None can dispute Francis' heroic effort to keep the Pampanga /Northern scene kicking and burning. Through almost 3 decades of hard work, he has taken their sound to all the corners of this cold & wretched earth. Making them one of the most original and symbolic underground movement locally.
Hello Francis , what is up my newly married northern brother?
We're fine thank you. My wife and I recently moved in a new flat so we're in the adjustment period. How about you?
It's good to hear that, well, I have a growing family in the middle of a pandemic, so far we're good & hope it stays that way.
How are you keeping yourself busy in the last few months bro?
Busy with work. Last March I was on a 14 day home quarantine but thank the devil I'm okay. This pandemic cause us to moved to a new flat because of my wife was sent home from the hospital for a 14 day quarantine. People in our former flat thinks she has the virus. I couldn't believe how they think.
oh man, we didn't know that, it's really a fucked up time to be alive. good thing you guys are safe.
are you still busy with projects and releases or is everything on hold for now?
just like Emman ( Delusion Of Terror )
We have projects Lining up but due to this virus, everything is on hold.
Care to enumerate those parked and pending projects?
Just wait and see hijo.
haha lol
Walk us through the scene back home in Pampanga and the neighboring places? How you came to love punk rock and trace your musical roots?
My uncles and cousins have their own bands back in their teenage years. I grew up listening to my mother and father's ABBA and the Carpenters repertoire so you may say I came from a family who loves playing music. I don't know when was the evolution of Pampanga scene? I came to witness this scene when I was in third year high school in Pampanga High. Before that I was listening to glam and hard rock bands when I saw this poster in downtown San Fernando that a cassette tape compilation is out entitled "Tatlo Laban sa Sistema". If I would recall, these 3 bands are from Angeles City and the only band I remember is Dead Hungry Species but I never saw the physical copy of that cassette tape. When I saw Holocaust play at Pampanga High School's foundation day, it blew me away when Their singer Mark Liwanag is singing pissed and obnoxious. I was amazed at the talent and braveness he showed while singing the Cure's "Friday I'm in love" and the Pistols "God save the Queen". When they disbanded, Nancy's Donuts and Bihag ni Bahag come to life and recorded two songs for Middle Finger Production cassette tape compilation entitled "Building bridges breaking down walls". Bands like Frustrated Youth, Smell my brief, Bad Breaths and others played on the first ever Punk concert in San Fernando entitled "Punk Reigns" and the rest is history. The first scenes we've met back in high school are High Minded Creatures of Tarlac and Bataan Rural Decay. It all started when we've played at Tarlac State University back in 1996, the concert entitled "Warning" there we met the guys of Drain Brain (Balanga, Bataan) and Red Corpse (Tarlac City). It was my band's first out of town gig.
So, based on that, it sounds like there was a very active scene at home, independent of the Manila scene!
Indeed. People from Bad Omen, Good for Nothing and Depth Charger discovered our scene when we invited them to play at the "Punk Reigns" that was held in Bulwagan Kapampangan. They did not expect that the scene is purely underground. The first choice was Philippine Violators but the people from Bihag ni Bahag and Nancy's Donut couldn't afford the fee, luckily Bad Omen fit the budget.
what year was this?
1994.
So when did you decide to establish Love From Hate? And tell us about the zines and compilations you have produced
If my memory serves me right, it was established back in 2000 when this guy Sebastian Gonnot of We're gonna fight fanzine and Kepala eskorbuta records give me loads of CD-R with music from bands from Peru, Chile, France, Spain, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Czech Republic, etc. I decided why not produce them and distribute them locally. At first I dubbed them on cassette tapes and photocopied the cover and lyric sheets. When CD-R are in demand and cheap, I load them there and distribute for a cheaper price. All of the sells I made I used them to produce more copies and new titles. My first released under Love from Hate is Istukas over Disneyland "All been said before" CD-R and the rest is history. Notorious fanzine was edited by George Moron of The Great Morons, Marvin Zapata of Urban Assault and me. The succeeding issues was edited by me back in 1996 if am not mistaken? Now Eksena Lokal fanzine is the new zine I'm focusing right now. The first compilation I made was the "Ing balayan da reng guinung pasugal" (The land of the gambling lords) CD-R. Includes demos from active and disbanded pampango bands. I can't remember the date it was released? The second one is "Ing kekaming Tibuan" (We're we born) cassette tape. This is not your typical punk compilation, the label focus on local talents in Pampanga. Metal bands, hip hop and the likes are included to present Pampango artistry. The third one is "Notorious Scene 25 years of hell" cassette tape that was released during the 25th year anniversary of Notorious scene.
