YEARS ACTIVE: 1995 – LATE 90’S
GROUP Member: PERF DE CASTRO, WENDELL GARCIA, CLAIRE SOBEJANA, KING BALDOZ* (*King replaced Claire at bass)
90’S HITS: PMST, SAY WHAT YOU MEAN, I FOUND YOU, ASA KA PA, MUKHA
Even in this day and the age of electronic dance beats, Perf de Castro,
still defiantly embodies the axeman image. His name goes haywire whenever he's
on stage, his fingers run up and down the fretboard with high-speed abandon,
yet he never forgets to inject sensitivity and soulfullness into every
blistering note he picks. All the while his jam unit, Triaxis, proves to be a
solid rhythm section.
Aggression and soulfullness are only two of the key words that can be
used to describe this band's second album, WHO WE ARE. Triaxis resurrects he
elementary power trio format to churn out soulful, hookdriven songs that put
more emphasis on melody than technique.
Along with drummer Wendell Garcia and bassist King Baldoz, Perf has
been leading Triaxis through extensive bar tours and a number of major gigs
around Metro Manila for the past three years. Of course, most people might know
Perf as the former lead guitarist of River Maya, a band he left for what was
described as "musical differences."
Triaxis was initially the idea of De Castro and Wolfgang bassist Mon
Legaspi. "Our idea with Mon was to put up a band where all the members
sing," recalls Perf. Wendell - who used to be the drummer for a band
called a River Brocolli - hung around a lot in Perf's music studio in Sucat,
Paranaque (aptly named, of course, Perfect Music Studio) and was called to do a
drums.
The initial line-up was able to play in several school concerts and
sets in 70's Bistro in Proj.2, Quezon City. Everything went well until Legaspi
had to leave the band as Wolfgang got bigger and bigger. Enter Claire Sobejana
(who was introduced to Triaxis by Legaspi), a student at the UST Conservatory
of Music.
Not too long after its demo, Triaxis' 12-song debut album FURTHER DOWN
THE BEND was finally released under Sony Music. The record reflected the
group's various influences, as can be heard on cuts like "PMST' (nominated
for Best Video at the 1997 NU Rack Awards), "Perf's Boogie" (which
won Best Instrumental Performance and Best Instrumental Composition at he 1997
Katha Music Awards), "Lights Fell Down," and the blues extravaganza
"running Water Blues." However, Sobejana left the band shortly after
the albums release - a big loss, according to Perf. King Baldoz took up where
Sobejana left off, proving to be able replacement by injecting his own bass
grooves to the songs.
But the pluses don't just end there. As a unit, Triaxis is endowed with
an abundance of other qualities - which include inexhaustible energy (they
produce, arrange, rehearse, clown around, etc.), and unwavering attitude
("this is who we are, take it or leave it," etc...) - that warrant
them the title; Revolutionary Rock n' Roll Messiahs.
