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INSANITY ON THE VERGE OF STARDOME is an article by RICARDO GONZALES published at the Inquirer Newspaper in the Lifestyle section, an article about the band named themselves as Celestial Insanity.
It was said on the article that:
ESTIMATE has it that there are currently, oh just a little under a hundred thousand rock ‘n’ roll bands in the Cubao area alone. Kids in grade six, moreover, can easily out‑play anyone from my generation at that age.
In the ’70s, where I grew up, kids played basketball, forming teams and joining intramurals. Now they form bands and enter “battles.” Like that drummer of death metal wunderkinds Electric Sky Church, for example: when he kicks out those double bass drums and flails away at his toms ‘n snare, hi‑hat, crash and china cymbals in hard metal triple‑time, people just go…wow!
I love watching live bands play. It is expensive and physically draining but, hey, someone’s got to do it. I have judged the bands in this series of articles as good, based on three criteria.
One: Their original songs show songwriting genius at work. These boys/girls can write a good song.
Two: The triple live check. A band can impress the socks off of you the first time you see ‘em, and then suck egg the next time you catch ‘em. A third look‑see verifies for sure. Three: Musi‑cally, their sound should be new, fresh and exciting. Genre be damned. I’ll lis‑ten to everything and anything, be it power pop or grindcore, ethnic or in‑dustrial, hip‑hop or be‑bop. Good is good. And that is all.
Bands that you should go out of your way to see include the likes of Bangenge, Warlak, Bad Days for Mary, Year Blues, Electric Sky Church, and then some. And then some more.
Celestial Insanity (Francis Tejada, vocals and rhythm guitar; Don Nava, drums; Rebo Hernandez, lead guitar; Emil Alvares, bass)
Up at first bat is Celestial Insanity. This is a band that, when queried, replies quite convincingly that they really haven’t a clue as to why they decided to name their band Celestial Insanity. Perhaps it has to do with the music. Their sound is rock. As in Cavite rock. Make that pro‑gressive Cavite rock. Bliss through controlled mayhem.
Insanity first manifested itself around 1992. And the madness shows no signs of abating either. The band’s first ever live gig was at Maghorse, Cavite. They cite their recent Club Dredd gig as their best and their worst ever.
The band is on the verge of releasing its major label debut, the eponymously titled “Celestial Insanity.” It’s got ten originals songs -- not all pure genius, mind you, but damn close to it. Their take on rock is so Filipino, so CaviteƱo, that music critic Bert Sulat wrote that the band’s music could very well be the perfect original motion picture soundtrack of the next Bong Revilla action starrer.
The songs I find myself going back to again and again include “Pambihirang Kaibigan” with its “pambihirang buhay ito, kung sino pang tinulungan mo, siya pa ang galit/ Ewan ko ba kung bakit ganito…” Then there’s “MLLJ” which stands for “makalaglag‑jockey ang beauty mo” -- a song of pure admiration, nay, worship of the better sex.
“Lakad” has a jazzy, almost spacey, tide
trolled mayhem.
It was said on the article that:
ESTIMATE has it that there are currently, oh just a little under a hundred thousand rock ‘n’ roll bands in the Cubao area alone. Kids in grade six, moreover, can easily out‑play anyone from my generation at that age.
In the ’70s, where I grew up, kids played basketball, forming teams and joining intramurals. Now they form bands and enter “battles.” Like that drummer of death metal wunderkinds Electric Sky Church, for example: when he kicks out those double bass drums and flails away at his toms ‘n snare, hi‑hat, crash and china cymbals in hard metal triple‑time, people just go…wow!
I love watching live bands play. It is expensive and physically draining but, hey, someone’s got to do it. I have judged the bands in this series of articles as good, based on three criteria.
One: Their original songs show songwriting genius at work. These boys/girls can write a good song.
Two: The triple live check. A band can impress the socks off of you the first time you see ‘em, and then suck egg the next time you catch ‘em. A third look‑see verifies for sure. Three: Musi‑cally, their sound should be new, fresh and exciting. Genre be damned. I’ll lis‑ten to everything and anything, be it power pop or grindcore, ethnic or in‑dustrial, hip‑hop or be‑bop. Good is good. And that is all.
Bands that you should go out of your way to see include the likes of Bangenge, Warlak, Bad Days for Mary, Year Blues, Electric Sky Church, and then some. And then some more.
Celestial Insanity (Francis Tejada, vocals and rhythm guitar; Don Nava, drums; Rebo Hernandez, lead guitar; Emil Alvares, bass)
Up at first bat is Celestial Insanity. This is a band that, when queried, replies quite convincingly that they really haven’t a clue as to why they decided to name their band Celestial Insanity. Perhaps it has to do with the music. Their sound is rock. As in Cavite rock. Make that pro‑gressive Cavite rock. Bliss through controlled mayhem.
Insanity first manifested itself around 1992. And the madness shows no signs of abating either. The band’s first ever live gig was at Maghorse, Cavite. They cite their recent Club Dredd gig as their best and their worst ever.
The band is on the verge of releasing its major label debut, the eponymously titled “Celestial Insanity.” It’s got ten originals songs -- not all pure genius, mind you, but damn close to it. Their take on rock is so Filipino, so CaviteƱo, that music critic Bert Sulat wrote that the band’s music could very well be the perfect original motion picture soundtrack of the next Bong Revilla action starrer.
The songs I find myself going back to again and again include “Pambihirang Kaibigan” with its “pambihirang buhay ito, kung sino pang tinulungan mo, siya pa ang galit/ Ewan ko ba kung bakit ganito…” Then there’s “MLLJ” which stands for “makalaglag‑jockey ang beauty mo” -- a song of pure admiration, nay, worship of the better sex.
“Lakad” has a jazzy, almost spacey, tide
trolled mayhem.
Paid well? “Okay lang, kahit nga wala, basta may pagkain, ayos na.” They find the Manila music scene particularly “magulo, lahat gustong pumiktyur.” But, hey what did they expect? For the youth -- and youth is king -- the name of the game is rockstardom or mega‑sikatdom of Eraserheads proportions.
Francis -- or Pagi as I fondly refer to him due to his good natured willingness of slaughtering pagi or stingray which goes well with beer like I can’t even begin to put into words -- dreams of becoming a rock star. Rebo opts for finishing his studies in law and running for president in the year 2000. I forgot to ask him what country. Don wants to turn professional couch potato and Emil wants to be a sexy star but got rejected by Seiko films.
If you get a chance, do watch Celestial Insanity play live. And if you want a bootleg copy of their first album, you have to search for it, boy. Remember, the chase is sometimes better than the catch.Recorded and mixed by Marty “Slim” Genato and Celestial Insanity over at Rizal Undergrounder Stephen Lu’s then newly -- as in really newly -- opened Loudhouse Recording Studio Complex. Complex as in I got lost the first two times I tried going there on my
own.
The band’s ten original compositions were recorded and mixed on 16 tracks and they sound great --which for me disproves the long-held notion that in recording the only way to go is 24 tracks. This is not true, this is a falsehood, and will also double the cost that the
artist/talent will be paying for. Repeat after me: Celestial Insanity,
Celestial Insanity…
Celestial Insanity, Celestial In-
sanity…
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