As unique as they may seem, BennyBunnyBand’s out of the box live performances actually have a simple reason behind it— to gain attention. They even pioneered their own music branding which people now call “Kuneho Rock.”
The genre may sound alien to most of us, because, well, it is.
In a quick chat with the band members of BennyBunnyBand, when their group together with music acts This Band, Brisom, and Feel Day were introduced as Viva Records newly signed artists, they shared how they came up with their name and what “Kuneho Rock” is all about.
“We are full of energy and ‘Kuneho Rock’ is all about energy,” band frontman Benny Giron told Manila Standard.
The young musician shared that they couldn’t find the right genre to describe their music which is why the members decided to come up with a term that could perfectly describe the band and the kind of music they play.
“Like a rabbit, the band has an overflowing source of energy. It spreads and it's electrifying. Before, we didn’t really know what genre we would fit in, we’re playing different music from numerous genres, so we decided to create our own genre that better describes us, our music,” Giron said in vernacular..
BennyBunnyBand is an electrifying three-piece band composed of Giron on ukulele and vocals, Ess Bobadilla on bass, and Jhenico “Pogi” Dela Cruz on drums.
“When we were starting out, I wasn’t the main vocalist. It’s my brother. And our band’s former name was Pakingge Ire, it means pakinggan mo ito. We’re from Cavite. The name didn’t have an impact, so my brother who used to be part of the band suggested to use BennyBunnyBand instead,” Giron narrated.
But he didn’t buy the idea as it sounded “too self-centered,” but he finally agreed on it when he realized that the name was some sort of a tongue twister.
“Kuneho Rock is close to ‘90s OPM if you want a better description. It is basically the product of our own style fused with our music influences including Parokya Ni Edgar, Eraserheads, and Grin Department,” Giron shared.
In September 2015, the band independently released an Extended Play (EP) album entitled Nagmamahal, BennyBunnyBand. The songs from the album are currently being played on FM radio stations and their music videos are aired on MTVph and MYX Philippines.
The undeniably fun trio started out as a five-piece but continued later on as just Benny, Ess, and Jhenico. Funnily enough, when creating music, the band doesn’t sit down together and write. Giron said he gives the credit to their ‘chemistry’ as a band with all of the songs they’ve created. Letting Ess and Jhenico add their own unique flair on each track. It all ends well and all that’s left is to give it all they have performing it live.
This Band is it
Hitting number one at the Philippine Viral 50 charts, heating up the Top Hits Philippines listings and just recently, breaking into the Global Viral Charts of streaming giant Spotify are just among the few things that This Band has been doing of late. That and seemingly being on everybody’s personal music playlist is the big buzz about This Band.
A six-piece band with members mostly hailing from Las Pinas, the group was formed in 2017 by a shared passion and love for all things music. What started out as a band who did cover songs for fun until they found their sound and brought it to life.
In the band’s earlier days, there was just Euwie Loria on rhythm guitar, John Macaranas on drums, and Miccael Galvan on bass. The three went through a few male vocalists. Little did they know that the voice they were looking for was that of Andrea Manzano. The sound and link so to speak, that would tie it all together for This Band.
From there, Loria started writing the songs that are now the band’s claim to fame. When they released their major hit “Kahit Ayaw Mo Na”, the band came out as a four-piece group. This continued on when they released two more of their songs that are also crowd favorites, “Bitaw Na” and “Tampisaw”.
On their latest single “Hindi Na Nga”, the band felt and looked complete as they debuted their two new members Melvin Carson on keyboards and Raymart Gubat on lead guitars.
This Band was finally complete. Their quirky and catchy name may make someone think that it wasn’t well thought out but it actually was. Coming from different bands individually, the original core members felt that this iteration of their musical life was finally it.
That their current lineup together was it. “This is it,” they would all agree. “This is the band!” Hence, This Band.
Even only after a year of being together, it’s evident that This Band quickly turned into a tightly-woven family. The music and the sound is clear. With people out of their sphere calling their songs as “millennials’ favorite hugot tracks.”
And the best thing about This Band? Is that they’re just getting started.
Their most recent achievement yet is having their hit “Kahit Ayaw Mo Na” as the theme song of the film bearing the same title, “Kahit Ayaw Mo Na.”
Reliving retro ‘80s vibe
The term New Wave immediately comes to mind when listening to electronic, alt-pop band Brisom.
Sure enough, leader and band namesake Brian Sombero admits that ‘80s New Wave style pop rock and melodies have a direct influence on the band’s sound.
“I listened to the best groups of the ‘80s, New Order, The Cure, The Police, and all those bands. And the funny thing is I was opened up to these great artists because of my mom. You could say I just grew up with this music because that what’s playing in the background while I was growing up,” the musician shared.
Sombero, with drummer Jeffrey Castro, bassist Jason Rondero, and synth-keyboardist Timothy Abbott is a tight pop-rock and electronic unit that have already proven their worth on the indie band scene when they released their self-produced album Limerence two years ago.
But these days, the Brisom is keeping themselves significant with a brand new single that they released with Viva Records. Entitled “Hagkan,” the new track is a synth-drenched, mid-tempo ballad that recalls the cool sounds of, yep, the ‘80s.
The track also has an undeniable dance-like beat to it and listening to it, one can’t help but think of images and inspirations from the hit TV show “Stranger Things.”
“Actually, we also like that show and somehow, the new song and the vibe that we want to put across is somewhat inspired by Stranger Things. But that’s as far as it goes. Because I’m sure you’ll notice it right away that the song is in Tagalog.”
As far as what music style Brisom dabbles in, Sombero has a comfortable term for it. “Brisom is a Retro Wave, synth-pop band,” he declared.
Right now, there’s nobody else out there who sounds and plays like Brisom. And people are noticing them, including some pop singers who have since worked with the band, namely Rhian Ramos and Lovi Poe. Besides fronting the band as the singer-songwriter, Brian Sombero is also a producer and has produced tracks for the aforementioned artists.
But everything else takes a backseat after Brisom. “We’ve already set ourselves apart from the usual bands out there today,” said Sombero. “Right now, with the help of our Viva Records label, we want to see how far we can take the music.”
Feels like home
Feel Day is an alt-rock band based in Metro Manila. The band consists of Jek Buenafe (vocals, keyboard), Jin Solomon (guitar), Kim Casim (bass), and Ram Gloria (drums).
They play all-original music that is often described as “chill”, faithful to their goal of producing songs that make every listener feel welcome and at home. Lyric-wise, the songs mainly appeal to Pinoy millennials. With lots of “hugot” lines, an overall feeling of being “sawi, pero kaya pa naman”, as well as the fact that they are millennials themselves, the band is able to foster a sense of camaraderie with their listeners through the words in their songs.
As to the sound, the band follows the principle that songs should be fun to play even with just a guitar. Thus, the arrangements and the melodies are often designed to be easy and memorable. The band heavily favors chemistry over individual skill.
For their debut under Viva Records, they gave us the tuneful track “Salamin.” This first from the band successfully introduces who they are to the local music scene—a modern-day band with exceptional talent and a great ear for good music.
Feel Day, together with indie soul artist Hans Dimayuga, recently bagged the PhilPop 2018 2nd Runner-Up award after interpreting the song “Ako Ako”, written by the band’s frontman, Jek Buenafe.
At present, the band is working on new songs while also playing gigs around Metro Manila.
