VOTE SINO on NU107!!!

We urgently need your help! We have a new single out now playing on NU107! And we need your help to vote for it so that it will make the NU107 stairway to seven charts! All you need to do is register first to NU107 by texting NUREG NAME and send to 29107. Then to vote for our song just text NUVOTE SINO and send to 29107! We really hope you can help us out. Help us reach the top of the charts! Thank you so much for your support!Cheers!

-darwin

Taste the MORNING SKY

APRIL MORNING SKIES

Formed in the late 2003, April Morning Skies [AMS] is Andrew Espiritu on vocals, Bernard Olazo on bass, Macoy Estacio on drums, Tim Gonzalez on synths and Aaron Corvera and Kenneth Aranza doing guitar duties.

A product of metal, punk, melodic-post hardcore influences, AMS aims to stir music listeners with their own kind of music. Concocting tales of triumphs and losses stirred in melodies that spark with aggression and punch with enthusiasm. Though a relatively new band, the boys prove they're no neophytes in songwriting. Arming themselves with tracks that shoot precise rhythms, loud guitar-based instrumentation plus vocals that balance punk and metal styles, April Morning Skies is truly a band to look out for.

AMS has consistently wowed crowds all over Luzon and Visayas, earning themselves as a reputation next big thing. And then finally, they hooked up with wiz producer Eric Perlas of Tower of Doom Records to record their debut album entitled “In Darker Days Ahead” that was released last August 8, 2008.

As of now, the band is doing their share of shows and sharing the stage with prominent and underground acts slowly leaving a remarkable impression to the followers of the scene.

OK,that's what THEY said in their profile on myspace but here's my input on things...

APRIL MORNING SKIES are another of INK's good friends. Aside from playing kickass music and mesmerizing live performances, (check out Aaron's dance while he plays guitar and Andrew's flickering tongue when he screams!) these guys are always a blast to hang out with. Their drummer, Richboy Macoy, is just that,RICH! He lives in a mansion and has wonderful drum toys but he's still humble enough to drink a few rounds with peasants like us. He also happens to play drums for another band you all might have heard of called Chicosci. He's another awesome drummer, no wonder different bands get him to play with them. They trust his drumming skills.

Then there's the two guitar players Aaron and Kenneth who, I think, have excellent chemistry when they play. I heard Aaron comes up with most of the riffs and what awesome riffs they are. You can really hear his influences in his playing but you still know that it's distinct enough to be identified as AMS!

Kenneth's his equally skilled partner, a good-looking white boy who kinda looks like a mix of Ethan Hawke and Tony Hawk,what are the odds?He's Tony Hawke! And he's recently taken up getting tattoos which has me envious because I really wish I could get one. Aside from that he has an awesomely set guitar which just makes me more envious. When both these guitar players take the stage you better not be too near or else you might find yourself with a bloody nose or a cracked skull because these guys love to swing their guitars around.

Leleng, the bassist, I find kinda quiet. Very different from his rawdy bandmates. He plays bass not to impress or to show off but to give the guitars a solid backbone to ride on. And he does his job well. Smooth and efficient and really clean. A lot like how he is. Very unassuming but you kinda know there's something cool about him.

Then there's tim, or should I say Timmy G! He's in charge of the keyboards and gives the AMS sound a touch of eeriness and paranormal twist with his droning samples. But often times he can steal the show when he whips his long dreads around on stage and rocks out. I feel sorry for his keyboard because it often takes a beating when Tim gets wild.

And of course there's Andrew,the frontman. Small but terrible as they say, he screams and growls with anger,angst,madness and overflowing passion. He can own the stage when he gets his thing going. And often drives the girls wild when he does. I've heard whispers and comments of how cute and hot he is from girls (and maybe some guys haha) in the crowd countless times. But I ain't telling him about it in fear it might go to his head. Oops!

All in all these six dudes deliver a show that can rival any international act. They've played in many big shows including the Pulp Summerslam (which we have never played) and even opened for big bands like THURSDAY. Very envious indeed. But we love them more than we envy them. Because they are still the same crazy dudes we met some few years back. Down to Earth and Real. We love REAL people. And I know REAL people. Check out AMS, they are the Real deal!

www.myspace.com/aprilmorningskies

Cheers!

-Darwin

Kneel On Effin NAILS!!!

