There's a reason why Hale—the popular pop-rock quartet who burst into the music scene in 2005 with the massive radio hit, "The Day You Said Goodnight,"—chose to present its fourth album like a hardbound book.
Kundiman, according to frontman Champ Lui-Pio, signifies a new chapter for the band reinforced mainly with the entry of new drummer and former Join the Club member Pao Santiago.
"The transition was very smooth and very natural," Champ told PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) during the roundtable interview conducted on July 29 at the PolyEast Records office in Quezon City.
He was pertaining to the necessary fine-tuning made by the band following the departure of original drummer Omnie Saroca. Omnie reportedly quit the group to pursue other ventures and to review for an architectural board exam.
"Not a lot of people know that Pao used to be our bandmate pero hindi pa Hale ang pangalan [namin] nun. We were still starting, still building up the [earlier] songs and si Pao ‘yong nagda-drums. So when he came back to the picture it's not really an adjustment kasi matagal na namin siyang kilala at kaibigan."
WORKING AT HOME. The change in personnel likewise inspired the band to record the follow-up to 2008's Above, Over and Beyond.
And like its predecessor, Kundiman was conceived, created and recorded outside the confines of a formal recording studio. Convening in guitarist Roll Martinez's home studio, Hale worked fastidiously as usual though comfortably minus the common concerns experienced in a rented studio.
"Walang time pressure," bassist Sheldon Gellada, who's very particular with the expensive studio rent and strict restrictions, confessed.
But unlike the previous album where the band members divided production duties among themselves, Hale enlisted the services of Mayonnaise frontman Monty Macalino and highly-respected studio whiz Angee Rozul to oversee the entire process.
Tapping Monty and Angee allowed the band to expand not just their creative ideas. Having a seasoned and savvy producer like Angee polished certain technical glitches previously ignored by the band.
"More heads may okay," rationalized Champ. Sheldon agreed, "Tsaka malaking bagay yong input from someone na hindi kasali dun sa band. Importante din ‘yon."
Recording took only two months to complete—a staggering quick phase in today's standards for a full-length album. It was even shorter by Roll's estimation: "Natapos namin siya in the span of two months pero we were recording twice a week so pagka inipon mo siya lahat more or less two weeks lang."
Champ attributed everything to camaraderie inside the camp, saying, "The chemistry is just undeniable. Mabilis masyado ‘yong flow kasi we're having fun and we're comfortable with the environment. Tsaka we have something to prove with each other so parang may kanya-kanya kaming motivation as musicians."
ALL TAGALOG SONGS. Kundiman also marks another milestone in Hale's young recording career.
The seed to come up with an album composed of songs all written in Tagalog was planted after Champ dared himself to pen something different brimming with local flavor.
"With this new batch of songs I was thinking of writing something different lang for a change. It all started with 'Bahay Kubo.' It's a love song but then the attack was just different and I wanted to go in that direction which is very Filipino. So I thought, ‘Ano kaya puwede kong sulatin na kakaiba?'
"Tapos iyon I thought of writing a song about kalesa, kasi yong uncle ko taga Binondo and I used to ride the kalesa a lot so ayon lang sulat na ko about kalesa. Tapos love ulit, 'Aso't Pusa,' which I'm sure a lot of people could relate to because wala namang relationship na perfect, minsan may times na para kayong aso't pusa, away kayo ng away."
Writing in Filipino is not an entirely alien ground for the band as proven by their earlier hits like "Kung Wala Ka" and "Kahit Pa." But the challenge of filling up an entire album with materials written in the vernacular is no joke creativity wise.
On the comfort level Champ rates his Filipino sensibility as a songwriter: "Sa tingin ko okay na ko. I really trust my bandmates and we have a certain level of respect na like ‘pag may pinarinig ako sa kanila we could critique each other and ‘yon nga nung thumbs up sila sa nasulat ko that gave me more confidence to keep on writing."
Hale's latest album, Kundiman, is now available at record bars nationwide courtesy of PolyEast Records.
TRACK LISTING.
- Bahay Kubo
- Kalesa
- Aso't Pusa
- Ulap
- Magkaibang Mundo
- Bulalakaw
- Yakap
- Harinawa