Out of the Crib

MANILA, Philippines — They were still babies when the songs they are now singing, mostly hits of the ‘80s, became popular. Hence, that explains the name of the group, Crib.

Composed of six guys who all do vocals — Edward Enriquez (lead guitar), Rancis de Leon (saxophone), TJ Sarvida (lead vocals), Mark Decena (bassist), Mike Caleda (keyboardist/vocals) and Bogs Bautista (drummer) — Crib calls its music Adult Oriented Rock.

“Our sound is more on the light rock tunes or light jazz,” offers Edward. “We sing soft, melodic rock, not mainstream music.”

Edward, or fondly called “Dard,” boasts that Crib has a very wide repertoire. When they do regular gigs, Crib sings the familiar tunes of Christopher Cross, Toto, Phil Collins and Chicago. They also listen to Ambrosia and Eagles. At times, Crib even performs the songs of Bruno Mars, to give in to the requests of the audience.

The group started as an acoustic band originally known as Jeff’s Crib, with vocalist Jeff Cole and bassist Mark Decena. The guys met Bogs, Dard, Mike and Mark, when they played for Nina. Subsequently, they dropped Jeff’s name and retained only Crib starting in 2009.

TJ, meanwhile, is not the original singer of Crib. As the newest member, he joined the group only four years ago to replace Jeff. “I’ve known Jeff since 2003,” TJ shares. “He played acoustic, while I would do hosting. We saw each other again in a singing competition, The Voice Season 2, in 2014. Jeff said he was really looking for me for a long time and told me about his plan to go to the US.”

Rancis joined Crib in 2015 after playing abroad. “I was recommended to Mark by a musician-friend in the show of Jimmy Bondoc,” offers Rancis, who came from South Border, of which he was a member from 2009 to 2012.

A session musician who played for foreign artists Patti Austin, El De Barge, Fra Lippo Lippi, Mike Francis and Stephen Bishop, Rancis also performed in the concert of Celine Dion in Malaysia in 1996. He graduated from the UP College of Music.

When they are free, the members of Crib work as session musicians for other artists like Joey Generoso and Richard Poon. Their idol is the band Toto, whose members are all session musicians, too.

In this day and age when original songs are merely included in an album of mostly revival tunes, Crib boldly releases an all-original album. The band will reverb a loud sound to make known its name and its genre in the local music scene.

Rancis wrote Sabi Mo, while he collaborated with Mike in Sabihin Mo Na, Mahal Kita and I’m Stronger. Mike, meanwhile, wrote the eight other songs including the first and oldest track, It’s Over, and the Brazilian pop-inspired Yes, that features Pido Lalimarmo in guitars and background vocals.

Other guests are Thor Dulay in No Limitation, Gail Blanco in Sa Ibang Araw na Lang, Suy Galvez duets with TJ in Sabi Mo, plus rap artists who are Mike’s friends.

Carrier single of the album is ‘Di Inaasahan. “The song tells the story about a couple’s quarrel,” Mike shares. “The 10-track album includes a hidden track that makes for a total of 11 songs.”

Businessman Ian Alvarado heard the guys perform, got to know them, trusted them and subsequently offered to produce their album. So last year, the members seriously started to work on their album.

“We originally planned to release the album last December, but that didn’t happen,” Dard says. “Every month, we have regular gigs. That became the priority. But finally, our album will be launched now.”

Crib, managed by Al Henson, regularly performs at Salon de Ning at Peninsula Manila, Sage Bar of Makati Shangri-La, Relic  BGC on Fridays and K Pub Restaurant at BGC, Trinoma and Glorietta.