Razorback (band)

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This article is about the Filipino rock band. For other uses, see Razorback (disambiguation).



Background information
Origin	Manila, Philippines
Genre(s)	Hard rock Filipino rock
Years active	1990 – present
Label(s)	Sony Music Entertainment Epic Records Alpha Records
Associated acts	Wolfgang
Members
Kevin Roy (vocals) Louie Talan (bass) Brian Velasco (drums) Tirso Ripoll (guitars) Manuel Legarda (guitar)
Former members
Miguel Ortigas (drums) Jose Mari Cuervo (vocals) David Aguirre (guitar)

Razorback is a Filipino hard rock band formed in 1990. Originally known for being regulars at the now-defunct Kalye, a club in Makati, the band had proven their onstage mettle many times over, via their own club gigs to full-scale concerts as well as for having opened for Rage Against the Machine and Metallica.

1 History
2 Beggar's Moon
3 Star
4 Present status
5 Trivia
6 See also
7 External links
8 Footnotes

[edit] History

The Hebigat Sounds Volume One album

Razorback first began performing covers of legendary rockers such as Led Zeppelin and Juan De la Cruz Band, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. The group was put together by drummer Miguel Ortigas and guitarists Tirso Ripoll and David Aguirre. Five years later, the band, composed of Kevin Roy on vocals, Ripoll and Aguirre on guitars, Ortigas on drums and Louie Talan on bass, released their debut album entitled "Hebigat Sounds Volume One". (Hebigat is a portmanteau, created by fusing the words Hebi, a play on the English word heavy, and the Filipino word bigat, literally, heavy.) The album contained such tracks as "Giyang", "Tabi ng Bulkan (Beside the Volcano)" and "Pepe D' Hepe".

[edit] Beggar's Moon

Tirso Ripoll playing slide guitar.

Founding member Miguel Ortigas soon decided to leave the band in March 1996, prompting the band to take on Brian Velasco. In 1997, the band released their sophomore effort entitled "Beggar's Moon" under Epic Records. It produced hits like "Payaso (Clown)" and "Ikot Ng Mundo (The World Turns)", the latter garnering an NU 107 Rock Awards Song of The Year nomination that year. Ripoll won Best Guitarist of the Year; Talan won the Best Bassist the following year. "Beggar's Moon" eventually went platinum.

[edit] Star

The third Razorback album, "Star", was released in 2000. The album produced the award winning video hit "Voodoo, Who Do?", plus other favorites such as "Tikmanangulan (Taste the Rain)", "Paghihintay (Waiting)", and "Sa Gitna Ng Lahat (In the Midst of it All)". "Voodoo, Who Do?" would later on become part of the soundtrack of "Stone", a comic book by Filipino artist Whilce Portacio - along with tracks by such artists as Korn, Our Lady Peace, Incubus, as well as Filipino artists Chill and Wolfgang.

Some time after Star was released, David Aguirre went on hiatus, prompting some speculation that he was quitting the band for good. He returned in late 2000, to the delight of fans.

[edit] Present status

The Razorback double-CD album.

In 2002, the band embarked on an ambitious project - an eponymously-titled double CD album. Razorback dispelled rumours that this is their final album, much to the relief of fans who have been on the receiving end of this anxiety-inducing piece of false information. The album starts out with "Minsan Lang (Just Once)". Diversity is evident, with songs ranging from classic rock, ("Minsan Lang", "Wakasan (The Ending)", "Dagat ng Pag-asa (Sea of Hope)"), to Pink Floydesque tracks ("Puerto Jam", "Earthen Drum") and acoustic love songs ("Ditty", "Sixteen Days").

David Aguirre effectively left the band around 2003, after accepting an invitation by Wolf Gemora (formerly of Wolfgang) to play guitar for his new Southern California-based band, Lokomotiv.

On January 6 and January 12, 2007, various members of Razorback and Wolfgang got together for a reunion concert at the Music Museum. On hand were Basti Artadi, Tirso Ripoll, Louie Talan, Kevin Roy, Mon Legaspi, Brian Velasco and Manuel Legarda. Wolf Gemora and David Aguirre, however, were unable to join this gig, as their commitments for the moment lie with Lokomotiv.^[1]

[edit] Trivia

One track off the Beggar's Moon album is entitled Of Hobbits and Pipeweed; perhaps a homage to J. R. R. Tolkien and his books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Basti Artadi of Wolfgang shares credit for work done on the Beggar's Moon album art.
Talan and Ripoll consider Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" as the best rock song ever written.^[2]
David Aguirre is now the lead guitarist for the Southern California-based band Lokomotiv. Manuel Legarda, formerly of Wolfgang, has taken over his guitar duties for Razorback.^[3].
Members of Razorback and Wolfgang used to jam onstage billed as the Flaming Hemorrhoids.^[4].