Comfort In Singing...

Candy and Pillow practice yesterday was really fun... As usual, Elaine was her in her normal crazy self while Apple on the other hand was still trying to feel her way inside our crazy little world... but she's getting there...

it was supposed to be just candy last night but Apple wanted to re-do her vocals on all the songs she did during the recording... so since 80% of Candyaudioline is also that of Sof Pillow Kisses, i decided to have her come to the practice session...

honestly, i had a hard time with her last night... maybe i was tired and was a bit impatient... i can see that she too was tired but i guess she really wanted to make good during the recordings which made me really quite pleased with her...

i tried some new approach with her and made a few discoveries...

she has many discomforts and can only sing comfortably given the presence of some really unnecessary elements... i won't elaborate on these items but just to sum it up, she is way too dependent on things which sometimes would not be possible during a gig...



also, she still is not really familiar with the way she has to approach the songs... she has no idea as of yet on how to "feel" them... it's more like she just wants so sing them... i really believe that she's capable but she still has to have the slightest clue as to why it's being done that way... Just don't have the time yet to properly educate her with the finer points of "indie-ness"... She has the voice and i've heard it a number of times already but her being not sure and obvious consciousness is getting in the way of her improvement...

like that of Elaine during the Candy segment, me and Apple did a few one on ones and she's improved quite a lot compared to the first time we did it... no more shaky singing, she was hitting the right spot more frequently this time around but sometimes, too much things inside one's head while singing would easily cause one to sing more un-assured... she did very well during "Stay Here For A While", she was able to correct herself during "Wasting Opportunities"... When we did "Your Shoes...", she was singing it like she was doing it for more than a year already...


I guess a few more practices and a bit more familiarization with the genre is what she needs... and one more important thing, confidence...

Soft Pillow Kisses Recordings and Route 196 Gig

this happens to be our 2nd proper gig with our new singer... it was really enjoyable and we played really well...

before going to the gig, we spent some time at pink noise doing some rough mixes of Pillow and Minty songs...

some info on the recently recorded Soft Pillow Kisses... here are the song which we recorded: "The Louder You'll Know", "Bathing In The Sun", "I Was Right", Wasting Opportunities" and "Stay Here For A While"... Former Candyaudioline and Soft Pillow Kisses bassist lara did the vocals "Bathing In The Sun" and "I Was Right"... She also played the bass for both songs... Apple on the otherhand sang the vocals for "The Louder You'll Know", Wasting Opportunities" and "Stay Here For A While"...

going back to the gig, i think Apple is a bit comfortable now singing the songs... she was really relaxed - hope she learns to deliver the songs loudly while singing in a relaxed manner - and inspite of some of Charles' fumbling on guitars, we still played one ace set... sadly, this might be Charles' last for he'll be leaving for Bacolod next week... we'll surely miss him... we weren't able ti catch this gig on video... darn!!!

me and my bandmates were quite impressed at the singer of the band that followed... i forgot the band's name, it was Yoshi or something to that effect... and she's cute too although i don't really like their music... i hate it when musicians of a certain band do really long "individual" solo's especially veru long one's... what's the point really? it makes the musician look like circus acts... that's how i feel about it, sorry...

after the gig we went to Rufo's Makati Ave for our obligatory eating spree the went home feely really stuffed and sleepy...

A Soft Pillow Kisses Gig At Last... With A New Singer...

last night we played at Mayrics after almost 3 months of inactivity... to me it was really a big breathe of air... i never though that we could be back this easily... as i've posted many posts ago that Soft Pillow Kisses is swarmed with loads of problems, but the most telling of all is going to take place next month... But something has been done about it already...

On to the gig... i wasn't really confident about it but we had to get going somehow... so without practicing for about 2 weeks now i still decided to push through with it... i do have confidence in Kel and Dennis (Di masyadong halata mga sabit mo ha, ngayon lang ako tumawa ng ganun sa stage ah...) playing Pillow songs since we do fool around with Pillow songs every once in a while during Candyaudioline practices... As for Apple, we do see how potentionally capable she can be singing my songs... But she still has to put herself more into the music... and to the band itself which until now i feel hasn't sunk into her yet... But she did decently well last night...

During the first song "Stolen Flowers" she sang off-key in the first stanza and sang early before the second stanza but by the middle of the song she was doing well although still struggling... During the second song "Just Like The Sky" she obviously trying to sing it correctly which she did but that's really difficult to do if you havent really memorize the song... During "I Was Right" her microphone fucked up... you call still hear her a bit doing very well during the first half but during the second half it was all me... On the song "Bathing In The Sun", she was really having a hard time... Obviously, she wasn't really repared singing it since it wasn't on the setlist... i decided to do "Bathing..." instead of "Wasting opportunities" because i didn't like to look stupid bringing along with me a distortion pedal and using it only on a fragment of a song... at least with "Bathing..." i would be using it in more that half of the song...

here's "Bathing In The Sun" with Apple singing...



