By Jabez Flores, Café Antonio - Los Banos/Indie Band News Philippines
I was supposed to write this article several weeks ago but a very busy schedule did not permit me to do so. And now that the Incubus Tribute Party is this evening, I will try to cram and share this piece of Incubus Street Team Philippines history to you guys in the indie music community.
My friend from the Street Team, Butch Maligalig, shared with me in an interview how the group all began.
Indie Band News (IBN): When did the Street Team first meet?
Butch: Back in 2004, Sony Music held a contest for Incubus fans. I was one of the fans who joined along with the other Street Team members. Sony told us that we should promote the concert creatively. But during that time, we didn’t work as a team yet. We each had our own individual gimmicks to promote the event. Members did some picketing; others baked Incubus-themed cookies; while others went poster-happy on different places. Eventually, only one of us won and the rest got Incubus T-shirts.
IBN: So when did you start working together to promote Incubus as a group?
Butch: In 2008, it was MTV’s turn to hold a contest. That’s when we, the fans, decided to team-up and pool our creative juices. I made a flash video and did a mobile promotion of the 2008 Incubus concert (Pacific Rim Tour) around Los Banos, Laguna. We also did some picketing in the Araneta Coliseum complex. Finally, we won! MTV gave us passes to the press conference and we personally met the band in the Crowne Plaza lobby. Brandon Boyd introduced himself to us, “I’m Brandon. Hi.”
IBN: What projects do you have now that you’re more formally organized?
Butch: Now that we all have jobs, the team decided to up the ante by organizing our own activities. This year, we had a tree planting project at the La Mesa EcoPark. The trees were named after us and we put there, “From the Make Yourself Foundation”. We informed Steve Rennie (the band’s manager) and Jake Versluis (head of the Make Yourself Foundation) about our activity and they said that it was good.
Having won Steve and Jake’s trust, we decided to organize our own Incubus Tribute Party for the promotion of this year’s Incubus concert. We chose Kjwan as one of the bands to perform because I was standing beside Marc Abaya during the 2004 concert and he was wearing a “Chuck” mask. So I figured out that he must be an Incubus super fan. Malay was also invited because the band’s drummer, Alden, is a friend of one of the Street Team’s members.
IBN: Where will all the ticket sales from the party go?
Butch: The ticket sales will all go to charity. We’re doing this to promote Incubus, their new album “If Not Now, When?” and their concert on July 28 at the Araneta Coliseum. Hopefully, the Street Team will be known for its efforts here in the Philippines to promote all things Incubus.
The Incubus Tribute Party is on Thursday, July 14, 7 PM at B-Side, Makati. With performances from Kjwan, Malay, Letter Day Story, LIME, Soil & Green, an Dash Between Dates. The event is organized by The Incubus Street Team Philippines in cooperation with Jack TV and Universal Channel Sponsored by Ovation Productions, Store and Stack, Sony Music, At the Womb, Indie Band News, Odyssey, Full Circle, and UR Face Radio. Official music channel is Myx. Proceeds will benefit RockEd Philippines, Bantay Bata 163, and the Make Yourself Foundation (MYF).
Tickets at Php 150 each.
