JENEVIVE “Jen” Grace Vargas (vocals/guitar), Albert Bartolome (EDM/vocals), Jenesa Villahermosa (keyboards/vocals), Genesis Desamito (bass), and EJ Menguita (guitars) make up Invisible Drums, a band competing in Greenwich’s Ultimate Bandkada Search.

Jenesa remembers seeing her dad sing in the karaoke when whe was 8 years old. EJ’s musical influence was also his father who used to play the flute. But Invisible Drums plays with an electro-pop sound uniquely its own. “We don’t use the drums even if there are beats,” says Albert.

You guys look young. Are you still in school?
Yes. We’re taking up an instrumentation course.

How did you all meet?
Albert: In school. Ang original na magkakabanda ay ako, si Jenesa at EJ. We don’t really do live gigs. Nung nalaman ni Genesis, nasama na sila because friends sila ni Jenesa. But we’re all from the same school and we all know each other.

Did you form the band just for this competition?
Albert: We formed the band nung nalaman namin na mash-up yung theme ng competition, since we’ve been doing song covers anyway. We thought na kaya namin ito kasi we think yung covers namin kakaiba. Yung EDM hindi naman normally sa banda ginagamit. I think that’s our edge. We didn’t expect to be part of the Top 8.

Invisible Drums is the band’s name because you don’t use drums?
Yeah, we don’t use drums even if there are beats. Actually, we thought of a lot of names. Hanggang ngayon, we’re still thinking of changing it.

What were the other names you thought of?
The next name we thought of was Soundcheck. Kasi mahilig kami magsoundcheck. We played onstage one time, at nagsoundcheck kami. People thought na yun na yung performance. Let’s backtrack a bit.

What was your earliest memory of music?
Most of our families are musically inclined. Tapos sila yung magsusupport sa amin, nagpapabili ng equipment or inspiring us to play. Si Albert nag-co-cover na. The one that stood out was when he covered Bamboo’s song, “Carousel,” and he got a chance to jam with him. Invisible Drums is probably the newest band.

What do you expect to learn in this competition?
Wala kaming full knowledge of the instruments that we play. So siguro yun lang. We wanna learn how to use them well and how it is being a band because we’re new. Napagtripan lang talaga namin. I’m sure we can make music, but what we need to learn is how to make good music. Five years from now, where do you see the band? Parang wala nang banda, but the friendship will stay. Unless if you win. Yes.

What’s your advice to yourselves?
Siguro not to give up. And if you were to write an “About Me” on your band’s Facebook page, what would it be? Siguro “Music can’t be seen.” Kaya invisible siya. We don’t make music for your eyes but for your ears.

Get to know each band, watch them perform and vote for your favorite. The band with the highest number of votes will be given the Favorite ng Barkada Award at the finale on Aug. 8 in Valkyrie @ The Palace, Uptown Bonifacio Global City. Avail of your daily free vote or buy any of The #UltimateBandkada Feast for additional votes. Log on to ultimatebandkada.com.