Here is this month's line up...
Gentle Isolation
Your Imaginary Friends
Sonnet LVIII
Candyaudioline
Random Knobs
Tether
Soft Pillow Kisses
Gig hopefully starts by 9pm, entrance gets you one free drink at PhP100.00...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Doubts Put To Rest...
After last night's Pillow practice session, all my doubts about Ralph's being able to play Pillow songs the way they should be played have been put to rest...
going into the pratice i was thinking of ways to orient Ralph with the finer points of guitar playing "indiepop style"... There's no doubt as to his guitar playing abilities but there's really a big difference when it comes to playing the way i want him to play as opposed to the way he's accustumed with... and inspite of his years with Candyaudioline and a few month's with Aspirin and how he'd jumped from the typical virtuoso guitarist to avant garde british pop rock to indierock / shoegaze and post shoegaze stylings i'm pretty sure that he still has to familiar himself with the simpistic complexity of indiepop playing...
i hoped to make him play around 4 to 5 songs during that practice, instead we ended up doing 7 songs (Bathing In The Sun, It Will Never Last (Forever), Harsh Words (Never Heal), I Don't Know What To Say, Stolen Flowers, Stay Here For A While and Losing Something...)...
Most of the 7 songs were done slendidly while 2 of them needs to be studied a bit more... still me, together with Rene and Jann Paul were quite happy and truly convinced that Ralph could really do it... If only Apple (I let sit out last night's practice session since she was too tired and i felt that i had to focus more on Ralph) was there to make the session more "complete"....
still a lot more needs to be done about Ralph's playing, and i sure am glad that inspite of his being an ace guitar player, he is always ready to listen and learn from me... i'm not rushing things, i'll be quite happy if he could be able to pull it off by himself, seeing how good he seems to adjust to guitar styles that he seems to like and appreciate... hopefully he'd gets the kick out of playing this type of music and get to truly learn the right feel so that he gets to execute it perfectly...
going into the pratice i was thinking of ways to orient Ralph with the finer points of guitar playing "indiepop style"... There's no doubt as to his guitar playing abilities but there's really a big difference when it comes to playing the way i want him to play as opposed to the way he's accustumed with... and inspite of his years with Candyaudioline and a few month's with Aspirin and how he'd jumped from the typical virtuoso guitarist to avant garde british pop rock to indierock / shoegaze and post shoegaze stylings i'm pretty sure that he still has to familiar himself with the simpistic complexity of indiepop playing...
i hoped to make him play around 4 to 5 songs during that practice, instead we ended up doing 7 songs (Bathing In The Sun, It Will Never Last (Forever), Harsh Words (Never Heal), I Don't Know What To Say, Stolen Flowers, Stay Here For A While and Losing Something...)...
Most of the 7 songs were done slendidly while 2 of them needs to be studied a bit more... still me, together with Rene and Jann Paul were quite happy and truly convinced that Ralph could really do it... If only Apple (I let sit out last night's practice session since she was too tired and i felt that i had to focus more on Ralph) was there to make the session more "complete"....
still a lot more needs to be done about Ralph's playing, and i sure am glad that inspite of his being an ace guitar player, he is always ready to listen and learn from me... i'm not rushing things, i'll be quite happy if he could be able to pull it off by himself, seeing how good he seems to adjust to guitar styles that he seems to like and appreciate... hopefully he'd gets the kick out of playing this type of music and get to truly learn the right feel so that he gets to execute it perfectly...
Friday, August 22, 2008
Reconstructing Soft Pillow Kisses...
here we go again...
as i've posted many posts ago...
here's the present Soft Pillow Kisses...
Apple - Vocals, Ralph(Ex-Candyaudioline)- Guitars, Me - Guitars and Vocals and Rene - Bass
It's not been easy but it had to be done... no regrets so far... hopefully none anymore...
as i've posted many posts ago...
here's the present Soft Pillow Kisses...
Apple - Vocals, Ralph(Ex-Candyaudioline)- Guitars, Me - Guitars and Vocals and Rene - Bass
It's not been easy but it had to be done... no regrets so far... hopefully none anymore...
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
It Was Quite Fun Really...
Soft Pillow Kisses played quite an enjoyably long set last night... we did something like 8 songs i think...
Buzz Night last night was quite not what i expected it to be... Quite a number of people showed up although i was expecting only band members to watch the whole thing...
