Electro-pop band Gracenote on their new single “Baso at Bote” and breaking out

Electro-pop band Gracenote on their new single “Baso at Bote” and breaking out

by rick olivares

Electro-pop band Gracenote has dropped the music video for their latest single, “Baso at Bote” and both the band and the song have been receiving a lot of attention from the media and music fans not to mention television.

This four-piece band of guitarist Tatsi Jamnague, bassist and vocalist Jazz Jorge, drummer EJ Pichay, and vocalist, keyboardist, violinist and guitarist Eunice Jorge, is one of the local music scene’s best kept secrets.

They aren’t usually mentioned in the same sentence of top bands like UDD, Sandwich, or even Moonstar88, but they have put out three well-received and top-selling albums and their live shows are lauded by fans and music observers alike. Even superstars like Parokya ni Edgar’s Chito Miranda went out of his way to collaborate with Gracenote for the smash hit, “Bakit Ka Ganyan” that has about 6.3 million streams on Spotify.

Their version of Stevie B’s “When I Dream About You” that has 5.2 million streams on Spotify and has also received accolades from the original artist himself has become some sort of de facto version of the song.

Their second album, Transparent, featured collabs with Yeng Constantino, Tutti Caringal, and Alexa Ilacad. That success saw the band embark on more collaborations for their digital only release titled 2019 with rapper Abra, 6cyclemind, Autotelic, and December Avenue among others.

Their popularity (they have over 330 thousand fans on Facebook and the same on Spotify every month). That has parlayed into sets as an opening act for the likes of international stars like Nelly Furtado, Yellowcard, Secondhand Serenade, and Against the Current.

During a recent show at the MOA Arena, concert organizers were so impressed. One said, “We invited them because fans said to line them up for the show, but once they got going, we went, ‘wow! Ganito pala sila!’”

Surprisingly. Gracenote has been around for 11 years now. When they first came out, their music dripped of homages to Paramore. And the band makes no bones about how big an influence the American band is t their music. 

“When we started. It was Paramore’s music that connected EJ and me,” recalled Eunice of Gracenote’s origin. “And so we formed a band.”

There was a stretch from 2006-13 where that band out of Tennessee ruled the music world. While Gracenote didn’t mind the comparisons – they actually relished it – the challenge for them was to “find their own voice” as Pichay later said.

Paramore was among Eunice and Jazz’s first exposure to pop music as they were growing up, they listened only to Christian music. “I was like Rapunzel,” described Eunice of herself when she got exposed to pop music. “So what might be old music to others was something entirely new to us.”

Being latecomers to music has served Gracenote well. Theirs is a refreshing sound mix of various styles from alt rock to emo to pop punk to electro.

“We hit our stride when Tatsi joined the band in 2016,” bared Pichay. “He was the missing piece.”

“I was listening to Keane and Owl city at that time and I got to jam with them,” said Jamnague of that chance meeting. 

“We were listening to a lot of 21 Pilots, Charli XCX, Bleachers, and even Taylor Swift,” added Eunice. “Tatsi’s influences meshed well and that changed the direction of our sound.”

The result was magic. 

The result was a shift from the Paramore-sounding debut, First Movement, to the electro sound of Transparent.

And yet somehow, about a year later, their heroes, Paramore, released their fifth album, After Laughter that was more synth and New Wave oriented.

“We all laughed about how our career runs along a few similar lines,” pointed out Jazz. 

The digital release titled “2019” explored the same musical pathways but is known for a diverse approach as they worked with the aforementioned artists. 

“It is overwhelming to work with people you only watched from afar,” shared Jamnague. “It gives us more confidence in the direction we want to take. Natutuwa kami na may ginagawa kaming tama.”

And now there’s “Baso at Bote” a more laid back song with Jazz lending chill vibes and grooves to the song. It’s gorgeously hypnotic and catchy. Refreshing like a cool soda on a hot summer day or some steamy night.

True enough, as I interviewed the band during a rainy but humid Friday night in the Soupstar offices in Marikina, the band was rehearsing; polishing the live performance of the song (they were also prepping for a show at 19 East), the band looked at each other following an inspired performance of the song. They didn’t say a word. They just smiled and knew it was just right.