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Red Ninja sneaks up to the big time
One name that has been gaining prominence in the local independent music scene is that of the Red Ninja production outfit.
Red Ninja, which has been around for more than seven years, was founded by Nicole Sarmiento and her cousin with a small gig at a basement bar in a hotel.
In recent years, it has played host to bands of a particular sound while expanding its reach to include some of the bigger emerging names in the local music community.
How the gig series began
Sarmiento left school early, and her parents were concerned about her employment prospects. (She eventually finished a degree in photography.)
In the meantime, she met a lot of musicians through hanging out with them during college. Her cousin, Mikey Reyes, persuaded her to set up a “prod,” or production outfit, that would run gigs.
She even thought of the production’s name, Red Ninja.
Reyes had a band, and Sarmiento knew other bands whom she wanted to push. The first line-up included Maya’s Anklet, a band whose lead vocalist and composer, Josh Villena, would go on to helm another band, Autotelic. She also got a band named Mayonnaise, which has been playing at every Red Ninja anniversary, including the one last April.
“Mikey and I have a very big family,” Sarmiento said, “and our first gig was on…a Monday or a Tuesday.” It turned out that their family came out in force to support their very first show. They decided to do it again.
Evolution
In those early days, they had gigs at the now defunct Mag:net High Street. They had to learn some of the trade jargon, including the idea of “gate share,” which is a share of the proceeds collected from people paying to enter a gig.
What has evolved in part is the sound of Red Ninja. At an earlier stage it largely consisted of hard rock and metal bands, but by the time we began going to the gigs, Sarmiento had already “stopped wearing her earplugs.” Over time, even bands Sarmiento handles, such as Lions and Acrobats, have changed their sound as well.
“I still miss having metal bands,” she says, “but…I guess it’s mostly what the kids are into [hearing these days].”
Another change was that Sarmiento built up a team of “ninjas”, formerly interns. They help organize gigs such as her periodic Saturday Common Ground acoustic gigs at Frank x Dean at the Forbes Town Center. Also, she has been shifting her focus to bigger events, including her most recent anniversary event, the Common Ground festival that first happened last August, Fete de la Musique, and an event we will mention shortly.
Sarmiento has also shifted her venue focus, mostly holding gigs at Route 196 in Quezon City these days rather than saGuijo, which has been a longtime venue for her productions. From time to time, though, she still holds gigs at the Makati bar, most recently the launch of Peryodiko’s new album Cara y Cruz.
Memorable Red Ninja gigs
One was on June 20, 2009, when by sheer chance, on the night of Fete de la Musique, they got a slot at Mag:net High Street for the first time and got a chance to see Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes perform with the band Archipelago.
The other was the Red Ninja’s seventh anniversary gig, Sarmiento's first big event, where she managed to get both Ebe Dancel and Peryodiko, whom Sarmiento now manages. As she put it, it was a moving experience for her when her parents arrived to watch for the first time in seven years. She cited one person on her “ninja team” in particular for helping her get it together: Loisa Caliguiran, whom Sarmiento calls “her voice of reason” for helping her learn to delegate and calm down. “She’s more of my boss,” she said of Caliguiran. They managed to get 748 guests over the course of the evening.
Finally, Sarmiento is proud of the eight-person team, plus one friend, who managed to pull off the rock stage at Fete de la Musique. It was a marathon event that involved some of her old metal and hard rock favorites, such as Skychurch. Her Fete stage manager had managed to stay from the time the event began to the time it ended, without a break!
The next few weeks are set to be a buzz of activity for Red Ninja. There will be a birthday event for two of her team, John Mari Marcelo and General, on the 30th of November; a Christmas party gig curated by her team on the 3rd of December; and a gig for teachers on December 20, all at Route 196.
Of course, there is the big Red Ninja Year-Ender on the 10th of December, with 25 bands playing short, carefully timed sets. She emphasizes the value-for-money aspect of the event and adds that you could also make new friends there!
Sarmiento intends to take a break after the Year-Ender, but the future of Red Ninja, she emphasizes, is now being more focused on events. With an enthusiastic team and an audience hungry for a great live music experience, here’s hoping Red Ninja will continue to grow. — BM, GMA News
Ren Aguila wrote about Folk U, Meiday, and Admit One for GMA News Online.
