NOODLES ALBUM LAUNCH

Skydive Academy will be playing at our friend J-Hoon Balbuena's album launch this July 7. It's an honor to be lined up along with some of our fave artists such as Hijo, Ill-J and Rye, Nyko Maca, Kjwan, Liquid A and Nimbus 9. We are looking forward to party real hard on that night!

Read about what J-Hoon has to say about his upcoming album launch (taken from his fb page):

"I know yall been waiting for a min for this. I wont hype no more and further. :) "JULY 7 SAT @ B side" Stay tune for more details. I have to thank everyone who have shown love for the past decade in all my endeavors with Kapatid, Kjwan, 3rd world project, Verb and countless jams all over. Come on down and celebrate and vibe with us ( THERE WILL BE A CYPHER ) 15 original productions with a few selected collabos from Asia and Manila's finest. Yup am I lucky or what to have friends like that?? :) Big up to everyone who appeared in this album.

This album is dedicated to KARL & CHICO.

Peace & love

J-HoOn aka NOODLES"

IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR! feat. KJah as Guest Blogger

    Hanggang ngayon bangungot pa rin sakin ang kawalan ng kabanda. Hindi naman sa nangangahulugang takot akong nag iisa, sumasalamin dito ang kunsensya ko sa mga seryosong nanonood sa akin mula pa man noon. 

    Sabi nila, ilan sa mga lubos na nakakakilala kay "KJah", nakakadama ng paninindig ng balahibo sa dulo ng pagtatanghal, para sa akin, hindi yun sapat. Mayroong kulang sa tuwing sasampa ako sa entablado. Kumbaga, may maskuladong kayang bumuhat ng isang bahay, yun na yun. ISANG bahay lang, pero kung may tutulong sa kanya, Isang BARANGAY kayang mailipat sa mas maayos na relokasyon. Bukod sa malaking bagay sakin yung aanihin ng mga taong makakapanood, gusto ko ding madagdagan pa ang aking enerhiya't pananabik sa tuwing sasampa. Iba yung pakiramdam kapag may kapwa ka na handangpumalo, magka kalyo yung daliri para lang lalong magkabuhay yung 

kinakanta mo. Nakakataba ng puso yun. 

     Natuklasan ko ang ganitong ideya nang mapanood ko ang "The Roots", Buhay na buhay ang tugtugan! Mas lalo pa akong nahumaling nang makita ko yung live sessions ni Jay Z. Simple lang sya gumalaw, ngunit tuwang tuwa pa din ang manonood, hatid ng sigla na ipinaririnig ng mga instrumentong nasa paligid niya. Ilan lang sila, napakadami kung iisa isahin mga idolo ko sa gantong konsepto hehe.

     Sinubukan naming magtayo dati ng pinsan kong bahista, na ngayon ay mikropono na din ang hawak, bokalista ng "SkyDive Academy."

Sayang hindi natuloy yung plano sa kadahilanang magkakalayo na kami ng tirahan. Paminsan minsan, natatagpuan ko pa din ang hanap ko, at malay natin, balang araw? Maging permanente na. 

Ganito sa sirkulo ng kultura, sa dulo, nagtatagpo mga tunay. 

* View KJah's performance UPLB...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5W8xUqNDSQ&feature=youtu.be

ZEPHANIAH: THE BATTLE CITY (DEMO EP LAUNCH)

LINE UP:

-SKY DIVE ACADEMY 
-ZEPHANIAH (2012 RHB MUZIKLABAN FINALIST)
-IBARRA (former HARDBOILED EGGZ: 2006 RHB MUZIKLABAN CHAMPION)
-2ND SQUAD (2009 RHB MUZIKLABAN FINALIST)
-FLUIDDE
-ZAPPED
-THE APARTMENT
-SAVING PRIVATE JIMBERLY
-PERPLEXED
-6.7 ON THE RICHTER SCALE

SOUL SONIC SEARCHIN’

     Before the month of April came to an end, I got a message from my cousin K-Jah informing me about the good news. He’ll be spitting on the mic to Afrika Bambaataa’s beat and he got extra passes to the Manila Music Festival. When I first read the text message, I was like “da fuuuuck!?” (yes in my mind I spelled it “da”). But yeah, I wasn’t dreaming or imagining things, it is happening. In this lifetime. 

     Manila Music Festival boasts an awesome lineup of foreign and local artists including Kjwan, Wilabaliw, Razorback, Similar Objects, June Marieezy, Sino Sikat? Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, Cultural Icon Afrika Bambaataa, Shinichi Osawa and many others. We got to hang out and meet new friends at the festival, which is one of the reasons why we came. Shout outs to Protégé, Medmessiah and Clifford of Dos Fuertes, Joel Ellorin, J-Hoon, Julie De Borja, Los Magno of Sari-Sarisounds! Reli De Vera and Nikki Cabardo of Sino Sikat? Chaya Claver, Francis Magat of Wilabaliw, our new friend from Paris Audrey Noeltner, Jorge (Similar objects), Roman (Fuego), Wilderness boys, Luis Gutierrez and everyone we bumped into, peace!

