BisRock

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BisRock refers to the Cebuano rock music industry. The term comes from the Cebuano words Bisaya ('our own') and 'rock' (for rock music).

The term was coined by Januar E. Yap, a Cebuano writer, in 2002. It was first applied to Missing Filemon's first album.

1 Background
2 CDs
3 Criticism
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Background

The use of the Cebuano language by Cebu-based bands has never been popular due to the predominance of Tagalog and English songs even in the playlists of Cebu-based FM radio stations. Urbandub, Sheila and the Insects, The Ambassadors and Cueshé are some of the Cebuano rock bands which have gained national fame yet didn't release a Cebuano single. Certainly, the use of Cebuano was not the path to national fame.

Against this unwritten rule, some Cebuano rock bands started popularizing rock songs using the Cebuano language. Among these bands are the following:

Aggressive Audio
Blood of the Stone
Enchi
Gangrene
Glass of Dirt (official site)
Indephums (official site)
Jimmycycle
Mantequilla
Missing Filemon
Phylum
Scrambled Eggs
Timeslot.

93.1 Smash FM helped these budding bands by featuring their songs on-air.

The popularity of BisRock is attributed by Januar Yap to the reaction of Cebuanos against the claims of the Cebu Pop Music Festival.

[edit] CDs

It is a common misconception that BisRock bands are just after the popularity and they are willing to distribute their songs even by pirate networks. However, from their web sites available on the net, it is obvious that they are trying to sell their CDs through legitimate channels.

All of these stores are located in the City of Cebu

MANU, 2nd floor, Elizabeth Mall
A. Salonga, Lower Ground Floor, SM City Cebu
JB Music, 3rd Floor, SM City Cebu

[edit] Criticism

BisRock lyrics are considered by some to be without literary value. Basic grammatical rules are also disregarded.

Yap has this to say about the criticisms of BisRock:

Kill all the critics. Or let them compose their own songs. Seriously, that's not even the issue now. What is important is the young's burgeoning interest to make songs in their own language. That is for me magical. Every now and then, there will be some of them who'll be dishing out songs with a literary flair. In fact, that's happening now. Literary value and grammar? Oh, hell, let the critics reread Frank Sinatra or Air Supply.

(januar e. yap on bisrock, accessed Sept. 4, 2006)

[edit] Trivia

The Ambassadors' Simple Changes did contain one song (Ulipon) in Cebuano, but this was a hidden track attached after one of the album's regular songs. You have to scan carefully the small print on the cover to find the title of the song.
Junior Kilat's Budoy s Ako si M-16 during the grand opening night of Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition. (However, strictly speaking, Budoy and Junior Kilat is not part of BisRock, but of an earlier--if not separate--movement in Cebuano music which is called RnB for Reggae na Bisaya.)