GET ready for Esremborak. This five-piece ukulele rock band will charm your way into your heart and tickle your fancy, the way Yano and Parokya Ni Edgar did with their funny, biting, and witty songs.
However, they aren’t copycats.
For one, they have a two-ukulele lineup. You read it right: The instrument is not just something of a novelty for them.
And two, their songs are the sort that will put a smile on one’s face, or even solicit laughter.
Esremborak just launched their extended play CD on February 11 at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP)’s College of Communication in Sta. Mesa.
The entire band—singer Mc Mislan, bassist Mike Tamayo, Leo Requejo and Nathaniel Panganiban on ukulele, as well as Mary Paredes on drums—are all PUP alums.
And get this: They are all into the noble vocation of teaching. Mislan and Requejo propagate Filipino in their alma mater. Paredes also handles the same subject, as well as Performing Arts in Far Eastern University (FEU), while Panganiban is a Filipino professor at STI. Tamayo is finishing his academic requirements before he too gets into molding young minds.
About life in general
THEY got their group’s name after Barangay East Rembo in Makati City, where Tamayo hails from and the band frequently hangs out. Together as Esremborak, they sing about the plights of the broken-hearted, ugly people, going unnoticed by their crushes on social media, their friends and, well, life in general.
The band released their five-song debut EP “Basura Songs” (from independent label Sevas Tra Records) to a crowd of nearly 300 people who packed the Tanghalang PUP, clapped and sang their way through the songs. School-based poets and performers Rian Cabatingan, Toni Panagu, Arlan Camba, Federico Rivera, Christo Rey Albason and Marvin Lobos opened for Esremborak.
“Malaking bagay na dito sa aming alma mater kami nakapag-launch,” said Requejo, who said the band is fully supported by the school’s faculty and administration.
“Dito rin sa Tanghalang PUP kami nag-start,” added Paredes, who also related that all the members came from different bands before uniting to form Esremborak.
Even this early, the band is enjoying the status of local heroes of sorts for the faculty and students.
(PUP isn’t known as a hotbed for bands. A product of the institution that somehow made a name for itself was Bandido.)
Big break
ESREMBORAK got a semblance of a break when they took part in that ill-fated Pepe Smith Rockfest last year, and where someone from Sevas Tra Records spotted them.
“Pangarap lang namin gumawa ng kanta and tumugtog,” bared Mislan, who is the chief songwriter. “Hindi namin akalain na may makakagusto sa mga kanta namin.”
The vocalist admitted that he is always writing songs. Even in mundane activities such as walking to school, or strolling in Cubao, his mind is ablaze with ideas and phrases that eventually end up as songs.
He claimed, “Siyempre, ang pinakamadali ay real life—yung mga kilala mo.”
Marielle Gonzales, a senior high-school student of PUP, shared that the launch was her first time to watch a band, and Esremborak for that matter. “First time ko sila nakita mag-perform at manood ng banda,” she said. “Sobrang ganda ng mga kanta nila kaya bumili ako ng CD nila.”
Esremborak has started to make the gig, mall and festival circuits, as they have played in Laguna, Maginhawa Street in Teacher’s Village, Quezon City, Ali Mall in Cubao, and many others.
They are scheduled for an EP launch in Panganiban’s school at STI in Sta. Maria, Bulacan this coming February 22. There are also plans to perform in the near future in FEU, just to complete the rounds of the three schools where all the band members teach. Their Spotify account and first music video will be launched very soon as well.
Esremborak’s “Basura Songs” is available on the band’s Facebook page as well as Happy Music store in Ali X at the second level of Ali Mall. The EP sells for P200.
Image credits: Esremborak, FB page, Rick Olivarez