Q-ZACK: Here & Now

You’ll be leaving for the winter, but I won’t see that it’s true
It’s the right thing for you, but it’s tough to be moved
With the holiday spirt, when to tell you the truth
I had big plans for Christmas, and high hopes for you.

I want you here by my side!
Cold nights and fires and white wine
And dreams of holidays to come, but I’ll wait for spring to bring you to me
Only gift that I need.

I’ll be living off your phone calls and your letters and your post cards
Every single word is like a secret wish come trueWho cares if were apart for the big days
Since the small ones made me fall in love with you (fall in love with you).

“Ditu cancion cuando tu acaba? Nuay ba tu otro pirmi lang de tristesa?”

I keep my grammar well rehearsed. With every melody I conceive is a bruise. With every tune I initialize is a wound. Correct each stutter every slur. Come on and have your way into me. Feel the music. Feel the vibe.

Ready to be new again. Ready to hear you say who I am is quite enough.

Open the gates wide open.

For the best is yet to come….

Enough said.

(Kay todo se le sabe maga moves, complicated grooves, bene ya!!!).

All in a half-day’s work I thrive. Change has definitely taken its course and it’s unto me like a heat-seeking missile. Whether I like it or not, it is inevitable. Good or bad, it will definitely start a new a chapter in my life. Now the real story begins… Time management… I’ve got the management but I don’t got the time anymore to do the things that make me wanna go Peter Pan all over again. No more Neverland. It’s all Genosha for me now. I’m climbing my way back, inch by inch. This is just a way to get my thinking back. The influence… The inspiration… The impact… It is the 6 that started it all. Guess who’s spearheading it? Change is into me… for it knows full well what I’m capable of. It has plans for me… big plans.

The future is looking brighter.

The shades started moving in the other direction but don’t worry I. well, won’t say a thing. I’ve never been much expressive and hell, I’m pretty much not of a dramatic-kind-of-a-guy either. And now, these things happen. Leaving my senses in to disarray. Everything has fallen into pieces and the only place to go is up north. Giving-up was not an option. Only moving forward, that is. Time is of the essence. I won’t sell-out. I won’t buy-in either. Gotta get a move on. Make plans. It’s time to get a life. ‘Nuff said.

There’s has been a change in the line-up and it’s a doubtful one. Nonetheless, let’s just make music for the masses to enjoy. ‘Nuff said.

We are currently on recording. Some songs are on the rehash. While are others are brand new.  Feels  good to be recording again. It’s been a year since we last enter into a studio. Almost a year now since Tristan, our recording engineer & producer, left for Canada to work. He’s been saving up for a major overhaul. He has this dream. And we, too, are supporting it. 100%.

We went to City Hall last week. I don’t know why we went there. It seems my feet led me there. OK. OK. We did some solicitations for our next album. Arghhh…!!! It pains me to think about that. It hurts my pride as an artist and it hurts my ego as human being. Asking money to back us up on our project. Shhhheeessshhh!!! The humanity….. Solicited talent? Wahhhh…!!!!! Tsk tsk!!! If someone’s going to help us on this project, needs to know firsthand that he/she needs to help us unconditionally. Without something in exchange. Wholeheartedly. Political gain? Hehehe!!! If the price is right. Let’s talk business. Mutual understanding. Give and take. Benefits to both parties. ‘Nuff said. Yes, we need it. To buy ourselves new equipments. To further inspire us to perform and write new songs. The bottomline: We are doing this liven-up the music scene of Zamboanga and make every people appreciate Original Chavacano Music.

We already did the latter. Stage 1 completed.

Entering Stage 2……….

In 2004, Zack and Jeloh met through an internet gaming café, the infamous “Battle City” located at Campaner Street, Zamboanga City, where they spend countless hours playing computer games. Unbeknownst to the both of them is that they have far more something in common other than playing computer games and that is their love for music.

They decided to get together every afternoon and share their love for music by jamming. Together with Mark and Randy, they formed “COMIC RELIEF”. (A name which has been previously used by “Parokya Ni Edgar” back when they were just starting out.)

