The Picassos of Pop
by acid42@Yahoo.com

published n FLY #1: April/May 1998 in a collection of articles about UNSIGNED BANDS.

Saturday morning, around 2:30 am, February 98.
Freedom Bar along Anonas Avenue, Quezon City.

I’m nursing a cool drink called Gayuma—which is a lambanog and milk concoction unique to Freedom. The band that’s playing--- they’re called Anima---is wrapping up their third and final set with a rousing rendition of “Pride (In the Name Of Love)” originally by U2, except that the band has funked it up, made it sound sort of acid jazzy. And that’s not the only thing they’ve changed. Over the course of their three sets I’ve heard a truly lively rendition of the B-52s’ “Love Shack”, some Tears For Fears, a smattering of Swing Out Sister and Brand New Heavies covers---each song slightly tweaked so that it sounds more like it was made by the band for themselves. I sit there (while wild women in the audience dance on ledges despite miniskirts), and search for an apt metaphor, a way to describe Anima. They have a small, but totally devoted following here at Freedom Bar. They modify songs to fit their reality. Ah, yes. Anima---the Picassos of pop.

Later on, I find out that Anima is latin for soul---it explains their lively performance. Though the inside joke is that they should have been “Animal” except “wala daw silang el.” This six-member band of yuppies (they’ve got 2 students, a DJ, an architect, a writer, and a graphic artist) thinks itself “a gathering of acid jazz aficionados playing funked-up power pop.” As a band they’re three years old, but as friends, some of them go all the way back to grade three. But how about as a public entity?

Anima’s male lead singer Cholo Mallillin (a well-known DJ on a top FM station) replies: “We haven’t played in any really big venues yet, so we’re not too well-known. All this time, we’ve been concentrating on building a good repertoire of songs, and honing our performance skills. Which is why we haven’t auditioned to play in Makati or Greenhills clubs.” And maybe this is the reason why they are still an unsigned band?

Cholo again: “Well, we do have enough original compositions for an album of twelve songs but we haven’t had the time to record demos of everything. For the seven or so demos we’ve done, the response from some recording companies has been medyo lukewarm. They like it, pero they’re waiting for the buzz.” The buzz, meaning word-of-mouth that spreads the band’s reputation around the city till people flock to gigs in droves.

How awful, I think. Because I’ve heard their songs and asked them for copies of lyrics, and these guys have the musical genius and songwriting abilities to pull off a musical renaissance. Just not enough of the breaks.

Guitarist Jappy Xavier: “And the problem I guess is, hindi talaga kami pang-masa. Most of our originals are very acid jazz, very Brand New Heavies/Jamiroquai/Incognito. We sing in English most of the time, and it’s poetic English, not doom rock angst.”

Who writes the songs? Who decides about the musical arrangements? And where do they get the guts to play originals in-between pop covers? Female lead singer Sheerin Castillo says: “Most of the songs are written by our keyboardist, but all of us contribute to the final sound. Team effort talaga. And whenever we plan out our sets for a gig, we always include originals. It’s the best way to balance playing covers—which others may feel is selling out---and staying true to the music we really love.”

I go over their lyric sheets after the gig and stare at the lines. Surprisingly I remember the tunes. I mean, that’s how catchy the songs were. Take a look. From their Indigo Girl-ish love song, “You Came To Me”: “You/The fates they give me/ You/ As it should be/ You/ The diamond in my life of brick and stone/ You give me truth in flesh and bone/You sing within me.” From their uptempo, Swing Out Sister-ly “Higit Pa”: “Tayo’y higit pa sa kaibigan/ Higit pa sa pangarap/ Higit pa sa magkasama/ Higit pa sa ‘ting sadya…At kung may takot ka’y huwag kang mabahala/ Sinusumpa sa iyo sinta, higit sa magpakailanman.”

And well, I have the utmost faith that these guys (and girl) are not going to be ignored. Once the word gets out that this band has a fast and funky live show, that their unique originals are worth the trip and that they truly live up to their name: Anima = Soul.

BACK TO TOP