New Beginning!

Here comes a new slate.New opportunities coming our way.Let's get our nets ready to catch em.Hope all of us have a great new year!Let's learn from our mistakes and start anew.Pray that we make better decisions and just have a fuller life.HAPPY NEW YEAR friends!and GOD BLESS!Wooh!So many food so little time!Cheers!

-darwin

Holiday Cheer!!!

Well one Holiday come and gone again and another one to follow in just a few days.I had a pretty nice Christmas,some relatives came over from the states and I got some goodies so it was pretty cool.I wonder what the guys did for Christmas?I actually haven't seen any of them since our last gig.Well Earl and Bets did come over to borrow some stuff but that was last week.I bet they had a blast this Christmas.They texted me to greet me a Happy Christmas.Thanks guys!Sorry I couldn't reply,I didn't have credits to send anything.Hope we all got some good stuff this Christmas,material and spiritual.We all just gotta keep our heads up and not give in to the hindrances in our paths.And always keep a prayer ready because a lot of the time it's what we can really survive on.Believe me,it's real!I've seen prayers answered many many times.It just takes some time but He gets around for us no matter what.Now we just need to pray that there will be a lot more good stuff for us in the new year.As Bon Jovi said,keep the faith,no matter who or what you have faith in.Cheers and Happy Holidays!

-darwin

My Errands

I am so freakingly tired!i have been doing my errands all day.Ive visited almost 10 different places and I dont think im still close to reaching my goal.I'd like to thank those who have helped me with my errands though,you're very kind people for lending me a hand.I just hope all this trouble is worth it.thanks again!off to do more errands!

-darwin

The short break...

Well,after a great few weeks for the band,we are now resting once again.But not for long.We have some upcoming gigs that will bring back the awesome in our lives.For the meantime,we can focus on other things for a while.Namely,prepare for Christmas!It's a jolly jolly season again.I love this season,no matter how difficult life gets,Christmas never fails to cheer me up.It really makes me feel like a kid again.And what I remember about being a kid was that I always had happy thoughts whenever Christmas was near.Thoughts of getting new stuff,thoughts of eating good food,thoughts of getting to see old friends and relatives again,and thoughts of spending great moments with all my loved ones.Of course now it's become a little more complicated.Now I have to think of the thoughts of those who are feeling the same.Namely my little godchildren and cousins and other family members who all expect to get something good from me.Well at least the kids do,the grownups know I don't have much anyway.But I do my best to fulfill their expectations.I always seem to pull through.Thank God!And hopefully I can plan something out again this year.Just got to have a lot of plans,from A to Z.fortunately,I usually don't have to reach plan C.But whatever happens,I try my best to keep that youthful thought inside me throughout this season.It keeps me smiling even when the world around me frowns and complains a lot.I just wish I can keep that thought all through the year.I wish that all of us can do that.It would certainly be a better world.That's all for now.See you at the gigs!Cheers!

-Darwin

The Awesome Adventures of the Siege Survivors part 4

And so, on to the last chapter.After a wild day and night in Bacolod we finally reached the final stop to the Tower of Doom Siege Tour in the visayas,Iloilo.But not without mentioning some interesting stuff that happened in between the two cities (literally).Remember when Marts and Corpz had that interesting powow at the docks?And how Marts finally got some sleep to reboot his body and, more importantly, his brain?Well he was actually lucky he did.Because what happened to Corpz was just as crazy as what happened to Marts,just not as scandalous.Well as we were all too distracted with Marts and his more than peculiar behaviour,we didn't pay much attention to Corpz on the roro.I was actually sitting next to him as he sat there asleep even leaning against my shoulder a couple of times which made me have to nudge him every now and then so he would sit up.Then Niche saved me by actually letting Corpz rest his head on his shoulder (thanks Niche).Then I actually fell asleep as well and so did most of the guys.When we woke up we were already at the Iloilo docks and we slowly walked off the roro.Then we all went on the bus quietly as we were all still groggy from the trip.We were fully awake when Marts made his presence known again though.But yeah,we went on our way to our next hotel.And we were all still distracted by Marts on the whole trip.I noticed that Corpz wasn't in his seat but I just assumed he took a seat in the back well away from Marts and just tried to relax myself.It was when we got to the hotel that we all heard the news.It turns out Corpz did get off the roro with us but didn't get on the bus.He was still too wasted and sleepy that he thought we were still at the Bacolod docks!So he actually went back on the roro we were on and went to sleep.He called up one of the Perlas Brothers to tell them that he was back in Bacolod.It was just friggin funny!!!(well at the time) Well fortunately,he did get back with us after taking another boat ride to Iloilo.I bet he didn't sleep all the way to the hotel that time hehe.He even delivered our lunches to our room.He didn't oblige answering any questions though so we cut him some slack.But he's just got to accept that what happened to him will be burned in our minds forever =P

Ok now that was over we finally got back on track,we had lots of time to spare when we woke up so I decided to go out to see what was there to see in Iloilo,or at least what was near our hotel.Aj,Earl and Jem went to get massages at the hotel spa.I decided to spend my money on souvenirs.I passed Garon (of Cog and OBS) in the lobby and asked if he wanted to come.So he agreed and we went out to find pasalubongs at the shops nearby.We bought some native handicraft items at a shop right in front of the hotel then Garon decided to buy a security guard's hat at a uniform shop nearby.That hat was a great idea because we all had a great time with it later at the gig.

And so,after walking for almost half an hour we decided to head back to the hotel.I went with Garon to their room to see how the OBS guys were doing.Thats when we saw Rogel,we told him about the stuff we bought and then he decided he wanted to go out too.And he wanted me to come with him.So I did,and we went around again. We even bumped into some of the Bloodshedd boys.Then after almost half an hour again we decided to head back.I finally get back to our room and find Adi,a camera crew and a couple of the AMS boys toying with the still dumbfounded Marts.Then AJ and the others come in a few minutes later and they decided that they wanted to explore the surroundings too.So I go out with them,again.We went to the public market and bought some local delicacies and we got to eat some good Bachoy!It was cheap and tasty!

And after filling ourselves up and giving our wallets a good workout we finally went back to the hotel to prepare for the gig.

A couple hours later we board the bus again and we head to our venue.A quaint little bar which was hot as hell!Then as we settled in the band area it started to rain.We were all thinking one thing,this must be that typhoon we were trying to avoid.We thought the night was ruined,but a few minutes later the rain stopped.Maybe it was just a way of getting the kids loitering outside to finally come into the place.And they did,and they just kept on coming.I don't know how many kids there were but I know there was way more than a hundred!And that was the best sign we could ever ask for.It was just what we needed to get pumped up to play.And we didn't fail those kids.Every single TOD band played their hearts out!And those kids had the time of their lives!It was the perfect end to a perfect tour!But it wasn't over yet...

After the sets,after the partying and after a lot of pictures and autographs we went back on the bus and headed for the hotel.We were all still catching our breathes when Carlo got on the mic and made his announcements. He congratulated us for our great sets and for being the TRUE Siege Tour Survivors!Then he began to tell us about some good and bad news even asking us what we wanted to hear first.We asked for the bad of course,he told us that the boat ride home to Manila would take almost 22 hours and that we would have to leave very early.Then we asked for the good news.He tells us that we weren't going to take the boat anyway!We just got so wild that we started a mosh pit right in the middle of that tight bus!Some of my bandmates,AMS boys and OBS boys just piled up on top of each other in the aisle!I could hear Earl blissfully screaming in pain at the bottom of the heap.It was hilarious!!!Then Carlo got us to relax again as he wasn't finished giving out news.He then goes on to tell us that we all still had to wake up early,some moans went out at some corners of the bus.Then he continues to tell us that it was because we were going to the white sand beaches of Gimaras to celebrate!That just ignited another body pile!Everyone just went crazy!Then we finally got off the bus and back to our rooms.Some of the guys and I decided to grab some late night snacks at Ted's.What a great idea,the food was awesome!P80 for a bowl of their famous Batchoy with a side of rice and sisig and a drink!Sulit!We went back to the hotel very happy indeed!

