Mikey is the New Mikey

Mikey Amistoso has more than one claim to fame. Most people outside of his circle of friends and family know him as the frontman and bassist for the excellent indie rock band Ciudad (with Justin Sunico on guitar and Mitch Singson on drums), which has been creating peerless guitar-pop albums for over a decade now. (My personal favorites: Dance Lessons from their second album and My Emptiness from their fourth.)

Mikey also arranges and composes music for radio and TV (commercials and otherwise), and has even appeared in bit parts in films (see: imdb.com). He also has the honor of achieving a notoriety of sorts thanks to the song Mikey is the New Mong, by quirky energetic popsters Us-2 Evil-0.

Now he is making a new name for himself — or rather, two names. Mikey is making music under the alias Hannah & Gabi. We asked him about this latest foray.

YOUNG STAR: Hello Mikey. So, why go solo?

MIKEY AMISTOSO: I have a few songs that don’t really fit into Ciudad’s three-piece-guitar rock band sound. They’re mostly folk songs and lullabies. So I decided to make a new project for that, instead of forcing Justin and Mitch to mellow out on gigs and deprive them of the satisfaction of rocking out.

Why name your band after a Lemonheads song?

I originally wanted two random names for a band name (for example, Caroline and June, Thomas and Jane, Bonnie and Clyde... Hall and Oates) just to give a certain falseness/vagueness to the project. In the same way that Ben Folds Five is not really a five-piece but a three-piece band, I am not a girl duo but just one guy.

I was with (Philippine STAR columnist) Ramon De Veyra and (musician) Wincy Ong while finalizing my moniker, and it was they who suggested Hannah & Gabi, since I love the Lemonheads anyway, and it will serve as a tribute to the band that sort of started my musical career. (I was a big Lemonheads fan since I was 12 and started Ciudad because of it.)

What can people expect from Hannah & Gabi? Is Ciudad still going to be active?

Ciudad is still going to be active. The songs for Hannah & Gabi could easily be songs for Ciudad too, except that they’re harder to play live because they might be too intimate and boring for a rock club. In fact, Ciudad has already included one Hannah & Gabi track in their live repertoire (Amazingly Amused, a duet with Geri Gil... but in live gigs we ask Selena Salang to sing with us). There might even be occasions wherein Justin and Mitch will perform with me but as Hannah & Gabi.

What is your setup while performing? Just you and a guitar, or something more elaborate?

The original plan was not to have gigs, and just release recorded music. But I guess some people requested to see me perform. Ideally, it’s me on guitar, and a couple of backup musicians, not more than two, on other things like piano, cello, winds, etc. Jazz Nicolas will join me on piano on my next gig. I can also perform with just me on guitar and pre-recorded backing tracks on my iPod, which I did on my first show.

What can people look forward to in terms of future recordings and performances?

An album. Not sure yet if it’s going to be on CD, or digital download, or both. If I have money, I might just give it away, but it depends on my situation. (I hope it’s still okay to most people that I sell it.) There’s probably going to be a video or two on YouTube. I also have a MySpace account and Tumblr where I occasionally post covers of songs I love, aside from the actual tracks/rough mixes from the upcoming record. I can’t promise anything in terms of live performances because I really didn’t intend to have gigs for this one. I just want to focus on releasing recorded material. I sound better recorded than live anyway.

Do you have an audience in mind for this new musical venture? Or, if not a general audience, is there, say, a specific person who you would love to impress?

I guess the same people who like Elliott Smith, Sufjan Stevens, or the Spinanes might like this too. Of course I would love to impress these heroes of mine too, why not? Except that Elliott is already dead.

What do you hope to achieve with Hannah & Gabi?

As always, just to come up with good songs that people might cry or smile to.

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Further listening: Get your Hannah & Gabi goodness online at http://hannahgabi.tumblr.com/ and http://myspace.com/hannahgabi