Mojofly

YEARS ACTIVE: 1999 – 2008
90’S Members: KITCHIE NADAL, RICCI GURANGO, JUNJUN REGALADO
90’S HITS: MINAMALAS, ANOTHER DAY, HALF-WISHING, RUNAWAY ANGEL 

MOJOFLY is a now defunct pop-rock band from the Philippines.

 

Formed in '99 by bassist Ricci Gurango after his departure from Hungry Young Poets, MOJOFLY reeled in mainstream and alternative crowds alike with the debut album Birth Day (1999) and follow-up A Million Stories (2002), both released under Sony BMG Philippines. Then-lead singer Kitchie Nadal helped propel singles such as Another Day and Scooter Boy to national recognition. But in May 2003, Nadal left the group to embark on a solo career. 

Mojofly then introduced Lougee Basabas as the band’s new frontwoman in only a matter of days. By year’s end the group joined the “indie” bandwagon with their self-titled EP, sold-out despite being available only in gigs. Because of Mata and the revived, revv-ed up Lougee-version of Minamalas, MOJOFLY (EP) showed the new sound of their group. 

The band went on to release an LP aptly entitled MOJOFLY Now (June, 2005), still under independent label luKas Music of artist manager and music publisher Karin Araneta. This time distributed nationwide by EMI Music Philippines, Lougee took over the reins in songwriting and gained MOJOFLY “street cred” through her novel, cutting-edge compositions. Currently promoting MOJOFLY Now Special Edition (August, 2006), the 2-disc package marries the original ‘05 full-length and an A-VCD featuring live tracks from their first major concert at the Music Museum (September, 2005) and the 3D-animated music video of Tumatakbo. 

MOJOFLY is the first local artist to venture into full 3D animation in Philippine music video history. The work was previewed at the 19th Singapore International Film Festival (April, 2006) and won Best Animated Video and Favorite Indie Video at the MTV Pilipinas Video Music Awards 2006] (August, 2006).

Apart from once garnering the much-coveted slot for MTV Lokal Artist-of-the-Month (March, 2005), MOJOFLY also boasts a list of celebrity endorsements from Del Monte Pizza Sauce to Penshoppe and Cream Silk Conditioners. The theme song Choose and vast multi-media exposure from the Cream Silk “Girl Power, Pink Power” campaign brought MOJOFLY’s sound and Lougee’s vivid image into every household.

On 2008, Ricci Gurango, the last original member of MOJOFLY, left the band. The remaining members took in Richard Carandang and Ace Evangelista to play the bass and lead guitar. With the new members, the band decided to rename their group as Delara.

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