Dale's Some Gorgeous Accident played first... with him was Sherwin and Ria, both from Sunday Picnic Love Affair... they were tight this time around and the songs were much more "defined" and clearer, not unlike when i first saw them at Route196 where they were obviously trying to feel each other out... I just hope that Dale would allow his voice to be heard more... Their songs does have some killer melodies but he choses to drown them instead...
Candyaudioline followed... i can't really tell if we did well but all i can say is that we did enjoyed playing inspite of countless booboos on our part... and worse i9s that i can't really tell if it was my gadget or my guitar that was fucking up most of the time...
Lazy Lorelei was the 3rd band... They've develop a much more brighter sound... Really clean... Not good really for me... i kinda like the way they were a long time ago... The intruments sounded really raw way back then which was truly a great compliment to their singer's lovely voice... i can't really explain as to why i see the improvement in their sound as more of a let down... it's like comparing bands like The Autocollants and Charming for instance... I'd go for The Autocollants raw sound anytime compared to Charming's polished sound... Don't be alarmed yet, Lazy Lorelei still owns some really neat "indiepop tune" in this part of the globe...
we came in last... as expected, Dennis dished out a decent amount of belly achers to me and Rene's pleasure... the most memorable of which were during "It Will Never Last (Forever)" and "I Don't Know What To Say"... but this does not mean that we sucked last night... in fact i guess we did well... it's just that we find these stage fuck-ups quite enjoyable, specially guitar related fuck-ups... maybe we've gone mad already dew to the numerous line up changes that this band over the years... But seriouly, kudos to Dennis for being such a good sport, allowing Ralph to play for Candyaudioline while he on the otherhand played valiantly each of the 8 Pillow songs heaving a big sigh of relief at the end of each one while bracing himself for the next... Apple to did well too inspite of a really annoying runny nose...
Me, Dennis, Rene and Dale went to Mr. Kabab afterward for some chow and a healthy exchange of thoughts pertaining to the recent Buzz and some really annoying people who are supposedly part of the whole local indie thing... By the way, i'm kinda considering Rene's idea... i'm keeping my fingers crossed, i just hope this works...
That's that for now... hopefully there'll be more Buzz Nights to come...
Buzz Night last night was quite not what i expected it to be... Quite a number of people showed up although i was expecting only band members to watch the whole thing...
Dale's Some Gorgeous Accident played first... with him was Sherwin and Ria, both from Sunday Picnic Love Affair... they were tight this time around and the songs were much more "defined" and clearer, not unlike when i first saw them at Route196 where they were obviously trying to feel each other out... I just hope that Dale would allow his voice to be heard more... Their songs does have some killer melodies but he choses to drown them instead...
Candyaudioline followed... i can't really tell if we did well but all i can say is that we did enjoyed playing inspite of countless booboos on our part... and worse i9s that i can't really tell if it was my gadget or my guitar that was fucking up most of the time...
Lazy Lorelei was the 3rd band... They've develop a much more brighter sound... Really clean... Not good really for me... i kinda like the way they were a long time ago... The intruments sounded really raw way back then which was truly a great compliment to their singer's lovely voice... i can't really explain as to why i see the improvement in their sound as more of a let down... it's like comparing bands like The Autocollants and Charming for instance... I'd go for The Autocollants raw sound anytime compared to Charming's polished sound... Don't be alarmed yet, Lazy Lorelei still owns some really neat "indiepop tune" in this part of the globe...
we came in last... as expected, Dennis dished out a decent amount of belly achers to me and Rene's pleasure... the most memorable of which were during "It Will Never Last (Forever)" and "I Don't Know What To Say"... but this does not mean that we sucked last night... in fact i guess we did well... it's just that we find these stage fuck-ups quite enjoyable, specially guitar related fuck-ups... maybe we've gone mad already dew to the numerous line up changes that this band over the years... But seriouly, kudos to Dennis for being such a good sport, allowing Ralph to play for Candyaudioline while he on the otherhand played valiantly each of the 8 Pillow songs heaving a big sigh of relief at the end of each one while bracing himself for the next... Apple to did well too inspite of a really annoying runny nose...
Me, Dennis, Rene and Dale went to Mr. Kabab afterward for some chow and a healthy exchange of thoughts pertaining to the recent Buzz and some really annoying people who are supposedly part of the whole local indie thing... By the way, i'm kinda considering Rene's idea... i'm keeping my fingers crossed, i just hope this works...
