Rock legend The Dawn launched their
newest album titled Sound the Alarm last Friday, September 11,
at Eastwood Central Plaza, much to the delight of welcoming fans eager
to hear fresh tunes from the veteran musicians.
It has been nearly five years since the group released an album featuring
all-new material. Their last collection, Harapin, was launched back in 2004 and popularized singles such as "Tulad ng Dati" and "Laging
Narito."
This year, vocalist Jett Pangan, drummer Jun Boy Leonor and bassist Buddy
Zabala are back in the spotlight along with a fresh face and name to grace the
group's member line-up. In light of the recent exit of ex-guitarist
Francis Reyes, The Dawn has since added Kenneth Ilagan (formerly from True
Faith) as the group's new guitarist, creating fresh rock infusions to
satiate the musical cravings of their fans.
Sound the Alarm is a 10-track album that offers all-new
material written and composed by the members themselves.
SOUND THE ALARM. With newest single, "Hatak,"
the band kicked off their performance amidst smoke machines and cheers from the
audience. After short introductions of themselves, the band then played
"Tulad ng Dati," followed by three tracks from the album: "As I
Do," "Avenida" and title track "Sound the Alarm" as
well as a couple of The Dawn classics, "Iisang Bangka Tayo and
Tuloy-tuloy."
In an interview preceding the performance, vocalist Jett Pangan described their
music off the new album as "still very much The Dawn." He told
PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal), "It's still loud, it's still rock,
it's still melodic, but it's an infusion of different styles from Buddy
and our new member, Kenneth."
The 41-year old vocalist also believed that the musical genius contributed by
one of their newer members, Buddy Zabala (who joined the group as bassist in
2005 after leaving The Eraserheads), has made this album quite different from
their past records. "That alone brings in something different
already," he explained.
In the same interview, Jett narrated how they came up with Sound the
Alarm and attributed their four-year hiatus to their busy schedules,
among others. The singer told PEP, "We were busy, we had a
change in members, until one day we just decided, 'Let's sit down, make an
album and finish it.'"
When asked whether they plan to do the same promotional activities for Sound
the Alarm as with Tulad ng Dati (which was made
into a film and won Best Sound, Best Editing, and Best Picture in the 2006
Cinemalaya), Jett Pangan answered with a firm NO. He explained, "We just
want this album out, we just wanna be a band again, and just promote an album
the way bands do. Just do it light."
Sound the Alarm also boasts of the musical genius of Aries Guinto and
former Eraserheads drummer and current Sandwich frontman Raimund Marasigan as
producers.
MEET KENNETH ILAGAN. The addition of Kenneth Ilagan on guitars has been an awesome ride so far, as attested by vocalist Jett Pangan. He shared, "It's more fun. Makulit kasi 'to, e," referring to their new guitarist. "So, masaya, magaan," he continued. "We're serious with making our music sound good everytime, but we also take time to laugh at each other, have a few beers, stuff like that."
Having been a guitarist
for the band True Faith, Kenneth is no newbie onstage. PEP asked the guitarist about his humble
beginnings with The Dawn, to which he replied, "Wala na ko sa True Faith for
two months. Tapos si Alvin [one of the managers] called me up and told me na
baka pwede mag-audition. Nag-audition ako for one month. I was a session player
for them. After no'n, ayun na."
Having been a huge fan of
The Dawn even before joining the group, he also narrated his initial
interactions with the band, "Hindi nila ako kilala," he told PEP. "I [used to]
always go up to them, introduce myself, [and] even though I was playing pa with
other bands before, nagpapakilala ako, kasi I'm a fan 'e. Do'n nila ako
nakilala. Slowly, 'pag nakakasabay ko sa gig, 'ayun."
Despite being a new
addition to the group, Kenneth only has praises for his fellow members. "Mababait
'yang mga yan. Very supportive," he exclaims. "Yung encouragement ng mga 'yan,
grabe. Mababait 'yan, siyempre 'pag recording yung iba medyo strikto, pero at
the end of the day naman, yung music pa rin do'n nagkikita-kita," he laughs.
MESSAGE TO FANS. The Dawn has been in the music industry for a very
long time now, starting from the late ‘80s, and has since then attracted a
number of followers. PEP asked the
group about their message to budding artists who want to follow in their
footsteps.
"Just love what you do," shared vocalist Jett Pangan. "You
will only know what you wanna do in life, if you listen to what's inside your
heart. It may sound cliché, but that's the truth," he explained. "Music as much
as it's fun... it's very unstable, sometimes you're the richest man in the world,
and next, you're like, where's the gig?"
He concluded by saying,
"It requires a lot of dedication and commitment but moreover, it requires love.
You have to love it, because you have to love playing, whether it be a small
venue like this or an arena, you just have to love it. You just have to live
for it."