After getting some much-needed sleep,we got up and got ready to leave for Gimaras.We rushed to get into the bus with the excitement of getting to the beaches.We really didn't know what to expect.We got to the docks almost around noon and we boarded these big bangkas.Because we all couldn't fit in one we had to split up into two boats.Then we were off.The scenery was just beautiful,we took lots of pics of course.And our boat even had a radio so we had music on board.We got to our beach after almost two hours and we could almost taste the sand when we bumped into some trouble.It turned out we got there during low tide and we couldn't get the boats all the way to the shore.Our boat even got stuck on the rocks.So the locals got some smaller bangkas to pick us up and get us to the beach three people at a time.We all got to the beach safely.There we got to swim and party the whole afternoon and enjoyed a feast of lechon and pancit.Then it was time to head back to catch our flight to Manila.We went back to the big boats the same way we got off them.The smaller boats brought us onboard the bigger ones.Everyone on our boat got on pretty smoothly inspite of Tatel (of VOC) almost losing his head on the side of our boat.It was the other boat who had the unlucky customers.When Garon,Gil & Rommel(of SIN) and a couple of the bouncers were trying to get on their big boat they accidently tipped over their small boat and they all fell in the water along with their bags (which contained some PSP's and Cellphones).But they managed to hang on to the side of their big boat so none of them got seriously hurt.Rommel got a small injury though,I think he hurt his shoulder when he fell and he had trouble getting on the boat.But after that the rest got on safely and we were on our way back to the docks again.

Our boat went ahead and we decided to pass shots of rhum around.Before we knew it we were dancing to the new wave and dance tunes that were playing on the radio.Everyone on our boat was dancing!Even Cha (of SIN) danced for the cameras!Then the boat operators decided to give us some more room to dance so they took out the wooden seats in the middle of the boat.We just danced that whole trip away.I think Macoy (of SIN) wasn't enjoying it as much as we were though in fear that we might tip our boat over as well.He even wore a lifejacket!But I can't blame him.I can't swim either,but I was so intoxicated I didn't care if I did fall in the sea!When the other boat caught up with us we just couldn't help but notice their grimm ambiance.Well some of their occupants did have an accident but that didn't stop us from giving them a hard time =P We were all intoxicated by this time so we started to yell at them that they had a boring boat!We didn't think they'd yell back but they did.Heckling us that we had bakla on board.We just yelled back "bakla kami!" then after a couple more yells and dances we reached the docks.And we were late for our flight!We hurried to the bus as quickly as we could and the driver just drove us to the airport as fast as he could.We did get to the airport and we did fly back to Manila.And there we parted ways.And there the Siege Tour became another wonderful memory for all of us.One that we will pass on to our sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters.The greatest adventure of our lives!...




so far.



CHEERS!

-Darwin

The Awesome Adventures of the Siege Survivors part 3

Daybreak at Dumaguete's Forest Camp was actually very pleasant.The fresh air did wonders for our restless bodies.It took a while till everyone actually got out of bed because we became rather cozy in the cabins.It would've been perfect if they provided massages hehe.

And so we finally got up to get some breakfast,nothin special really,a buffet of rice,eggs and hotdogs but it was good and it hit the spot.Then we went to get ready for our next journey.But as soon as some of the guys and I were packed,we took the spare time to really explore the camp.We got to take some nice pics of the natural beauty of the place.The hanging bridge was kinda scary to walk on coz it got wobbly but It was a great place to take pictures of the surroundings especially the waterfalls and the stream.And after a lot of pics we finally got on the bus again and went off to our next destination,Bacolod!

We were pretty excited to reach Bacolod,well we were pretty excited to be anywhere I guess.Dumaguete was just too relaxing a place for us and It was kinda good to know that Bacolod would at least be a more active place.And we were very right!

When we got to our hotel in Bacolod we were several hours behind schedule and we had a very limited time to spend in our rooms.And the Perlas Brothers gave us some bad news.Apparently there was a typhoon coming in the next day and it would likely affect the roro activities which was our means of getting to our next destination,Iloilo.And we needed to wait for news from the coast guard if they would even allow the roro's to operate.But we still had to leave for the docks very early.We did get to eat though,it was some tasty stuff,I just wish I knew what it was hehe.But it was still good =P especially the side of chopsuey!haha!long live chopsuey!Although our time there was limited,it was the night that would transform some of the guys.It was the night of the party people!

We went to the venue after dinner and what a venue it was.It was a huge club and we were seated on the second floor which overlooked the stage and the floor downstairs.A great view for taking pictures,especially when the show starts.Bacolod people are impressive,and very talented.The local bands who opened that night were some of the best we've had on the tour.We even gave them a well-earned standing ovation.They were that good!I apologize for not remembering their names though,sorry I was kinda distracted by the music to notice them introduce themselves.

We were the first TOD band to play and I felt kinda intimidated by the openers,especially coming from a couple previous lemon performances.But thank goodness we played a great set and we got the kids all warmed up.A little too warm actually.They didn't stop moshing till all the bands were done.The most memorable set would be VOC's but not because they did something radical but because someone from the audience did.I guess the mosh pit got too hot for one of the kids because he decided to take his clothes off.It was as if moses parted the red sea when the others tried to avoid that one kid's flying wingwang!Not even the bouncers knew what to do at first.Everyone was just surprised at the sight of him and his minime!But they eventually got him under control and into clothes and Rogel got his composure back and actually continued to sing again.

After the gig we had the chance to mingle with the Bacolod people and let me tell you,they are some of the nicest people we've met on the tour.They were just really friendly.We got to make lotsa new friends that night and got a lot of pics taken.Betong and Earl even lost their shirts.But alas the time came to get back to the hotel and soon be on our way to the uncertain fate of our iloilo stop.

At the hotel,we didn't get a chance to sleep.So some of the guys decided to drink their time away.And one special dude actually drank more than enough.Marts from OBS just got so wasted!He was running all over the place,coming into the rooms and jumping on the beds.He even went in our room several times where I was lying on the bed watching tv and jumped on me.And that guy is friggin heavy too!After the second time he jumped me I just decided to hang outside and avoid certain injury.Then it was time to go to the roro docks where we had to wait a couple more hours.But we sure didn't get bored there,thanks to Marts again.

Im not sure who's idea it was to pit two already piss-drunk guys into a drinking bet.Basically it was Marts of OBS versus Corps (Corpuz as Marts called him) of the TOD crew and the bet was who would last longer on the roro after drinking several more shots of rhum before the trip.Everything started really fun.The two were trashtalking each other and both took some shots of rhum.It wasn't until Corps lost his temper due to Mart's extreme trashtalking that things almost got ugly.We eventually subdued them both before anything physical happened but Marts was on fire.He didn't stop trashtalking (or talking in general) for the whole damn trip to iloilo!Yes we did get to iloilo fortunately but with the expense of having a drunken retard with us all the way.(Sorry Marts,you were a drunken retard eh =P) When we finally got to our hotel in iloilo we rushed to our rooms to get some much needed sleep.We had bunk beds and I got to sleep on the top one right next to the aircon,what a healthy choice of sleeping area.Then as we were about to get some rest in comes Marts looking like a TRex dinosaur with a blank stare in his eyes.Aj points him to the bed right below mine and he just crashed into it and thank God Almighty,he was out!And we all got some nice relaxing sleep,FINALLY!

