A couple of weeks after our Southeast Asian Tour in August 2012, we decided to cool-off from months of promotion and gigs that burnt-out all of us. Personally, the only time I don't consider being in a band as work is when we are creating and recording new music. It never fails to excite me. Gigging on the other hand is different, sometimes tiring, sometimes disappointing. Being an indie band in the ever-changing music industry landscape is very challenging. So I took my leave and went on a five-month vacation in the US to rest and contemplate. I encouraged my band mates to focus on their work, family and other interests.
Every number has a certain power which is expressed both by its symbol to denote its representation and by its connection to universal principles. Numbers have relationships with all things in nature, thus making them supremely powerful symbolic expressions.
This is based on Numerology – the study of numbers and their influence in our lives. While I do not practice or subscribe to this, it’s fascinating to sometimes look up on spiritual meanings behind numbers and explore how it applies to us for our own personal coherence on the subject. For instance, it’s significance to the anniversary of our band. We recently celebrated our fourth year as a group on September 9 at Gweilo Bar in Makati to welcome what we considered The Camerawalls’ founding date, which falls on September 10.
The symbolic meaning of number Four deals with stability and invokes the grounded nature of all things. Consider the four seasons, four directions, four elements all these amazingly powerful essences wrapped up in the nice square package of Four. Fours represent solidity, calmness, and home. A recurrence of Four in your life may signify the need to get back to your roots, center yourself, or even “plant” yourself. Fours also indicate a need for persistence and endurance.
Stable, grounded, solid. — Perhaps those four years of struggle and trying out new things on our own has made us experience enough to consider such. Humbling episodes year after year. I had the pleasure of working with great people, some of them good friends, to be able to come through with the challenges of getting back to my roots and be an indie band.
Looking back at the year that has passed, here’s a modest list of interesting events that happened to The Camerawalls since our last anniversary celebration:
1. Recruited a new drummer, Joseph Rudica, who’s also from Bulacan and drummer of twee pop band The Gentle Isolation. Related story…
2. Went back to Sonic State studio with producers Jonathan Ong and Robert Javier to record a new EP.Related story…
3. Released “Bread & Circuses” EP under Lilystars Records. The EP was launched on December 11, 2010 at Ayala Museum. Related story…
4. Fronted for the China Crisis during one of their shows in Manila. Related blog…
6. Our single Bread and Circuses, was named semifinalist in the 2010 International Songwriting Competition in the Folk/Singer/Songwriter Category. Related story…
6. Recently recruited George Carillo, our new electric guitarist, finally completing our sound during live performances.
7. Visited Singapore for the second time for a two-night show at Timbre @ The Substation. Related story…
The crowd at Gweilo that night were an odd mix of young students eager to see the band, young professionals, a number of foreigners, and some stray folks in their late 30s and early 40s. The rest are close friends of ours. The younger audiences did came as a surprise. Our music crossing over to high school and college students, without the benefit of radio and tv, is something of value.
To make it worth their while, we played two sets alternating originals with choice covers. Below is our take on a classic Ocean Blue song.
We closed the bar as usual and parted ways around 4AM. I love the intimate vibe our gigs in a small watering hole produces. Strangers meet strangers and like minded people, all infected with the music and camaraderie. We are thankful to all who came, bought the records at 40% off, and partied with us. Many of which have to travel far just to get there. Cheers and on to the fifth! – Clementine
The Camerawalls along one of the streets of Singapore.
Arab Street
Singapore has a diverse population made up of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Caucasians and Asians (of various descent). It isn’t a wonder to find shopping and ethnic districts like Arab Street, Little India, Chinatown, Orchard Road and Marina Bay. We were able to do a walking tour of two of them before the day ends.
Our food trip in Bugis Street was preceded with a walkabout around the vicinity of Arab Street just a few blocks away. Arab Street interestingly illustrates the Arabian culture. You can easily find conservatively dressed Muslims, beautiful old shop houses lined up on the streets and marvel at the largest mosque in the country – the Sultan Mosque – easily identified by its golden domes.
