By Love Dela Cruz
Since the launch of iMusic, Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasids’ record label, they’ve recruited three acts to represent them. One is Dennis Trillo, Yellow Drama and Moms Cake.
During the press launch of Dennis Trillo’s album Moms Cakeband was there to be his opening act.
Luckily enough due to a misunderstanding (thinking that they were Dennis’s back-up band), I was able to interview this fresh band about their humble beginnings and their definitive style in entertaining.
Coming Together
Topher (drums), Gian (bass), Jerome (lead guitar) and Peter (vocals) started out like any other band, as friends. “Tropa tropa, Nagkakilala kami sa mga tugtugan, May isang tambayan doon kami nagkakilala (sa) Group Shop” Peter reveals. From hanging out and discovering that all of them are musically inclined and are able to play instruments, they soon decided to form a band, “Actually trip banda talaga eh, wala talagang serious” Jerome adds.
From playing in birthday parties, they soon entered band contests like Muziklaban and others, “Tapos sumali kami ng contest sa 2, tapos derecho (na)”. After a series of contest they found themselves entertaining audiences in restaurants and bars. According to Peter it was the group Datu’s Tribe that helped them out.
“Tinulungan kami dati ng Datu’s tribe, may bar sila. Purple Haze (yung) bar, yun hinire (nila) kami”. This bar not only became their first stop in the road to fame but also this served as their practice grounds, “Dun kami nag prapractice, kahit walang budget basta maka tugtog kami masaya kami.”
Every band evolves and they are no exception to this rule, when I asked them what type of rock music Moms Cake classify their sound Jerome replied, “Parang we tried different kinds of style in music, clinassify kami ng Muziklaban as fun rock. Mixed type of music eh, siguro it’s up to them.” To cut it short they want their own rock genre.
The bands influences revolves on Bob Marley, The Beatles, and anything hard core. Peter jokingly adds “Ako praise and worship”.
iMusic Discovery
The band is as fun as the music they make, when I asked them about how they were able to land a record deal with iMusic, they told me the whole story. The guys were out on one of their gigs in Katipunan, back when they get around five hundred pesos a night.
On this particular night, the bar had another band in line, “Meron (pang) isang banda na tutog kasama namin. Eh gusto nila mauna, di pina-una namin sila”, since they weren’t in a hurry to be somewhere they decided to walk over a restaurant named Bubble Gang Toppings. Here they saw one of the partners who was Boy 2 Quizon, “Natakot pa si Boy 2 sa amin, akala ni Boy mga hard core, magulo (at) maingay (kami).” I have to admit this was one of the funniest delivery of a story I had ever encountered, I was literally laughing like an insane person as Peter and the gang reiterates their claim to fame.
“Sabi namin, Boy 2 give us a try, give us a chance”. The scared Boy 2 did give them another chance and apparently, it was a start of a new era for Moms Cake.
Oddly Different from the Herd
Bands nowadays are like mushrooms, they seem to be popping out everywhere. With this tight competition in mind, how do they differentiate themselves from the rest of the herd? “Number one performance, tapos saya, kami yung banda na di pa cute” this is how Peter puts it. They are the “what you see, is what you get” bunch that delivers authenticity to its crowd.
The band doesn’t want to target one particular age group, they would like to known as a band that everyone can appreciate, whether you be an oldie or a yuppie. When I first saw them in stage, it was truly a shock to see their lead vocals dressed in a white gown. They obviously want to be recognized as a different kind of performers on stage.
They want their audience to appreciate not just the quality of their music but also their humorous stage performance, bringing in a dash of comedy in every song they perform. “Uuwi sila na masaya, na (naka) ngiti. Ok yung palakpak, (pero) iba kasi yung (galing) sa puso.” Topher sincerely adds. They also find the smiles of their fans to be the most rewarding.
Be sure to get the self titled album of Moms Cake, under iMusic, out now in your favorite record stores!
Tags: Philippine Music, Philippine Pinoy Bands, Philippine Entertainment, Philippine Music News
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September 1st, 2007 at 10:04 am
i love mom’s cake band.. hope that they wud have a mall tour hir in sm clark.. gudluck and more power!!!