We woke up late afternoon and were still lying in our beds when Marts suddenly sat up and asked us "Asan tayo?" He had no idea where he was or how he got there and what the hell he did!It was hilarious telling him the whole story!And he didn't believe some of the stuff we told him but when he got the story from the others he was just dumbfounded.Let's just say we he won't be getting wasted anytime soon.
Bacolod was a great and memorable stop,and we really hope we can go back there again soon!Thank you Bacolod kids!

Tune in for the last chapter next post!Cheers!

-Darwin

The Awesome Adventures of the Siege Tour Survivors part 2

Ok so after a very forgettable performance we went back to the hotel to gather our thoughts and reflect on what happened,which didn't take long because we all got hungry!So we decided to take a walk to Larsians, its like a hotspot for people who have a hunger for awesome grilled food. Again we ate a lot,whats new right?hehe. Then we rested up. We got about 2 or 3 hours of sleep before we were awakened by Scott who brought in our breakfast.Then after eating we gathered our gear and got on the trusty bus again.Then we went on our way to the roro docks to Dumaguete which took so friggin long!I didn't really count the hours, all I know is that I could not sleep on the way there.We did several pit stops before we reached the docks.Then we all went down to stretch.We spotted a small carinderia and before we knew it,we were lining up to get some lunch!The food wasnt much but it hit the spot.We needed it for the roro ride.

And so after filling up our tummies, we went to fill the roro.We all got on before our bus and took our places at the passenger area.Then they loaded our bus on board which took half the space of the roro.When the roro went off everyone was psyched,but when the waves started pounding that was when people felt the ride.Some guys got motion sickness and just decided to sit down quietly and tried to hold their lunches in.Which was pretty hard because the roro was swaying all over.There was nowhere to feel stable or steady.After hour or more we reached the dumaguete port and everyone rushed to get down.especially the affected guys.I guess the bonamin took too long to kick in =P

Then after everyone got their composure (and balance) back we went in the bus again and went off to find our next hotel.Which turned out to be another long ride.But at last we reached a restaurant which was owned by our street team organizer.They had a buffet ready for us.And just in time too, coz I think we digested everything we ate on the trip there.Then after another food frenzy we finally went to our hotel,or should I say the jungle.Because thats kind of where we went.It was a place called Forest Camp,(yes,we joked around the forrest gump thing)It was a beautiful place.lush greenery all around.The cottages we stayed in were nice too.Complete with a terrace where we could see more trees and parts of what looked like a pool.And you can hear the rushing flow of waterfalls in the distance.We rested up a little then we went to explore,some of the guys went to go swimming in the pools.The water came from the nearby river.I took the camera so I could take some shots of the guys wearing a shirt and my boxers.When I got there they were all having fun.The bouncers throwing some of them into the pools.Andrew looked like simba when the bouncer raised him up.Then I saw Odin taking pics as well,he was in full gear too.shirt,jeans and shoes.Then he asked me if I was gonna take a dip,but I was in my boxers.He said so was he then I said Id swim if he did.Long story short,we dove in in our boxers hehe.And damn that water was cold!really cold.You'd think your body would get used to the temperature in a few minutes but It never did.But we didnt care,we stayed in that water till nightfall.Had some fun in the falls.Aaron and Andrew kept getting swept away by the tide.Then we all went back to our cabins.Where we all started to sneeze and cough a lot.We all got sick haha!

After drying ourselves up we got ready for the gig.We were all excited to give an awesome show for everyone and to make up for what I did in Cebu.Then we got to the venue.I forgot what it was called but it was basically an open area with a bar and grill I guess.And some pool tables which we played on after our performances.Everything was alright until we saw the turn out.It wasn't much.I dont think there was even 60 or 70 people present.We were kind of dissapointed.But we still played like it was the biggest rock show ever!The kids weren't very active either.But i guess thats how they are there.So we just wrapped up the night and got back on the bus.Then just as we were about to leave,some crazy-ass guy gets on the bus and starts screaming "God Bless you Siege Tour!" again and again.Then we just humoured him and said thanks.Then he introduced himself as the "SUICIDE BOMBER".Thats when we wish he would just get off right away haha.He did get off eventually,and he didn't blow up.

So the show went well even without the expected turnout.We went back to the camp and got some well-needed sleep.And the next day will be on the next post.Cheers!

-Darwin

The Awesome Adventures of the Siege Survivors part 1

Well the visayas leg of the Tower of Doom Siege Tour has officially been concluded, and let me tell you, it has got to be one of the greatest rock tours ever in Philippine History!Ok maybe at least for all of us who were in it...This leg of the tour brought many first for a lot of us.From first plane rides to first swedish massages or just coming to the places we went to for the first time.But let me start from the beginning.

We all met up at the airport at 4am last wednesday. And after a lot of hi's and hi-fives we went to check in for our flight which actually took longer than expected because we were all just goofing around the ticketing area taking pictures and joking about how the airline staff would react to seeing such a diverse crowd of passengers.imagine the horror of two nuns getting their tickets and then seeing big guys with long hair,beards,tattoos and dressed in metal shirts like slayer,kreator and cradle of filth and thinking they would have to share the plane with them.well unfortunately they were on a different flight. So after all the necessary procedures we finally got on the plane. I guess the two flight attendants didn't expect anything like us on the flight because we got so rawdy that the other passengers started to complain,too bad we outnumbered them so we just got our way.It was the first plane ride for some of the guys so a lot of pictures were taken even during take off when it was supposedly not allowed to have electronic equipment on but like I said,we outnumbered them.Oh,and we had bouncers!(Even Rex,the bouncer who looked like he-man couldve beaten everyone on the plane up on his own!)

And so after a quick but memorable flight we arrived in mactan airport where our surprisingly small bus picked us up.After cramming everyone and everything on the bus (there was about 38 or more of us and our gear double that) we went off to our hotel where we just unpacked and rested a little then we went out to see what was there to see. Earl,Bets,Jem and I went to Tabo-an where they sold Cebuano dried goods to buy pasalubong for our families.Then after a lot of dried mangoes and otap we went to get some grub. We spotted some people eating on the sidewalk near our hotel so we checked it out. It was basically just a man with a couple tupperware containers which contained some puso(rice wrapped in banana leaf) and some fried breaded varieties of meat. We tried it out and it was a great idea,we quenched our hunger for under P30!Believe me we ate a lot!

So after a taste of the local food we went back to the hotel to rest up for the gig.And around 8pm we went to the venue which was NUVO bar.By the time the first front act took the stage the place was packed!I got to chat with one of the locals and she told me that it was actually always like this when there was a rock show which made it extra cool!We kinda had nothing to worry about.So there we were waiting for our set to come,the bands that came before us gave kickass performances!The kids were slammin the mosh pit and just made us more excited to play.And then we were up.We set up our gear, did our intro/soundcheck and prepared to play our first song,"the test",everyone in the bar focused on us.Then Jem counted down on the hi-hats,1-2-3-4 and then...DISASTER!!!!I friggin played the wrong part!And I did a whole friggin bar too!then I noticed the guys lookin at me like they smelled shit.That was when I realized I messed up!I just froze!then I finally caught up to what they were playing!It was probably the worst thing that couldve happened that night.Something I didn't even expect.I didn't know what I was thinking,I felt like a total moron!So after that we basically just tried to wrap up our set as fast and as unhumiliating as we can but I guess God wanted to punish me more,again I fudged up on our last song,it was our staple song too!"Thea"!And at the beginning again!This time I wasn't playing in sync with the tempo of the drums.I stank up that set and single-handedly ruined our first ever gig in Cebu!I guess we can kiss any chance of us getting invited there again goodbye.But hey,we move on.And moved on we did.And thats gonna come up on my next entry.until then,CHEERS!

