For concert-goers and music lovers, it’s always a pleasant sight to see singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Eunice Jorge does her things on stage. She sings, (rather, she rocks!), and plays the musical instruments: the organ, the violin and the guitar one after the other.
For those who have followed the rise of Gracenote, it is a must that Eunice do all these on stage. How does she feel about it? Is being a woman doing all these an advantage or disadvantage?
In an interview with SoundStrip minutes before the recent launch of the band’s latest album, “Small World” at Eton Centris, Eunice said she feels it’s an advantage on her side.
She said she is elated whenever she hears positive comments on her performances. “I think I’m okay with that and I’m glad I am a woman who is able to do those things,” she said.
Eunice is strongly backed by three equally competent musicians in bass player Jazz Jorge, drummer EJ Pichay and guitarist Tatsi Jamnague – the much-needed last addition to the puzzle and whose long band scene experience makes him a vital cog in the group.
Exploring a new world of music via ‘Small World’
The four-piece band released their third album under Universal Records, aiming to prove that music makes the world smaller as they introduced a new and different sound that is not quite what their fans are used to,
The new songs, according to the band members, are the result of Gracenote’s transformation as a collective, upping the excitement among themselves. Five songs in the album possess instant pop sensibility that should easily connect with listeners, namely: “Fantasy,” “Invisible,” “Paulit-Ulit,” “No Hate” and the lead single “Kalawakan.”
The album title has to do with today’s sense of connectivity according to the group. As Eunice related, “Sobrang laki ng universe but music is here to connect people and [in our view] makes the world smaller, especially now that we have social media. That’s also how we keep on evolving as a group.”
Sporting an alien icon with a V sign on the left cheek, Eunice, who described “Small World” as purposely conceptualized and straightforward, explained, “V stands for vulnerability. Our current sound is alien-ish to some extent, but the lyrics are human and expressed vulnerability.”
Small World, now available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and all digital streaming platforms, was produced by Nick Lazaro (of La Balls studio) who shares musical history with the band. The album comes in physical CD, too, because of that conviction, Eunice argued, “Mas nakikilala mo ang artist when you listen to a set of their music. It’s really like a trophy na mahahawakan mo after ng lahat ng pinagdaanan niyo doing the songs in the album.”
Making it in the OPM industry
Gracenote started making a strong presence in the OPM alternative/rock field in 2013 via its debut album, “First Movement,” produced by Soupstar Entertainment and distributed by Universal Records.
The group first jammed as students at St. Scholastica’s College of Music and later formed Gracenote. They were first noticed as one of the contenders to Nescafe’s Soundskool inter-collegiate band competition.
From that competition, Gracenote would play even more shows, including bigger ones, alongside their local musical heroes. Soon, a loyal following would steadily develop, as more and more fans attended their energetic shows and familiarized themselves with the band’s catchy, but still unrecorded, original tunes.
Soon, Gracenote signed with Universal Records with “Baso at Bote” as its first release under the label. As requested by many fans, the track is the band’s first track where bassist Jazz Jorge takes center stage as lead vocalist.
Gracenote reaped further achievements through the viral hit “Bakit Ganyan Ka?”—a collaboration with Parokya Ni Edgar’s Chito Miranda.
The collaboration’s anouncement in July 2017 online created quite a buzz among fans of the two bands and its video reached 800,000 views in less than 24 hours after its initial release.
The song was the most talked-about collaboration online, garnering 28,000 shares on Facebook. It has also made its mark at the hit charts of Manila’s top FM stations and has been labelled by When in Manila as the latest OPM love anthem.
Further, the band’s “Transparent” album won the Best Cover Art at the 30th Annual Awit Awards 2017.
Gracenote also successfully rocked and rapped with Abra as they were recently chosen to be part of the Coke Studio PH campaign in August 2017. The collaboration with Abra on “Stargazer” and the band’s take on the street-stylings of his thought-provoking song “Ilusyon” proved their artistic prowess to the delight of their longtime fans and of Abra’s as well.
Recently, Gracenote collaborated with TV sensation Maine Mendoza for the latter’s debut single “Parang Kailan Lang,” scheduled to be released on March 20. Eunice wrote and produced the track, joined in by the rest of the band during recording.
Expect more of Gracenote in the days to come.