Philippines Music

One of the most influential alternative rock bands in the Philippines along with The Eraserheads, Rivermaya has several well-known singles such as Ulan, 214, Himala, Kisap Mata, If, You’ll Be Safe Here, and many others.

The band was formed in 1993 and has evolved from playing simple rock music to hard rock, acoustic, pop, and other variations. They have also recently released work in Singapore, Thailand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia and have garnered the attention of fans throughout Southeast Asia.

6CycleMind is a well-known Philippine rock band whose members are Ronel “Ney” Dimaculangan on lead vocals, Ryan “Rye” Sarmiento on vocals & rhythm, Roberto “Bob” Cañamo on bass, Gilbert “Bert” Magat on guitars and Carlos “Chuck” Isidro lead guitars. Their music is a mix of alternative and pop music.
The band was named 6CycleMind although the band is only composed of 5 members because they consider their manager to be the 6th member. They have successfully released 3 albums under Sony BMG Records Philippines: Permission to Shine (2003), Panorama (2005), and Home (2007).

The band Shamrock gained popularity in the Philippines by singing theme songs of TV series in the Philippines like Captain Barbel, Jumong, Jewel in the Palace, and many more. Although Shamrock is already considered a popular band and their songs are played on almost every radio station, they still continue to do theme songs for TV shows of the GMA Network.

The video below is their song Alipin which was used for the hit TV Koreanovela Jewel in the Palace.

The band Sandwich was formed by Raimund Marasigan and Diego Castillo in 1998 to fulfill their mutual desire of working together. With the band were Mike Dizon and Myrene Academia. Although Sandwich was existing along with Marasigan’s other band The Eraserheads, they featured a more heavy, grittier sound and easily built their own fan base.

A relatively new band but with seasoned members, Pupil is composed of Ely Buendia, Yan Yuzon, Dok Sergio, and Wendell Garcia, all belonging to a different band at some point. The most notable being Ely Buendia, the former front man of the band The Eraserheads.

Following their first gig in 2005, Pupil has won several music awards from NU 107, Awit Awards, SOP, and MTV Philippines.

The Dawn was originally formed back int he 80’s wit their first ever gig in Roxy’s, a small restaurant along Kalayaan Avenue. Their name came from one of the band members who was given a cross called “The Dawning of the Holy Spirit” and that the word “dawn” held “a positive, hopeful vibe,” something that can be felt through most of the lyrics.

After many tragedies, break-ups and reunions, The Dawn is still rocking the Philippine music scene through regular gigs and several guestings in tv shows today.

If the Eraserheads is the Beatles Philippine version, then Side A would be the country’s Toto, featuring an endless supply of clean, straight soft rock.

Formed in back in 1985, the music they made were featured by easy-listening style and their mellow love songs and laid-back pop music. The albums Side A released all went platinum and some even triple platinum, and aside from bringing the band fortunes, also made way for successful concerts in the US. Decades later, Side A still continues to create the same laid-back rock and mellow love songs the same way they started back in the 80’s.

The Eraserheads was one of the most popular pop-rock bands in the Philippines prior to the band’s split-up in March 2002. The band literally paved the way for other promising pop-rock bands like Rivermaya, Parokya ni Edgar, and Yano.

This is one of the band’s earlier singles entitled With a Smile from their third album Circus released in 1994.