MAD SCIENTISTS of SOUND : THE ELECTRONICAMANILA COLLECTIVE
There’s A Growing Bunch of Boys Using Toys To Craft Future Music. And They’re Not Deejays.
By Clarence Tan

published in CHEMICAL MAGAZINE: January 2003

The first thought that hits me is: What lovely toys they have.
___ Sprawled across the performance space in Sanctum Unmasct, Intramuros’ eclectic music lounge, is a plethora of machines of all sizes, replete with blinking lights and knobs, levers and oodles of cables. There is an occasional laptop, a keyboard, microphone-- but absent are the guitars, drums or turntables which regularly signify that a musical event is about to occur.
___ When the performers do finally begin their Re:Cital , the equipment suddenly all makes sense. These guys aren’t just musicians, they’re mad scientists with laboratory gadgets arrayed before them, playing with sound like Dr. Frankenstein must have played with cadavers. They concoct beats, and textures, melodies and random notes, noise and sound. The pieces they play are as much improvised on the spot as they are tediously pre-programmed.
___ And their music, to put it bluntly, is all over the map. There is dance music that could fire up any disco in the city, there is luxurious ambient stuff that would fit perfectly as movie soundtracks, there are abstract sound collages that would be perfect for art installations. The common theme is that this is all music created with the aid of machines.

Welcome to the world of ElectronicaManila.

WE’RE NOT DJ’s , WE’RE LIVE PA’s
I first learn about the group over at the burgeoning cyber community of local underground bands, INDIEFILIPINO.COM. There is a post inviting all and sundry to come watch the Re:Cital, the monthly (sometimes bi-weekly) gathering and performance for the members of the ElectronicaManila collective.
___ The group, barely 8 months old, started out as a mailing list and grew to enfold a number of already active local electronic musicians. Today, they still interact largely through the mailing list, but have since connected faces with email addresses. The active performers number about 10, though the complete roster stands at some 43 odd members, scattered across the globe (from Metro Manila and Pampanga to California), united in a love for, and in the desire to create and perform, electronic music.
___ They call themselves Live P.A.’s (performing artists). According to LIVEPA.ORG, a Live P.A. is “a live musical performance in which the entity that plays the actual notes is usually a sequencer (a machine that can play back pre-sequenced notes and patterns). The sequencer is controlled by a human who affects the resulting sound and flow of the piece.”
___ Strangely enough, this sounds like they press the PLAY button and stand around. The reality is different. HOMINID (real name: Elmer San Juan), an I.T. programmer who creates hard, industrial strength music explains: “It’s never cheating. It depends on how you execute stuff. You could think of yourself as an orchestral conductor and you conduct the loops/sequences.”

There is no one way to perform live, I am told. Some people do press PLAY and embellish on top of the pre-recorded input. Some people have multiple patterns of notes and rhythms which they mute and un-mute to create on-the-spot remixes. Then again, some people come to the and compose the piece once they’re in front of their equipment. The one constant is the fact that you can tweak the sound parameters live-- adding effects here and there, creating and changing sonic textures.
___ “We’re not DJ’s,” adds ACID42, “While there might be people in the audience who are moved to dance, we definitely don’t spin other people’s music. Some of the people in the group do know how to deejay, but the premise of ElectronicaManila is that we create our own music.”
___ ACID42 (real name: Lionel Valdellon), a freelance web designer, started performing techno in 1997 after his pop-jazz cover band broke up. He shares that he was musically burnt out by playing show band staples like “September” and “Celebration” every week for 4 years. For his own peace of mind he HAD to start playing music that he wanted to hear-- funky, acid jazzy stuff with layers of beats and soulful vocals. He started up a trio called CLONE and tried to shop around a demo tape to recording companies. No response. There was also no place to perform. “There was no place to play in at the time. Puro pang rock bands ang venues dito. Except for art places such as (then-existing) Ora Cafe. There was hardly any audience for this stuff back in 1997.”

And yet a year later, a massive dance scene emerged in Metro Manila, fueled by commercial sponsorships and an influx of deejays flown in to play our shores. Suddenly it was cool to like techno. Or to be seen at certain places. Not surprisingly, the scene withered and died.
___ Noel de Brackinghe, who is one half of the pioneering live P.A., RUBBER INC explains the scene’s demise via email: “Any scene that may or may not have existed in the recent past is now pretty much dead. When 'the DJ thing' hit Manila it happened too fast and without follow up... Main problem here is that nobody ever really listened to the music!!”
___ And yet, in the midst of it all, Noel and Malek Lopez came together as RUBBER INC (originally Rubber Nipple) and proved that electronic music could be done live, and best of all, could be danced to. They brought around an insane amount of gear to their gigs but in return, were able to coax out a sound that no live band could ever emulate: think Chemical Brothers and Orbital, and add humor. They opened the eyes of a lot of people to the possibilities of this music. In fact, as the seasoned performers in the ElectronicaManila collective, RUBBER INC continue to be technical and motivational guideposts to the group, as evidenced by a recent email from Noel: “We must come into the spotlight as musicians and composers not deejay wannabees. We must also drop the ‘deejay’ to separate us from whatever scene may have come before. If people see us as deejays without records they will just say here we go again, where is the corporate sponsor?”

SYNTH APPEAL
The next question then is: what is the appeal of this music? Surely there are genres that are easier to perform in, with gear that can fit on your back instead of in a truck?
___ E-TRINITY (real name: Elson Trinidad), a full-time producer and electronic musician based in Los Angeles, tells me that he’s been into the music since the ‘80s: “I've liked it ever since the whole new-wave/synthpop days. Something about getting behind a synthesizer is akin to Sulu at the controls of the USS Enterprise. I love the future-- Star Wars, science fiction, the Internet, all that stuff. And this is the music of the future. The past is gone, I'm never satisfied with the present, so I live for the future. The beauty of the future is that it is the product of our imaginations. Besides, rock (music) is boring.”

