Urbandub Music Band Philippines
Above: Urbandub Band
Place of Origin: Cebu, Philippines Type of Music: Pinoy Rock / OPM, Alternative Rock, Indie Rock Existence: 2000 – present Record Label: Lighter Records (2000-2005), EMI Music Philippines (2005-present) Related Acts: Faspitch, The Ambassadors Website: www.myspace.com/urbandub
Band Members:
Gabby Alipe, lead vocals, guitar
John Dinopol, lead guitar, vocals
Lalay Lim, bass, vocals
Jan Mendozadrums
Previous Band Members:
Jerros Dolino and Jed Honrado
From Cebu, Philippines hails a Filipino rock band called Urbandub. Ever since the band’s launch in 2000, its line-up has comprised of great talents such as Alipe (lead vocals, guitar), John Dinopol (lead guitar, vocals) and Lalay Lim (bass). The group’s existing drummer is Jan Mendoza who has joined the band way back in 2003. From the time of the band’s materialization into the spotlight, it has delivered a full-on catchy and contagious mixture of vibrant music arrangement with a twist of mighty strong tempos that will surely lead the band to fins their own beat – far off from the usual “rock pack” that most bands take. To the surprise of the band’s members, they did not even imagine in their wildest dreams how far they would go in the music industry.
Pushed on the peddle-still as the “Heroes of Indie Bands”, the band is the first ever indie group that was able to launch their records on a national scale – with the support and aid of EMI; the band’s current record label.
Urbandub also had the good fortune of being attributed by EMI with a-one-of-a-kind “heaviest compilation” of a Pinoy Rock album entitled: FULL VOLUME; not forgetting to mention a rendition of Sade’s NO ORDINARY LOVE. The band is acquiring a full-throttle experience in terms of the fame it has garnered all across the country – unlike anything else to date. Urbandub has also gotten the attention and interest of fans overseas such as countries in the Southeast Asia region – Singapore being their most recent one.
Band History:
Birth (2000)
Since the beginning of the formation of the band “Urbandub” way back in March 2000, its musicians were intended for something much greater that the norm. The band obligated itself to be self-sufficient with response to the lack of aid from the big record companies. The band then released their first album entitled: BIRTH. The singles “Come”, “Give” and “Would You Go” of the band’s debut became instant track hits that instigated the band’s music nationwide. Their first album took the music scene by storm and gave immediate recognition to the group’s inspiration such as the band Deftones. Their debut album BIRTH is considered to be on the heavy and raw side of music. Evidently, the record has musical influences that consist of experimental rock tunes. The band possesses a unique, current and experimental way of delivering their music which became the perfect antidote. They are the band that gave the music as well as the entertainment business a vision of the future when it came to original music which the Philippines is in dire need of.
Influence (2003)With the launch of the group’s sophomore album INFLUENCE under Lighter Records, the band found themselves reformatting their sound along with attaining a new drummer (from Jed Honrado to Jerros Dolino). Jerros maintained the status of being the drummer of the band – recording songs with them; unfortunately, in 2003, he had made the decision to bid farewell to the band permanently without stating his reasons for doing so. This was the band’s cue to enlist Jan Mendoza as the new drummer. During this time, it was this album’s sound that would undoubtedly initial and define the stages that Urbandub would begin to take. Their album INFLUENCE involves radio-launched tracks like “Gone” and the band’s currently and most successful one, “Soul Searching”. This song soon won the award of being the “Best Song of the Year” during the NU107 Rock Awards 2003. Catapulting the band’s sound was beyond belief. The compilation grabbed the “Album of the Year Award” during the NU107 Rock Awards 2004. The band, never being complacent, launched another of their single entitled: “A New Tattoo”.
Embrace (2005)
Urbandub has confirmed that there is light of hope in a tunnel where struggling artists seemed to be trapped in. With the launch of the band’s 2005 album EMBRACE, as well as the receiving support from their community for the type of distinct sound they have created – the band was able to seize the interest of a major recording company in the Philippines – EMI Music. The band, being a savvy business unit, took Lighter Records as their group’s management arm and guide in the music industry. Aligned with the band’s beliefs, EMI permitted them their artistic and creative freedom to have the liberty of recording their album in their homeland Cebu. In addition to that, the band was able to sustain their self-governing values while at the same time making compelling steps in the direction that anticipates the innovative new sound that they will come up with. The singles from the album EMBRACE, such as: “Alert The Armory”, "Frailty", "Endless, A Silent Whisper" and the pop classic anthem “First of Summer” gathered from the band’s third album instantaneously had the most tracks played on the local airwaves. Continuing the group’s conventional horde of poetic metaphors via guitar riffs and beating drums from track after track has established Urbandub’s name and songs on the top of the charts.
Under Southern Lights (2007)
Regarding the band’s most recent album: Southern Lights
“We experimented a lot on this album. We also tried to write songs far from the specific genre our fans are used to hearing from us. On this album we challenged ourselves musically in terms of creativity with the riffs, beats and melodies. The past albums we worked with a formula, writing songs inside our musical comfort zone, but for this album we tried to personally push the envelope a bit.”
