Meet the Band Called FIREFLIES

Took time out of my busy schedules for a night out on my neighborhood in Quezon City. Pretty dark out there, but I've seen something glow from afar, it was lights from a local bar where I saw FIREFLIES was playing.

It's a band formed in 2016, who now decided to get re-launched with new members in tow. If you're a little observant, you probably know most of them are from bands Cueshé who's had remarkable success in the early 2000's. Jay Justiniani does Lead Vocals, Jhunjie Dosdos on Vocals , Guitar and Keyboards, while JC Del Rosario IV does Vocals and Bass Guitar, RM Tolentino who does Percussions and Pat Galut does the Lead Guitar. They've been working hard the past few months taking a shot at writing songs, doing covers and performing in different locations across the Philippines.

Here's our short chat with them after a set, apologies as it's quite noisy in the bar we were in that evening. 

Jay says "Actually, this group is easy to work with. Jhunjie is a former band member of Cueshé (like him) so we do really know each others dynamics. Our other band members are also good songwriters, so it was easy to work with even though we have different ideas. It was easier to make songs if you guys understand each other. Jhunjie and I are good friends, and good friends are hard to come by."

JC adds "Jhunjie and I started to work with Fireflies, and we now have new band members, we just didn't have a vocalist then, Jay agreed to join later on and that became a positive direction for the Fireflies band."

Jhunjie adds "I remember Jay was having doubts joining us a few years back. He was very busy and was based in Cebu. It was a bit difficult because we were playing in Manila most of the time. Some of the former Fireflies got a little tired working with us in the band because of the pandemic as income was really tight because we didn't have gigs during the lockdown. He had to go back to Davao. I was the only one left, I knew I had to do something. I'm thankful Jay agreed even if we haven't seen each other for a long time."

They named themselves Fireflies because it's like a spark in the dark. They're raring to perform in company parties, concerts local or foreign. They are currently being managed by Ms. Grace who previously worked in ABSCBN. You may get in touch with them through 09923150106 as it'll be surely busy during the holidays. They're bringing their new brand of music, some covers, and some old classics that 90's kids, Millenials and Gen Z's would absolutely love. They're going to release a few singles soon, so make sure you follow them also on their social channels at https://www.facebook.com/fireflies.ph because they're going to post updates of their gigs on that page.

Cheers to more music from FIREFLIES! Hope you shine brighter in the darkest hours and share your love of music even more!

SLAPSHOCK Celebrates 20th with ATAKE

Still rocking the stage all these years, SLAPSHOCK my favorite local rock band is still filling up stages here and abroad. It's been 20 years, don't count that if you don't want to feel old, because these guys still look as young as they've started and I'm not even surprised.

Doing what you love and seeing people enjoy your music must have been one of the reasons why. 

Jamir says "20 years is hard but pretty good at the same time, we grew up touring. All the supporters, our armies and sponsors, we want to thank them all. It's a different album, we went heavier, we still listen to everything to pop, rock or hiphop, we keep growing, we are still hungry. ATAKE is just that. 20 years but we're not slowing down, music is faster, like attacking more. ATAKE took us more than a year to complete and write this album, although it's easy to record, writing tagalog songs was so hard. Now we have a more positive song, this just comes natural on our own time. The demand of our dark army is just strong and this is massive. We talked about all the takes, this is mosh pit stuff, we always want to bring out the fresh things to the album. You hear us, but you have to see us, we are a live band and it's a part of the process that we have to go through. We want to do it live, not acoustic, because we want to do it heavy right now. We also did something for Red Horse, unshocked which will come out soon. Fame is never there, we always have something to do, we feel like we are always the underdog. We don't have fans but we have friends supporting us. We are a loud band but we're very quiet off stage and tamed. We meet our fans, even with disabilities, they get inspired through our music, we get inspired by them. It takes out the armor of being a rockstar, we are normal and we are on the same playing field. We would always bring a little bit of a slapshock song, our comfort is ourselves and maybe if we get challenged. I need to sleep a lot, I work out, I don't smoke but I have a lot of red horse. We now have to be responsible and be careful on what we do because we have kids listening to us, being a good example is do that day in day out because we influence people. That requires a lot."

He adds "I guess it's not a single person thing when we do this, we perform always as Slapshock. Thank you for all the fans for following and believing in us, we are goong to do some crazy a$s shows and it's an awesome feeling to have you around."

When asked about why their sponsors continue to believe in them, lead guitarist Lean Ansing says "We keep things dynamic, we keep it always new so we have something to offer. We don't over publicize so we keep a certain mystery still. That's out secret."

Their album is out already on online stores, please follow and like their Facebook page because it contains their tour dates and schedules. Yes, they are touring locally now, so you better catch them!

KUMAGCOW

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Rock & Seoul Bibimbap Bar at SM The Block

There's a new restaurant that opened at the Ground Floor of The Block in SM North Edsa. They've made it like a new strip of some sort that would probably cater to the more growing crowd in the area. Management probably had a hand choosing tenants as they've put up some pretty new brands instead of just the veterans they had inside their other malls. That's a step in a new direction. If you've heard of the Relish Group, (the ones who also owns Wee Nam Kee, Osaka Osho and Kumori Japanese Bakery) this is an original restaurant concept they call Rock & Seoul Bibimbap Bar.

The premise is easy. You choose the meat, the veggies that come with it, then the sauce. If you prefer the "easier" way, they've got specially prepared Bibimbap varieties that you would love. Thing is, they're not serving the usual too. It's more of like fusion, like east meets west. Still, it would be in Bibimbap form.

You've got the usual Banchan, with Kimchi, Chicken Salad, Korean Soy Fried Chicken, Cold Pickle/Noodle Salad too. This would be a thing that would go nice with your Bibimbap so instead of eating it all up, I suggest you leave some for later use.

 

They serve everything in a hot plate so they have paper shields reminiscent of other restaurants you may know who have them. As with any Bibimbaps, they have rice in the center, the whole enchalada on the sides, then the special sauce on the table which you can put in generously over your Bibimbap.

I thought this was Bulgogi but no, this is actually Bistek Bibimbap which is part of their Signature Baps. If you don't prefer to build a Bibimbap of your own, you can order these on the menu. They don't hold back on garlic as you can see, so this should be good.

This is my favorite, the Mexican Taco. It's got all the essentials in a usual taco plus corn and carrots on the side. Make sure you put in a generous amount of sauce on the rice while it's hot because this is good, really good that I am saying this is my favorite of all the things they have in the store.

This is what they call American Breakfast. You have the Potato hash, Bacon, Hamburger patty, Egg, Cucumber and Carrots. This should be ordered by people who would want to have something more filling, as it's carbs and protein mainly.

This is the Original Bibimbap. They've got the usual stuff, veggies, got Spinach which I love! 

This is the Korean Fried Chicken Bibimbap. It's got those yummy breaded chicken breast pieces, fried until golden brown, mixed with the usual veggies. You've got the house sauce on the table so make sure you put it on generously, you're basically dousing it so it won't be too hot (since it is on a sizzling plate) and also making it a tad sweeter for doing that. I like this too but if I were to choose between this and the Mexican Taco, I'd go with that.

I've had lots of Bibimbap in different restaurants, some are better than these but if you think about the price, this is way affordable. You can also customize which in my books is something that other restaurants don't offer. You get affordable but quality food, that is something you should really take note of. Go visit them at the ground floor of SM The Block right in front of the SM Hypermarket. They are on the left side, you shouldn't miss it. 3.5/5.

For more information about their restaurant:

Rock & Seoul

Like them on Facebook


Visit their official website

http://relish-group.com/rockseoul/