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Here's
something I dug up in my old shoe box. An interview with Razorback
by Rock & Rhythm prior to the release of their first album, Hebigat
Sounds Vol. I, under Alpha Records. There's no fucking date on the
mag, it just says Vol. 5 No. 85. Nevertheless, enjoy!!! - Razorboy
Razorback
By Irvin P.
(a lot of thanks to Sig S.)
Due to some stupidity that this writer had erased
(accidentally) some of the parts in the taped interview, misplaced
in transcription, and some laziness - this article should have come
out earlier. But as they always say, it's better late than never.
On with the story.
RAZORBACK are: Kevin Roy (vocals), Tirso Ripoll (guitars), David Aguirre
(guitars), Louie Talan (bass) and Miguel Ortigas (drums).
RAZORBACK'S SONGS: (HEBIGAT SOUNDS VOL. 1)
MIGUEL: It's hard to say, eh. Most of the songs are about Rock and
Roll and just having a good time. So if we were to take each song
and talk about it, the topic would be crazy. It could be a crazy topic. Kababuyan! Lots of kababuyan…
TIRSO: The shit we write, man! It's what I feel now, I'm not gonna
sit down and I'm gonna write a political song about this. Fuck man!
I wanna write a song of what I feel now. Right now, I feel like I
have a really fucking bad hang-over. I'm gonna write that. You can't
write about bullshit. I'm not gonna bullshit you about something I
don't know about. I know about hang-overs 'cause I'm having one now.
I know about fucking a chick so that what I wanna write about now
man, 'coz that's what I feel like doing 'coz that's what I did the
other night. You know what I mean? It's real, it's the truth, it's
what's happening. No great fucking mystery.
ON BEING BRANDED AS "COÑOS"
MIGUEL: Okay. Number one, Tirso and I are completely white. Look at
us, we're white. What the fuck can we argue about that, di ba? What's
the argument? Anong magagawa natin?
TIRSO: Number one, we're white. You wanna call us what you want? That's
fine, OK? Is Louie a coño kid? I don't want to brand him, pare.
He grew up in Thailand. Is David a coño kid? Hmmmm…not necessarily!
They're putting up that racist crap. We have a lot of coño
friends. It doesn't matter what I wanna do or what I am. There's no
point in making an issue about that. And anyone who does is pretty
stupid, man!…
MIGUEL: A racist bastard!
TIRSO: Exactly!
MIGUEL: There should be universal freedom, and love, and peace…Free
Africa! (Laughs)
OTHER BANDS:
TIRSO: That's what competition is. It makes you work harder. Little
by little the standards will be going up and every thing will be just
great. For now, now it's good. You can see the change man from when
L.A. 105 got started, when they went on air. Up to now, the qualities
of the demos being sent in then as compared to the ones now, it's
so great, man. Like the ones which are being sent now. A lot of them
are good. The ones before are all fucking terrible. So you can tell.
It's getting better. People are getting better in recording music.
ON L.A.'S BAND HYPE:
MIGUEL: The more music that comes out, the better. You see the bad
as well as the good. If you have no bands you have no basis or comparison
as to what. So, it's good also to hear those terrible death craps
or the really lousy recordings or the lousy productions of L.A. 105.
Then you feel good about what you have done in knowing that you sound
better and that you are better. There's always a basis for that. You
need the bad as well as the good. It's okay that they play all the
garbage also.
LOUIE: Both sides of the story kailangan andoon. But it's true, the
quality of the locals which are coming out are all getting better,
a lot better. And they're getting younger, ha. ELECTRIC SKY CHURCH,
ang babata pa niyan. Sana magtuloy 'yon.
HIP-HOP BASHING:
MIGUEL: It's no big deal. I laugh at what they wear. I laugh at their hitsura. But, I mean, it's their preference. I'm not gonna stop them
from doing it. Or existing if the are allowed to exist.
TIRSO: I hate rap music! I hate it! But what am I gonna do? All I
have to do is to not listen. I'm not gonna go out and destroy all
rap records I see or insult rap artists. If you don't like what's
playing, then don't listen. Turn it off. It's that simple. You have
a choice. Everybody has a choice now. Nowadays you have more choices.
You don't like rap music, fucking don't listen to it. It's that simple.
LOIUE: Same sentiments.
SCENE LONGEVITY:
MIGUEL: Kung maalagaan, forever. As long as there are performers and
there are people who want to watch performances and there's no marshals
or bans for these bands who are coming around, it should continue.
