Just like the famed highway that lent its name to their band, the journey that SLEX took into becoming one of the country’s most promising bands has been long — punctuated with interesting and unforgettable stops along the way.
Established in 2006, SLEX started when vocalists Elmer Ona of Lucena City and Ben Riego of Candelaria, Quezon teamed up to form a band while working in Manila.
“I intended to pursue music as a career since I was young, so I started playing in bands. I used to be in Buboy Experience until it disbanded. Some of my bandmates eventually joined Rugis while I moved on to form Happy Project. When I moved to Manila because of my job, it became difficult for me and my bandmates to get together, so I thought about starting a new band.
During that time, there were only Ben and I, so we started looking for a bassist and a drummer. We posted audition announcements on social networking sites, and someone who saw one of our ads told her friend, Vhall Bugtong.
Vhall auditioned for the band and eventually became our bassist. When Raimund Marasigan (Sandwich, Cambio), a friend, heard that we needed a drummer, he introduced us to Shinji Tanaka, a sound engineer who works with local bands like Sandwich and Sugarfree,” Ona shared.
Lucky Break
SLEX members posing for a snapshot during the making of their music video, “Sa Silid.” (From left to right: Ben Riego, vocals; Vhall Bugtong, bass guitar; Shinji Tanaka, drums; and Elmer Ona, vocals) Photo from SLEX’s Facebook Account
Breaking into the music industry is not an easy feat. Aside from talent and passion, you also need to have proper connections. That’s why you can probably consider them lucky that they met OPM icon Raimund Marasigan of Eraserheads and Sandwich fame early on in their career.
“I met Raimund when we joined Muziklaban a couple of years back. I handed him a demo of some of our songs, then after two days or so, he texted me saying that he liked them. Soon after that, we became friends and he started giving me advice on how to go about being in a band.
We were discussing making a music video for one of our songs then as well as the possible alternatives to traditional video making techniques because we didn’t have the budget and the proper equipment for it. We thought of making an animated video, so we experimented for a bit. Thankfully, we managed to pull it off.
When Raimund saw the video, he noticed that I have a talent for animation, so he introduced me to one of his friends who was looking for an animator. That became the start of my career in animation as well as more recognition for the band after we released our official music video for “Silid.”
Activities
Working on animation projects while performing in gigs on the side, the next couple of years became a busy time for both Ona and his band as they became regular performers at known music venues such as Saguijo, Club Dredd, and Route 196; however, this busy schedule soon took its toll on the band as both Ona and Riego had to take some time off to focus on their professional careers just like the other members.
Ironically, it was around this time when they became nominated for Best Indie Artist of 2011 in the annual MYX Music Awards. The award eventually went to Mr. Bones, but that nomination proved to be a good indication of the band’s increasing number of followers.
After about a year of hiatus, talks about performing in gigs again started, and soon after that, the band went back to composing songs for their next album.
Asked about what they intend to do after they’re done with the songwriting, Ona had this to say, “We don’t have any specific plans yet. Right now, our main concern is to compile songs that we could use for the next album. We’re not yet sure exactly when and where we will be performing onstage next, but we’ll let our fans know as soon as we got the final details.”
The Journey Continues
According to an announcement on their Facebook page dated June 14, the tracks for the second album are almost complete; however, an official release date has yet to be announced. This doesn’t seem to put off the fans who are eagerly waiting for their next album, though. On the contrary, they seem to be more excited than ever.
What more can we say? After all, in life, it’s not the destination that matters, but the journey itself.
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