Sutil

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Music
Genre:	Rock
Artist:	Ram Chavez Band

By now everyone must have heard about this Kagayanon singer named Ram Chavez. But for those who still haven’t, let me share a little backgrounder. Ram Chavez was 2nd Runner up of the just recently concluded Pinoy Idol, the local franchise of the ultra successful American Idol series. He was consistently among the favorites to win the tilt, until he lost out to the much more Pop singers that eventually won the tilt. But it would just be a mere stepping stone for a much brighter future ahead. Now Ram and his band has recently released their debut album called SUTIL containing 11 tracks of brilliant songs.

Ram and his band started as a call center band that gained a cult following among the crowd of call center agents who gathers twice a month in a bar joint of their choice to put up their After Shift Jam events. Ramon “Rj” Chavez (considered to be the founder and the main songwriter of the band) recruited ex-Drizzle guitarist Wilbert Tan and Drummer Bong Flores and added Ronald Dub to do Bass duties to form the final line up of the band after Ram’s original composition Kol Center gained a following among his fellow Call Center Agents. Banded together with other veteran musicians, his Kol Center became a massive hit after the new recruits breathed new life into it. With major radio stations in the metro massively playing the song, Sutil was nominated for NU 107’s In the Raw award at the 14th annual NU 107 Rock Awards.

Ram’s band in its early inception was already destined for success. The Pinoy Idol tilt was just an opportunity to introduce himself to the country’s consciousness. But while Pinoy Idol would introduce Ram’s powerful voice, the album Sutil would show his creativity in writing songs that would suit him best. I’m writing my thoughts about it here. One cannot deny that the album’s carrier single, Kol Center, has the catchy alternative pop sensibilities written all over it. Being a call center agent himself, it’s a very suitable anthem for the mushrooming call center denizens in our country. As I mentioned earlier, this song would catch the radio stations’ fancy as it gained massive airplay. But Sutil is not a one song wonder. A quick rundown on their album’s songs would show us the band’s versatility in writing songs that could easily stick in our consciousness. While Ram himself is already a proven songwriting wizard, his collaborations with guitarist Wilbert Tan (a proven legend in the CDO music scene) would make his songs further stand out. Worth mentioning about this is the song called “Hiwaga” and “Worthless”. Wilbert’s playful guitar riffs complement the overall musicality of Ram’s vocal strengths, not to mention Wilbert’s stamping guitar solo that is familiar to those ears that has been long following Wilbert’s previous works. One of those criticisms that get thrown into Ram’s way is that he closely follows Bamboo’s mannerisms and moves onstage. While that may be too overboard, the songs in his band’s album are a whole lot different from Bamboo’s. Well maybe except for the song called “Paradise”, a song that fuses playful Reggae bass lines with alternapop guitars and a sizzling blues guitar solo. But it is not smart to say that he is merely copying whatever Bamboo is writing. Because truth to tell, while the influences might be there, his songs can stand out on its own right.

Ram also isn't one dimensional, he can easily shift from a rock song to sentimental acoustic songs. Paalam is one such song. While the song may only be accompanied by an acoustic guitar, Ram manages to brilliantly shift his booming rock vocals to a more soulful and honest vocal work. The rest of the tracks in the album offer a fusion of varied influences. Songs that I’m sure would be appreciated in the mainstream music scene. Last I heard, Ram has been given a lot of loving from his fans as his songs has been receiving constant airplay, and Kol Center is even lording the charts in various radio stations in Manila. Ram is the new symbol of what Cagayan de Oro musicians is capable of doing.