“We will survive/We will never die” – Slapshock
(UPDATED) Jamir Garcia wrote those words for the title track of his nu metal band Slapshock’s “Night Owls’ EP released in 2014. He did not live long enough to see his dream of deathlessness come true.
On November 26, Jamir was found dead at his aunt’s home in Quezon City. The authorities suspect suicide.
With his untimely passing at the still tender age of 42, Jamir, Slapshock’s chief songwriter and lead singer, will be remembered and remain immortalized in the hearts of his loved ones and in the songs he composed to mass popularity over the past two decades.
I first saw Jamir fronting Slapshock sometime in 1998 in an up-and-coming rap metal band showcase at the Music Museum. Slapshock was the last band to show their original stuff and there was Jamir strutting about the stage in rap’s standard live gig apparel — sando, jeans and rubber shoes. It was a memorable performance because the crack band sure knew how to rock hard, and Jamir, with his gangly frame and warm personality, was a magnetic frontman. He had the moves of a future rock star and he certainly spoke the language of a seasoned lead singer beguiling the audience with his witty stage patter and the way he introduced each song.
A year later, Slapshock released their debut album titled “4th Degree Burn” and while the record featured a sonic affinity to foreign nu metal bands such as Korn and Limp Bizkit, chief lyricist Jamir Garcia roared and spewed lines closer to Rage Against the Machine. Most memorable track, “Agent Orange” concluded with these fiery anti-authoritarian lines:
“Save the fuckin day like yo master kojak As the clock tigiditac you be runnin’ like a maniac You be talking shit up Well I just think you suck”
By their sophomore release, the band nailed a template for their own sound—an eclectic mix of raging rockers and emotive slow numbers. It’s the melodies and hooks though that would allow them to straddle the shifty divide between pop fans and rock freaks, including punks and metalheads.
Jamir also found his gift to write intense lyrics and poignant love songs in the same album. His fine songwriting skills thread through “Swallow” to “Anino Mo” and “Luha.” His poignant lyrics hit the heart as hard and loud as the “Fuck you” and “Shit” scattered around the band’s extensive discography and raucous live performances.
In the ensuing years, I would write about the band for various publications and review their latest recordings, which never fail to impress the ageing metal head in me. I remember the occasional interviews to be fun as Jamir and the other band members would usually talk about the NBA and computer games in between my questions.
I am now particularly reminded of a time when the group animatedly discussed a new studio they were building somewhere in Pag-asa, Quezon City. I never got around to visiting the studio as I had gone back to more mundane occupations than freelancing for rock and roll.
My last writing assignment featuring Slapshock was a review of their 2017 album titled “Atake!” I wrote on the very pages of Business Mirror’s Soundstrip:
“As the world turns and fresh noise spews forth from the scrap heap, the proud traditionalists in Slapshock refuse to bend to the call of doom, death or black metal eruptions. Twenty years on, the five-man band continues to wipe out the competition with their “old-school” take on thrash metal.”
Early this year, the band released a new single; “Sana Pag Gising” leading to a new album. Its chorus goes:
“Sana pag gising bumalik sa dati ang lahat Sana pag mulat, ikaw ay kasama ko”
It’s a sad coda to a life well-lived and well-loved.
I would rather think now that with Jamir up there, the great beyond has become a noisier, louder final resting place for immortal souls.
Till we see you again, dude!