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Monsterbot will be Monsterbot

Band who brought the hit single, "Explosive" goes independent.Monsterbot's latest release-- Rhomboids (Sibika't Kultura Records 2005) mash progressive punk, garage rock, pop, and funk embedded by piercing Casio tones and ripping analog synthesizers accompanied by old school hardcore punk shouts and melodic choruses.

This five piece has been delivering its rock n' roll with toy keyboard melodies and bleeps since 1997. Their first album Destroy! Destroy! (MCA Universal 2002) is a Family-Computer-Teenage-Riot fusing hip-hop, indie rock, pop, hardcore punk, and funk. The album features singles such as "Bury the oreo", "Everything you", "Pa-rockstar", and "Explosive". The video for Explosive directed by Quark Henares was nominated at the MTV Pilipinas Awards 2002 for Best New Artist. The song was also nominated at the NU107.5 Rock Awards 2002 for Best New Artist and Destroy… won Producer of the Year with Raimund Marasigan (Sandwich).When Monsterbot's contract ended with MCA, they were still in the game in writing and releasing more material. They hooked up with Mikey Amistoso who has their own recording equipment with his band Ciudad and was very willing to produce and record the group.

"It was really a fun experience to record with Mikey, we were always shouting and jumping around when we did something that we couldn't record or re-enact again with the same performance." Says Carlo Navarro, Keyboards. "Especially with the analog synths that we have acquired. They are totally unpredictable to play and this album are full of those unpredictable takes."

After a few weeks, out of the band's homes and Mikey's, Monsterbot were done with seven songs, these included Monsterbot's live hits such as "Burning", "All for this, all for nothing", and "Epekto" which features Pan and Yano frontman, Dong Abay.

Itching to be heard, the band released a CD-R single with photocopied covers called the "Epekto" single, which features 2 songs plus the title track. The single immediately entered NU107.5's playlist.

Alongside selling CD-Rs at shows, the group produced a video for "Epekto" directed by filmmaker friend Rico Verzosa. The video was about the band chasing Abay who stole their microphone through the streets of Taytay, Rizal.

"In terms of financials, it all pours to the band fund. These earnings are from the CDRs we sell, the gigs we play in, everything goes to our savings. And when it comes to making videos our friends like Rico is more excited to do it than us. He borrowed the cameras, found someone who can help edit, transfer the tapes. Of course our part comes in when preparing the food for the shoot. It's all just like a group-work in school." Narrates drummer Ryan Magsumbol.

Still on the go with touring, Monsterbot released another infectious track, "Fever" in EMI's Full Volume Compilation which also included other great bands like Urbandub, Hale, Sandwich, Ciudad, and many more. At the same time, the band also contributed the stoner rock influenced, "Your always right" to Alpha records' Shiny Silver Jeepney Compilation.

Wanting to have a full length album and a official pressed CD, the band went back to the studio to record 3 more additional songs which is "I wonder", "Better days", and "Robotics". This time back where they recorded their first album in Sound Creation studios with Shinji Tanaka.

"We just blew the songs in 4 sessions. Shinji already knew what we liked since we've already worked with him before. When it was time for mixing, he just did his mix without our supervision and the next time we met, we liked it instantly, no revisions" Says lead vocalist Glen San Agustin.

By combining the two recording sessions, it was done. For the cover, graphic designer Ge Madriaga made a brightly colored vector artwork of nature blending with electronic gadgets by, almost making the album look like a chill-out record.

"We were attracted to the word Rhomboids because it sounded like a robot or some alien being from another planet but of course it's just a parallelogram or a shape. Nothing really serious or emotional connection to the album, but in this one we definitely were trying to be consistent with the Monsterbot sound. " Says bass player Karl Claudio.

Guitarist Diego Mapa further explains, "I always wanted to be in a band how Helmet sounds like just Helmet, the Ramones with theirs, or Weezer with their music. I like how they work on their consistency and develop it sounding different with every album with all the same elements still in place. Although I can never promise to myself that Monsterbot will forever be the same. The songs in the album came out naturally without thinking about consistency. When everything was done we just said, 'hey we still sound the same!"

Rhomboids' opens with "Your always right" like a soundtrack to a dessert dune buggy race getting ready to burn rubber under the hot sun. Imagine Fu Manchu playing the Nintendo game Rockman. Track 2 is "Robotics" a song almost like an epic of off-time and half-time breaks singing, "56k, DSL! I shouldn't be worried about a thing…" Followed by live favorites, "All for this, all for nothing", "Fever", and "Burning" that drop like Nirvana on synthetics. Burning is a bitter love song and the only track in the album with a vocal melody in its entirety accompanied by a catchy keyboard line with a contagious chorus, "Burning your letters right now…burning your pictures today…" The funky-space-surf-indie-rock ditty, "I wonder" is the album's first single. Other tracks included are are "Mannerisms", "Let's get paid", "Better days", and the drowning 4-track jam, "Doodoot" closing the record.

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