Neocolours
As tedious as it was, pulling off all-day sessions in the recording studio was one of the things Jimmy Antiporda misses most about the early days of the pop band Neocolours back in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
“I have fond memories of the entire recording and production process. Our debut album, “Making It,” took us two years to finish because we wanted to make sure that everything was in place. We set a standard for ourselves that we wanted to meet,” he said in an interview for “Tuloy Pa Rin,” Neocolours’ concert at the Music Museum on Nov. 16.
It was hard, yes, but it only brought him and his fellow members—Ito Rapadas, Paku Herrera, Josel Jimenez, Niño Regalado and Marvin Querido—closer together.
“This allowed us to know each other better, music-wise and as individuals,” added Jimmy, who used to play keyboards for the band, which was behind such hits as “Tuloy Pa Rin,” “Say You’ll Never Go,” “Maybe” and “Hold on.”
More importantly, this tight-knit work dynamic also helped improve their skills as musicians.
“The sessions were long back in the day, as we didn’t have an undo button or copy-paste. If the recording is terrible, you have to do another take, from the top. If you come up with one that’s almost perfect, you have to think hard if you’re going to use it, or redo it and risk ending up with a worse take,” recalled Marvin, who also played keyboards.
“But that kind of training really honed us,” he added. “We learned from the very start that, if you want the songs to sound right, you have to do them right.”
On the business side of things, being a musician was also more profitable during the band’s time, Marvin pointed out.
“We still relied on physical formats, so it was more financially rewarding. It wasn’t lucrative by any means, but you could earn well enough to make a living out of solely being a composer, an arranger or sound engineer. You could raise a family doing so,” he said. “But with the decline of physical formats and the rise of music streaming, I don’t think that’s practical now.”
But advancement in technology and the advent of social media and streaming did bring about positive changes, observed lead vocalist Ito Rapadas. For one, it democratized the music industry.
“Back then, it was the labels, radio stations and such which controlled everything. But now, it’s a lot easier for aspiring artists to do things on their own. That’s why we see lots of indie labels or groups coming up. And as a result, the music scene is vibrant,” Ito said.
Because Neocolours didn’t officially disband, the word “reemergence” may be more apt than “reunion” to describe the group’s upcoming concert, which will have Neocolours playing its greatest hits.
The show will be directed by Frank Mamaril and will feature special guests Jamie Rivera, Nicole Asensio and Jett Pangan (call 88919999).
“There was no quarrel, breakup, press releases or anything like that. We just went about our different ways as we went along,” said Marvin, who’s now a prolific musical arranger.
But despite having already established thriving careers of their own, the members still want to make sure they do shows together as often as possible. “As long as there’s an opportunity to do shows like this and as long as I can reach the notes, we will perform as often as we can,” Ito said.
Jimmy, who now primarily writes and produces music, added: “I’m glad to still be in this industry and playing with these guys.”