Puppy-Eyed Kirtmen to rock in Minglanilla live band concert

Expect Puppy-Eyed Kirtmen to rock the house this weekend at the Minglanilla Sports Complex with other Bisrock bands in "The Best of Showband with the Bisrock Band Live Band Concert" at 8 pm.

Vocalist Karl "Kharl" Caballero, guitarist Archie "Blo" Maquiling, rhythm guitarist Ione "Ayonman" Velasquez, bassist Ritche "Chiboy" Gimena and drummer Gaudie "Max" Maquiling who also dabbles in drumplaying with "Levimaboram" will take their compositions "Bogart" and the influences of Silverchair, Incubus, 311, Metallica, Puya, DC Talk, Pantera, Sepultura, Megadeth and Slayer and styles metalcore, nu metal, rap metal, rap and experimentals to Minglanilla in an anticipated powerhouse performances with Levimaboram, Twinkle Dudo, Aggressive Audio and Republican, and showbands ODS, Extremes, Echo Frenly, Northbound (formerly Serendipity), and Sweet Temptation.

This event will be backed by the municipal government of Minglanilla, Tequila Joe's Restaurant and Bar, Asia Brewery Incorporated, Rock Fishing Village, Bee Pinoy TV14, M. Lhuillier Philippines, 97.9 Love Radio, Atlantic Hardware-Cebu, GMP, MJ, Wow Travel and More, Asian College of Technology (www.act-edu.ph), The FREEMAN and Banat News, and Bombo Radyo Phils.

Puppy-Eyed Kirtmen took their name from a Southpark character, the cartoon show of whose creators are behind "Beavis and Butthead". Puppy-eyed simply means "pa-cute" which is self-explanatory.

The Kirtmen chose the character to mean "wild music" and that is what they would want to show this Saturday, July 15. Aside from "Bogart" which has already been played over 93.1 Smash FM, their other composition "Someday" which has also been played over at Monster Radio will also be featured.

Bogart is, well, about "macho gays" and was written by the Kirtmen in an attempt to make people understand that boy-to-boy relationships couldn't flourish in this society without the so-called "monetary considerations". Sukad na nagkaila ta/Ikaw na pirme sa'kong hunahuna/Pero ako natingala/ginganlan kama'g pirting nindota/Bogart...Bogart..../Wa ka ba gimingaw sa'kong taghoy/Ang akong bulsa namuypoy/Oh, Bogart ko/Asa na ka nangahoy."

They will also be performing "Chinita" about a girl with chinky eyes. "May kasakay ako nga usa ka chinita/Daghan kaayo'g nagpaduding kaniya/Di kapugngan na ako ni katawa/Kay ako ramay gilingi kanila..."

The group started with Blo and Ayonman who claimed to be frustrated volleyball players, pouring out this frustration into songs, which they consider an outlet.

When they joined a band competition for the "Students' Night" at the University of San Jose-Recoletos, Kharl came into the picture being Blo's good buddy. And also Chiboy being another chum of Blo. But joining in said contest also gave them another dose of failure.

Yet there is no giving up to the dream of someday being able to win the respect of the local musicmaking industry, the group performed at Casbah FGU for exposure along with bands Dysfunction, Gangrene and Jawbangers.

Also, in a bid to experience their baptism of fire in outdoor gigs, they jammed with other bands at an Oktoberfest celebration in 2004 at the Gaisano Country Mall. This was followed by another Oktoberfest celebration in 2005, but at the SM City Cebu for a venue.

Months after, they were able to play at Handuraw Events Café, artists' haven, for the establishment's "Plugged In Party" and "Battle of the Band" events. It was here that they were noticed by the Bisrock community, Handuraw being the "tambayan" of Bisrockers.

Most interesting is that Blo, the guitarist, runs Rooftop Jamming Studio along F. Llamas street in barangay Punta Princesa. This he considers their edge as it would be a bit easier for them to come up with an Extended Play album come October. Blo said that the business also involves rental of musical instruments. Call 2619322 if interested.

By the way, the Kirtmen are from every nook and cranny of Cebu and Mandaue cities-Kharl is from Kinasang-an, Pardo and is into BS Information Technology studies at the University of San Jose-Recoletos. So is Blo, of same school and is from barangay Labangon; Ayonman is from Wireless, Mandaue and is into Chemical Engineering at the University of San Carlos-Talamban campus, Chiboy is from Villa Cristina, Punta Princesa and works at the Mactan Parts Technology, Inc. at the Mactan Export Processing Zone. Max is Blo's younger brother who followed suit, obviously carrying on the influence of a big bro.

Catch them in a live interview over dyLA this afternoon at 3 to 4 via "OkRyan!", 909 kHz on your dial. Email [email protected]. The Kirtmen would like to thank this paper and Banat News, to their wonderful families, to vocalist of Carnival7 Roselle, to Levimaboram, Gia, Lettmae, Irene, Jo-an, and to all fans of Bisrock music, as well as to DJ Ramil "Idol" and Bré Ambungan, and Sir Jojo of Tequila Joe's.