The grand Sultan Mosque.
Some of the many old shophouses common in the district.
Right across the Sultan Mosque is the famous Zam-Zam, one of Singapore’s best know restaurant for all sorts of Muslim-Malay food, which serves their legendary Murtabak (a type of stuffed pancake eaten with curry). Too bad we’re still full from our last meal.
One of Singapore's best known restaurant famous for their Murtabak.
Along Kandahar Street was a long line of street food vendors selling items quite unfamiliar to my eyes. I spotted a table that sells mini Otah-Otah. I asked what it is to which the vendor replied, “Fish cake made of mackarel”. I have never tasted fish cake so to my curiosity I bought some and shared it with the others. It’s spicy and is an acquired taste. I can do for one more hadn’t we moved along.
Later on I found out that Otah-Otah is also sometimes called Otak-Otak. Otak means brains in Indonesia and Malay. (Very close to the Filipino word “Utak” with the same meaning) and the name of the dish is derived from the idea that the dish some what resembles brains, being grey, soft and almost squishy. Otah-otah is made by mixing fish paste (usually mackerel) with a mixture of spices. The mixture is then wrapped in a banana leaf that has been softened by steaming, then grilled or steamed.
Otah-otah - a cake made of fish meat.
At Bian’s Cafe
We chanced upon a cozy looking coffee shop along the same street and decided it’s about time for some caffeine in our system. We took our seats and was greeted by the very nice Chinese owner named Bian Huibin. While we wait for our order he offered us a book to browse: “The Sidewalk Beauty – The Stray Cats Of Singapore” – a photographic journal that pays tribute to Singapore’s street cats. Over 200 pages of beautiful cat photos with humoring captions. We notice most of the cats’ left ear in the photos are snipped. His website mentioned that in an attempt to curb the proliferation of stray cats, most of the strays have been sterilized. The snipped left tip on their ear is the mark of their surgery.
It took awhile before we found out he’s the author/photographer of the pictures in the book. Very entertaining for cat lovers like us. (I have one at home name Doro, Law has one named Bassline, both Ian Zafra and Antonette has one too and Bachie has a dozen!) Quite interesting is the author’s biography:
Bian Huibin graduated from the Faculty of Music at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in 1985, having majored in Percussion and minored in French Horn. In 1991, he graduated from the Beijing Film Academy Photography faculty, having majored in Feature Film Photography. He has been in Singapore since 1995 upon invitation to work in television production here. Since then, he has produced numerous advertisements and documentaries. He is currently the Artistic Director of Hetian Film Productions.
It’s very humbling that a man of his stature is serving coffee and drinks to his customers. I admired him for that. For more photos and info about his book visit straycatsofsingapore.com and singopera.com.sg. I went inside his shop and found a lot pictures on the wall of chinese opera singers in costume. He told me his wife is a Chinese Opera singer and instructor. Chinese Opera is an old form of drama and musical theater in China with roots going back to the third century. Upstairs is Singapore Chinese Opera Museum (SCOM) in which Bian is also the museum director.
Relaxing at Bian's Cafe below the Singapore Chinese Opera Museum along Kandahar Street.
The Sidewalk Beauty - The Stray Cats of Singapore
Clementine with Bian Huibin (Photographer/Author of The Stray Cats of Singapore)
Some merchandise items from The Sidewalk Beauty.
A chinese opera doll at the entrance of Bian's Cafe and Singapore Chinese Opera Museum.
A wall full of opera singers' photos.
Bian and I had a difficult time conversing since he is not well-versed with the English language. But graciously tried to explain the things he do, showed me around a bit and opened his website for me to browse. He also showed me a sample clip of an actual chinese opera he produced. He asked about my music and I showed him our site and in no time at all the whole coffee shop was blasting “Canto De Maria Clara“, one of our songs from the debut album. And when it was time to say goodbye we took pics and exchanged cards for future correspondence.
