Showing posts with label Cog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cog. Show all posts

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Blog Layout Update

Hello!

I've decided to put some quick-access links to subject matter on this blog, up on top. I've included articles from different sites I contribute to, some links outbound to my toy stuff, and links to two Youtube playlists for my band Cog (https://www.facebook.com/Cog.band/).

I'll be refining the top bar as things go along. Cheers!

In times when I had less weight, and more hair.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Cog - Clandestine


My band, Cog, has just come out with a new single for the new year, "Clandestine." We hope you all will enjoy the lyric video we've created just for it.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Cog At Route 196


My band Cog playing at the Amplified anniversary event at Route 196.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

The Old Guy's 7 Things to Remember When Pursuing a Hobby or Career in Music


Cog at the Tower of Doom. Photograph by Garon Honasan
After reading an article by my friend Joey Santos (7 Music Myths New Bands Should Avoid), I figured that somehow, I do have some thoughts on music – coming from being a 41-year-old “hobby” musician. Here goes:

1. Every time you question why you are making music, ask yourself this: Is it because you want to make a living from it, or is it because you love it? If you want to make music seriously, music that you love and you want to make a living from it, then you should start planning everything out. After all, a serious music career is about the same thing as setting up your own company.

2. Making the music that you like is not the same, mostly, as making music that other will like to hear from you. There are no hard and fast answers to this conundrum, because the line in the sand that you must draw between being true to yourself, and accepting that you want people listening to you and buying into your music (literally, as in they will pay you) will be up to you. Sorry, there are no easy answers for this one.

3. Building a fan base is just about as difficult a process as making music you want. That's because you have to choose, in a way, what sort of fans you want to have. There's a delicate balance in between “being true to yourself” and “I will be attractive to a larger fanbase than my friends.” And yes, it takes time and effort, on the same level or near to making the music that got you into all this in the first place. If you want to remain reclusive and just known for your music, then you have to accept that you won't have that big a fanbase, or you better be sure you are a songwriting genius.

4. The question of becoming part of a musical movement, be it based on the music itself, on a generational surge, or a visual look, will always be one of how long you're willing to ride the proverbial wave. In this sense, you have to be as savvy as Madonna at her peak: being able to ride successive trends while retaining a basic identity. Conversely, you can also choose to be independent of any trend – but you have to make sure your individuality is such that your practically an icon waiting to be enshrined.

5. Forget the physical proof of music – in other words, say goodbye to CDs. In fact, the idea of a long-playing album is also suspect. What is important now is to have a regular presence in the online world, be it with a personal blog they can follow, singles that are released regtularly, or with a merchandising plan that keeps people aware of you. These days, you are selling you, aside from your music. People want to buy into you and your music.

6. Gigging is not everything. And the same holds true for writing songs in the studio, as it is for merchandising efforts as well. In other words, balance everything. Yes, this can be very difficult if you have band members to worry about. Again... time management is the key.

7. Do make sure that you have a strategy for using as many social media platforms and communication sites. E-mail lists are important, since you can use them across multiple platforms and mass-emailing services. The same goes for making sure that you maximize your content in two ways: for a general feed, and with some tweaks to maximize for the specific social media platform you will use.


Finally, and this is the #8: HAVE FUN. If you are not having fun, then what the hell are you doing spending so much time on all this in the first place???


*Photograph by Garon Honasan of Cog.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Photo - UP Fair 2013


We played only three songs at the UP Fair (Millipede, Lines Crossed, and Stabbing at the Shoulders of Giants), but it was fun, though a bit tiring, owing to the timeslot.

Personal observation: Hair + Clothes = somehow '90's vibe.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Tower Sessions: Cog - "Lines Crossed"

Hello, all,
Sorry for not writing, but things are currently a bit busy. Don't worry though, once everything settles down, i think this place will get up and jumping again.

Anyway, here's one reason why I've been busy:




Copy as follows:

Tower Sessions Presents: COG

For the seventeenth episode of the second season of Tower Sessions, COG performs their song - "Lines Crossed." This performance was filmed and recorded at Tower of Doom Studios during a live recording session.

Check out www.towerofdoom.net to find out more about how you can record at Tower of Doom Studios!

COG on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/cog.band

Tower of Doom on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/towerofdoom

Tower Sessions on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/towersessions

RECORD NOW! VISIT http://www.towerofdoom.net/tod2009wpress/studio360.html

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

And The Music Keeps On Playing...


I probably haven't talked about it much in this blog, but right now, I have two active bands and I'm working with Six the Northstar on his project. Here's the public output so far:


Cog 

Our last major single with a music video was "Millipede," from our album Culling.

We'll be coming out with new material in the next few months, as we are now working with a new drummer, Matt De Mesa. Check out his other band, Oh Man! Oh God!






The Cellar Doors
This is the new pop band I've been involved in for about a year. No video yet, but we've got some stuff recorded.

