South Border: Down Music Fame's Way
By Jun Ilagan
source: PhilippineNews.com; Mar 28, 2007
JOHN BLACKWELL was impressed.
One evening at The Grove of Anaheim, this demigod drummer for Price and P. Diddy walked up the stage and sat on the drum like it was his throne. He played impromptu with the all-male pop/R&B Filipino band South Border, who counts his Filipina wife as a big fan.
There was no rehearsal, just a near-telepathic connection. Very quickly, the entire group found its groove and was jamming all night and rocking the house.
It was just another fun gig for Blackwell. But for South Border, playing with a drum guru was yet another laurel among the many they have been reaping since making Los Angeles their home in September 2006.
“We have been coming here to the U.S. the past years, but it was only sometime April last year that we thought of staying here for a while to see how far we can go,” Jay Durias, keyboardist and musical director, told Philippine News.
Call it déjà vu, but it was exactly the same mindset that Jay, drummer Paul Benitez, guitarist Butch Victoriano, saxist Ric Junasa, and bassist Tata Balane took with them to Manila in 1992 from Davao City, where they had been playing as the Hemisphere band. They were the preferred back-up musicians of major concert artists who came to the southern city from Manila.
“We simply wanted to try our luck in the big city,” Paul added.
Changing their name to South Border, the band went on to add so much glitter to Manila’s musical entertainment landscape, hopping from one gig to another in school campuses, TV studios, high-end bars and lounges. After cutting their first album in 1996, ‘Kahit Kailan’ and ‘Love of My Life,’ among other hits, clogged the airwaves.
In 2002, South Border was joined by new vocalists Vince Alaras and Duncan Ramos, who replaced the two singers who have since ventured on their own.
Top concert producer-promoter Sony Music-Philippines, mesmerized by South Border’s sheer talent and showmanship, came out in the open with a bold forecast as early as 1996.
“Sony said that South Border was the only Filipino band with enough talent to break into the overseas market, particularly the U.S., and become international artists,” recalls Lucy Slattery of the L.A.-based Slattery Entertainment Group, the band’s business manager.
Lucy is credited for bringing to Manila bigwig artists, such as Incubus and Brian McKnight. Importing South Border over to the U.S. was a decision made after testing the waters for Asian bands in Hollywoodland.
She remembers burning a South Border CD and mailing it to a top pop station in L.A. in November 2005, without identifying the band, let alone its ethnicity.
“I just didn’t want to leave room for any prejudicial judgment, no matter how remote,” Lucy said.
Two weeks later, she got a call from the station manager, asking for more CDs and the assurance that these were already available in the market. The radio station played the ‘generic’ band’s music without reservation.
The big break came last year when Gian Fiero of Oakland, an authority on pop music, published his review of South Border on his website.
“We have all been bracing for the ‘Asian invasion’ for quite some time now and South Border is just the group to bring it in,” Fiero declared.
Tour manager Rodrigo Gaite, who left a budding marketing career in Detroit to join the South Border team in California, explained: “The venues where South Border performs regularly are by no means easy to get into.”
In between shows for Filipino communities around California, South Border is a regular at BB King’s at the heart of Universal Studios, for instance. Every one in Hollywood knows BB King. No mediocre artist swaggers in, asks for a spot, and walks up to the same stage where Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind, & Fire, among others, have shared their music.
“You’ve got to be good to be able to perform at BB King’s,” Rodrigo said. “It was there that we were able to make a good impression on Verdine White, co-founder and bassist of Earth, Wind, & Fire.”
Then there’s The Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard, formerly owned by Johnny Depp and a favorite watering hole of celebrities. Billy Idol and Sheryl Crowe have staged concerts there, and before them, Jim Morrison and The Doors.
Despite a stream of booking offers, South Border still yearns for home.
“We cannot turn our backs on Manila’s music scene because that’s what brought us here in the first place,” Jay emphasized. “Fact is, we cannot categorically say we are basing ourselves in the U.S. Except for two members, we are all married and with families back home.”
The band is now producing its seventh album. At the same time, L.A. is abuzz with word about the production of a multi-artist super album for world release.