I want to correct myself about the compilation. The second compilation we made was Underground Asia CD co-released by Emmanuel Jasmin fame Delusion of Terror. It contains bands from Asia, Egypt and Russia. This was made during MySpace days. Funny because when we sent the layout to the printing press, when the negative was made, the size of the layout is bigger than the usual size that's why it did not fit in a jewel case. Charge to experience if you ask me. I was worried that the compilation will collect dust from our rooms and I told Emmanuel that I'll just pay what he shared for the project and guess what he told me? "If you fail, I'll fail. We'll both fail" that stuck in my mind. After two months, Yuki of Vivisick bought all of the remaining copies of the compilation and there you go, it was sold out. Now the third compilation was "Movin Up, Movin On" CD. The guys of Still Ill are the culprits of this project. It contains active bands from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and it was co-released by Delusion of Terror and Love from Hate. The fourth compilation is "Ing kekaming Tibuan" cassette tape and the fifth one is "Notorious Scene 25 years of Hell" cassette tape.
When you started all of this, the label, the compilations and zines... did you have a plan in my mind? like what specific sound and politics of the bands you wanted to feature?
There is none. I just wanted to help.
Aside from all these projects you mentioned, you also play in several bands, so it seems you were very busy in the underground. What are these bands? both active and not
The only reason why I play on those bands is because there's no drummer who wanted to play haha. Aside from Istukas over Disneyland, I play drums for Holy Cow, Tomiko and the Young handsome lads, monthly red and Evil Cousins. All of these bands are active.
So IOD is still your main unit. Can you run us through IOD's history?
Indeed. The band formed back in 1994 with my friends in high school. I wanted to play in the first ever punk concert organized by the people of Nancy's Donut and Bihag ni Bahag entitled "Punk Reigns". We've play three songs from Dead Sperms, Rumble Militia and Descendents. Too much people played in the band that we can form a football team. We just started creating our own music and lyrics late that's why we kept on going releasing and composing new songs. As of now, our demo 2011 and demo 2016 are yet to be release and we have new songs lining up for a new demo. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who played for the band and all of the people who supported this no no band from the lahar lands.
Damn, IOD has been around! I'm only familiar with IOD's All Been Said Before, O Guino, some splits with KR, Eskapo, a couple of EP through Rusty Knife and that Eskapo split with Darbouka. any other releases & do you still have copies of these?
What is your email address? I can give you our discography.
So for the label , it's pretty much a DIY process.
Absolutely
When it comes to song writing, especially with IOD, is it you who creates most of the songs? I am interested because you guys not only use english and tagalog but Kapampangan as well which is a very beautiful language.
It suits well with heavy music surprisingly as I have personal noticed with other bands like Flattbush
Yes I wrote most of our songs. Marly, Anthony, Gerald and Josar wrote songs for the band as well. What I do is I wrote the song in English or Tagalog & my aunt Belinda and my aunt's friend Romeo translate the songs in Pampango.
How important is the punk scene specifically in Pampanga for you?
As of writing, our friend Dennis de Vera passed away yesterday. I cried knowing this guy is so kind and has a big heart for his passion for punk. This is one of the reason why our scene is important, for us who are left behind to fulfill and continue what we've started. How important? It is because of you, Dennis and all of those people who have heart to continue, that's what important to me.
