Ten years ago, the group Kjwan release its eponymous debut album, which made a huge dent with its very sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll vibe. This month, the group releases “Kwan 4 Volume 2,” the second installment of its four-part fourth album, available in record bars and on iTunes.
Lead vocalist Marc Abaya calls it the record “that should’ve been our second album. The way I feel about this, this is the ultimate culmination of who we are as people and as musicians,” he tells Coconuts Manila on mobile phone one Friday night.
Marc, whose idea was it for Kjwan to release its fourth record in four parts?
It was bassist Kelley [Mangahas]’s idea. We wanted to do something, you know, like how Wolfgang did their Semenilin record in the `90s? Nag-EP muna sila before they released the full-length a few weeks later.
Right! That’s brilliant, we think. It makes the album feel special. There hasn’t been any significant releases recently.
Yes. This album has been done last year pa. It only took us one month to record, but that’s talagang guerilla recording. We worked with Pat Jalbuena, who moved to the States and got married in the process so that’s why medyo natagalan. But we were really lucky he took us in.
Does the album have a theme?
Yes. We went back to our roots: rock ‘n’ roll. I personally feel that we’re back in our prime. I’d say the first two albums were when we were at our best and with “K4v2,” we went back to that. This is the ultimate culmination of who we are as people and as musicians. We went back to our strengths without fear of doing the same things. I’m very proud of this album. It’s organic and fun, and talagang rock ‘n’ roll. It’s like a reinvention, 10 years later.
Wow. It’s been 10 years!
Eleven, actually. We formed in 2003, but released our first record in 2004. We’ve gone through so much. We went through a lot of changes, in terms of members, in terms of ourselves. When we made the first record, we were young, stupid and careless, and I think that’s why it worked. The second album was science. The third was formulaic. The first of the fourth album, we were being independent as musicians. This one, it finally feels like a real album. A lot of it comes from the energy of EO Marcos, who is our new drummer.
Right on, new drummer!
We’ve gone through a lot of changes, especially with drummer duties. We started with J-Hoon, but we had to let him go for personal reasons. Jorel Corpus left for Berkeley. We had a series of drummers—Paolo Santiago, Paolo Manuel, Wendell of Pupil, pumalo rin for us. There was a lot of growing up, and the drama that that comes with it, and we thought we were gonna break up. There were a lot of second winds, also.
The remaining members—Kelley, Boogie, and I—we’ve been best friends since our Ateneo days so may sick-of-each-other slant pa iyan. But thankfully, we pulled through the dark years and we said, in this band, barkada muna. Friendship first. So EO, he’s perfect kasi we’ve known him since a long time ago. He was exactly what we were looking for—a balance of power and skill and the willingness to learn. Ang tagal naming niligawan ni Kelley iyan, ha ha, mga one year!
And then Enrique de Dios, my god, he’s like the scientist of the band. He’s the science. He knows the chords, the transitions. He came in during “K4v1.” So there was so much before this, and finally with this album, we feel like we’re back talaga. This is the culmination of us as people and as musicians. Things are a little bit more conscious now. Feel is very important. It’s important for the song to feel right. I’m very proud of the album.
“K4v1” is now available on iTunes (PHP250) and in record bars.
Photo: EO Marcos, Boogie Romero, Kelley Mangahas, Marc Abaya, and Enrique de Dios. From Kjwan’s Facebook page.
