Jhayzon Paredez: 90’s Rock and Roll (Part 2)
Levy Abad
Ang Peryodiko Volume XV NO.5
March 1-15,2017
Winnipeg ,Manitoba

In the first half of this article, I tried to dig into the influences of Jhayzon Paredes as a musician and founder of three bands: Palitaw, FourSight and Fhamathou. At this point, I will be discussing a bit on the bands, just to make sure that they will be documented.

Forming a band is not a joke and managing it is tougher.  You have to establish relationship and trust among the members for a band to survive.  Jhayzon, through the years, was able to maintain friendship with musicians who he came into contact with and this in itself is already a great feat and a contribution to the cultural tapestry of the community. 

Palitaw Band

As mentioned above, Palitaw (1994-2004) was one of the earliest bands that Jhayzon was a part of in the Peg in the 90s. Jhayzon explained to me that Palitaw, as the name suggests, means palutang or a float for a bait of a fishing gear. The pioneer members were Jhayzon Paredes on bass guitar, Fortune Caranay (lead guitar), Danny Lizardo (drums).  These three guys started playing alternative Tagalog songs and decided to concentrate on such.  As to influences, they claim they were avid students of Nirvana and Green day.  Back in March 1997 when the musicians organization FAMOUS (Filipino Association of Musicians and Other Unknown Artist)  was founded, Palitaw was one of the original convenors of FAMOUS.

When FAMOUS organized its first concert, Palitaw performed and got projected in the community that led to invitations to perform at birthday parties and wedding socials. Palitaw also became a front act of the 1997 visit of Mike Hanopol in Winnipeg. Eventually, the organization FAMOUS started to mellow down and together with it, the band Palitaw also faded in the background.

FOURSIGHT Band

In 2004, Jhayson Paredes known for tirelessly organizing events formed a band called FourSight..
 
  According to the FourSight’s web page, the group was formed back in Winter 2004 when it was terribly cold (-55) and boring.  It says that out of boredom, the members of the band came together and decided to call themselves FourSight. The one who coined the name of the band was Trexier (nickname of Lord Arwin Bautista), the vocalist of the group. The members of FourSight band (2004 to 2012) were the following:  Lord Arwin Bautista (vocals), Jhayson Paredes (bass guitar), Ricky Lontoc (lead guitar) and Dennis Francisco (drums).  By 2005, Brian De Nieva was the lead guitarist and James De Nieva played drums. Come 2006, the original lead guitarist Ricky Lontoc came back, but there was a new drummer in the person of Rod Dizon. The latest changes in band members happened in 2007 with Jeff Reyes playing lead guitar, Jan Castillo (2 2nd lead) and Chester Pangan (Drums).

In the website of FourSight , it says that that the group performed as front acts for bands that

performed here in Winnipeg like Siakol, Mike Hanopol, Parokya Ni Edgar, Slapshock and many more.  The band considers itself as a metal alternative band, a fusion of North American Metal, Grunge influences and Filipino Alternative music.

Fhamathou

The third band that Jhayson Paredes helped organize was the Fhamathou back in early 2006.

Fhamathou simply means Pamato /Pambato in Tagalog or star/ace, like in a star player or band. In the 90’s, it means a vanguard band. The original members of this band were the following:  Jhayzon Paredes –guitar and vocals, Rod Dizon- bass and vocals, Danny Lizardo on drums.  As to influences, they adhere to the 90s Philippine Alternative Rock tradition like the E-heads, Yano, Teeth, Siakol, Parokya ni Edgar, just to name a few. These were the bands that played at Mayric’s Bar in the 90s where I used to hang out as a folk singer during the time of Burt Chaves and Sazi Cosino as managers of Mayrics. The band also covered classic rock (Eric Clapton and Credence Clearwater Revival).

According an article written by Alfie Vera  Mella of Filipino Journal,  Fhamathou not only covers songs but also writes their own songs like “Chatroom,” “Sinayang Mo,” “Bakit pa?” to mention a few. Most of these songs were written by Jhayzon Paredes.  Jhayzon also owns a recording studio equipped with the latest instruments according to Alfie’s article, “Fhamathou: A pride of Pinoy Musikero of Winnipeg.” I had the privilege to visit Jhayzon’s place and he made me listen to some of his compositions that he also arranged. I must admit that I cannot do the things that he did.  In my case, I write the lyrics, put the melody and go to a friend sound engineer to lay in my songs.

As a Winnipeg band, Fhamathou has experienced big gigs as front act for famous Philippine bands

that visited Winnipeg like The Youth concert, Yano and The Teeth. Alfie wrote that Jhayzon Paredes produced concerts for both local and Philippine based bands and artists. Among the acts that he already brought to Winnipeg include Siakol, Parokya ni Edgar, True Fath, Pupil, The Youth, Dong Abay and Glenn Jacinto. If you want further reading on the background of Fhamathou, I suggest Alfie Mella’s article in Filipino Journal.

 

To date, Fhamathou performed as front act for Lolita Carbon’s Pagbabalik concert in the Peg.  Jhayzon played a huge role as the band leader of Fhamathou and as an organizer, he was instrumental for the success of the concert that was held at the Pampanga Restaurant on October 14, 2016 and at the Canton Buffet Restaurant on October 16th where hundreds from the Filipino community attended.

Summing up from 1994 up to the October 2016, Jhayzon  Paredes played  a crucial link in the band scene of the Filipino community.  Twenty two years of involvement is proof enough of his commitment to the cause of rock and roll culture in the Manitoba’s Filipino diaspora.   Together with the earlier artists who I mentioned in my previous articles, Jhayzon and his Metal Alternative rock and roll buddies must not be forgotten as they contributed and are part of the narrative. 

(Levy Abad is a freelance writer and also a singer songwriter/recording artist and a member of Migrante Canada-Mb chapter and also a founding member/ program coordinator of Winnipeg Multicultural Human Rights Forum, Levy has released three albums , Canadian Experience Vol. 1 (iTunes ), Never Give Up and Rhythms of Compassion CanEx 3. Levy is soon to release a his fourth album by fall titled "I Love Canada". You can reach Levy Abad through , lev67.abad@yahoo.ca or on Facebook.).