There's no problem.
TIRSO: That's why the Pinoy Rock Scene died before because of Martial
Law. Only because of that.
MIGUEL: We're very lucky that all the recording companies, the recording
industry, they're giving up on solo artists and now they're going
to the band scene themselves. And they are selling records.
TIRSO: But they are only doing it because it sells. But at least,
they're doing it. Anybody who's signed today, form The Youth to Gnash
and Bonehead, everybody who are being signed up now, everybody has
a big fucking thanks to L.A. 105. If not for L.A. 105, none of these
would have happened 'coz not even N.U. was playing any shit, man.
They're playing the shit L.A. was playing last year, you know. Fuckin'
"Praning" (Datu's Tribe - Rzrby) and all that shit, they're
only playing it now. They don't wanna touch those hot stuffs before,
but now? 'Cause they saw that people want it. It's a market that nobody
had fed and L.A. was able to do it. And L.A.'s doing a great service
to everyone with that they're doing. (Too bad they're playing pop
shit now. I miss the old L.A.!!! - Rzrby)
RECORDING TO LIVE SETS:
MIGUEL: You can not compare recording ever to performance. Never!
That is one hectic ordeal. There's a lot of strife, there are a lot
of pain and sweat that goes into that. But there's also a lot of pleasure
you get out of it. The sense of fulfillment that you did something,
pare.
TIRSO: You know, in recording, you can do a lot of things you can't
do live. Like we can play so many different guitar parts. Sa live,
you can only be one guy. You're only two guitarist. Also for us we're sensely a live band. There audience, we feed off the audience. If
the audience is good, we play really good. In the studio, you have
no audience, man. You just have to pretend…
MIGUEL: It's like what you have put down, is like, forever, that's
eternal. That's gonna be part of history na. Your recording is like
when people listen to that twenty years from now, they would say:
"That's the RAZORBACK, same fucking thing I heard twenty years
ago." You have to remember that always in recording. And that's
what always keeps it exciting.
RECORDING SETBACKS:
TIRSO: There's this one rock bastard, piece of shit guy who somewhat
fucked us up. We don't wanna go to that shit anymore. Mainly there's
this big guy, the producer that we had, he really fucked us over about
scheduling and everything. It's an ugly story. We could have done
the album in months, but because he screwed us over, it took us three
months. We were signed February and we could have been out by April,
but he fucked us up so we're fucking coming late. But now it's finished.
We kicked the guy out. The record company saw what he's doing so they
fired him out.
INVITATION FOR THEIR ALPHA ALBUM:
MIGUEL: Well, we you like it, man.
TIRSO: We worked our asses to pull it out. I hope you guys get off
on it, you guys like what you'll hear. I mean, if it sends something
to you then good, man. And if it doesn't, sorry. But it's what we
made, we're proud of what we did. You know, I like it, we all like
it, I'll buy it so I hope they have much fun listening to it as we
had.
LOUIE: Play it loud and if you had the chance, listen to it na naka-headphones,
pare.
TIRSO: There's a lot of crazy shits going in it and we made a lot
of crazy sounds. Feel like listening to it. The more stoned you are,
the better.
MIGUEL: I haven't heard anything like it locally yet. Nobody's done
anything locally like this yet. I can't compare one song to the next
because each has its different feel and its different sound. We have
a blues tune, we have like the funky ones. It's all just Rock and
Roll, you know, done in Rock and Roll taste and incomparable to each
other. It's a compilation of what's in our hearts, what we hear in
our heads. Enjoy the album when it comes out.
TIRSO: If there's any message that we can get off the album is that
don't take it too seriously, man. Life is just like it, man. It's
not that bad. You'll get over it.
MESSAGE TO YOUNGER BANDS:
TIRSO: Play what you want. Play what you feel. Don't try and be something
that you're not. Like somebody tells you to play something and you
don't wanna play it, then don't. Play what you want. And stand for
what you believe in. If you wanna do that, do that.
LOUIE: Don't get sidetracked of that business side of everything.
Play what you wanna play and have fun when you're doing it. 'Yan ang
importante. Rock and Roll!
MIGUEL: Play what you have. Even if one person watches you, it's good
for you, dib a? Play for the audience and the audience will be there
for you…
…with their mystifying, if not ear-aching guitar riffs, powerful vocals,
and heavy drumplays, they'll make you cry for more!!!
Don't forget to eat cherries, without the
pits!
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