ZAMBOANGA CITY— Chavacanos are beaming with pride at the fate of a local college acoustic band that used to take small gigs just to get their songs heard.
Maldita (crafty in Mexican Spanish) has been making waves since their flagship song, Porque (why), was posted on video-sharing site YouTube on June 28, 2009.
The song, written in Chavacano, talks about questions on why one has to be left behind when he or she gave everything to a lover.
And YouTube users as far as Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries only have praise for the song they could only partly understand.
The Chavacano dialect mixes Spanish words with Visayan and other local dialects.
Maldita was originally composed of Roel “Whey” Guevara and vocalists Danica Elora Mariz “Demz” Espinosa and Francel de Leon.
Whey said he wrote Porque out of his personal experience and did not expect it would be Maldita’s vehicle to becoming noticed.
He said he chose Chavacano for the lyrics because he also wants to showcase his native tongue.
“I was just hoping that someone will appreciate our Chavacano songs,” Whey said.
After uploading the song on YouTube, Whey said the unexpected happened.
A local radio also started playing it on air.
A Manila-based Zamboangueña, composer Geraldine Therese Lim, was among those who took notice of the song when she heard it played on the radio.
Lim was then in the city to scout for local talents.
“And I could hardly shake it off from my head,” she said, adding that she even immediately translated it into Filipino.
Lim said she later browsed the Internet and found the song with Francel and Demz singing it.
“So I immediately contacted them,” she said.
It was Lim, through the help of her close friend Pia Santiago, who opened the recording door for the band.
But even before they could start recording, a bad news came.
Francel begged off because she was a candidate for cum laude.
“It made me realize we might not be able to get the nod of Viva Records with only just one vocalist,” Lim said.
But then Viva agreed to promote Maldita and their songs.
Maldita is now composed of Whey, Dems, drummer Mohammad Reda Nubhan, bassist Jimi Tristan Ong and lead guitarist Renever Bandiola.
True to its roots, Maldita remained a Chavacano band.
Aside from their five-year record deal with Viva, Maldita is also busy with television appearances and more gigs.
City Councilor Rogelio Valesco Jr. said Maldita is succeeding where others failed – the promotion of the Chavacano dialect.
“Before, it was our elders who were promoting the use of Chavacano dialect among the youth, now it’s the young Zamboangueños who are promoting our tongue thru pop music, arts, media, film and performances,” he said.