-Darwin

Kaguluhan Festival!

Ok hands down,I declare that the kaguluhan festival has got to be the rawdiest show we've ever been privileged enough to play!Cavite kids are damn crazy!!!It was like a metal show in the states!they were moshing and dancing and shouting and stage diving all night!Even when we played our slower songs they still didn't stop moshing!And there were a LOT of them too!I got word that almost a thousand kids showed up all ready to riot!The good thing was that even though they were crazy they were still respectful to us, although I heard some people lost some belongings (Rommel of Sin lost his pedal power supply,you turn your back not even a few seconds and you can lose a lot!darn!)But Im glad I didn't lose anything this time!And Im more glad that we all got home safe!Thanks to that damn saulog bus and it's damn friggin roadhungry driver hahaha!Next stop,CEBU!See yah soon!

-Darwin

Ready for the next attack!!!

Wooh just a few more days and we're off to the visayas leg of the 2008 Siege Tour! Each passing day just makes me so excited! I can't wait to play for all the fans down south, but for the meantime INK and VOC will warm up for the tour tomorrow in Cavite for the Kaguluhan Festival! The title says it all, it will be a wild one! I just hope it will be safe as well. Y'all wish us the best ok!We'll see you in the mosh pit!!!

-Darwin

Siege TRIP!!!

We just got back from the Tower of Doom Siege Tour Northern LegTRIP, all who didn't come you missed half your lives!!! or maybe just a few hoursTRIP =P Sobrang nagpakasirauloTRIP kami dito hehe. I borrowed my gf's camTRIP so I got to take a load of picsTRIP! The pictures speak for themselves but they will never capture the true essenceTRIP and funTRIP of the TourTRIP! You really had to be there. From the boxing matchTRIP between Charles and Conrad, to the invention of a trend of adding the word TRIP to everything you do. Like im doing right now, BLOGTRIP!!! Kaya dapat pag may nabilataan na SIEGE TOUR pumunta kayoTRIP!!! Ayus TRIP! =P TRIP!


-Darwin Trip

First Leg of the Siege Tour!!!In the History books!

Home sweet home again,just got back from the first leg of the siege tour which took us from Naga to Laguna in four days!And what an awesome four days it was!Thank you to Conrad of Boy Elroy for playing bass for us this whole leg,you the man bro!Thank you to Los and Diego of OBS,Tim of AMS and everyone else who helped us in our set in Laguna when Betong lost his voice! Thank you to all those people who came to the shows and partied with us through the night,now you can call yourselves true siege survivors!But that's just the tip of the ice berg,there's still many miles to go for us and that's coming up this week!So get ready Baguio,Dagupan,Olongapo and Bulacan because we're gonna drop the Siege on you soon!!!
PEACE!

-Darwin

Here it Comes!

The 2008 Siege Tour is ever so closer now!In a day's time actually!Im blogging about it now because my bandmates and I will be going early to Manila tomorrow to do some last minute jamming with our session bassist, Conrad who sings for Boy Elroy and plays bass for Plane Divides the Sky both of which will also play on the tour.We just hope we cover everything we need to deliver great sets for the tour.Then we'll (try to) get a good night's sleep and in the morning we'll be on our way to the first stop of the tour (Quezon Province I think) and hopefully we'll have a great start. Pray for us guys!Pray that the tour goes smoothly and that it will be one of the greatest tours EVAAH!!!

-darwin

New Breed of Crapheads!

So, after going thru hell from losing my cellphone to a pickpocket you'd think I could move on and hope for better things. Well, I did move on a little bit. I decided to use my old Globe sim for a while and everything went well until I found out some Sh*thead found a way to steal my load! And he (or maybe even she) even had the nerve to text me and insult me and even sent crap messages to my girlfriend! So I trashed that sim and bought a new and authentic one from the Globe shop and I found out that I wasn't the only victim of these load thieves! Turns out Globe has a hole in their system and they still don't know how to prevent these hackers from stealing our cellphone loads. Well Im using the new Globe sim now but im being careful on how im loading it up. You gotta be careful with where you get your prepaid loads. The safest way would be to just buy prepaid cards instead of getting autoloads at some corner store or street stall. But it's still not an assurance. I guess to survive something like this you just have to have a backup sim ready preferably from another network. Well hope you all learned something from this informative entry of mine. Believe me, it's based on experience!Be safe!

-Darwin

Chaos!

What an unforgettable weekend, especially for me. We played the Red horse Rakrakan gig last saturday at Kublai's in Katipunan. The place was packed!So many kids were in the mosh pit that it got so friggin hot that you'd lose a couple of pounds from sweating while trying to get to the restrooms. Unfortunately I lost more than that on the way to pee. Amidst the freakingly crowded floor were vultures of thieves. On the way to the restroom someone stole my beloved cellphone! What hassle! What an asshole whoever that was who took it! And how stupid of me to be so careless! Well I can at least be sure on one thing, mamamatay din yung kumuha!!!...someday hehe. Well my phone wasn't really that flashy,what made it priceless was that it was a birthday gift from my girlfriend. And it just feels terrible to lose something so imporant to me, well like I said MAMAMATAY din yun! At least we still played an awesome set, the kids were awesome too.Singing and moshing to our songs. Sorry to that one kid who wanted my pick, I would've given it to you if you didn't try to steal it from my hand while I was still playing! Have some respect bro! But despite all that happened, I'd still play an event like that. It was still an awesome night! Thanks to our friends who cheered me up that night! You still Rock! And to all who read this blog, you rock the most! Thank you! See you on the SIEGE TOUR!!!

-Darwin

Happy days ahead!

This is so cool! Check out our gig sched for the next couple months!

11 Oct 2008 imbuenokudos @ Kublai’s Bar (rakrakan series)
23 Oct 2008 imbuenokudos @ quezon province (SIEGE TOUR 08)
24 Oct 2008 imbuenokudos @ naga city gym (SIEGE TOUR 08)
25 Oct 2008 imbuenokudos @ la corona,lipa batangas (SIEGE TOUR 08)
26 Oct 2008 imbuenokudos @ venue bar,calamba laguna (SIEGE TOUR 08)
30 Oct 2008 imbuenokudos @ baguio (SIEGE TOUR 08)
31 Oct 2008 imbuenokudos @ dagupan astrodome (SIEGE TOUR 08)
1 Nov 2008 imbuenokudos @ lincoln masonic temple (SIEGE TOUR 08)
2 Nov 2008 imbuenokudos @ power plant bar, malolos bulacan(SIEGE TOUR 08)
8 Nov 2008 imbuenokudos @ kaguluhan festival, cavite
12 Nov 2008 imbuenokudos @ SIEGE TOUR 2008 cebu
13 Nov 2008 imbuenokudos @ SIEGE TOUR 2008 dumaguete
14 Nov 2008 imbuenokudos @ SIEGE TOUR 2008 bacolod
15 Nov 2008 imbuenokudos @ metal mania rock bar,ilo ilo
21 Nov 2008 imbuenokudos @ manila homecoming show (SIEGE TOUR 08)
22 Nov 2008 imbuenokudos @ Olongapo (venue TBA)

see you there!!!