That's that for now... hopefully there'll be more Buzz Nights to come...
Monday, August 18, 2008
Looking Forward To Tonight's Gig... And The Future
it's been 3 months now since the last time we had Buzz Night... we had Marian then singing for us, Jann Paul playing the drums and Charles on guitars and as far as i remember we played really well... Now it's a totally different line up mostly made up of Candyaudioline members Me, Rene, Kel and Dennis...
Although we have been practicing every once in a while, i honestly feel that we still have a long way to go in capturing the right Soft Pillow Kisses sound that most of the previous line-ups have come to perfect... Gone are the clean and smooth guitar textures of previous Pillow Guitarists, A.J. and Charles... Dennis has yet to perfect this craft since he and me both produce really dirty sounding guitar noises... The drums too will be taking a plunge. The steadiness of Gilbert and Jann Paul is replaced by Kel's often times "playfullness" making him play a some differently... it's either a good or a bad thing depending on how he does it on any given night... Apple, our singer has been really struggling in finding the right voice... there are times that she's on the right grove although every now and then, she seems to miss the mark... but she does have a really lovely voice, a voice that i hope could help keep the integrety of this band intact...
Nevertheless, it doesn't mean that we're taking the plunge... we do have really good songs... songs that still stand out or at least at par with anything good that's been coming out... i've heard a lot of really good local "Indie" bands/acts popping out every now and then and i'm really happy for them, i just hope they don't develop a wrong attitude...
i just learned from a friend that there's this local indie band that has really developed quite an emormous ego... i've heard of them and they do have really good songs... but not the type of songs that could measure up to my standards of what is truly good, although i'm a fan of New Order, Field Mice, The Wake and Countless other really good Post-Punk bands that came out of the 80's... they're only claim to fame is that their songs sound like a mixture of tried and tested "indie" acts most of which i just mentioned a while back and that they know a lot of people in the net and that they have patiently converted these aquaintances into fans... i'm sounding a bit like a sore loser but that's what i've noticed with this whole "indie" thing... it's mostly "Mutual Admiration"... i pity those who are potentially better than us but is outside the so-called circle... good thing there's somelike like my friend who makes sure that not a stone is left un-touched/unturned... if it weren't for him, i would have thought that local indie was only survived by quite a few number of really promising bands like, Populardays, Lazy Lorelei, Outerhope, Wentle Traps, Mintcar, Names Are For Tombstones, Isolation Ward, Tether and Random Knobs... But in truth there are a lot more and i guess some has yet to be discovered...
going back to Soft Pillow Kisses, i'm happy that we are still around... i just hope that inspite of the things that's been happening with us, we'll still be able to keep up with the rest...
Although we have been practicing every once in a while, i honestly feel that we still have a long way to go in capturing the right Soft Pillow Kisses sound that most of the previous line-ups have come to perfect... Gone are the clean and smooth guitar textures of previous Pillow Guitarists, A.J. and Charles... Dennis has yet to perfect this craft since he and me both produce really dirty sounding guitar noises... The drums too will be taking a plunge. The steadiness of Gilbert and Jann Paul is replaced by Kel's often times "playfullness" making him play a some differently... it's either a good or a bad thing depending on how he does it on any given night... Apple, our singer has been really struggling in finding the right voice... there are times that she's on the right grove although every now and then, she seems to miss the mark... but she does have a really lovely voice, a voice that i hope could help keep the integrety of this band intact...
Nevertheless, it doesn't mean that we're taking the plunge... we do have really good songs... songs that still stand out or at least at par with anything good that's been coming out... i've heard a lot of really good local "Indie" bands/acts popping out every now and then and i'm really happy for them, i just hope they don't develop a wrong attitude...
i just learned from a friend that there's this local indie band that has really developed quite an emormous ego... i've heard of them and they do have really good songs... but not the type of songs that could measure up to my standards of what is truly good, although i'm a fan of New Order, Field Mice, The Wake and Countless other really good Post-Punk bands that came out of the 80's... they're only claim to fame is that their songs sound like a mixture of tried and tested "indie" acts most of which i just mentioned a while back and that they know a lot of people in the net and that they have patiently converted these aquaintances into fans... i'm sounding a bit like a sore loser but that's what i've noticed with this whole "indie" thing... it's mostly "Mutual Admiration"... i pity those who are potentially better than us but is outside the so-called circle... good thing there's somelike like my friend who makes sure that not a stone is left un-touched/unturned... if it weren't for him, i would have thought that local indie was only survived by quite a few number of really promising bands like, Populardays, Lazy Lorelei, Outerhope, Wentle Traps, Mintcar, Names Are For Tombstones, Isolation Ward, Tether and Random Knobs... But in truth there are a lot more and i guess some has yet to be discovered...