Anther major come-on of this music is that the machines allow a single musician to take full control of the outcome.
___ WOLFMANN (real name: Wilfrid Hernandez), another programmer/musician who creates loud beats a la Fatboy Slim, says: “I’d rather do music solo or with a maximum of 2 people. I've been in bands before, and had conflicts with bandmates.”
___ Silverfilter (real name: Cyril Sorongon) is the mailing list moderator. Musical arranger by day and drummer for pop-rock band Skin by night, he somehow manages to create slamming house music tracks in his free time. He explains: “A person can make a whole track by himself, doing all the parts. The possibilities are also wider because of the availability of different gear to make electronic tracks."
___ Malek Lopez, the other half of RUBBER INC echoes the sentiment: “I like total control.”
___ CHROMA (real name: Chuck Fournier), who continues to play rock music apart from electronic, adds: “I love the beats and the bleeps. I’ve loved synth sounds since Pink Floyd and prog rock: Rush, Emerson Lake & Palmer etc. Besides, I’m a control freak. This way, I can orchestrate the whole piece myself.”

At the Sanctum Re:Cital, CHROMA performs a relaxing piece called “Dream Breaks” which mixes some light, skipping drum patterns with lush, synthesized melodies. I tell him it sounds like something out of a Café Del Mar CD, and he laughs. “My friends keep telling me that,” he says.
___ When it is their turn to play, RUBBER INC cajole the audience to make noise into the various microphones scattered around the venue. The sounds are captured on their laptop, and turned into an experimental collage of vocal noise and effects. There are no drum rhythms or melodies. It is pure found sound, done in real time.
___ Two weeks later, at another Re:Cital, this time in BigSky Quezon City, percussionist Paul Zialcita uses arnis sticks to hit a metal can outside the café. A microphone captures the hits, and inside, RUBBER INC transform each percussive blast into a musical pitch, via their machines. From where we sit, it sounds like Paul is playing a 21st century percussion instrument rather than bashing the hell out of an upended trash can. Noel and Malek, it appears, are moving into territory that is a world apart from their dance music beginnings.

But that’s the fun of it all. You never know what’s going to happen next.

SO IS THERE AN AUDIENCE FOR THIS?
Of course, the big question in my mind is whether there is a future on these shores for this future music. I ask the group if electronic music will ever be as mass-oriented as radio pop and the answers are varied.
___ ETRINITY berates me: “Hello, electronic music is already mainstream! It's been mainstream since the ‘80s.You have all these big-name electronica artists on the scene. As far as what we're doing, we'll see.”
___ SICK MAN OF ASIA (real name: Christian), a web designer based in Tracy, California and self-confessed lover of all ’weird music’, puts it this way: “They already have electronic dance contests on noontime shows, right? Who could ever forget that Mighty Dub Kats song playing over and over. Never say never but I do see pop electronic acts making it big. The act would have to be a mixture of pop hooks, light weirdness, easy vocals, guest stars galore, and BIG BOOBS. If Assunta de Rossi did electronic music she would be a hit!”
___ Malek adds: “Maybe if the synthesizers started looking like J-Lo and dancing like Shakeerahhhhh.”

Nevertheless, outside of these Re:Citals, some of the group still find the occasional gig or two. ETRINITY tells me he’s performing for an upcoming Asian American film fest in the States, where aside from a talent fee, organizers have paid for hotel and airfare. ACID42’s group CLONE recently did an hour-long dance set for a party at (of all places) a progressive church in Quezon City and were apparently paid well-- which is a long shot from their very first gig where they each earned 10 pesos. Meanwhile the guys of RUBBER INC, who through the years have performed at about 200 gigs from Boracay to Cebu, are having a grand time turning their obsession with knobs and sound into a living. Together with maverick sound engineer Marck Laccay, they run a recording studio called SWEET SPOT in Palanan, Makati.
___ So yes, there is an audience for this music. Maybe not everyone will understand it. At the Re:Citals I note a number of people who scratch their heads in confusion. It may not match the huge numbers that appear at rock concerts, but the audience they reach is enough to fuel this odd group of musicians to keep putting up their small shows and keep finding ways to share their musical passion with others outside of the ElectronicaManila mailing list.

For more info on the group, visit <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/electronicamanila>

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SIDEBAR: TOYS FOR LIVE ELECTRONICA
When asked what they use to make and play their live music, the answers are a confusing combination of brand names and model numbers. We quickly took notes. Generally, you need something that creates drum patterns, or something that plays back sequences of notes, or something that plays back sounds.

1.DRUM MACHINES
Because there are no live drummers in their gigs, many in the group use little boxes to create beats and drum patterns. They call these things drum machines, or groove boxes, and the brands commonly used by these guys are: Korg, Roland, Boss, Yamaha. Aside from drums however, some grooveboxes act as sequencers and can play back pre-programmed bass and keyboards.

2. KEYBOARDS
Let’s not forget the things with the black and white keys. These are used as controllers. You press the keys and can control sounds coming from within the keyboard itself or from some other external source, like a sampler. Again, Korg and Roland are top brands on the list with a smattering of Yamaha.

3. SAMPLERS
These things store sounds. You can sample your voice coughing, or a snare drum being hit. And the output can be triggered by a keyboard or computer.

4. COMPUTERS
Because so much can be done on software these days, a number of the performers rely on laptops running programs like FRUITY LOOPS, Propellerheads’ REASON, and Ableton LIVE. The programs can act as any or all of the above: sequencers, drum machines, virtual samplers which can be triggered via a connected keyboard, or even virtual mixers.

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