MYMP celebrates 10 years with new vocalist, new album “ELECTRIFIED”

I’m such a sucker for cover songs, and one of my favorite groups, acoustic or otherwise has always been MYMP.

I could actually listen to their albums for almost the entire day, and I have all their albums in my MP3 players.

But for all their success for the past decade, its also been a challenging  journey for Chin Alcantara, MYMP’s band leader who had to deal with several vocalists to keep the band going.

Did you know that the Soul Siren Nina was actually one of their first vocalists?

According to their Wikipedia entry; “Jacques “Chin” Alcantara founded the band back in late 1996. It was Chin’s elder brother, Julius, who gave the band its name – a tribute to their departed mother. Chin’s mother, Dr. Stella Lopez-Alcantara (a cardiologist), had died of complications from breast cancer when he was 17.

Make Your Momma Proud was originally a four-man rock band, whose arsenal included Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and, a little Mr. Big.

“My mom played the piano but she didn’t get to see me play professionally—she did get to see me start out”, Alcantara said. In the year after his mother died, Alcantara took up the guitar and, in his words, “really got obsessed with it and that’s when I knew what I wanted to be a musician.”

The peak of M.Y.M.P.’s amateur days was when it won the 1996 national championship of the San Miguel Beer Battle of (rock) Bands.  As a college band, M.Y.M.P. appeared in college fairs and shows, but as they became more earnest in their intent to pursue music as a career, they encountered difficulty in lining up gigs due to their “disciplined rock” repertoire. M.Y.M.P. added a keyboardist and began working on a more pop sound, completing the transformation with the addition in 2000 of a female vocalist, Marifil Niña Girado, better known as the the Soul Siren NINA after leaving the band to go solo. M.Y.M.P. then industriously performed in bars, clubs and shows for years, building an identity.

In 2001, Julie Iris “Juris” Fernandez joined the band and it was during this time that MYMP  became a household name performing in sold out venues and reaching the height of their popularity.

But while Juris left in 2010, the band MYMP, considered as one of the country’s most successful acoustic band, continues to re-invent their sound and style as it debuts  its new vocalist Jana Laraza (who looks a lot like Kathryn Bernardo) under the management of  Maria Teresa Tinio.

Jana was chosen because of her voice that perfectly fits the repertoire of the group. Jana started singing professionally late 2009 only, with influences like Marsha Ambrosius, Vivian Green, Lalah Hathaway, Julliane, Floetry etc.

“Our music and concept in our previous albums were always centered on the acoustic sound and in this album we would like to introduce to our listeners our new “sound”. Instead of just being “unplugged” or being limited to acoustic guitar, we wanted to be amplified hence the term “electrified”. We wanted to add more electric instruments and other instruments as well. We wanted to explore“ said Chin Alcantara, MYMP’s band leader and vocalist.

The self-produced album features two brand new tracks as well as eight acoustic renditions reminiscent to your favorite pop singles in “Electrified” released under Galaxy Records distributed by PolyEast Records.

The album boasts its first single titled “Electrified” with new member Jana Laraza on vocals and comes with a music video that is quite different from their previous performance video. Chin shared, “We played different characters which adds to the humor. Our manager (Tere Tinio) and I thought of the concept. We recently had a show in Korea and we we’re really overwhelmed by our group’s popularity there. That’s why we did a K-Pop theme as a tribute to the Koreans’ appreciation for our music.”

Asked about the story behind the first single, Chin also shared “The song is like reminiscing your high school crush and getting the same feeling as “electrified”. That feeling would last for days and would only add to your hopes that someday she/he would like you too. I thought everyone could relate to that.”

As testament to the magic that happens when their music as a band lasted for 10 years—despite their individual influences to defying odds of the industry to creating something unique up to this moment— the band remains grounded. ”People recognize us as being just an acoustic duo. In reality we always perform with our back-up band and we’re not limited to just acoustic renditions. In our new album, it feels like starting out again. People are used to hearing us with a familiar tune but the response with this new original song is surprisingly good. Well the plan has never changed. Create and re-create music and share it to the world.” Chin added.

As Electrified breathes new life into the band’s catalogue since MYMP was formed in 1996 and released their first album in 2003. Chin said “Although it’s our 10th year in the recording business, MYMP is already 17 years in the music scene. We will continue creating and re-creating music that will cross cultural, language and international barriers just like what happened in Indonesia and Korea.”

 

Adding up to the six albums ever since MYMP was born in 1996, the seventh CD Electrified includes revivals from the 80s and 90s and emphasizes the band’s truest strengths; their outstanding songwriting and superb harmonies in two original cuts titled “How Much I Love You” and carrier single “Electrified.”

The 10-song offering includes:

1.) too Many Broken Hearts
2.) Just A Smile Away
3.) You’re In Love
4.) Gravity
5.) Givin’ Up On You
6.) Tell Me
7.) How Much I Love You
8.) Unwritten
9.) Bakit Ba Ganyan
10.) Electrified

“We can never really go away from what people are used to hearing from us. But in this album we’ve started adding other instruments rather than just the acoustic guitar. So even though we’re evolving, we make it a point not to put too much of anything to distract and take away the attention from the voice and the melody.”

MYMP consists of Chin Alcantara on guitars and vocals, Jana Laraza on vocals, Ibey Haber on bass, Hannche Bobis on keyboards and Joel Tolentino on drums.

With the release of MYMP’s new album, the band is preparing a tour that will feature radio promotion and mall shows around and outside the country. Electrified is now available in stores nationwide released by Galaxy Records distributed by PolyEast Records and on digital format.