going back to Soft Pillow Kisses, i'm happy that we are still around... i just hope that inspite of the things that's been happening with us, we'll still be able to keep up with the rest...
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Buzz Night @ Mayrics August 18, 2008 (Monday)
After about 3 months of absense, there will be one this month and it's happenning next week, Monday, August 18, 2008... Here are some of the confirmed bands...
Some Gorgeous Accident
Sunday Picnic Love Affair
Lazy Lorelei
Candyaudioline
Corleones
Soft Pillow Kisses
Hope to see you there...
Some Gorgeous Accident
Sunday Picnic Love Affair
Lazy Lorelei
Candyaudioline
Corleones
Soft Pillow Kisses
Hope to see you there...
Friday, August 08, 2008
How Great It Was Then...
i wish things could've stayed the same... but that's maturity...
i miss the days when most of my scenemates were simple people with good taste... i miss the days when we all knew where we stood and why we were standing there... i miss the days when we were merely fans... i miss the times when we were helping each other grow in music, art and taste... i miss the days where we all looked at each others back with our heads in check... i miss the days when we all celebrate in our own little obscurity... i miss the days when indie was just simply indie... "precious and pure"
But things change, sometimes for the better but i don't think it's quite the same here...
Things Within: (Silos)... "too many autumn leaves do fall in winter"
Crab Mentality rules and when "most" bands tend to get an idea that they're hitting their "mark", they develop a tendency to slag others off as if the "others' never happened in the first place... I hate that really... it's a scary prelude to extinction if you ask me... On a brighter note, i think there have been some new acts showing a great deal of promise surfacing here and there in this beloved country of ours but i haven't really gotten to know most of them in fear of the obvious - which is them turning out to be utter disappointments... sorry, i'm always like this... but there have been quite a who've a made a believer out of me... i want to be a fan too... honestly...
Nearby Town: (Candyaudioline) "... pretty faces all around, it's a place not far away"
i pity those who had they're chance but never quite held to it... these are those who thought they made a touchdown but actually they're still far from the scoring field... there were a few in the old days but they seem to rule the present... i feel really sad for the future coz this seem what's to be coming to them...
Time Thief: (Pale Saints) "... the words are breezing and theres always, one more clue to comprehend"
it's a good thing that "old Soft Pillow Kisses member is here... Brings back those really neat memories when he's with us... having him back here even just for a short while makes me remember how cool it was like wearing the "indie tag"...
Try To Smile: (Soft Pillow Kisses) "...just won't open my eyes, coz the sight it depresses, depresses, depress"
i miss the first few months of this band, it was all fun then... just trying to make really nice songs... no living up to anything in particular... just five individuals enjoying each other's company... joey and bong likes hanging out with me, i like seeing apple (miranda), we all get a kick out of beejays's cath-school-teen-chick-antics... once on stage, we're still the same five individuals enjoying shared space wearing simple smiles while laughing our hearts out at each blunders we made...
this in not to say that i'm not happy with Pillow now, i still am but back then, Pillow was more of a Living Entity but now its just Name...
i miss the days when most of my scenemates were simple people with good taste... i miss the days when we all knew where we stood and why we were standing there... i miss the days when we were merely fans... i miss the times when we were helping each other grow in music, art and taste... i miss the days where we all looked at each others back with our heads in check... i miss the days when we all celebrate in our own little obscurity... i miss the days when indie was just simply indie... "precious and pure"
But things change, sometimes for the better but i don't think it's quite the same here...
Things Within: (Silos)... "too many autumn leaves do fall in winter"
Crab Mentality rules and when "most" bands tend to get an idea that they're hitting their "mark", they develop a tendency to slag others off as if the "others' never happened in the first place... I hate that really... it's a scary prelude to extinction if you ask me... On a brighter note, i think there have been some new acts showing a great deal of promise surfacing here and there in this beloved country of ours but i haven't really gotten to know most of them in fear of the obvious - which is them turning out to be utter disappointments... sorry, i'm always like this... but there have been quite a who've a made a believer out of me... i want to be a fan too... honestly...
