| WHEN I registered our music on a music database, I couldn't really put it under any genre," Joey says. "I guess you could say rock, because it's the most convenient term. You can also say alternative rock, post-punk... I don't know." Guitarist Jason simply puts it, "There are only two kinds of music: good and bad. And we're good." Laughing, he adds, "It's chopsuey rock."
Playing the circuit since last year, Twisted Halo has become an item of conversation among people even to those who haven't seen them perform live yet. Word of mouth and supportive peers have helped the band produce their first EP, "Twisted Halo," which they bankrolled themselves.
Starting out in 1999, Jason and Vin met through rock band Fatal Posporos, with whom Jason was doing some sessions. Vin at that time had a tape of songs he wanted to release as an album one day, and he
wanted to get a group of musicians to breathe life into the songs. The first lineup of musicians, however, didn't work out. "Kris [of Fatal Posporos] and I were planning to form this band called Trigger Dick. It would be a venue for us to really learn how to play the guitar," Jason explains. "We were talking about it in the car one time and Vin was driving and he said he wanted to join that band."
 After about a gig or two, the band failed, but Vin was still persistent about setting up a band. Eventually he jammed with Jal, Jason and Joey, who happened to be there while they were jamming, and liked the results.
"Kris always calls me her 'Angel with a Twisted Halo' because she always forgets things, and I constantly remind her about her gigs and stuff like that," Jason says. "And so I thought, 'Hey, Twisted Halo.'"
"Twisted, kasi minsan mabait siya, minsan hindi," Joey points out. It's not only Jason's mind that's twisted. Twisted Halo's music is, as Jason describes it, as twisted as chopsuey. It's hard not to come up with such a result when each band member brings a different flavor to the table. Mon-Mon admits to listening to Guns N' Roses, Metallica and Def Leppard. Jal listens to trip-hop, jazz, acid jazz and, most recently, Japanese acid jazz. Jason listens to Sonic Youth and most recently, The Strokes. Vin is partial to Nirvana. And Joey? "I try to bring in more of the ambient, dream stuff in the music. So I listen mostly to mood music, and you can't escape the high school influences like Metallica, Slayer... death metal. Mostly '80s music, actually."
"[Our music] is basically guitar music," Jal says. "A mixture of textures. I treat our music visually. Like, you have contrast of color, shading, it's dark with a little pastel, and you have contrast of textures like edgy ones and the ambient ones, more airy ones, from Joey, and you got the soothing vocals, and some grunge. And Mon Mon's delivery of metal-it's so hard to classify it. Personally I'm having a hard time dealing with genres."
Welcome to the twisted world of Twisted Halo.
People say your music's basically indie music. Vin: We're getting flak because of it. We're independent, now why? Because nobody tells us where to do it, when to do it, how to do it. The problem is, may mga taong nagsasabi na, 'Pare, hindi naman kayo indie kasi hindi indie ang tunog ninyo eh.' Sa akin kasi, ibig sabihin, if you have a reggae band, and they produce their own album and they do their own marketing and distribution, hindi na sila indie kasi they're reggae, 'di ba? 'Yung indie parang sobrang ginamit na siya na parang isang genre, na dapat kung indie ka may tunog ka na specific. Eh paano naman 'yung mga bandang katulad namin na we don't fall under their classification of 'what is indie'? Eh ayaw naman namin mag-sign up? Ano'ng gagawin namin? Eh halimbawa, 'yung Tatlong Itlog, maglalabas ng album. Maglalabas sila ng 1,000 copies ng album nila, tapos ibebenta nila. Ano? Hindi sila indie dahil Tatlong Itlog sila?
Joey: Let me put it this way. We're too mainstream for indie and we're too indie for mainstream.
Jal: If you treat indie as a genre, problematic na talaga siya.
So do you think it's just a revolution?
Jal: For us, it's more of a do-it-yourself production kaysa sa indie. I mean, we know people who are actually dissing us because we're proclaiming we're independently producing everything. You can't have an independent genre because you have influences. May pinanggalingan naman ang lahat eh. Eh di bakit may indie punk and stuff? So we're having a hard time categorizing indie as a genre.
Vin: I think that's why we're having a hard time classifying our music. One good thing about the band is that we're not caught up with defining genres and which genres are cooler than whatever. It's all music.
Who writes the songs?
Vin: We all do.
Mon Mon: Meron ako, mga five, hindi sinama sa album kasi drums lang eh.
Jason: 'Yung EP, I think around four of them started out as Vin's songs. Siyempre, once you present the song, kanya-kanyang revision na 'yan. Sa akin, masyadong maingay... Kunwari, tapos sa kanya iba. And then 'yung ibang songs, si Jal naman 'yung magsisimula ng bass line.
