Orange & Lemons | Clem Castro Being Totally Honest about Pinoy Ako | The Story Behind the Hit | OG - video Dailymotion

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Orange & Lemons | Clem Castro Being Totally Honest about Pinoy Ako | The Story Behind the Hit | OG  There's always that one song the band hates. Especially when that song was born out of popular demand and does not resonate with the band. Orange & Lemons' frontman Clem Castro gives us a genuine and straightforward POV as he FINALLY opens up about Pinoy Ako. Listen in and take the hints as to why he never liked the song.  In this interview Clem talks about:   • The story behind this official theme song of Pinoy Big Brother • Almost regretting doing the song  • The stressful process of delivering the song • The band and their fame • How the song made them and broke them • The controversy they faced because of the song • Why he makes music and his hopes and dreams for his kind of sound  Spotify profile: Orange & Lemons is a Filipino indie pop/alternative rock band formed in 1999 by singer-songwriter/guitarist Clem Castro along with drummer Ace Del Mundo and his brother JM del Mundo on bass. Former member, Mcoy Fundales served as the second vocalist since its formation until its last reception in 2007. The group's musical genre's been a mix of alternative rock, indie pop and experimental music and heavily influenced by several well-respected bands in different generations like The Smiths, The Beatles and the Eraserheads.   The band had released three several albums and gained commercial success with their sophomore album Strike Whilst the Iron Is Hot released in 2005, reaching double platinum status. Their last album Moonlane Gardens was hailed Album of the Year in the 2007 NU Rock Awards.  The group parted ways in 2007 due to musical differences. Following the band's break up several members formed their own groups. Mcoy Fundales formed Kenyo alongside JM and Ace del Mundo. While Clementine formed his own indie group The Camerawalls and later on released a solo album under the name Dragonfly Collector.  In July 2017 after 10 years on hiatus, the band announced a reformation as a trio and released the single Lovers Go, Lovers Come in December 2017. To commemorate the 15th Anniversary of their debut album, O&L released a 2018 Updated Version of their debut album Love in the Land of Rubber Shoes & Dirty Ice Cream (15th Anniversary Edition) on June 8, 2018.   IMAGES COURTESY OF:: Orange & Lemons Facebook page Jonathan Manalo (Instagram) Manila Concert Junkies  Everywhere we shoot!  Alyssa Cuizon Enriquez Andrea Beldua  Photospill Hooks Productions   Click here to subscribe to OG: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIj3xiW-RIO2cpr5LBvokRg/?sub_confirmation=1  About OG Using the power of video to tell one good story at a time... ONLY GOOD... OG.  OG is Summit Media's video first brand. And like all Summit Media brands, OG is anchored on top-notch storytelling to delight, inspire, and connect with our audiences.   We are deliberate in creating content that spread positivity, inspiration, and good vibes. Expect only good here at OG. Subscribe and be part of the community!

Transcript

00:00 Pinoyaco is one of the things that I almost regret doing in my career as a songwriter.

00:07 For the record, this is one of the rare moments that I will talk about this song because we really

00:12 don't want to talk about Pinoyaco ever since it came out. I kept on avoiding it. So to set

00:18 the record straight, I want to talk about it now.

00:21 [Music]

00:39 History muna, Pinoyaco is a commercial project. We didn't write it. It was written by Jonathan Manalo.

00:49 He approached us on behalf of ABS-CBN to co-produce or co-write the theme song of the first

00:56 Pinoy Big Brother edition. That time, I didn't know what Big Brother was because we were getting

01:03 popular that time. We were getting a lot of projects thrown to us and one of them was this

01:08 project, Pinoyaco. So when he approached me, he said, "We need a band to interpret, to put music,

01:19 to interpret the song, to record, shoot a music video in one week." That's the beauty of being in

01:28 a band. There is magic pag nagsama-sama na kayo. You know? And pag na-interpret mo siya in such a

01:37 way na you know, you were, na-incorporate mo yung sound mo. Because when Jonathan Manalo gave it to

01:46 me, meron na rin siyang melody. I didn't use it. I told him, "Can I create a new melody for this song?"

01:53 Because hindi siya bagay sa banda. So we want to own it. You know, make it ours. I think dun yung

02:01 magic nung inangkin namin yung kanta and put our influences in it. And of course, being a melody

02:09 maker, na-surprise din ako sa sarili ko how I created something so singable that people would

02:17 remember it instantly. I don't know. It's hard to explain. It just happened. Ganun ka-stressful yung

02:26 project niyo. I mean, pressure was one week, everything in. When we got to the details,

02:31 he gave me the lyrics. Ang original title niya is "Pinoy ako, Pinoy tayo."

