Hastang of Yesteryears

Long weekend. But, damn, was it fun…

First, I’m happy to announce that we have found us the perfect place for our band rehearsals. We can now play great music to our hearts’ content. Yep, the Manto household has agreed to let us use a vacant space in their home in Banilad. It’s no Handuraw Studio, I tell you, but at least Hastang won’t have to worry about things like not getting studio slots because of band overcrowding (which has happened quite often lately), or unsatisfactory (read: bitin) jam sessions because of limited time. A million thanks to Tessa and family for this favor.

Mark—who has been sporting a gargantuan grin a lot lately—is the happiest of the bunch. This recent development would now allow him to make use of his drum set, which has been dormant for a considerable amount of time (he couldn’t use it when we’re doing sessions in his condo for fear that it would irritate the neighboring tenants; the only way he could practice percussion is when we’re doing studio time at Handuraw). Now, his drums (a Christmas gift from YanYan, circa 2002) have found a new home at Banilad (with additional thanks again to Tessa for providing the carpet). So excited is he that he actually bought a couple of gears and accessories for his drum set.

We had our first jam session there last weekend and with productive results. The song “When Misery Speaks” is more improved now with Roy (aka “Kuya Buhok” – nickname courtesy of Tessa’s little nephews) adding a few guitar touches in the verse parts. We’ve also changed the chord progression in the song’s bridge because the old version was beginning to sound too much like Metallica. I daresay the new version is sleeker. Of course, if we get more ideas on how to improve it further, we certainly won’t hesitate to polish it more. Now that we are not constantly looking at the clock during our studio sessions, we have all the time in the world to hone this song.

And we also completed a newer version of “Virgin’s Orgasm”. Roy has incorporated an X-files-theme-ish guitar riff in the intro (credit goes to Mark for bombarding Roy with UFO stories during the long drive from Gorordo to Liloan last week) and a disarming guitar solo (done in two takes with overlapping melodies). For the drumbeats, Mark opted this time to subtly employ jazz brushes (an unexpected but nonetheless welcome departure from his usual hard-hitting style) to great effect. In all, it’s a perfect complement to Tessa’s aching delivery of the lines.

And the second thing that got us all warped last weekend is …

Band photo-shoot. Yep, photography wunderkind Mai Comeros Demeterio once again demonstrated her unique ability to exploit natural light and has concocted incredibly creative concept shots of Hastang. And there’s none more apt for Mai’s gifts than Tessa who has proven to be a naturally photogenic (a shameless understatement, really, I’m running out of words to describe her radiance) and camera-comfy subject. Despite the windy weather during the shoot (done at the 4th floor parking lot of Mark’s and Yan’s condo—clever, huh?), Tessa managed to pose gracefully (with the help of Mai’s wonderful direction) and make it look effortless (see pictures in previous blog entry).

We all had our turns in front of the camera, of course (I think it’s too late to mention it but I wanted a me-jumping-in-the-air shot, oh well) and Mai, with exceptional patience, took shot after beautiful portrait shot for each band member.

I guess some of the images can be seen in previous entries, but we’ll reserve some of the

yet-to-be-revealed shots for future use (only god knows what–steals a glance at Jayson and Roy).

However, I must say that the couch shot is my favorite (for now) and it looks really cool up there (see header).

Dang, I’m doing five hundred words already (which is quite weird, actually, coz long copy has always been my perennial weakness in writing), so I guess I’ll take my cue. Until the next entry.

~Guile

guile loves his girlfriend, adores (er, adored) Michael Jackson, and wants "to be complete". When he's not playing bass for Hastang, he creates thingamajigs for icomm and writes gibberish in his not-so-secret diary.
©2008 Hastang.com | Read articles written by guile