Tales about the Francis' Playground

Let's us now how the playground was formed ! Come and Let's Play!

Who coined the name Francis’s Play Ground? Why?

At first Yko (Francisco Umadhay III – acoustic guitars) came with the name playground, since the band primarily started out jamming together during practices. One member would start to play a song or a riff, then the rest of the guys would just follow suit and jam to it. Sadly, the name ”Playground” was already taken by another group, so Tata (Tata Solinap – Lead guitars) suggested adding Francis to the word playground, hence, “Francis’ Playground”. The whole group agreed to the name since the group was made by Yko, who is also the most prolific composer of the band. It’s his ‘playground’ after all. Playground, kase habang tumutugtog kami, nag-eenjoy kami lahat, parang naglalaro lang sa Playground. haha

How the band was created?? Ilang years na kayo?

Basically, si Yko yung may plano magtayo ng banda. He’s got some of the song lyrics and melody already done as early as 2011. He came back to our hometown (Santa Barbara) to look for members. Eventually he found Bobet (Bobet Solinap – Vocals) and Tata Solinap, as both were childhood barkadas during his earlier years. Both of these guys have already made a name for themselves as musicians in Santa Barbara and in Iloilo City. They are two of the premiere members of the band Breach of Fate. Coincidentally, Yko chanced upon Rocky’s (Rocky Abaygar – Drums) percussion prowess at Breach of Fate. Then at 2013, he completed the final line up of the band with Rej Sirilan (Jeremiah Sirilan - Rhythm Guitars) and Dyeph Señeres (Jeffrey Señeres - Bass), both members of the local group C Major Taygor. Seeing their past performances, Yko decided to reel these guys in and make them “Francis’ Playground”.

“Kung kanta ang pagbabasehan, more than 5 years na ‘to, pero kung sa members, halos 4 years nang ‘naglalaro’ ang Francis’ Playground.” – Yko

Paano gumawa ng kanta ang Francis’s Playground?? Lyrics muna o bagsakan na agad!?

“Lahat ng kanta, si Yko ang may pakana,” As Rej says, “May mga oras na hindi mahagilap yan, kahit sa bahay nila. Ang natatandaan ko lang, kapag nasa uma (rural barangay) si Yko, pagbalik nyan may dala nang bagong kanta. Nakakagulat nga minsan, aalis ng umaga, pagbalik sa hapon may isa o dalawang kanta nang dala. Minsan naman after practices uupo nalang yan si Yko at mang-aagaw ng gitara (kulet no? haha), tapos tutugtog ng bagong melody. Mamaya-maya meron nang bagong song concept na astig, kaya on the next practices jina-jam na agad.”

Since tapos na or konting editing nalang ang kelangan sa lyrics, pinagtri-trippan na agad ng mga members yung melody. Ipaparinig muna ni Yko yung melody ng kanta in acoustic, tapos nagcocontribute na yung mga ‘naglalaro’ sa music. Sa kakaibang pagpatik ni Rocky sa drums, makulit na bass riffs ni dyeph, sa funky/rock backing ni Rej sa guitars, bumubungad yung timpla ng kanta. Idagdag mo pa ang power charged boses ni Bobet, at ang nakaka-engganyong lead ni tata, eh, swak kaagad ang tugtugan.

Madalas pag nag-aayos ng arrangement ng songs, ang buong banda rin ang nag-uusap usap. Kapag may suggestion si Tata, usually ‘spot on’ ang adjustments eh, lalong gumaganda ang tunog ng kanta. The same is true for the rest of the members. Usap-usap, coordinate, polish, and jam!

“Minsan nga sa sobrang sarap ng tugtugan, ‘di namen namamalayan na mahaba pala ang ibang songs,” according to Dyeph, “pero kahit anong pilit man naming pa-iksiin, bitin pakinggan kung tatanggalin yung ibang parts, so better a long song, kesa ‘hilaw’ ang nilalaro. hehe”

During tugtugan sino ang madalas na pupuyat kina umagahan??

“Almost everyone sa mga ‘naglalaro’. I don’t mean that they stay up ‘til the early morning hours drinkin’ booze and getting plastered. Kanya-kanya kase may mga ‘racket’. Before ng mga gigs kase yung ibang members may trabaho (Bobet – office, Rej – Nurse, Tata - office), yung iba may negosyong inaatupag (Rej – small time na bar, Dyeph – Computer Shop), at ilan eh, may mga transaksyon (Yko – Painting, Artworks) at racket (Rocky – band performer at various nightspots). Two of our members (Tata and Rocky) have families of their own. So, madalas lahat puyat. It’s a little hard on every member, but after every performance, everyone feels it’s worth it. Masarap ang paglalaro sa Francis’ Playground.”

“Si Rej. Minsan lang tumagay yan, pero kapag nakatagay na, tuloy2x! hehe (peace bro! biro lang) so, siya siguro ang may hangover palage. Ahahahaha!

- Bobet

When it comes sa Senti sinong membro ang maraming points???

“Si Yko (a.k.a Francis)!!!” as unanimously nominated by the ‘manlalaro’. (sorry bro, ikaw talaga eh. haha) Noong time na ginagawa yung album eh, marami kaseng pinagdadaanan yan sa buhay. Hindi lang basta-basta, mabigat. Some of our songs are reflections of those experiences of his, where the rest ng mga ‘kalaro’ added their personal experiences. So siya talaga ang pinaka senti. May kanya-kanyang pagka “dalom, dalming, whatever (ewan)” ang bawat member, pero sa ‘puntosanay’, si Yko ang Grand champion. Ahahaha

Malalim lang talaga mag-isip yan Yko, as reflected sa song writing abilities niya. Minsan taken na senti, pero, abangan niyo ang next songs na susulpot mula sa diabolical mind nyan. Medyo progressive na ang kalalabasan ng next album eh. Haha

-Tata, Bobet, Rocky, Dyeph, Rej

Anu pa ba ang aabangan namen sa Francis’s Playground??

