Writer-musician Yugel Losorata is no stranger to the local entertainment scene. Yugel first made a name as a journalist for a general circulation newspaper then rose through the ranks to become a widely-read columnist writing about popular music and its craftsmen.
In his off-hours, he indulged in his passion for music further by creating his own original compositions and recording some of them with kindred music-makers like his latest group named The Pub Forties.
Last year, while the country reeled under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, prolific Yugel embarked on a new adventure in his journey as a writer. He published two books, the first one titled “How To Survive The New Normal“ seeks to inspire people struggling to cope with life under community quarantine, followed by “30 Midnights of Flash Fiction,” a collection of stories about the strange, the paranormal, the wicked and the emotionally unsettling. Last month, author Yugel published his first novel, the testosterone- stimulating “The Lust Regime.”
Sound Sampler caught up with the ever busy Yugel Losorata to spill the beans on the art of juggling music and letters in perfect harmony.
Yugel, first off, tell us more about your first novel with its erotic title.
“The Lust Regime” is a novel about lust for power and sex and how people handle them. I’m always fascinated with those in power abusing their position and thinking they can get away with them. Eroticism, on the other hand, adds spice to the romantic liaison, illicit and otherwise, that’s also central to the main plot.
The politics and its subplots have been inspired by my reading of history books or watching of documentaries about abusive regimes and despicable, yet highly charismatic leaders. I really don’t see myself living in the world I imagined for the book. But as an author, I have to say I enjoyed some kind of power or control since I knew exactly what’s going to happen to my characters.
How has your journey as a writer been so far?
In some ways, I can say that my writing has been a continuous, albeit slow-paced, progress. I got employed in Manila Bulletin in 2000 and became part of its special features section, writing articles on various subject matters. I settled with the music beat in 2005 when I began contributing for the entertainment section.
I also had regular stints as contributor to the Philippine Star, Yahoo Philippines, PEP.ph, and Manila Times. Presently I’m a music columnist with Manila Standard. My weekly music column “Touchbass” started in early 2018.
Fiction-writing wise, I contributed a couple of horror stories to the True Philippine Ghost Stories anthology. In late 2019, I began writing essays that formed the contents of my first e-book published by E-Publish Book Hub in July 2020. It was only last year that I seriously sat down to write an e-book of flash fiction stories.
I finished my first novel “The Lust Regime” in late December 2020. Early this year it was published by the international Ukiyoto Publishing which also made it available in paperback edition.
How did you prepare for your first novel?
It took me six months to write my first novel. The major challenge was to keep myself interested in the story. I did read some books in the past on how to write fiction, and it helped that I attended the scriptwriting workshop conducted by the iconic Ricky Lee. Back in 2002, I was a member of the 14th batch of Ricky Lee’s scriptwriting workshop.
Let’s talk about your band, The Pub Forties. Who are its members and who are your common influences?
The Pub Forties is my fourth band affiliation. It was formed based on the idea of broadsheet journalists playing together. Myself and lead vocalist Aries Espinosa, former PDI editor and now contributing for Business World, formed organized the group when we met at a provincial junket. We later pulled in Vince Borromeo who at the time was contributing for the Daily Tribune. Currently, our drummer is James Casas who replaced our original percussionist Kap Maceda-Aguila, a veteran motoring journalist.
Our common influences are The Beatles, Queen, 80s bands like U2 and REM, and other classic rock acts. Every band I have been in always has The Beatles as a key influence.
Anything special about your recording sessions?
The Pub Forties recorded a song I composed titled “Stop The World” which was originally recorded by a boy group called Voizboys. Our version featured Swedish violinist and painting artist Jeanette Kamphuis, who’s prominently heard in the instrumental middle part of the song and towards the end. She also played on the instrumental extro for our band’s upcoming digital single “Nung Tayo Pa” which we recorded on the same sessions we did “Stop The World.”
We don’t spend much time recording our tracks as we more or less rehearsed and arranged them prior to recording. I usually take the lead in arranging songs while Aries handles the vocal harmonies and some add-on instrumental bits.
Yugel Losorata’s books are available on Amazon. The Pub Forties can be accessed on most digital music platforms.