Found an old article about the humble beginnings of the band. Thought I might share it here. Still sifting my E-mails to recall our past stories as we are prepping for the album's Digital Release. read all about it here.
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| The first iteration of the band. |
Met this young and energetic band that fashions themselves as one of CDO's upcoming bands. I first heard about them when they guested at Killer Bee’s Local Vocal show and it totally caught my attention. At first I thought it was just like your other run of the mill regular bands that belts out songs about love, brokenness, and others. So at first I just ignored them as another one of those bands who are trying to make a good break in the local music scene. But when I was able to listen to their songs, (especially their live set on local vocal), I was totally caught stunned. This band got some real talent. And it surprised me to know that they had already released an album under Praise Music, and it was released nationwide. I listened to their songs and was quite impressed with their originals. These guys indeed aren't like your regular run of the mill bands. When I digested the lyrics, I realized they are singing something extraordinary. They are a band with a mission. Exceptional! Why? Because their songs talks about their faith (Jars Of Clay, or Switchfoot anyone?). So I got curious and tried to reach someone from the band by accessing their Friendster Blog. I managed to come into contact with Jasper Lloyd Tan, the band's chief Lyricist. Talking to this guy amazed me. I've never met someone so passionate about their music and their faith such as him. "You know, I am such a huge fan of Christian contemporary music. And I'm a bit saddened why here in the Philippines we don't have someone like them." he intimated with me. So that's the reason why he decided to start one. I for one will not deny that when we start talking about any religious music, we have these stereotypes about them. How we always put them in a box as boring. But the arrival of bands such as Jars Of Clay, Switchfoot, and MercyMe (I even heard their songs being played on Killer Bee) is starting to create ripples all over the world. So I thought to myself, maybe it's about time the Philippines would have their counterparts to them. And luckily for us Kagayanons, Thoughts And Notions decided to be just that, Christian Contemporary artists. "Aren't you afraid to be labeled as that? And put in a box as a Christian Contemporary Band only?" I queried. "Well it's the risk that we have to take… but I beg to differ." He shot back.. "If you were able to watch the Bamboo concert where we played as one of the guests, you didn't exclusively hear Christian themes from our songs. In fact 3 out of 4 songs that was played were standard Pop-Rock songs that dealt with Teen-angst and such the likes, but still it was positive. It was only our carrier single My Love Song which had Christian undertones." He added. "So you mean to say that from this album that you'll be releasing under Praise Music, there will be songs that doesn't have Christian Undertones?" I asked him. "Actually majority of the album are, it has that theme. But the new members of the band wrote the 3 songs that were played during the Bamboo show. And we are intending to include it in the next album" he replied. He let me listened to the whole album later on and I'm quite convinced that it may have some Christian undertones, but it's still something that can be appreciated universally. The love that they are singing about can still be applied to any person. The succeeding conversations would then center on the band's history. How their original intention was to form an emo band, only to scratch the project in favor of another. How they recorded and sold their albums independently and would donate part of their sales to the church that they belong to. And how they were lucky (or blessed to be exact) to be able to land a distribution deal with Praise Music. How they auditioned new members of the group to formally form their band. I then was amazed by their story.
Originally it was Wilbert Tan, Jasper Lloyd Tan, and Cathrina Dimaano who were the founding members. Wilbert (of Drizzle fame, and a legendary CDO Rock band named Oblivion) collaborated with Jasper in this project, who then brought along Cathrina as their Vocalist. Wilbert composed all of the music that is contained on the first album while Jasper wrote the lyrics. When breaks came pouring in (i.e. the distribution deal with Praise) and Wilbert moving on to Manila with his main band Drizzle. Jasper and Thrina went on a frantic spree auditioning potential band members. There were a couple of duds. Clash of ideas were experienced. But they luckily found a good group who used to call themselves as Sadhana. One member of the band goes to the same church with Thrina and Jasper, so it was easier for them to connect on their ideas. The band auditioned and passed with flying colors. Thus John Fernandez, Tim Marquez, Alvin Carreon, and Jun2x Dychauco finalized their line up. "These guys have a lot of talent!" Jasper shared to this writer. They're bringing along their music to Thoughts And Notions and they're forming quite a formidable team. Jasper related that the arrival of the new members would bring balance to his songs, which centers more on his Christian Faith. They would like to create and write music that would bring positive insights to the listeners. Their driving force will not be like your typical Rock Stars (i.e. Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll), but it would be about their faith. And maybe it would be a good motivational factor as well as inspiration in order to have a staying power in this ever-changing music industry. But Thoughts and Notions will not be put in a box as exclusively Christian. Jasper will make sure of that. It's one thing that he will not allow. "Actually sometimes it got me thinking that maybe we'll be in a no win situation." Jasper exclaimed. "For the ultra conservative Christians, I'm sure our music will be called as noise, while the mainstream listeners might call us too Christian. But we choose to have Faith." He added. "If I'm not mistaken the Philippines never had a Christian band, or maybe there was but was never truly embraced, but there's no harm in trying." He finishes. All the band wants to say is give their music a chance, and they certainly will not disappoint you. And this writer can attest to that. Their music is something so fresh and amazingly uplifting. Would you ever expect Christian songs sounding edgy and deliciously Pop-Rock? I could even do some little head banging and foot tapping while listening to the songs. And it even helped me lift up my dormant spirits and helped me remember the things that I missed with my Christian Faith. Hey Listening to these types of songs are actually cool! So I came into a realization that listening to more songs about angst cannot heal my pains and brokenness. It's about time we bring some great inspiration to our lives! This writer sincerely hopes that Thoughts And Notions can make us Kagayanons proud. And if they can start a revolution in the local music scene, it would be nice to know that a Kagayanon and a Mindanaoan has made it so. Mabuhi ang Talento sa Kagayanon ug sa mga taga Mindanao!
Thoughts And Notions: In Awe of His Amazing Love is out now in all Praise Music outlets and selected Record bars nationwide. Grab a copy now! They will be having their album launching At SM CDO on May 7, 2006 4pm.
P.S.
As I was reading this article in the present, it somehow made me remember that Bamboo Gig where we messed up big time. If you guys could remember that scene from the Tom Hanks movie "That Thing You Do!"? Where the band The Wonders played their first major concert and made a mess onstage while playing to a large crowd? Yup! It really looked like that! On our first major appearance!
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