Six months into the lockdown, the Itchyworms surprised everyone with their latest release, Waiting for the End to Start. Dubbed as their “quarantine album,” Jazz Nicolas, Jugs Jugueta, Kelvin Yu and Chino Singson originally conceptualized it as a single track but quickly developed into a full-length project after they managed to write and record eight more songs.
Because Metro Manila where all four members are based is still pretty much in lockdown, Waiting for the End to Start was largely recorded within the confines of their respective homes. Naturally, it was not without its share of technical challenges.
“When the ECQ started, Jazz had terrible internet connection, and the three of us didn’t have professional recording equipment. Delivery services were also not operational at that time, so we used whatever equipment we had at home,” Jugs recalled.
Despite these and many more limitations, the quarantine also provided them with more creative freedom than they bargained for.
“You can repeat your guitar parts without thinking; ‘it’s late, my bandmates need to go home,’” said Jugueta, “So you can play guitar until 4AM, by yourself, and no one will complain,”
“If there was anything good that came out of this quarantine, it’s that we were able to be productive in our own homes,” added lead guitarist Chino Singson.
There was also plenty of time for them to experiment even as they were also able to be hooked on new hobbies such as video editing and gardening. Binge-ing on Netflix which lasted for two weeks also provided the band with a lot of visual inspiration which Jugs said greatly enhanced their songwriting.
“You watch a lot of things, and all of them have soundtracks. So all of those things entered our minds. We were not just inspired by music, but also by movies and web series,” he further explained.
The title track, for starters, was in part a homage to James Bond, which was the result of Jugs binge-ing on 007 movies while in quarantine. The song’s title even feels like a James Bond film.
Speaking of being in quarantine, the album also managed to express the fear and monotony of isolated, as demonstrated in “The Silence,” which incidentally was also accompanied by by a music video that shows how eerily silent the world has become under this ongoing pandemic.
And then, there’s “Same Day,” a song that wonders aloud when days start and end. “You don’t know if you already took your vitamins today because today looks the same as yesterday,” Jazz mused.
The rest of the album is a collection of diverse songs that capture the wide range of feelings as a result of the current unfortunate circumstances. From a repurposed 2005 track to a slow jazz number, Waiting for the End to Start is full of pleasant little surprises.
“Like any collection of music, it is a record of its time, a snapshot of the artist’s reaction to his or her circumstances,” Chino concludes.
Waiting for the End to Start is now available on all major streaming platforms.
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