An Afternoon With Sugarfree
The interview was published previously in my multiply site.
Originally posted April 20, 2009
I visited Pipeline (now eMusic) Studios in Makati to interview Sugarfree about their lineup changes, their 10th year in the music industry, their explanation about the sound volume of “Tala-Arawan”, and their upcoming album.
Pinoy Rock Central: The band’s lineup on “Sa Wakas” was Ebe on vox, Jal on bass, and Mitch on drums. But this wasn’t the first lineup of the band right?. Who were in the original lineup of Sugarfree?
Jal: No, our first lineup was Chavi Romawac on drums, Jesse Hoover on keyboards, Ebe on guitars and vocals, and ako on bass.
PRC: Sinong nag-initiate na mag-banda kayo?
So nagtayo kami ng banda, tapos literally si Jal, napadaan lang. Tapos sabi niya, “Ui, sali ako diyan”. And that’s how it started.
So yung first lineup was me and three-fourths ng Session Road. Tapos naging busy lahat, so we parted ways. Si Jal naiwan sa Sugarfree. So we got Dennis Leung, na ngayon ay nasa Top Junk. But that didn’t work out kasi he had a day job noon.
And we got Mitch Singson. Then we met Rico Blanco who heard the demo. He was in this for a while...
Na-finalize lang talaga yung lineup a week before the recording of the first album because Rico decided to be the prodcuer na lang.
Jal: Na hindi rin natuloy.
PRC: Mitch Singson left in 2006, how did you meet Kaka?
No one else wanted to audition for this band.
Jal: [laughs] Si Kaka lang yung talagang nag-lakas loob.
PRC (to Kaka): What was your reaction when you were chosen by Ebe to be the new drummer of the band?
Kaka: Nakakatawa nga kasi ang labo parang “Kaka, gusto mo magbanda? Marunong ka mag-bass? Marunong ka mag-drums?” Ano gagawin ko?! [laughs]
Kasi nag-session ako sa ‘Worms dati, kagagaling ko lang sa Cebu. Kakagraduate ko lang ng college nun. Pumunta lang ako dito para mag-bakasyon lang talaga.
Ebe: Talaga?! [laughs] Kala ko dito ka na nakatira pare.
Kaka: Nag-bakasyon lang muna ako eh. Parang pahinga muna. Tapos parang, “gusto ko mag-session, kasi miss ko na tumugtog eh”. Yung nga, nag-session ako sa ‘Worms, sa Kapatid. Sa ‘Worms naging kaibigan ko sila Kelvin, sila Jugs….
Tapos nagka-inuman yata sila ni Ebe nun. Pagkatapos ng usapan nila, nag-text sa akin si Kelvin, “Kaka, gusto mo mag-drums (sa Sugarfree)? Try mo lang kung gusto mo.” Sabi ko “sige”.
Tapos si Mitch, pumunta sa akin……parang tinawagan niya ako, “bro, pwede ba tayong magkita?”. Eksakto, nakatira si Mitch sa condo na tinitirahan ko. So nag-meet kami doon, tapos dinalhan niya ako ng mga cd’s. Bale friday yon o thursday tapos sa monday, may gig sila sa Mayric’s. Di ko pa sila nakikilala.
Sabi ni Mitch, “pag-aralan mo yung mga kanta dito, kung gusto mo, punta ka sa Mayric’s, mag-jam ka”. Tapos nakilala ko rin sila. so pumunta ako sa Mayric’s at nag-jam kami ng tatlong kanta.
Ebe: I think any transition of a band is hard. There’s a period of getting to know each other. Syempre una, nagkaproblema.
It was a new band again eh, even just one new member. It was a totally new band, new dynamics. So a lot of adjustments took place.
Noong nag-rerecord kami ng “Tala-Arawan”, there were moments na we were very tentative of what we were doing. Hindi naman dahil naka-dalawang albums na yung Sugarfree, matandang banda na siya eh.
But what really struck us about Kaka, noong first time kami nag-jam sa Mayric’s is: very raw yung tugtog niya. Parang punks…
Jal: Punks?! [laughs]
Ebe: Malakas tumugtog, ganadong-ganado. Nabubuhayan kami tumugtog.
PRC: You’ve been in the music industry for a decade already. What do you think is the driving force of the band?