After a couple of months, they found themselves competing at different “Battle Of The Bands” in the area and eventually won first-place in a city-wide event band competition organized by Silsilah.

The band was quick to realize that they were capable of doing more and aspired to be part of the bigger picture. They decided to write their own music and hoped that people would be able to relate to the band and appreciate what they had to offer. They wrote songs in English & Tagalog but focus mainly on Chavacano. Thus, the song “CUANDO?” was conceived.

They uploaded their first video on YouTube showcasing mainly their Chavacano songs, thus, catching the attention of IFM and Tristan Climaco (former keyboardist of FRIO). Tristan Climaco helped the band record their songs in his recording studio at home in the late of 2007. IFM offered the band a free massive airplay of their songs. “NUAY MAS” was their first single. Then after a couple of months they released “CUANDO?”.

The band unfortunately has to make a different line up for some musical reasons. Thus, Marvin De Jesus and Mykel Tordecillas joined the band and made the band what we know to date.

And the rest, as they say, is history……

Unleashing tremendous blows perhaps, it isn’t the way to do it. Got to be pushy and bossy at the same time. Wiser is the word.  What’s going on in my mind right now is an enigma to others. Dealings is probably my first time but not anymore. Resistance is futile.

November 2006 - We shoot a video of “CUANDO”? in our home and uploaded it to YouTube.

March 2007 - We shoot “MI ESTRELLA” & “NUAY ETU, NUAY MANYANA” and uploaded it to YouTube. Comments came pouring in. It was all good!!!

Summer 2007 - IFM contacted us and wants to give our songs a full air-time play. We we’re glad. We immediately gave them copies of our songs but it was rejected because of its quality. They told us to record it in a recording studio but there’s no decent recording studio here in Zamboanga City. So we waited…. Until….

November 2007 - Tristan Climaco contacted me (Zack) & Jeloh through e-mail via YouTube. Since then, we got into conversations thru phone. The three of us met at their residence and discuss recording matters. Recording went into works immediately. I called in my bandmates. “NUAY MAS” was the first song to be recorded. But we’re not satisfied with the way our drummer recorded the song. But in the end, he managed to pull it off, thanks to the magic of digital recording and to the ever-supporting effort of our sound engineer, Tristan Climaco. 

December 2007 - We finished recoring “NUAY MAS”. We were happy.

January 2008 - We started recording “CUANDO?”. I brought in Mykel, my friend and the drummer of Bad Grass, to fill in temporarily for the drums sections for the rest of the songs, which has not yet been recorded yet. He exceeded to my expectations and manage to help me in arranging some of the songs.

March 2008 - We submitted our demo to IFM and they played it immediately. ”NUAY MAS” was the first to be played.

Summer 2008 - We recorded all of our songs already, except for “EL MUJER”. I was hesitant to record it because there was one missing component if we were to record it now. I thought of Marvin, the guitarist of Prorata & The Guild, and immediately contacted him thru Friendster. We got into talks and he agreed.

We recorded “EL MUJER” with ease. Now with Marvin. It was a wonderful experience.

June 2008 - “CUANDO?” was played on all local radio stations. It became No.1 for 4 straight weeks and eventually became a phenomenal hit. People were singing it especially small children. They knew it by heart.

July-September 2008 -  Gigs came pouring in. We performed at various schools and locales. We were like celebrities. Hehehe!!! Oh yeah, its true…. it’s damn true.

October 2008 - We front-line Sponge Cola.

November 2008 - We got into talks with Councilor Gerky Valesco about holding a concert for us.

December 2008 - The concert is all-systems go.

December 16, 2008 - Then came our concert and it was a successful one.

Thank you!!!

The best is yet to come this 2009.

I’ve never been much of a virtuoso musician but I can manage to play. I learn to play the guitar when I was 19, so you could say I’m late, I’m very late. Guitar was never my thing but I still cannot fathom how I manage to pull it off everytime COMIC RELIEF is on stage. Maybe it’s the songwriting. I guess, the Lord God has endowed me with the gift of melody, which I can incorporate to all of the songs that I wrote. Maybe yes. Definitely yes.