Iping Amores on how ‘Ginhawa,  Delfin’  is about the masses

CEBU, Philippines — Those who’ve been in the Bisrock music scene long enough know who Iping Amores is: He was a former vocalist of the Cebu-based band The Ambassadors which was known for their raw punk rock sound in the 2000s and for popularizing the song “Gugmang Giatay”. Nowadays, Amores is known more as a composer of mellow tunes.

“When we were young, our style of music was aggressive. We had this ‘walay paki’ attitude which was the kind of music I used to make. As I grew older, my songs lean more on inspirational because our responsibilities become bigger,” the Bisaya songwriter told The FREEMAN in a recent sit-down interview.

A check on his artist page on Spotify would yield various songs such as “The Unofficial Sugbo Song”, “Kinabuhi Musika”, and “Rosas Ang Kulay ng Bukas” – a contrast to the punk sound of his yesteryears.

He still carries his Bisrock fire with him as a solo artist, which is evident in his latest single “Ginhawa, Delfin”, his first release as a signed artist under Viva Records. The song was written by him and produced by Allaine Lee Godornes.

“Delfin is not an actual person, but more like referring to the common people or the masses,” said Amores, who wrote the song out of a need to speak for them on how to survive and make a living.

Amores was also inspired by the Bisaya radio dramas back in the day. He emulated the highly-theatrical storytelling of the medium for “Ginhawa, Delfin” and made its message relevant. He would later release the acapella version of the song. “It becomes more personal if there is no instrument so you can feel what the composer is saying,” he said.

He would sing different versions of “Delfin” depending on the atmosphere in his gigs. “If the event is more solemn, I prefer to perform in acapella. If there are crowds, I prefer to perform with the band. But the two still feel the same and special to me.”

Chiqui Lastierre of Viva Entertainment was instrumental in getting Amores signed to the company’s music label in 2022. “Our common friend Michael Curan [from indie band The Difficult Stranger] told me about the song Amores made and sent me the final masters. It wasn’t released yet that time and he told me that he was interested [to be signed under Viva].”

Having worked with independent labels, Amores was grateful for the opportunity to be under his current label. “I have direct communication with them. I feel pampered because they did a lot for me, like guestings on TV and radio, newspaper interviews and gigs,” he shared.

Lastierre added: “It’s an honor for Viva to have him on board because it’s a challenge for us to sign someone big like him. He can book his own gigs and do everything on his own because he has connections. But he trusted us and we are proud of our working relationship.”

Later this year, Amores will release his next single “Barko”, the inspiration of which came from a ferry trip. This will be his first Tagalog song as he wanted to make his story “more understandable for everyone.”

While he still prefers to write in Cebuano, he doesn’t want to limit himself. “There was a time when I translated an English song into Portuguese and it gave me the idea that I shouldn’t put barriers with my music.”

Not placing borders in his music is reflected in his opinion on the current state of rock music which has evolved so much since his former band debuted.

“Rock music has evolved so much that it would take some elements from other genres. Unlike before, genre purists want heavy metal to be strictly heavy metal. Now, you can mix other elements of genres into heavy metal.”

While he has evolved as a songwriter and an artist, he still favors the traditional route of creating music. “Nowadays, it’s very easy to record songs and you can do it at home with apps. But I still prefer going to the recording studio because you can feel the music there,” he said. — (FREEMAN)