Ebe: Money…….Chicks [laughs]
Jal: Yung interest namin sa music. If there’s one thing the band is passionate about, its music; even to the point that we’re very self-critical. Bawat isa sa amin sa banda, mayroon kaming kanyang-kanyang place, kanyang-kanyang gusto sa music.
Every time a song is arranged or something is supposed to be executed by the band, parang natural na sa amin ang goal na pagandahin ang lalabas dun sa results namin. I think for 10 years yun ang nag-sustain sa amin.
Tapos everytime maglalabas ng album, we’re very conscious not to repeat stuff. Like kung papano namin ini-execute yung isang kanta sa first album, sa second album hindi na siya mauulit. Laging nagdoon yung goal na you should always outdo your previous albums. You should always outdo yourself. So kung ganon yung goal mo bilang individual musicians and bilang banda, step up lagi.
Kaka: Yung trato namin kada-album, parang bagong banda talaga. Parang yung Tala-Arawan, itong banda yon. Yung bagong ilalabas naming album, iba na rin yung bandang iyon.
PRC: The band has had three studio albums (“Sa Wakas”, “Dramachine”, and “Tala-Arawan”). What’s your favorite album?
Jal: Kaya gusto ko yung “Sa Wakas” kasi…..
Ebe: Mga inosente pa kasi yung nagsulat ng mga kantang nun eh
Jal: Ang reference lagi, bumabalik lagi sa unang album. Kung gaano kami ka-naive noon sa recording, kung gaano ka raw at simplified ung playing; yung engineering ng album, kung gaano ka basic pero naging effective siya. Kaya ko din favorite ‘yon I guess kasi parang owing up to kung saan kami nanggaling.
Ebe: I guess its a reminder for us when people are pressuring us to come up with another hit, babalik kami sa unang album when there was really no money involved yet…no fans…no following..no nothing. Just the desire to play
Kaka: Ako syempre, kung ako tatanungin mo, yung ginawa ko. “Tala-Arawan”.
Jal: Kala ko Sa Wakas rin [laughs]
Ebe: Ironically, nabubuhayan siya sa “Tulog Na” [laughs]
Kaka: Mas nabubuhayan ako sa “Tulog Na” kaysa sa “Kung Ayaw Mo Na Sa Akin”.
PRC: Do you guys believe that your musicality has changed throughout the years?
PRC: Where do you get inspiration for your songwriting?
Mostly from personal experience, but I’ve had the good fate of having interesting friends. Minsan yung mga kwento nila yun yung nasa mga kanta namin. Di naman tungkol sa akin lahat.
PRC: During the last 10 years, was there an instance when you felt like you wanted to quit the band or stop performing?
Ebe: Recently… [laughs]
Jal: Actually maraming instances.
Jal: Hangga’t kaya…
Now, ang mentality namin, we wanna make songs that would be fun to play live. Dun naman nabubuhay ang musikero eh, tugtog. Karamihan ng tugtugan namin, out-of-town. So a lot of people come to see us play. Tapos, ayaw naman namin ma-bore sila habang tumutugtog kami kaya we give them studio quality performance.
Arena yan eh, 5,000 to 10,000 people waiting to rock out with the band. We just want it to be a more fun, energetic and live-sounding album.
PRC: Can you give us some recording details?
We are recording at Shinji Tanaka’s studio in Quezon City, Sound Creation Studios.
PRC: How many songs can we expect in the upcoming album?
Ebe: Ang target namin 15 songs with fillers.
PRC: Some fans have noticed that the tracks in “Tala-Arawan” had low sound volume. Why was it made that way?
That’s also the same reason why we didn’t use any effects. Yung tunog ng mga instrumento, natural, galing lang siya sa mics, galing lang sa kwarto. Yung distortion namin, we just cranked up yung amplifiers. Raw sound lang talaga.
Ebe: But don’t worry, for this album, we have every intention of rocking out. [laughs]
*Robin Rivera was the producer of “Tala-Arawan”
PRC: What’s next for Sugarfree after the release of your upcoming album?
Jal: Promotions and the concert on August*.
Ebe: Back on the road, but we were never really gone [laughs]
Jal: Ang gusto ko school gigs, makabalik sa campuses.
Ebe: We want to connect with the kids. [laughs]
PRC: Can we expect a guest appearance from Mitch Singson in your concert on August?
Kaka: Parang reunion.
*Their concert with the Manila Symphony Orchestra will happen on August 27 and 28, 2009 at the Music Museum.
