Rock-star wannabes to meet top Pinoy rockers in Musikhero

Almost 400 guitarists, bassists, and drummers appeared at the pre-event auditions of JB Music’s Musikhero at the Trinoma Mall Tuesday afternoon. The musicians showed off their skills to some of the country’s top musicians to get a spot in the upcoming Music Camp in Baguio City on Septmber 30. From among the many registered aspirants, JB Music will choose 25 musicians—drummers, bassists, and lead guitarists—for the three-day Music Camp. Jerico Salonga Fernando, JB Music’s vice president for Operations and Marketing, explained that their main goal is to educate the chosen musicians formally. He said, “Parang we have a lot of good musicians but konti lang iyong formally trained or konti lang ang na-mentor ng mga top musicians natin. “Ito, dito na, jam with the best, mentor with the best. From there, it’s easily na maa-absorb nila than picking it by experience. Ito, it’s three days, non-stop, from morning to evening." He added that they were not looking for any particular quality in a musician. The event is open to anybody who really has the urge to play music. He said, “Basta top 25 who are good in their craft that want to be better, who wants to be trained and mentor by these top musicians. May banda o wala, may album o wala, [as long as] you have the passion, you have the guts, and you’re open learn more, then you’re welcome here." Fernando said that the Camp is a good chance for the chosen musicians to learn more from some of the music icons of the Philippines, like Mike Alba, Chikoy Pura of The Jerks, and Jun Lopito. Lead guitarists like Francis Reyes (The Dawn), Mike Elgar (Rivermaya), and Ira Cruz (Bamboo) will also be there to give some tips. The basics in bass guitar will be discussed by Buddy Zabala (The Dawn), Japs Sergio (Rivermaya), Rommel dela Cruz (Freestyle), and Louie Talan (Razorback). Of course, a band would not be complete without the drummer, so Jun Regalado, Vic Mercado (Bamboo), Mark Escueta (Rivermaya), JB Leonor (The Dawn), and Ernie Severino (Side A) will be there to guide the participants. “They’re at the top and they’ve been mentoring a lot of the popular bands now," commented Fernando. He added, “Warm up pa lang, alam na nila kung magaling o hindi ang tao. So we give them two minutes if they want to show off, pero within that fifty seconds alam na kung magaling o hindi. Our teams are good enough to see if magaling o hindi to make the cut. Combined na lahat iyan—timing, how clean it is. They know more than I do, that’s why l leave the job with them." PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) asked, what will happen during the music camp? “It’s a music camp, you wake up talking, breathing, eating, doing everything related with music, and sleeping and dreaming with all these musicians. For three days, non-stop, no stress, no worries because everything is free—transportation, food, and hotel. So there’s no excuse not to learn." Aside from the camp experience, the 25 chosen participants will also get an endorsement contract each from JB Music. And the top five musicians will have a chance to perform at the London International Music Fest. Fernando said, “They get to be endorsers of JB Music, endorsers for the top musical instruments world wide. They’ll be in the website, in the catalogues, you know. And the top jamming group will perform in London Music Festival, in the same stage with Oasis and all those U.K. bands—all expense paid." The JB Music executive also added that they’ve tied up with Virgin Records. So when these musicians make their own music they can put it there online for downloads and, at the same time, for exposure. PEP also asked Fernando if there were plans to form a band out of these 25 participants. He replied, “That’s an option but our main focus is to give them experience. What happens from there, we will support them but we don’t wanna lose focus on parang making the band and creating the band. Our main focus here is teaching with the top musicians to be better musicians." Fernando said they decided to create the event to give back to the music industry what JB Music has received in the past years. “It’s JB Music’s way of giving back to musicians what they have given to us in our over thirty years in this business." Meanwhile, while checking the event, PEP had the chance to ask The Dawn's Buddy Zabala—one of the judges for bass guitarists—about tips that he would give to the aspiring rock stars, specifically bass guitar players. “More than anything else, dapat masayang kasama, madaling kausap. Dapat madaling kasama kasi pagsasama naman ang pagbabanda, e, it’s not just about skill. You can be the most skilled musician out there pero kapag hindi mo kasundo ang mga kasama mo, what’s the point? “Creativity is supposed to be a sharing, creating better [music] kasi may kasama kang ego, may kasama kang mind. And then you should know some of the basics—how to play properly, how to play with the band, how to sound, and eventually what to look like para bumagay ka naman." - Philippine Entertainment Portal