The school of rock

Self-proclaimed "pangit-rockers" Kamikazee met each other in college. If asked, the group becomes a gaggle of noisy campus dudes, reminiscing about all manner of mischief that they managed to get themselves into and school requirements barely met. Of course, being in a rock band with chart-topping hits, it seems that the boys don’t need to change and grow up any time soon.

Actually, I don’t really need to ask because I already knew them back then, being in the same batch as most of them taking up courses at the University of the Philippines’ College of Fine Arts. Back then, it seemed like everyone was in a band, which was ironic in its own way because – as a pop culture phenomenon – the local band scene had already waned. After those glorious years when the Eraserheads and the rest of the "alternative scene" took over, the public in general wanted boy bands. Of course, bands never stopped forming and our college was a hotbed of activity. The members of Kamikazee were very much around the scene albeit in several different groups and not under their current moniker.

For my part, I quickly discovered that despite having impeccable taste in music (not an idle boast, I assure you) I simply had no talent in playing – save for a rudimentary version of Rush’s YYZ. But I enjoyed the energy and creative anarchy of the scene, which I have come to realize wasn’t due to just the music but the culture and atmosphere of the UP Fine Arts College itself. To drive the point home, a band like Kamikazee could’ve only come from there. The zany, offbeat and colorful humor are trademarks of those times. Not to give too much away, but any U.P.C.F.A will recognize even the more hidden innuendos in the songs, particularly the popular ones. Mischievous? Yup. Questionable? Uh-huh. Fun? No doubt.

Their newest hit song, First Day High, and its video are now on heavy rotation on radio and TV. According to them, the track is a tribute to their school days. "Nakaka-miss talaga," says Jomal, one of the band’s guitarists, about their experiences in college. "Yung first day talaga masaya," says lead vocalist Jay when asked about why they chose it as the subject of the song. In the track, they identify five icons, namely: Sosy High, Nice Guy High, Brainy High, MVP High and Rebel High. According to them, there’s always one present in every campus no matter where you look. "Parang given na yun," says Jomal, talking from the viewpoint of someone who’s played extensively in campuses around the country. It doesn’t matter where they play, they’re sure that their audiences are always made up of these "types."

(I wonder if they can attach actual names and faces behind these icons – the specific ones the boys might’ve been deriving inspiration from.)

Our interview was conducted on the set of the video shoot and it was quite strange to see each other again in such circumstances. I chided Jomal that I would’ve never guessed back when we first met in 1996 that we would be doing work someday for a deodorant. We both admitted that it is a happy surprise. I congratulated them on the success of their album. Jay – the band’s singer – quipped onstage at one their gigs that the reason that they made a second album was "’di bumenta ang unang album namin." It’s a classic comment.

On the song First Day High, the band recalls that it was written and recorded very quickly. Energetic and edgy, the song is a pop-punk ditty that perfectly captures the mood of the first day of school: the giddy excitement and anticipation, the brash, loud hubbub in the corridor and the need to state your individuality. For a band that doesn’t like to be classified into one genre, the latter trait is the one that matters most.

"Important ang confidence," says Jay about how to make your first day a success. No matter if you’re sosy, a nice guy, brainy, an MVP or a rebel, you always need confidence to express yourself. It’s something that the band has taken to heart and it has guided their success in their careers after school.

Although known for quirky humor and the fun they put into each of their songs, the band isn’t afraid to experiment with their sound, trying out new stuff and checking if it works. Just listening to their albums, it’s amazing to hear all the different things the band tries to pull off. From Nü-metal riffs to Britney Spears covers, Kamikazee do what they want and just pour all their hearts into whatever they’re playing.

After all, boys will be boys.

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This leads me to another thing I’ve been up to lately. It’s obvious from what I’ve written so far that we had one helluva time at the UP College of Fine Arts. I can confidently say that we must’ve had the most fun among the rest of the colleges on campus – I still consider shifting from Creative Writing to Fine Arts one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It’s become sort of a cliché now but it holds true: the most important lessons I ever learned in school I got outside the classroom.

Airing every Saturday at 5 p.m., the new teen sitcom Let’s Go! is perhaps a demonstration of this maxim. As one of its writers – a diverse group including four other alumni from the UP – our show is basically as riotous and exhilarating (not to mention stupid, depressing and sometimes educational) as those years we spent in school figuring out who we were and constantly picking ourselves up each time we fell flat on our faces. It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

Let’s Go! has 12 characters – all different and unique from each other. I’d be lying to you if I didn’t admit that one or two of the characters are based on real people. In fact, we (meaning associate director Frasco Mortiz and I) went as far as naming Zap after one of our batch-mates – and even drawing a caricature of him. Maling Akala – the third episode – hinged on the question of whether the character Dennis was gay. Again, most of that episode’s storyline did in fact happen in real life – down to the final revelation at the end. It’s safe to say that there’s almost nothing in the show that’s not based on something that’s really happened. (I bet even the boys of Kamikazee will recognize and laugh at a lot of things depicted in the show.)

Plus, if for nothing else, we really do have a cast of newcomers that show a lot of talent and promise as well as distinctive characters. (Another revelation: a whole chunk of dialogue spoken by our Cebuana character Juniper I took wholesale from my Cebuana wife, Yvonne.)

Created and directed by Edgar Mortiz, Let’s Go! is sure to delight college kids of all ages and alma matters.

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Award winning creator of The Sandman comic series and New York Times’ bestselling author Neil Gaiman and Fully Booked present the 1st Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards.The winners will be finally announced tomorrow, at 7 p.m., after about five months of anticipation.

Fully Booked owner Jaime Daez says that everyone was very happy although a bit surprised with the results. The winners were chosen because they were best examples of what Gaiman termed as "Filipino unrealism."

There are two categories: namely, Short Prose (the Gregorio C. Brillantes Award) and Comics (the Alex Niño Award). Top prize for both categories is P100,000.

"Neil Gaiman and Fully Booked are committed to making this an annual event," says Daez.