Ahhh awards shows. A night of glitz, glamour, and glaring… the latter of course has much to do with bright lights and scornful losers. The pictures below show… well, a typo: it’s actually MY awards show called KYX Music Awards (“Kami Young Xciting!”). but i know how monstrously demanding putting a night together like this is; i have forgiven the errant production team and wished them luck in their future endeavours (in short, they were fired).
MORE PHOTOS BELOW
This dude will be in our shores on March 9, at the Araneta Coliseum :) I hope i’ll be able to have him sign this old copy of Guitar Player…
Dean DeLeo is one of those guitarists who never settled on a “signature sound;” he is one of the primary examples of people who put the song first, the guitar-playing second. I’m still amazed by the different complimentary guitar parts on “Sour Girl.” and on “Interstate Love Song”…DeLeo reminds me of Rush’s Alex Lifeson, those big open chords. Then he’ll give you that fuzzed-out “Trippin’ On A Hole…” riff… and “Vasoline” man! Those chords, that two-note riff, that melodic huge chorus…!
In the beginning, I think a lot of people, including me, were ready to write off STP as Pearl Jam-wannabes because of Scott Weiland’s timbral similarities with Eddie Vedder on “Plush” and ignored one of the tune’s signature moments: those beautiful distorted opening chords. i kept thinking, “How did they come up with that??” but just as quickly dismissed the tune during the ‘And i feel it’ bit which does sound close to ‘Freeeezin…’ from Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow” (and i loved “Even Flow” immensely). My judgment is still tainted by it i guess… i still think of the “Core” album as separate from the STP catalog. But i so want to hear those chords live and i’m sure the entire coliseum will sing along :)
Yes, we all want to hear and see Scott Weiland… but let’s also give credit to Dean DeLeo. In Velvet Revolver, Weiland had a legendary and instantly recognizable partner in Slash, a co-lead voice, if you will, his Jimmy Page. Dean however is his Keith Richards.
And really, Slash himself was excited about the Stone Temple Pilots’ reunion :)
what’s your favorite pop song ever?
oh wow… i dunno! a lot… ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen.’ Andy Gibb’s ‘Everlasting Love’ comes to mind too. Stevie Wonder’s ‘Knocks Me Off My Feet.’ Earth Wind & Fire’s ‘After The Love Has Gone.’ a lot man… i really love all music :D not an easy question LOL!
Sir, is your fb still active? :D Are you friends with ramon b. and tado?
yeah, i have an FB fan page that i maintain quite regularly. yeah, i’m friends with tado and ramon. unless i-deny nila ako… kaso sobrang sikat na nila ngayon e… hirap ma-rich. sa tumblr na lang kami nagkikita.
okay tong ask me ah! haha. I wrote a song, got the melody and lyrics down, but it sounds like a cartoon, pwede humingi ng advice/tulong?hehe
well i have to hear it to give a proper opinion. but if it’s cartoony… hey, aren’t most cartoon themes catchy? you may be onto something :)
Ser Francis, do you listen to TOE, 65 days of static and Hundred Year Storm? As a guitar player, I just want to know what’s your opinion with math rock artists and their styles. by darylljann
i think Bea Lao let me hear TOE… that’s pretty wild music, like a polyrhythmic tornado or something! i absolutely love Dillinger Escape Plan but wait that’s math metal ;p i grew up on some Frank Zappa too. i like that kind of music most when you DON’T realize it’s actually in an odd time signature. Plus/Minus does it really well. Soundgarden… OMG genius stuff. Tool. there you are singing (or trying to) along, and tapping your foot, and your foot isn’t in sync! ;p love it
Have you heard of the band Sleepwalk Circus? I really love their guitar-playing. Mahusay ang paggamit ng effects, at OPM pa!
yeah i’ve seen them live and i love what i heard :) that’s Peavey Nicolas’ band :D
ask me via formspring.me and no deep personal stuff thanks :)
Hello, Sir! I’m a Muse fan just like you, and I have a crazy idea. I was inspired by their recent photos with their Korean fans, who gave them a letter and a large pair of paw-shaped mittens. I’ll be going to the Singapore gig next month, and I don’t know if this has been done before, but I was wondering if we Filipino fans could give them something of the same nature—-something distinct, something to remember us by, something to make them remember that loyal fans like us exist in this corner of the world. Harhar. What do you think? What would be a nice present for them? I have no idea how I can make this possible, though, and I know it’s a loooooong shot. I’m sorry, I know I sound crazy, and I’ll understand completely if you ignore this question. Thank you very much.
