Antidote to ‘Gangnam’: Kid band kills the competition
The stage was filled with young children. Most of them were barely four-and-a-half feet tall.
Yet, holding instruments that amplified their diminutive statures, they played like accomplished adult musicians. And they trumped their college-level competitors who just looked too self-conscious to play their best.
In fact, the band Kombo ni Vjosh squealed in delight when they were named champions of the 2012 Greenhills Sessionistas, an annual band competition now on its sixth year. On their Facebook page, the band described themselves as: "Kid musicians. Just started April 2012. All happy-go-lucky kids down d stage,,,but serious and dedicated with their assigned instruments up d stage!!" I couldn't help but wonder what they'd sound like once they mature as people and as musicians.
I'm with the band
The Greenhills Sessionistas competition was held at the G-Strip parking area four Sundays of September. The grand finals were held on Friday, Oct. 5. It has become a yearly fixture in the Greenhills area, open to currently enrolled students regardless of educational level.
The contest is called "Sessionistas" because per competition night, one band in contention gets the chance to jam spontaneously with an established musician. This year, POT's Ian Umali, Rivermaya's Mike Elgar, former 6cyclemind vocalist Ney Dimaculangan and Agaw Agimat's Renmin Nadela traded licks with the surprised contestants.
This year's guest artists, who played an hour-long set after the bands in competition, included Imago, Kitchie Nadal, Pupil, Wolfgang and the Juan De La Cruz Band.
The winning band gets to play a few gigs in Tiendesitas alongside major bands. Since the participants are students, these gigs are scheduled during sem break.
Play music and stay in school
The point of Greenhills Sessionistas is to encourage students to play music AND stay in school. It's a good enough reason for The Jerks' Chickoy Pura and myself to be judges for four years. Imago's Zach Lucero also joined us this year.
So how did the bands this year turn out?
Fourth runner-up Recheil and Friends favored a pop slant, with an original song that would not have been out of place in the eighties OPM landscape.
Third runner-up High Faith Storey preferred an anthemic, Switchfoot-inspired attack.
College of Saint Benilde students Not Informed played exuberant pop-punk that landed them in second place.
First runner-up Kalam composed a joyful tune about environmental awareness—not an easy task.
'Tuneful' original songs
All were competent and able but some were clearly nervous. Others over-explained themselves in an effort to overcompensate for the judges' comments during the semi-finals.
Pre-teens Kombo Ni Vjosh, fronted by a big-voiced wafer-thin waif of a singer, treated their performance as playtime. It was obvious that their angsty teen hormones had yet to kick in. Yes, they were small and cute but they played more confidently and consistently than everybody else in the past four weeks.
What is, thankfully, consistent among all the finalists is their original songs. All sounded tuneful and promising…and better played than the cover tunes they chose.
No to deathpop version of 'Gangnam Style'
Over the years, I've seen participants who played so well, they could probably land a regular bar gig the next day. However, they may have also overlooked one of the most important criteria that is part of the Sessionistas mission: originality. And lemme tell you, it IS a tall order.
A deathpop version of "Gangnam Style" will probably be entertaining and maybe land you a gig or the attention of record companies in their attempt to squeeze every last drop of exploitable profit from a major hit. But, I daresay that even a halfway decent original composition is better than even the most sincere of cover versions. At least, you're well on your way to finding your own path instead on trekking down somebody else's well-worn road.
Thankfully, year by year, the participants of Greenhills Sessionistas, regardless of their chosen genre, continue to step up to the plate. For all the national hoo-hah over issues surrounding plagiarism and whatnot, at least I can say (by way of Pete Townshend) that the kids are alright.
At least, I am hopeful they will be.
Francis "Brew" Reyes wears many hats: guitarist, producer, arranger, music journalist, photographer and TV host. He once played guitar for the Dawn and was a DJ for NU107. In short, he is legendary. Like him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter and check out his Tumblr.
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