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When music superheroes join forces

It started last year as lengthy bantering on Facebook. Niño Avenido of Greyhoundz and Ian Tayao of WilaBaliW / Queso had come up with nicknames for each other based on their love for comic book characters.

Avenido had always owned up to the idea that he was Batman. Tayao countered by calling himself Catman, despite being unsure that such a character really existed. (A fan discovered that there was, indeed, a Catman superhero.)

So, Avenido and Tayao decided to come up with a band called BatCat, which went on to play their one and only gig a little over a year ago.

A second gig one year later

Recently, they decided BatCat needed to play a second gig, this time in Saguijo. To prepare, they rehearsed at Avenido's pad, which he calls the "BatCave." Alternate sessions would be held in Tayao's house, which he calls the "Kweba."

Like any dynamic duo, the existence of the other is crucial to the project, as they consider themselves supporting characters of each other's works. In the same spirit, they agreed to be each other's sidekick, depending on what was needed at the moment.

Yet, at their recent gig, Avenido said he had hired Tayao to do back-up vocals for him simply because it sounded nice to claim he had a great vocalist to back him up. Tayao laughed, of course, as both share lead vocal duties and alternate singing songs of their choice.

Covering music by Urbandub and other friends

Their repertoire? Songs that they'd like to cover. Not just any local band's songs, but songs that were written by their friends, specifically, Franco, Urbandub, Up DharmaDown, to name just a few.

BatCat also covers songs from their respective bands: Avenido's acoustic versions of Queso songs; Tayao singing his version of Greyhoundz songs.

For the audience, hearing their versions of these songs can be quite a treat. Far from being "just" a cover band, BatCat also reminds people that yes, local music is as great as everyone claims. In turn, BatCat may gain new fans along the way—for them and for the bands whose songs they perform.

Hundreds of unreleased material

However, between them, Avenido and Tayao have hundreds of unreleased material. "To keep it more organized and efficient, we decided to make BatCat the unit, the project that can be what the other bands / projects cannot be," says Avenido.
Now that Avenido plays on occasion with Tayao's band WilaBaliW, their proximity promises to fuel their plans to take on more difficult (musical) missions.

The project that is BatCat, formed for laughs, has become an outlet for Avenido and Tayao—already in accomplished bands—to stray farther afield. In the process, they show us how much of a gem our local music scene really is and, we hope, make us that much prouder when they do decide to share their unreleased material.

Find (and support) your friendly neighborhood BatCat on Facebook.