02:36 I read the lyrics and then I started working on it. It took me a day to work on the melody

02:51 and arrangements. I worked on finale. I was notating everything. My father heard it, actually.

02:57 I was clueless what how big it was going to be. Like Pinoy Big Brother, how big it was going to

03:10 be. We have no idea. I was just enjoying working on a project and challenging myself.

03:16 So we were able to deliver in a week everything. And we went on with our regular lives, touring,

03:24 gigging, and then it came out. And boom, it changed everything. It changed the game for our band.

03:35 It became massive.

03:38 [Music]

03:50 We weren't ready for it. We were just starting with a major record debut. And then after a few

03:58 months, we were doing Colosseum shows all over the country. It's like this national anthem that

04:04 we didn't expect. Everyone was expecting to release something like that again. So the third album that

04:12 we wrote was Hindi Siya Masa. But I told them I have to do this because we have to redeem ourselves

04:18 as creators.

04:19 I almost regret doing in my career as a songwriter. I don't regret it now. I mean,

04:33 it's part of the experience that I had that made me who I am right now. I learned a lot about it.

04:39 And I'm happy it's being played still until now. And Rico Blanco has the courage to cover it and

04:47 make his own version for the new season of PBB. So meron talaga eh. That one song the band hates,

04:55 it was Pinoy ako. But now that I'm mellowed down, I don't hate it anymore. I mean,

05:01 it's part of the learning process. That's the reason why yung third album namin sa Orange

05:06 and Lemon sobrang lalim na eh. And we disbanded after its release.

05:11 I went back to indie for so many years. I refused to sing Orange and Lemon songs. Nag

05:28 underground ako for a long period of time until I decided, okay, it's time. It's all about

05:34 continuing the legacy of what we're doing, what we've started. Malaking impact yung Pinoy ako in

05:41 our music career during that time. We weren't ready for it. Pinoy ako does not reflect our

05:50 music per se because it's a commercial project. But you know, it became big. It actually made the

05:58 band and at the same time, sad to say, broke us. So many opportunities coming in and it distracted

06:18 us from our goals and our, you know, what the Orange and Lemon is really about. Our music is

06:25 not about that. It also contributed to the disbandment of the band. Because of that success,

06:32 everyone was expecting that we create more songs like that. Something that the public would want

06:41 to hear. So commercial projects or masa projects. Hindi naman kami masa eh. Hindi masa ang Orange

06:50 and Lemons to begin with. Naging masa lang kami because of this one song. Pinoy ako became

07:08 controversial as at the same time, massive. We were being accused of plagiarism. A lot of

07:17 accusations. I was dealing with lawyers telling us not to say anything about it. It even reached

07:25 the publishers of that song. Pero wala naman eh. Walang nagdimanda. There was nothing. It wasn't

07:32 a big deal to them. Before we released that track, we consulted a lot of people. My engineer,

07:39 my producer. And they said yes. I was being responsible as well. Negative publicity is

07:45 still publicity. It's a matter of sampling. Like for example, blues. Reggae. Pareho lang

07:59 naman sila eh. Yung progression eh. Kasi when I wrote Pinoy ako, may lyrics na eh. Ginawan ko

08:05 ng melody yung chorus line. Yung nauna eh. I was heavily into New Wave and The Care was one of our,

08:19 one of the bands that we cover. So subconsciously, it was there. And the chord pattern was there.

08:27 So inaplay ko. It sounded similar but the notes aren't. The intro is what I was doing with.

08:35 It's just three notes. The original from The Care was four notes.

08:43 So it's different.

08:50 For me, I consider myself an original artist. Sumasakit para sa akin na,

09:05 to be accused of such. Kaya grabe yung drive ko to be original. It's hard to build respect.

09:15 Ganun ang nangyari sa akin. I avoided a lot of commercial projects. I'm happy it happened

09:22 because I'm in a better place. I make music as a therapeutical experience to document my life.

09:35 To preserve memories and experiences. I want to release something that's going to be

09:43 timeless. That's always been the goal. 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 50 years from now,

09:50 it's going to be there. And new generation might be able to discover it.

09:55 This is Clem Castro. Please don't forget to like and subscribe this channel. OG.

Orange & Lemons | Clem Castro Being Totally Honest about Pinoy Ako | The Story Behind the Hit | OG

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