MOYG on purevolume™

Punk / Rock

There is an undeniable charm to MOYG- for the bands story is NOT the Cinderella dream-come-true type of tale as most musicians would prefer to share with their audiences: tales of paying their dues in the so-called underground, or accounts of how members stole food, begged for change in the streets and slept in cardboard boxes, and definitely not the kind of urban legend that depicts divine intervention or supernatural forces bringing the members together. For a band that has, partied and thrived in the degenerative black hole of the Philippine local music scene plagued by mediocrity and cheesy formulaic material, its survival only means one thing for those who are yet to get a taste- that they have what it takes to slug it out.
The Moyg experience and its existence both lie in the merriments of simplicity and typicality of both music and life. And it shows both onstage and offstage- raw, over-fuzzed guitars, a thudding bass line and fast-paced drumming that share many characteristics of the punk genre, and high-spirited vocals politely spat into the microphone offer a visceral output which revisits rock music played in its most basic form, only faster, rawer, if not completely carefree. To confine the music to punk in its strictest sense would only contradict the very fact that vocalist Karlo Estrada, guitarist Roy Viray, bassist Lyle Sacris and drummer Kurt Floresca dont really concern themselves with fitting in any form of internment to either gain credibility or make a single statement. For theirs is a band with a lot of things to say: whether serious or comically nonsensical, both clear reflections of their individual personalities.

Around eight years ago, bassist Lyle, who had discovered the bass and was trying to get a band thing going, had the urge to check out the musical endeavors of Estrada, who at the time was involved with skating the busy streets of Manila, hip-hop, singing for a Rage Against The Machine-influenced outfit, and of all things, trying out for a local Filipino dance group called The Manouvers. An early incarnation of the band, vaguely named Motown, featured two bassists, a vocalist and a drummer, who had referred Roy to fill in the guitar spot for the group. More changes arose, and more weird monikers surfaced (like Jolinas Wet Panties, and Migraine Boy and The Caboodles) as the group was discovering their preferred sound and trying to establish an identity and direction to hit for. It was during this seemingly insignificant period that they had incidentally come up with the name MOYG- not so much that it was a parody itself of its having no actual definition, but because it had represented the least of the bands musical worries as a collective group of musicians. The important thing, as it still is now, was to have fun performing live.

And this blithe outlook in most things found its way through almost everything, especially after collective influences of foreign bands like Goldfinger, The Specials and Reel Big Fish started gaining the attention of the three core members. They took things a step further by incorporating a horn section into their group (borrowing musicians from another group called Ugoy-Ugoy) and started playing popular local band venues like 70s Bistro alongside veteran, established acts like Grupong Pendong and Put3Ska. They also got to perform for events like the annual U.P. Fair in Manila, and traveled to tourist hotspot Puerto Galera as backup band for an internationally acclaimed hip-hop group Kulay because of their strengths in live performance and diversity in sound.

But because theirs was a band that didnt exactly cater to the hip and trendy paying disco and rave crowds, the band could not maintain a big-band setup so settled for a more basic setup as a foursome, and once again evolved into a more primal, un-sugarcoated unit that made the crossover from ska-tendencies to the straight up delivery of bands like Face To Face, Bodyjar, NOFX and Bad Religion. The fruition would result into catapulting Moyg into newer, much broader heights in the local underground punk/hardcore scenes, and at the tme, seemed to be the way to go since they did, in fact, share the ideals of not conforming to any stereotype and typecasting dictated by the then-present mainstream musical climate. Not that they werent catchy as hell- audiences quickly paralleled to Estradas uncompromising onstage humor and wit, and found a sound that admittedly wasnt as technical as other groups, but also lacked any form of pretentiousness in its nature of spontaneity. It was a fresh breath of air that they shared the imperfections of a generation losing its musical identity as they were again, still bent on creating their own. They held their own from underground club productions (like Standing Room, alongside heavier and furthermore diverse outfits) and even played gigantic events with more than 35,000 in attendance (the annual PULP SUMMER SLAM) with the evolved direction of the music.

During the recent years, when the group had finally settled with drummer Kurt Floresca hitting skins (after numerous drummers), they had also felt that what once was a strong, united and principled underground community of punk, was slowly transmogrifying into yet another prison of conformity and limitation. Moyg had once again, the urge to free form away from what became an era of exclusivity of the independent genre/subculture which was starting to be dictated by the politics, pseudo-principles and so-called ideologies of un-commercial passion by a militant fraction of the scene. They knew they wanted to share their music instead of choose their audiences, so in turn, they were in for another move.

Says bassist Sacris: I dont want to oversimplify even though its not really based on technical musicianship. But we do like to think that we have an ideology-free principle when it comes to being a band. The word punk, is somewhat there for lack of a better term. But it all mainly comes down to playing what we enjoy playing.

Maybe, were more punk when it comes to the attitude [of doing everything ourselves], says guitarist Viray, and that were enjoying ourselves with this freedom.

And that freedom in turn, found the band recording in the studios for two singles that would be radio fare with a purpose of transcending exclusivity; Wise Ass and Apology were recorded, and the discipline it benefited for their musicianship and consistency as individuals (You can only have so many takes, says Roy) and again, the options the experience gave to further build their songs dynamics was a welcome skill the band had once more gained, though most of them strongly feel that its their live performances where they are most keen and zealous.

Currently, Moyg is still as active as ever and as open-minded to the music and the passion that has put a smile on each of their faces. Though things never were as glamorous and easy, its the last thing the band will ever write a song or bicker about. Because Moygs success lies in breaking the stereotypical gist of being unbeaten- and that they were, right from the start.