Fat Skunks & Typecast @ Prelude

Typecast

I rushed to Esplanade Outdoor Theatre immediately after work (of course going home to get the camera equipments first), to catch 2 bands (Fat Skunks & Typecast) performing on the first night of the 3 day Prelude gig.
As the title of the gig say, this is the buildup to the much awaited (me included) annual local music festival this coming weekend (Friday-Sunday), Baybeats 2009!

Fat Skunks

Fat Skunks opened the show for the night, although I only managed to watch the second half of their performance.
I feel that they aren’t as good as compared to when they performed during the Ignite! gig, like the atmosphere, crowd interaction, and mood.
Nevertheless, they still play quite well.

Now, onto the photos.

Typecast

A post-hardcore band coming all the way from the Philippines.
The band that I came to watch, I remembered my first experience with them was during last year Baybeats, and was awe by their high energy showmanship, talent and great songs, regardless playing hard hitting notes or acoustic or ballad songs.

They played 2 sets that night, the first set was an acoustic set which only the vocalist and guitarist played.

Acoustic Set

Before I continue to post the next set of photos.
I’ve talked to the members before their performance, and asked them whether they are cool for a post-gig band shoot, and to my delight, they are happy with the arrangement, so yea, do expect those shots later!

Full Band

Steve is restringing his guitar, which 1 of the strings snap while playing.
During this interval, the rest of the members played some of Michael Jackson’s songs, like Black Or White and Billie Jean if I remember correctly.

The most memorable moment of the set is, when they played “Will You Ever Learn“, lots of fans singing to it, word for word.
Do yourself a favor and watch the MTV of that song, great song, the feel of it, and the heartfelt lyrics in my opinion.

After the gig, while waiting for them to pack up their gears, and get ready for the band shoot.
Since I was going to have a band shoot with the Typecast guys, I might as well ask my friend Rebecca, who is a writer for Power Of Pop whether she wants to interview the band.
Well, she is delighted by it, so this is the start of our colloboration on gig coverage.
Scroll down to read and view the interview and band shots!

Interview

TYPECAST (PHILIPPINES)
Answers by Melvin Macatiag.

Who are Typecast and how was it formed?

Typecast is Steve Badiola (guitars, vocals), Pakoy Fletchero (guitars), Chi Resurreccion (bass) and Melvin Macatiag (drums). Steve and I met in high school, when we were in separate bands. Typecast was formed when the two bands merged.

Who are the influences for Typecast?

Each of the band members have our own variety of music which we listen to. We have a tendency to fuse them and try to come up with a final direction for songs.

What’s the dynamics of the band?

Steve starts by writing the lyrics, and then the rest of us add to it. We always get into a lot of arguments whenever we try to arrange a certain song, but we’ve learnt to come to compromises with each other, and that helps strengthen the band. We experiment along the way and some of it gets used in our songs.

Why do you play music?

As a band, we play music for ourselves and given the opportunity, we would want to share our music with others. We don’t believe in compromising who we are for the masses, and if people like our music, great! If they don’t, it doesn’t matter to us.
“Play every show like it’s your last” – Dave Grohl
Personally, I’m inspired by this quote because it causes us to want to continue doing what we love for as long as we can.
We are thankful that we have the government’s support in the Philippines, which really helps. Annually, there are about 50 shows, the biggest one drawing 80 thousand people. To be a part of such shows have been a great experience for all of us. As musicians, we can focus on our music without having to worry about getting day jobs to support our music.

I hear you’re in the studios recording a new album. What’s involved in the recording process for the new album?

We started out jamming and trying out different things. Steve’s the songwriter for the band, and he would write the lyrics and then we would add to it. So far, we’ve recorded the guitar parts, and now we’re left with the vocals.
The new album would have 12 songs (or more, not yet sure how many), and it would be out in a few months.

What’s the lyrical process for making the new album?

Steve is the songwriter for band, and most of the songs that appear on our albums are personal songs that come from his experiences in life. I think that when it comes to writing songs, Steve has matured and has made a huge progress compared to how he did it before.
Right now, I think that Steve’s more aware about what’s going on around him, and it’s reflected in his lyrics. He’s beginning to understand what’s happening around him and has been able to interpret that into the songs he writes. Most of the songs he writes are less about relationships and more about the anger he feels and releases on what he thinks is wrong about certain situations.

How much has changed since the previous album?

We started out as a 3-piece band and recorded 2 releases as a 3-piece band. Our current guitarist joined us in the previous album, which was released in 2007.
We’re going in a different direction for the new album. There will be more notes, riffs, more things going on and we’re also taking more time to make it (4-5 months as compared to a month for the previous albums).

How do you find playing in Singapore as compared to the Philippines?

We had a big challenge playing here because we weren’t used to having so many rules when performing! It was also a little unusual to have the crowd seated during the set, because most venues we play in the Philippines are standing ones.
In the Philippines, gigs are more laid-back and there are lesser rules to follow. A Singaporean band who played in the Philippines were surprised that we could smoke and drink on stage! There are lesser rules to follow, but it could also mean that a lot of things that happen during gigs are out of our control.

Thank you, I hope you play again here soon!

(Questions asked by Rebecca Lincoln from Power Of Pop)

Band Shoot