Joey Dizon's six-string theory

Tolerate this.

Imagine penitents scuttling down a valley of tears, as every thing around them erupts in squeals of meaty humbuckers and slithering single-coils, leaving nothing but scorched bloody earth. A cloud of burning flesh. A tremble of misshapen shadows. Everything is shot to hell. A vision of Bosch, with a backdrop by Gottfried Helnwein, and soundtracked by a tiger moon quartet called Intolerant.

Intolerant (the hell-spawn of influential metal act Skychurch) is a Filipino crossover/heavy metal/hardcore band of the first water. The band has played gigs with the likes of Death Angel, Testament, Shadows Fall and Lamb of God; its album “Reasons for Rest” is something to be stacked alongside your metal horde; and it has played concerts as faraway as Davao, Cagayan de Oro, even Hong Kong, Singapore and China. Guangzhou in China, would you believe? Metal in Mao’s land? Now that’s Chinese democracy.

All out for the love of the loud: guitarist-vocalist Russell dela Cruz, bassist-vocalist Mic Gallegos, drummer Pepo Gohu, and guitarist Joey Dizon have brought their Intolerant juggernaut wherever there are ears for hard-hitting metal up your ass.

The ESP Eclipse II

“Think of Intolerant as a more accessible form of metal… metal for listeners who aren’t necessarily fans of metal but can relate to the racket we make,” Joey Dizon, who is also a rock journalist, explains the DNA of the band. “We like the challenge of making our music accessible to the non-fans, and we love going against the grain by incorporating various styles of music into our sound. In short, we love breaking the rules and the stereotypes, and are set on changing the standard. Even if it means pissing off the purists… F*ck them.”

He says the band has half a dozen songs ready for the next album, and has recently played a smoldering set at Pulp Summer Slam 12. “Hopefully, we can go back to Hong Kong and play for our buddies who got the ball rolling.”

Did you know that this guitar hero started out strumming a Raon shop guitar when he was in his teens? One of those jangly, clanging things almost impossible to keep in standard tuning where he churned out GNR and Metallica tunes. He didn’t even own an electric until he started sessioning for bands such as Skychurch. The first guitar he owned was a popular Japan-made model.

“Because I was still hoping I’d become one of those killer shredders like Steve Vai or Joe Satriani (laughs),” he recalls. 

He tried a whole gamut of guitars — a custom-built one, a Frankensteined model (a chop-chopped mutant six-string) — until the LTD and ESP Eclipse guitars came out.

This is Intolerant: Guitarist Joey Dizon (second from left) with his Intolerant bandmates — bassist-vocalist Mic Gallegos, guitarist-vocalist Russell dela Cruz and drummer Pepo Gohu

“The search was over,” he says. “These guitars are perfect for my musical style. I still have all those other instruments at home, but ESP has got me covered as a performing musician. I feel my hands are now only able to play ESP’s comfortably and effortlessly, which was good news to me when the endorsement came through.”

Joey Dizon is the first official local endorser of ESP/LTD guitars, as well as Elixir strings and cables.

“Honestly, I was all giddy about it, especially when I finally got a copy of the catalog and saw my name, my band’s name and photo in it… and honestly, I couldn’t be happier that a Filipino was chosen. I’m honored to be representing our country, and it’s great to have other Filipino artists Paolo 8 Toleran of Franco/Queso and Mico Ong (of Fuseboxx) on board as well. I have to give credit to Lyric (the distributor of ESP and LTD guitars in the Philippines) for finally pushing Pinoy artists to be recognized.”

And it happened pretty quickly. One moment a Lyric staff-member was asking him what he thought of their guitars, the next he was bringing home the EC-1000 and with his photo in the catalog. He adds, “It doesn’t seem like work because I really believe in the product and don’t mind spreading the word about it.”

Consider the company Dizon is in: Metallica’s Kirk Hammet and James Hetfield, Jeff Hanneman of Slayer, Rob Caggiano of Anthrax, Willie Adler of Lamb of God… the list is endless.

The Intolerant guitarist is enamored with the LTD EC-1000 model, mainly because as much as he loves playing lead parts, he’s still most comfortable with a nice, fat-sounding instrument that can really crank out chunky rhythms. Like the Apocalypse’s very own hard-chuggin’ train of mass destruction. 

“It’s uncomplicated, set up with active EMG pickups and is a solid piece of wood. Of course, I also got myself an ESP Eclipse… same great qualities, but with a Floyd Rose, so you can imagine how fun it is (laughs). No ads yet in those cool guitar magazines, but yeah, I did get lucky and made it to the 2012 international catalogue. I have Lyric to thank for that.”

The ESP EC-1000: Dizon explains ESP Guitars’ philosophy: “ESP actually took the chance in making an instrument specifically for players like myself in the heavy metal genre. It’s not a brand that tries to make their guitars with a million sounds or different tones, but a brand that encourages and help musicians find what they want.”

Lyric, primarily known in the country for creating great pianos, carries brands such as the aforementioned ESP/LTD, as well as Blackstar amps (“that boast nice volume, gain, tone”), Elixir strings, Danelectro guitars and basses, DW drums, Vic Firth drumsticks, and Warwick basses (one look at those beauties and you’d likely say, “Make mine Nirvana Black!” or something Jack Bruce would play), among other goodies.

Regardless of his status, Dizon does not feel like an endorser at all.

He concludes, “I am (merely) spreading the word about a product I honestly believe in and trying to offer it to both young musicians and players who still might be searching for the right guitar. It’s really more like ESP saying, ‘Here’s a great guitar, and show other people that it’s a fine instrument by doing what you know how to do best — play.’”

Play the sunset? No way! More likely play a severed adagio as the sky turns Bible-black and we all shuffle off this mortal coil.

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For information, visit www.lyricpiano.com.ph, or visit any Lyric branch at SM North EDSA, TriNoma, Rustan’s Cubao, SM Megamall, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, and Park Square.