A new kind of Manila Sound from Brass Pas Pas Pas Pas

BRASS Pas Pas Pas Pas

Sometimes, you have no choice left but to close your eyes and take that leap of faith.

That is what “horny” 10-piece (sometimes 11 or 12-piece) band Brass Pas Pas Pas Pas has done with the completion of its debut album called “Greatest ‘Hits.’”

The group’s album produced under the Under De Saya label will be available in the market in August, following a promotional bar tour that first took the group yesterday to 70s Bistro, where it played with Dong Abay and Ang Bandang Shirley.

According to Francis de Veyra, musical director of the funk and soul band, the independently released album comes four years after the group first got together, and will feature original material.

“We want a new kind of Manila Sound, something fresh,” said De Veyra, also the musical director of Radioactive Sago Project.

He described the album as a mix of the soul, funk and R&B genres that would showcase the members’ individual skills and influences.

De Veyra is featured in most of the tracks, including “Chili Garlic Buttered Shrimp” and “Funky,” then in “Hot Jazz” in collaboration with guitarist Kakoy Legaspi, “Kumper” and “Yatap” with drummer Wendell Garcia, as well as “Ala-Stress” with keyboardist Nikki Cabardo.

Legaspi also contributed “I-Gurlfrend” and “Spongebob Meets Satan,” while vocalists Mike Luis and JJ Pimpinio contributed “Ynip” and “Ansabe,” respectively.

The release of the album is the latest highlight in the career of Brass Pas Pas Pas Pas, which was formed in 2012 when longtime friends from different bands got together and decided to play their own music.

Completing the band are Radioactive Sago Project members Roxy Modesto (baritone saxophone), Wowie Ansano (trumpet 1), Pards Tupas (trombone), as well as Joseph Cabanero (tenor saxophone), Rico Sobrevinas (alto saxophone) and Jeric Sta. Ana (trumpet 2).

As for the name, Garcia related that they were hanging around backstage at Malasimbo when they heard Junior Kilat play a reggae song. The drums with the dub delay effect sounded like “baspaspaspaspas.”

For De Veyra, Brass Pas Pas Pas Pas, which first played as a group during “Horny Night” at B-Side in Makati City, is built around the members’ common love for original Filipino music.

They were inspired, for example, by the music of such groups as VST & Co., Boyfriends, Apo Hiking Society, Rico J. Puno, as well as the funk group The Advisors. They also pay homage to the classics of Michael Jackson, James Brown and Stevie Wonder.