-Rick Olivares
Kjwan is a Filipino hard rock band formed in 2003 by former Sandwich guitarist and lead vocalist Marc Abaya and Dicta License bassist Kelley Mangahas.
Long-time friends and former high school bandmates Marc Abaya (vocals) and Kelley Mangahas (bass) got together with fellow Ateneans Jorel Corpus (guitar) and J-hoon Balbuena (drums) to form the band's initial lineup. In 2004, Boogie Romero (guitar), another high school friend and former bandmate of Marc and Kelley, joined the lineup. They released their self-titled debut album in 2004 with their carrier hit single “Daliri” which gained constant airplay on radio stations and television.
Kjwan released their second album, 2StepMarv three years later under Barnyard Music.
The band won Favorite Indie Artist in the local music channel MYX’s music awards night. Their video “Pintura” nabbed “Favorite Guest Appearance” with the help of a seasoned actress, Chin-Chin Gutierrez. They were also featured for a month on MTV Pilipinas in December 2006. They enjoyed a month-long feature as Yahoo Southeast Asia's band of the month and another month-long feature as “Celebrity VJs” in MYX for the whole month of April 2006. They also got nominated in 6 categories in the 2007 NU Rock Awards for Artist of the Year, Best Live Act, Album of the Year, Producer of the Year (with Angee Rozul), Vocalist of the Year (Marc Abaya) and Guitarist of the Year (Boogie Romero). 2Step Marv was a massive success for the band as they cemented themselves with releases that included: Pintura, Sa Ilalim, Shai, Invitation and One Look.
At this time, the band also had the chance to show what Philippine rock is made of to various countries abroad. They headlined HK-Live, in Central, HK back in October 2007 in front of a packed Fringe Club with fans from many different nationalities. HK-Live is a monthly showcase of the Hottest Acts around Asia in HK's Fringe Club. They were also part of the Annual Baybeats Music Festival in Singapore and the HUSH Music Festival in Macau, China.
One of their biggest breakthroughs was winning the grand prize in the Asian and Philippine leg in IKON ASEAN Competition. Held in Putrajaya, Malaysia and watched by hundreds of thousands all over the region, their performance made an impact to the Asian Music Community. Kjwan beat thirty other bands from both the Philippines and in South East Asia.
Kjwan released their third album entitled 13 Seconds to Love. Inspired by the fact that a great song can be determined in just thirteen seconds, the band brought this along in their song writing with love as the common theme. The album was also the first one that was released first on a purely digital format when it was preloaded in official releases of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic in the Philippines, six months before the actual physical release of the album.
Band members:
Narda is a Filipino rock band, formed in Quezon City, Manila in 2002 by drummer Ryan Villena, bassist Wincy Aquino Ong, vocalist Katwo Librando, and guitarists JV Javier and Ed Ibarra.
Successive line-ups included guitarists Nico Africa and Tani Santos, and keyboardists Jep Cruz and Yaps Estagle.
The band was known as a pioneering act in the Philippine indie rock scene from 2002 to 2007, one of the firsts to have recorded and released their music independently.
n 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the band re-recorded the tracks from Discotillion in time for the album's fifteenth year anniversary, this time with the new eight-piece iteration. Renamed Discotrilion, the vinyl release under Backspacer Records includes four additional and exclusive tracks: "Wagwagan Love", "Mr. Sindak", "Duwag" and "Ikaw Lamang". The vinyl was pressed on opaque pink colored vinyl and is a limited release with 300 numbered copies.
The single "Ikaw Lamang" was released under Island Records Philippines on April 22, 2022.
Discotrillion was mastered for vinyl by Ely Buendia at Crow's Nest Studio. The gatefold album artwork and design, which saw the band as would-be action stars on a hand-painted billboard, was made by China Principe and Rezonate.
The official vinyl release happened on April 23, 2022 at Backspacer Records in Pasig with members Ryan Villena, Wincy Aquino Ong, Nico Africa, Tani Santos, and Jep Cruz in attendance.
The Jerks is a rock band from the Philippines formed in 1979, and perhaps, is the original alternative rock and blues band in the country. The band has undergone a lot of member changes and notably a lot of the previous members of the band are now certified icons themselves in the music scene. Members like Chickoy Pura, Nitoy Adriano, Jun Lopito, Angelo Villegas, and others have carved names in their respective niches. Other performers who have played with the Jerks are former Put3ska drummer Brutus Lacano as a session musician, and drummer Benjie Santos.
Despite having been formed in 1979, they only released their debut record in 1994 entitled The Jerks Live, released under Gary Granada's Backdoor Records. It was recorded live at the legendary Mayric's bar and showcases the raw, passionate musicality of the band never before put into record. The Jerks also released a self-titled album in the late '90s.
By 1998, Star Music managed to convince the band to record a major label album called Haligi Ng Maynila, produced by ABS-CBN's Gabby Lopez, which gave the band the opportunity to reach a wider audience. This paved the way to the band winning the 1998 NU Rock Award for Best Album and the 1998 Katha Award for Best Rock Song, "Reklamo ng Reklamo".
On October 29, 2004, the band celebrated their 25th Anniversary at 70's Bistro. Musicians like Bayang Barrios, Cooky Chua, Angelo & Mike Villegas, Jun Lopito, Tots Tolentino, Acoustic Jive will join the anniversary.
The Jerks still perform regularly around Manila in bars like My Brother's Mustache Folk Bar near Timog Avenue, The 70s Bistro, Tiendesitas and Route 196 along Katipunan Extension.
On June 2022, the band released a seven-inch extended play "The Jerks EP". featuring three songs that date back to 1981 that were only played on radio and never released on any format[7] and a reissue of "The Jerks Live" album on vinyl
