FIL-AM actress Hailee Steinfeld (right) joins original cast member Anna Kendrick in this fun movie.
LOS ANGELES—The Filharmonic, an LA-based Filipino-American a cappella group, sings a Journey song in Tagalog as a band representing the Philippines in a world championship competition in the movie “Pitch Perfect 2.”
Portraying an ensemble named Manila Envy, The Filharmonic—VJ Rosales, Joe Caigoy, Trace Gaynor, Barry Fortgang, Jules Cruz and Niko Del Rey— said they had a blast shooting their cameo appearance in the sequel to the hit movie about an all-girl group, Barden Bellas.
Another Fil-Am, Hailee Steinfeld, joins the Barden Bellas in “Pitch Perfect 2” which also stars Anna Kendrick, Elizabeth Banks (who makes her feature directing debut with this sequel), Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Hana Mae Lee, Ester Dean, Kelley Jakle and Birgitte Hjort Sorensen.
Urbanesque hip-hop
Describing their music as “an urbanesque hip-hop sound with ’90s nostalgia,” The Filharmonic made it to the semifinals of NBC’s popular musical competition, “The Sing-Off.” That was their ticket to the first “Sing-Off” national tour and stage time with Linkin Park, Black Eyed Peas and Pentatonix.
For a band formed only in December 2013 as a result of chance encounters in college singing competitions, The Filharmonic is fast moving up. They have just released a new album, “Motown Fillie,” in time for the showing of “Pitch Perfect 2” in theaters.
Excerpts from our chat:
How did you guys land a part in “Pitch Perfect 2”?
Joe: Only a few days after we got off “The Sing-Off Live Tour,” we got a call from Deke Sharon, musical director for “The Sing-Off.” He was also the musical director for the “Pitch Perfect” movies. The movie was looking for an Asian boy band. We fit the bill!
The Barden Bellas compete against a cappella groups at the world championship in this movie. You guys play a group representing…?
Niko: The Philippines, of course. What an honor it is to represent our homeland in such a big, major motion picture. We incorporated our heritage in the film with fun choreography and a hint of our native tongue, Tagalog.
THE FILHARMONIC: (from left) Barry Fortgang, Niko Del Rey, Joe Caigoy, Jules Cruz, Trace Gaynor and VJ Rosales.
How many songs do you perform here? Who helped you choreograph?
Barry: We perform one song with the rest of the contestants. We sing “Any Way You Want It” by Journey in Tagalog. It was a blast. Aris Paracuelles from Quest Crew and Alex “BGirl Shorty” Welch from Beat Freaks choreographed our section. They were great. We can’t wait to work in future projects with them.
What was your experience like filming and being on the set?
Trace: It was awesome! We’re all huge fans of the first one so [going] to the set, meeting Elizabeth Banks and the Bellas and perform for a scene was unreal.
Elizabeth, an actress, makes her directing debut with this movie. What was she like as a director?
Jules: She’s naturally funny and extremely likable. From the first moment we met her, she made it very easy to be comfortable and just have fun on set.
Did you get to meet your fellow Fil-Am, Hailee Steinfeld?
VJ: Unfortunately, we did not! We hope to, someday.
Did you watch the first movie before you were offered a part in the sequel?
VJ: Yes, and it’s so awesome to think that when I did, I had no idea The Filharmonic would be in the second one.
I watched you in the “Rebuild! Philippines” benefit concert at the Greek Theatre. What are your best memories of that?
Jules: That was incredible. Our Filipino culture is a big part of what we do. So, to get together with so many other artists to raise money for the typhoon aid was amazing.
On top of that, we got to meet Jessica Sanchez, apl.de.ap, AJ Rafael and a few others. I would be lying if I said I didn’t freak out a little bit.
What was it like to be on the first “The Sing-Off” national tour and share the stage with Black Eyed Peas, Linkin Park and Pentatonix?
Niko: It was surreal, honestly. Performing on stage is a type of chaotic bliss that I can only describe as heavenly insanity.
Growing up with Black Eyed Peas as the most popular source of party songs and looking up to Linkin Park for creating one of my favorite albums of all time, “Hybrid Theory,” and then sharing the stage with [them] blew my mind. I almost don’t remember how it felt; adrenaline sent me on a spiritual high that I can’t describe.
Don’t get me started on Pentatonix; I can talk for hours about how amazing they are. They’re good friends of ours. They are some of the most passionate and creative people I know. We’re hoping to follow in their footsteps and chase a platinum album and a Grammy while promoting our Filipino culture all at the same time. I also wouldn’t mind doing another national tour or even a tour in the Philippines for that matter.
Why is it important to honor one’s heritage?
Trace: Music is a huge part of Filipino culture…but we don’t see a ton of Filipinos in the music industry. Part of the reason we started our group was to help make a bigger name for the Fil-Am community. So, we make sure to keep promoting our heritage.
ELIZABETH Banks, in a scene with John Michael Higgins, is “naturally funny and extremely likable,” says a Filharmonic member.
Please describe, briefly, your pursuits and interests outside of the group.
Jules: We have different interests. I’m still studying ecology and I volunteer my free time to a local wildlife sanctuary. Barry studied musical theater at the (American Musical and Dramatic Academy). Trace works with a renowned vocal producer. Those are just a few examples. We find it very important to make sure we accommodate everyone’s other passions.
Do you encourage members to pursue their individual dreams? VJ, for example, won in the 2010 JazzPhil-USA Talent Search.
Joe: Music has always been our dream. The Filharmonic has made it a reality. We were individual artists before coming together. We support each other to grow within the group and as solo artists.
How do you iron out clashes and differences? To what do you attribute your unity?
VJ: We’ve had some disagreements, but only creatively. We get along because of similar backgrounds in music, heritage and goals. We are driven to make high-quality music. We have grown together in this short period of time and we are like brothers, excited to see what the future holds for us.
Your videos are popular. What goes into the making of the videos, using your cover of “Uptown Funk” as an example?
Niko: Our video shoots are a little tricky because the visual arts are a whole new medium that we are trying to perfect. For the most part, we listen to our featured song, “Uptown Funk,” for example. We brainstorm the best way possible to visually represent the song well. It’s a fun song that really makes people want to dance.
So, we think of the best ways possible to make the viewer feel engaged and want to dance as well. That eliminated having a more serious tone and sitting dressed up in chairs like we did in our “All of Me” video —which meant we needed to think of “dance-y” types of visuals.
Our next question was, how can we make this video stand out from the hundreds of videos on YouTube? So, instead of us dancing, we brought the professionals. Our friends from Mini Shock LA were kind enough to step in and show us how serious dancers get down and add major flair to a song.
After that, it’s about the details of what angles and shots to use and editing the video.
The casting of Mini Shock LA is brilliant. How did you think of them?
Barry: Mini Shock LA is amazing—the greatest kids ever. We were fortunate to have our manager, Rose Buado, come across them while searching for kids for the part. We knew they were perfect when we first saw them.
What’s next for the group?
Trace: We’ll be putting out more music and videos. We just put out a new album but the work never ends. We’ve also been flying around the United States, performing, with hopes of going to the Philippines. So, fingers crossed!
(E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com. Follow him at https://twitter.com/nepalesruben.)
