The one thing Up Dharma Down’s Armi Mallari, Philpop finalist Yumi Lacsamana and rapper Sheyee have in common is a shared love for music. The three accomplished performers are set to judge at this year’s Greenwich #UltimateBandkada competition where up for grabs is prize money worth P100,000.00 and a recording deal with a major music label.
Just as the best and most creative combination of toppings can create the best pizza flavors, Greenwich believes that the best musical groups are those who can perfectly mash-up different genres to create new tunes. With this in mind, they launched The #UltimateBankada Search to encourage young Filipinos to show off their unmatched creativity. The top eight finalists were recently announced and are currently on a music boot camp with mentors from the music industry such as Thyro, The Juans and Donnalyn who will teach them how to be an overall performer.
Two of these lucky finalists are Alab and Happy Ending.
Banking on their burning passion for their craft, versatility and years of experience playing music as their edge, Alab, a band composed of Jaworski Sison (vocals), Butch Bantog (guitar), Charles Lumahan (bass), Rickson Ruiz (drums), and Beejay Valera (trumpet and guitar) is one of the eight hopefuls in the final round of season two of the Greenwich Ultimate Bandkada Search.
“The band has been together for two years only but us as a barkada, since we were kids,” said Jawo. Now that they’re a little older and have their own careers outside of music, the members of the group see making sweet tunes as a way to distress, relax, and ultimately, strengthen their friendship. “Playing together is how we bond,” he adds.
The band boasts a unique sound which they like to jokingly call “pogi rock”—a style that is uniquely theirs, one that’s “pogi ’yung tunog at ’yung lyrics.” Put simply, it’s like a boy band but rock. Some of their biggest music influences include Southborder, Rivermaya, Eraserheads, and ‘90s favorites Hanson and The Moffats. When it comes to their favorite go-to jam session songs, they admit they love rocking to Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and even John Mayer.
The group, who put an electronic-rock spin on Miley Cyrus’ hit “Wrecking Ball” for their audition, joined the competition to gain more experience and exposure in the music industry. Of course, the end goal is to bag the title as the Greenwich Ultimate Bandkada. And how exactly do they plan to do that? “Enjoy lang, you don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not. Be yourself, and let your music speak for you,” he adds.
For the band, Happy Ending, lead singer Perlin Huberit sees themselves as friends who perform rather than as a musical group. The tight bond between the band’s members Mervin Madio (bass), Jeric Manuel (drums), Revirr Montezor (rhythm, guitar), Primitivo Bacurio (guitar), and Perlin are what they hope will lead them into bagging first place for this year. The group was established in 2012, but since then, members have been in and out for different reasons. “Some of our members had to work [outside of music], but we decided to continue and pursue our passion,” adds Perlin.
After spotting the callout for auditions on their Facebook feeds, they decided to give it a shot and play one of their original songs during the auditions. “We play a lot of our original songs. We write from experience, from what we feel, from what other people feel and go on from there,” he adds.
The men of Happy Ending plan on enjoying the journey throughout the competition. Winning aside, they aim to champion OPM and inspire more generations of musicians.
On Sept. 10, the top 8 finalists will be perform a mashup of a Greenwich theme song using two different genres at Valkyrie Nightclub in Bonifacio Global City.
Find out more about season two of the Greenwich Ultimate Bandkada by visiting the official website www.ultimatebandkada.com.