The going-away party

If you’ve never experienced the sheer awesome enjoyment of a live set by the soul/R&B/hip-hop groove machine that is The Out of Body Special, well — this is your last chance. After almost a decade of gigs (and the occasional EP, album and video), they’ve all gotten involved in the necessities of adulthood, and lead vocalist Carlos Magno is leaving the country, so they’re throwing what they call a despedida: the last OBS gig.  It’s called “Salida,” and it’s tonight, Friday, Nov. 29, 9 p.m. at Il Ponticello on Valero Street. (The lineup of guest acts is great too: Chillitees, Miscellaneous, and DJ Arbie Won.)

The Out of Body Special is Nino Avenido on bass, Diego Beltran on synth/percussion, Patrick Co on guitar, TedMark Cruz on drums, Enrique De Dios on keys/percussion, Garon Honasan on alto saxophone, Carlos Magno on vocals, and Martin Veerayah on guitar. We talked to Carlos, TedMark and Diego about the OBS farewell.

YOUNG STAR: Why a “despedida”? Why now?

CARLOS MAGNO: Real life set in -- obligations and priorities, work, bills... Scheduling conflicts increased. We would still play when we could, because a booking would come where we were all free. Hanging out and doing the old thing onstage still felt great. But those times when we were all free wouldn’t come as much as before.

Now some groups just fall off the radar. You don’t know where they are or what they’re doing, or why they had to stop. You don’t even know if they’re still friends. We don’t want that. We want a last hurrah, one for the road. A big fat one, one last time to do our thing, and be with good friends who’ve supported us through the years. Hence despedida. It’s our going-away party.

What can people expect from the gig?

CM: We’re going to try and play all our songs for the first time ever, 12 from the LP and the four unreleased (although one of them became our last music video). We often do run and gun sets that most bands and scene people are used to, although we’ve covered hour-long ones before. For this last show, we’re going for broke.

Where can people still get your music?

TEDMARK CRUZ: I’ll be bringing copies of our album “Is Love” to the despedida gig. And I believe Tower of Doom still has copies of our album. Or you can just download it, ha-ha! (CARLOS adds: I think it’s on iTunes as well. Locally, check out Amplify.ph)

You’ve been gigging as a band for over eight years. Any comments/observations on how the scene has changed, and what it’s like today?

DIEGO BELTRAN: A lot has happened in eight  years. Social Media and technology has made it easier for bands today to create music, promote gigs and spread video and audio material. Back then, I still remember when printed posters, radio plugs, SMS and word of mouth were still the best ways to promote a gig or event. Bands are more accessible these days.

CM: There’s a wider variety of sound and a whole lot more talented people who have been able to come up with a name for themselves. There’s more acceptance for experimentation and more ways to share your music. The gig lovers are lucky to be able to find a nice show anywhere, anytime. The seasoned acts have the same platforms of expression and sharing that allows them to touch base with the crowd. You weren’t too dependent on mainstream channels. But we aren’t independent of them either. I guess, as an artist, it depends on what your goals are.

What will stick in your minds from your OBS years?

TC: That Time magazine article that somehow “put us on the map.” The Tower of Doom “Siege” tour also helped us share our music nationwide. Was also our first time to experience the tour lifestyle. And our first out of the country gig in Singapore Scape. OBS brought me to SG for the first time.

CM: Working with Tower of Doom, with Eric and Carlo Perlas and the entire family, both in the studio and on tour, was the most awesome thing. They’re the most fun bunch around. It’s always a good time. If it’s a big group at recording, we’d end up overstaying over rum, soda and funny stories.

We got on a cruise ship to Boracay and Coron, spent a weekend in Singapore, went around the country twice. We shared the stage with legends, hung out with them, jammed with some. We used to do P.O.T.’s Panaginip, and one time in Eastwood, Karl Roy hopped on the second verse. We did Gary V’s Hataw Na — for Gary V, at a surprise party by Paolo Valenciano. I met my wife, playing at her birthday salubong.

We laughed. We fought. We made good music.

DB: We met so many wonderful people during our gigs. Yes, we’ve had memorable gigs here and there, but the friends that we made are the ones that actually matter the most. I can’t wait to see them this Friday night.

What are your future plans, post-OBS?

DB: I have been thinking of going back to my grunge roots. Maybe I’ll form a band but it is still up in the air. Whatever happens, I do not think I will stop making music. My other band, Plane Divides the Sky, is currently writing new material for an upcoming release. I do not know when it will finally be out but we are working on it.

TC: I still want to be able to create beats/music with Los even if he’ll be in a different country. Who knows, we could be the next Foreign Exchange story.

CM: I’ve been learning how to produce music, or at least make the stuff I come up with more professional. I’ve been writing and featuring for other artists for a while. Also had a few commercial projects. I didn’t try to make it bread and butter for me though, they’ve often been one-shots, then somewhere down the road another project would come in. It’s a different high making music for other people, I want to keep exploring that. Where I’m going, I don’t really want to start from the bottom and try to come up in their scene. But I can’t stop coming up with something new. I’ll go crazy if I do.

Funk soul others

The Out of Body Special recommends local hip-hop/soul/R&B/urban acts for further listening.

• With it being a very specific community, you tend to find a bunch of new and seasoned artists in a myriad of collaborative projects with each other. There’s too many to mention, but here are some top of mind acts to catch:

• We would definitely recommend you get into whatever Pasta Groove is doing at the moment — Bio Logic, Venus Flytrap Collective, etc.

• Some great hip-hop with live instrumentation includes People’s Future X Duwende, Misyonaryo, Skydive Academy, Anak, MonoStereo.

• The Uprising music label just launched, with a number of prominent Fliptop Battle League emcees on its roster, including Protege, KJah, Blkd and Anygma.

• On the R&B/soul side there’s Nouvul, Chocolate Grass, Conscious and the Goodness, Hunger Strike, Yolanda Moon, Flippin’ Soul Stompers.

• The electronic urban sound is really booming, with lots of DJs and producers coming up with incredible stuff, guys like Motherbass, Trick6, Sinyma and more.