You guessed right. South Border’s in it.
source: PhilippineNews.com; Mar 28, 2007
JOHN BLACKWELL was impressed.
One evening at The Grove of Anaheim, this demigod drummer for Price and P. Diddy walked up the stage and sat on the drum like it was his throne. He played impromptu with the all-male pop/R&B Filipino band South Border, who counts his Filipina wife as a big fan.
There was no rehearsal, just a near-telepathic connection. Very quickly, the entire group found its groove and was jamming all night and rocking the house.
It was just another fun gig for Blackwell. But for South Border, playing with a drum guru was yet another laurel among the many they have been reaping since making Los Angeles their home in September 2006.
“We have been coming here to the U.S. the past years, but it was only sometime April last year that we thought of staying here for a while to see how far we can go,” Jay Durias, keyboardist and musical director, told Philippine News.
Call it déjà vu, but it was exactly the same mindset that Jay, drummer Paul Benitez, guitarist Butch Victoriano, saxist Ric Junasa, and bassist Tata Balane took with them to Manila in 1992 from Davao City, where they had been playing as the Hemisphere band. They were the preferred back-up musicians of major concert artists who came to the southern city from Manila.
“We simply wanted to try our luck in the big city,” Paul added.
Changing their name to South Border, the band went on to add so much glitter to Manila’s musical entertainment landscape, hopping from one gig to another in school campuses, TV studios, high-end bars and lounges. After cutting their first album in 1996, ‘Kahit Kailan’ and ‘Love of My Life,’ among other hits, clogged the airwaves.
In 2002, South Border was joined by new vocalists Vince Alaras and Duncan Ramos, who replaced the two singers who have since ventured on their own.
Top concert producer-promoter Sony Music-Philippines, mesmerized by South Border’s sheer talent and showmanship, came out in the open with a bold forecast as early as 1996.
“Sony said that South Border was the only Filipino band with enough talent to break into the overseas market, particularly the U.S., and become international artists,” recalls Lucy Slattery of the L.A.-based Slattery Entertainment Group, the band’s business manager.
Lucy is credited for bringing to Manila bigwig artists, such as Incubus and Brian McKnight. Importing South Border over to the U.S. was a decision made after testing the waters for Asian bands in Hollywoodland.
She remembers burning a South Border CD and mailing it to a top pop station in L.A. in November 2005, without identifying the band, let alone its ethnicity.
“I just didn’t want to leave room for any prejudicial judgment, no matter how remote,” Lucy said.
Two weeks later, she got a call from the station manager, asking for more CDs and the assurance that these were already available in the market. The radio station played the ‘generic’ band’s music without reservation.
The big break came last year when Gian Fiero of Oakland, an authority on pop music, published his review of South Border on his website.
“We have all been bracing for the ‘Asian invasion’ for quite some time now and South Border is just the group to bring it in,” Fiero declared.
Tour manager Rodrigo Gaite, who left a budding marketing career in Detroit to join the South Border team in California, explained: “The venues where South Border performs regularly are by no means easy to get into.”
In between shows for Filipino communities around California, South Border is a regular at BB King’s at the heart of Universal Studios, for instance. Every one in Hollywood knows BB King. No mediocre artist swaggers in, asks for a spot, and walks up to the same stage where Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind, & Fire, among others, have shared their music.
“You’ve got to be good to be able to perform at BB King’s,” Rodrigo said. “It was there that we were able to make a good impression on Verdine White, co-founder and bassist of Earth, Wind, & Fire.”
Then there’s The Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard, formerly owned by Johnny Depp and a favorite watering hole of celebrities. Billy Idol and Sheryl Crowe have staged concerts there, and before them, Jim Morrison and The Doors.
Despite a stream of booking offers, South Border still yearns for home.
“We cannot turn our backs on Manila’s music scene because that’s what brought us here in the first place,” Jay emphasized. “Fact is, we cannot categorically say we are basing ourselves in the U.S. Except for two members, we are all married and with families back home.”
The band is now producing its seventh album. At the same time, L.A. is abuzz with word about the production of a multi-artist super album for world release.
You guessed right. South Border’s in it.
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