Joey: It's like this. Someone comes up with a riff, a lyric or a sound, and it gets mutated by the rest of us. So all of us contribute something to the final product but, of course, someone started it.
The songs you write are mostly about what?
Mon Mon: My childhood? (Laughs)
Vin: Stuff that goes on every day. Wala kaming intention mag-preach or anything. It happens. Like "Untitled 4." That story of Jane happens every day.
What was it like recording the album on your own?
 Joey: Tiring. (Laughs) And fun. Because we had to do a lot of sacrifices, because of work, because of time that was spent. And to go to Kris' place in Fairview? It's kind of far from where we are. And, of course, it cost a lot, because of the studio, we had to record the drums and the bass there. But we cut costs, too. We're really grateful for Buddy Zabala, he produced it and offered a lot of advice on the sound.
Jal: Even wrote some lyrics. (Laughs)
How long did it take to record the EP?
Vin: A week. Half-a-day to record Jal's bass, half a day for everyone's parts. The bonus track, we recorded it live in a studio-it took us around three hours. Flip 'yun si Raimund eh. Akala namin we're going to layer the sounds. So ako, 'Raimund, sino una?' tapos siya, 'Anong una? Sampa na kayong lahat!'
Joey: It was all direct to the board.
Jal: There weren't even any amps. Just a pre-amp.
Vin: Actually ang hindi alam ng tao ay ang buong EP, wala kaming ginamit na amp.
Joey: It was all straight to the board. It wasn't how I really wanted to record, but because of constraints we had to do that. That's why we tip our hats to Buddy Zabala because it sounds really well.
Vin: If there was one person to credit for the EP, it would be Buddy. Because we just wanted a demo but he was like, "Pare, ito na 'yon, eh."
Jal: And sa kanya 'yung hardware, eh. Sabi niya, 'Bakit two songs lang? Sulitin ninyo na!"
Vin: Raimund said, 'Seven songs na 'yan, dagdagan ninyo na ng tatlo, eh di album na.' We didn't want to, though.
Why?
Vin: Kasi teaser lang. Joey: It was really meant to be a teaser. Hopefully people would want more. So when the album comes out, we've already got a fan base.
Jason: And when we release the album, gusto namin mas malaki 'yung sakop ng musical tastes namin. Gusto namin sa album, lahat kami may mas maraming input, para talagang chopsuey 'yung labas.
Jal: It's a never-ending process. Nagsasawa ka sa ginagawa mo, you always want something new. After recording, we were playing in a different way na eh. We were discovering new things while recording.It's something positive because we captured it, and it's also negative because we captured it. Parang, ano, magpapa-limit na lang ba tayo doon sa EP?
Vin: And Ferdie Balanag, without him, the EP wouldn't be what it is... sobrang laki ng tulong niya sa amin!
Why do you not want to be signed with a label?
Vin: We're not anti-label. Wala kaming stand na parang, "Sell-out ka kung nasa label ka." There are perks when you get signed up-you get a good recording studio, get distributed. But there are a bunch of reasons we don't want to be signed. [Labels] own the copyright to the songs, they can do whatever they want to with the songs-they can reject songs, they can dictate when you put in the album, what you should look like. Bands are getting really bad deals. They're not getting their due. 'Pag nakakita ako ng contract na niri-refer sa akin, ang sama talaga. Pati band name, sa label na. Then you can't go into merchandising, dahil sa kanila na 'yon. Hindi ka puwede pumasok sa Internet without their consent. In a nutshell, the label lends you P300,000 for an album, and they own your songs, they own the band name, they own everything, and you can't get royalties until they recoup the P300,000. Like Sugarfree. Ang tagal-tagal na, wala pa rin, 'di pa ma release 'yung album. Even if you're under a major label, you still work. Sometimes some artists under major labels do most of the work. So it doesn't matter if you're signed or not. Kailangan kumayod ka.
Joey: Basically we just want control over our music.
Vin: And right now, Viva used around three-fourths of our song in the movie, "Dos Ekis," without our permission. Nakakainis 'yung ganon eh. And now settlement na lang. It's that whole copyright thing. It's like pirating our song. And every time that movie is run, our song gets pirated again and again.
Would you advise aspiring musicians to just release albums independently?
Vin: Yeah, find a way. We're anti-bad deals. If they want to sign up, well and good. But they should know what they are giving up, what they don't want to give up. And it shouldn't be the end deal. It's not like, "Banda tayo, pag-end ng year hindi pa tayo signed, disband na tayo."
