The long winding road that took us to where we are now... REUNITED!

 

Whatever happened to CDO’s Power Pop Christian Band, Thoughts And Notions?

They were one of the most hardworking bands in Cagayan de Oro, playing in small productions groups on various bar joints as well as huge concerts playing support act to some of our country’s biggest bands and artists. Then like a blip in radar, they disappeared.

The last post in their blog before the long hiatus was the news about their nomination in the 2009 NU Rock Awards under the U-Rock College band of the year category. And a few post before that, a supposed gig at Star Mall Mandaluyong before it got cancelled due to the typhoon Ondoy. Those twin events were supposed to be their introduction to Metro Manila’s music scene, perhaps a stepping stone of what’s to come next. They just had a very successful album launch in their hometown CDO a few months prior, with a record label ready to sign them and distribute their recently launched sophomore album (Love, Faith, Hope, Redemption). “I guess I pulled the plug back then because I was set to transfer to Manila and start my family there.” Jasper, the lyricist/manager of the band recalls the circumstance behind the hiatus. He would be separated with the band that was just in college in CDO back then. Like how he treats the band as a family, he would choose to prioritize starting his own family. Thoughts And Notions is very personal to him, because this was a project that was very close to his heart. As their story goes, he started the project with Wilbert Tan and Thrina Dimaano back then as a fund-raising project for their Church when they decided to record and produce a 10-track album called “In Awe of His Amazing Love.” Little did they know that a Christian Music Record label would took interest on it and signed them to a contract. Starting a Christian band wasn’t the plan, but they were encouraged to start one once a record label took interest on them. 

Wilbert however was committed to start his own sojourn to Manila with another band, but he committed to be still involved with the band at least as Jasper’s songwriting partner and the band’s producer. And while Thoughts And Notions stayed active in CDO, he would forge his own path in Manila, playing for various bands and even played/collaborated with such established rock artists such as Dong Abay, Mike Hanopol, Basti Artadi, Louie Talan among others. During the hiatus of Thoughts And Notions, Wilbert would be kept busy playing for other CDO bands that are now based in Manila. However he would also face his own uncertainty in the music industry when the pandemic hit and the live music scene was shut down. Even with him just starting his own family, he was lost and alone with his music, uncertain if he would still be able to play music. So he experimented on going solo and just release instrumental tracks on Digital Music Streaming platforms. Jasper would soon discover this and thought about releasing their back catalogue too. But his time away from the music industry made him clueless on how things are being done. Fortunately, during a random conversation with Mark Escueta of Rivermaya, Escueta would encourage Jasper to release all their songs on the Digital Music Streaming platforms rather than let it gather dust on the CD stockpile. He introduced Jasper to an aggregator who was actively looking for artists with back catalogues, thus setting up the return of Thoughts And Notions at least on the digital music space. Their release enjoyed early success when the carrier single (Beloved Savior) of their sophomore album’s digital music debut made it to SPOTIFY’s New Music Friday Philippines Playlist.   

However, there was one more missing link. The band’s chief vocalist Thrina Dimaano couldn’t commit to a full on return to her vocal chores yet. Since the dissolution of the band, Thrina was the only one left in CDO to continue singing for other bands. I was kind of curious how it was for Thrina back then if being a frontwoman of a band that doesn’t shy away from their Christian identity was more fulfilling than to sing for other bands post-Thoughts And Notions.  “Performing as a Christian band in a non-Christian gig was initially intimidating and challenging. But I always kept our mission as a band in mind, and that kept me motivated. And whether a gig was a Christian or non-Christian event, it was such a fulfilling experience to sing for an audience that appreciated uplifting and faith-driven music. It felt amazing to share our love for God through music, and to connect with our audience is truly inspiring.” she reminisces. Thrina eventually would move on from singing with other bands and settled down and started her own family. When Jasper and Wilbert came knocking on Thrina’s door to restart Thoughts And Notions, a return wasn’t in the cards as she prioritized her budding family. This left Jasper and Wilbert in a quandary. So just to test things out in the new look Digital Music industry, they decided to continue writing songs but this time to settle on collaborating with different artists to interpret their songs. This resulted in the experimental compilation album called Thoughts And Notions: PLUS, collaborating with different independent artists from across the archipelago. Again, one of the songs in the album (What Real Christmas Means to Me) made it to SPOTIFY’s New Music Friday Philippines playlist. This only encouraged them that there is still a place for them in the music industry after all. And to prepare for Thrina’s eventual return, they decided to release an unreleased old track that was cut from the second album’s final track listing. Featuring Thrina on vocals, the song “FREE” debuted at number seven on SPOTIFY’S Fresh Finds Philippines playlist, staying on the playlist for close to two months. For Thrina who was experiencing some doubts about returning to her vocal chores, this was confidence boosting news.

