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Fast, honest, fresh: Sandwich drops 10-song ‘Debris’

WITH VIDEOS: Abum preview and 'Kagulo' music video (Down and Dirty Version)

Sandwich launches the video of "Kagulo": Mong Alcaraz, Raymund Marasigan, Mike Dizon, Myrene Academia, Diego Castillo (Contributed photo)

Seven remarkable studio albums in 16 years and now this, their eighth, coming out on Valentine’s Day, is not the place to begin scrutinizing the basics of the five-man Pinoy band Sandwich.

In an exclusive interview with Yahoo at Raymund Marasigan’s airy home in Marikina, the guitarist/vocalist jokingly hints that he’d laugh at himself if, at this point in time, a reporter would ask why the band chose the name Sandwich.

On the other hand, it behooves us to ask why the band called their new 10-song album “Debris,” a name that would imply a collection of outtakes, moldy ideas and all manner of discards.


A single-word album title

Lead guitarist Mong Alcaraz offers, “For the first time, we wanted a single word for an album title. In earlier albums, mahahaba ang title lahat.”

2003’s “Thanks to The Moon’s Gravitational Pull,” their 2006 classic “Five on the Floor” and even 2013’s “Fat Salt & Flame” easily spring to mind.

“We liked the sound of ‘debris,’” says bassist Myrene Academia. “May connotation ng survival.”

 

Produced the album faster

“Of course, we always come up with fresh ideas every now and then, but the songs were composed precisely for this album,” Myrene stresses. (The track “Balintawak” was taken from the soundtrack of Ballet Philippines’ Andres Bonifacio tribute, “Rock Supremo.”)

“We also produced the album a lot faster than the previous ones. With the album prior to this, we actually decided to take our time.”

Studio work on earlier releases was an issue of managing time. Each member had side projects sandwiched between the demands of their mother band.


Apps and focus

Diego Castillo says, “Natuto na rin ako gumamit ng Garageband (app). Na-discover din ni Mike (Dizon, drummer) yung compressor app ng iPhone. Mike would send me drum parts through his iPhone, lagay ko sa computer, I’d jam on it then padala ko sa kanila yung nagawa ko.”

Mike thinks, “Mas focused kami sa album na ‘to. D’un sa ibang albums, we had other bands on the side.”

And Mike said they found themselves with a lot of free time.

 

‘Bespoke rock’

“Nabuhos yung focus ng lahat sa album so natapos na parang ‘Bang, dire-diretso ang tugtugan!’” Mike added.

“Tsaka, nag-commit lahat,” said Myrene. “Nagbigay ng time. Everyone came on board such that may direction to produce this album. Our process just became streamlined.”

Diego turns thesaurus: “Streamlined, tailored, bespoke; yun, bespoke rock kami this time.”


Side bands

The band’s other bands are just as A-list hectic as Sandwich.

Myrene plays for Imago, Mong is still with ChicoSci, Diego with The Diegos, Mike with Teeth and Pedicab, and Raymund with Pedicab, Squid-9, the once- or twice-yearly Eraserheads gig abroad, plus a rainbow of collaborations.

Raymund boasts that Myrene actually is part of two videos released this week: first, the second version of the video of the Sandwich single “Kagulo,” and second, the new video of “Then Was Forever,” Imago’s second single off their 2014 album.


Rules for recording

Speaking of trying out things, Sandwich keeps to a bedrock principle.

Diego: “Mike set out this informal rule na ang mga recording dapat matugtog live. Like, if we recorded 20 guitar parts, obviously we cannot play that track live. So we kept the sessions so the performance translates well in concert.”

Mong explains, “Ito ang first album namin since recording tracks sa Trax studio na walang simulated guitars. Lahat through the amps. Naging very honest yung recording process.”


Innovations

Then the forward-thinking fillips follow.

The final track “Sunriser” features feedback through at least six amps in the studio.

Diego describes the recording: “Ang dami naming gitarang dala so whoever was in the studio that time, saksak lahat sa amp kasama si Shinji, recording engineer sa album, yung bass player ng Teeth, si Jake ng Rockstar Manila. Masaya ang lumabas.”

You have to listen to the result to fully appreciate what reads like a prankster’s prog-rock revenge.


The perennial question

Given all the tangles of a musician’s life, we just had to ask the perennial question: What’s kept you guys together all these years?

Diego: “One, for the moolah!”

Mong: “Two, for the show.”

Mike: “Three, for the long-standing friendship. Also, the food. Yosi. Tsaka gitara.”

Myrene: ”I’d like to think that having side bands is a good thing. It helps kasi we get to explore other things outside of Sandwich.”


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