-darwin

Homecoming!

Hot damn!After almost a year INK got the chance to play in our hometown of Olongapo again! And what an awesome night it was. We were just overwhelmed by the support given to us from our hometown friends. The house was packed and when we took the stage the floor was all faces just happy to see us. It was just a very heart-warming experience. It was a night for all Olongapeños to be proud of. We have come a long way and we're taking Olongapo with us!KAMPAI!

-Darwin

Birthday SUPPLIES!!!=P

What a weekend it was, had a couple gigs that pretty much went well even though we had a session drummer again. We had the honor of having Donnie of Concrete Sam play drums for us and what a drummer he is. Surprisingly he already knew our songs pretty well so when we practiced we really just ran through the songs a few times then we just jammed around after. Then we went to a friend's place for a bon voyage party for a close friend of ours.Mama Shi take care in Singapore ok!Keep in touch!Send us clothes hahaha!

Ok, so after getting stuffed with chicken rosemary and baked mac we headed to the first gig, It started pretty good until some kids began fighting outside the bar and almost half of the people inside went out to watch while we were playing, talk about an action-packed night! After that we left for the next gig which was at our good friend, Ms. Mona "Arcee" Muñoz' new bar. Which turned out to be a surprise birthday gig for our vocalist, Betong, who celebrated his birthday a couple days before. But unknown to the people there it was actually my birthday that night and it became a party for both of us and everyone else who had september birthdays.So we had cake that night and a lot of fun!

Then the next day I spent the whole day with my girlfriend and she gave me an awesome gift!She knew I needed a new phone so that's just what I got!How I love her for her thoughtfullness =) Well all in all it was a great weekend. Things are looking up!See you this Thursday at Saguijo!Cheers!

-darwin

The Return...

It's been quite a while since my last post. Well hey, what's new right? I can now say INK has been going in super slow motion. And we're paying for it bigtime! We seem to be on the brink. We already had a very serious band meeting after our last gig and we have made plans of what we have to do to survive this recent storm in our musical lives. But only time will tell if we will be successful or not. We only have ourselves and our very few true friends to rely on now. It is a ruthless industry. A band can lose a lot in just a few weeks of passiveness, or should I say non-existency? We need to take drastic measures. Sorry in advance. You'll know who you are coz you'll feel it.

-Darwin

Haller!

Hiya friends! Just got back from Manila again, home sweet home. And just in the nick of time because it turns out there's a new typhoon in town. Good thing it's got good timing. Well our gig with our new sessionist drummer JC (effinboiche) went pretty well despite us only practising one time right before the gig haha! Still had a great time! Shout out to JC for a job well done =) And to all the people we got to hang out with this weekend, thank you for a very very awesome time! A huge THANK YOU to Komiksboi for letting us crash, eat and do our business at his place and for hosting a kickass gig and to Rich boy Macoy (AMS) for letting us hang and party at their humble mansion all night long! REDBOY loves you man!haha! Just some of the reasons why we love what we do. Also, grab a copy of the August issue of MEG magazine! We have a small feature there complete with photo/s =P





-darwin

Coming Soon...

Wooh!Only a few more days and we take the stage again. I'm kinda nervous though, we're gonna have a session drummer because Jem has work this weekend. Just gotta be sure we practice before we go to the gig. Just check out our myspace page for our gig scheds! See you there!

I'll leave you with a random pic.Enjoy! =P

Creation

Just got back from Manila again and we had a blast! Thanks to all the people that came to the UR gig at Kampai and Tetra pack's production at LV kamuning. It just felt so good to play again and hang out with our friends. Looking forward for a lot more of that.

Well aside from the gigs, we also started to work on new material for our next dish. We decided to go on a rather technical direction but it's not gonna be that far from what we've already done in the past. It is gonna get heavier though, I promise you that. We have several "skeletons" of new songs just waiting to be completed but we're gonna take it a little slower this time. On the last album we actually had to finish over 10 songs in just a month or so and we really think that we could've done so much more with what we created. So this time we're gonna keep the completion of the new stuff in the studio with all of us present. It will actually make the song writing go faster because we can comment right away on certain things resulting to quicker adjustments on the songs. We all basically just have to agree on everything about the songs. But we're really gonna take our time now. Trying to make the songs as good as they can be.

I hope that you guys are as excited as we are in releasing a new album and I hope more people will support us as well. But I guess it will all depend on what talent we actually have. We deserve what we get.

-Darwin

Kainisan...

Been so long since I posted anything relevant, actually it's been a while since I posted anything at all. The Philippine economy is crap and everyone is taking a blow. Especially poor, struggling artist like me. Damn, my pc's been out of commision these past few weeks. Basically my avr broke which in turn caused my monitor to, well, die I guess. Had to go online at net cafes wasting money just to check mail or search stuff when I could be doing it at the comfort of my own home for FREE! We're running on a tight budget so I don't think we'll be getting a new monitor anytime soon. And Ive been saving my own money just for bus fare and the budget for when we need to go to Manila again. Gotta be practical. I hope we can get more gigs with decent fees so that maybe we could actually earn something that can help us out. I guess gigs are also running low because of the crappy economy. Not many prods are risking their money on small not-so-famous bands like us unless we'd do it for free or for a crappy amount. What can turn the tide around for our economy anyway? In the news its always crap! Conflicts! Complaints! Violence! WTH??? So depressing sometimes. But then these are the times when I actually get inspired to create. Write new songs and draw new artwork. I'll just try to make most of my downtime. I just hope I won't be down too long.

-Darwin

Problems

It's been a while since my last post. This blog is dying and so is our career. Well, that may be too drastic a thought. Hmmn... Ok this blog was sleeping and so is our career! Yeah that's better. Gigs are so far apart now. Especially our July gig. Yes there is only one gig in July for us. Sucks! I guess no one wants to see us anymore =( Come on give us a chance! I wanna play again!

Well we actually just got back from Manila for a photoshoot for Tower of Doom. Check them out soon at our Myspace page. Maybe I'll post some here too. Just really tired right now. Not enough sleep. I need my ZZZZZZ's! Still it was great fun yesterday taking pics at UP Diliman. Funny thing was there were several other people taking pics as well complete with models and clothes and those white umbrellas that served as flashes. Kinda weirded me out actually. Oh well, I'm just glad to be home again.

-darwin

Wet Dela Musique!

Hey friends and country people! Just got back from a couple awesome gigs again! And one of them was probably the biggest gig we ever played!(so far) We finally got to play in the Fete Dela Musique which was held at the SM Mall of Asia grounds. As of what I know about Fete, it's basically a celebration of the French and their friendship with other countries. Someone correct me if i'm wrong. I really have no idea. But the thing is we've been trying to get in this event for years now! And our time finally came and I can say we gave it our best shot and we kicked butt! We hope we left people in awe of our performance because there are still a lot of people out there who haven't seen us play live. If you like our sound on cd then I suggest you come and see us live because it is a whole different story. (Ang YABAAAANG!!!) =P

Well everything pretty much went as we planned. We were actually complete at the venue at our calltime hahaha. That's very very rare with us. But I guess typhoon frank had different plans because he rained on us hard when we got there. And the show had to be stopped for a couple hours which incidentally made the whole schedule move as well. We were supposed to play at 9:20pm, we ended up playing at around 12am I think. But I gotta hand it to the kids that came to see the show, believe me there were plenty! And no typhoon could budge them from the grounds. They waited up for the show to come back drenched in the rain. And our set actually couldn't have come at a better time coz the rain stopped a couple of bands before our set. The kids were all warmed up by the time we took the stage and we could hear them yelling our songs. So we gave them one of the greatest performances of our lives! Heck, we didn't know if we would ever play a show like that again so we just gave it our all. And it payed off.