A photo in one of the alleys of Arab Street district with the Sultan Mosque at the background.
Children’s Little Museum
There’s wonderful pedestrian area on Bussorah Street located right behind the Sultan Mosque. There are shops and cafes there. Many of the restaurants have sheeshas or water pipes, which you can smoke. We also checked out a vintage shop called Children’s Little Museum. It has items from 1950s to 1970s. A very nostalgic and enjoyable find!
Many of the restaurants have sheeshas or water pipes, which you can smoke.
Things are pretty busy lately since the release of our new single “The Sight Of Love.” Also we just recently launched a music video to support it. You can view it Here. And if you still don’t have a copy, you can download the song for free Here.
But this entry isn’t about that. I’m picking up the pieces where I last documented happenings involving The Camerawalls. As I rummage in our backlog of experiences I came across our pics from our wicked trip to Baguio with label mates Turbo Goth and The Bernadettes.
Day 1 – February 5
The night before we left Manila, Lilystars hosted a POP Shoppe! event that featured acoustic sets by Lilystars’ artists to go along with Outerhope – our special guest band for that night. It was laid back and a perfect send-off for a long trip to Baguio. After the event we hit the road at around 3am and found ourselves waking up to the sights of Baguio pines at around 7:30 am.
The famous haunted house along Leonard Wood Loop near Teacher's Camp.
We passed by a famous hunted house in the area which was already used many times in local films. I wanted to stop and stand against the gates to have a picture taken but no one in expressed any interest (out of fear i bet) so we moved along till we reached Antonette’s (our road manager) family rest house along Gibraltar St.
The house along Gibraltar St. where we all stayed over.
We rested for a few hours inside the house, some readily took long naps, and some (including myself) couldn’t take the building hunger as morning turns noon. Ian, Cheska, Sarah, Pao and I didn’t bother to wake up our driver and rode a jeepney towards the nearest Filipino restaurant to satisfy our craving for Beef Bone Marrow & Vegetable Soup locally know as Bulalo!
Bulalo (Beef Bone Marrow & Vegetable Soup) Sweet & Sour Fish & Pork and Grilled Stuffed Squid.
The food was great and not wanting the others to miss out I ordered some more for take out. When we got back, true enough, everyone was starving.
We have two gigs on that day. A late afternoon stint at SM City Baguio and a longer, more engaging set in the night at Chill Out Bar. The weather was just perfect in the high mountains. Not too hot and not too cold. The water on the other hand was close to being intolerable for baths.
We arrived at the mall around 4:30pm, did a bit of sound check and hang around a bit while waiting for our cue to begin the show.
Backstage enjoying the afternoon sun.
Law and Ian feeling the large stage.
Turbo Goth started the lazy afternoon followed by The Bernadettes. Small groups of crowd started building up from both ground and upper floor overlooking the stage. Notice how the sky in the pictures below turns from grayish white to black.
Turbo Goth kicking of the afternoon show.
The Bernadettes
Doing our thing.
Finishing it high.
We played a few songs in the mall reserving energy for a long set at Chill Out Bar. A couple of music fans oblivious of The Camerawalls performing at SM chanced upon us while roaming around the mall not missing the chance to score our debut album. We had pizza after.
I always try to accustom myself with large venues for performing although we prefer intimate settings like small bars where the crowd is within reach and attended by real music fans, making us more excited for the event happening later in the night. Gary Martin, the owner of Chill Out, is celebrating the bar’s 7th anniversary and we’re expecting a lot of friends and music aficionados to come over. Joining us in the line up are friends from a Baguio based indie band — The Edralins. Enjoy the featured videos of The POP Shoppe! performances below:
The Edralins covering a song from The Stone Roses.
A yet to be release tune from Turbo Goth entitled Weather Report.
The Bernadettes with their song Let’s Make Babies.
Us covering a Cure classic. Just Like Heaven.
