Rivermaya is a Filipino alternative rock band. Formed in 1994, it is one of the several bands that spearheaded the 1990s Philippine alternative rock explosion.
Rivermaya is currently composed of original members Mark Escueta and Nathan Azarcon. Notable former original members include chief songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Rico Blanco and vocalist Bamboo Mañalac, who later formed the band Bamboo and eventually went on his solo career.
The classic 1994–1998 quartet lineup of Mañalac, Blanco, Azarcon, and Escueta performed a major reunion concert, with the event held at the SMDC Festival Grounds in Parañaque on February 17, 2024 and produced by Live Nation Philippines. The event received positive reviews from fans and critics alike.
Rivermaya is among the top thirty best-selling artists in Philippine history.
History Earlier formation (1993) The band's predecessor consisted of Jesse Gonzales on vocals, Kenneth Ilagan on guitars, Nathan Azarcon on bass guitar, Rome Velayo on drums, and Rico Blanco on keyboards and backing vocals whom Azarcon and Ilagan recommended to the management after hearing him play his portable piano rendition of Metallica's "Seek & Destroy" during the audition process. They were managed by Lizza Nakpil and director Chito S. Roño who had the intention of molding the group into a rock showband. The group was called Xaga.
Classic lineup and mainstream success (1994–2001) In the process of grueling practice sessions, Azarcon's schoolmate Francisco "Bamboo" Mañalac replaced Gonzales who was asked to leave the band for not meeting expectations; Azarcon's childhood friend Mark Escueta replaced Velayo who no-showed and left shortly after sensing he is not fit with the group's musical style, and Ilagan (a family friend of Roño), who eventually left the band later on for personal reasons concerning his studies, was replaced by Perfecto "Perf" de Castro who owned the rehearsal studio where the band used to jam. With Ilagan leaving and de Castro as the new guitarist, the band members disbanded Xaga and formed the band Rivermaya. The name "River" was already in place, as mutually agreed by the whole band, while the added "maya", to serve as a distinction, was said to be initially coined by Blanco which was then strongly suggested and vouched by de Castro to Nakpil. With the exception of Blanco, de Castro and Azarcon, who were aged 20, 19, and 18, respectively, Mañalac and Escueta were both minors when they signed up with the band (both aged 17). They started putting together original songs like "Ulan" [Rain], "214", and "Awit ng Kabataan" [Song of the Youth] (mostly composed by Rico Blanco) in demo form for prospective recording companies.
By November 1994, the band had released its first album, the self-titled Rivermaya, and its first single was "Ulan"; followed by "214". Both songs were critically acclaimed.
Citing artistic differences with the management, Perf de Castro was adamant in leaving the group in late 1995 in the middle of recording of their second studio album and returned to his project band "The Blues Trio", a band later renamed "Axis" until its final inception as "Triaxis." The band continued as a quartet and Rico Blanco became the full-time guitarist while Nathan Azarcon's friend Edward Alfafara filled in as session additional guitar player on live shows for the remainder of the year until he was replaced by J-John Valencia (also a friend of Azarcon) in 1996.
The band's second album, Trip, released in 1996, contains the singles "Kisapmata" [Blink of an Eye], "Himala" [Miracle], "Flowers", "Princess of Disguise" and "Panahon Na Naman" [It's Time Once Again]. Whilce Portacio, co-creator of the X-Men's "Bishop" and co-founder of Image Comics, illustrated the album art for Trip.
On January 31, 1997, the band released its third album, Atomic Bomb, with the single "Hinahanap-hanap Kita" [Always Wanting to See You]. The album gained positive responses from listeners and received heavy airplay from radio stations. In October 1998, Rivermaya also released the Rivermaya Remixed album, put together with the help of DJ Toti Dalmacion of Groove Nation.
Departure of Bamboo Mañalac (1998) The band then embarked on a US and Canada tour in 1998. Despite the band's successful tour, it was also at this time that Bamboo Mañalac decided to stay in the U.S. with his family, and also to finish his studies. His last show with the band was on October 10, 1998, in Oakland, CA. He eventually went on to form his eponymous band upon his return to the Philippines in 2003.
Rivermaya decided to forge on, with Rico Blanco taking on lead vocals and released their fourth album, It's Not Easy Being Green on January 15, 1999, containing the singles "Nerbyoso" [Nervous], "Shattered Like", and "Rodeo". the album hits Gold barely a month after the album was released.
On January 22, 2000, the band performed at the Nescafe's Open Up concert in Baguio City with Mike Hanopol. On June 30, 2000, the band performed at Channel [V] Philippines Concert for Peace at the University of the Philippines (UP) Sunken Garden.
The band appeared on the cover of the May 2000 issue of Pulp Magazine.
On August 30, 2000, the band released its fifth studio album, aptly called Free. entirely for free on the Internet as well as on CDs distributed at their gigs. Free went on to be named "Album of the Year" at the NU Rock Awards and Rico Blanco winning Producer of the Year for producing the album and Teeth's "I was a Teenage Tree" album.
