A lot of you might wonder why we started our band. Why we came up with a band. And why it has to be a Christian Pop/Rock band when it would put us in danger of being put in a box, and stereotyped and kept away from mainstream music. Well we don't care. As much as we would want to make it into mainstream music, the mission of the band has always been about bringing positive music to the aural nerves of the people listening to music. It cannot be denied that sad emo songs sell. Because majority of the people in this world are lonely, and they could relate more with sad emo songs. I started writing our songs as such. Sad emo songs. Because I think i could write better when i'm emo. But then I began to ask myself "Why write emo"? Why fuel the sadness of these lonely individuals? Why not instead bring something positive? So from deepest reaches of my soul, I captured my emo feelings and began to analyze it and searched for answers. There was one answer. God's Love. What must we do to find that comfort solace of God's Love? I asked myself. And through prayers, i found them.
Thoughts And Notions came to be out from that experience. Out from that deep conversation with God. Since my artistic talent is only limited to lyric writing (I don't have a good voice, and i don't know how to play any musical instruments), I decided to round up a couple of my Music Ministry team in our church to join me in starting a project, a simple 10-track album with the intention of sharing portions of our profits to our church's youth group. I brought along Wilbert Tan (now with Drizzle) and Thrina Dimaano. Wilbert would be our all around musician as well as our sound engineer and Thrina was to become our vocalist. After a year of recording, we came out with an album that composed of our most sincerest musical work. My lyrics came into life with the help of Wilbert's uplifting sound and Thrina's raw but sincere vocal work. We self-produced 250 copies of that album independently sourcing funds form our own pockets and began selling the album with the help of our peers, church mates, and others. We managed to get positive reviews from our listeners, which eventually inspired us and emboldened us to send a copy to Praise Music, the country's largest Christian Music Store. Not a few weeks after, they signed us to a distribution contract. And as they all say, the rest is history.
Since Praise would be distributing our album nationwide, we were tasked to support it by bringing our songs to the live audience. But long before we could make strides in bringing our music to the live audience, we had to complete our line up first. And we had our first casualty when Wilbert decided to transfer to Manila to join his main band Drizzle. So it was just the Lyricist, the Vocalist, and the Distribution Contract who were left to soldier on. We had to quickly hold auditions and found a good team with the arrival of Tim Marquez (Lead guitars), Alvin Carreon (Bass), John Fernandez (Rhythm), and Nelson Dychauco (Drums). We had a good few months of gigging until some changes happened. Nelson had to leave the band because of health issues. John on the other hand had some problems to resolve. Another line up change was in the offing. But this time, it was more of a blessing than a curse. Adonis Berongoy (Drums), and Ericson Gloria (Rhythm guitars) came into the fold and become the two new key additions to the band. Since then, our music has never been tighter. We have spent a good amount of time gigging for a year and a half here in Cagayan de Oro city. And just last summer, we were given the opportunity to bring out our music to a live audience in Metro Manila with the help of Contact TV. A church community based in U.S.A who came here in the Philippines for a four night Concert and Healing crusade. It was the band's first ever out of town gig. And through there, we saw the opportunity of how our songs could touch other people lives. Not just in our city, but to other places as well.
This all did not come easy. Countless of times we were close to giving up because of the pressures that come playing in a band. including the financial aspect that is badly needed to keep this thing going. But God's grace has lifted us. If there was to be a band manager who's capable of bringing our band to the next level, it's not me, it has to be God. Right now, we are in the process of starting to write new songs for a new album. And we hope to get it out the soonest time possible. Thoughts And Notions is not a band that is relying on the individual personalities to bring our songs to the next level. It is a collective unit. A collective team. We have all come to understand that the songs must come first. We want the people to love the songs more than the individual personalities that created them. This after all is not a mad rush for stardom. But this is an ongoing mission to share our songs to touch the lives of those who wants to be touched. And we are doing this without borders (thanks to the internet technology). The personalities involved in Thoughts And Notions might come and go. But there is one thing that will never go away. And that is the idea why the band came to be, and what the purpose of its existence is. I wrote this blog as an open letter to everyone who would come accross our band. There is such a thing as Positive music. Let's put an end to all those sadness, and let God's Amazing love touch us.
Jasper Lloyd Tan
Founder/Lyricist
Thoughts And Notions
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