It’s not a crazy idea… in fact i’m wondering why, given the two chances previous that Nins and i had being a few feet away from Muse, we didn’t think of that. well okay, i do know… we were there in a professional capacity and giving a gift might be too fanboy/fan-girlish and it’s not always a good idea for anyone in a journalistic situation to betray that… and i do remember Chris Wolstenholme giving me a look in HK that was either “I’ve seen this couple before, but where?” or “It’s THEM…stalkers!” LOL!
i suppose any Pinoyified Muse or Musified Pinoy something will do. We’re checking them out in HK this Feb and i don’t think we’ll be doing any official press duties this time around, so i’ll be thinking of that too, if we get close enough :) Best of luck, and if you do get the chance to give a gift and have a pic, let us know :)
sir i know your a fan of The Cure, Muse and Radiohead, just curious, what are your favorite songs from them and why? :)
I like early Cure but i think my favourite era would be the late eighties/early nineties (‘Love Cats,’ ‘Just Like Heaven’ etc, when they were relatively cheery), though i don’t have any cds from that era, Cure-iously enough hehe. i like the album Ross Robinson produced: having a metal guy produces The Cure?? it was a bit heavy. i love Robert Smith’s guitar playing absolutely :)
Muse i really started to love when “Absolution” came out, and ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and ‘Hysteria’ still get me pumping my fist. i reinvestigated “Showbiz” and “Origin of Symmetry” after that and ‘Sunburn’ is my fave from that time. “Black Holes and Revelations” and “The Resistance” are great albums and i have the Wembley and Absolution Tour and Hullabaloo dvds…
Radiohead well… i dunno where to start. i love every album they made but my absolute favourites are “The Bends,” “OK Computer,” “Kid A,” and “Amnesiac.” ‘Subterranean Homesick Alien’ is my favourite song :)
i like songs for different reasons: the melody, the arrangement, the intelligence (or even the lack of), a really good lyric… truthfully i don’t really like to analyze exactly why i like bands or albums, even if i have a semi-regular New Album review thing on NU. the moment you start to analyze music is the moment you start to ignore the immediate pleasure that music gives… you either can relate to it on some level or you don’t, and either way, your personal taste doesn’t make you any better or worse than anybody else around you. analysis i suppose has its value if you’re trying to learn the song and dissect its structure or if a dissertation of a piece of music will have some historical value.
but depending on one’s mood for the day, it’s all about whether you get its vibe or not. i’m rambling…
Ask me here - Formspring view past formspring entries HERE
What is the reason why i idolize you so much? and what is the top secret in playing guitar?
Whoa… well only you can answer that! i blush… ;p i just hope you don’t photoshop me naked or sacrifice little animals.
the top secret to anything, i believe, is love :) love the guitar, love music, and everything else after that is fluff :)
Happy Holidays! i dont know if its appropriate to ask you here but i was wondering where i can send my stuff for NU Airplay?
NU107, Suite 102, AIC Gold Tower, emerald ave, Ortigas Center, Pasig City :)
In your opinion, what’s the best local album for 2009?.. With best local album, I mean something you’ve listened to over and over and you won’t mind listening over and over again. :)
i haven’t really listened to any album local or foreign nonstop lately; haven’t had much pleasure-listening time the past year. i would recommend highly Peryodiko’s album though :)
If ex president erap win this election what do you think his next scandal? note: it should be evil. evil as he did last time :3. jk.
hmmm… it’s probably a better idea to look for people like Efren Peñaflorida and focus on the great things that make a positive difference in our country. scandals are fun to discuss but we should avoid wasting time on things like that really… best we put our minds and thoughts on better things :)
Where could i get “sana ako’y marinig” chords? thanks:)
Someone asked that in one of my very first formspring entries. You can listen to the song here and the chords are written below it. :)
You can send me more questions about music, guitars, photography, travel and what not HERE. To read previous formspring questions answered click HERE.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
jeth: If I were to buy just one microphone for my home studio, what would you recommend? I planning to try and record the whole band. Im thinking of buying the Shure SM57 coz i heard a lot of good stuff about it. What would you recommend? :-)
the Shure SM57 is a great general-purpose dynamic mike and every decent studio has at least two :) if you’re planning full-blown recording, get other kinds of mikes, like a good condenser. do some research; i’m not well-versed in drum miking yet ;p
Donnie: Do you think solo artists like Vai, satriani, eric johnson,etc. styles..(no vocals) would be a good idea dito sa atin?i am not saying kasing galing ko sila (juz a fan).pero i love guitar soloing and improvisations. Di ko lang sure kung masasakyan ni Juan Dela Cruz. Correct me if i am wrong but i have not seen any pinoy guitarist made such album, though i believe they have the talent to do it? Francis, why not try?
