Gary V’s son Paolo treads own path with ‘Salamin’

Paolo Valenciano, son of pop icon Gary V, fronts the four-piece band named Salamin. If the child is father of the man, you won't be able to quickly connect the musical dots between father Gary and son Paolo from the sound of Salamin's new album.
Entitled "Hello Anxiety," Salamin's second and latest album pulses with the feral energy of neo-metal, boldly referencing the likes of Tool, Taking Back Sunday, Urban Dub and the melodic sides of My Dying Bride from track to track.

Throughout the album of all-original compositions, the ensemble playing is crisp yet inventive. Opening cut "Carousel" flirts with drone and ambient textures while "Soldiers of the New Age" is primed for air-guitar gymnastics by bedroom fetishists. "Nothing Without You" is plain awesome in its cross-breeding of emo slickness and heavy metal crunch.

Launched in 2004, Salamin went through several personnel changes, with Paolo V remaining as the constant core of the band. The present line-up has been together for the past three years, featuring Paolo, 26, on vocals; Sho Hikino, 23, on guitars; Miks Bersales, 25, on bass and Eo Marcos, 22, on drums.

The current edition of the band took one-and-half years to produce the new album, which also drained 90% of the members' personal finances during the period. Present challenges, however, are a far cry from the original incentive to form the band.

Paolo remembers, "In high school, we saw girls going ga-ga over our school friends who were in bands. One day, a bunch of us decided to be in a band so all the girls will like us too. That's how we got started. It was all about getting noticed by girls!

"As we grew older," he continues, "some of us got more serious about music. The other members had different priorities, or wanted to do something else. So there was a constant change in band members for the first four years, until I hooked up with the present line-up three years ago. These guys are committed to be in Salamin for the long haul."

That commitment is fueled less by the promise of future windfall, and more of an abiding faith in the forward-looking music and attitude associated with the band. In the first place, Salamin has no regular gig from which to draw financial remuneration and their periodic cash flow comes from occasional spots in big-ticket concerts and product marketing events. As bassist Miks claims, "Salamin is basically our day job!"

Camaraderie partly accounts for such dedication. Eo explains, "We get along with each other really well. Our chemistry as a group and our sense of humor have a lot to do with us being together for quite some time now. These things keep the present line-up really solid."

Eo argues from the standpoint that Salamin is, for all intents and purposes, an indie band, with all the struggles indie-ness connotes. He'd rather disabuse preconceptions stemming from Paolo's filial relationship with a famous parent.

Sho adds, "People are likely to think that since our vocalist is Gary V's son, it was easy for us to break into the music business. But it was really very hard for us. We worked our butts off and we paid the recording with our own money."

Miks adds, "It took us a long time to produce the album especially with the absence of support from a major label. But as much as it was stressful and difficult to produce, the new album was a joy to make. We controlled everything as much as we could down to how we recorded it, how we wanted it mixed, how we would sound. It was basically down to us doing what had to be done, and it was really a labor of love."

The eventual promotion and distribution are also hands-on engagements, with the album is being marketed online and in gigs. Tapping the potentials of new media, Salamin is actively organizing a solid following on the Internet to be able to regularly get involved with and interact with fans.

The independent spirit behind Salamin and their music is fully realized in the CD's front cover showing a pint-sized caricature aiming a slingshot to a tsunami of towering waves. It paints both the band's career and the local music industry to be a constant tug of war between a David and a swarm of Goliaths.

Like anyone with a firm vision, the band is pushing on having overcome what the members initially thought was a hopeless situation. Paolo reveals, "We've just released our second album recently, and we're already working on new materials for our next one. A lot of indie rock bands will say they don't want to become famous; but I'd be honest, we want to break into the mainstream market. It will widen the range of people who will get to listen to our music. We also hope to contribute in giving the local music industry a little boost."

Photo by Magic Liwanag, For Yahoo! Southeast Asia

Disclaimer: The views and observations of the author do not represent the position of Yahoo! Southeast Asia on the issue or topic being discussed.

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