All-female pop rock band ROUGE urges listeners to simply move forward after a breakup.
Vocalist-violinist Princess Ybañez, guitarist Jeri Vega Oro, bassist Kara Mendez and drummer Gyan Murriel--collectively known as ROUGE (stylized as such) --sing all about it on their recently released single titled “Kalimutan Ka.”
Most of ROUGE have something to say about it.
“We’ve all experienced breakups. Shattering but necessary for our soul’s evolution,” said Princess.
“It was a painful experience but I have learned a lot and made me a better person,” added Kara Mendez. “Yes, I’ve experienced it,” said Gyan tersely.
“Kalimutan Ka” is a ‘hugot’ song about the topic. A mid-tempo rock ballad that starts out slow but eventually rises. By the time it hits the main chorus, it becomes a full-on, high-volume lament as they croon, "Hindi na ko aasa pa sa ‘yo / pipigilan ko ang sarili ko / kakalimutan ka na."
Though the song is primarily about a breakup, the band says that it could be anything that one would want to walk away from. “It could be a break-up from your work or even a toxic lifestyle, said Jeri.
Though an all-girl pop rock band, ROUGE has no problems working with men behind-the-scenes in production.
“The song was written by This Band’s Euwie Von Loria and our music director, Don Bautista helped us with the arrangement,” said ROUGE.
Did adding a male member in the band ever cross their mind?
“Male members are not an option for an all-girl band,” said the band flatly.
“Unless he identified as female,” the ladies agreed, with impish smiles on their faces.
Speaking of, we asked ROUGE if there ever was an instance in the band’s history that two (or more) members had a crush on the same guy and how did they resolve the matter?
To this they had a resounding “no” for an answer. But teased that they “share a lot of common girl crushes,” and that no, they don’t fight over it.
“We just ogle.”
Well, how about a new female member then to beef up the ranks?
“Adding a member has crossed our minds but then we realize that isn’t necessary. Why fix that which isn’t broken,” said Kara.
The band said that having the band kept them all sane during the past year.
“We had music to keep us together,” said Princess, and “love” to get them going added Kara.
Half the members of ROUGE are in relationships right now, while the other half are single.
Kara is happy with her cats, ROUGE, friends and is actively searching for “the one.”
“I’m so lucky to have my family, bandmates and friends who're giving me all the love and support,” said Gyan. “And yes, because of them I’m very happy with my life right now.”
ROUGE recently released the official music video for “Kalimutan Ka.”