A Decade With Cattski

CEBU, Philippines - Her artistic output is proof of her prolific nature and talent with Cebu as witness to how she evolved from a budding musician, who jumped from one band to another, into a local music icon at present.

Tomorrow, March 20, Cattleya “Cattski” Espina will fittingly celebrate her musical journey of 10 years through an outdoor concert at The Outpost Restobar in Nivel Hills, Lahug. Several of her friends in the music scene such as Sheila and the Insects, Jude Gitamondoc, Hastang, Zafra, Undercover Grasshopers, and Lui Castillo will join her in celebrating this milestone. “The reason why I celebrate is because it has indeed been a journey. I learned a lot of things…on how I deal with my life,” she said.

In retrospect, she said, things were certainly different back then. She hopped from the band Positive Aura to Serendipity until she found bandmates who named their group after her. Cattski and her band barged into the local music arena dishing out covers of pop-rock numbers. Revivals were the rave then. It was a struggle to do so, as she envied other indie acts like Shiela and the Insects and Urbandub that pursued “originals.”

Later on, the band got their creative juices flowing and developed their own sound, while Cattski herself showed off her knack in songwriting, coming up with four albums Cattski EP (2001), Vacuum My Inside (2004), Sound Minds Speak Volumes (2009) and Kismet The Singles (2009), which is in collaboration with Ian Zafra of Shiela and the Insects. Some of her unforgettable songs are High and Low, Drunk, Palm of My Hand, Comfort Zone, Secrets, Your Ghost and Fake Paintings.

“Lyrics are the soul of the music,” she said. “For people to appreciate the song, the lyrics must be up there.” Cattski draws from personal experiences to write songs. Hers are usually straight-forward translations of ideas that speak of varied sentiments. Introspective, candid, and often melancholic, her music is also easy-on-the-ear.

Ten years is quite a feat. To summarize, it’s a whirlwind of occurrences for Cattski as she experienced high and lows, and found herself in an off-key stance at times. But life must go on, as the old adage goes.

Winning moments also define her career as a musician: her latest citation came via the 22nd Awit Awards with the Best Christmas Song award for MYMP’s Wishlist, which she wrote. MYMP’s former vocalist Juris Fernandez, who recently went solo, was impressed of her writing skills that she chose Cattski’s “I Don’t Want to Fall” composition to be the carrier single of her “Now Playing” album.

To further celebrate her 10-year presence in the music scene, Cattski is also releasing her newest album entitled TEN (under her brainchild, Tango Records)—a compilation album of random significant/memorable tracks from her four previous studio albums.

Her gig on the 20th is also a live recording through 1032 Studios Live Mobile Recording. The end product will soon be released and is expected to be yet another breakthrough in the local music scene. Ten comes in types: the regular copy and the deluxe version that comes with a storybook of artsy inlays and packaging containing the artist’s musical journey. Included in the deluxe version is the Cattski Live Demos Series DVD. Her Live Demos are currently on YouTube/Facebook.  

The local music scene has dramatically changed, with audiences now giving higher regard for original music. And Cattski has been witness to all of it. “I would say I’m part of the whole change. I find playing originals fulfilling. Now, I won’t say ‘buy our album to support local music,’ but rather ‘buy our album because we’re actually good,” she concluded.