Its sharing time again, and today I want to tell you guys about some friends of ours who, on my opinion, are far more awesome musicians than we are. (sorry bandmates =P) They are the freakingly heavy and technically insane Kneel on Nails! Hailing from Novaliches and Fairview, Quezon City, its kinda hard to describe their sound because you'll kinda hear a lot of everything in their music. A mix of the heaviest riffs that suddenly shift to jazz licks and then to some dance grooves and back again. The best way for me to give you a hint of their music is to compare their sound to that of the foreign band called Dillinger Escape Plan, only they're more friendlier sounding hehe. Raw and wild but still very musical. They did release an EP not so long ago but they hadn't really pushed it so much because they rerecorded a new EP with our very own Tower of Doom Studio which will be out as soon as KON actually goes and shares it with all of us.And you should see them perform live, no recording can ever do justice to the experience that is KON. Personally, I think the show stealer of this group has got to be their drummer, John. I describe his drumming as technical but very very weird, but in a very good way. Good because he's the only drummer I ever heard doing such drum techniques. It's a blast just watching him. At a usual KON performance, you would often find fellow drummers and non-drummers standing behind or near John while he's doing his thing. Some are after some new tricks but most are just in awe of his playing. That just shows how good he is! But of course John's drumming wouldn't really be anything if he didn't have some equally talented people to follow his beats and accompany him. This is where the rest of KON comes in, the different ingredients that create their wicked meal. With the equally technical playing of guitarists Danny Boy, Gj and bassist Mark, KON's mayhem has a body. And with Neil on the main mic, who screams,growls,shouts and of course sings like the best of them, KON becomes a complete package that demands respect!

But of course anyone who's been to a KON gig knows all of this. So it's time I tell you more about WHO KON is as of what I experienced with them. They are basically as fucking crazy as their music! A riot to hang out with and just really REAL people. But I'll let you guys in on some fun secrets about the guys. For starters Gj and Mark are always hassling and insulting each other and just leads to some great laughs for everyone, John's a fashion freak and always has the coolest clothes, a real trendsetter, Danny Boy can drink gallons of alcohol and still look like he's just had 2 bottles, and Neil has a HUGE...........shoe size haha! Hope that tickled your imaginations and I hope this post gets you off that computer chair and on the way to the next KON gig which, fortunately, is also with us! So it's double the delight! What ya waitin for? Let's get in kON!!!

Check out Kneel on Nails at www.myspace.com/kneelonnails

Cheers!


-Darwin

Hail to the Tower Y'all!

Now let me pay tribute to some people who have become very important figures to imbue no kudos. Once upon a time, INK played some shows for a certain production and made some new friends. A couple of those friends were Valley of Chrome (with the old lineup with kimmy still on drums then) and Cog. Both of these band's music and performances blew us away. Coincidentally, we all had demo cd's back then and we traded with each other. Then when we heard the two band's recordings we were blown away again. We wondered where these guys recorded that made them sound awesome? Then we found out they both recorded with Cog guitarist, Eric Perlas, who was then just recording out of his home and home pc but still managed to dish out some incredible sounds.

So, a few years actually passed before we got to meet up with any of the bands again. Then in a gig in our hometown of OIongapo, we finally got to share the stage with COG again, who were playing some new tunes. At the time we were also playing some new and heavier songs which apparently got their attention. And they suggested we try recording with Eric whom by then actually had a small recording studio. So after another couple months of deliberation within our band we decided to try recording another EP but this time with Eric Perlas. This was probably one of the best decisions we've made as a band. Eric was different from the others we recorded with and definitely more musically inclined since he was also a guitar player like me but just more talented. I think he has superhuman hearing because he can hear stuff in the recording that we didn't even notice. But it was all good because that hearing let us produce a tighter, cleaner EP. He really made our sound come out. That is the thing that really sets Eric apart from the rest. He can make the true sound of any band or artist he records come out. Every band he recorded has their own distinct sound in their recordings. You can find your tonal identity when you record with Eric. He can tell what you should sound like even when you don't know yourself.

And so, we recorded the IN PATIENCE WE LIVE Ep with him which gained very good responses from people but kinda came out short of it's potential because we reproduced it ourselves by burning copies and only selling it at gigs. Then after another few months, Eric and his brother, Carlo, came back to us and proposed a deal to sign with their newly founded indie label called Tower of Doom Records which they branched out from Eric's Tower of Doom recording studio. We just grabbed the opportunity and again it was another great move. We were able to sell our EP through leading record stores NATIONWIDE so getting it out there was not a problem anymore. That just gave us more gigs and higher profile shows as well. We owe a lot to the Perlas brothers and Tower of Doom because they gave a very struggling band a well-needed break.