Now 15 years later, they are set to reunite with a new song. Aptly titled “Countdown to Forever”, the three of them are back to making positive themed and Christian Faith inspired music. It took them this long to restart their so called mission to “help uplift wounded souls with their brand of music”. So I asked Wilbert, as a well traveled musician writing for other bands, what makes it different with his songs with Thoughts And Notions. He only has this to say: “My approach to Thoughts And Notions songwriting is different in the sense that I take into account what we've done before while ensuring there's palpable growth in both our music and spirituality. As a Christian band, music and spirituality go hand in hand and it's my job to show to our audience that we have not only grown as musicians, but as God's stewards as well.” The concept of Thoughts And Notions is not actually new, as we’ve heard of similar opm artists such as Barbie Almalbis, Kitchie Nadal, Acel Bisa to name a few who oftentimes write songs that are inspired by their Christian Faith. However, it’s amazing to know that a band exists outside Metro Manila toiling the independent music scene in their locality with an audience that might not be as huge as here in Metro Manila. And yet, they stuck by their songs’ message. “For us, that’s the only reason why we are giving this another go after the long hiatus. We’ve agreed that we are not doing this to please anyone but God. And at the same time we wanted to leave a legacy to our sons and daughters and that maybe they can continue to share our Faith stories for generations to come.” Jasper succinctly says.

The new single Countdown to Forever is now available for streaming on your favorite Digital Music Streaming Platforms worldwide!

Meet the founding members of Thoughts And Notions!

A few more days left and our comeback song with Thrina back to her old vocal chores will finally be released. So let's get to know Thoughts And Notions this coming 2025 as we get back to our roots!

 

Thrina Dimaano - Chief Vocalist

Thrina started with the band when she was still 15 years old, making her a co-founder of Thoughts And Notions. As part of her Church's Music Ministry, Thrina shared the stage with her co-founders in the Praise and Worship team before they decided to record and produce a 10-track album (In Awe of His Amazing Love) with the intention of using it as a fund-raising project for their Church. This would set into motion Thrina's foray in the local music scene. Thrina was responsible for breathing life into Thoughts And Notions' songs, and is highly valued as a very integral part of our story. Thoughts And Notions is very much a part of Thrina's personal journey as a vocalist, chronicling her development as an amateur teenage vocalist pushed to the forefront of carrying an album full of songs. And then in the peak of her adolescence as a gutsy frontwoman bringing our songs to the live audience. Thoughts And Notions is basically her story too.

Though we reaped local accolades in Cagayan de Oro City back then, our biggest to date was when we were nominated in the 2009 NU 107 Rock Awards for U-Rock College Band of the Year. This was Thrina at the peak of her powers leading the band to where she is able to. Though we disbanded and went on a long hiatus, Thrina would pinch hit for other bands as a guest vocalist. When we did our Digital Music comeback last 2021, Thrina had to delay her return as she prioritizes her kids and family. But this did not stop our old releases (featuring Thrina on vocals) from back then to be recognized and playlisted on Spotify's prestigious New Music Friday Philippines (Beloved Savior) and Fresh Finds Philippines (Free) official playlists for debuting songs. We merely warmed the seat for her and waited for her to resume her old spot as our chief vocalist. Come 2025, she's back to finally reclaim her place as the voice behind our songs.

Wilbert Tan - Composer/Producer/Arranger/Multi-Instrumentalist

Wilbert (with Wile Lile as his alter ego) is a seasoned veteran in the local music scene. Having played with various bands and did session work on stage with some of the Philippine's legendary OPM Music icons such as Mike Hanopol (Juan Dela Cruz band), Dong Abay  (Yano), MOCHA USON (Before her transition to Mocha Girls), and Jinky Vidal (Freestyle) to name a few. He's a sought-after Cagayan de Oro talent that various bands in CDO (Drizzle, Switch, and Ram Chavez among others) had sought to recruit him and play for them. He even collaborated with some of the biggest OPM Rock Icons like Basti Artadi (Wolfgang), Sammy Asuncion (Pinikpikan), Louie Talan (Razorback) to name a few. He's a self-made multi-instrumentalist that studied the art of music since his younger days and pursued a career in music. Experiencing everything from TV appearances, Music Video feature on music channels MYX and MTV, to even playing in large music festivals like the PULP Summer Slam. 

