JTC (from left): Brian Lotho, Congie Lulu, Biboy Renia, Migs Mendoza
After five years of toiling under the radar, pop-rock band Join the Club launched its sophomore album, “Gera ng Balarila,” performing to a packed crowd at the ’70s Bistro late last year.
While frontman Biboy Renia described the feeling of being onstage and playing new music as “exciting and exhilarating,” the events that led to that moment were anything but.
JTC was one of the many promising bands that debuted and enjoyed considerable radio airplay in the mid-2000s. With its first album, “Nobela,” spawning the hits “Lunes,” “Tinig” and “Nobela,” the band seemed well on its way to a fairly solid career.
Speed bump
But due to “management issues,” JTC—currently composed of Renia, Congie Lulu (bass), Migs Mendoza (guitar) and Brian Lotho (drums)— hit a speed bump.
Renia related that the band’s former management label, Redrum Music, folded in the middle of recording “Gera” in 2008. A few lineup changes, Renia added, also made things challenging.
“Funding the album was a struggle. We used our own money … savings from past gigs,” Renia told the Inquirer.
Day jobs
“Fortunately, we all had day jobs,” added Lulu.
They finished the album in 2010. But without a label or a distributor, releasing “Gera” became a hurdle.
“We came to a point where we considered giving away copies of the album for free,” said Renia, “because we didn’t want our efforts to go to waste.”
Luckily for JTC, Trix Parco of Twice 2 Beat Management noticed, and took the group under his wing. Renia related that Parco helped JTC release two singles from the album—“Bagong Panimula” and “Balewalang Pag-ibig”—which gained radio airplay and figured in the Myx charts in 2012.
“We wanted to assure fans that we were still around,” Renia said. “Both songs did well, motivating us to release the album.”
The buzz piqued the interest of Universal Studios, enough to release “Gera.”
Said Renia, who’s now promoting “Rakista,” the third single: “The band was on a hiatus for a while and other labels were a bit skeptical, especially since the new album sounded different from the first.”
Though the songs in “Gera” are more synth-heavy and intricately arranged, Renia insisted that the newer works have the same sensibilities as the songs in “Nobela.” “There are lots of things going on … but if you listen closely, you’ll hear the old JTC sound—only more mature,” he said, adding that they listened to a lot of 1980s rock, classic rock and post-punk while working on the album.
More reflective
He noted that, unlike “Nobela,” which generally tackled love, the 11 tracks in “Gera” are more reflective and socially relevant.
Playing in front of a mix of familiar and new faces during the album launch was overwhelming. So much so that, Renia jested, “Wala pa akong asawa, pero para akong ikakasal. I was satisfied, pero bitin!” It was almost as good as starting over. “Seeing our hard work pay off makes us all happy.” he said.
(apolicarpio@inquirer.com.ph)