Sonic Calling

Rock sirens step up to the stage and lure us to listen. by Candice Lopez and Kaz Castillo. Photographed by Jake Verzosa. Shot on location at Mayric’s.

“I don’t want to be called a rock star,” Myra “Skarlet” Ruaro of the Brownbeat Allstars enthuses. “It implies that either mayabang ka or nagpapa-importante ka. I would be flattered if you called me a singer or a musician.”

It is late afternoon at Mayric’s, a favorite rock dive for aficionados of local alternative music. It’s an unusual scene. The tables are brimming with favorite pieces from the closets of five musicians. Accompanying electric guitars are maroon cowboy boots, yellow soccer socks, a striped vest top, electric blue trainers, a checkered-print mini skirt, a laced-up two-piece dress, and a 50s-inspired gown. We can tell there is nothing ordinary about these women.

Talk revolves around the rock music scene, the accompanying connotations of sex-and-drugs stereotype and the ever-present groupies, the supposed decadence, and the misconception about rock being a male-dominated arena with girls relegated to the sidelines.

“When I first joined the Eraserheads, some people started smirking because I am a woman, and they hadn’t even seen me perform yet. That really pissed me off. It’s one thing to be criticized as a musician. But to be put down for being a woman? Please. Transpose. Have an open mind,” quips Kris Gorra-Dancel.

Kris fronts all-girl group Fatal Posporos while she attacks her new role as frontperson for Cambio, the Eraserheads’ reincarnation. As the new recruit of Fatal Posporos, Imago’s Aia de Leon goes on double duty as well.

“it’s fun to be with all girls,” Aia muses. “You basically understand each other’s feel and groove. With Imago I have to remember to watch out for the others’ moods.”

“Some people say that women are more sensitive than guys and that women are more expressive,” Moonstar88’s Acel Bisa touches on the advantages of being a woman.

Sandwich bassist Myrene Academia comments, “Guys feel they have to protect you. I suppose that’s the way they were brought up. But for emotional cases, as a woman, I have to be the more understanding one sometimes.”

The conversation dips into various directions, as it does when girls gather, and we hear about day-jobs, falling in love with fellow musicians, and having to dodge water bottles at gigs. Delving beyond the idiosyncrasies of the rock lifestyle and the myth of fame and fortune, the women agree on what matters most: The respect due their music and the freedom to continue to create it.

People think it’s novel to have a woman in a band. That’s a pretty shallow way of appreciating women in rock. The women who make the most difference are those who write and perform their own music and are not afraid to express. This whole rock thing for me starts with being fearless enough to take the stage.
Kris Gorra-Dancel
vocalist-guitarist for Cambio and Fatal Posporos

Rock’n'roll is always associated with sex and drugs but you don’t have to be a rock star to do all that. I did not join a band to have an excuse or to justify a need for drugs and immorality. The very reason I’m in a band is because singing is my passion and I love making music and performing for an audience.
Acel Bisa
vocalist-guitarist for Moonstar88

Rock is basically a tradition of machismo and aggression. So when there are women who are outspoken and confident of what they do, hindi sila masakyan. It is not a factor or a prerequisite or a disadvantage to be a woman in the rock scene.
Myra Ruaro
vocalist for Brownbeat Allstars

Rock’n'roll means I have the freedom to reach for the edge I am looking for. I choose not to think of my gender as a hindrance or an asset. It looks nice in photo shoots, but onstage, if you haven’t got a kind of respect from a particular audience, they won’t listen.
Aia de Leon
vocalist-guitarist for Imago and guitarist for Fatal Posporos

The thing about rock’n'roll that I like best is the freedom to do what you want. There are less rules. You’re still responsible for yourself, but it’s less formal. You can dress the way you want, watch what you want. That’s what I like—the freedom it affords me.
Myrene Academia
bassist for Sandwich

Published in Preview, July-August 2003