Daydream and Daze with Autotelic’s 'Gising'

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Searching for a new music to accompany your daydreaming moments? Autotelic’s newest single might just be the right song for you.

Autotelic is a six-piece Filipino pop/rock band comprised of guitarist and vocals Josh Villena, Kai Honasan (Keyboards and vocals), Neil Tin (guitars), EJ Edralin (synth), Timothy “Pabs” Vargas (bass guitar) and Gep Macadaeg (drums). Their name, a product of “exhausting brainstorming sessions”, means doing productive things for the sake of self-fulfillment and internal reward as opposed to worldly and external motivation.

With a very fresh and interesting debut single under MCA Music, “Gising” is a song about daydreaming and letting yourself drown in the feeling of being in love, as if it’s good to be true. With luminous-sounding, positive and exciting vibe that is very easy to relate to Filipinos, this chart-topper in the making will surely take over the airwaves by storm.

Mainstream meets indie

Members of the band found a common interest in and appreciation for different influences, mainly dance music, Japanese pop culture and a desire to create a lasting impact on Filipino music. With these in mind, they agreed that they wanted to write and play songs that will be appreciated across the mainstream and independent music scenes and deliver something fresh to listeners.

To attain that goal, they shunned the original plan of making heavier music and instead planned to make songs that will not only have a positive and exciting vibe through the conventions of electronic dance music, but also convey a sense of being truly Filipino in theme and orientation.

Making their way to the local limelight

When Autotelic deemed that their material was fit for listening, they contacted people from the local gig circuit for opportunities to play in local music venues. A few rough gigs later, the band was happy to find out that the listeners appreciated their songs and recommended their music to other people. Autotelic was able to play in more notable gigs and performances.

As Autotelic performed their songs in more gigs and rehearsals, the songs grew and evolved. The songs were no longer bound by the limits of electronic dance music, as the members contributed more elements of alternative pop, post-punk, progressive rock, and world music to the tracks. While the band built each song with their individual stylings, they still retained the essence of electronica at the core of their material.

By the end of 2013, Autotelic was featured in several year-end lists, including Radio Republic’s Picks of 2013, 8list.ph’s 8 Best Local Indie Acts of 2013. They were also selected as one of the finalists for the Wanderland band competition and Jack Daniel’s JD Set.

Recently, the band opened the unboxing of Smart Music Live at the Big Dome performing with the biggest local artists in the Philippine music industry.

Autotelic’s first single “GISING” is now out under MCA Music here. Take a listen:

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(Photo courtesy: MCA Music/Promotional photo)