I was invited by Lizza Nakpil to come and shoot the first Malaya gig which was help at Capones Bistro in Makati on April 15.  Without hesitation i cleared my schedule and made sure that i would be there.  Though i didn't know all that much about Malaya and exactly who its members were, i knew that it was a rather big to-do and knew as well that it was going to be one hell of an exciting show.

    I arrived at what must've been 9pm, and instantly was aware that it was indeed a big to-do being that there were so many people there already and that all the tables and chairs were occupied.  My girl and i got settled in, had a couple of beers, a couple of chats with some of the people that were there, and soon enough the show began.

    I recognized Boom Dayupay instantly from his passed days in the music industry and was happy to see him again after all these years.  Watching Louie Talan pick up his bass guitar onstage was a real treat as well and i thought to myself, "Man, how many bands does Louie play for now?".  On the percussions was Buddhets (im sure ive spelt this wrong), another musician i truly admire, and old friend from Cebu, Randy on guitars.  Onstage was also their drummer who's name i regrettably cannot remember now and a female singer dressed in a nice black top and blue jeans. 

    Their songs were funky with a jazz and hiphop influence.  The back-up singing was fantastic and was actually not that "back-up" being that many of her lines were done on her own.  I rarely see Louie popping and slapping the bass so it was an extra treat for me to watch and listen to him play that way.  Randy is just a brilliant guitar player who has this really cool soft touch with both of his hands and never fails to impress me when i watch him play.  The drums and percussions were tight as shit!!!  And the vocals with their melodies and lyrics really captured me as well.

    The set was normal in time and number of songs for today's usual bar gig.  I'd say maybe 5-6 songs, about half an hour long, however, it was not followed by another band right away.  Which for me was a nice change too!  The band had all the time in the world to get their stuff off the stage and even got to enjoy a few drinks before taking everything down.  Along with that time, they also got to chat with friends, do interviews, and just hang out after the set.  From an audiences point of view, it was great as well to have a rather long break between bands because it gave us the chance to linger around and enjoy that last set syndrome before being brought to another bands music. 

    I was able to meet with the whole band, inform them about what we do here at odysseylive, plus, i got to interview them! 

    I learned a few things from the interview...they will soon be releasing an album which has been in the making for the last 4 years.  There are a number of musicians who have contributed to the album in terms of playing this instrument or that instrument and this and that person did some vocals.  I also learned that Lizza Nakpil is managing them.  I learned that the lady who sang for them is one of two that switch between gigs.  Actually, come to think of it, though the interview was brief, and loud(!!!), i learned quite a bit about the band. 

    Pictures, videos, and the interview will all be posted here on odysseylive.net very soon.

    Stick around for those and watch out as Malaya is about to release their first album!!!

    Special thanks to Lizza Nakpil for inviting me and hooking me up!