At this point in time, the band is busy setting up gigs and appearances wherever the opportunity presents itself. We support local artists of any genre and we wish to encourage other guys and ladies to come out of hiding and share their music. Tatak Bisaya, aton ini!!!

New songs are in the grinder guys! Abangan nyo yan! As we have said earlier, medyo progressive na ang susunod na album. May pagka ‘fusion’ na ang bagksakan. Hehehe. A few concepts for our songs are: about attraction, inside a carousel called love; mga away-away at tampuhan ng mga taong nagmamahalan; the irony, na lahat ng bagay may kasalungat; isang dalagang may mapait na kapalaran, parang tutubi sa hating-gabi. That’s to name a few. Abangan, tambangan kag pamati-an, tani magustuhan (wait for it. Hold on to it, and listen. We hope you like it)!! Basta lahat, magkasalungat! Haha Lol

Also, the band recently finished their shoot for the music Video of their song “Lakbay”. Watch for its debut sometime in the next couple of weeks! Also watch out for upcoming music videos of our other songs!!! But, please do be patient, for the production for our music videos are all self-made, self-conceptualized, and marginally funded. Ahahaha.. (kudos to self-effort.) Thanks to all of our Sponsors by the way!!!

Ang daming nangyayari ngayon sa banda. Pakonte-konte, naririning na ang music namen sa airwaves. We do wish to be heard in other places, and we’re using the net to send our music to places. That’s what our ‘hacker’ is up to most of the time. Dyeph owns a computer shop, so by consensus, he’s in-charge of the band’s various sites. Hence the title: ‘hacker’. haha

Since ilang weeks na kayo sa Rakista radio anung secreto???

HACKER!!! Ahaha.. just kidding. We don’t employ Dyeph that way, besides, we doubt if he really can hack a site (can he, really? lol). I guess we don’t really have a secret when it comes to maintaining our position in Rakista’s charts. All we have are the people who believe in our music, those who find our songs relateable to. The band owes it all to you mga ‘kalaro’ (we call our friends, audiences, patrons and acquaintances that). Thank you sa supporta!!!

We make it a point to invite our friends, audiences, and people we meet and perform in front of to listen to Rakista Radio. The app is not that heavy on any phone memory, so it’s handy, plus the app is good. The songs made by other artists also featured there are good, so we suggest everyone to try it out! Paki request lang ‘yong songs namen!!! Tenkyu!! Minsan nga nagugulat nalang kami, may nagrerequest at naglilike ng song namen sa app, pero hindi namen kilala. Kaya nakaka-overwhelm. Salamat kung sino man kayo… We will find you… and we will thank you. haha

-Tata

Tell us about your music?

We do funk and psychedelic beats, so yun talaga ang trip namen. We also do a little alternative rock that we are trying to infuse with funk and psychedelicism. “Ah ewan, ang hirap idescribe!” says Rej, “Basta masarap tugtugin at masarap pakinggan, ayus na yon, ‘psychedeli’ (he pronounced it sai-ke-de-le) man o anu. Ahahaha”

Each member has different roots in music. And it is very evident in the songs we’ve made. “kanya-kanyang trip, napag-isa at nagawang tatak Francis’ Playground.” It means we are crossing boundaries and exploring new things; ibig sabihin, Crossover. hehe

-Yko

Message sa gustong bumuo ng banda???

Kalaro, it’s not easy to form and maintain a band. It requires dedication, hard work and kung anu-ano pa. Always respect each other sa loob ng banda, and never, ever brag.

Never ever brag. Too much pride kills. Be nice to everyone, even if they’re not nice. Be nice to people and groups from different genres. Support your local scene as well as other genre’s scenes. Tulong tulong lang, bandang huli, malayo ang mararating ng mga mababait. Iba kase yung astig sa nag aastig-astigan lang.

Kahit ano pa marating ng banda, dapat always stay humble. We owe it to everyone who helped us to get to where we wanna go. Be it the sound operator who’s getting his head torn off by the event manager due to crappy sounds (yeah it’s not just us who complain to the operator), or the bouncer in your gig (he’s having a hard time holding back those drunk dudes who wants a piece of you), and most importantly, the people who watch our shows. So let’s stay humble and be nice.

Mahirap minsan na magkaintindihan lalo na’t kapag nasa banda. Every individual has their own personal attitudes and personalities, so it very important to understand one another. After all, kayo bumuo ng grupo, so the band is you, each and every one of you. Kayu-kayo rin naman ang magkakasama na magpeperform, so it would really be great if all members of the band go along well. Sa Francis’ Playground, lahat nag-iintindihan, lahat nagbibigayan, para swabe ang tugtugan. Patience is gold, but cash is even better. ahahaha

Any message sa mga supporters???

Sumabay sa paglalakbay mga kalaro! Kung ano man kami at kung saan man kami makarating, kayo ang inspirasyong dala-dala namen! At dahil sa inyo mga kalaro, patuloy kaming gagawa ng mga kantang nais naming inyong magugustuhan.

“Sa bawat Bagong Umaga na daratnan ng samahan, mga kalaro, kayo ang aming peter pan. Malayang Isip ng bawat isa na dalhin kayo sa tuktok, upang masilayan ang Matahari na magbibigay ligaya sa Dahan-dahang pagsibol ng ating pagsasama. Sa Ilalim ng Buwan man sa piling ng mga Diwata, hindi kami magsasawa sa paglikha ng musika, alang-alang sa Imo nga Yuhom ng bawat isa.”

Maraming Salamat mga Kalaro!!! Tuloy ang paglalaro!!!