LASLAS BALLADS AND OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS OF AEGIS TO OPM AND KARAOKE NIGHTS
Laslas is the Filipino word for slash. As in slashing of the wrists. </drama>
Formed in an era when songs with thinly-disguised double meanings littered the streets, one group dared to soften the edges of novelty pop by writing about the sentimental, all-cheese experience of love in all of its honest pains and glories. Instead of urging the listeners to dance and eventually ram into something, their records shoved the people in front of karaoke machines to sing their aggravations, and possibly their voice boxes, out for the entire neighborhood to talk about. Emerging from the lot faster than you can say “Nasasaktan ako, oh baby,” Aegis connected with their love drunk fans through their melodramatic lyricism and realistic depiction of a Filipino in love.
Does “Hindi ko na kailangan / Umalis ka na sa aking harapan / Damdamin ko sa `yo ngayon ay naglaho na” sound anything like you when you’re in the throes of a painful breakup? Are you the “Nananaginip nang gising, nakatulala sa hangin” type when you’re only just discovering the cause and effect of a probable new love? The straight-to-the-point sweetness and brutality of their lyrics manage to pierce through any type of wall and into armor-clad hearts, Aegis fan or not.
Aegis has been making their mark all over the Philippines and abroad for more than ten years. Through years of hard work, the organic process of constant touring, TV exposure, together with the distribution of a string of acclaimed records helped establish the band’s reputation. Making its way past the evolving sound of Filipino rock, Aegis’ hits prove to be as timeless and as popular as its first airplay – still best consumed live by the band itself or a friend on videoke night.
How it all started
Initially, the members of Aegis were from different bands under AG Talent Development and Management until their managers, Josie and Solito Galindo decided to merge them into one group, forming the AG’s Sound Trippers Band in the early 90’s. In 1998, as agreed upon by their managers and Alpha Records, the band changed its name to Aegis as they ventured in the mainstream music industry. The original members are vocalists and sisters Juliet Sunot and Mercy Sunot-Borjal, Stella Maries Galindo-Pabico on keyboards, Vilma Goloviogo on drums, Rowena “Weng” Pinpin-Adriano on bass guitar, and Rey Abenoja on lead guitar. The youngest sister of Juliet and Mercy, Kris (also known as Ken) Sunot, was later on added to the line-up, providing the R&B flavour to Aegis’ repertoire.
Do you know anyone who hasn’t heard of, memorized, or drunkenly sang any of Aegis’ songs? When they were asked if they ever imagined the band to be this big and well-received, they said, “No! Up to this very moment, we are still surprised with how people accepted us and our music. How we all started as what they call "MASA" to as some say, "institution". We are humbled by all the blessings and opportunities that come to us.”
The person responsible for stabbing your heart repeatedly with long swords disguised as microphones is the late Celso Abenoja, brother of Rey Abenoja and Josie Galindo. The songs from the debut album “Halik” were originally written 30 years ago for his former band but he was not able to release them when he got side-tracked by a personal experience. With his permission Aegis breathed new life into his masterpieces, infusing their own style and techniques. Together with Celso, the band was able to record hit after hit after hit over the years. To date, they have ten albums under their belt, the latest being “Back To Love” which contains some of the most requested cover songs including power ballads “Total Eclipse of The Heart”, “Alone” and “What About Love”. They are currently working on their all-original 11th album, with Ken Sunot and Rey Abenoja contributing in the songwriting process.
Achievements and plans (if they’re aiming for space travel and/or world domination)
According to them, they never intended to pursue a musical career in the Philippines since they were content with performing in Japan. They thought earning lapad’s while being able to do what they love was enough but the universe as it turns out had an entirely different plan.
Since “Halik” came out, the group constantly got invites to perform in various tv shows on local networks such as ABS-CBN, TV5 and GMA. However, that among other opportunities is still not considered as their greatest achievement. “Being together as a band for more than a decade has been a huge achievement for us already and we hope to stay together longer.”
Another feat worth citing is having the means to produce and distribute an EP or a full-length studio album. This age though makes music more accessible to anybody. Now there are hosting sites that cater especially to musicians; those that allow Internet users to stream and download individual songs or albums online, while on the Dark Side of the Force, there are websites that give away the music for free. Musicians nowadays have different views when it comes to piracy. Some say as long as more people get to discover their music, whether they got it from the Internet or they bought a pirated cd, it’s fine. For Aegis though, that is more of a challenge. “We all know that the music industry has been fighting with music piracy. With the current situation and the quick pace of the industry, it has always been any band’s challenge to be heard and be updated always.”
Right now, if we’re going to gauge the popularity of the band based on invitations to perform abroad, numbers punched in videoke machines and radio airplay, Aegis would be one of the country’s leading acts. If there’s anything else they are hoping to achieve, the band said, “At this time, we are just very thankful and humbled by the response of everyone not just in the Philippines but with the entire world who knows us and our music. We just hope that we will not be a disappointment to them and we will just continue to provide them with a fantastic show every time!”
A tribute to their music – sort of
On January 31, the music of the legendary pop rock band will conquer the local theatre scene as Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) closes its 46th theatre season with the staging of “Rak of Aegis”, a Pinoy rock comedy-musical featuring the hit songs of Aegis.
“Rak of Aegis”, inspired by the flooding caused by Tropical Storm “Ondoy” in 2009, revolves around the lives of Villa Venizia’s residents and their respective troubled relationships. Their intertwining stories just show how no natural disaster can be as disastrous and as outrageous as the sight of broken dreams and hearts.
The musical is created by PETA’s artistic director Maribel Legarda and award-winning writer Liza Magtoto, with musical arrangement and direction by actor-musician Myke Salomon.
When asked about their initial reaction, Aegis expressed their excitement on having been chosen for PETA's musical. “When PETA visited our office, they mentioned that the musical will be all about the songs of our band. We didn't really have a clue yet as to how they will use the songs to create a story. We thought it was a brilliant idea that's why we're very excited about this project.”
Portraying the roles of the disaster – love included – stricken characters is an off-the-wall variety of today’s talented artists. Cast members, led by Isay Alvarez-Seña, Robert Seña, Aicelle Santos, and Joan Bugcat, also include Ro Alfonso, Jet Barrun, Kakai Bautista, Poppert Bernadas, Gimbey Dela Cruz, Neomi Gonzales, Pepe Herrera, Carlon Matobato, Julienne Mendoza, John Moran, Jerald Napoles, Gie Onida, Phillip Palmos, Myke Salomon, Paeng Sudayan, and Gold Villar.
The play runs from January 31 to March 9, 2014 at The PETA Theater Center located at No.5 Eymard Drive, New Manila, Quezon City. For more information, contact PETA at 725-6244 or 0917-5765400, petatheater@gmail.com or visit www.petatheater.com.