times he rewinds what went wrong with his relationship with officemate Summer (Zooey Deschanel), the truth is far less, uh, philosophical, than what he would like to believe.

Bottom line and as the sound bites of the teasers, trailers and posters suggest: boy meets girl, boy falls in love, girl doesn't. She's a free spirt, however, who found him interesting enough to consent to an intimate relationship. I mean, an architecture major who writes greeting cards, listens to The Smiths, wears alternative music t-shirts like The Clash's London Calling and Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart and sings The Pixies' "Here Comes Your Man" during their company's karaoke night has to be intriguing enough for certain girls, at least for the short term.

Of course, Summer never really took the relationship as seriously as Tom obviously and intensely did. And for 500 days (that's almost one year and a half if you're doing the math), Tom carried a torch for Summer that while having its share of peaks was for the most part, filled with painful valleys. And only an actor specializing in troubled souls like Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Lookout) can effectively pull it off. "I don't want to get over her, I want to get her back," Tom told friends in a rather pathetic show of false bravado. Well, moving on was always easier said than done.

For Summer, played to, yes, free-spirited perfection by Zooey Deschanel (Yes Man), there's only one rationale why her relationships meet their rather abrupt end. "What happened?," Tom asks about one of them. "What always happens: life," she matter-of-factly replies. She probably meant well and still haven't found what she was looking for when he came along. But for the most part, she was just bad news who almost drove him over the edge when she broke his heart in cold-blooded fashion.

With a non-linear narrative and an edgy, indie feel reminiscent of last year's Juno, (500) Days of Summer has cult classic written all over it. It is certainly far more original than the deluge of chick flicks like The Proposal, Management and The Ugly Truth that we've been swamped with as of late. The feature length debut of music video director Marc Webb channels both Wes Anderson and Jason Reitman in a very special way.

And with a big-voiced narrator that sounds like James Earl Jones (or is it Darth Vader?) and an equally engaging soundtrack that combines old favorites (Hall & Oates, Simon & Garfunkel, The Smiths) with emerging indie sensations (The Temper Trap, Doves, Black Lips and Zooey Deschanel's own She & Him), this "non-love story" that views love from a largely male point of view works in a way that can nonetheless be enjoyed by both sexes and should merit its mention alongside Singles, Reality Bites and Before Sunrise as all-time favorites of next generation hopeless romantics. As one reviewer correctly pointed out, it's not just bitter or sweet but, yes, everything in between.

(500) Days Of Summer is currently showing at a theater near you.