Yano

Yano is a folk/ punk rock band in the Philippines formed in 1993. The band members were originally composed of vocalist Dong Abay and Eric Gancio on guitar. Onie Badiang later joined them as bassist; Nowie Favila was the usual drummer but declined to join the group due to commitments with Ang Grupong Pendong. Other drummers of the band included Nonong Timbalopez, Harley Alarcon and Jun Nogoy. The band got their name when Abay looked through an entry in "Talahulugang Pilipino", an old Tagalog dictionary. "Yano" in Tagalog means "simple", a term often used by Tagalog speakers in Quezon. The group disbanded in 1997 after Dong Abay left the band.

As of 2007, Gancio revived Yano as a one-man band, although he will continue to use sidemen as backing musicians for live performances. In 2008, he will be releasing a new album, which he described as the fourth Yano album rather than his second album.

History

In 1992, Dong Abay, Eric Gancio and Larry Mapolon met in Patatag, a progressive vocal ensemble. After a year, they decided to form a band called NG (pronounced as en-ji and derived from the Ng diagraph, which is included on the Filipino alphabet) with percussionist Renmin Nadela. Abay and Gancio remained and recruited musical arranger and bassist, Onie Badiang to the group. Eventually, the band's name was renamed to Yano. They recorded their demo at the home studio of alternative artist Joey Ayala in June 1993. One of the tracks, "Kumusta Na?," ("How Are You?") a song about the "EDSA Revolution", found its way to a local radio station where the group was first heard. This paved the way for Yano to become active in the local club circuit. Mayrics, Club Dredd, 70s Bistro were among the first clubs that Yano performed in. Drummers for the band included Nowie Favila (Ang Grupong Pendong), Nonong Timbalopez (Put3Ska, Ex President's Combo), Jun Nogoy (Coffeebreak Island) and Harley Alarcon (Rizal Underground and POT).

In 1994, the band's self-titled debut album came out and spawned classic Filipino rock songs such as "Banal Na Aso, Santong Kabayo" ("Holy Dog, Saintly Horse"), "Tsinelas" ("Slippers") and "Esem" (wordplay for SM or Shoemart mall). This was followed by a string of successful concerts around the Philippine archipelago. Their first album from Alpha records (re-issued by BMG) reached quadruple platinum in 1994. After producing three studio albums, Abay quit during the late 1990s because of fame-induced pressure. The group later disbanded after Abay’s absence.

Music

After quitting the band, Abay struggled with clinical depression and stayed only in his bedroom for about five years. He came out of depression while writing new songs set into poetry. He later called Badiang to borrow a guitar and jam. Eventually they formed another band, Pan with bassist Milo Duane Cruz and drummer Melvin Leyson. Abay got the term "Pan" after reading Tom Robbins' novel Jitterbug Perfume. They released their debut album entitled Parnaso ng Payaso in 2003. Pan was later disbanded because Abay went back to school in U.P. Diliman. He released "Sampol" , an EP in 2005, which was later reborn into Flipino and released in May 2006. He is currently pursuing a career as an independent artist.

Gancio returned to his homeland in Davao after the demise of Yano. In 2004, he released an EP for his solo album Sa Bandang Huli. Gancio did all the instruments in his indie-released album and mixed the music in a PC-based software. Gancio is reviving Yano as a multi-instrumentalist and is currently performing as Yano in Davao with two session musicians. He will be releasing an album, which, according to Gancio, will be the "fourth Yano album."

Badiang played bass for Filipino folk/rock band Asin. He currently reconnected to Joey Ayala's Bagong Lumad while Favila is currently playing gigs outside the Phiippines.

Milo Cruz, one of the supporting musician, is now living in New Zealand since mid 2003 and is now a sound engineer. He still plays regularly with various Kiwi bands and founded an all-filipino band FLIP doing both covers and originals.

Yano’s music was well known for their political and social themes. Their songs censure religious hypocrites like in Banal Na Aso, Santong Kabayo (Tagalog for Holy Dog, Saintly Horse), corrupt politicians in Trapo (colloquial, pejorative term for traditional politicians, also literally translates to "dust rag"), the lingo of the Philippine's elite in Coño Ka P’re ("You're a coño") and abusive capitalists in "Mc’Jo" (alluding to the fastfood chain McDonald's where Abay once worked as a crew member).

Yano’s songs also narrate the situation of Philippine society during the 1990s. Kumusta Na? ("How are you?") discusses the condition of the Filipino masses after the 1986 EDSA Revolution while the novelty-styled song Kaka tells a story of a person named Kaka, who is having difficulty in finding things in the dark after a power outage, a reference to the frequent blackouts in the Philippines during the early 1990s. The song Bawal ("prohibited") speaks about the effects of rules or laws with excessive restrictions to the point where it leads to suppression of freedom and love. Abno, also known as Abnormal Environmental, tackles the environment while Kaklase ("classmate") focuses on students facing maltreatment by their teachers. Another social relevant song, Mercy, tells about the story of a crazy peddler in the Philippines known as a taong grasa ("greasy person").

Abay's experiences as a student at the University of the Philippines, enabled him to write songs in dismay of their school like in State U and their life in the university, such as Esem (in reference to the SM City North EDSA mall, which is about a mile away from the UP Diliman campus) and Iskolar Ng Bayan ("The Nation's Scholar"). They also made some love songs in their music like Senti (short for "sentimental") and Paalam Sampaguita ("Goodbye Sampaguita"). The latter also tackles the migration of many Filipinos to other countries to seek better opportunities.