Damn bro, sorry to hear it. As a tribute can you tell us more about Dennis and his contributions to the scene.
I met Dennis back in high school. Marc of Bembol Rockers introduced Dennis to me and I was so amazed knowing this Punk from Manila with his fine boots and long sleeve suit. Marc told me Dennis is one of the oldest punk in the Philippines and editor of Manila Oi Papers. Whenever he visit San Fernando, he crash in my dad's flat and from there we talked about his fanzine, his collection of old concert tickets, postcard of greetings from London and his province of Pangasinan. A smiling and kind person, he will give you tips on how to improve your zine making, he always advise to read current events and always write something about the punk scene. Whenever he attend gigs, he always write a gig review. He will always say your set is a killer and clap his hands each on every songs. The people of Pampanga knows Dennis, they conducted a radio interview with him back in the years and his like a Santa, giving personal belongings to Pampanga punks that now they treasure. His contribution to the scene is priceless. The Philippine Punk Scene lost a good friend, a friend who gives a damn on what you love, a friend who take no shit from no one, a friend who you can trust and a friend who cares about the local scene. I tell you, the people of Bad Omen (former and current) shed tears more than I do. Because As Rheetyard said, Dennis is the fourth member of Bad Omen. I will continue my zine as I promise to Dennis.
What made you decide that your dedication to the scene will be a lifelong passion?
What things do you remember that has made doing all this worthwhile?
I don't know? I guess I'm still alive that's why I keep on doing this. I just do what I love to do. Love + Passion = dedication. I know you guys will continue what you love to do even if someone who's passion for the scene is epic but left us for good. Let's celebrate what we love to do because if not, no one will. I remember when Vivisick visit Pampanga for the first time, we did not play because we disbanded the band. After that gig I realize it's not what I wanted to do, so I ate my words and found new members to rehearse the new songs I wrote. Those songs were featured on the 4 way split CD entitled "Deadly Rhythms from the Production Line" with Kill Ratio, La Grita and Eskapo. When the project was released, I remember how foolish I am for such decision. I already did all the things I wanted for the band but would I stop the things that makes me happy? The things that made all of this worthwhile? We won't do this interview if this is worthless.
SO you play in multiple bands, authored zines, released music and basically helped carry the Pampanga and Philippine scene on your back, anything else you dreamed of doing beyond that?
I want to document the scene of Pampanga. I have old photos and live videos of defunct and active bands from San Fernando. My friend gave me a Go-Pro, I haven't check it yet and I have to buy a new memory card for starters. I also want to write a book. I have old photos of bands from Tarlac, Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Lucena, Manila, Laguna, Cebu, Bacolod, Davao and South Cotabato Scene. I hope I can work on those soon. Wish me luck
Wow, I hope that pushes through and of course we are more than happy to help! ( I hope still have that NoPIS cd during our gig there wahahaha )
Thank you. Have you played in San Fernando? I don't think so? But I still have your demo CD-R.
I let you sign my copy remember?
apart from the obvious reference to the Dickies song for the IOD name, what other music do you listen to that you haven't talked about yet
I like big band and jazz music specially those singing on their own dialect.
Can you give us your playlist before and while the Covid clusterfuck came into the picture? what shit do you recommend new and old? or probably the obscure ones that you listen to
Chin-chin "Sound of the Westway" LP,
Chin-chin "Don't wanna be prisoner" 7" EP,
RAD, See you in Hell "Jed" LP,
Sin Dios "Alerta Antifascista" LP,
Street Dogs "Back to the World" CD,
Arctic Flower "Weaver" LP,
Belgrado "Obraz" LP, Accidente "Pulso" LP,
Brigada Flores Magon "S/T" LP,
Opcio K-95 "Reneix" LP,
Syndrome 81 "Desert Urbain" 7" EP,
LITOVSK demo,
Blitz "New Age" 7" EP,
MYTERI "S/T" CD,
SECT "S/T" cassette tape, Wlochaty "Zmowa" CD,
Malas Cartas "365 Dias de Odio" CD,
Elektroduendes "Salgo de Calle" LP
and Decibelios "Caldo de Pollo" LP.
and for those who do not know, which artists from Pampanga should they check out?
