By: Aldwin Yap
Welcome to the world of Shaman's Bud. Echoes.
Hi-fidelity. Righteous. Sublime. Relaxiation. Soundscape. Space. Cerebral.
Exploration. Far out. Trippy. Orgasmic. Music-techture. This is how I describe
Shaman's Bud. A rock band that talk about the fucked up world and how
stonedrastic life is.
What year did Shaman's Bud start? Can you share a
summarized history of the band?
Ches: Hey man!
Before anything else, thank you for showing interest on the band. Here’s my own
gist of the story... Me and Ken were on Gateway (Cubao) and we were walking to
nowhere ( i can't recall where are we goin exactly) but I remember him opening
up the idea for a side project. It was his idea of a grindcore fit at the time
and we joked about making that band together. After that we did not really talk
about it again for months until a random day when me and the other dudes
decided to just jam and get stoned together. That was Black Saturday of 2014.
I first met Bob at a show they played here in
Marikina (Chrome Box). I recall that it was a death metal show and they were
that odd band playing those mammoth riffs drenched in marijuana. Hehe. I saw
Bob outside looking too doped and shit and approached him. Told him I was
interested in doing an interview with Malicious Birth for Craft Agenda (my
fanzine) and that was the start of our communication. We did exchange messages
but we haven't really talked about playing music together back then since I
also have an active band at the time (Deadflesh Architect).
Me and Ral
first met and talked at Cubao Expo . I brought that stupid first issue of my
fanzine and he gave me two copies of Scrawlshop. We bought beers in bottles
(probably Cerveza Negra) and we just talked about music at Cubao Expo's
gutters. Dude's the real deal. I was wearing my bootlegged Sabbath shirt and he
took notice of it and that's how we started the conversation. Me, Ken and Ral
did hang out at his place in QC some random day and we got doped as fuck, Ken
passing out and me and Ral having our stints of passing out and waking up
smoking dope and him blasting his records and that Dismember cassette. Hehe. I
rode the cab back home the next day hazily remembering anything.
I opened up
the idea to Ken telling him that I am interested in forming a sludge band and
contemplated deeply on the possible members. I thought of Bob since he was the
only sludge guitarist I knew at the time and we kind of clicked in terms of how
we think towards music. To be honest, I was hesitant to invite Ral at first
since I felt that he's too cult after reading his Scrawlshops (dude has superb
taste in music). Surprisingly, he's one of the coolest, most legit dudes you'll
meet in your lifetime. So fuck that, I
pitched the idea to him and we made this chat group on Facebook and met up to
jam initially at Cubao Expo. The rest was history.
Bob: we first
jammed on a Black Saturday in a studio in Cubao Expo. I think it was 2014. The
streets were empty and people weren’t around. It had a kinda Twilight Zone feel
to the whole first meeting. But right off the bat we just hit it off. From the
first note to the last, we just clicked. We jammed some EHG type sludge and
just hung out to get the feel of one another.
Rallye: a very
hazy Black Saturday of 2014 in Cubao hehe
Ken: I believe it was 2 years ago. It was Black Saturday when we first hit the studio. I was the last one to arrive at the studio hahahaha. Ches asked me if I’m interested to do the skins for a sludge/psychedelic/doom band and I said yes.
Can you describe what Shaman's Bud's music is
about?
Ches: SB is all
about drugs, our lives' experiences and all the shits of this world. SB's
infancy is a rip off of EHG ( that's our core influence when we started). Then
we had this one rehearsal session when Bob directed us to the cosmos and beyond
and since then expanded the music beyond our comfort zones.
Bob: At first
it was about the dirt and grit. Downright dirty sludge. But it evolved now to a
spacey cosmic kinda heaviness. Basically it’s “jam” music from four dudes who
love to jam, smoke weed and hang out.
Ken: It’s about our daily shit… It’s about reality… It’s about us, the basterds behind Shaman’s Bud haha.
Who are the past and current members of the band?
Ches:
misanthropic bedlam scum bearing dank grass and the elder bong
Ral:
retrospective emperor specializing on the occult readings of blackened noise
and psychedelia
Bob: bearded madman behind the 432 hz
witchcraft, aka THE WITCHDOKTOR
Ken: hammertime induced psychotic breakdowns on 666 tempos drenched in marry-juana
It looks like Shaman's Bud is a collective of
members with other band affiliations. Can you name those bands from each
member?
Ches: Deadflesh
Architect, Kushagra
Bob: Malicious
Birth, Surrogate Prey, Kushagra
Ral: Surrogate
Prey
Ken: Toxemia (war drums for the intoxicated ghouls)
What are the musical/ non musical influences of
Shaman's?
