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Chicosci: The Vampire Chronicles
By Cris Ramos Jr. Inquirer Last updated 05:17am (Mla time) 08/04/2006
Living through the rise and fall of music trends, outliving many of their peers, worshipped by the “Vampire Social Club” -- you’d think Chicosci were immortal. But what’s this? They’re maturing!
I’m with Chicosci at this burger joint after a grueling three-hour radio station live gig/interview session. Talk veers toward the service crew as the latter recalls the musicians who frequent the burger joint and describes what a “Kamikazee burger” and what a “Rico Blanco burger” is. I playfully asked, “so what would a Chicosci burger be like?”
Guitarist Miguel Crisostomo “Mong” Alcaraz gamely responds, “three patties, with lots of chili peppers and lots of cheese too...because we’re cheesy!”
“Cheesy” has always been one of the words that extreme metal purists have in mind when they sneer and stereotype Chicosci’s music through the years. But cynics often neglect that this band was shoved to where they are now at a very young age.
The Chicosci story began when four high school buddies -- Mong, lead vocalist Miguel “Miggy” Chavez, bassist Carlos “Calde” Calderon and drummer Jose “Joel” Salvador decided to form a band that would profess their love of their favorite bands, most particularly the Deftones. Along the way, they met guitarist Sonny Baquisal and percussionist Eugene “Yug” Esquivias.
“Ang suwerte naming bata pa lang kami nagka-album deal na kami,”
Calde acknowledges. This lucky break came about when Virgin, an OPM sub-label established by then OctoArts EMI was enjoying wide success with Slapshock. The label manager of the original EMI OPM label then took it upon himself to look for another rap-metal act. The label manager eventually found Chicosci through Tanya Ilacad, whose father was then OctoArts EMI’s Radio Promotions Manager and was also a close acquaintance with the band.
“I still remember pagkakasabi ni Tanya nung tinawagan niya kami,” recalls Mong. “’Gusto niyong ma-sign? Parang Slapshock…’.”
“Looking back, you can say we were damn lucky and we’re like spoiled brats,” says Miggy. “Relatively there’s some sense of guilt in that, because there are a lot of struggling artists out there. Pero siyempre when the opportunity knocks at your own door, alangan namang tumanggi ka, ‘di ba? Siyempre hipokrito kung di ka aamin na you find a deal where you can record all the songs you’ve written and get the chance to bring it out to the world attractive….”
A deal was reached and Revenge of the Giant Robot was released. The album spawned the band’s initial breakthrough single, “Sink or Swim,” which was aided by a fantastic music video directed by Lyle Sacris. While the album showed tremendous promise, it was generally an album you can classify as, well, juvenile.
After about a year promoting their debut album, the band got down to business and recorded their follow-up, Method of Breathing, an album that branched out to other forms of modern rock other than rap-metal. In fact, Miggy didn’t even rap in this album. The album spawned the band’s biggest hit to date, “Paris,” which holds rock station NU107’s record for most number of weeks at number one. It established the band as major NU Rock Award winners for years to come, and cemented their status in the rock music firmament.
While Chicosci was still reeling from the success they had achieved, cynics lashed out -- that they were just bandwagon riders ditching rap-metal as emo became more popular. “Kung bandwagon riders kami, eh, ‘di sana nag-acoustic at nagnovelty kami,” says Miggy. “Quite simply it was just a matter of acquiring new influences. They say we’re emo -- pero ang definition lang nila ng emo yung nakikita nila sa MTV. Kaya they’re so quick to judge na we sound like My Chemical Romance or The Used, but have they heard of AFI, Bouncing Soul, the Misfits, Rise Against, etc.? It’s not like we only listen to emo, we listen to a lot of music. But just the same, if people think we’re emo, then we’re emo; I don’t find anything wrong with that…”
Chicosci's page should not be criticized by haters(pssshh..cut this crap)
Hi, i have been editing Chicosci's page here at Misplaced Pages since early 2007 but lateley some miscreants have destroyed a good reputation and have been trying to insist that they are copycats. Their not actually trying to copy Fall Out Boy's antics. They listen to Fall Out Boy and idolize them im not giving names but if you are trying to make Chicosci look bad then please steer away from their page.(i love you chicosci make me your band whore)..
agagagagagag....