Pinay singer/songwriter making waves in Canada

MANILA, Philippines -  Another Pinay is making waves in the entertainment world abroad.

This time, it’s Audrey Angchangco’s turn to take the spotlight as she continues to wow Canadians with her different kind of pop/punk music.

A daughter of Environmental Hero Audy Angchangco, who was slain in 2007 for his anti-illegal logging campaign, Audrey is taking her acts with her band Before Helen in different places in Canada and has been receiving great reviews from music critics there.

Born on Oct. 4, 1992 in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada while her mom Helen was staying there as immigrant, Audrey stayed with her parents in the Philippines until 2003, then left for good the same year to finish her study.

Allen, as she is fondly called by friends and relatives, works part-time to help out with her schooling and music fees. She was a basketball varsity for six years at the Centennial Secondary School in Coquitlam, British Columbia, then called it quits to focus on music.

“Basketball was definitely a ton of fun, it’s unfortunate that I had to quit because I simply just didn’t have enough time for it. As for college, I plan to take law, psychology and criminology and hopefully get a degree,” said the 18- year old phenom.

“It’s can get tough trying to manage my work, school and music sometimes. It’s all about prioritizing, scheduling and organizing,” she said.

Audrey, who is the lead vocalist of Before Helen (named after her mom), writes her own songs, some of which she performs in several gigs around Canada. Her influences come from bands like Hedley, Paramore, Taking Back Sunday, The Summer Set, Marianas Trench and Dallas Green.

“Their music reflects the emotions that they pour into it, and mostly about incidents in life that you can relate to. I love writing songs about my life experiences because I find that people tend to relate and be more drawn to songs like that,” said Audrey, whose aunts, The Montoya Sisters, made it big during the Clover Theater days.

Before Helen was organized in August of last year after Audrey broke up with her former band She’s No Minor, where she played guitar.

“There’s no animosity between us. Me and my bandmates still hang out and we’re still friends. We just decided that the music wasn’t for us. Back then I really thought that I wanted to be the lead vocalist, so we went our separate ways and I started Before Helen,” she said.

Before Helen’s popularity reached all time high in Canada after the group performed in a charity concert that Audrey organized. Today, the band continues to arrange charity concerts every few months called The Rock House where members are joined by other local bands. The proceeds go to charity institutions of their choice.

Before Helen is composed of Brant Wladichuk on lead guitar; Caitlin Weedle, bass; Miguel Lee Mori, drums; and Audrey, guitars and vocals.

“I chose pop/punk because I find the genre very exciting, catchy and fun to play. I realized I was into this particular genre when I moved here to Canada. Pop/punk was something I wasn’t very familiar with and I took a liking to it immediately. I do write my own music. Most of my inspirations come from everyday life experiences. It always feels great to sit down and write a song after a tough day,” she said.

Before Helen is now in the middle of its preparations for the first album and would be releasing an EP (extended play) at the end of January.

“We’re recording songs right now in the studio. It’s going really well, we should be releasing our EP at the end of January next year. I’m hoping to be able to penetrate the Canadian Market. It’s definitely tough over here but it’s a ton of fun. The challenge adds to the excitement and you get to meet some of the coolest people in the business. We do have a bit of a fan base though we have just started out. I can definitely see myself in the industry in the future,” Audrey said in an interview with The STAR.

The band has considered strutting their wares soon in the country as soon as they can wiggle free from their tight schedule in Canada. This early, the group has been planning to hook up with several local recording companies and show them what they’ve got.

“I consider coming home all the time. I’d love to perform for a big crowd over there. In fact, I’ve been talking to my band about it not too long ago. We would definitely love to. If we were given the chance, we would absolutely come down and rock out,” said Audrey.

Check out Before Helen’s performances at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Before-Helen/128737977188733 or http://www.youtube.com/user/BeforeHelenBand?feature=mhum.