I'm looking forward to our gig next week back at Route 196... hope by this time Apple would be doing close to well...

Superminty / Soft Pillow Kisses @ Route 196...

Superminty played it's first gig after almost 3 years of absence... it was really fun although all of us were quite unconfortable since we weren't sure if we were going to pull this one off... we did have practiced about three times before this gig but most practices were mostly for the new songs ("All About Us" and another one inspired by Marian's "forced" resignation from Soft Pillow Kisses) which i was doing for Superminty...

Since this is Soft Pillow Kisses's Blog, i won't be dwelling much on Superminty... although it was quite a decent set for Superminty, my guitar's being out of tune during the first two songs ("When We Smile" and "Sink Into Something") was quite a let down... though i think we were able to look good during the last two ("Silly Thing" and the new one "All About Us") Minty songs...

We were supposed to do 5 songs but Minty could only manage 4 songs so i decided to do a Soft Pillow Kisses song since Apple, our new singer, was there... She wanted to do "Just Like The Sky" so we did... During the performance i thought me and Apple were fumbling up the Lyrics which made us both at ourselves, but when i watched the video, well i can say that it was quite good,and she was quite good too although our voices got drowned by the loud instruments playing in the background... if only Dennis had taken a few seats back the we could possibly be heard more since the PA system of the venue is located way up the ceilings... Here's that perfromance with Apple singing... "Dennis, ang galing mo talaga kumuha ng Video!!!"



We'll be playing as Soft Pillow Kisses this Thursday at Mayrics... well it more of a Candyaudioline minus Elaine plus Apple line up since Charles wont be available since he has to be with his mom who's coming back from the states for a visit and Jann Paul is out for work...

Going back to Marian, we all feel sorry that it has come to this point... worse is that she had no idea as to what our silence was all about... we can't really give out any reasons now since it's all water under the bridge... she made her move and it was really brave of her while the rest of us stayed quiet... this really makes the rest of us look really bad... we do admit that our silence was wrong but i believe that it has to be that and only that...

Thanks for the message Marian... and again, SORRY... You did a lot for us, sadly we didn't...

Superminty Practice And New Song...

i have no other place to post this yet since i've no Superminty blogger, multiply or myspace accounts... so i'm going to use both Soft Pillow Kisses' and Candyaudioline's blogs to post anything related to Superminty...

We had a really long practice session last night since i wanted to demo a new song, this one was supposed to go to Soft Pillow Kisses but i decided to let Superminty have this one instead...

at first i thought i was going to have a hard time with this one since Charles have been having problems adding guitar lines to my songs... i don't know if he's just being selfish giving his all only on Populardays (his band)and giving me only 30% of his guitar palying ability... Charles is one great guitar player you know... try listening to some Populardays stuff... we were able to pull it off after about 6 tries... i would also like to commend both Kel and Rene for a job well done and for having to put up with all the crazy patterns that i had in my head which really gave them a hart time to execute this one... yet, this is still not the proper form in which i would like this song to be... it'll have to do for now...

so here's the song... no titles as of yet...



no need to know she said
it's all inside our heads
we'll take you far away from here
tucked inside your bed

just like an evening glow
a silly morning show
with people acting like it's well
but do they really know

Well... hey!!!
it's all about you...
it's all about me...
it all about us!!!

a sunny smile that's dead
no tears of joy to shed
we'll wait a while until it's gone
i think enough is said

we should slow down take our time
ambitions of another gain might stain and waste our lives...
... we know the cause... it's all because...

Almost Ready For The Next...

Had another Pillow, Minty, Candy practice session last night...

Kicked off with Superminty since Dennis and Apple haven't arrived yet... Felt a bit disappointed at first since i wasn't able to bring the lyrics of the new song (which i initially planned to give to Soft Pillow Kisses) but still i was able to have an idea as to how good the song could turn out to be... Ripped through 4 other Minty songs... still needs time though... still can't get the right feel although "When We Smile" and "Sink Into Something" are beginning to sound good again thanks to Kel's "steady" beats and Charles' improved guitar sound...

Dennis arrived in the middle of the Minty session followed by Apple a few minutes later... Decided to go for a Pillow session since Charles still had his guitar plugged in... Apple was a bit off during the first few songs dew maybe to the volume that we were at which was ridiculously loud and from too much alcohol that Dennis used to clean up Apple's mic... she kept telling me that she had a hard time singing close to the mic since the smell of alcohol was too strong... After about 6 songs, we decided to take a break and went outside the studio for the usual, yosi/snack time part of the practice session... during the break, Charles and Dennis played PSP while me, Rene, Kel and Apple exchanged opinions and thoughts about the songs, the music scene and Dennis' lips in particular... we even bullied Charles to tell us his "Legendary" bout with a "Locked Jaw" (Pictures will be available at Pillow's Blog as soon as Charles allows me to post them)... went back to practice mode were we did another batch... by this time Apple was a bit comfortable... still she was nowhere near her peak (she did very well during last weeks practice, well enough to impress me)... Called another break and decided to shift to Candy-gear... i told Apple to listen to two more songs, "Louder" and "Vodka" and that i'll have her sing them after the Candy session...

