anybody knew any gigs of this band or are they still around?
i have digged an article about them...
MISSING FILEMON : Back to Basic, Back to Bis-Rock
by Januar E. Yap
Source: Sunstar Weekend , July 14, 2002, page 10, 11
"Si Filemon, si Filemon
Namasol sa kadagatan
Nakakuha nakakuha og isdang tambasakan
Gibaligya gibaligya sa merkadong guba
Ang halin puros kura ang halin puros kura
Igo rang ipanuba." - Cebuano folk song
Okay, so it's either that the bands misses Filemon, the bacchanalian fisherman of yore, or that the poor fellow is the Abu Sayyaf's recent catch. Punctuation makes a lot of difference. Why do you miss Filemon? Let me count the ways. One, the folk song is known for its playfulness with the workaday. Deceptively simple, since even in its light narrative on Filemon life, it's actually a social commentary on the endless cycle of poverty the old fisherman is caught in,"… ang halin puros kura, igo rang ipanuba…"
Filemon - song or character - is central theme to journalist Lorenzo "Insoy" Niñal's (vocals/guitar) band, Missing Filemon: ordinariness, love, drinking, circles and triangles, pedestrians, commuter, faith healer, the homespun fares in life are actually, well, life itself. "Our songs are usually what people call mabaw. You hear the lyrics and you don't have to think of what they mean. They employ overused themes like friendship, unrequited love, memories of childhood, themes so simple you can't hide behind symbols," says Insoy.
On his shirt grins the legend Bob Marley. By a stretch of irreverence, that may be how poor Filemon looks like. But Missing's songs are far from reggae; they are in fact, somewhat cousins to E-heads or The Beatles, the band's heavier influences. "Lennon and Buendia," quips Insoy. But who cares as the song goes, "nothing's gonna change my world." For as long as everybody's happy.
"Today's band scene is characterized by loud music, heavy on instruments with little emphasis on melody and lyrics. When was the last time we heard simple and melodic songs like 'Si Filemon, si Filemon?" Insoy says.
But Missing is, naturally, more than that. With many of the local acts merely mimicking foreign bands, Missing is getting back to roots, singing from where the heart is, sincerely and zealously, creating songs awash with local color. "A songwriter best expresses himself in a language he is most at home with. Some local musicians are ashamed to write songs in Cebuano, but all are proud to write songs in English. I have to feel the music I make, or I won't write at all," says Insoy.
"Kay bisday man si Insoy!" exclaims Missing's drummer Eimer Tabasa. After the short lived Anything But The News (ABTN), Sunstar daily's unofficial band, fizzled out, Insoy and Arnie Aclao (bass) carried on, picking up from what the preceding band missed doing - original songs.
Insoy, whose talent may have undergone further honing under the tutelage of writer/musician Msgr. Rudy Villanueva at the San Carlos Seminary in Mabolo, breezed through a number of songs to make up an album. "Gamay na lang ang kulang," he says. This month, Missing Filemon may be through recording their 10 track album with Ian Zafra as producer. What's going to be the album's title? "Wa pay 'ngan bay," says Insoy.
Missing recently completed Red Horse Beer's promotional tour Red Horse Beeranda. Missing was the only carrier band picked for the gig, in a circuit performance in Cebu's municipalities. "Red Horse wanted a band whose songs speak of ordinary, maybe because most of its clients come from the masa," says Insoy, and continues, "One great thing about the tour is that we were able to bring our music to places and people we referred to on the songs - the istambay, the baduy, the bisdak, the Cebuano."
FM stations are currently playing Missing's first single "Ngano Ba?". Missing's lyrics are often tongue-in-cheek, Cebuano in humor, and oftentimes, subtly philosophic.
Take Habo-habo, a song about a song, or music for that matter. "Kung mokanta ka ba wa sa tono/ bisan kung mo-ubo sintonado/ Why don't you listen to the rhythm of the falling rain/ Paminawa ang ga-away nga iro ug iring/ better yet try to listen to the sound of one hand clapping." Then the chorus: "Bisag asa ka pa bisag unsa ang imong hitsura/ Adunay musika/ Sa kanunay kauban sa hilak ug kalipay/ Ablihi lang ang dughan mo'g gamay."
And then Kumusta, a song reunion, and obviously still seeking for answers; "Kadaghan mo na ba'g tattoo/ Sa bukton ug sa dughan mo… Wala ko damhang magkita tang duha/ Kumusta nang gihangyo ko/ Ayaw kog ingnang nakalimut ka na/ Kumusta nang gihangyo ko nga magdungan ta ug katawa sa adlaw ug gabii sa kama."
And then finally, Suroy-suroy, the pedestrian's anthem. "Dalan Colon gamay lang gihapon/ Ang Gazining sunog balay na ron sa buyog/ May mga batang naghingos ug putos/ Abi nimog pansit apan diay papilit."
From hereon, with all bisdak ingredients well into the cauldron, let's wait for Missing's boiling point. That may be bisrock's (Bisayang Rock) brand new brew. Or stew!
"Cebuano bands should not be ashamed to write Cebuano songs. Bisdak tang tanan mga bay. Ayaw mo'g kauwaw," says Insoy.
Missing Filemon
OS. and they were great!
Originally Posted by insoy
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