For the Love of Sound

Andrea chats with the Sound Architects following their recent Crowdfunding Session.

A transcendent, out-of-body experience brought to you by Sound Architects

There’s something undeniably intimate about music-lovers gathered together at the basement bar at Mow’s to listen to music. Tucked like a secret among the more discreet shops in Matalino St, the place is small and dimly-lit, with people cramped on all sides of the stage, elbows bumping. Every so often there is the occasional beer sloshing to the floor, one instance where a bottle actually shatters, and more technical mishaps that cannot be helped. But there’s one thing that people come for that night – and it does not disappoint.

It all went down last September 26, as friends and fans assembled once again for the second installment of The Polaris Project’s Crowdfunding Sessions, a series of gigs that help local independent bands fund the production of their own records. Following the dazzling success of their first session with Imelda, Polaris invited people for another round with four-piece instrumental rock band Sound Architects, alongside their friends Dissonänce, Pastilan Dong!, and The World I'll Leave Behind.

First act Dissonänce opens the night with a bang

Musical collective Dissonänce opened the night with an explosive set, transfixing audiences with haunting vocals by Dana Blaze and rollicking drumbeats and melodies. Pastilan Dong! followed the trail with a fevered brand of energy, layering textures with heart-pounding rhythm. Punk rock band The World I'll Leave Behind made some breathing room at the third interval of the night; cracking jokes and covering fan favorite A Thousand Miles, the band created some good ol’ head-banging fun before the main act.

The World I'll Leave Behind definitely knows how to get a crowd going.

Finally, Sound Architects took the stage, composed of members Felix Cordova, Rjay Concepcion, Patrick Roxas, and Johann Mendoza. Replete with soaring melodies and snowballing tracks, the instrumental rock band was definitely worth the wait, leading the crowd into an exhilarating, atmospheric daze way into the night. As the name suggests, they weaved a completely unique experience, that transported listeners from the tender and evocative to the clamoring and interstellar.

See our exclusive interview below!

1. Your performance at Polaris’ Crowdfunding session was incredible. How did you feel about it?
Johann: Incredibly deaf. I think we went a bit too loud on that one, but that was one of the most amazing and longest sets we've ever played.
Rjay: Yes incredibly deaf, but it's definitely worth it.

2. Let’s go back to the start. How did you guys form the band?
Johann: When we finally got ourselves together, it was pretty hard. We kept on having conflicts in schedules for jams, we had a really hard time getting gigs because nobody knew us and we didn't know that much people. Deep down, there was this feeling that nothing was going happen because nothing was happening with us in the first place. We did get a few gigs here and there, but we really got the boost we needed when The Polaris Project came into the picture and started helping us and having us at their events.

3. If you were to describe your sound with a metaphor, what would it be?
Johann: I really have no idea...but I guess I can say that our music is very atmospheric and textural. We always make sure that we can help the listener evoke an atmosphere, a feeling, an image, or whatever, when we write and play our music. We do it through textures, and not just chords and notes. Whatever sound we can create with our instruments. Because in the end, we want our music to have an impact on the listener. We want them to experience something they never have or they don't get to experience any time.

4. Who are your musical inspirations?
Johann: Our common ground when it comes to musical inspirations are mostly heavy music, like metal...and classical music. I won't really enumerate bands and artists, that'd take up so much space on the page, but we've definitely been listening to a lot of doom metal, progressive metal, hardcore, punk,...and 20th and 21st century classical music.

5. Lastly, any fun facts about the band?
Johann: We live really boring lives hahahahahahaha.

Article by Andrea

Photos by Rogin

----

Andrea Lopez is a 19-year-old communication junior. Part meme supreme, part pretentious literary hoe, she's always cooking up something good.

Rogin lives in one of the 7,107 islands that compose the Philippines. She was born and raised there, and will possibly die in one of the islands too. She is currently 18 years of age and a film student. Her holy trinity is composed of books, film, and music. She doesn’t plan much in her life and just takes what she can get. She knows where to go but doesn’t know the way. She acts before thinking. Spontaneity could be her middle name but it’s Ocampo, unfortunately. This makes her sound adventurous but she’s usually just in her room. Check out her blog at honorarytenenbaum.tumblr.com.