But before all of that, he was a part of their Church's Music Ministry team where he met and shared the stage with the co-founders of Thoughts And Notions. He was instrumental in bringing life to the songs of Thoughts And Notions as he and his co-founders decided to produce an album for a fund-raising project for their Church. Though he never really shared the stage with Thoughts And Notions (except for a gig or two). Because he was a part of another band (Drizzle) that he started and transferred to Manila to explore a serious career in Music, with Thoughts And Notions being a one-time project only. But the simultaneous unexpected signing of Thoughts And Notions under a record label at that time would validate his place in the OPM Music scene (and this was just the beginning for him). Since then, almost every release by the band has his imprint whether as main composer, arranger, and producer. He currently plays for two other bands (Bloodflowers and Tirada) in Cagayan de Oro as the lead guitarist (his instrument of choice and expertise), but he continues to resume his work as the main composer, arranger, and producer of Thoughts And Notions. Simply put, without him, there would be no Thoughts And Notions.

     
It is thru Thoughts And Notions where he could explore the other side of his musical artistry, where he can express every note and chord as he sees fit with the lyrics presented to him. A marriage of feel-good positive music to the positive words that Thoughts And Notions seeks to express. But that's not all, to hear his musical genius unleashed and unhinged, one has to explore his alter ego Wile Lile.

Jasper Tan - Lyricist/Manager

He always considers his existence in the music industry as an accident. With no musical talent nor a good singing voice, he oftentimes wonders why he stumbled into this realm. Admittedly however, he is a huge fan of music. Especially from non-mainstream ones that he loves to discover even from way back. It is through this passion where he came across the Christian Contemporary Music genre. Becoming an instant fan of Jars Of Clay , Sixpence None the Richer, Switchfoot, and other Christian Contemporary Music Artists. He used to serve as their Church's Youth Ministry Spiritual Formation Head and backup Worship Leader. As well as Editor-in-Chief for their Church's Youth Group's National Newsletter. Contributing to more than a dozen articles and stories in various publications both online and print. Most notably for the now defunct Philmusic.com, the Philippine's largest online source for OPM Music at that time. In short, writing had always been his passion. And it is through this medium where he could express his "thoughts and notions" to those who are interested enough to know about his stories. In fact, he runs the long running (since 2006) Official blog page of the band, chronicling all of their stories from yesterday to the present.

As a co-founder of Thoughts And Notions, it all began for him when he suffered a major heartbreak that shook his Faith. It was through this circumstance that he chose to rediscover his Faith and wrote about it to serve as a chronicle of that journey to rediscover God's Amazing Love for us. That became the main content of their debut album "In Awe of His Amazing Love." An album that he recorded with his co-founders Wilbert Tan and Thrina Dimaano as a fund-raising project for their Church. It wasn't a serious thing at pursuing a career in music, but God opened doors for them when a major Christian Music record label offered to sign them to a contract. Since then, their journey as a band went to places. With the largest being when they were nominated in the 2009 NU 107 Rock Awards under the U-Rock College Band of the Year category. And then Jasper quit music. Which set the stone of the possible end of their story. But then like as earlier mentioned, his involvement in the music industry had always been an accident. Their return to the Digital Music streaming landscape was helped largely by the encouragement of Mark Escueta of Rivermaya to once again make their songs available to the public. Introducing Jasper to Believe Music (a company based in Luxembourg) who had signed them to a contract to release their songs in various Digital Music Platforms. Thus, from the confines of their hometown in Cagayan de Oro, to the current digital music streaming landscape, their stories continue to live on and now is being listened to all over the world. But despite all of this, Jasper always considers Thoughts And Notions as just a small project with his co-founders where they can express their common goal. To bring positive Christian Music that aims "to help uplift wounded souls with their brand of music!" And on a personal note, Jasper considers this project as his brokenness as a Christian. Where he continues to chronicle that journey to become whole through the story of Thoughts And Notions.