Sandwich comes back for more with seventh album

MANILA, Philippines - Local rock band Sandwich launched last Friday its newest album titled "Fat, Salt & Flame" in celebration of the group's 15 years in the Philippine music scene.

"Fat, Salt & Flame represents primal elements that are the building blocks for a mind-blowing good time. Myrene came up with the phrase. We were probably talking about a good steak at the time," the band's frontman Raymund Marasigan said.

Known for hit songs like "Sugod," "DVDX" and "Betamax," Sandwich came together in 1998 when Marasigan, who was still involved with the Eraserheads at that time, met regularly with his friend Diego Castillo and fantasized about having their band name printed on a T-shirt. Castillo and Marasigan were joined by friends Myrene Academia and Mike Dizon, and together with former lead vocalist and guitarist Marc Abaya, the band went on to release their first album titled "Grip. Stand. Throw." in 1999.

Fifteen years later, the band was able to produce seven albums, seven soundtracks and three other singles, while collecting awards and recognitions along the way.

For the latest album released under PolyEast Records, Marasigan said the band rehearsed, wrote and played the songs live for almost a year before recording them in a span of 15 days.

"It's a collection of songs that we really, really wanted to do. We made so many songs, and we only chose the top nine songs that we want to include," guitarist Castillo said.

Click here to watch Sandwich talk about their new album.

Songs in the album may not have a unifying concept, said guitarist Mong Alcaraz, but each of the tracks include the gigantic choruses and old and new formulas characteristic of the band's style.

Aside from recording songs for the album, the band also documented each day of the production process in social networking sites Twitter and Instagram. Fans can take a look at Fat, Salt & Flame's journey through the hashtag #sandwichrecording.

Fat, Salt & Flame is available for downloads on mymusicstore.com.ph and iTunes Philippines. The album CD is available exclusively at AstroPlus and Astrovision stores nationwide.