You mean punk bands? If yes, people should check out Ambush, they don't have a demo yet but this band is one of the active bands in San Fernando consist of members from Blatant Response, Istukas over Disneyland and Bastion of Resistance. They have two new songs so let's wait for them to record a demo. Blatant Response is one of the exciting bands to watch from San Fernando. They are included on the "Notorious Scene - 25 years of Hell" compilation cassette tape released by Love from Hate. They are also included on the compilation CD-R entitled "Northern Attack". I don't know what record label released this project and "Know your Enemy" volume 2 online compilation under Dirty Shoes Collective. For those who ska? Jacked Posse is for you, consist of members from Marcos Cronies Conspiracy, Bastion of Resistance and Suwail. Their songs are included on "Notorious Scene - 25 years of Hell" compilation cassette tape, "Northern Attack" compilation CD-R and ""Know your enemy" online compilation. You should see them live playing "Waiting Room" from Fugazi. Moss Trooper are one of the best bit in San Fernando, consist of members from Monthly Red and Tomiko and the Young Handsome Lads. They are included on the compilation cassette tape entitled "Notorious Scene - 25 years of hell". Bastion of Resistance recently released a split CD-R under Talkxhit Records with Suwail. They're also featured on "Notorious Scene - 25 years of Hell" compilation cassette tape and " Northern Attack" compilation CD-R. Dead Flower Power is an indie band, they're also included on "Notorious Scene - 25 years of Hell" compilation cassette tape. Tres Luse, the come back hahaha. They're included on the compilation CD entitled "Movin Up, Movin On" released by Still Ill, Delusion of Terror and Love from Hate. Another veteran bands makin g a come back are Rag Dolls. Another band to watch out for is Rag Dolls Jr. Of course these bands are still alive and you should check out their releases - Holy Cow, Monthly Red, Suwail, Tomiko and the Young Handsome Lads, Evil Cousins, Farsight, Seed Bisyo and Friends, Marcos Cronies and Marcos Cronies Conspiracy. You should also check out these fanzines - Aftermath Media, Antaq and Talkxhit fanzine.
who helps you run Love from Hate and organize Notorious Scene?
I run Love from Hate myself when it comes to thec onstruction of the album, compilations, Dyey Reyes and Ryan dela Cruz helps me with the layout. When it comes to organizing shows for Notorious, it's a collective effort of all Notorious Scene. They donate their hard earn money, time and man power.
well it has been a real awesome experience doing this interview, what's the first you plan to do in or outsde the scene when all of this is over?
My wife and I will visit our family back in
Marilao, Bulacan and San Fernando, Pampanga. The last visit was back in
February. We miss them big time.
Francis, salamat for sharing all of this to us. Any words you'd like to say to all out friends out there?
Be safe, stay healthy and we'll see you all in the pit very soon. Salamat Arch sa panayam.
Istukas Over Disneyland discography
V/A – “Know your Enemy” Volume 2 Online Compilation by Dirty Shoes Records (the Philippines) August 2020.
V/A – “Cover what you Want” Sampler Volume 5 Compilation CD-R released by xThinkPositivex Records (the Philippines) August 2020.
V/A – “Up Yours 2” Compilation 12” LP + 7” EP released by Alleiner Threat Reckordt (Germany), Love from Hate (the Philippines), Delusion of Terror (the Philippines) and Middle Finger Production (the Philippines) November 2019.
Istukas over Disneyland “Sons of Pampanga” Cassette Tape released by Delusion of Terror (the Philippines), Get Up and Go Records (USA) and Love from Hate (the Philippines) September 28, 2019.
V/A - “Notorious Scene – 25 years of Hell” Compilation Cassette Tape released by Love from Hate (the Philippines) May 25, 2019.