Ral: dealing
with everyday questions, weed inspired random mind drifting, reality escape,
the unknown, the astral world, elementals, shrooms, acid, also old blues, 70's
jam and prog bands, stoner rock, doom, sludge, metal, punk
Ches: Life’s
shit, people, weed, acid, dreams, visions, despair, chaos, Black Sabbath, Led
Zeppelin, Hendrix, Uncle Acid and all things heavy.
Bob: Musically,
lots of heavy psychedelic blues rock… Hendrix, SRV, Black Sabbath, Led Zep,
World music etc. But we all share an affinity towards the heavy stuff.. sludge,
doom, death metal, thrash and etc. Those are a given. Which is why we also
gravitated towards psychedelic rock because it’s something new to us, something
exciting for us to discover and play around.
Ken: Non-musical, for me, it’s the daily dosage of reality… A lil dose of graphic novels plus a few joints of the ancient grass hahaha… Musical, of-corpse lots of Southern Rock music, a few drops of jazz and blues,a quick load of Sludge and a joint of DOOM and METAL.
The first time I saw SB perform was at the Vinyl
Dump rituals. After a few months i watched you play at the Burning Water show
and listened to your recent samplers, i noticed the band pretty much changed
the musical style. Why is that?
Bob: I think a
big part of it was we all had “heavy” bands. Both Ral and I are in Surrogate
Prey. I also have Malicious Birth. Ches has Deadflesh Architect. Ken has
Toxemia. We kinda wanted something different… A musical project wherein we can
be free to experiment. Not bound by “Dapat mabigat, dapat pasigaw” mentality.
But since we all have our feet planted in really dirty heavy music, even if we
reached for the stars, musically speaking, we’d still carry that heaviness,
that dirt.
Ral: We used to
play doom sludge metal on the 1st demo, and it kind of sounded like our four
other bands, it was a good mix, but it just changed naturally one day. I
remember Bob was thinking of how to "expand" the sound further. We
just kept jamming and tripping out and it just showed up gradually in the
music. Suddenly one day mid rehearsal, it became more jam oriented with
additional blues and psyche rock jams and extended riffing and slow slowdown
parts, and Chester used different vocal styles to experiment a bit, and we were
all like "this is it". It's what would naturally come out of four
metal and doom/sludge dudes who want to play older stoner rock/jam
rock/psychedelic, so those elements are still in our sound somehow.
Ken: Well
honestly, were not really satisfied with our first materials. There is this
feeling like something is missing. So
one stoned evening we hit the studios and decided to somehow loose it a bit
more. Jam and experiment with our sound a lil bit more. No shackles and no
limits… Jam til we freakin drop haha. No arrangements, we just connected as we
abuse our instruments. Then the song titled “Black Drug” was born.
Ches: There’s a conscious effort of evolving our sound which was spearheaded by the Witchdoktor. It just happened one hazy jam session, probably we’re too much doped at the time and decided to try something different this time around. The Going Beyond demo was the result of this. There was too much weed that night now that I recall. Hehe
Some people say that psychedelic music like SB ad
been intricately linked with drugs. How does SB relate to that?
Ches:
definitely! Getting drugged makes the world a less painful place to live in.
collectively, 3 out of four of the members use hard drugs though this is a
personal preference.
Ral: Yes, this
is true. All our fave bands bands tried to express their trips and vision
quests through their music. Especially all the older 60's and 70's groups who
were first exposed to LSD and cannabis scene during that time. You knew it as
soon as you listen to their music. The psychedelic drugs were just one way to
bring the sound and vision from their heads and into their music. Good bud
allows for mind trips and journeys in sound, so you can use that while jamming.
Since your senses are heightened, you have more feel, and it's also natural
that everyone's on the same frequency where mind jamming also happens.
Bob: Actually
you don’t need drugs to appreciate music. Music in itself can be the drug. We
don’t take any hard drugs. And I don’t really consider Marijuana as “drugs”.
The idea behind the name “Shaman’s Bud” is that it’s the weed that shamans
smoke to get into that trance like state. In a way that’s how we want our music
to be. Your gateway to your own consciousness. All of us have a good relationship
with weed.
Ken: About connecting our psychedelic sound with drugs, honestly… Sometimes, a short spark of the buzzzz in the head helps me feel more relax. Me and the gang already talked about this before… SB’s music is more on each SB’s member’s self-expression. The psychedelic sound came out naturally. If they feel like they are getting high whenever they hear or see us play, then that is great haha…
Psychedelic rock bands have tendencies of being
high on stage and during performances. Any comments?
Ral: haha well
some bands tend to play better after a few tokes, it feels and flows better
it's an old tradition, old blues and jazz dudes have been doing that since the
early 1900's
Ches: yeah?
Hehe. Too much dope won’t kill you anyways. We always smoke whenever we go out
and play on shows.
