Pinoy rock band Sandwich marks two decades in the music industry this year and its guitarists Diego Castillo and Mong Alcaraz, bassist Myrene Academia, drummer Mike Dizon and frontman-guitarist Raimund Marasigan remain active and explorative for those hankering for modern rock in the time of EDM.
Sandwich
In an exclusive interview with Bulletin Entertainment, Marasigan mulls the band not falling by the wayside.
“20 years,” he said, obviously amazed by the thought. “Well, I don’t see this as 20 years. I see it as (doing it for a) lifetime. This is all I wanna do and we love what we’re doing, no matter how cliché that is.”
He explained that through the years, music is not the only thing Sandwich members have in common.
“I like to hangout, playing music with, eating with, (and doing) many activities with the band. It’s not just a rock and roll band, we’re family.”
Sandwich is best known for their singles “Sugod,” “Betamax,” “DVD X” and breakout single “Butterfly Carnival.” Through the years, the group has amassed sizeable catalog and of these they named which tracks have aged well.
“A lot!” Marasigan exclaimed. “‘Selos’ and ‘Procrastinator,’ we like to play both in every show.”
He added: “Madami, eh. We actually listened to the whole catalog recently and listed 40 songs that aged well. We narrowed the number to 20 and those we will perform in our anniversary concert.”
He pertains to “Under The Glow Of The Satellite: A 20th Anniversary Concert” at the Metrotent Convention Center at Metrowalk in Pasig on April 13. The FM station Jam 88.3 is a media partner and the concert is presented in collaboration with Soupstar, vinyl specialty record store The Grey Market, and apparel company Team Manila.
So, what songs didn't make the cut?
“Madami din. A lot of the songs that had some metal elements in it, hindi ko na masyadong type. (But) the songs that lean into indie rock parang pwedeng i-release ngayon and it wouldn’t have mattered. The heavier songs are the ones that did not age well and oddly enough the indie rock songs, parang mas timeless.”
On the concert, the frontman said, “We wanna make it a Sandwich experience, not a festival.”
He added the band chose the personnel for the production, from the lighting director to the video director, as well as designing the stage themselves. Why, they even personally picked the food and drink to be served at the party that night.
“Kailangan din naming imbitahin lahat ng naging Sandwich which is like sobrang dami din (including Marasigan's Pedicab bandmate Jason Caballo and Tim Cacho of Imago). We’ll invite Mark (Abaya) pero hindi na namin pagta-trabahuin, magpaparty na lang kami. We're preparing a special section for all our friends to hangout and celebrate with us.”