For Monty Macalino, Mayonnaise is more than just sound-savoring garnish
Mayonnaise
In 2004, the alternative rock band Mayonnaise broke into the mainstream after winning the Red Horse Muziklaban contest and releasing its breakthrough single, “Jopay.” Since then, it has maintained a consistent, albeit relatively quieter, career: It came up with an album or an EP every two years or so, and was a fixture on the live-music scene.
Some people consider the group “underrated.” And that’s OK, said frontman and chief songwriter Monty Macalino: ”I see it as a compliment.”
He has never thought that Mayonnaise would someday headline a major concert. Not until this year. And the title couldn’t be more fitting—“Akalain Mo ’Yun.”
“We’re the kind of band who’s known more for doing gigs or provincial tours. A lot of the bigger shows we played in the past were self-produced. This is the first time another entity has invited us to do a solo show,” he said at a press conference for the group’s upcoming 17th anniversary concert on June 29 at Music Museum (call 721-6726).
The band—also composed of drummer Shan Regalado, guitarists Carlo Servano and Keano Swing and bassist Nikki Tirona—finds this potential career milestone as exciting and challenging at the same time.
“There’s this responsibility to produce something different from what we typically do,” said Monty, who revealed that The Manila String Machine would be joining the band onstage for special numbers. “It’s not often that you get to play with violinists and cellists.”
While mounting a gig of this scale could have been done earlier in his career, Monty said the group did not want to force it. “We know what we’re capable of doing … But we wanted it to be something organic,” the lead vocalist said.
The show, mounted by One Music PH and Gabi Na Naman Productions, also serves as the culminating event of Mayonnaise’s recent tour for its latest album, “Gusto Ko Lang Kasama Ka Palagi Pero Hindi Pwede.”
As a young music lover in the mid-’90s, Monty was drawn to American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins and its song, “Mayonnaise.”
“I listened to a lot of American and local alternative bands when I first started writing songs,” Monty recounted. “The Smashing Pumpkins was huge back then, and ‘Mayonnaise’ was representative of the sound I wanted for a band—rock, guitar-driven and with pop sensibilities.”
Monty then pursued music and formed a band with his friends. He thought music would be a mere pastime, but it ended up becoming a viable career path. In 2002, Mayonnaise was born. Aside from “Jopay,” the group also produced other hits like “Bakit Part 2,” “Paraan,” “Tayo na Lang Dalawa” and “Kathyrn.”
After a handful of lineup changes over the years, Mayonnaise is still in the business, performing and churning out new material.
Monty cites Filipino pop culture as one of the driving forces behind his songwriting process. (“Jopay” was inspired by the SexBomb dancer of the same name; and “Kathryn” is a tribute to the actress Kathryn Bernardo.)
“Just because you’re going through a rough patch doesn’t mean that all the songs you should be writing are sad; and they don’t always have to be happy when you are,” he explained.