Happy as we were after the set, we remembered we had another gig that night. So we quickly said our thank you's to the organizer and our friends backstage, it turned out we knew half the people there so that took a while. So after the courtesy calls, we quickly packed our manager's car and we rushed to the next gig at Freedom Bar which was pretty far away. We got there around 1am and there was just a few bands left before us. We were last to play and most of the people that came already went home. But we still played a tight set for the few that stayed. Thank you for your patience =)

So another big day ends. Almost. Once again Bets. Earl and I had to wait for the morning bus so we could get home. And by 2am typhoon frank really made his presence known. He rampaged through the night up to when the light came through the clouds. And he just kept going. Tree branches were flying and the rooftops were rattling violently. It was really scary, and when we got to the bus station we had to wait for a couple more minutes because they had to secure the buses. The wind was so strong I thought it was gonna tip the bus over. But eventually we got home, and thank God for that! All is well again in the world of INK.

-darwin

Direk!

Today I wanted to post about something interesting and about something not many bands and artists have been privileged to do. I'm talking about making a music video. Complete with the "lights,camera and the action"! My experience with making a video is definitely one that I
will remember till the day I die. It's probably gonna be one of those memories that will flash before my eyes when I'm hanging on to dear life. (knock on wood!)

But let me tell you about the guy who helped make our video what it is. The man with the vision, the guy who made our ugly mugs look kinda cool on camera. He is Mr.Odin Fernandez, the awesome director behind our THEA video as well as several other badass vids from other badass bands. Odin is a great director to work with, well actually he's the first director we worked with =P, but still it being our first time to make a video he pretty much took it easy on us. Or I think so! Our performance shots alone were more than 20 takes. Believe me, it is extremely tiring! I dunno how the foreign bands do it. Having to give 100% performance level on each take just to get those great shots. And not to mention the heat of those giant lights, even standing still
you'd sweat like you jogged for hours.

But Odin gave us a breather every other take just to recharge our batteries which were pretty
much drained by the 10th take. I don't know how his other video shoots went but with the look of the finished products you know Odin is really damn good. Odin is a really serious director who plans early with the artist of what he thinks could be good for the video. He's really
really serious as you can see in this picture of him.

Some of Odin's works are Boy Elroy's "Out of control",Cog's
"Collapse",Sin's "Amorphosis"(SUPER BADASS!!!) and of course our own
video "To hold everything above". If anyone is interested in getting
Odin for a project just call or text him at 09176201550

It's really hard to describe exactly how it felt to make a video, especially on a very restricting budget, but one thing I can say is that it was worth every drop of sweat and every painful joint.

-darwin

DJ's World!

Hiya, hope y'all are in good health and in great moods! Today I wanted to tell you more about this "project" I've been doing called DJ's World. It's actually a children's comic blog about a kid named DJ who is actually a real person. He's the 4-year old son of a friend of mine. You can read more about him by visiting http://www.theworldofdj.com/ The site is filled with fun and informative stuff for kids. So if you have any little brothers or sisters who want to visit a fun, colorful site and even learn a few educational things then DJ's world is the place to be! Oh, I also do all the comics strips on it as well as the rest of the artwork. Do visit the site, feel free to browse and please leave your comments so we know whether you're having fun on it or we could do more. Make DJ happy!

-darwin

Now this is life!

Hi guys! Just got back from a very very fun gig and trip this last saturday.It started out tame enough.It was kinda slow actually.Betong,Earl and I were some of the first guys to arrive at Club Dredd in Eastwood.So basically we just lounged around and watched the Ramon Bautista show on the tv while waiting for people to come in.

So after a few minutes the place was pretty full and the first band took the stage. The performances that night were really exceptional,especially ours,another two weeks of no gigs really paid off!haha!well I guess we played decent enough.I didn't really care coz I was kinda bored.So the gig ended and once again the three of us had no where to go so we just waited on the seats outside. It was a good thing that we had a couple of our good friends to keep us company. Jobelle really kept me unbored for a while until she had to go home. (thanks jobelle) And then Des joined us again, and that was when the fun really started.

All of us just goofed around with some psychology games then we decided to crash a party that a friend told us about. It turned out Des brought her ride and so off we went. But just as we left we had trouble finding edsa already. We drove around a little and suddenly we found ourselves in marikina! Dumbfounded, we asked some locals to point us to the direction of edsa. So we turned around and we came to a forked road which consisted of an overpass in between two underpasses. The idiot navigator that I was, I said to go on the overpass. But as we were entering it a jeepney suddenly came down on it and was heading straight for us. So we had to back up and let the jeepney pass. This is the time I saw people staring at us from the sidewalks. It turns out the overpass was a one way street and we basically just missed going the wrong way. Again thats my fault, sorry guys! =P

So after many twists and turns we finally got to the so called party which turned out to be this sorta outdoor bar. And we had to stand outside with our friends who were already drinking. We eventually got to sit at a table and we just spent the rest of the night there drinking and eating sisig. Bets and I got drunk on iced tea, they had these cool tall drinking mugs with macho arms that served as handles haha! How pathetic were we?

So daylight came and we decided to go home.And the three of us had to go home to Olongapo! Des actually wanted to drive us all the way but then she didn't have anyone to accompany her home. Sayang!tipid din sana yun haha! Oh well, it was still a cool night, thanks to all the friends we hanged out with and kept us company! You are the coolest people! Thanks again Des and a Happy Happy Birthday to Jobelle! Just get cooler ok!

-darwin

Imbue No Kudos wallpapers

Just click on the wallpaper you'd like to download.

- betong http://shintaru02.multiply.com

The Return...

Hi! Just got back from vacation! Yeeeeah right,I wish, because I was extremely sick for three days. I felt I had superpowers because some of my senses became super sensitive especially my sense of smell. Everything smelled like crap to me! And while I was lying down, my headaches and body kept reminding me that things in my surroundings were in constant motion. And that's pretty irritating for someone who wished they could just sleep it all off. My fever seemed not able to make up it's mind because it would come and go and then come back later. My toncils were almost the size of jawbreakers! And I actually almost did break my jaw from checking out my throat in the mirror. But the worst part was not being able to go to our gigs last saturday. The guys had to go without me which was a good idea anyway because I would have just thrown up on them all night and they'd have to carry me around because I couldn't even stand up straight. But I was really looking forward to playing again. I guess I'll just grab the next gig.I heard the boys did pretty well without me despite being super fashionably late again!Hahaha!I wonder how late we would've been If I had been there sick? I don't think I wanna know! Well I hope the whole INK crew can bounce back from a very hurdling obstacle. Let's all hope for better things to come.

-darwin (is under medication)

Behind the camera

I was looking at some of our photos last night and I decided to make a post about some of our favorite photographers. These are friends of our's who are really passionate about photography and who are actually very good in the craft, not to mention they're really fun to hang out with. Like party people with superpowers!

Let me start with the young lady who took these great live pics...