Nearby Town: (Candyaudioline) "... pretty faces all around, it's a place not far away"
i pity those who had they're chance but never quite held to it... these are those who thought they made a touchdown but actually they're still far from the scoring field... there were a few in the old days but they seem to rule the present... i feel really sad for the future coz this seem what's to be coming to them...
Time Thief: (Pale Saints) "... the words are breezing and theres always, one more clue to comprehend"
it's a good thing that "old Soft Pillow Kisses member is here... Brings back those really neat memories when he's with us... having him back here even just for a short while makes me remember how cool it was like wearing the "indie tag"...
Try To Smile: (Soft Pillow Kisses) "...just won't open my eyes, coz the sight it depresses, depresses, depress"
i miss the first few months of this band, it was all fun then... just trying to make really nice songs... no living up to anything in particular... just five individuals enjoying each other's company... joey and bong likes hanging out with me, i like seeing apple (miranda), we all get a kick out of beejays's cath-school-teen-chick-antics... once on stage, we're still the same five individuals enjoying shared space wearing simple smiles while laughing our hearts out at each blunders we made...
this in not to say that i'm not happy with Pillow now, i still am but back then, Pillow was more of a Living Entity but now its just Name...
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Past Future Present...
As a Soft Pillow Kisses member, yesterday was kind of a weird scenario for me... i scheduled a Pillow practice yesterday to help Apple prepare for a re-take of the songs she recently recorded... A few days ago, an old Pillow member made his presence felt... i was so surprised by his unannounced appearance...
So on to yesterday... i was suppose to meet up with Candy-Elaine at gateway on our way to the rehearsal studio. i got a text message from "old Pillow member" that he was in Gateway and he was to meet another "ex-Pillow member"... didn't want to miss out on this one... so after work, i went straight to Gateway to meet up with them... it was like something of a make believe thing since i never imagined that the three of us would be in the same place at the same time... ex-Pillow member was obviously uncomfortable upon seeing me... i can understand her... after what i did to her but still we've been friends for so long that i guess it got the better of us, mine specially... after more than an hour of chatting, she and her boyfriend left while me and old-Pillow member had dinner while waiting for Elaine to arrive...
In the studio, we made old-Pillow member jam with us... he still had a feel of some of the songs and even jammed with us through some of the newer ones... i just wish he could stay longer but that wish will always be, just a wish... with him, we were starting to sound good again in lew of Charles absence... i guess he was having a great time too... hope we get to play with him before he disappears again...
Hmmm, after we all (Pillow and Candy) said our goodbyes, i just can't help but notice 3 things about this band... one is that it has yet to overcome it's past... second is that it doesn't want to see it's future and third, it does not know how to make use of the present...
honestly i'm trying really hard... jsut waiting for everyone (the regulars and the sessionists) to sink in to their respective places...
So on to yesterday... i was suppose to meet up with Candy-Elaine at gateway on our way to the rehearsal studio. i got a text message from "old Pillow member" that he was in Gateway and he was to meet another "ex-Pillow member"... didn't want to miss out on this one... so after work, i went straight to Gateway to meet up with them... it was like something of a make believe thing since i never imagined that the three of us would be in the same place at the same time... ex-Pillow member was obviously uncomfortable upon seeing me... i can understand her... after what i did to her but still we've been friends for so long that i guess it got the better of us, mine specially... after more than an hour of chatting, she and her boyfriend left while me and old-Pillow member had dinner while waiting for Elaine to arrive...
In the studio, we made old-Pillow member jam with us... he still had a feel of some of the songs and even jammed with us through some of the newer ones... i just wish he could stay longer but that wish will always be, just a wish... with him, we were starting to sound good again in lew of Charles absence... i guess he was having a great time too... hope we get to play with him before he disappears again...
Hmmm, after we all (Pillow and Candy) said our goodbyes, i just can't help but notice 3 things about this band... one is that it has yet to overcome it's past... second is that it doesn't want to see it's future and third, it does not know how to make use of the present...
honestly i'm trying really hard... jsut waiting for everyone (the regulars and the sessionists) to sink in to their respective places...
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