Spongecola
Original drummer Chris Cantada left the group due to his worsening health condition. Wendell Garcia of bands Archipelago and Pupil, and Ted Mark "Tmac" Cruz who plays drums for bands Happy Meals and The Out of Body Special fill in as sessionists after Cantada's departure. However in late 2009, Cruz was confirmed to be a permanent member of the band filling in as the new drummer.
History:
Formation (1998–2002)History:
Between 1998 to 2002, Ysmael "Yael" Yuzon and Reynaldo "Gosh" Dilay, both from Ateneo de Manila University - High School, met through the school's theater guild, Teatro Baguntao. Yael decided to form a band with Gosh and two other members of the theater guild. They named the group Sponge after R.S. Surtee's Mr. Sponge Sporting Tour. The band won in several high school competitions boosting their popularity not just in their school but in other campuses, as well.
Some members of the old lineup left and were replaced by Christopher "Chris" Cantada and Erwin "Armo" Armovit. The latter is the guitarist of another band Rampqueen, which was managed also by Sponge's former manager Raymond Fabul. Later however, they learned about a Detroit grunge band already using the name Sponge. "But we wanted to keep the word Sponge in our band name because people have already associated us with that name," according to Yael. "So we decided to add 'Cola', since it's an easy enough word to remember."Sponge Cola was officially formed in summer of 2002.Early Career (2002–2004)
They came up with a self-titled EP in the last quarter of 2003 containing five original songs: Lunes, A Tear, Saturn, Cigarette and Jeepney. The first and the last song penned in the vernacular caught the public's attention. Lunes, written by Gosh, begins with a bossa nova-esque beat that suddenly shifts to a heavy rock riff. Second single Jeepney was written by a classmate for a school project back in 2001 and is a reminiscent piece on young love during simpler, happier times. Yael's vocal range is evident in the song showcasing his ability to shift from mellow to screamo.
Through this EP, Sponge Cola got extensive airplay from several local pop and rock radio stations. A bootlegged copy of their version of Madonna's "Crazy for You" ended up on the Internet and became an underground hit, with some listeners believing it was a Sponge Cola original. Though this misconception helped increase their popularity, the band was able to avoid the stigma of being a cover band, pushing their original songs to the forefront.
Palabas (2004–2006)
In 2004, the band signed for record distribution and released Sponge Cola's first full-length debut album, titled Palabas, under Sony BMG Philippines, an allusion to the boys' theater backgrounds. The album features a definitive voice in unadulterated rock, reminiscent of 90s alternative but mixed with enough sing-along pop sensibility-as based on the band members' individual influences. Gosh was weaned on classic OPM from the likes of Basil Valdes and Martin Nievera; Armo lends to heavy metal and rock edge, citing bands like Deftones, Tool and A Perfect Circle as influences; Chris likes pop-rock bands like the Beatles and Athenaeum; and Yael Yuzon trips on everything from novelty songs to bubblegum-pop, from 80s power ballads, to The Smashing Pumpkins. They admitted to have been also influenced by Pinoy iconic Rock Band "The Eraserheads."
They are also one of the few local rock bands that boast of using three part harmonies in a lot of their songs, supplied by Yael, Chris and Gosh and as seen in tracks such as "KLSP" and "Una". Sponge Cola also experiments with unconventional elements that are normally ignored in rock recording, like the samisen ("A Japanese guitar", Gosh boasts), the striking of amplifiers, cellphone ring tones and actual rain. The final track, "Closure", faintly features the sound of a door shutting, before transposing to a melancholic acoustic number.During 2004, their songs Lunes and KLSP gained popularity. Also, Jeepney became popular in the beginning of 2005 along with their own version of Crazy For You. Spearheading the resurgence of Pinoy Rock, Sponge Cola gained even more popularity from listeners with the Shakespeare-laced song "Gemini" and especially the pounding "Una".
Transit (2006–2008)
Sponge Cola have contributed on two tribute albums. They covered the 90's hit song by the Eraserheads, "Pare Ko", on Ultraelectromagneticjam. The group released their cover of APO Hiking Society's classic "Nakapagtataka" on the tribute album, "Kami nAPO muna", as the next single.They recorded their next album just after they graduated from college. Sponge Cola released their second album entitled Transit in September with a launch party in Metrowalk, Ortigas, under Universal Records. The album turned gold after less than three months of its release due to the success of the lead single "Bitiw", which enjoyed massive radio and TV airplay. The song also became the theme song of ABS-CBN's show Pedro Penduko.
The band won 99 awards in the 2007 MYX Music Awards besting other OPM acts in both Favorite Artist and Favorite Group categories. Bitiw was voted as both Favorite Song and Favorite Rock Video.
Tuliro, the second single from Transit, was released in the first quarter of 2007.
The band was again contracted by ABS-CBN to create the theme song of the new season of the show Pedro Penduko, Pedro Penduko at ang mga Engkantao, entitled Tuloy Pa Rin.
The band was recently featured in a MYX show, "Myxellaneous", where it showed the evolution of the band from young upstarts to icons of the Philippine rock industry.
The music video for their song "Movie" premiered on MYX on August 1, 2007.
Sponge Cola's version of APO classic "Saan Na Nga Ba'ng Barkada" for the Kami nAPO Muna ULIT album is currently enjoying massive radio airplay despite opting not having a music video for it.
The band released their current single "Pasubali" on January 24, 2008. It is also being used as the theme song to ABS-CBN's airing of the Koreanovela Lovers
Transit Deluxe
Sponge Cola released their deluxe album "Transit" on January 24.
The album includes a bonus AVCD featuring 5 brand new tracks Tuloy Pa Rin, Nakapagtataka, Tuliro (Semi-Emo Version), Pasubali (Acoustic Version), Intercept, and Pasubali (Radio Edit).
The album also includes music videos of Bitiw, Nakapagtataka, Tuliro, Tuloy Pa Rin, Movie, and Pasubali. It hit platinum a week after its release.
Sponge Cola (2008-early 2009)
The band has released their highly anticipated third album this September 2008. The album's first single, Puso, was the theme song of the 71st season of the UAAP where the Ateneo Blue Eagles emerged victorious. They released the second single "'Di na Mababawi" January 2009. They were also contracted by toothpaste brand Closeup to come up with their version of Gino Padilla's Closer You and I which was a major hit in both radio and TV. They then released their third single "Ayt!" which features Sponge Cola collaborating with Filipino icon Gary Valenciano.They released their fourth single, "Wala kang katulad". Sponge Cola recently released their 5th and last single "Makapiling Ka."
Sponge Cola's albums on MP3 and MP4
Sponge Cola became the first Philippine band to release its new album in music player form. All songs, including those in the past albums are included in the music players which come in both MP3 and MP4 format. They launched said music players last January 4 with their new single, "Di Na Mababawi", at ABS-CBN's ASAP.
Fourth Studio Album(2010-present)
Sponge Cola started recording for their fourth studio album which is due to release at sometime on 2011.
Nakapagtataka By: SpongeCola
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