TWISTED HALO: DEFENDERS OF THE INDIE IDEAL

“Just don't ask me my views on the labels and the contracts and the fucking lawyers but let me just say that I've seen the contracts and this is off the record but you're recording anyway; those lawyers can suck my fucking dick pare.”

That's one of the first things Vin Dancel, guitarist and singer for Twisted Halo, tells me during my interview with the band. Vin has been an avid follower of the rock scene for quite a while, but mostly he's only been a spectator. He has a day job, (although he prohibits me from telling you what), a lovely lovely wife (the smart ones will know who she is) and a child on the way. Oh, and he's recording an album too.

Twisted Halo started out as a sort of vent-project for Vin. You know, after a while one realizes he must settle down but before he does so he wants to fulfill all his adolescent dreams. Making an album was one of those dreams, and it initially started out as a project album of Vin jamming with a lot of his friends. Eventually, though, he found the rhythm section of his dreams with Jal Taguibao from Sugar Free and Richard Cruz from Put3Ska. The three jived together but Richard thought extra guitars were needed. So they sought out Jason Caballa and Joey Odulio, two fantastic guitarists who had so much talent but were stuck in the dead-end no-future band Blast Ople. “We still play with Ople once in a while because we really pity our pathetic worm singer who just wants to be loved,” says Jason.

Twisted Halo got their name from Fatal Posporos's Kris Gorra, who calls session bandmate Jason her “guardian angel with a twisted halo”. The name is very apt, however, since the band is a contradiction of sorts. No two members have the same influences; Vin singles out Nirvana's “Nevermind” as his one true influence, Joey loves the Cocteau Twins, The Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen, Jal, who still hasn't forgiven me for previously saying he has boyband-good-looks loves acid jazz and bands like the James Taylor Quartet and Corduroy, Ichot looks up to Ska Bands and the Police, and Jason is into post-punk bands like The Fall, The Pixies, Sonic Youth and even Bis. In fact, the only real tie that binds for the band is Radiohead, which is also the only band they cover (aside from the periodic “elderly woman behind the counter in a small town” cover that vin does when a band member's instrument breaks). “Sa twisted, challenging tumugtog kasi ang influence at tugtog ng rhythm section centered sa jazz. Tapos, yung guitars, influence nun punk. Tapos folky ang vocals ni Vin kaya ang ganda ng mix,” says Jal.

Jason pretty much sums it up best; “A LOT of the stuff we do we have no idea we're going to do. We come into the studio with no expectations, we just jam, Actually ang galing kasi lahat kami napapasok namin lahat ng influences namin in what we do, tapos nakakagulat na lang na pasok, swak, may chemistry naman kahit papaano. Yet, in the same way, we can do whatever we want. I'm the trembly, scratchy one; Joey's the textured melodic one, the rhythm section's in another planet, and Vin is the grunge God.” And it works. Twisted Halo has a fantastic repertoire, from the improvisational “Hintay” to the drumm and bassey “Brad” to the speedrock “Grohl On Me” and spoken word “Untitled”. They sound like no other band, and no two songs sound alike.

Halo has been playing for less than a year but they're already recording their debut album independently with the help of Ehead Buddy Zabala. The future is unclear, but it seems they're bent on going indie. “The greatest thing we're sacrificing is money,” says Joey, “but at least we're not sacrificing control over our songs and ownership of al our songs.” “Tang ina hindi ako sasampa sa ASAP o sa SOP na kasama si Amir of Rap tapos mag ‘uh' ‘yeah' siya. Ayokong gumawa ng kahit ano para sa isang kompanya dahil pinondo lang nila ang album namin. Sakripisyo naman namin pera, here's a label that'll pay 350,000 to pay for your album and your video pero pinroduce namin kayo at ari namin kayo,” Vin goes on to say, “I think Halo's making a stand. Parang sinasabi namin sa lahat ng mga banda kung gusto nyong maging banda, kung gusto nyong tumugtog, hindi kailangan end-all at be-all ng pagiging banda nyo ay magpirma kayo sa kontrata kung saan kayo ay gagamitin ng mga tao dahil binabayaran kayo. A year from now this indie thing might not work out and we might get a deal despite what we're all saying. Malay mo pipirma kami, pero sa ngayon, we're making a stand. If you want to make music and distribute it, there are more ways than signing up on a major label.”

So these guys don't have grand dreams of being big rock stars, but they're sticking to their ideal and that's a rare thing in this country. How far do they want to go? “We want to take this band as long as our penises can reach,” says Jason, amidst all the penis jokes being circulated by a drunken Vin. Let's hope for their sake they reach farther than that.