We met Ms. JOBELLE PANGILINAN at the Mag:net leg of the Hurt Parade tour. She's been coming to most of our gigs after that and likes to take lots of pics. I think she takes awesome performance shots. We haven't done promo pictures with her yet but with what she's done with ANGULO, we're really looking forward for our turn. You can see more of her shots at http://thegauntlet.multiply.com/

The next "scene capturer" is Ms.DES BUNCIO, she's the one who took these band shots of us.

I actually can't remember how we met Des but I do know she was an acquaintance of Betong. I found her very intimidating at first. Actually, I was kind of scared of her when Betong introduced her to the rest of us but I think she's pretty cool now. She's still intimidating though, especially with all her tattoos. Siga eh! Hehehe. We did the shots above on location in intramuros and we borrowed some clothes from Ben Sherman. Sana binigay na lang nila! Shet! Des also does exceptional live shots. She goes all-out just to get the perfect angle. Heck, she even lays onstage just to get the shot she wants. Now thats dedication! For more of her work you can check out http://kidprozac.multiply.com/

And last but not the least there's the lady who brought us these images...

Ms.Sam Dalrymple is one of the first photographer friends we met a few years ago through mutual tropas, namely the likes of the Kneel on nails and Concrete Sam boys. She's actually my personal favorite. She can take crued and simple locations and turn them into awesome backdrops. The pictures above tell that story. She's studying film in cebu and I know that will just enhance her skills even more, Im really excited to work with her again! To check out more of her work just visit http://sambo88.multiply.com/

Well, there you have it. Just some of our talented friends that you can also contact if you'd like to get some awesome images of you, your band, your family, or even just your pets. Until next post!

-Darwin

A loooong night...with puns!

Just came back from manila this morning after a great gig last night at Freedom Bar. Surprisingly, there was a pretty good turn out even with the Thursday and Click friggin Five concerts taking place at the same time. Thanks to all who came last night, especially the people who actually came to see us. Thanks to the guys who took pictures with us and helped us finish all the beer the bar gave us. I'd like to give a very special thanks to that commercial center for having crappy toilets (literally filled with crap) because it made it easier for me to throw up when the booze got the best of me. And also for having these cool benches (because they had wall fans aimed at them) which Earl, Betong and I got to sit on for almost five hours waiting for the time the first bus trip would be available at the bus station. And thanks to Des (Lourdes,magdasal na tayo!) for keeping us company even if she was suffering from extreme drowsiness around 3 am, you rock!

Now back to reality, my back just HURTS LIKE HELL!!! Two weeks without gigging can really leave a guy rusty and brittle. Just got too excited while playing last night. Heck I didn't know I could stand with my legs that far apart! I'm paying for it now though. Well, can't wait for the next gig! See you on June 7 at RJ Bar and 6Underground! Peace y'all!

Lifewithoutspaces...(beware!)

My_friggin_space_bar_is_busted_so_I_must_type_in_this_ridiculous_manner.So_annoying!And_the_fun_doesn't_stop_there,we_got_a_gig_tomorrow_but_we_have_no_gear_because_
we_left_all_our_gear_which_consist_of_our_guitars,cords,and_effects_pedals_at_a_friend's_ place_who_is_currently_out_of_town.What_luck!We_need_help!What_to_do?What_to_do???

Strike a pose!

Damn! Striking a pose is hard work =P Well, you'll see more about that in the coming months! See you guys on May 30 at Freedom Bar and May 31 at Dayo Bar!

Oh who would've thought...

We're going back to Manila again soon do a photo shoot for a certain magazine. Im not gonna tell which one yet coz as usual I do not want to jinx anything. Let's just say its not a magazine you would expect us to be featured in. =P keep posted.

From BS to Oranges

It's been a while since my last post. Let me tell you what we've been up to. We had a gig early this week which turned out to be a blast but, at the same time, it was a very interesting learning experience for us because our manager could not make it which left us to handle the dealing with the organizer ourselves. Negotiating is not easy, believe us. And all I can say is that we may not be playing for that prod anytime soon. But this time it's our decision. We've encountered many many bullshit reasons in our career and we learned not to take them lightly anymore. If you're into producing gigs and you wanna get us, please, know that we are not just any band, even if we aren't as big as some other bands out there. Although we have made bad moves in the past, we are professional musicians and we have earned every bit of respect that we get today. And we are thankful for all those who have supported us by "inviting" us to play for them but we also know how much we're worth. Many may not agree but we do not give a carabao's ass about it. Just give us the respect we expect and we will give it right back and more! We are NOT new at this.

On a lighter note, get the May issue of Pulp mag (the SIN issue)and check out their review of our album "but what if we will". I'll tell you they gave us an acceptable 3 and 1/2 oranges. Why? Just grab a copy of the issue to find out and see if you agree.

Until next time.

-Darwin

Dissapointed...

Just got back from Manila again. What was supposed to be 4 nights of gigging incidentally shrank to just 2 nights. And if that wasn't bad enough we played crappy sets. It's been so long since I personally was impressed and content with our performance. I could think of many reasons and excuses for it but basically we really were just over-confident and under-practiced. (if there is such a word im not sure =P) Its just really dissapointing, we really gotta get our act together. First we were super late for a big commercial event that we were gonna open which of course pissed everyone off. So humiliating! Im betting that cellphone company won't be contacting us to play anytime soon. Plus we played a very dirty set in front of a pretty plentiful crowd. I can blame the equipment all I want but the bottomline is we just sounded like crap. What a shame. At least we played a little better at the gig that followed. But my dissapointment just carried on there and I didn't really feel the set. But then that was just me. Wish I could make like an ostrich and bury my head in the sand.

INK SUX... sometimes.

-Darwin

THE GOOD, THE BAD, and THE UGLY (for bassists)

We've been playing the circuit heavily for quite some time now and I would just like to share this post that I put up in philmusic. The thread was about WHAT TO EXPECT IN BASS SETUP IN BARS. I think this would effectively describe the bass amp setups out there:

Pardon me if i cant be too specific with the amp models. this is as far as i remember:

THE GOOD:
Route 196 Katipunan- Ampeg SVT Head + Cabinet - need I say more?

Cafe Saguijo Makati - Ampeg (Combo) - again.

Calye Brown El Pueblo - Laney Combo - decent. ample juice for the acoustics of the venue.

THE BAD:
Dayo Bar Cubao - Laney Combo - i think the venue makes the amp sound bad. the acoustics are bad and the monitors are just for display.

Kampai Bar Katipunan - Behringer Stack - i am not very fond of behringer bass amps, though i think the BDi Preamp is decent, but here in Kampai, your only problem with the bass setup is if you can hear yourself play through the monitors. the trick in this venue is to lower down gain and master to 5 (12oclock), and let the techs do their job. same goes for guitars. last time we played here, we sounded really good through the house, although it sounded bad onstage. in the end, FOLLOW THE TECH's INSTRUCTIONS!

THE UGLY:
Freedom Bar Anonas - OLD Crate Combo - this setup is sooooo bad that if you're not buddies with the inhouse tech, you'd sound like cow dung. the only remedy is to have it PROPERLY lined out to house speakers and out from the monitors.

Mayrics Espana - OLD Marshall Stack - this baby is soooo old that it cannot withstand extreme lows (I USE A FIVE STRING IBBY AND I LIKE IT LOW.. LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW) ... the cones tend to pop and the best way to get around it is to lower down gain and master volume, and boost with a preamp hoping that you come out of the monitors.

Club Dredd Eastwood- Behringer Stack - its Behringer (biased), the input is broken, the monitors dont work, the mic stand swings ... what else do i have to say?

