Not old school but cool
Ben & Ben ushers in the sound of OPM summers gone by when the future looked exactly like now
Electronic dance music, pop and rock dominate the music scene these days but singers and songwriting duo Ben&Ben are making folk-pop songs sound so hip all over again like it’s the next big thing.
Electronic dance music, pop and rock dominate the music scene these days but singers and songwriting duo Ben & Ben are making folk-pop songs sound so hip all over again like it’s the next big thing.
Composed of twins Miguel and Paolo Guico, Ben&Ben rose to fame when they placed second runner-up in the songwriting competition Philippine Popular (PhilPop) Music Festival in 2016 for their song “Tinatangi.” They were called The Benjamins back then. “I guess nahanap namin ’yung roots
namin in folk. We’re very comfortable with the genre since guitar-based siya, very lyrical. But then what we’re also trying to do is mix different genres that are appealing to people’s ears, which is basically pop,” Miguel said in an interview.
“Tinatangi” made use of Filipino lyrics somewhat inspired by kundiman. It also featured Cookie Chua and Bayang Barrios.
“What we tried doing sa PhilPop is all-out experimentation. Based on what we learned from PhilPop and on how people received it, combining that to the direction we want to take. Nagre-reflect
siya sa album namin,” Paolo said. The twins try to mix old and new elements. As hugot lines and spoken poetry became popular especially among young ones, Paolo and Miguel infused Filipino heart-tugging lines into their folk-pop music.
“You get something that is very familiar to them, hindi lang music, even mga tema. Last year, usong-uso mga hugot
lalo na sa millennials. We tried to write a song in that field pero we introduced something new in the music,” Miguel said.
How they do it
The twins grew up listening to different genres, such as folk, rock, hip hop and jazz. Among their music influences are Urbandub, Paramore, Johnoy Danao, Joey Ayala, Cynthia Alexander, and Franco. They also get inspiration and knowledge from Filipino singers they consider their mentors, including Noel Cabangon, Jungee Marcelo, Ebe Dancel, Jazz Nicolas.
“Songwriting is actually 10% of writing and 90% listening. We listen sa type of music na okay sa younger generation and we infuse ’yung elements na naduon sa pagsusulat namin para eventually ay
ma-adapt din ng mga bata,” Paolo said. When writing songs, they draw mostly from personal experiences. “Tinatangi” talks about eternal love “through life’s different phases.”
“It comes from different places. Of course, the best songs pa din the ones that come from your heart, personal experiences. Meron din songs from others’ experiences na naka-resonate ka lang
din,” Paolo said. The twins are grateful to PhilPop for giving them an opportunity to showcase their music. After bagging second runner-up place in the music festival, Ben&Ben launched their self-titled EP in December. “It really opened doors for us. Masasabi ko na isang key elements sa progress namin ngayon is the people we’re working with. PhilPop, maliban sa natuturo niya sa amin sa songwriting, is working with people. Kailangan lagi ka nakikipag-collaborate with people from the industry. I think it helped us. Kaya ngayon we’re slowly getting to where we want to be. We have the best team,” Miguel said.
Planting seeds
Ben&Ben will be coaching songwriters in PhilPop Songwriting Boot Camp 2017, which is headed by boot camp masters Ryan Cayabyab and Noel Cabangon. Songwriting is a collaborative effort between the two as the idea usually
comes from Paolo then Miguel finishes the song.
“Every composer merong sariling way of doing things. ’Yung ma-ko-contribute namin, maliban sa basics, ay kung paano namin gawin. Unique ang situation namin in the sense na we really write songs together. So ’yung collaboration and diskarte to write great songs, we like to share (those) with other writers,” Paolo said.
Aside from sharing the technicalities of songwriting, Paolo and Miguel want to give other songwriters some practical tips, especially in working with different people in the industry. Before Paolo and Miguel joined PhilPop Music Festival in 2016, they joined Elements Singing-Songwriting Camp 2013 and 2014.
“Maraming aspeto ang music and in songwriting na pwede naming ibahagi. Personally, interesting din mag-contribute sa mga campers ang napakaraming sa side ng music na non-musical. Especially dealing with people in the industry, pakikipagtrabaho sa arrangers and producers. Napakadaming skills and hindi usually obvious pero kailangan. Like communication, maganda din masabi sa kanila yon, lalo na sa mga people from Cebu and Davao,” Miguel said. Ben&Ben sees their music evolving in the future. However, they want it to remain genuine and personal. “Hindi din namin masasabi ang mangyayari in the future. Pero one thing that we’ll always try to do is to make it genuine (for us), hindi artificial,” Miguel said.
Headed by PhilPop Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, PhilPop will hold its boot camp in Antipolo (May 11-14), Baguio (July 13-16), Cebu (Sept. 14-17), and Davao (Nov. 23-26).
‘ Nahanap namin ’yung roots namin in folk. We’re very comfortable with the genre since guitar-based siya, very lyrical. But then what we’re also trying to do is mix different genres that are appealing to people’s ears, pop.’ which is basically