- Gabby Alipe (lead vocalist and guitarist of Urbandub)
The band’s latest album released: “Southern Lights” prides itself for having ten (10) singles along with a fresh new take on their music and sound. The band’s sheer genius when it comes to its music stands out all throughout their musical rock tunes and the various way that each person in the group writes songs.
“We retreated to Cebu City for 2 months just to focus on writing. Then came back to Manila, did some fine tuning to the songs before recording them.”
That was according to Alipe.
“The recording was a great learning experience for the band. It was our first time to record with 2 inch tape rather than digitally which we were used to when we were still recording in Cebu. We also were privileged enough to be able to use specific types of equipment that we felt were needed for the songs, like different kinds of amplifiers or synthesizers,” shares Lalay Lim, the bassist of the band.
The title of the album was the band’s tribute to the city of Cebu where all the members originated from. This is also the place that they composed their songs that became instant hits. It symbolizes that the group’s families in Cebu were their main motivation as well as their inspiration that served as their guiding light.
The album begins with a shot. That is the initial track called “Guillotine”. It has a deep-seated guitar hook that is paired with fierce and intense drum noise that rushes forth as being the trademark blend of air-sealed vocal harmonies known to be uniquely Urbandub.
If you have collected all of Urbandub’s songs, you will definitely feel the impressive transformation of the band through their albums. For bands that are similar to them, transformation may not be that great. One thing you have to take note of is that this band doesn’t change its core value – they just mature with regards to their musical senses. Chances are, the band might start performing to bigger arenas, stadiums and stages – nevertheless, they will still have the same amount of sweat they did when they were starting out. The band will also consistently create a musical genre that we’ve all come to know and love. Gabby has been quoted saying that the band wants to reach out to more individuals through their third album.
Even after having successful album sales of 10,000 records sold, traveling thousands of miles in and around the country, experiencing a series of highs and lows – the band Urbandub has been reenergized and seals the deal by releasing the 2007 album “Under Southern Lights”.
Albums:
* Birth (2001)
o Boy
o Breakdown
o Would You Go
o Dissect
o Eating Me
o Little by Little
o Picture
o Give
o Come
o It’s Over
o Two Things (bonus track)
o Apart (bonus track) (a collaboration with Dice & K9)
* Influence (2003)
o Fallen On Deaf Ears
o Under Crisis
o Soul Searching
o Runaway
o Versus
o Gone
o Sailing
o Quiet Poetic
o A New Tattoo
o Lover Among Ruins
* Embrace (2005)
o Alert The Armory
o Frailty
o First of Summer
o When Heroes Die
o Reveal The Remedy
o The Arsonist
o Endless, A Silent Whisper
o Safety In Number
o A City of Sleeping Hearts
o The End of Something
* Under Southern Lights (2007)
o An Invitation
o Anthem
o The Fight Is Over
o Guillotine
o Cebuana
o Life Is Easy
o Evidence
o A Method To Chaos
o Inside The Mind of A Killer (a collaboration with Kat Agarrado of Sinosikat?)
o She Keeps Me Warm
Music Videos:
* From Birth
o "Come"
* From Influence
o "A New Tattoo"
* From Embrace
o "Alert the Armory"
o "First of Summer"
o "Endless, A Silent Whisper"
o "Frailty"
* From Under Southern Lights
o "Guillotine"
o "Evidence"
Awards:
NU107 Rock Awards
* "Best Song of the Year" – "Soul Searching" (2003)
* "Album of the Year" – "Influence" (2004)
o Vocalist of the Year – Gabby Alipe (2006)
Fun Facts:
"When we were just starting out..urbandub was supposed to be a reggae band…we were suppose to play reggae mixed with dub, ska, dancehall, hiphop, and rock. A perfect example of what urbandub would have been–is the song "sailing" and "eating me" –that was the style we were suppose to be playing around with–since we were suppose to be a reggae/dub band, hence the name, urbandub. But becuz of the series of line up changes–and new influences–we became what we are today! The name just kinda got stuck and we never bothered to change it. So there you go..the story behind the name "urbandub".
- Gabby Alipe
- The music video “First of Summer” by Urbandub centers on a rebellious girl who was dating her boyfriend. No sooner did Urbandub release another music video entitled: “Endless, A Silent Whisper”. This video illustrated the things that transpired before and after what was depicted in “First of Summer”. Both of these music videos were shot in three (3) days by the same director, Marie Jamora.
- The girl that starred in the band’s music videos, “First of Summer" and "Endless, A Silent Whisper" was the very same girl that was featured in their music video "Guillotine". Her name is Abbie Antaran and she hails from the University of the Philippines. Coincidentally, she also happens to be the cousin of the band’s bassist Lalai.
- The band did an interview with Animax which later led to their performing to "Mad Mad Fun", a show aired on Animax.
- If you look at closely at Gabby Alipe’s right eye, you might think that he has a scar. That part of his eye area was never injured deliberately by him or any of his bandmates. It is actually a tattoo that means “cat lady in Maori”.
- Though several of the band’s songs like "Evidence" have an Emo trace to it, they never thought of themselves as such – musically speaking.
- The band’s second live performance on the show MYX allowed Gabby to insinuate that their band makes it a point to have precisely ten (10) tracks for every album they make.
- The band’s nickname is "Udub", short for Urbandub.
