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| COOL GUYS. Sebu Simonian (left) and Ryan Merchant (right) aka Capital Cities happily give some love to my blog. All photos by Kai Magsanoc |
Ayala Malls brings the American indie band to Manila to start off 2014
MANILA, Philippines - Capital Cities, the duo behind the catchy ditty "Safe and Sound," is in Manila for 4 free performances in two days courtesy of Ayala Malls.
The indie pop duo met the press in an event on January 10, 4pm, at Paranaque Rooms A and B of the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.
I was blessed to be part of a smaller group that was able to sit down with Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian after the main program. We were given only 7 minutes to interview them, and it turned out that 7 minutes was all we needed.
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| INTIMATE INTERVIEW. Our small group who had the chance to get to know Sebu and Ryan better. Peter Imbong (right most) was my writer when I was with Rappler, and I was glad to be with him at this event. |
Sebu: We have this intro piece of music that we like to start our show with, so it kind of starts and sets the mood before we get on stage. As that music is playing, we stand outside of the stage -- the whole band -- and we put our hands together in the center and we kinda do this wave right before we go on. There's this spitirual kind of feeling we get and we get energized to play the show.
On their being former jingle composers and how it affects their music now
Ryan: We don't think about it consciously, and the way we started in music -- even though we were jingle writers for two and a half years -- we both started writing music for bands. First and foremost, we are singers-songwriters for artistic band projects. The jingle-writing thing was something we kind of fell into and I think we both had a knack for it because we both obsessed with writing interesting melodies, and that's the aspect of music that I think the two of us combined have the most talent for.
So I think jingle writing is very much about coming up with catchy melodies, whether it's about an instrument or vocal, and we're both singers. I guess our strengths within the music world kind of lent itself to writing jingles.
We both enjoy writing stuff that's catchy because we both like catchy music. I like music that's very obscure and avant garde, but I also like a good pop song. It's not something we think about too much. Whatever comes out, comes out. If we both like it, then that's what's gonna be on the album and [that] we're gonna perform live.
Sebu: We don't try to write music that sells. We just try to write music that's good. Then if it sells, that means it's really good.
On the elements of a good pop song
Sebu: Good melody, first and foremost, and a good lyric.
On their songwriting process
Sebu: It's very much a joint effort. Usually one of us will come up with an idea -- that idea could be anything, a simple melody, a lyric, a drum beat, a bass line, a chord progression.
If it's good and the other likes it, we encourage each other to continue developing it, so that the other person might add something to it, any one of those elements that I mentioned. It just goes back and forth until the song is complete.
On their impression of the Philippines before they arrived
Ryan: I grew up in San Francisco, California, which is in northern California, and there's a very large Filipino community in south San Francisco. A lot of the kids that I grew up with, some of their parents were actually from the Philippines, and some of them were half-Filipino.
I feel like I was exposed to some Filipino food...I just had some sort of awareness of the culture, so I feel like coming here -- in some ways -- does not feel that foreign to me, because I've had some form of exposure.
Now that I think about it, I had a female roommate for a year and a half that was also Filipino and she was an amazing chef. She made great dinners. [I have had a] very positive experience with the Philippines.
On their life principles and how they stay grounded
Sebu: Respect is important. Human respect and human interaction. Optimism is a key word, I think, at least when it comes to the message of our music, in general.
Also, I think awareness is important; to be aware of the ups and downs of life. Ecclecticism, I think it's important to have variety in life and in music. Those are some key words, I guess, we could latch on to.
On how long they plan to make music together
Ryan: If you'll have us here after 30 years, sure. [Sebu laughs] We'll come play "Safe and Sound" for the next 50 years, as long as you're okay with us wheelin' out in a wheelchair!
No, I'm just kidding. We plan to have a very long career in music. I think we'll always try to create music that has integrity, and music that we think is good. And hopefully, there will always be an audience.
I think right now we're building this loyal fan base. People have seen our shows, have connected with us, and I hope there'll be enough people to sustain a pretty long career.
On writing sad songs
Ryan: We used to write very sad music when we were younger.
Sebu: We did try writing melancholic music and, yes, we did fail miserably.
On the Capital Cities shuffle
Sebu: It's a very simple dance that we try to teach the audience in the middle of our set that we came up with ourselves. It's not very creative but it's very, very -- and that's the whole point -- it's very, very simple.
Ryan: So that 5,000 people can do it.
On their performance outfits
Ryan: We have these matching satin tour jackets that have Capital Cities embroidered onto the back, that each have our names. We have black ones and we have white ones. We're somewhat coordinated.
Mainly we did that because when you're touring, you're playing so many shows, it's just so much easier to have a uniform that you just throw on. It's also nice to have a good, cohesive look.
On their musical influences (aside from Pet Shop Boys)
Ryan: Jamiroquai, Phoenix, Jeff Buckley, Joni Mitchell
Sebu: Pink Floyd, Chopin, Quentin Tarantino
On their personal favorites off their debut album "In A Tidal Wave of Mystery"
Sebu: It changes all the time. Currently, my favorite song is "Tell Me How to Live."
Ryan: I really like "Farrah Fawcett Hair."
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| TAG TEAM. Sebu and Ryan's answers blend with each other so seamlessly, it is no wonder their music and partnership work |
Catch Capital Cities in Ayala Malls today, January 11, and tomorrow January 12:
January 11, Saturday
- 4pm - Alabang Town Center Activity Center
- 7pm - Glorietta Activity Center
January 12, Sunday
- 3pm - Marquee Mall Activity Center
- 7pm - TriNoma Activity Center
Other members of the band are bassist Manny Quintero, trumpeter Spencer Ludwig, guitarist Nick Merwin, and drummer Channing Holmes.
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| HAPPY ALBUM. Capital Cities' debut album is out in record stores and on iTunes today, January 11 |
Here's the tracklist:
1. Safe and Sound
2. Patience Gets Us Nowhere Fast
3. Kangaroo Court
4. I Sold My Bed, But Not My Stereo
5. Center Stage
6. Farrah Fawcett Hair feat. Andre 3000
7. Chartreuse
8. Origami
9. Lazy Lies
10. Tell Me How To Live
11. Chasing You feat. Soseh
12. Love Away
"In A Tidal Wave of Mystery" is available in Astroplus, Odyssey Music and Video, and Fully-Booked. It is also available on iTunes. - #CoffeeWithKai
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