The night before that scheduled debut gig at Handuraw for the Orig All Star Event, CIT-based Circle of Willis handed over to me a CD demo of "Reyna Prinsesa" culled from a plethora of influences like fellow Bisdak bands Phylum and The Ambassadors, and 6cyclemind, Rocksteddy, Urbandub, The Calling, Incubus, Saosin, The Used, Story of the Year, and Yellow Card.
The news for them to play for "Orig All Star" came at such a time they craved for a third gig-for badly wanting it-and a debut gig at the said artists' haven considered by most Bisdak bands as a jump-off point to other various avenues of expression. You can just imagine the leap they would want to take when I passed on to them the info, circulated through text message, that after submitting themselves to a screening all systems did work in favor of Circle of Willis.
Their name was taken from a term that the Wikipedia referred to as the cerebral arterial circle, which actually is a circle of arteries that supply blood to the brain. The band explains that they would want to be in all avenues possible to be able to reach out to fellow youths of today and supply them with sound reasons to fight back personal issues and concerns-most especially teen angst-through the messages of hope, inner healing, and awakening exemplified in their songs.
Circle of Willis, also named after English physician Thomas Willis (1621-1673), would want to challenge every youth to deal with challenges and issues squarely and "get a life through music"-this was emphasized by band drummer Reno Richard Ramirez, who moved from passionate rapper of an underground hiphoppin' crowd in Valencia, Bukidnon to the determined Bisdak rocker that he is today.
Kim Matabalan on vocals, Klint Angelo Perocho on bass, and Reno are all Nursing students who draw inspiration from the functionality of the union of arteries to support life. Meanwhile, songwriter/composer Mark Conte (lead guitarist) and Tam Roque Lucaban (rhythm guitarist) are Civil Engineering and Electronics and Communications Engineering students, respectively. The blessed union of these five also aims to end the senseless row between nursing and engineering students.
"Mao gyud na among tuyo nga ipakita nga sayop ang pagtoong dili pwede magkaduol ang nursing og engineering students kay nahimo naman gud nang storyang gisumsuman ang conflict, then ang nursing di daw pwede isagol sa engineering, and vice versa," explains Tam.
On November, these lads who all hail from provinces of Mindanao (Tam of Compostela Valley, Mark and Klint of Siargao, Surigao and Kim of Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte) are to join the College of Nursing-sponsored "Rockquesta" Battle of Bands at the CIT gym, and are expected to launch their Reyna Prinsesa Extended Play album with five other songs-Gipaasa, Wala Na, Forever ('till I die) and Playgirl-on that occasion.
These are all songs of love in the pop-rock genre. Gipaasa is about that desire to let go of a romantic relationship that's leading both parties nowhere. Wala Na is of the typical desire of a boy to please his girl through vows that oftentimes come to the point of exaggeration. Forever ('till I die) is the hope to be able to express each other's special feelings mutually. And Playgirl hits girls just-fooling-around-wanting-to-have-fun.
They have already distributed CDs pegged at P60 to test the viability of the project and to find "pilot" areas where they could best be heard and seen. But the launching is still to happen in November.
Circle of Willis dedicates the project to God, friends, loved ones, families, Phylum, all Burgahoy Boys, Tropang Rebolusyon, CIT Nursing and Engineering staff, classmates, Tres Mafias, Sir Gumagay, Sir Garcia, all Bisrockers, DJ Ram and Bré of Smash FM, Charlton "Tonton" Miparanum of Phylum, and most especially to Vann Aznar of Gangrene, Celso and Boizer and PLEIAD. Also to all clans, Kapabis clan and Adah. Check their friendster account: circleofwillis@yahoo.com.
For past articles, visit www.bisdakzoundz.blogspot.com