Parokya preaches it loud and clear
What’s the best way to get through to the youth these days? Easily, it’s music and technology, taking into account the countless hits that websites like YouTube rack up each day, and the popularity — albeit misplaced — of file-sharing sites such as Limewire. And even the way kids listen to music has dramatically changed, relying on their multi-tasking mobile phones to keep their favorite tunes near and handy (a far cry from the boom boxes my generation had to lug around during the mid-‘90s). Samsung takes advantage of the music-tech hook-up with the Samsung Live Loud music campaign, mainly a series of activities that “celebrates freedom of expression through passion for music.”
This campaign is a far-reaching gimmick to promote their three music phones: the Samsung i450, a nifty 3G-capable slider with built-in Bang and Olufsen speakers; the F330, slim, trendy and equipped with a 2-megapixel dual-camera; and F250, a seamless and compact mobile with a glossy mirror-like surface, water drop buttons and a metal keypad. Activities for the summer months include concerts all across the nation, bar tours, radio contests, YouTube videos and free ringtones. But the biggest noisemaker for the “Live Loud” campaign is hit band Parokya ni Edgar, who Samsung signed up as the campaign’s brand ambassadors.
And they couldn’t have made a better choice. Parokya ni Edgar, composed of Chito Miranda (vocals), Vinci Montaner (vocals), Darius Semana (guitar), Gabriel Cheekee (guitar), Buwi Meneses (bass), and Dindin Moreno (drums) has championed freedom of expression through music from day one, stuffing their first commercially-released album “Khangkhungkherrnitz” with catchy, cheeky tunes that fearlessly tackle everything from suicide (Buloy) to the masses’ obsession with cheesy entertainment (Pangarap ko sa Buhay) to mundane things like siopao (Trip, also a parody of Radiohead’s Creep). Five more albums, countless of awards and more than 10 years later, Parokya ni Edgar hasn’t let up on the music-making, nor the irreverence.
Their newest album “Solid” is a musical trip into more parodies, more upbeat nonsense and more ironic overtones (although this time it seems the irony is more pronounced and even borders on cynicism. Play Tange if you will.) As lead vocalist Chito Miranda describes, “Yung last album namin puro vices: smoking, drinking, mobile phones…” You’re not supposed to take this little soundbite seriously. If you do, then you’re missing Parokya ni Edgar’s whole point.
Parokya ni Edgar isn’t a “what you see is what you get” kind of band, even if that’s how they come off. They are upfront for sure, and when put together, they’re boisterous, bawdy and relentless when it comes to bagging on each other. For example, when asked if they’ve ever thought of disbanding, one of them quickly declares, “Sawang-sawa na kami sa isa’t isa. We just do it for the money.” Brutal? Maybe. But nobody seemed to have taken offense, probably because they all understand precisely what their colleague means. And there was a ready counter from another to the question, “What has kept the band together?” “Money and technology… Texting. We’re text-savvy.” (The “text-savvy” part was in reference to an earlier question about whether they were tech-savvy.)
There seem to be layers to Parokya ni Edgar. Beyond the awards, endorsements and popularity is a band that knows that, in 10 years, each member has grown and changed. For the better? You get a shrug and Chito’s candid, if derisive, explanation, “We get older with age… Yung humor namin ang bilis na mag-regress ngayon. It used to be intelligent, ngayon tatanga-tanga na lang. Dati humor namin parang Woody Allen, ngayon parang Eddie Murphy na lang. Slapstick na lang ngayon.”
Although, watching their newest music video for Macho, one shouldn’t mind the claimed “regression” too much. The hilarious parody of the Village People’s Macho Man is a four-minute anthem that puts Eric Anzalone’s leather-clad biker to shame. Complete with kitschy leather gear, the bushiest mustaches this side of the Super Mario Bros., and aviators even the Maverick would shy away from, the six entertainers dance and prance around, mouthing lyrics that take pride in being the biggest bully in the barangay.
This is freedom of expression at its finest — and most impertinent. And Samsung is all set to let it loose, and loud.
* * *
The Samsung “Live Loud” campaign includes bar tours in the metro’s hottest party hubs, radio contests on pop music stations such as Magic 89.9, Rx 93.1 and Hit FM 99.5, YouTube videos of Rihanna’s Shut Up and Drive and Timbaland’s The Way I Ar as well as free ringtones for the first 15,000 who purchase any of their music phones.
Parokya ni Edgar will perform in
For more information on Samsung’s new music phones, please visit www.samsung.com.
