BT= Bangis Tambol a.k.a. Jayr Magtoto, Severo’s drummer/man of few words. Until we asked about the Band. He’s been in DOHA for [way too long] a little less than a year. He’s coming home soon, and quite apparently, raring to play for Severo again.
Here’s the cross-oceanic interview.
1.What do you think Severo brings to the table? We bring intensity and at the same time that certain amount of sexi-ness to it (not the cheesy kind). Anyone who has watched our live sets can attest to that. Think of it this way, if sound were a color, we’d be purple.
2. Tell us about the recording process Which one? because we’ve jumped from one studio to another since our inception haha. I think this time we hit the right spot, spot on ikanga. Too bad I had to leave but nonetheless I remember finishing more than half of my tracks in just one day. something that I could not do ages ago. Everytime we hit the studios (I think 3-4 studios in our lifespan), it’s a testament to how much we’ve improved through the years. Nung una I couldn’t even finish a song in one hour, so I think the learning curve’s pretty evident habang tumatagal. Which is great, right? we’re progressing, and there’s no way to go but up.
3. We hear you guys have new material, how different is it from the original severo flavor? It’s more refined, cliche, but now we have an idea of what we want for our sound. Before it was a chopsuey of sorts from ratm to Soundgarden to Jamiroquai to Radiohead and now, it’s SEVERO wow. Kidding. But seriously though, each of us has his own flavor and we just mixed it altogether and ta-da! music.
4. What can the listeners expect from Yun at Yon? the evolution of the band. from Victim of TV to Naranja to TSO. That’s 8 years of our musical lives in one album. Then and now. Yun at yon.
5. How has the addition of new members made your sound evolve, did it change? I think we’re pretty solid with this line up, with the addition of Gino. after shuffling with a couple of axemen, we’re much more settled now. Of course each guitarist who’s come and gone brought their own niche, it’s just now that we feel like, YEAH THIS ONE’S GOOD. Sakto. Spot-on. (haha shameless plugging: http://spotonmanila.com) and of course the addition of panggo adds another dimension, the zing to that zang.
6.Describe severo’s sound TODAY. Is it any different from how it used to sound from its inception? Yes, very much. In the words of our vocalist, MAMANG-MAMA. We all grew up. The later stuff that we made are more, mature. Not to be cocky about it but, it isn’t just your regular run-of-the-mill-3-minute-song kind of song. We feel like we are progressing, as a band. And as artists as well. We’re glad that we didn’t push through with the album kaagad (and at the same time, we’re happy that it’s finally out), at least this new insatiable thing that we have for our music will be reflected in the record.
7. If you guys could be the soundtrack of any movie, past present or future, what movie would it be, or whose film would you like Severo to be the soundtrack for? Go watch a Robert Rodriguez movie. “From dusk till dawn” to be exact. That’s what I can think of, as of now.
8.We know your influences, any new muses? Emergent acts that has added new flavor to your sound? Local? I lost track of some new acts, for obvious reasons. Since i’m incognito right now, I just re-hash the old ones. Update if ever the artist/s that i dig released a new album (john mayer’s battle studies is pretty cool, pero continuum pa rin). Not really working so hard on discovering new acts. mostly the stuff that I hear and appreciate, I came across them by accident.
9. Tell us about your album art, who did it (just say abit about Dexter, para cross promo ng art community, vice versa)Ang ganda! thank you! dexter, i love you, hahaha!
Thus endeth interview with in absentia (not for long) drummer. And Severo cannot wait. Merry Christmas Everyone!