During the Candy part... i was only focusing on two songs "Nearby Town" and "Cellophane Smiles" but since we were planning on re-recording "An Empty You" and "We've Been There", i decided to include both songs in the line-up... We made to runs at "Nearby Town" and told Kel how i want the drums to sound Simple but really Mean... he did what i had told him to and it was really good... "Nearby Town" sounded so good, enough to make us all turn the volume insanely higher... "Cellophane Smile" sounded like a winner, just when i was about to lose my confidence in this song... It just had to be done tight, loud and dirty... "We've Been There" and "An Empty You" rounded out the Candy part of the session... it was so tight that we were so surpried at how tight we executed it... These four Candy songs are well on it's way to being recorded at the next possible recording session...

I called back Apple again to do the last two songs that i asked her to review... i was quite surprised at how easily she learned both song... we ended the whole thing with 2 more songs one Pillow Song "Stolen Flowers" of which i had Dennis play guitars knowing that he was to play Candy's "Better View" since Charles couldn't play it and the last song for the night was a Superminty song "When We Smile"...

Went to Mr. Kabab, where Charles and Dennis continued playing NBA Live in their PSP's, while the rest of us ate... ate... spot... cracked jokes etc... etc...

A Gig, A Studio Session And An Awkward Situation...

hello everyone...

Just found time to post something worth posting...

last Wdnesday, Candyaudioline was suppose to play a gig somewhere in Malabon but at the last minute is was moved to yestereday... i decided to let Soft Pillow Kisses play having in mind Elaine (Candyaudioline Singer) or Apple (Road-Star-Manager) do the fronting... But both were not available and Lara was always out of reach...

I really had to scrap that one... But Rene wanted to play so i didn't cancel and waited for something positive to happen...

I just so happened that i booked a recording session for Candyaudioline on the date of the Pillow Gig... But a day before, both Candy-members Dennis and Kel has already committed themselves to their other band's gig's...

I was able to convince Charles and Jann Paul to record our one-year-old new song "The Louder You'll Know"... But i told them that if there was someone who'd sing for us, we'll push thru with the gig after a quick trek to the studio... I was able to gaet a hold of Lara and she said she'd love to session for us...

So this was the plan... Record 4 songs in 3 and a half hours focusing on the drums only, then rush to the gig and feel resurrected... but this was what happened... our sched at the studio got moved to an hour late (from 8pm it became 9pm) so we only had 2 and a half hours to record... worse, Jann Paul was obviouly out of it but he did tried hard... with just one hour to go and only a song (drum tracks only) recorded, i decided to finish the session abruptly but first we had to record "Louder" live so that we'd use it as a study... but during this song, Jann Paul seemed to have gotten back his timing and Rhythn but time wasn't on our side... after a few over dubs on "Louder"... we left at around 12:15am in a rush so we could get to Valenzuela before 1am... But i got a call from the venue that they're closing already since the crowd already left... i told him that we'd love to perform in front of empty seats but he won't let us... weird coz it was only 1am and it was too early to close on a Saturday evening... i tried calling some contacts so that we could at least gate crash at a gig and it was only Joeford from 9 Mile who let us play... Stupid of me, i didn't even bother to ask him as to what sort of a production it was... We were really in high spirits upon reaching 9 Mile but just as soon as me, Lara and Rene got out of Lara's van, we were greeted with a loud demonic growl from one of the bands who were just starting to perform... Rene and Lara didn't bother to rush in side the venue but i did so to my surprise, it was a Heavier-Than-Hell's-Metal affair... My White Polo Shirt, Ripped Maong Shorts and Shiny Greasy head was no match to the Sea of Black Shirts and Multiple Metal Hair convention in front of me... i went out of the venue really laughing at myself and was quite amused at how Rene was begging me not to throw ourselves into the bowels of HELL... You should have seen Charles' face when he learned of the bands performing... still we did get to enjoy the night eating near the venue talking about lots of things related to Pillow...

Charles will be out for a long time... Jann Paul will stay with me and Rene... and that's good news... Dennis and Kel of Candyaudioline will always be the next option... Lara wants to session for a while before she leaves for Dubai in a month and a half's time... Everyone likes Apple but i have my doubts too since she's really someone who likes to do lot's of things...

Have you heard of Superminty? Eto kami...