Buhay banda - Part 5 (Sacred Heart Academy)

Continuing the Nagcarlan leg of my journey... [Also updated my previous posts with pictures]

My halted fame in Mapua was still fresh on my mind. Even after moving to a new school - Sacred Heart Academy (now St. Mary's Nagcarlan) - I was still eager and desperate to become a rockstar.

Being a newcomer in campus, as well as in town, it become somewhat difficult to blend in. Add to that my loner attitude, it wasn't easy to find friends and bandmates. The fact that there weren't many musicians in school didn't help either.

Eventually I found a group of guys who would become my barkada. Cesar a.k.a. Sakne, Wendell, Yoland, and Derick, along with the ladies Tina, Lyra, Jeanette, Sis Jean, and Ma'am Racquel. We would always hang out in the computer lab (oh yes, I was already a geek back then).

The guys liked the idea of forming a band, even if they didn't know how to play any instruments at that time. So, I taught Sakne the guitars, Wendell the bass, and Yolan the keyboards, and "Bigkis" was formed.

Eventually though, Yolan became busy with other stuff (or fell out of interest, i can't remember), so we looked for people who already knew how to play. And the final line up became:

• Lead Guitar - me
• Rhythm Guitar - Sakne
• Bass - Wendell
• Keyboard - Kathleen Gay
• Drums - Ruel (very talented drummer)
• Vocals - Arlene and Arman

In our tenure, we played in a number of school programs including our JS Prom night, where we played the theme song Never Say Goodbye. We also performed with the school principal (a nun) on vocals. Sadly I cannot remember what song she sang.

It was also during that time that I started writing songs with Bro Jeff. My first attempt was a lame lovesong entitled Paano Sasabihin about a torpe not knowing how to confess his love for a girl. Of course that torpe was me. Eventually, in real life, torpe found the courage to do so but was turned down by the girl (Ironically, she did it by singing I Love You, Goodbye on stage, with me on guitar accompanying her, not realizing I was being dumped until midway of our impromptu performance). Busted and hurt, I wrote Kung Ayaw Mo, Huwag Mo (not the Rivermaya song), which became a hit in school.

School was fun. But the real excitement was happening outside. Around this same time, Bro and I managed to find the band members that we were looking for, and... that will be up on the next installment of this blog. :D

Coming up: Full Volume