V/A – “The Connection” Compilation CD-R released by KxSxC Insight (Turkey) .October 2017
V/A - “Ing Kekaming Tibuan” Compilation Cassette Tape released by Love from Hate (the Philippines) July 09, 2016.
“Mindanow” 2015 Tour CD-R released by Love from Hate (the Philippines) March 20, 2015.
“Le Tour de Santiago” 2014 Tour CD-R released by Love from Hate (the Philippines) December 20, 2014.
V/A – “Drawing Aggression” Compilation CD-R released by Thresthold Records (the Philippines) June 2014.
Istukas over Disneyland / La Theorie Du Boxon Split 12” LP released by Alleiner Threat Reckordt (Germany), Rusty Knife Records (France), Maloka (France), Contre Choc (France), General Strike (France), Has Been Mental (France), La Societe Pue Prod (France), Trauma Social (France), Infiltrate the System Records (United Kingdom), Alternatif Sound (France), FFC Productions (France) and Love From Hate (the Philippines) May 2014.
V/A – “Fucking the Nation Everyday Volume 4” released by Punk Rockers-Radio (Germany) 2013.
V/A – “Rusty Knife Label Promo Sampler Vol. 2” CD-R released by Rusty Knife (France) February 2012.
Istukas over Disneyland / RAB Split 7” EP released by Love from Hate (the Philippines), Rusty Knife (France), Has been Mental (France), Fuck your Laws (France), MAC (France) FFC Productions (France) July 2011.
Istukas over Disneyland / Eskapo Split 7” EP released by Darbouka Records (France) September 2010.
V/A – “Underground Asia” Compilation CD released by Delusion of Terror (the Philippines) and Love from Hate (the Philippines) September 2010.
V/A – “Pilipinas Thrash Detonation” Compilation Cassette Tape with Istukas over Disneyland released by Still Ill Records (the Philippines) June 2010.
V/A – “Northern Territory CD Sampler Vol. 1” CD-R released by Northern Territory Records (Philippines) February 2010.
“Into the South – Cebu 2009 Tour” CD-R released by Northern Territory (the Philippines), Customized Freedom Collective (the Philippines) and Love from Hate (the Philippines) September 11, 2009.
V/A – “Take Four Collective Sampler Vol. 2” CD-R released by Take Four Collective (the Philippines) August 2009.
“Deadly Rhythms from the Production Line” 4-way Split CD released by Take 4 Collective (the Philippines), Delusion of Terror (the Philippines) and Love from Hate (the Philippines) January 2009.
V/A - “Ing Balayan da reng Guinung Pasugal” Compilation CD-R released by Love from Hate (the Philippines) March 2008.
V/A – “Know your Enemy” Compilation CD-R released by Dirty Shoes Collective (the Philippines) December 2007.
V/A – “Wag Nyong Gwain’ta sa Bahay” Compilation Cassette Tape released by Don’t Try this at Home Records (Germany) November 2007.
V/A – “Prom di Nort! Vo. 2” Compilation CD-R released by Northern Territory Records (the Philippines) August 2007.
Istukas over Disneyland “O Guinu” CD released by Cat Food Money Records (Texas, USA) August 2005.
Istukas over Disneyland / Crashed Out Split CD released by Maloka Distro (France) and Kepala Eskurbota (France) July 2005.
Istukas over Disneyland “All been said before” CD-R re-released by Cat Food Money Records (Texas, USA) May 2005.
Istukas over Disneyland “S/T” CD-R released by Nikudan Records (Poland) March 2005.
Istukas over Disneyland “All Been said Before” CD-R released by Love from Hate (the Philippines) January 2003.
V/A – “Up Yours” Compilation Cassette Tape released by Middle Finger Productions (the Philippines) August 2000.
V/A – “Save the Crippled Manknd” Compilation Cassette Tape released by Cheap Control Records (the Philippines) 1999.
V/A – “Frontal Throw” Compilation Cassette Tape released by Jackarse (the Philippines) 1997.
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