Second evolution of lineup (2001–2007) In April 2001, Nathan Azarcon departed from the group to focus on other musical interests (later revealed he got kicked out due to serious unruly behavior off-screen), leaving Rico Blanco and Mark Escueta as remaining members. Japs Sergio (from Daydream Cycle) filled in on Azarcon's position in gigs. They were later signed with Viva Records and released an EP "Alab ng Puso" [Passion of the Heart] in June 2001, an original soundtrack for the film Buhay Kamao which starred Robin Padilla. The EP also featured a remix by Raimund Marasigan's Squid 9. By Summer of 2001, J-John Valencia (who had been a session guitarist for the band since 1996) has left the band. Diego Mapa of Cambio and Pedicab was considered to be hired and fill in as an additional guitarist for the band but did not make the cut. By May 2001, the lineup was officially changed as they recruited familiar local guitar heroes, Victor "Kakoy" Legaspi (from blues band Mr. Crayon) and Mike Elgar (from 7 Foot Junior), with Sergio officially absorbed in the band as well. They later began writing songs recording for their 6th studio album. The new line-up made its first performance at NU Pocket Concerts in Alabang Town Center on June 2, 2001. It would allow Rico Blanco to handle vocal duties full-time during live shows.
By August 2001, the band had finished recording for their 6th studio album, Tuloy ang Ligaya, which was released on October 15, 2001 ['The Fun Continues'] and released singles including "Umaaraw, Umuulan" [Sometimes It Shines, Sometimes It Rains] and "Wag Na Init Ulo, Baby" [Don't Be Mad Anymore, Baby]. Their music videos won the Favorite Group Video in the MTV Pilipinas Music Award in 2002 and 2003, respectively. The video for "Wag Na Init Ulo, Baby" won a special award for Highest Jump in the same event in 2003.
The band appeared on the cover again of Pulp Magazine in the October–November 2001 issue.
On December 8, 2001, the band also performed at the Fort (also known as Bonifacio Global City) to celebrate Pulp Magazines 2nd Anniversary also dubbed as "The Freakshow".
On August 3, 2002, the band opened for the English new wave band the Lotus Eaters for their concert at Rockwell Club Tent, Makati City.
In September 2003, the band announced a US tour to promote the album Tuloy ang Ligaya.
On October 10, 2003, they released their 7th studio album, Between the Stars and the Waves, containing the singles "A Love to Share", "Balisong" [Butterfly Knife], "Sunday Driving", "Table for Two", "241", and "Atat" [Eager]. A Special Edition of the album were released in December 2004 featuring 2 new songs "Liwanag Sa Dilim" and the acoustic version of the song.
International success (2004–2007) The band were nominated in the MTV Asia Awards 2004 for Favorite Artist Philippines, which was won by Parokya ni Edgar.
In mid-2004, Legaspi resigned from the band for undisclosed reasons. He then later performed as a session player with other musicians such as Julianne Tarroja, and Peryodiko, among others, thus, the band became a four-piece line-up once again and has been that ever since during the mid-2000s Pinoy rock era. In July of that same year, the band released a jingle for and became the endorser of Greenwich Pizza; the limited physical CD featuring their jingle was available in every outlet of the pizza chain.
On February 5, 2005, the band won Favorite Artist Philippines in MTV Asia Awards 2005.
The band found a variety of partners who commissioned such works as "Liwanag sa Dilim" [Light In The Dark], "Posible" [Possible] (Southeast Asian Games' Athletes Anthem), released on November 7, 2005, "Makaasa Ka" (from Globe), released on July 16, 2005, and "You'll Be Safe Here".
"You'll Be Safe Here", originally created as the theme for the ABS-CBN TV series Spirits was released as an EP by Warner Music Philippines and became the song that MTV Asia selected for performance at the 2006 Asia Awards. Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child introduced the group, and they were backed up by Thailand’s Royal Symphony Orchestra during their live performance. It was the first time that a Filipino band was invited to perform in the event.
An album of compiled works, also titled You'll Be Safe Here, was distributed in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Rivermaya embarked on a series of Asian tours, including at Thailand's Pattaya Music Fest (2005, 2008, 2009) as well as Singapore's Mosaic Festival (run by The Esplanade); and Bangkok's Fat Fest as well as in Indonesia's MTV Staying Alive show. In the Philippines, on December 13, 2005, the band released a compilation album called Greatest Hits 2006 album. The album hit gold award at February 2006, followed by an album dedicated to its music heroes: Isang Ugat, Isang Dugo ['One Vein, One Blood'] released on October 10, 2006. At the end of March 2007, Rivermaya scored again another first for the Philippines as their videos, "You'll Be Safe Here" and the recent video remake "Balisong" were chosen as the first Asian artists to have full-length music videos featured on the Star World Channel.
Also during this time, Rivermaya has been often referred to as "Banda ng Bayan" [The Band of the Nation], a nickname they share with Parokya ni Edgar.
Departure of Rico Blanco (2007)
On May 24, 2007, Rico Blanco officially announced his departure from the group citing personal reasons. His last performance with the band was on May 4, 2007, at the Metro Bar. Despite the rumors that the band would eventually disband, both Rivermaya and its management denied the rumors as a result.
After Rico Blanco left, Rivermaya released a new single, "Sayang" [Such a Waste], penned and sung by Japs Sergio and described by the band as "an open letter to the fans", the single premiered on June 22, 2007. In addition, Studio 23 announced the selection of Rivermaya to create the new theme song for the station. The new song is titled "Sumigaw" [Shout] and marks the release of a second single in two months for the band, accelerating Rivermaya's pace for new songs rapidly (in previous years, the band had managed to release only a single every 12 months).