No way but up for Up Dharma Down

CEBU, Philippines - From a 2006 feature on indie band Up Dharma Down in The Freeman by this writer, one thing worth recalling was frontwoman Armi Millare’s emphasis on the extent of the band’s love affair with music: “We’re here not for anything else but for music.”

Since they were college students then, and newbies to the music scene, I never took those words seriously.Yet, in our recent encounter, those were the same words that the band members, to this day, have stayed true to.

The FREEMAN Entertainment chanced up on the group for the second time around during the opening of the first Puma store in Cebu at the Ayala Center Active Zone. As Puma’s ambassadors, the band members acted as sales associates for the day.

Cebuano member bassist Paul Yap was, however, absent due to a football tourney in Manila, while lead guitarist Carlos “Los” Tañada, drummer Ean Mayor and keyboardist/vocalist Armi, who all sported Puma apparels, were present for the occasion. Armi was spokesperson for UDD as she entertained the press.

From Fragmented to Bipolar

To recall, the release of Fragmented in January 2006 earned them a spot in the industry with the singles Pag-agos, Oo, The World is our Playground and Hiwaga as hits. UDD has had established the kind of music that has remained relevant through the years, in spite of the proliferation of new bands, either under major or independent labels.

Their follow-up album Bipolar, released in October of 2008, remained very Up Dharma Down in character. They also refused to label its genre. “We don’t really try to think of a name for the music. I think it will be best to stay associated the music with the band because that’s where it comes anyway,” said Armi. Two years, after the release of their first album, Armi sensed they have become more mature in their second outing, underlined by more polished numbers. This result owed to their being OC (obsessive compulsive), Armi said.

“It was our second chance of showing what we weren’t able to show in the first album. We made sure that when it (Bipolar) came out, we were all going be happy with it. So, after the studio recordings, on the way home, we were doing some critique inside the car. Everyday, we were in the studio, working even on weekends. More of us, we really wanted to be self-fulfilled with it. It was an album that we hoped will stay forever."

Five years and counting

Five years in the industry have meant growth for UDD; not that they’ve morphed into certified rockstars, but they've experienced significant changes that have been good to the band.

“The music is still the same but now I think we’ve grown to trust each other more when it comes to what we have to do, you know completely trust the drumming to Ean, all the guitars to Carlos... There’s more trust within the group,” enthused Armi.

Paul and Armi are still taking their songwriting assignments seriously. Armi, for one, nearly isolated herself in Saguijo Café+Bar in Makati (more of like our version of Handuraw and The Outpost Bar) for two months to keep the words coming. Thus, six songs were penned: Clockwork, Taya, Unspoken Definites, Two, Sana and Every First Second; while Paul did Blessed, All Year Round, Silid and Sugarcoats & Heartbeats. Aside from getting inspiration from painful experiences and whatnots, Armi said that “growth” is one element of inspiration.

Independence and Individuality

“It really helps that we’re with Terno Recordings, an independent label. We have this great relationship I guess because they understand that it’s all about the music. They let us do everything on our own. Creatively, the songs are our call, so they don’t really tamper with the material – that’s the most important thing,” explained Armi.

Indie bands are granted freedom to experiment with music and for UDD, they give credit to manager Toti Dalmacion, founder of Terno Recordings, for embracing their sheer oddity. “When we started kasi, he was the only person out of three other potential managers, who said we have to keep our music the same way and never change it. So, we owe it to him that we’re like this because he encouraged us to be ourselves.”

Rock, neo-soul, acid jazz and electronic all rolled into one is what Up Dharma Down is about. An indie band only can get this kind of music if it veers away from formulaic sounds. It's a good thing that the new generation of music aficionados is more and more embracing musical idiosyncrasies. “In my opinion, people are more open-minded now. People know what they want. People get the idea that it helps to be different; it helps to sound different. If there’s one main thrust of the group it’s individuality. We tried to veer away from the norm because we think that there’s really different in each and everybody. Although we’re all the same, there’s still something that separates you from other people.”

They find fulfillment in being different and proof that they are on the right track came through the recently-concluded NU 107 Rock Awards, where they reaped three major awards: Vocalist of the Year – Armi Millare, Album of the Year – Bipolar and Artist of the Year. Armi said, “I think the last time I heard of a group to have both awards at the same time was the Eraserheads. When the Eheads presented the award, we we’re all shocked. It was really weird because we weren’t expecting to win the two biggest awards that night.

As an independent band, it’s a really, really, good thing that NU recognized our efforts and our music, most especially.”

Independent labels have their fair share of misfortunes — they are also, of course, casualties of piracy. “It affected us in a bad way of course but I think there’s also a positive side to that. I’m not saying it’s piracy, but it’s music sharing. People from overseas who don’t have a visible copy of the album get to hear our music and that I think is how we got international fans... that’s how we got this fan base overseas."

Armi continued, "I don’t think it’s going to go away, but we can find ways on how to deal with it that’s why we made the second album packaging really good. We tried to escalate it to a new level so that people really buy the album. We didn’t want to limit ourselves to three hits. We wanted all the songs to be good so that it would be worth every penny.”

Visayan Music Festival

At the first Visayan Music Festival, held last November 6 at the Family Park in Brgy. Nasipit, Talamban, UDD got to watch for the first time their favorite Cebuano group Sheila and the Insects which they dream of collaborating with in the future, aside from Purple Chickens.

The Visayan Music Festival was a memorable experience for the band. Armi said, “I’ve always wanted like that (referring to the event). It was great, especially that keyboard incident. Well, ‘yung set-up namin is: they have a keyboard for me. My keyboard is in the hotel room. I left it there because they said they have a keyboard. It’s part of the rider anyway. Then once I got there, I tried playing it and it’s off key. I was doubting myself kasi it was plug and play, it’s standard all the time. So, I said I can’t play with an off-key instrument and then I just had this wild idea and went up on stage and said: ‘Kunyari lang merong may keyboard sa inyo dito, magpapahiram kaya kayo?’ A few seconds from then, this girl Jill Anoba went up on stage and lend me her keyboard. It was not just a regular keyboard, it’s a mini controller with a laptop."

For Armi, it was Cebuano warmth and hospitality at its best. "She saved the gig really. I’ve seen her around before many times. They would make shirts with our name on it. I hugged her, I couldn’t stop thanking her. It was a really big thing.”

The group tries to score a few gigs out of the country, eyeing the west coast of the United States. Aside from that, “I guess we’ll still keep on promoting the same album. Definitely we’ll write more songs, hopefully, for the third album and do gig some more, tour some more. We’re pregnant with ideas but we’ll surprise you with something new or old,” Armi concluded.