Bob: Sure why
not.. feels good to be high on stage. Just don’t overshoot… then it becomes a
struggle to play. Haha
Ken: Again, that buzzzz in the head helps me a lot haha… Well, as an individual, it has been my ritual to at least have a bottle of beer or maybe smoke weed before hitting the stage but not to the total point of being useless hahaha.
Who writes the lyrics for Shaman's music?
Ral: This is
Chester's expertise through THC abuse, I'm a fan of his lyrics in SxBx
Bob: Ches
mostly does the lyrics. I’ve contributed to some.
Ches: on the Going Beyond demo, it was me and Bob. Bob wrote “Astral Projection” and we've collaborated on “Mind's Eye.” We got new shit…Ral wrote a song called “Acapulco Gold” and we're too stoked to jam that. Ken did coin the title "Astral Projection." There’s these two other tunes called “Chaos Child” and “Farther Onto the Unknown” which I wrote too. We’re stoked in playing these tunes soon.
Does the lyricist use cannabis, LSD, or shrooms
to open up creative pathways for writing them or straight sober at all?
Ral: haha I
think so yeah
Ches: I’ve tried
acid twice and it was fun. The first time I tried it was months after I moved
in to my new place.. I locked myself up and played Deiphago’s records and I
remember seeing three shadows of men standing by the door. I was trippin’ my
balls and found myself going to the roof top of the condominium tower and
talking to little kids and seeing flying big birds and all that shit. I then
woke up inside the comfort room lying on the floor and realizing that it was
all just a dream. Or probably not. Hehe.
Shrooms, I
have not tried that just yet (but will do if you would hook me up hehe). I was
trippin’ heavily on weed and dxms when I wrote the lyrics for the song “Black
Drug.” Most of the time I’m under the influence of marijuana; it’s the most
accessible and healthy alternative to alcohol and hard drugs I guess.
How about record labels? Does anyone show interest or offers? Or do you prefer DIY or self funded label?
Ral: well, we
ran out of copies of the demo, we only did like 30 to 30 plus copies, when we
make new ones soon, we will send some to a few labels that we like and we'll
see.
Ches: i guess we
have not talked about that much just yet. We have not released a formal studio
recording but we're planning to this year. Let's see how this year ends. We’ll
write some letters to overseas by then.
Bob: If there
are record labels interested in us that would be great.. But for now it’s self
funded.
Ken: Were planning on sending our demos to some labels. DIY release will be much more better to keep that DIY ethics going.
Black Drug is my favorite track. What is the song
all about?
Ches: i got the title off Electric Wizard's song Sadiowitch. I wrote the lyrics when i was doing dxm and trippin’ at my old room. It's about just getting high and seeing life as the grandest shit of them all. Just worship the pill, the song says. Hehe. All these are nonsense. Never would there be order 'cause all of us are going to die soon. It's just chaos everywhere and we pretend we are okay 'cause we live to keep that order. But again it's all useless.
Do all members of the band like the same kind of
music? Any arguments when recording or writing new stuff?
Ches:
sludge/doom/psychedelia is our common ground. We're peaceful dudes so we don't
really argue. Hehe. We're always doped when we rehearse. We don't really plan
how structures would be on the songs. We just smoke too much weed, Bob would
play these riffs and the rest of us will get the feel of the song and jam
around it. We'll do takes and polish it and that's it. All of the songs on our
first demo were written this way. In Going Beyond, we also did this. I prepared
words and jammed it along the music.
Ral: all of us
are into different types of music, but we agree on sludge, doom, stoner rock,
metal, punk, psychedelic, 70's and 80's old shit etc. so we take what we like
from each and learn from each other's recommendations. There's tons of music
and records to discover out there it's insane. When we write we all let the
riff take us on a trip and we work on it from there so we're all on the same
page. But there will always be a jam or long trip out part no matter what, I
guess that's the effect of too many bud.
Bob: we listen
to all kinds of music. That diversity is what drives us. Sometimes we’d go jam
and I’d present a riff which I know is kind of “left field” from what we
usually do. Fortunately everyone in the band is open minded enough to explore
whatever comes out.
Ken: Well each suspect behind SB listens to Metal haha… Arguments? Nahhhh… SB is a “Jam” band so each member does and play whatever they want on their instruments hahaha and we connect naturally in a very weird way whenever were at the studios. They do the riff, I lay down the beats and they do the vocals and as long as it sounds good then we keep that track. Arranging each songs and providing those signatures and accents on each part of a song CUMs last.
Do you take your lyrics as an important side of
the song? Or the music gives more weight to it?
Ches: We look at
the lyrics as an essential element of the music. There are times when Bob would
ask some lyrics from me and he would create riffs out of the atmosphere and
message inspired by it. Ral, Bob, and I would collaborate and get the insight
of each other. Even Ken, the skinsmith, delivers his contributions on lyrics
and song titles.
