Apartel Shares Soulful Music, Gives Glimpse of Creative Process

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Powerhouse band Apartel set foot on the Wish 107.5 Bus last January 6, Friday, and brought fresh, soulful music by playing cuts from their debut album, “Inner Play.”

The group, hailing from South Side, Manila, is composed of Ely Buendia (vocals/bass), Jay Ortega (vocals), Coco Coo (guitars), Redge Concepcion (guitars), RJ Pineda (keys) and Pat Sarabia (percussions).

On board the roving music hub, which was parked at Robinsons General Trias in Cavite, the band heavily influenced by the sound of the 70s performed an  all-original set including “Sala Sa Init,” a track that boasts of lush piano and guitar instrumentation.

According to Ely, their band is sort of a breeding ground for people who want to try new style. “A group of like-minded musicians,” Apartel gathered band members who are passionate about and indulged in genres like soul, funk, and R&B.

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Giving a glimpse on their creative process, the legendary OPM rock figure shared that most of the songs in their album first started with patterns (e.g. drum patterns), and as they jammed along, the entirety of the tracks were unfolded.

“I think it’s a nice way to approach songwriting dahil everyone’s involved, mas maraming input. You can get really creative and nandoon ‘yung energy [that is] somehow translated as the song is finished. So we like to do it like that,” Ely enthused.

Inner Play, released under Offshore Music, features 12 all-original tracks.

Meanwhile, exclaiming about their WISHperience, Ely said, “This is a cool bus! It’s a dream, we own this bus now!”

Apartel’s performance is part of the 2nd Wish 107.5 Music Awards Mega Manila Tour. Ely, together with alternative pop rock band Itchyworms, is nominated under the Wish Original Song of the Year by a Group or a Duo category for their landmark collaborative single, “Pariwara.”

Online voting for the 2nd WMA is until 12 noon of January 16. The awards night is happening on the 16th at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.