But it wasn't only us they gave a break to, we gained 8 other brother bands since we signed to TOD. Namely our old buddies Valley of Chrome and of course COG, SIN, April Morning Skies, Boy Elroy, Bloodshedd, Plane Divides the Sky and the radically hiphop Out of Body Special. I guess every one of these bands had good taste in choosing to record at TOD. They too have had their tonal identities squeezed out of them. Just take a listen at their albums. You'll hear what I mean. Since that faithful day of our recording and signing with Tower of Doom, the label has taken us to a level we never even thought we could achieve. We were actually almost gonna call it quits after we made our first EP but we even got to record a full-length album with TOD called BUT WHAT IF WE WILL and I guess you all know what's been happening with that. TOD has taken us and our brother bands all around the country. I mean who in their right mind would take a loser like me on an all expense paid trip? Well I'd like to think the guys at Tower of Doom saw something in me that I didn't and thought I was worth it. =P And now you can even purchase all of our music through the net via ITUNES and NAPSTER and very soon you can buy our merchandise through the Tower of Doom online merch store! There's nothing stopping our music from spreading the world now!

Well aside from us 9 bands, the TOD clients of artist has grown immensely. From newcomers like Faintlight to the bigger guns like Kamikazee. Tower of Doom has something for everyone. If you love and live music and you want to get it on cd or into every music player in the world and you want it to come out the way it should then look no further than the Tower of Doom studio. Look at all the people who have trusted the Tower:

Typecast Queso Chicosci Kamikazee Skychurch Hemp Republic
Dicta License Death By Stereo The Jerks Noel Cabangon Lolita Carbon Cookie Chua
Binky Lampano Bayang Barrios Coffeebreak Island Aiza Seguerra Datu's Tribe
Lady High Taken By Cars Nyctinasty HidenNik Powertools Concussion (Norway)
End of Man Kneel on Nails Concrete Sam Scarlet Tears Happy Meals DJ Alvaro Aizo
DTS Atta Girls Genital Grinder Jerome Abalos Milagros Dancehall Collective
Cosmic Love Ephesus Day One Movement Kabute Moggok Bites 13 Needles Bane
Taggu Indios Zone32 Precinct 4 RedBoy Sacramento Li'l Miao Kjwan Project Mayhem
Sique Qwadro and a shitload more!!!...

So if you guys want more info on TOWER of DOOM just log on to the following links:


http://www.towerofdoom.net
http://www.myspace.com/towerofdoom
http://towerofdoomrecords.multiply.com/
http://profiles.friendster.com/towerofdoom
http://www.youtube.com/towerofdoom

Check em out! Cheers!

-Darwin

NWSE

Well the year has officially began for INK. We just had our first gig of the year last saturday at saguijo on the 2nd leg of our NORTHWESTERN SOUND ESCAPE tour. It's not as big as the Siege Tour but it's certainly just as special. Special because I came up with the idea of the NSWE. And INK and a few of our close friends have turned it into a living thing. I was looking for a way to describe the music that my band and our friends dish out that could really identify us independently.

The idea is loosely based on the middle and southern American stereotype known as "redneck" but minus the ignorance of race and foreign cultures of course. I identified with the rather unrefined way of life of being redneck because I for one actually live like a redneck somewhat. And our musical direction is basically going to a more aggressive and raw approach as well. Unlike many bands out there now in the local scene which sound very clean and crisp and very deep or to the other extreme very pop, we and our friends choose to be more direct and in your face but still keeping with our own distinct styles.

Our brothers in Kneel on Nails and April Morning Skies share this vision with us. It's all about no nonsense music and lifestyle. We all love to party yet we give respect where it is due, we cuss and tease and joke around but we still keep a foot in reality. We are not as financially endowed as many bands out there and we have worked very very hard to get to where we are. We still struggle to be heard and to be understood. Nothing has been given to us on a silver platter. We basically do the best with what we have and we have paid our dues. Im trying to give redneck a newer,better identity.

The "Nothwestern" came mainly because we are all from the northwestern part of the country. But the idea wouldve been just that without the help of our friend Mico Sangalang. He came up with the idea to take NWSE on the scene and make it into a touring gig. And now we have finished 2 legs. We will be playing different places every weekend for as much as we can just to spread the word out. So if you are like us, middle and not-so-middle class but still very cool people, come party with us on the NORTHWESTERN SOUND ESCAPE. Nothing saucy or fancy just good old heavy party rock!Cheers!

-Darwin