X Marks The Spot : Breaking It Down Since '05!

Remember those "Things I want to do before I die" lists that cheery high-schoolers used to make? Well, I never made such a list (at least not to the point where I actually wrote it down), but I have to admit that there were some ideas that crossed my mind.



Be a DJ by night, make a music video, watch the NBA live, meet Shawn Michaels, be able to simultaneously love and hate the Los Angeles Lakers... Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Go ahead and chalk one up for me.

We went to Samal this weekend and, between waiting for the low tide to pass and lunch to be served, a rare moment of lucidity somehow chanced upon us.

It started off innocently enough, with our "Guitar Hero PUGO" Gio strumming tasty nothings out of his guitar. As I bobbed my head to the beat looking for the perfect lyric, Jasna reeled off this gem: "Taba, taba, taba..." With a chorus in place, I started spitting random thoughts that somehow, some way, started to make sense. They were mostly Nicolas family inside jokes, so I don't really need to mention them here. But soon enough, we had created a hook, refrain and chorus and the laughs were all around. I fancied myself a lyrical genius, although I am just merely below that bar. I kid, I kid.

Later that afternooon, we decided to go buckwild with what we had. It wasn't enough for us to simply make fun of ourselves now. It was time to ice it, go mainstream, and we had to have lyrics that everybody could relate to.

So, after some much-needed tweaks lyrically and musically, "Pangalawang Tanghalian" was completed. And with it, the birth of Salocin.

But, like a pack of Jugheads, we stayed hungry. "Pangalawang Tanghalian" was money in the bank, no doubt. However, we wanted versatility, man. We wanted to diversify. And with a perfect topic to talk about (leaving for the States soon), I felt the timing couldn't have been better.

Once again asking Gio to strum anything, I was able to hum a potential chorus. After solidifying the lyrics of the chorus, it was on to formulating the verse. But we felt the melody was strong enough to stand on its own, and we wanted a song that sounded familiar but was somehow different structurally. With no mic in my hand, I started singing (yes, singing) what I've been wanting to speak about for some time now. It took a little work and polishing, but most of the lyrics were spontaneous and really heartfelt. In about 30 minutes, we were able to finish "Needing You".

With limited resources and a tight budget, we decided to just simply record the song at home. And so, we went into a dresser (which was really enclosed perfectly to trap in the sound), locked all the doors, focused and, despite the sweltering heat, completely lost ourselves in the music.

And that was that. Salocin had suddenly produced two quality songs (in our opinion) in two days. Yes, this was truly a labor of love.

All kidding aside, though, we really think highly of the two songs. Yes, they are not that complex, the lyrics ain't really that deep, the singing was often off-key and only an acoustic guitar was used... But damn, this felt good. Really good.

That's one life goal, and many more to go.

Next up? Music videos. Yeah.

Download: Needing You
Download: Pangalawang Tanghalian