Marcus Adoro
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Marcus Antonius Corpuz Adoro (born December 31, 1971) is the former lead guitarist of the Eraserheads, one of the most popular bands in the Philippines during the 90's alternative rock explosion.
He currently goes under the stage name or band name, Markus Highway
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[edit] Eraserheads
During his days as lead guitarist for the Eraserheads, Adoro only had a few contributions when it came to songwriting. He would compose one song per album, which were usually album fillers, like "Punk Zappa" in the album, Circus, and "Southsuperhiway" in the album, Natin99. The most contributions he had ever given to the band was in the album Carbon Stereoxide, in which he wrote the songs "Pula", "Wala", and "Escalator Alligator".
Marcus' style of lead guitar was a very significant piece to the Eraserheads "sound", and to a greater extent, the sound that defined 90's Pinoy rock. His signature bluesy harana style was often copied by other lead guitarists who were trying to fit in with the alternative scene. One of the best examples of Adoro's lead guitar skills from his Eraserhead years would be in the song "Maskara" where he played backwards in one take.[citation needed]
[edit] Projects After Eraserheads
[edit] "Kamonkamon"
After the band released their 8th and final album, Carbon Stereoxide in 2001, Adoro started working on a solo project called "Kamonkamon," which tells the adventures of his pet dog with the same name. The compilation of songs were mixed and produced by Marcus himself. Ranging from electronica, dance, to folk, and alternative music, most of its tracks were collaborations with artists, such as Pinoy rock legend Pepe Smith, Dong Abay, and an artist named Dangwa. Its EP version, available only cassettes in Sarabia Optical, a shop in his collegiate school, University of the Philippines, Diliman, was released in 2002. Adoro stated, in an interview, that part of the reason why he created the project was to make money that will hopefully be enough to buy himself a surfboard, a sport he picked up during his stay in La Union.[citation needed]
Adoro explains in an interview with Philmusic.com that "Kamonkamon" "was meant as a hype." According to him, ,around 2002 in music, BMG records had already bought the whole work, consisting of a comicbook, the comicbook soundtrack and a video documentary CD. The album, though, was not to be released until 2005 in music. BMG, though, would only publish the work if the comicbook is shortened, which according to Adoro, defeats the purpose of the comicbook soundtrack and the idea of the whole work. He says that "Kamonkamon" "is a highly philosophical work," so he declined with the condition. "The eventual release of Kamonkamon would be just the tip of the iceberg so to speak," says Adoro.[1]
Marcus was not the first Eraserhead to produce his own solo project. In 2000, vocalist Ely Buendia released his album, "Wanted: Bedspacer."
[edit] "Belma en Luis"
In the same year "Kamonkamon" was released, Eraserheads vocalist, Ely Buendia, left the band to form The Mongols. Adoro later also decided to quit the band. He later moved to La Union and was unheard from until the April of 2005. An e-mail from him was sent to PhilMusic.com [2] about a new project he was working on, called "Surfernando: The Adventures of Belma and Luis," with a poster art of a pencil stuck in a person's nose. The EP turned up once again at Sarabia Optical. It is also available in different album covers and titles: Urfer Magazine (Mag:Net Café), Duckdive (Bigsky), American Gurl (United States version), Submarine (Marikina version)
In the interview with Philmusic.com, Adoro explains that "Belma en Luis" is half of all the songs for a "pinoy surfing album." Surfernando is a character. He wrote the songs in 2003 after three years of surfing. He currently plans to record and release his work on major labels, and is now currently shopping for a deal. He says that if the Surfernando songs get recorded, the album will be called "Behold...Rejoice! Surfernando is hear na."(is now here). The artist will be Markus Highway. The sound of Markus Highway ranges from just him and a guitar "to a big full band with horns section and all."
[edit] Career after Eraserheads
Adoro's current band name is "Markus Highway (a wordplay on "Marcos Highway," a Philippine road). Adoro explains that "Markus Highway" is just a rock and roll name that he likes and he wants to keep at the moment. He says that he's good with wordplay. He reveals that most of the Eraserheads album titles came from him. "I like changing names because it's an old rock n roll tradition. All the old travelling bluesmen used different aliases and my favorite cool bands do it. I like Markus Highway for the Surfernando song," says Adoro. Adoro had changed his stage name or band name quite often since 2001. His band names since 2001 include Surfernando, Markus Highway, The Gumamela Band, Kamonkamon, The Flaming Katols,Markus Regime, The Mamones and Talampunay Band. [3]
Adoro along with former bandmates, Buddy Zabala and Raimund Marasigan performed for an event at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. Buendia was invited to the gig, but he did not attend. "Batch 88"[4], from Belma en Luis, was one of the songs that was jammed by the trio.
When asked about his career plans in the Philmusic.com interview, Adoro said that he plans to get session musicians to play in the recording of the Surfernando album, get a band ready for gig tours, and work with other willing back-up bands as well. He said that he had been backed by artists such as Mano-manu and Sunflower Day Camp. He just finished a low-key bar tour with the band, Mayonnaise and SDC. He is also currently tyring to find a manager. He says that he's opening a blog-type website the week the interview was made so that anyone interested can have a look. Adoro says he likes to stay "underground" sometimes and let the songs do the rest of the work.
Adoro unexpectedly appeared in "LivELY: A Fundraising Concert for the Benefit of Ely Buendia" on January 28, 2007. Adoro was not in the list of performers. He played a reggae rendition of the Eraserheads song, "Huwag Mo Nang Itanong" and a song from his next album. [5]
[edit] Life after Eraserheads
Adoro was interviewed by GMA-7 newscaster Jessica Soho on her show, "Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho." The topic is all about La Union which is now popular for beach surfers in the Philippines. He is now based in La Union and he enjoys his new life as a local surfer.
In the Philmusic.com interview, Adoro says he surfs, but he doesn't join competitions. He does not compete because he says that surfing is not his profession, and he just enjoys the lifestyle. He has been making documentaries about surfing since 2002.
[edit] Personality
Fans of the Eraserheads often describe Adoro as the funniest member of the band, with a really absurd sense of humor.[citation needed] Jessica Zafra, the band's manager during their first U.S. Tour in 1997, recalled that one of the four was getting on her nerves for constantly yelling out "Pizza Pie pa! Kain! Kain! Kain!" (More pizza pie! Eat! Eat! Eat!) She was talking about Adoro.[citation needed]
[edit] Trivia
- He was a member of the Pi Omicron Fraternity in UP Diliman.