Here are the following songs - demos only:

Please

Counterclockwise 





Six The North Star

He's an artist who fuses hip hop, jazz, funk and geek culture into a unique musical style. I'm proud to be working with him as part of his live crew on the occasions that he performs live.

These are his signposts on the web: Tumblr, Twitter and Youtube.


Do check out the various Facebook pages for updates on gig skeds and releases.





Sunday, July 22, 2012

Interview: Cog's Yagi Olaguera


Interview with Yagi Olaguera lead vocals for Cog. Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

*taken from Episode 1 on Southeast Asian Metal

Evolution Rock Metal Podcast 2012

Click Here

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Cog Anniversary Shotglass



And here it is folks, the Cog Anniversary shotglass we'll be giving away as a limited edition memento during the Cog anniversary gig.

When we finally got them, we were amused to note that it can hold quite a bit more liquid than the usual shotglass. And that's perfect. Haha. We're giving away these shotglasses for the first few people who come in to the gig - but before you can get one, you've got to take a full shot of rhum with it. Oh, yes.

Remember folks, here are the details for our anniversary gig:

One Decade of COG:

Freedom Bar
Anonas, Quezon City
September 10, Friday

Featuring:
Valley of Chrome
Intolerant
Sikatuna
Barbaro


Php 100.00 gets you in with two free beers!


 

Saturday, August 21, 2010

One Decade of Cog. More Information.




Come celebrate with us as COG turns 10 years old!

COG has just released their 2nd full-length album and it's available in stores nationwide (Philippines) under Tower of Doom and Galaxy Records. You can also buy a copy online at your favorite digital download stores (iTunes, Napster, Amazon, etc.)

ONE DECADE OF COG:
September 10 – Friday (not Saturday!)
Freedom Bar, Anonas, QC


featuring:
Valley of Chrome
Intolerant
Sikatuna
Barbaro

P100 gets you in with 2 free beers!

P.S. The band will be giving away some custom COG shotglasses to the first 100 guests! Take a drink with COG and get ready for a night of awesome heavy music!!! 

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Because, you see, I am very proud of my sister.

I am very proud to say that my sister has come up with an article that kicked the living crap out of me:

Hip hop as a medium is at its most powerful when the message resonates within you; if it tells a story that you can relate to, or it evokes strong emotions through the intricacies of lyrics or instrumentals, then it’s done its job. Hip hop is about passion and honesty, pure and simple.

-"I Can Name That Hip Hop Love Affair in 10 Songs," by Mia Olivar, from New Slang.

I always remembered various friends being in disbelief when they realized that Cog's bassist was Lil Miao's brother - and that we got along quite well with our music at home, thank you. Heck, we even used to have listening nights where we'd check each other's music. There was no Berlin Wall of musical differences for us. But what else did you expect in a house where folk, stoner, surf, sixties and postwar music could be heard along with New Wave, hard rock and hip hop?

One of my proudest moments in music was doing the bass lines for "Counting the Days" and "Mister Man." In a sense, that studio work would lead to me eventually subbing on the bass for The Out of Body Special, Los's band (Twitter here...).

I'm still surprised that my RUN-DMC tape played a part in her musical history, but hey, I had INXS's Kick album as my soundtrack for a whole summer.



P.S. Right! Cog is on Twitter. and the icon above was made at a time when I was a bit thinner, and had shorter hair. And please tell us if you've seen our album, Culling in your local music stores. Even more importantly, tell us if you haven't! So we can do something about it (this reminder is for people in major Philippine cities only - click here for other options).


Search Amazon.com for hip hop

Monday, April 5, 2010

Dangerdog Review: Cog - Culling

Another review of my band's album on the net. Thanks to Dangerdog and Miguel Blardony for the review!



Cog: Culling
Progressive Thrash Metal
Rating: 4.5/5.0
Tower of Doom Records

www.myspace.com/cog

Making complexity your band's trademark is never an easy task, but Cog make it seem so. Blending thrash metal with post-hardcore and the various strands of rock's fringes (let's not forget the saxophone), Cog have quite the tall order to fill. Thankfully on this second album titled Culling they go about the task of battering our ears with much aplomb. On its opening salvo a soothing intro bathes the listener's senses with saccharine sweet notes until Promethean arrives in true rollicking thrash fashion. Ever the chameleon, the band skip from one tempo to another across this sprawling thirteen song opus, one moment they add Gothenburg death metal flourishes into This Means War then keep matters laid back and calm on the infectious Calliope...


Click here to go to Dangerdog for the whole review.


Search Amazon.com for cog culling

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Our album's first online review!

I'd like to thank Archaic Magazine and Miguel Miranda for the review of our album, Culling. It's much appreciated.