It was our first time to perform out of town with The POP Shoppe! and our second time as a band in Baguio. Last time we played in Chill Out was last year when we were still a trio, now almost the same crowd and much more witnessed us with our new guitar player.
Clinically Dead For 16 Hours
We immensely enjoyed the gig, met some new friends and felt like family with the way Gary and his friends treated us. Drinks and food were non-stop. The excitement and adrenaline wore off as soon as we went downstage after finishing the set with “Woman” by John Lennon as a final request coming from an engaged couple. All throughout the night I can’t help but notice a cute 3 year old little girl dancing around and seemingly trying to sing along to each song that was played. A kid enjoying the show – now that’s entertainment!
From L-R: Me posing with the bar owner Gary Martin, with the couple Jen Bautista (concert producer) and JB Bautista (the president of University of Baguio).
After two and a half years I finally decided to sing an Orange & Lemons song via a tribute gig to remember what was once an exciting venture. The songs I have written for my former band still haunts me. And what better way to reminisce but invite musician friends to celebrate that journey.
Joining The Camerawalls on the 30th of January at Route 196 are label mates Turbo Goth, The Bernadettes, Your Imaginary Friends and The Gentle Isolation plus guest artist The Satellites as well as Ian Zafra who came all the way from Cebu to do a series of solo perfomances. The small watering hole was packed with roughly over 150 people that consists of music fans, families and friends. It was so much fun at The POP Shoppe! it was inevitable not to allow ourselves to be a little bit intoxicated. So we did.
The Satellites performed “Strike Whilst The Iron Is Hot” and “Rock-A-Bye.” A great start for the evening and kinda suited their indie rock sound. The Gentle Isolation did girl pop versions of “Cycle Of Love” and “Days And Nights” while Ian Zafra did a stripped version of “Hey, Please” letting the crowd sing half if not the entire song. It was amazing how everyone knew the words to it. “Heaven Knows (This Angel Has Flown)” and “Lihim” was the cover of choice of Your Imaginary Friends. Turbo Goth did a laid back version of Sarah Gaugler’s all time favorite “Just Like A Splendid Love Song” with Paolo trying to impersonate my guitar playing at one point. The Bernadettes did a rocking version of “I Feel Good, I Feel Fine.” I immensely enjoyed all of it. Hearing my songs covered by my favorite bands is quite an experience. Too bad we missed the set of Patience Dear Juggernaut. He was too ill to perform.
We were the last band to play and by the time we were onstage I was already feeling a little tipsy from the scores of vodka shots I was helping myself from Jeff Saw’s table. (Jeff is The POP Shoppe’s official photographer). It was almost 2 in the morning. As I fix my guitar strap I looked around and there were still a lot of people inside the bar waiting for us to perform. Most of them standing. After a couple of songs from Pocket Guide To The Other World, we did a familiar tune from 2003. The first track from Love In The Land Of Rubber Shoes & Dirty Ice Cream called “A Beginning Of Something Wonderful” written during my college days in the late 90s.
To everyone who shared the night with us, it wouldn’t have been as much fun without you all. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. To those who missed it, enjoy the video. In the future we will try to cover more of my songs from O&L. That I promise.
A Beginning Of Something Wonderful Clementine
Orange & Lemons
Your gentle means
And all seems to commence
A brand new pace in me
Hope it’s not a blunder
Especially when I uncover, dig deeper
And I wonder
When I get near you
I feel something deep within me
You know you bring me to new heights
I’m like a big balloon filled with hot air
Ready to explode
Each and every time I kiss you
The more I’m with you
The more it feels like
This could be the beginning of something wonderful
Yeah, yeah…
Your lips are movin’
Your voice is so oh, so soothin’
You wear a face that lives in my dreams
Where did you come from
And I wonder
When I get near you
I feel something deep within me
You know you bring me to new heights
I’m like a big balloon filled with hot air
Ready to explode
Each and every time I kiss you
The more I’m with you
The more it feels like
This could be the beginning of something wonderful
Yeah, yeah…
The more I’m with you
The more it feels like
This could be the beginning of something really wonderful…
I have avoided singing my own songs in public for quite a number of reasons. After Orange & Lemons disbanded in a loathsome manner I just couldn’t allow myself to be reminded of the very people I once called friends, the very people who tried to fire me from my own band without proper decorum and stab me in the back by telling everyone lies. It was a situation unheard of. Sure, key leaving members in popular bands is everything but normal. Ely Buendia left The Eraserheads. Rico Blanco left Rivermaya. Johnny Marr left The Smiths. John Lennon left The Beatles. It would sound ridiculous and downright outrageous if Ely, Rico, Marr or worse John Lennon will be fired from their own band. It was like killing the goose that lays the golden egg.
