OFFLANE Pitch’s Ernie John “EJ” Clores (guitars/vocals), Louie Go (vocals/bass), Michael Balanlayos (guitars/vocals), and Joel Lawrence “JL” Estrada (drums) merge pop accessibility with rock behavior and punk freedom.
When JL describes his bandmates as “older versions of emo,” it’s not because they sport heavily waxed, semi-long hairstyles with black nail polish to boot.
As far as emo goes,Offlane Pitch plays songs that change notions and hit emotions. “Rock is misunderstood,” JL claims. “People think it’s all about noise. We wanna change that. Our music is a bit experimental, it’s rock that won’t hurt your ears.”
The band’s influences include the Eraserheads, Bamboo and Dashboard Confessionals; sometimes it covers songs from the likes of Taylor Swift. Why not?
It’s hard to imagine rock bands as a bunch of regular dudes, but most of the time, they just are. When not playing music and DOTA, the guys have day jobs.
They get to rehearse as a band only once a week. But what’s important is that they enjoy each other’s company while doing what they love, thanks to Greenwich’s The #UltimateBandkada Search.
Offlane Pitch has made it to the Top 8 of the camp and competition in which participants are trained and mentored by a number of artists such as Climax, Pow Chavez, Top Suzara and Kio Priest in different music genres.
The aspiring bands get a chance to show their skills and win up to P100,000
Below are excerpts from the Offlane Pitch interview.
What does Offlane Pitch mean?
“Offlane” is a position in DOTA and “Pitch” is from music.
How did it all start?
JL: EJ and Michael started the band. A year or two later, I followed. Then I got Louie into the group. We formally became a band just this January.
Why did you guys choose each other as bandmates?
We chose each other as band members because we all have talent… if you can call it such.
Besides playing DOTA and music, what else do you do?
We play League of Legends, other online games. [Music] tutorials, singing, guitars, and other instruments.
What was your first memory of music?
Music started in the family—videoke, music appreciation, and then na-develop over time.
Tell us about your band’s influences. OPM siguro in general… Eraserheads,
Bamboo, Dashboard Confessionals. Did you guys go through the “emo” phase?
We went through the emo phase. From emo, we’re older versions of emos.
What do you think are three qualities that every Ultimate Bandkada should have?
Barkada spirit is a quality every “bandkada” should have. Looks. Vocal quality? We have the charm.
Any guilty pleasure songs?
We listen to all naman. We’re open-minded in terms of music. It’s just that mayroon lang kaming pinakagusto talaga, which is pop and alternative.
How do you plan to stand out in this competition?
Unlike other bands, we really pursue rock. Rock is misunderstood. People think puro noise lang siya, sigawan. We wanna change that. While our music is a bit experimental, it’s really rock na hindi masakit sa tenga.
Any message to anyone who would follow the competition?
Eat. Sleep. Rock.
Get to know each band, watch them perform and vote for your favorite. The band with the highest number of votes will win the Favorite ng Barkada Award at the finale on August 8 in Valkyrie @ The Palace, Uptown BGC.
Avail of your daily free vote or buy any of The #UltimateBandkada Feast for additional votes. For more information, log on to www.ultimatebandkada.com.