its not a question of talent but marketability. very simply, the market for guitar instrumentals locally is quite small. it wouldn’t be practical to produce your own album and not recoup what you spent for it. we’re not a rich nation, and making a living as a musician here is very hard; most of our local virtuosos pursue session or production work. Vai, Satriani and all them peeps have a global market, and that’s a different ballgame; they can literally afford to go the solo instrumental route, plus when they found mainstream success twenty years ago, the entire world wanted to hear guitar instrumentals. times were different then…and i won’t say better or worse. everything has its season you know?
as for me… i am thinking of an album of guitar-based stuff but will probably stay away from the ‘shred’ concept, or at least put in some shredding in proper musical places. soloing is fun, but playing rhythm stuff and textural things is very interesting too. lead guitar technique is really just one colour on the guitar’s palette, you know what i mean? :)
You can send me more questions about music, guitars, photography, travel and what not HERE. To read previous formspring questions answered click HERE
Hanz Sapitan: Hi Sir Francis.. When doing your demo, what kind of software do you use, and as of the drum tracks.. do you also write/program the drum tracks? is there a free site to download free drum tracks for accompaniment?thanks po. more power po
i have a Macbook so i mostly do demos/jingles with Garageband and Reason :) if i’m in a hurry, yes i use drum loops and the ones in Garageband and in Rhythm Pack are pretty excellent. if i’m seriously working on my own stuff, i program the drums myself, specially if there’s a roll or accent that i hear in my head :)
Stratmangler: Hello sir kiko!Good day. I need your opinion to help me choose a guitar interface. I have my eye on two line 6 products. The guitar port with rifftracker and line 6 UX 2. Im even considering their base products like the GX. My head is spinning from reading all these reviews from the net,and I can’t believe Im reading reviews from 18 yr old kids… talk about to much info! So sir kiko can you please give me an advice on which product is the best for recording guitar tracks and at the same time user friendly in writing and arranging a whole tune in my computer.
Well, what i recommend is the Line 6 Toneport KB37. if you’re planning to do complete arrangements, and would like to program drum patterns as well, that would be your best bet. the interface is fantastic: 2 line inputs, 2 microphone inputs, 1 guitar input, and phantom power in case you use a condenser mike in the future. Plus 2 analog outputs and monitor inputs. it has 37keys as well so if you want to put a keyboard part or a bass line or something, you can do so. the action of the keyboard isn’t great: it’s plasticky. but it’s a minor concern. its really a UX2 with a keyboard :) i’m pretty happy with it; Jazz Nicolas of the Itchyworms has the same set-up. i’ve done every single project and demo in the last year or so with it and i can pretty much do anything :) but if you don’t need keyboards or will just use drum loops, the UX2 or the rifftracker will do just fine and they all come with Podfarm anyway.
Donnie: got another question, i planning to set-up my own home recording and rehearsal studio…which can accomodate a five pc band. So aside from the instruments and amps…can u give me an advise which is to be added like mixers PA system etc.. and how strong they should be…Thanks
Yeah a mixer, and a PA system with high headroom (meaning something that won’t distort or ‘clip’ easily), plus microphones and mike cables. if you’re planning to record basic stuff live, maybe get a mixer with at least 6 inputs. maybe get a rackmount compressor too, and basic processing gear like a good reverb. it’s quite a bit to talk about, but basically start with a good room with nice acoustics. if the room is too ‘live’, you know too much natural reverb, and you’re going to record a band playing live, trying to mix everything will be very difficult. also, try to have a separate room for the recording gear, and invest in good studio monitors (M-Audio has nice affordable models).
You can send me more questions about music, guitars, photography, travel and what not HERE
Ap: where’d the “brew” in your name come from?
It’s short for “bruha” which is what i looked like when i had really long hair and i never brushed. no it wasn’t my idea ;p
at andaaaaaaaaami kong balakubak nun. as in. pwede na ko mag breakfast cereal araw araw. ganoooon!!!
Mark: What advice would you give to an aspiring rock radio DJ?
Love the music; love the job; and accept the salary (which isn’t awesome hehe)
aila: hey kuya, wondering how everythings going back home? whats new?
If you’re referring to Lipa, marami masyado tricycle, matrapik na, and there are malls now. Progress has its costs ;p
Alyssa P. and Jian C.: Hi, Sir Francis! Panonoorin nyo po ba yung concert ng Muse sa Singapore sa February 3? Balak rin kasi namin pumunta, naisip lang namin kung may iba pang Pinoy na aattend. Sa tingin nyo may pag-asa pa kayang pumunta sila dito?
Yes, planning to watch them again :) No, i doubt they’ll play here soon ;p
Ed: Hi! Will Garlic ever release an album? :) Thanks…
*sigh* i ask myself the same thing. i hope Louie, Zach, and i find common free time. we always talk about it whenever we bump into each other but i guess we’re all too busy :(
You can send me more questions about music, guitars, photography, travel and what not HERE
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