In all the published works of O&L I have written lyrics for 32 songs, music for 39 songs plus 2 poetry. I sang 19 recorded tracks as main vocals, have painstakingly arranged, layered and recorded hundreds of guitar tracks alone. I have spent more hours in the studio during recording, mixing and mastering than any member of the band. Collaborated with sound engineers, directors, stylists, session musicians, advertisers, label people, etc. Booked and arranged all band rehearsals since day one.
I taught Mcoy how to play the guitar and how to fake it as a beginner during our early years of live gigging. He never recorded any guitar tracks in the album. I did. Ace Del Mundo auditioned to me and I was the one who hired him as a drummer and later on his brother JM to fill in for Law’s absence. I equally shared songwriting credits in the first two albums of O&L with Mcoy Fundales as a gesture of goodwill although he hasn’t contributed anything to most of the songs in terms of composition and intellectual property. So until now he has been receiving royalties for songs he did not create. I spent a year recording and conceptualizing and developing the last album Moonlane Gardens only to be fired a week after the album launch. I dedicated 11 years building the foundation of O&L and seeing it rise to the top and falling hard face-flat on quicksand. A classic example of losing heads in the clouds.
I cite these facts not out of bitterness nor anger but to answer the question a lot of people have been asking: “Why don’t you sing your songs from O&L and perform it with The Camerawalls?” Clearly my response is an emotional one. When I fought my way from preventing my ex-bandmates from using the entity Orange & Lemons without me (which i eventually succeeded), I posed a challenge to myself and unto them to start from scratch and create our own music instead of banking on the success of O&L music. A challenge I knew they will not accept as they continue singing the songs they did not create during live gigs after disbanding mainly for profit.
The human spirit in me obliged to the challenge. An innate drive to create something unique and new from my raw individual experience with O&L and the desire to overcome the painful journey. The need to be challenged is so strong that we sometimes make things more difficult than they need to be just so we can rise to the occasion and overcome the obstacles we ourselves have created.
I refused to sing O&L songs during the early stages of The Camerawalls nor use any of my existing and unpublished recordings or demos or songs I’ve written during my stint with O&L. I started from scratch and with the help and collaboration of my new band mates we were able to produce songs that will eventually be the tracks for Pocket Guide To The Otherworld. I’m proud to say the tracks in Pocket Guide is the most recent and most mature work I ever did. They may not be as catchy or as youthful as the songs I contributed for O&L but it sure is a beginning of something wonderful once more.
THE BEST LAID SCHEMES OF MICE AND MEN. A popular phrase which means the most carefully prepared plans may go wrong. As did my plans for Orange & Lemons. Taken from Robert Burns‘ poem To a Mouse, 1786. It tells of how he, while ploughing a field, upturned a mouse’s nest. The resulting poem is an apology to the mouse:
But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft a-gley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promised joy.
The poem is the source for the title of John Steinbeck‘s 1936 novel – Of Mice and Men.
We passed by a famous hunted house in the area which was already used many times in local films. I wanted to stop and stand against the gates to have a picture taken but no one in expressed any interest (out of fear i bet) so we moved along till we reached Antonette’s (our road manager) family rest house along Gibraltar St.
The Camerawalls 