Talk about perfect timing:  Just as soon as election madness is through, a coup of the musical kind unleashes on May 18. The Wanderland Music and Arts Festival is happening at the newly constructed Globe Circuit Events Ground, with Australian indie-rock phenomenon The Temper Trap headlining.

The band’s uplifting signature sound is set to rock Manila for the first time—no wonder its Filipino fans are abuzz across all social media platforms. Sharing the festival bill are Neon Trees, Nada Surf, Avalanche City, Colour Coding, Tully on Tully, and some of the brightest stars in the Philippine indie music scene.

If you Google front man Dougy Mandagi’s name, one of the top search terms that comes up is “Temper Trap singer nationality” (another is “Temper Trap girlfriend.”)   With his bronzed good looks, he could be mistaken for a Filipino; he is actually of Indonesian descent and known for his electric stage presence.

Dougy cowrote the band’s breakout hit, “Sweet Disposition,” with Lorenzo Sillitto, a serious foodie when he’s not playing lead guitar.

Jonathan Aherne is the affable bassist whom Dougy befriended when he first moved to Melbourne. Drummer Toby Dundas met Dougy while they were both working in retail and the rest is history. Completing the lineup is most recent addition Joseph Greer on keyboards and guitar.

Festival talk

I’m definitely not a morning person, and it was 7 a.m. on Labor Day. But a long-distance phone call to The Temper Trap’s Jonathan “Jonny” Aherne is not something you say no to. Interestingly, the topic of conversation was festivals: We were both on the festival circuit

—Jonny was en route to a gig in Sydney while yours truly was leaving Zamboanga, having played at the just-concluded Summer Peace Festival.

We talked about firsts. “We’ve never been to the Philippines!” Not even on holiday? I asked. “No, never. We realize from Facebook and Twitter that there’s a lot of comments from that side of the world. Whenever we get to experience a new country, we try to soak it in. We can’t wait to experience the culture and watch the bands that are opening for us,”  Jonny enthused. Between Up Dharma Down, Taken By Cars, Yolanda Moon, Pulso, and She’s Only Sixteen, I’m pretty sure the guys will be intrigued by Pinoy indie music.

I asked Jonny about the first festival his band ever played. “It was called the St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival,” he said. “That was very influential to our career. I remember being very frettish—we were the first people on and it was amazing!  We got signed by an Australian label after that.” Jonny pointed out that the guy who gave the band that festival slot eventually became their manager, Danny Rogers.

The name rings a bell for me—Rogers also happens to manage multiple Grammy-winning Gotye!

Working hard

Jonny admitted that there are no shortcuts to fame: “We didn’t play our instruments very well in the beginning. We slowly developed (our skills) and got better. It took five years before we got our break, put out our first EP and got signed.”

I pried some more, and he continued on the subject of perseverance. “We were playing a lot and we worked very hard. We drove back and forth from Melbourne and Sydney. We were pretty diligent without much evidence or a sign of things ever really going anywhere.”

But the band didn’t end up going anywhere because it’s everywhere.  Since the massive success of its debut album, “Conditions,” the band has since been playing sold-out tours across the continents, relocated to London, and churning out a fierce, self-titled sophomore effort.

The boys continue to inspire a slew of new fans with every new track and concert date. Luckily, these merry musical wanderers are making a pit stop in Manila for Wanderland 2013.

A primer on Wanderland Music and Arts Festival 2013

When:  Saturday, May 18; 11 a.m. onwards

Where: Globe Circuit Events Ground at Circuit Makati (the former Sta. Ana Racetrack)

Who’s playing:  The Temper Trap, Neon Trees, Nada Surf, Avalanche City, Colour Coding and Tully on Tully; local bands Up Dharma Down, Taken By Cars, Yolanda Moon, Pulso, and She’s Only Sixteen.

Who’s displaying: Visual artists of Thursday Room, Secret Fresh Gallery, Malaysian artist Anjo Bolarda X Martojaks and other “live art” creators.

Ticket info:  VIP tickets at 4,800 (plus ticket service charge) includes VIP entrance access, meet & mingle opportunities with the bands and live artists + cool festival freebies + a free inflatable slide ride. Gold tickets at 3,000 each (plus ticket service charge). Tickets are available at all TicketNet, TicketWorld and SM Tickets outlets.

The culprits: Wanderland 2013 is brought to you by Karpos Multimedia Inc., Fox, MTV Asia and Astroplus.

For more info and updates: Check out Wanderland.ph and the following social media sites: Facebook/Wanderlandfest, Twitter/Wanderlandfest and Instagram/Wanderlandfest. Use the hashtag #WanderlandMusicFest in all your posts and tweets.