COG (PHI)
CULLING Tower of Doom
Written by Miguel Miranda on Tuesday 30 March, 2010. Last updated on Tuesday 30 March, 2010

Say hello to the latest bunch of weirdos who are doing progressive metal like you’ve never heard before. Calling themselves Cog, this Filipino sextet bring their thrash metal places previously unimaginable without resorting to fey keyboards and assorted elegant frills. Alright, you have this Garon Honasan dude on saxophone. That's odd. But listen closely how his instrument is woven into the fabric of each song. Novelty is the word. What Cog are doing with the saxophone is so rare, it’s got to be a novelty until a bunch of other bands ape what they’re doing. Hopefully not...


Click here to go to Archaic Magazine and read the rest of the review


Again, a big thanks!



Search Amazon.com for cog culling

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Cog Videos!

Many thanks to Reytian21 for recording performances from our gig in Dayo Bar this past weekend. We're gearing up with more gigs after Holy Week. If you guys want to get us for a gig, just click on over to the Tower of Doom website to contact our management. We are so game to play.

Here are the videos he took of our performance - and he's got more from our Fete gig. Thanks man!

(edit: before playing the videos, please do turn down your volumes controls - the videos were taken at close range - the volume levels are definitely loud!)





Search Amazon.com for cog culling

Monday, March 15, 2010

Tower of Doom: UP Fair 2010

Two nights, a lot of fun, and a lot of drinking.

Photos of performances from Cog, Boy Elroy and Imbue No Kudos. Please check the links at the bottom of the entry. Cheers!
































More pictures at my Facebook album and my Photobucket folder.

Search Amazon.com for cog culling

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Cog. Culling. Tower of Doom.













Finally, it's out. After so many years (literally), my band's new album, Culling, is out. Fuck yeah.

- Music video for our first song off the album: "Millipede"

- Behind the scenes for "Millipede" video shoot

Available now in music stores and iTunes. You can also find our first album, Conflagration, in iTunes.

Search Amazon.com for cog culling

Saturday, November 28, 2009

I'm back, and Cog bits

Hi all! I've just decided to come back, and I guess I'm sticking more to this place than LJ at this point.

1) My band's releasing our album by next year, February at the latest. Yes, we know it's been a long time, but life happened along the way. We'll make it a point to come up with new stuff faster in the future.

2) As for Philippine politics - it's time to stop looking like a fool, Gloria.

That's all for now, am just making some stuff link up here....

Monday, January 5, 2009

Rewind.

Perhaps it’s the coming of the New Year, perhaps it’s the Dido album I’m listening to, or perhaps it’s just that it’s 2 a.m. in the morning and way too quiet. But it’s like I’m taking a look at my past. And it’s all because of a guy with a big package.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I think he had a big package. I know he had one. Let’s not go into details, but because of a few emails I read from long ago, plus a couple of pictures, I wanted to see where he was now, after all this time.

It turns out, he’s in Canada, and he has a probable girlfriend. Damn, how times have changed. And that was when the nostalgia train hit me, and dragged me across the years.


Ten years ago, I was teaching in Assumption. I was in the SpiritQuest. I hadn’t had a true and serious relationship yet, and I was still very much an idealist with a bad temper. And there was no Cog.

If I had stepped back through time, I bet that my past self would have been alarmed at how tired and jaded I look now – and how fat! Back then, I would have been about 31” at the waist. Nowadays, I am a healthy 34”-36”,depending on how much I’d eaten the day before. He would have been saddened that SpiritQuest, for me, would reach its end in a few years’ time by his counting. He would also have been shocked that I would be in a relationship of four years only, and that I would be in a metal band. He would also be shocked at how my professional life turned out.



If I had stepped back in time twenty years, I would probably have molested myself, hahahah. I only figured now that I was really cute back then – but on the other hand, I was a clueless guy at the time when it came to my preferences, complete with homoerotic sci-fi fantasies (I will explain over a cup of coffee, if anyone wants to know and have a laugh). I was in my second year of high school, and I was being scarred by my class’s treatment of me. No offense, but I would probably have kicked some of my classmates’ younger version’s asses at that point. Or seduced them. Bwahahaha.

I would probably horrify my younger self, and admittedly, even if my younger self had settled down enough to actually listen to me as I am now…I bet he would get pissed. I had a lot of dreams back then, and the only dream I kept was being in the band. And finding true love.


But of course…even if I could, would I have gone back? I don’t know. I don’t want to lose the band and my love because of some chronal consequence, but on the other hand, I would have loved to give my younger self a lot of warnings.

I’m still reminiscing now (obviously), and what I feel right now is an overwhelming sense of sadness and time running out. So fuck it, it’s time to write an article, and live in the present.

I hate it when nostalgia hits.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008


Hey all! my band, Cog, is currently selling a very nice, non-metal looking T-shirt. I currently have the following sizes: S, M, L and XXL. We've priced them all at P300. Just contact me if you want to get one, and let's figure out how this can be done.

Thanks!

While you're here, I'd also like to announce that many of the bands in the Tower of Doom roster now have their songs available in iTunes. Support the bands!