Lola Amour bassist Raymond King leaving band after 8 years
MANILA, Philippines — The long-time bassist of Lola Amour and one of its founding members, Raymond King, is departing the group after eight years.
Raymond first revealed news of his departure last March 15 during a listening party for Lola Amour's upcoming epnonymous debut album, but only publicized it earlier this week through the band's social media platforms.
Raymond admitted the band was just a hobby in its early days and was not a part of his long-term plans.
"After 8 years of giving everything I could, I've realized that success, fulfillment and happiness are different things. Now I choose to be happy," Raymond said.
The musician expressed his gratitude to the band and its team and announced his last performance with Lola Amour would be the album launch on April 13 at the Circuit Makati Event Grounds.
Raymond will be replaced by Manu Dumayas, whose permanent stint will likely begin in another album concert to be held in Cebu in late April.
Manu is the brother of the band's vocalist, Pio Dumayas, and is a regular sessionist for Lola Amour. He often plays the trumpet and guitar and does backing vocals other than playing the bass when necessary.
The current Lola Amour line-up consists of the Dumayas brothers, lead guitarist Zoe Gonzales, trumpet player Angelo Mesina, keyboardist David Yuhico, drummer Raffy Perez, saxophone player Jeff Abueg and Tim Cruz as the main sessionist.
In an interview with Philstar.com, Raymond shared the background behind Lola Amour's latest single, "Namimiss Ko Na," which is inspired by his late grandmother's bout with Alzheimer's.
The song was initially supposed to be a direct response to the band's hit song "Raining In Manila" using the same key and similar notes, but the idea did not pan out and was envisioned in a different song on the album.
Raymond explained "Namimiss Ko Na" speaks of a different form of love and somewhat touches on mental health before expounding further on the song's origins.
"Kung baga yung namimiss ko is when she could still talk [and] when I look into her eyes may nakikita pa akong tao — kapag latter stages na, when you look into their eyes, wala nang laman," Raymond ended.
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