The music and brotherhood of Kapatid

Their music endured several tribulations yet persisted to emerge resilient and stay afloat amid the vast multitude of genres existing in the Philippine music industry.

Kapatid is a brotherhood of musicians composed of the legendary and "reverend" Karl Roy on vocals; J-hoon Balbuena, one of the original members who also plays drums for the band KJWAN; Louie Talan on bass, who used to play for a number of bands like Razorback and Blue Echoes; and the playful and energetic Anjones Elemos on guitars. For over four years in existence, Kapatid has always been influential in the music scene with their nonconforming kind of music. Before their gig at the most happening Club Vudu recently, The FREEMAN Entertainment snagged a chance to chat with the so-called "dark brothers in a new light" to talk about their experiences and issues they are currently facing in the music industry.

After a short break from the music scene following the success of his former funk-rock band P.O.T, its vocalist Karl Roy then decided to form Kapatid. According to him, Kapatid defines a brotherhood not standing for any form of musical genre. But Kapatid underwent several changes, as band members have come and gone. There was the tragic passing of their original guitarist Chico Molina and the departure of Ira Cruz and Nathan Azarcon who left to join Bamboo.

Although the band members themselves could not encapsulate their brand of music, their musical principle is combining elements and influences like funk, rock, bossanova, ballroom, soul, acid, jazz and blues together, thus translating into an interesting mix that most of their audiences would also call a genre itself. With their 2nd album entitled "Luha," Kapatid mourns for their brother and former guitarist Chico Molina. They seemed to still feel the gaping loss, when they explained the inspiration behind the album: "'Luha' has a lot of emotions… We dedicate it to Chico."

The tracks in their second album speak of their most personal and intimate experiences, which have a more melancholic feel than their previous album. With the new band line-up-four diverse and talented individuals-Kapatid considers their sophomore outing as their sort of "getting to know" album, as the first one was more of experimentation. It's a "redefinition," according to J-hoon because "new members (Louie and Anjo) have a lot to prove and a new taste to inject to Kapatid's kind of music."

The band defines life through music, and just the same, music has defined and became a great influence on their individual selves. Every song that the band writes has a very free and liberating feel to it made complete by that touch of reality. Each song always bares something to "teach" people about, true to their aim to educate the audience with their new perspective of making and playing music, which is far from the traditional and stereotypical styles that we have been accustomed to.

It's no wonder how music kept the band going for over four years now. Music is undeniably the core of their beings as what they all conceded to say that even if you "remove everything… Music will still gonna be there, and you won't stop." As the band shared what music has done to their lives, several sore experiences have been uncovered. Louie, matter-of-factly, said that it has made him a drunkard but it also taught him, most importantly, to be responsible for his actions. He mused that, "if you don't experience its downsides, you won't become responsible for your own life." Whereas for Karl, who have been through several life-changing experiences in his entire music career, he said that "music helped me cope up with life and to move on." Karl, who is dubbed "reverend" because he has been tapped many times to be "advisor to the wicked," have recently starred alongside Epy Quizon as drug addict in the dark comedy "Nasaan Si Francis?"-a role he admitted to have once portrayed in real life. But the rockstar revealed that he has now turned his back on that kind of life.

But even though Kapatid has had earned the respect of many of their colleagues in the industry, they're still up against the harsh reality that the country's music industry is propagating. "Mainstreaming," that is. The bands and music that fit the prevailing genres are usually the ones who would sell, but those who create deviation or innovate are, on the other hand, are being called crap.

According to Karl, "Kapatid is still very much underground. Sariling sikap pa rin kami hanggang ngayon…" But it's not because major record labels would refuse to give them a chance at proving their worth as artists, but it's just that their music seems to be glossed over most of the time due to the very reason that it fails to comply with the norms set by society and the industry itself, plus the fact that it is unfairly labeled as bad music. This is why the band hopes to achieve what they would call as "the evolution in music." "We would like to see the music industry become more honest because a lot of it is fabricated... It's not what people think sells. If we become open and broad-minded, then all will be fair."

Although faced with this ironic reality, still Kapatid would continue to play their music especially for those people who appreciate them and have had supported their careers. As what Karl said, "We musicians are also like business… Sometimes the sales are good while sometimes there is none. But as long as there are people who are touched by our music and will keep believing on us then we will continue to make music."

Kapatid will be competing for this year's "World Battle of the Bands" for the Philippine Division alongside 14 of the country's greatest musicians which include: Sin, Death By Stereo, Detached, Valley of Chrome, Point Click Kill, Maryzark, Queso, Chicosci, Greyhoundz and our very own "southside" band Faspitch. Four bands will make it to the finals in Hong Kong this October. To vote for Kapatid, purchase their album "Luha" in record shops nationwide and get a voting coupon. You may also just log on to http://www.worldbattleofthebands.com