The year of Sino Sikat?

In Chinese Astrology, there is no Year of the Cat, the animal with the closest of feline connections would be the Tiger. But you can’t convince Kat, Nick and Reli, (collectively known as Sino Sikat?) that there is no such thing as the Year of Si-Kat, as 2008 has become a solidifying banner year for both critical and commercial recognition of their unique, daring and exciting musical vision. When I first heard its debut album in 2007, I was immediately struck by how this mix of Pop, Blues, Rock and Jazz had been forged into a musical statement that was unlike any other in our local music scene. Privately, I was even amazed that Warner Music had gone out on a limb, and released the CD, as there would have been a big question mark hanging over its commercial prospects. And musically, they are, without doubt, my favorite local band.

Fast forward to the present day, and while the band may not enjoy the kind of following the more established mainstream rock bands can drum up in crowd numbers, if one is looking for music that’s a little more sophisticated, one that has a cool, urban groove, Sino Sikat? is the band you’ve been looking for. Its rabid, very vocal, and deeply devoted fans, will attest to that. I caught them on Kat’s Pinoy Soul night at Saguijo, and was struck by how tight the band is when playing live — besides Kat on vocals, Nick on guitar and Reli on percussion, they do live gigs with Phillippe on bass, and Frenchman David on keyboards. And being the critics’ darling can’t hurt either. This year alone they copped seven nominations in the Awit Awards, winning for People’s Choice of Best Group, Awit’s Best Group for World and Alternative Music, and Awit’s Best Jazz Group. At the NU Rock Awards, Kat took home the Best Female Vocalist Award. A slight, wisp of a woman, Kat transforms when on stage, becoming the cynosure of attention as she gets into the music, and virtually convinces us that hers is the path to musical nirvana. On a sidebar, Kat can also be found at Martini’s at the Mandarin, Monday nights of December, where accompanied by a solo jazz guitarist, she becomes a fetching chanteuese, dishing out standards (Lullaby in Birdland, Moon River), samba tunes (Girl from Ipanema, The Look of Love), and jazzed up versions of popular songs like the Beatles’ Come Together and Cindy Lauper’s Time After Time.

Thanks to the band’s manager, Tommy, I had the opportunity to listen to a rough demo CD of five of its new compositions. Earmarked for second album, it is criminal that it is taking so long for this new CD to hit the record stores. At the Saguijo gig, the new numbers, Toilet and Look at Me, were instant crowd-pleasers. While extensions of the music from the first CD, Sino Sikat? also shows a newfound maturity and depth in musical structure. Toilet starts off like a true standard, in the tradition of an intro bridge (think Someone to Watch Over Me) and then percolates into a steamy, funky, neo-Soul/Jazz winner! Patiently is another track that I’m sure the Sikat fans will take to immediately. Wherever You Are is more of a rock/blues anthem, while Sa Ngalan ng Pag-ibig is reminiscent of those Pinoy Sound ’80s hits we all know, but then gets the Sikat treatment, and ends up worlds apart from those saccharine pop ballads. I likened it to a companion piece to Pag-ibig from the first CD, and Kat readily concurred.

To this day, Kat is confounded by the kind of acclaim and success the band has enjoyed, “To me, it was all about making music I really felt true to. I didn’t want to get into the rut of performing music while feeling it’s just work, or I’m getting sawa na singing those numbers night after night. The connection to the songs, whether they’re original compositions or covers, is all-important to the band. That we in turn connected to an audience is the bonus, and something we’re always grateful for.” As for influences, Kat averred that the music she herself listens to is constantly in flux. Queens Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald, Erykah, Jill Scott, Astrud, Anita Baker, Dianna Reeves, and even Amy Winehouse: These are just some of the artists she’ll never tire of. And it’s Old School Soul that she’s partial to nowadays, it can just as easily be jazz or blues next week. “As long as it’s music, and it’s good, it’s crazy to classify or pigeonhole what kind of music I’m partial to. Good music will always get me there!” And we can just be happy that she and the band are more than ready to take us for the ride!