     This blogger and our drummer Jed were a tad too lucky to have VIP wristbands courtesy of Andy Tonda. Thank you benevolent, merciful being! We got to hang out where Solenn Heussaff hung out, blaze up near the sea with some of the most excellent musicians in the scene, and get our selves photographed with Hip Hop legends Afrika Bam and Ali Shaheed. Our aim that night was to catch most of the artists lined-up, which was impossible because there were two stages. We tried though, and we got high with the endless flow of music. Me and K-Jah were supposed to write a longer blog but since we got quite a lot of photos, I decided to keep it short and perhaps feature K-Jah sometime next month as guest blogger. Till next!

More mediocre quality photos to be uploaded in my fb account (hahaha mediocre, just being honest yo)

http://www.facebook.com/sandicostreet

JUST ANOTHER KICK ASS WEEKEND (4/20 celebrated the "propa" way)

     We had a blast last weekend. Which explains the late blog entry. It was a very special weekend because all the original members were present and we had one of the longest performances ever (a record that we need to shatter real soon though).

      Skydive Academy started playing at Concoctions Bar at around 6:30pm. Surprisingly, there were only a few empty seats left when we performed. The jam got really heated, haha! At one point, I even obliged our drummer Jed Sta Maria to do a solo. The drum solo flowed into an unplanned jam that I've never heard during our rehearsals. I guess that's the exciting part of being in this band, anything can happen at any given time and space. The crowd's applause was heart warming, and we definitely had a good time.

      After our performance at Concoctions Bar we headed to Camp John Hay at the Ayala Techno Hub for The North Face 100 event. We did another barrage of original material for 45 minutes until we handed the stage to our Hunger Strike brothers. Our set contained some of our old staples "Dwelling" "Ultraviolence" "Third Book of Wisdom" and "Malayang Malaya" which was actually one of our oldest songs. We also did the ever-shape shifting "Escape From Shadowland" the Flamenco-inspired "Esta Revolucion Es Eterna" and the newly arranged "Mga Hari ng Himpapawid." We headed back to Concoctions Bar to catch Up Dharma Down's set. As expected, ang galing nila! They played most of my fave songs from Fragmented and Bipolar and some new stuff as well. Their music helped soothe the soreness that my body felt after performing with all that energy. Pagod pero Sulit!

      We had so much fun that we decided to do a repeat performance the next night (4/21!). We had our second "wind" at The North Face 100 and did a special set with keyboardist extraordinaire Jay-O Orduña of Hunger Strike (formerly of Brown Flava and Hijo). After our set we went back to Pine Breeze to chill with some Baguio bands and conclude the month long celebration of our friends, twins Annie and Julie Herreria. Umagahan sessions na naman oh!


       Ang lahat ay nagulat sumambulat, sa papel biglang sumulat, mga isipa'y biglang namulat...

- JS

All photos by Jd Pascual. Thank You Black Light Media!

IT'S TIME!!!! HAPPY 420!!! SEE YOU TONIGHT YO!!!

UP DHARMA DOWN IN BAGUIO CITY!!!

MAHULI TAYA!

     Armi Millare is my favorite song writer in the country today, hands down. She never fails to hit the sweet spot with her brilliant lyricism and soulful voice.  I’ve hung out a few times with Armi, and each time, I try my best to absorb musical wisdom from her.

     I got to know Armi through my friend Paolo Garcia (a.k.a. Pasta Groove) sometime in 2011 when they visited our city to attend the Ax(is) Art festival. Skydive Academy had just stepped off the stage when I approached Paolo and Armi, and I must say, I feel blessed and humbled that two of the most awesome artists that I know in this region of the galaxy appreciates the original music that we came up with.

    Ever since that meeting, Armi has been giving us direct inspiration and lots of advice. As if Updharmadown’s music isn’t enough to spark the fire in our hearts. I remember her telling me “it’s a shame good music stays in the little basement. Well, find a bigger basement!” With that in mind, we feel obliged to do better, and push real hard for a quality album.

     Updharmadown will be bringing their well-loved music to this small mountain city of ours on the 20^th of April at Concoctions Bar.  Skydive Academy will break the ice “Fo all Y’all” so you gotta come real early to the show. Besides, seats are limited so make sure you secure yours before the place gets jampacked.

   
     Mahuli TAYA!

     Don't forget to follow Updharmadown at updharmadown.tumblr.com for more details about the gig. Add Skydive Academy on FB www.facebook.com/skydiveacademymusic

     See you on Friday, we gonna party all night!!!

- J.D. Sandico