The new hitmakers from MySpace

MANILA, Philippines - Until they met Never Shout Never and The Maine bands yesterday after a presscon at Hard Rock Cafe, Katrina Abelgas and friend Gab thought their dream of seeing their idols up close would remain just that — a dream.

But there they stood — greeting The Maine bassist Garret Nickelsen a happy birthday and getting his winning smile as reward.

“They’re not the headbanging type,” Katrina relates.

“Their sound is more acoustic,” adds Gab.

But just what makes them — and Never Shout Never so special?

For one, they’re hits in MySpace. Never Shout Never’s Christofer “Chris” Drew has over 55 million song plays on the site and sold over 58,000 EPs. And the guy from Missouri is only 19!

“The advantage about being hits in MySpace is that we’re excited we’re given this chance,” he says. “The disadvantage is more than half of these people don’t like what they heard.”

The Maine (from left) Kennedy Brock, Jared Monaco, John O’Callaghan, Pat Kirch and Garret Nickelsen

His fellow band members Caleb Denison (lead guitar), Nathan Ellison (drums), Taylor MacFee (bass), Dustin Dobernig (keyboards, violin) and Hayden Kaiser (percussion, tambourine, djembe and xylophone) laugh as the press laughs along with them.

The Maine is just as self-depracating. The band — composed of John O’Callaghan (vocals), Nickelsen, Pat Kirch (drums), Kennedy Brock (guitar and vocals) and Jared Monaco (guitar) may have toured with such big acts as Good Charlotte and Boys Like Girls. They wrote, scored and created the 17-minute short film In Darkness and In Light. But they admire bands that have remained, in John’s words, “down-to-earth” and proven that “you can be nice and successful at the same time.”

He’s referring to Boys Like Girls. Touring with them, John points out, was “an eye-opener, a turning point in our band’s career.”

The path to fame and fortune was not lined with roses, however.

John recalls, “When we first started, we couldn’t go on tour. We were still in high school and our parents won’t let us go until summer.”

Chris relates his own early struggles, “I dropped out of high school, left my house and lived in my car.”

The social network — MySpace to be exact — came to their rescue.

“We had to figure out a way to connect with people, not only in the US but also in the world, especially the Philippines. We really took advantage of MySpace. That’s why we’re here today.”

Chris also has his MySpace story. He recorded music in his laptop and the rest, as they say, is history. Now, he’s making a new website for the band that could very well be a bigger platform for their coming albums.

“I don’t think MySpace is that relevant but it doesn’t mean it’s not useful. There are so many other avenues for connecting with people. There’s the Net in general,” he explains.

Still, no other connection is better than facing his fans up close and personal. That’s what he and his band — plus fellow alternative-pop-rock groups Never Say Never and We The Kings will do tonight, Feb. 17 at the TriNoma Activity Center; tomorrow, Feb. 18 at the Fashion Walk, Greenbelt; on Feb. 19 at Market! Market! Activity Center; and Feb. 20 at Alabang Town Center, Corte de las Palmas Parking, where they will perform live.

It’s the bands’ first time to perform in the country. And they’re as excited as their fans.