This month Saigon has been treated to a smorgasbord of international musical talent. Wave after wave of fresh talent has been arriving on our doorstep, fingers crossed next month follows the same rhythmic footsteps, as we are now all addicted to this level of entertainment. DRIP was prime example of this aural pampering . They performed as the closing chapter of the “Month of Music” presented by the beats (casually wipe away tear, blame allergies).

Drip is one of the first female fronted electronic live music acts from in the Phillipines. The face of the group is lead vocalist Beng Calma-Alcazaren , backed by Arvin "Caliph8" Nogueras on turntables. Last but not least Ian "Morse" Magbanua, captain of beats and programming. 

Anyarena had a quick chat while they were in Saigon

Photo from dripmanila.multiply.com

How would you describe your sound?

Beng: The sound is predominantly electronic music with very strong drum n’ bass, rock and hip hop influences.
 

Ian: It is electronic music, where samples, loops, virtual instruments and beng's powerful vocals and lyricism come together to produce a unique sound born out of our influences.

Caliph8:  It's an amalgamation of electronic and organic sounds that manifests as a song based collaboration between artists coming from different backgrounds and tastes.

For those you don’t know about the success story of DRIP can you say a bit about how it all came about?

Beng: Well I wouldn’t say “success” at this point. Still a work in progress but briefly, drip came together bit by bit. Me and Rann, former guitarist, got in touch with malek who was very much adept in the electronic music scene. We later got a 4th member ian magbanua aka morse to do beats and loops and finally got caliph8 to fill in as turntablist. Rann and malek have left the band to pursue their own things and we are now gigging as a 3-piece act: me, morse and caliph8 respectively. As I said, work in progress.  

Caliph8 I believe we're quite successful as artists that convey creative output without any compromise and we get to reach different individuals that have different musical tastes.

How did you guys get together in the beginning, when each member comes from different musical background?

Beng: The music scene in manila is very small so we pretty much all knew each other; it wasn’t difficult hooking up.

Ian: Actually between (ex-synthman) Malek, Caliph 8 and I, it was much easier as we all listened to a broad spectrum of music and varied forms of electronic music.  Beng surprisingly mixed well within that mix despite her classic rock background. Melodically and lyrically I think she knew it would be a cinch.

Caliph8: I guess Manila's alternative music scene is really small so different artists and enthusiasts pretty much know one another either by face or name.

You’ve changed members and instruments. Did they affect DRIP’s musical direction?

Beng:  No change in musical direction, still the same vision of writing music, creating new material, doing foreign gigs, and expanding to other fields that would require the type of sound we have. Perhaps the challenge we face as a band is tightening the sound, and constantly outdoing whatever accomplishments we have in the past.  

Ian: Direction wise, I wouldn't say that we've changed much despite the shuffle in the line-up.  We're actually still at that stage where we're about to make new music, so if anything, we're all looking forward to the positive possibilities the recent change will bring.
 

Caliph8:Drip's musical direction isn't just fixed to a certain output; it's ever changing being creative and being able to explore, i believe is the only thing that's there to stay.

Photo from dripmanila.multiply.com

When it comes to composing your music, is it a collective effort? Please tell us more about the processes involved?

Beng:  Songwriting in drip is a collaborative effort. Process is quite simple, we all lay down on the table what we can offer and if it works, we build on it, record, and put in the album.

Ian: Yes, it is very much a collective effort.  It usually starts with a basic foundation; a beat or a melody to set the tone. Then Beng just feels her way in and out of the music and starts to write and sing her stuff.  From there we make adjustments until we're all happy with the final arrangement

Caliph8: Yes, If someone thinks of a groove, melody or interesting riff/ sound, we build on that. Ian starts off to sequence, it thickens the idea, I put some overlays of different soundscapes, beat or scratches, then Beng lays over a vocal melody and starts to write her lyrics then we keep on building, arranging until we agree on the actual end result.

If you could collaborate with any artist who would it be?

Beng: I would personally want to collaborate with rikki lee jones or joni mitchell. 

