The human side of Fuseboxx

The first time I saw Fuseboxx play live last year, I was gape-mouthed and smiling like an idiot all at once throughout their entire set.

 

Let me expound.  

A band that can play music so complex yet accessible at the same time is something hard to come by these days. The musicianship shines in all of the members as they seamlessly mix different time signatures, key changes and pop hooks into the songs they were playing. Most impressive of it all is that all the organized sonic chaos onstage was being created by four people: Lester Banzuelo behind the drum kit, Mico Ong on guitars, Eric Tubon playing keyboards and a keytar, and Abby Clutario on another keyboard, a 12-stringed guitar-like instrument called the grand chapman stick, and vocals.

 

I bore witness to the magic of Fuseboxx up close that night. To cut the long story short, I was awestruck.

 

Which probably explains my choice of words—or the lack thereof—when I talked to Tubon and Clutario afterwards: "Grabe, ang galing niyo. Habang pinapanood ko kayo, naisip ko, *expletive here*! Ayoko nang mag-banda!"

 

If you imagined a high-pitched fanboyish voice in your head while reading that, you're close.

 

Fortunately for me, the two were good sports about the remark and simply replied with chuckles as they coyly waved it off, after which we proceeded to talk about something else. I have to admit, I found their response as a genuinely modest one. They are after all "arguably the most accomplished prog band locally," so, like anyone else I had a preconceived notion of how they would respond to exchanges such as the one mentioned earlier.

 

"They think we're snobs," commented drummer Banzuelo.

 

"’Yun ang stereotype sa prog which actually we learned recently," said Clutario in support of her bandmate's opinion. "It's actually the opposite. It's just that sometimes, well, most of the time, kami mismo nahihiya (rin makipag-usap)," she continued. 

 

It was two weeks after my first encounter with them when this conversation took place. We were circled around a small table at a watering hole in Makati. For the most part, guitarist Mico Ong was content with listening to the flow of the conversation happening at the table as he puffed on the occasional cigarette. He added input from time to time but left most of the talking to founding members Clutario and Tubon and the frequent contributions given by Banzuelo.

 

There was something affirming about that conversation. As the minutes passed and the stories kept coming in, my impression that the progressive rock quartet was reserved gradually faded and was replaced with a newfound realization: despite the band's  musical abilities which many music fans regard as otherworldly, the four members themselves are just like everyone else—human.

 

Working class musical heroes

 

The caliber of music Fuseboxx churns out at will whenever they play, oftentimes leads people to conclude that theirs is a group whose individuals devote their lives solely to music.

 

Many will be surprised, therefore, to find out that this isn't the case.

 

"Hindi kami adik sa ensayo. We don't practice a lot," revealed Tubon. "’Yung iba, pag-gising nila, may gitara agad sila. Kami hindi eh. Pag-gising namin, first thing na hahawakan namin is toothbrush, tapos ang iniisip namin, 'Hay. Work again.'"

 

Almost all members of the band have jobs outside music. Tubon and Banzuelo work at BPO companies as multimedia specialists while Ong works as a guitar specialist at a music store chain. Only Clutario is a musician by profession but even she, as said by Tubon, is "not a full-time rock musician" as her activities also include teaching music and playing at functions such as weddings, to name a few.

 

"Playing music with Fuseboxx is our outlet," said Tubon. "We need an outlet, especially because we're four heads na sobrang busy with our day jobs. Playing as Fuseboxx is our way of saying 'let's have fun'."

 

Ten years strong

 

"Minsan 'pag mag-ja-jam kami tapos may nakita kaming alcohol sa bahay ni Abby, nauuwi kami sa 'inom na lang tayo,'" remarked Banzuelo, to which Clutario agreed with a hearty giggle.

 

"Pero hindi kami lasinggero ha," clarified Tubon.

 

"Mas gusto namin ‘yung basta magkakasama lang kami," Clutario added. 

 

Surviving in the ever-changing landscape of local music for ten years is no easy feat. Aside from the effort needed to cope with changes, individuals of any band are also faced with the task of co-existing with one another.

 

Fuseboxx seems to take this task well as they've weathered through the prevailing trends over the past decade and are still standing to this day. Also worthy of mention is the fact that over the course of that decade, the band has managed to cope with the several personnel changes it had to go through. The band is currently on what Clutario calls "the fourth generation" of Fuseboxx, and this foursome seems to gel well.

 

"It's the friendship you're building eh," said Tubon. "Come to think of it, (being in a band) is like marrying three people."