Jal: Most record companies give only a small percentage of royalties to bands. The highest I've seen is 7 percent, and I think 7 percent is not fair for someone who invested blood, sweat and tears in composing, arranging and recording it. And then you'll get only 7 percent per unit. That's sad.
Vin: Dapat naman talaga may bumalik sa label, I mean, that's right. Pero 7 percent? You've already established a fan base by playing live a lot. What goes through your head while playing live?
 Joey: Si Mon-Mon ganito-"Uy, ang ganda 'non ha! Sexy!"
Mon Mon: Um... Oo, 'yon, 'yon!
Jason: Hirap eh. Because the thing is, whenever we play our songs, we first want to please ourselves. Because if you don't like what you're doing, if you don't like the end product of the song, what's the point? The thing with a three-guitar band is that there are so many possibilities. And the problem is, not a lot of people in clubs appreciate it. Ako, personally, parang, kunwari, sa audience, sana may nakapansin na maganda 'yung guitar solo ni Joey, or bass line ni Jal. Ako personally, I just want someone to listen out there. Kasi kaming tatlo naman, hindi naman kami exhibitionist tulad ni Van Halen mag-solo.
Joey: Me? Just that I'm in tune. That I'm hitting the right notes.
Jal: Ako bawat ibang gig, iba siya. Hindi mo kinokopya 'yung EP. Simula nung na-involve ako sa music, with Session Road even before, there is some kind of magic that happens whenever you get onstage, which you shouldn't be limited by. You're not limited to doing something again and again. We try to change things depending on the mood, on the audience. Sometimes I have this idea where I know none of the other members have, but then at some certain point we just meet. 'Yung tinatawag na dynamics na walang intention 'yung band, pero somewhere nagmi-meet sila, na puwede may harmony na mangyari, may second voice na mangyari. There's always something magical that could happen during that gig. And then afterward, the sad part about it is that you can't even recall how it happened.
Joey: Like that sound check sa '70s!
Jal: Kasi you can feel that people are moving together. And then afterward 'pag natapos na, parang, "What the hell was that?" and you always hope it was recorded, kaso hindi eh. Sayang.
Vin: I get a kick out of seeing people baffled. People don't know what to make of it. I get worried when I see people "moshing" and kids hurting each other. Like there was this one gig sa Marikina riverbank.May mga kids sa crowd na may hawak na supot ng pee tapos tinatapon sa stage, tapos may nagsusuntukan na. Kasi kids have this notion na, "Pare, mosh pit tayo, tapos sikuhin natin 'yung katabi natin." Ang labo. Umalis na lang kami. Tapos nalaman na lang namin na may nasaksak na bata. Sa akin, 'pag tumutugtog, sige, mag pogo-hopping kayo diyan, sumayaw kayo. But I get worried when kids start to mosh. Other than that, I just think na ang sarap-sarap tumugtog.
You're playing at this year's (NU) Rock Awards. What are your expectations?
Mon-Mon: We will win the band of the year!
Jason: We're not nominated. But in our hearts, we are still band of the year!
Mon Mon: Ako since nagsimula 'yung Rock Awards, nanonood na ako ng Rock Awards. So 'yung high school pa lang ako, college ako, gusto ko na tumugtog do'n, so it's so exciting for me. So I'm very honored.
Jal: Excited. Thinking that we have to practice! It's an honor to play at the Rock Awards. That's something very overwhelming. Kasi we started just a year and a half ago, and things that are happening now are so overwhelming to the point that in a year-and-a-half, meron ka nang EP, meron ka nang fan base... Kahit na tatlo lang silang fans.
Who would you want to see perform?
Jason: What I like about being in the Rock Awards this year is the fact that we'll be in good company. Pretty much everyone in the roster are our friends-I'm also playing for Sandwich, by the way! (Laughs) Like that gig last Thursday... Imago, Itchyworms, Sandwich. Parang 'Family Values Tour' nangyari. I'm looking forward to seeing our friends play in a different setting. Na naka-bihis talaga...
Mon Mon: Kailangan naka-bihis? Mag-shirtless sana ako eh...
Vin: Excited si Mon.
Jason: Iba ang environment. And it's an awards show!
Twisted Halo will be performing at tomorrow's NU 107 Rock Awards, on Dec. 7 at Ateneo, Dec. 10 and 23 at Mayric's, on Dec. 17 at UA&P and on Dec. 21 at Freedom Bar.
Get a copy of their EP at Big Sky Mind, during gigs, or contact Anna at (0917)945-6485 or e-mail whiteonyellow@yahoo.com. Join the Twisted Halo mailing list at twistedhalo_subscribe @yahoogroups.com
E-mail the author at girl.from.mars@freeallangels.com
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