Moonpools & Caterpillars vocalist turns emotional before the PH press
They're back (sort of)
“We’ve got hours and hours of road stories, but I can’t…” guitarist Jay Jay Encarnacion stops and holds back. He draws the eyes of his bandmates: his wife/vocalist Kimi Ward Encarnacion, bassist Tim DePala and drummer Gugut Salgado.
But he does offer hints. “Some of them are the sickest games… like ‘Guess That Smell.’” There was also another incident of licking a friend’s worn-out Dr Scholl’s insole as penalty for losing a game of, most probably, pusoy dos.
And that was enough to make the press in Katsu either howl in laughter or feel like gagging on the food they just had.
In hip playlists
Pinoytuner.com brought in Moonpools and Caterpillars for three gigs.
There is a lot of levity and joy in the band but they actually broke up in 1998, after being dropped by their record label in the middle of their second album.
Video produced by Francis Brew
Their only major label effort, 1995’s “Lucky Dumpling” remains a critical favorite and the band has been compared favorably with Belly, Veruca Salt and even the Cocteau Twins.
To this day, “Hear,” “Ren” and “Soon” can be found in hip playlists.
3 Pinoys in band
According to AllMusic’s JT Griffith, “In a fair world where good taste reigned, Moonpools & Caterpillars would be household names.”
And in case you were born in 1995 or had long-term amnesia, three of them are Filipino.
This is their second Philippine visit as a band (the first was in 1996 but Encarnacion, DePala, and Salgado have made several homecoming visits separately); and as far as their fan base is concerned, it’s never too late.
Stoked
The band is itself is visibly stoked to play gigs again and the two hour press con had many poignant moments: this is a band that had accepted its fate, but with nary a trace of music industry jadedness.
They raised families and pursued different careers happily, but they also seemed like kids again as they remembered what it was like to be a touring band.
As DePala put it, “We began to remember, ‘Oh THAT”S what we felt like years ago.’”
Didn’t label themselves a ‘Fil-Am’ band
Encarnacion admits to having a love/hate relationship with their only major label effort; it was stressful to make as, at that point, they weren’t used to the precision processes in recording.
Kimi also says that in the band’s early DIY days, “We didn’t call ourselves or look at ourselves as ‘indie’ back then, we didn’t use that word… but yeah, that’s what everybody calls it now. We were just doing what we thought every band that’s starting out had to do back then.”
Jay Jay adds, “We also didn’t label ourselves as a ‘Fil-Am’ band or anything like that. We just thought of ourselves as a regular band dreaming of playing a club show.”
And apparently, pusoy dos was played regularly backstage.
Close friends after split
It is pretty obvious that the band have remained close friends over the years even if they broke up as a regular musical unit a long time ago.
They do have a Facebook account and claim they get together in a studio every so often and play the odd gig now and then, including a benefit show at the Whisky in LA for the Yolanda/Haiyan survivors late last year.
According to Kimi, “Gugut sends us a new song every day, which is amazing because… ‘doesn’t this guy have a regular job that he’s successful at?’” (Sidebar: Salgado was barely out of his teens when he drummed for one of the late Teddy Diaz’s pre-The Dawn bands.)
Don’t know where band is going
As for a new album, they are either playing coy or simply just content with their individual lives.
“We don’t really know where the band is going, there aren’t really any concrete plans,” Kimi says with a giddy smile that never seems to leave her face.
“But we’re very happy to be here, right now, and really enjoying everything that’s happening right now. We’ll see…”
Salgado jokes, “We’ve rehearsed a couple times, we’re good.”
Catch Moonpools & Caterpillars’ other Philippine gigs on April 9 at The Outpost, Cebu City and on April 11 at Amber in the Fort Strip, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.
Check out Moonpools & Caterpillars on Facebook.
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