|
|
|
flattbush
No, the name has nothing to do with any streets or neighborhoods in Brooklyn, a former CIA director, US president or a shaved female genital. According to legend, in the early 1960's in the Philippines a group of angry, well-informed students formed a rock band and named it Flattbush. Among other socially concious topics, their lyrics often criticized the US supported Marcos dictatorship. Of course, this period of time was not an unusual period for folk music or popular protests. But this was still the Phillipines, and unlike their American counterparts of that time who gained popularity, recording contracts and sell out shows, the members of Flattbush were forcibly silenced and left in ditches. It wouldn't be until 25 years later that the name of the group would be resurrected with new members. This time, two Filipino brothers and a pair of hybrid metal freaks would bring the band's message back to the world once and for all.
Arman and Riko Maniago grew up in the Philippines from a family of social activists. Their father, an artist and teacher, would paint portraits of government officials by day, and socialist political banners by night. In fact, some of the brothers' earliest memories revolve around participating in protest marches. In 1990 the Maniago family emigrated with Arman and Riko to the United States.
Being immigrants in their early teens brought it's own share of problems and challenges. Music, in the beginning, was a way to fit in with the new culture. With his newfound love of heavy metal, Arman began to bash away on the bass as his little brother took to the microphone. After meeting drummer Ray Banda (whose father played timbale for the legendary Poncho Sanchez) in art class one day at school, a band was born.
Singing in English and Tagalog, Riko's lyrics are about both life in the Philippines and as a US immigrant. As Arman says now: "Our lyrics were neutral in the beginning, but a social message developed from there, out of a need to feel what we were playing." After several guitarists came and went, their old friend Bradlee Walther stepped in. With a musical mission as extreme as their political beliefs, the band became FLATTBUSH.
Over the course of 6 years the band's popularity evolved from backyard parties into a large grass-roots fan base throughout Southern California. Refusing to be just an ordinary band, they made a name for themselves by constantly pushing the envelope of experimentation with extremely fast and chaotic bursts of music and sound, creating something totally exciting and new.
SMASH THE OCTOPUS marks FLATTBUSH's first album. 13 tracks of edgy harsh musical power were recorded and mixed in April 2003 in San Francisco by Billy Gould and engineered by Mark Pistel.
|
|
