THE SOUNDS OF HEARTS BREAKING

Morissette X Brisom

With first love comes the first heartbreak, that first brush with pain when nothing seems to bring comfort or relief. Nothing, except for music.

This is familiar territory for the rock band ST. WOLF. Known for their solid beats and

gut-wrenching lyrics are KL de la Cruz (vocals), Vince Lucero (guitars), Karlo Magsalang (bass) and Bob Sadural (drums). These guys aren’t afraid to explore the deepest emotions and the ugliest truths that can come out in relationships; their most popular songs, ‘Jealousy,’ ‘Taguan,’ and ‘Papara’ all attest to that.  

KL says, “With songs, you have to let them feel your sincerity, that is the most important thing.  As long as you write, perform and sing with sincerity, the audience will know.”

Morissette

When St. Wolf first sat down to brainstorm with Morissette for their Coke Studio Season 3 collab, the band was happy to find out that she considers rock music part of her DNA.

Morissette is known for her power ballads, but she calls rock, “her comfort zone.”  She reveals, “I actually grew up listening to old-school rock bands when I was a child in Cebu.  My dad was in a band and I would go around with him, so I do love rock!”

This common foundation made their Coke Studio Season 3 collaboration a match made in musical heaven.  

Vince puts it this way, “I think our collab works because it’s really all about the feels—we bring the feels with our lyrics and she brings the feels with her performance.”

Focusing on writing a break-up song is a particular process, Bob says, “What we have lived through, we just put it into the song.  That’s when the song becomes powerful.”  

Brisom

KL, who got his start in Christian music, adds, “I believe that of faith, hope and love, the greatest of these is love.  So to explore the loss of love, can really make for a great song.”  

Morissette was quick to add, “What’s good with a break-up song is that it can help explain what the feeling is. It can help you understand exactly what you’re going through! Young people will really be able to relate to it…and that’s all we want, a song that is relatable."

Watch Morissette and St. Wolf as they collaborate on Coke Studio Season 3. Catch them on September 28, Saturday at 10a.m. on ABS-CBN or subscribe to Coke Studio’s Youtube page at www.youtube.com/CokeStudioPH for the latest episodes.

SILENT SANCTUARY X BRISOM: JUST CHILLING

Silent Sanctuary X Brisom

Silent Sanctuary and Brisom don’t believe in boxes and labels.  Silent Sanctuary has a rock sound but they have a violinist to add the texture of a classical string section to their band.  Brisom combines the influence of world music with synth sounds and an indie pop music flavor.  This common point of view makes it easy for them to just hang out, to just be themselves.  When they get together, the laughter comes easily.  Work flows because they don’t see themselves as working.

“We found out that they also wanted to add some strings to their sound,” Raymund “Sarkie” Sarangay, vocalist and guitarist of Silent Sanctuary revealed.  “And we only found that out when we sat down for the collab in Coke Studio. Somehow, nag volt in kami.”  

Brian Sombero, vocalist of Brisom explains, “Friends na kami.  Even before this project, we already knew each other.  Of course, we would go to each other’s gigs and we knew each other’s music. We would hang out. But this time, we got to see another side of them.  They’re super fun, funny but also competitive! “

Brisom

A love of an easygoing hangout did connect them, but they discovered that creativity can take many paths.  Brian reveals, "We have a very different way of songwriting.  For us, we start with the intro.  That’s how we build upon a song.  It’s make or break for us.  Without it, we can’t make a good song.  But for Sarkie, he likes to start with the chorus and the melody.  So we learned that it’s also good to try other ways of songwriting; it’s good to get out of your comfort zone.”

Both bands also saw the big picture; they all wanted to create a song that was positive, uplifting and as simple as Sarkie says, “masarap pang road trip.” 

Kim Mirandilla-Ng, the violinist of Silent Sanctuary, says, “We want young people to know that even if it’s good to be aware of the trends; it’s also OK to go against the tide to find yourself.”  

Brian sees it simply as honesty.  “It’s good that kids nowadays know about issues, about being woke.  But for us, with our music and lyrics, we’re just keeping it real."

Silent Sanctuary

Keeping it real still surprised both bands.

“We didn’t expect that it would get so emotional,” Brian admits.

“At first, you think it’s just about hanging out, and then you realize everything you’ve been through, and then it gets very emotional,” Jeffrey Castro, the drummer for Brisom, says.

Taste the sounds of Pinoy music as Silent Sanctuary and Brisom collaborate for Coke Studio Season3. Catch them on September 21, Saturday, at 10 a.m. on ABS-CBN or on https://www.youtube.com/CokeStudioPH.

HYPE AND HIP-HOP ON COKE STUDIO SEASON 3’S FIRST EPISODE

“The song was done in one day, natural, not forced, batuhan lang kami ng ideas,” says rapper Ron Henley of his Coke Studio Season 3 collaboration with singer-actor Inigo Pascual.  

Inigo Pascual

Ron Henley

For his part, Inigo admits, “I was also surprised with how fast it went!  Imagine, we were able to write our song all in one day…that doesn’t always happen.” 

Perhaps it helped that the collaborators wanted to pay it forward, letting young people experience how music and #feels enriched their own lives.

“There’s always space to grow, always more to overcome, even if I was feeling nervous, I asked myself, ‘Am I really going to rap?!’  But Kuya Ron was so supportive and I really wanted to challenge myself musically.”

Inigo Pascual

 What Ron did to help Inigo, he also wants to do for the youth in general with their collab song. He shares, “When I was younger, music became a kind of therapy for me. ‘yung mga teens ngayon, takot sila ma-judge, ma-reject…I hope this song will boost their confidence.”  

Inigo adds, “When I found out that the theme was ‘Kaya Ko ’to,’ I didn’t want the song to be self-serving, dapat uplifting.  For me, music was really something I always wanted to do. I hype myself through music so I wanted to do it for others. Something like an anthem. That’s what I had in mind.”

Clever wordplay and double meanings are what come to mind when listening to a Henley original.  “I used to think that you had to be direct with what you say but as I grew more, I realized that it’s better to say something without saying it.”  

Ron Henley

That was their mindset on writing their original song, “Bata, Kaya Mo!,” an anthem about payong kaibigan—giving advice to one’s friends and encouraging them to face challenges head-on. Inigo confesses, “I can’t wait to perform it, I’m really excited for people to hear it!”

Watch Inigo Pascual and Ron Henley’s explosive collaboration on the first episode of Coke Studio Season 3. Catch it on September 14, Saturday at 10 a.m. on ABS-CBN. It’s also available online on www.youtube.com/CokeStudioPH.