We touched base with ZEPHANIE a few days ago in a small press conference at the Cornerstone studios in Quezon City. The young Kapuso (and this generation's) Pop Princess has had really good breaks these past few months and we've seen remarkable achievements in just a short span of time.
ZEPHANIE Shines Brighter as Sparkle Artist
Thursday, September 15, 2022
We touched base with ZEPHANIE a few days ago in a small press conference at the Cornerstone studios in Quezon City. The young Kapuso (and this generation's) Pop Princess has had really good breaks these past few months and we've seen remarkable achievements in just a short span of time.
PUREGOLD Expands WALASTIK Days
Meet the Band Called FIREFLIES
Took time out of my busy schedules for a night out on my neighborhood in Quezon City. Pretty dark out there, but I've seen something glow from afar, it was lights from a local bar where I saw FIREFLIES was playing.
It's a band formed in 2016, who now decided to get re-launched with new members in tow. If you're a little observant, you probably know most of them are from bands Cueshé who's had remarkable success in the early 2000's. Jay Justiniani does Lead Vocals, Jhunjie Dosdos on Vocals , Guitar and Keyboards, while JC Del Rosario IV does Vocals and Bass Guitar, RM Tolentino who does Percussions and Pat Galut does the Lead Guitar. They've been working hard the past few months taking a shot at writing songs, doing covers and performing in different locations across the Philippines.
Here's our short chat with them after a set, apologies as it's quite noisy in the bar we were in that evening.
Jay says "Actually, this group is easy to work with. Jhunjie is a former band member of Cueshé (like him) so we do really know each others dynamics. Our other band members are also good songwriters, so it was easy to work with even though we have different ideas. It was easier to make songs if you guys understand each other. Jhunjie and I are good friends, and good friends are hard to come by."
JC adds "Jhunjie and I started to work with Fireflies, and we now have new band members, we just didn't have a vocalist then, Jay agreed to join later on and that became a positive direction for the Fireflies band."
Jhunjie adds "I remember Jay was having doubts joining us a few years back. He was very busy and was based in Cebu. It was a bit difficult because we were playing in Manila most of the time. Some of the former Fireflies got a little tired working with us in the band because of the pandemic as income was really tight because we didn't have gigs during the lockdown. He had to go back to Davao. I was the only one left, I knew I had to do something. I'm thankful Jay agreed even if we haven't seen each other for a long time."
They named themselves Fireflies because it's like a spark in the dark. They're raring to perform in company parties, concerts local or foreign. They are currently being managed by Ms. Grace who previously worked in ABSCBN. You may get in touch with them through 09923150106 as it'll be surely busy during the holidays. They're bringing their new brand of music, some covers, and some old classics that 90's kids, Millenials and Gen Z's would absolutely love. They're going to release a few singles soon, so make sure you follow them also on their social channels at https://www.facebook.com/fireflies.ph because they're going to post updates of their gigs on that page.
Cheers to more music from FIREFLIES! Hope you shine brighter in the darkest hours and share your love of music even more!
EXCLUSIVE: Meet Ms. Maribeth Tolentino, President of AMBS - ALLTV
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
About the shows they plan in the network, she adds "The programs have not been filled yet, just the prime time slot. So 5PM to 12am is good, we also have other programs from other networks bought so we're hoping by the time we launch fully, it will be complete. If you see, we have CNN Philippines, we also have teleseryes from ABSCBN, we're not closing our doors. We are slowly rolling out our frequency in other regions, the transmitters just take time to put up and reach here because it is imported. We also partnered with Cable organizations so we get shown in other cable networks."
She also mentions "Toni Gonzaga is very talented, a host, an actress, we need a star for a product. Bashers are there, but we don't mind them. If she wasn't good then that's a problem, but she is. It's more of the artists from other channel that still have contracts, we still are doing that. There are a lot of program pitching, so we need the capable artists for that. There are a lot of networks that want their shows in ALLTV, but there are legalities involved and we don't have a concept yet for them. We need quality movies, teleseryes, variety shows, so we need the good people for that. We all want them in the channel, and if we want a new program for them, we'll surprise you with it. I think that'll be better if you get surprised. The process of lawyers, managers, contracts bring delay sometimes, but we are eager to deal with them. We did talk to Carla Estrada, and Willie just talked to Luis Manzano, we're just starting to think about the new shows they could be part of and planning for it. We don't put the network in legal problems, the collaborations is just for content, it's not for blocktime. Licensing is different, networks do that, like for movies, Korean dramas, everyone does that. It's not a partnership of a network. Block timing means they have to follow NTC regulations. If it's about Korina, we are in talks but we haven't signed yet. Everybody has a chance because we need a lot of artists for our shows. They are just waiting for us, we on the other hand are preparing material, because we can't give them shows without it. Hopefully 2023 we'll be full blast. ABSCBN is selling content and we buy from them, the public just wants drama, that's Marites."
For those wondering, there exists an ALLTV studio: "The ALLTV studio will be the Starmall EDSA, that's the cinema, because it's passe, we just made them into studios. That will be ready by next year, and hopefully have face to face audiences soon. There would be a lot of possibilities to produce more teleserye, movies, hone talents that are fresh and would be there when you need them, we will complete that soon. Everyone was nervous yesterday, even our technical group, talents, dancers, we had mishaps, we hear their feedback and know we appreciate that we will make changes. We thought we just gave birth yesterday because we prepared for it for so many days. We just had a breather last night because we want to watch it til we signed off. "