RJ Bar Jupiter - Crate? Combo - it has a generic Direct box attached to it where you plug in your bass, but you end up playing ONLY with the house speakers and the TECH will always tell you to lower down your volume to the point that you dont hear anything onstage. I think this is because most of the gigs here are televised through UHF tv and going really loud onstage would mess up their broadcast sound. nuff said.


i think i've said enough. i hope i was able to shed some light in this dark area. LOL. thanks for reading on. im very open to comments.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way implementing any form of bad publicity for the bars mentioned in THE UGLY section. This is but a mere speculation of the things to expect for those musicians who actually read this blog. No offense meant, at least you know what your patronizers think of your equipment.
PEACE!

-AJ

AMS at Slam!

I almost forgot, CONGRATULATIONS to our friends,April Morning Skies, for playing the Pulp Summerslam today! Hope you guys kicked butt! I bet you had a shitload of fun! Sana kami din makaranas niyan in the future =) Again give it up for AMS! Hella awesome band!

-Darwin

Malagkit pa din!

(These are just MY thoughts)

Taena noh, dito sa Pinas ang mga struggling bands sobrang struggling talaga! Andami ko nakikita magagaling na banda na hindi nabibigyan ng chance para marinig ng mabuti ng tao. Magkaroon man sila ng gigs madalas sila pa nagbabayad. Madalas di pa sila papansinin ng mga tao dahil parang paningit lang sila sa gabi. Tapos makakapanuod ka na lang sa mtv,myx o kung saan mang channel dyan sa tv ng mga bandang ewan na bigla na lang lumitaw at ni minsan di mo nakita sa gigs at more or less alam mong dahil lang sa pera ang pagsikat. Bullshit talaga! Malagkit na malagkit! Anlakas pa naman din maka-influence ng tv sa kabataan ngayon. Kung anu makita nila madalas sa tv yun na ang alam nilang cool.

Hay, pinagdaanan na namin lahat ng pinagdadaanan ng mga batang banda ngayon. And until now nakakaranas pa din kami ng TAE ng TORO! Pero di kami titigil hangga't gusto pa namin gumawa ng mga kanta. Kahit gaano kabaho ang tae sa paligid malilinis natin yan pag nayanig na ng mga alingangaw mula sa gitara at amplifiers. At pag hinangin na ng hininga ng tinig mula sa mga microphone! At pag sinabayan pa ng mga totoong sumusuporta at talagang nakakaalam ng tunay na talento, mahuhugasan na din ang tae.

Be true to your craft not to your crap!

-Darwin

In Tagalog

Hay kay init at nakakayamot ang paglalagi dito sa aming bahay. Wala sanang problema kung may mapupuntahan, eh ang kaso wala din namang mapupuntahan na maayos at nakakaaliw dito sa samin. Kapos din naman ako sa datung kaya ayun kahit may mapuntahan man kailangan ko pang gumastos. bwiseeet! Gusto ko nang tumugtog! Shet na malagket!

-Darwin

FINALLY!

Yes I finally saw our video on MYX! So happy! =)

-Darwin

WTF meetings...

Greetings from Quezon City! Yes we are back in Manila for what was supposed to be two nights of gigs but we ended up playing only one (especially awesome one) last night at Kampai's katipunan together with REKLAMO,FREEFALL,PICTURE FILLED,NYCTYNASTY and the always impressive FASPITCH! It was one of the legs of Faspitch's WTF bar tour. Betong even jammed with Faspitch on their song "breathe" so basically awesome and sexy came together and it was just a horny number hahaha.

We also had a very personal band meeting that became a rollercoaster ride of a talk. But we got through it fine, we are civilized and intelligent people anyway. Can't wait to do it again =P

- Darwin

Oh so great luck!

So we got a video out on myx, the same single on NU107. Hooray! People are voting for them (I hope =P), we're so very fortunate yes we are! But I am one unlucky dude, I still haven't seen it on myx. People have been texting me telling me that they just saw it a minute ago or something like that, then when I have the time to tune into the channel, sometimes for a couple hours, I still can never catch it being played! WTF??? Im so friggin lucky! Hope you guys can help me actually catch our video on tv, just vote for it or request to view it on myx! Pleeease! I just wanna see it at least once in my life! booohoooo :(


- Darwin

INK on MYX

AJ Speaks

It took 3 days to make. Two and a half months of planning. A couple of thousand pesos. A handfull of rhum consumed. An enormous amount of blood, sweat, and tears. The byproduct of which would be one amazingly beautiful music video. To Hold Everything Above, the video.

ImbueNoKudos broke ground today, April 15, 2008, with the debut of "THEA the video" on MYX (ABS CBN Music channel). Now, instead of ranting about all the glitches behind this release, I would like to say that its like an impacted wisdom tooth taken out after two hours of prying under that dental chair. Like 3 hours of labor in the operating room, not to mention carrying a live person inside you for nine months.

Bottom line here is, it felt really great, to have finally seen this on nationwide TV. To have finally felt a sense of accomplishment. There are a lot of things we cant start to enumerate that are riding with this release. I'm just plain thankful for the people who worked hard behind the scenes to make it possible.

MINDSET: On to the next video! It surely will be a greater challenge, but all I can say is .. BRING IT ON.


-AJ

Comments and Violent reactions...

Just wanted to point out to the few people who actually visited this blog, you can post your comments if you have any. You don't need to have a gmail account to comment. You can select the anonymous user and then leave your comments. Thanks and hope you guys enjoy your visit here at our humble blog.

The Wonders of the Turd!

Is it me or does shit stink more when it's hot? Well i'm really talking about the crap of living. You know, when you think everything's going ok then suddenly you get news that's not really in harmony with your smooth sailing. And how little details always seem to come up whenever you think something good is gonna happen. Or sometimes when something good should've happened already you suddenly come across some shit and before you know it, you're picking the stinky stuff from the heel of your shoe with some stick you found on the road.
And of course even if you manage to get the shit out you won't bother continuing to where you're going because you stink to high heaven. Maybe i'm just being pessimistic. Hmmn I guess i'm schizophrenic then because I usually have a positive disposition. But then again that's usually when i'm about to go to bed. Oh look at the time! It's almost 2am where I am. Hope I don't dream of shit.

- Darwin

Something useless...

Ok so I wake up today and guess what I notice, it's actually not friggin hot as hell. So it was a pretty good sign for the day, well at least for me. But it's still hella boring. Wish I was back in manila with our peeps hehehe. Oh yeah just in case you don't know, we're from Olongapo City up here in northwestern Philippines. Although AJ and Jem live in Manila, Earl, Bets and I still reside here in our quiet small hometown where absolutely nothing really cool seems to happen. Well at least the two get to do the coochie coochie with their girlfriends here =P I have to go all the way to Manila to do that hehe. Well we will be back in Manila soon anyway so I just gotta be patient. Like our motto,"in patience we live". It's a lot harder than it sounds.

- Darwin

WELCOME! WELCOME! WELCOME!!!

Heya folks, welcome to the imbue no kudos blog where you can read and sometimes even watch and listen about anything and everything that has to do with us and our acquaintances. This isn't your typical artist blog though, trust me when I say that it might get a bit wild and rowdy here in the future. But we will try our best to make it as entertaining as possible.

Feel free to comment on anything you see here, we'll glady acknowledge your opinions or even jump your ass if we get pissed, but it'll still be a great time believe me. So keep checking in for the latest news and, most of the time, useless features that we will serve on our table. Thanks and see you at the gigs!