CIUDAD:
The Boy Band Next Door
By Lionel Zivan S. Valdellon

published on PHILMUSIC.com: Aug 8, 99

Alright. You see their name on the flyers to these underground band nights, you read about them on the websites. But you haven't heard them play yet. So you scratch your head and wonder, who the hell is Ciudad? Or maybe you have heard them sing about toothbrushes and girls named Corina and still wondered, who the hell is Ciudad? And why are they having so much fun? I mean, they've been together for five years, played at Club Dredd, Mayric's, Music Museum, and various schools, opened for Color it Red and the Eraserheads... if they didn't have fun, they'd have disbanded long ago.

So…begone, curiosity. We saved you the perilous query : Are they boy band or are they Lemonheads?

PhilMusic: Name and instruments?
Ciudad: Mitch, drummer. Justin, guitar. Jeff, guitar. Mikey, bass.

PhilMusic: I know that you guys are recording. So what are your plans? What are you doing now?
Ciudad: We plan to finish the recording. Kasi, live recording ito eh, so sobrang low budget. Sa studio kami, live, wala nang overdub. When we finish, before going indie all the way, we plan to give our last call to the record companies and submit our finished demos. Kung hindi kami tanggapin, we plan to sell the reels. Kung wala talaga, indie na talaga kami, eh di kami na lang ang magdi-distribute. Actually we don't know the plans yet.

PM: How long have you been together?
C: We've been a band since '94, bale 5 years na kami.

PM: You met in high school, di ba?
C: Classmates kaming lahat. Pero hindi kasi full-time thing, kaya matagal. We've been performing since '95, six months after we formed. Sa Club Dredd, Mayric's. Mga once a month. Or more.

PM: Nahihirapan ba kayo sa studies?
C: Of course, of course! It's probably one of the reasons kung bakit nandito pa rin kami. Hindi pa rin kami umaasenso. Kung full time kami di ba, siguro countless gigs na kami tapos naka-record na kami. Pero since first priority namin ang studies, siyempre di muna. We can't sacrifice our studies for this. Kasi para sa amin, for fun lang naman itong band. Kung suwertehin, eh 'di OK!

PM: Sino yung mga gumagawa ng kanta?
C: Lahat. Lahat kami may input.

PM: Mostly, sino yung mga influences ninyo in terms of music?
C: Iba-iba, eh. Bawat isa sa amin merong isa. Lemonheads, Possum Dixon, and Pavement. Popsicle, Ben Folds Five…

PM: So, is the humor in your songs or topics intentional?
C: What humor? (haha) Hindi kami nagpapatawa, pero hindi kami seryoso. Hindi kami nagpapakengkoy. Kengkoy man, eh ok!
___ Pero we're not trying to be serious, like wow, we have social relevance, we're communists, we're for the Philippines. We're just a band, we play, lahat ng lyrics namin walang sense at all. (haha) Pero talaga, we're here for the music. Sometimes nagkakaroon din naman ng sense, and sometimes yung songs din yung outlet namin sa experiences namin.

PM: Ok, talk about some of the songs you sing. Like yung isang kanta ninyo kanina, yung may "pangako sa sipilyo…"
C: Sa una, akala mo in love siya, yun pala sipilyo lang. Wala, storya lang noon, nawala yung sipilyo niya tapos he couldn't brush his teeth for one month. Hindi true story yan, ah! Ang moral noon, brush your teeth and don't lose your toothbrush.

PM: Ano yung isang kinakanta ninyo, yung may "hey, Julia"…? What's it about?
C: Ah hindi yun "Hey Julia", ano yon…"Peculiar". Wala, masarap lang sigawin eh. Pe-culiar! Uh, what's it about? Well, practically nothing! Maraming interpretations yung mga nakikinig sa amin.
___ Yung "Corina" naman has 3 verses. The first verse is about our teacher, the next is about a ranger getting all the rangers-- what does that mean? I don't know! The third one, ninakaw namin yung line ni Stephen Bishop sa "On and On", yung "Down in Jamaica…" ginawa naming "Down in Manila they've got lots of pretty men." And the chorus is a transition from the previous verse to the next, kaya "Don't try to walk away" kasi we have a next verse, so stay.
___ Tapos meron pa kaming isang song, yung lyrics niya about the beat of the song, yung "change to six counts, then back to five, then back to six" kasi kung bilangin mo ganun talaga…

PM: So, right now sino ang audience ninyo?
C: Friends?

PM: Do you find people coming to your gigs na hindi niyo kilala?
C: Oo, minsan, kapag may kasabay kami. Nagkaroon nga ng time na 3 tao lang, pero play pa rin kami!

PM: Do you ever feel na you're not getting anywhere?
C: Sometimes medyo, pero what the hell! So what? That's not the point!

PM: And the point is what?
C: To have fun! Barkada.

PM: Ano pa yung mga balak ninyo?
C: Balak naming mag-disband, tapos solo na kaming lahat. (haha!) We're working on an indie sound. Tanungin natin sa Quark (Henares), our manager.
Quark: We're coming out with an indie album. We're recording ourselves already, sa Tracks studio.

PM: Cool… Is it self-financed?
Quark: Yes.

PM: How much does it cost, para lang may idea sila…?
Quark: Budget namin is 50 thou.

PM: And that's like how many sessions in the studio?
Quark: Yung ginagawa namin ngayon to save money, we're recording live. It's easier. We're going to record the vocals separately. So far, 7 songs na yung album. 17 songs dapat. Short lang kasi ang Ciudad songs, mga 3 minutes.

PM: What will the title of the album be?
Ciudad: The album will probably be released this year. The title is, How are You, Mico, the Happy Bear? based on our friend. We're not loud, not as rocky as the other bands but you know, if you buy the album, we're sure naman to give you a good time. And our website is <https://members.tripod.com/ciudadbombsite>.

BACK TO TOP