Ian: Personally, I'd love to work with either of the following DJ Shadow, the Chemical Brothers, High Contrast, or Bernard Sumner from New Order.

Caliph8: There's lots: KRS-One, Dorothy Asby, Oskar Sala, Jose Gonzales, Jose Maceda

What are the best and worst things about your ‘job’?

Beng: the best would be performing, writing new material, and just hanging out with the boys in the band. Downside would be the waiting in gigs, for our turn to play. 

Ian: BEST THINGS:  Being surrounded by people who love the music that we love. 

WORST THINGS:  Getting caught with real life and not finding enough time to make more of the music we love. :

Caliph8: The best thing is that you get to play and express yourself musically. The worst thing is carrying my heavy equipment.

Photo from dripmanila.multiply.com

What has been your favorite place to play so far?

Beng: So far hogkong live last march. What energy that place had. Everyone was dancing up until the very last note of our last song.

Ian: So far the recent HK gig's been on my mind, but we're all really excited to be playing outside of Manila, and sharing our music with like minded heads.

Caliph8: Hong Kong was really dope!

What is on the cards for DRIP in the future?

Beng: More foreign gigs, collaborations with other artists, and a new album.

Caliph8: Exploring more musical excurssions, experimenting with our concepts and trying different methods in creating our sound. We hope to gig overseas more and maybe do collabs with other artists.

Mark: we as a team are working on spreading the word about Drip world wide through the spirit of collaboration and experimentation, with not just music but with different art forms as well, since we have made our songs open for collaboration through our Creative Commons license, we have given the signal to other artists to come up with ideas in their fields that will use Drip’s music for their Projects, like with Ballet Theater to choreograph into modern ballet pieces our songs for future staging in their scene, collaboration with animation artists… and ofcourse collaboration with other DJs and re-mixers alike…..

See more photos from this event

Up Close - Drip
Hailing from the Philippines, Drip is a trip-hop band that specializes in experimental electronic fusion. Cyril Leung chats with female vocalist Beng Calma-Alcazaren ahead of the band’s HK Live! show.

HK Magazine: What brings you guys to HK Live?
BC: We’ve always wanted to take our music out of the Philippines and bring it to a global audience; we were really encouraged by how well our performance in Kuala Lumpur was received last August. Then, our manager hooked us up with Claudio of Violent Jokes (also perfoming at HK Live!) through Myspace, who introduced us to the event.

HK: Are you ready for your Hong Kong debut?
BC: I’ve just come back from taking five months off to have a baby, so HK Live! is a perfect opportunity for us to start performing and making music again.

HK: As a singer, do you prefer working on studio albums or
performing live?
BC: Performing live is amazing because there is so much energy, and the enthusiasm of the crowd is everything to a singer. It heightens the pressure, the atmosphere, the adrenaline and the gratification. Everything is just louder!

HK: What are Drip’s plans for 2009?
BC: We’re releasing our third album, which will be our first album in Spanish. We received a grant from the Spanish Embassy and Instituto Cervantes, and we’ve used the works of the famous Spanish writer Miguel Hernandez as lyrics. I was taught a little Spanish at school, but my friend who is fluent in Spanish was kind enough to coach me and go through the lyrics with me line-by-line. A grueling effort!

HK: Does Drip have a message it wants to share with its audience?
BC: I guess I’m speaking on behalf of the other band members, but the message we want to share is that it’s important to work hard for your dreams. If you have a talent, put it to good use. We like creating and singing hope-filled songs, and we always look on the positive side.

Drip will be performing at HK Live on Mar 7. See listings, p.29.

HK Live!

Saturday, March 7th, 2009. Show Starts: 10pm, doors open at 9pm.

Fringe Gallery and Economist Gallery, The Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central. Tickets: $100 available in advance from The Fringe Club and $150 on the door. For more information on HK Live, please call 2850-5065.

HK Live! is a series of band showcase nights organized by Hong Kong's leading city living magazine, HK Magazine. The shows feature the best emerging and established bands of the Hong Kong music scene and a cast of music personalities from around the world.