Ral: yes, the
lyrics help take you on a journey, it makes you imagine, make you question your
everyday life and where this may all lead to, life is a long f'n trip that has
few or no answers. It's perfect for our music, we all think of those things
when we're not playing.
Bob: yup. It goes both ways. Sometimes the lyrics inspire the riffs and vice versa.
Not that many bands play the style of music you
guys are carrying. What do you think about the future of psych rock? How do you
see SB in the next five years?
Ral: hehe we'll
see, we will keep playing shows and recording though, it's four dudes jamming
in their own worlds, it doesn't matter if anyone is listening, they have to
tune in
Ches: psych
rock/ stoner rock is nothing new really outside the country. Here in the philippines
though, most bands delve onto thrash, and death metal. We thought of exploring this unknown
territory 'cause we intentionally want to sound different and not be a rip off
of our own bands. and as you grow old and mature, i guess your musical preferences
change too. Il continue with this band for the longest since i consider my
bandmates as brothers and family. You do not want to lose family do you?
Bob: I think a
lot of bands are already doing the psychedelic thing. The only difference is
that we have a background in metal so naturally the first people who get to
hear it are metalheads. Hopefully we can encourage metal heads to listen to
different kinds of music and watch other “non-metal” gigs in an effort to
dissolve the “elitist” vibe of being all “metal” and “macho”. Haha We’d like to
play gigs with non metal bands in the future and discover other underground
music here in the Philippines. (If that makes you think we’ve sold out or
something to that effect, then fuck off close minded motherfuckers!)
Ken: Next five years, we’ll still be playing and recording our shits, drinking beer and getting stoned
Aside from the band, what other shit you guys are
into? Any hobbies? Day jobs? Drug trafficking?
Ches: write
shitty essays and short stories, internet, ride the bike, play records, smoke
weed. Hehe. I am a trainer at a BPO
industry. I molest young women and lure them onto the Hermit's Lair.
Ral: work, home
and all the usual stuff. I'm into vinyl, CDs tapes, merch and other
collections, eating, toking, reading, wasting time on the internet,
occasionally shows, going on lone mind trips and jamming with Surrogate Prey
and Shaman's Bud whenever time allows it.
Bob: I’m a
doctor undergoing residency training in Pathology
Ken: I have a lot of shit going on in my life hahaha. Taking online modules for an IT course and a full time office guy hahaha. Hobbies, skateboarding, drawing and painting crazy shits, writing fanzines and collecting action figures.
Can you name a few bands/ albums that helped
shape shaman's bud's music?
Ral: inspirations
of mine:
Ches: mine:
Led
Zeppelin, Black Sabbath (s/t and Master of Reality), Uncle Acid, Jimi Hendrix,
Fu Manchu- The Action is Go, Sleep- Holy Mountain, Electric Wizard- s/t, Come
My Fanatics, Dopethrone, Supercoven, Nirvana
(RIP Kurt Cobain), Saint Vitus, Sonic Youth, Melvins- Bullhead, Lysol,
The Bootlicker, EYEHATEGOD- Take as Needed for Pain
Bob: Hmmm.. really too many to mention. Anything that grabs
our attention and gets us higher is something that will
consciously/subconsciously shape our music. In that sense, we are still
evolving. I don’t think we will ever settle down and say “this is the true face
of Shaman’s Bud”. Someday we might write a love pop song just to piss people
off. We’ll never know. Hahah
Ken: Down, Sleep, Black Sabbath, Eyehategod,Isis, Helen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Buddy Rich hahaha
How
can we get ahold of the music? Cds? Tape?
Ral: A new release is
in the works, we just need to finish a couple of new songs. Hopefully this
year. for now: Shamansbud.bandcamp.com
Ches: we self released
Going Beyond and we exhausted all the copies but if someone is interested we
can always produce copies. We're working on new shit so we'll probably release
another demo of the new songs plus a proper studio recording. We'll find time
for those definitely!
Ken: Once you see us, approach us… We love to trade records and stuff haha
Thanks
for the time! Last words?
Ken:
Thanxxx for having us on this fanzine… Stay drunk
and stay stoned…Haha
Bob: Thanks for the interview!! See you
on the other side!
Ral: thanks for the interview, see you at
the next gigs
Ches: Man! Thank you once more for the
interest. Cheers to Corix of No Bullshit ‘zine for the space! Gani and Allan of
SXPX, my brothers in Deadflesh Architect, Uncle Steven of the Pojax Kult, Nesty
of MXBX.stay high and fuck life. o)))
Check out
these local dope acts if you have not yet:
Sindi Kapre
Jahannam
Hateure
Malicious
Birth
Surrogate
Prey
Eyes of
Fire
Syrrup
Rivothrill
Tsimpayne
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