Kjwan goes digital

By Neil Ray Ramos
Contributor

Kjwan, the 2007 Asean Ikon champ, is back and too eager to continue being in the niche they have carved for themselves with a brand-new album that they deem “the best they’ve ever done.”

The band’s effort to continue exploring new ideas is underscored in the way their latest album, 13 Seconds to Love, was launched on the Nokia 5800 expressmusic phone.

“We didn’t actually plan for [the album] to be launched this way. Actually we thought of simply doing it in a very low-key, very practical manner since we don’t have a label to begin with but we’re happy with the chance given us. It’s a great idea, a great blessing. It’s like thinking out of the box which fits the band perfectly,” J-Hoon Balbuena, the group’s drummer says smiling.

“It’s a fresh, new approach that we consider most welcome when we first heard of it, we thought, why not? Besides we tried the unit [Nokia 5800],and it’s quite handy, we liked it,” guitarist Boggie Romero quips.

The band describes 13 Seconds to Love as a back-to-basics, direct-to-the-point effort.

“There’s less experimentation. Where our debut was very raw, very dark and the second was with lots of textures and such, the songs in 13 Seconds to Love are actually very simple, they’re very straightforward, no frills,” singer Marc Abaya adds.

Well, this comes as no surprise to many of the group’s followers specifically those who fell in love with them via “One Look,” the catchy single off the bands’ sophomore effort, 2 Step Marv.

The single, evidently, the group’s first nod towards a less aggressive, more palatable sound was a big hit. In contrast, the band’s self-titled debut, which came out in 2004, was angst-driven metal, filled with hard-charging drums and explosive guitars, specifically in “Daliri.”

Though it proved fruitful for the group, getting the notices it needed, it didn’t fare well as a commercial stuff.

The arrival of guitarist Boogie Romero gave the band some musical muscle, enabling them to create the more adventurous 2 Step Marv.

“Well, we believe that as songwriters and musicians, our job is to not only put out material that we can relate to, but to put out something that everyone can enjoy as we hope to reach as much people as we can. We want people to listen to us... know what we’re all about… and we can only do this if we keep growing and widening our scope,” Abaya explains.

According to Abaya, the notion of being able to reach a wider audience is what fuels the band to create and better themselves as musicians.

“The love and support that the fans give and share with us is really what inspires us… so, no matter what, we could only aim farther, higher.”

Abaya’s optimistic outlook contradicts a recent development. Early this year, guitarist Jorel Corpus left the band and the country to study at Berklee College of Music.

Considering how vital Corpus was to the band, many fans are wondering how the rest of the group will be coping.

The group is very supportive of Corpus and is in fact leaving his slot open if and when he decides to return. If anything they consider it a “challenge” of sorts.

“It’s not as if he left without notice. We’re all friends, we’ve known each other for a long time and we are only too happy to support each other’s dreams and ideals… we don’t question. Honestly, we’re happy for him. Of course it’s sad that he won’t be here to help launch the album, which, he, like the rest of us, worked so hard on but we have to move on… in any case we just try and think of it as a means to farther our musicality… a chance to try and learn how to fill the gap,” Balbuena shares.

“Basically we’re all trying to adjust… like, right now, I’m trying to learn [how to play the] guitar again… not just me… we’re all into experimenting… learning and we’re excited ‘cause this could only mean that we will be incorporating new elements that might surprise us so much as it might surprise our audience,” Abaya adds.

Well, it could work.

Since day one, critics had been aiming to pigeonhole the band but so far the group had been successful in keeping everybody guessing. It’s this ability to continually surprise that proves to be among the bands’ winning attributes.

“We always try to introduce something new with every record we do. It’s not a conscious effort. We don’t do stuff just to be different or to impress people. I guess… it’s more of… being open to ideas and braving the chance to express those ideas in every album,” Kelley Mangahas, the group’s bassist, intones.

Abaya says it’s easy to stick to formulas but it would defeat the band’s purpose.

“We could write a hundred versions of ‘Daliri’ but what’s the point?” he states.