Marcus Adoro pens, records pandemic-themed album
By Rick Olivares
“Throughout the lockdown, it’s just me and my pet cat.”
Marcus Adoro sauntered down looking like Tom Hanks did in the film Castaway.
ZZ Top beard. Check.
Long hair. Well, he has won his hair long for a while now. Nevertheless, check.
Full protection mode? He does look like he’s garbed up for desert heat so check.
The first local album written, recorded, and released during the lockdown? In all likelihood, he owns it. Check.
Welcome to his new solo album, Mr. Kubido.
Recorded in 10 days from the solace of his bedroom, Mr. Kubido – a pun on “Mr. Kupido -- is a 12-track pandemic themed album released on YouTube by Adoro. The recording was also a paean to his guitar hero John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers whose third solo album To Record Only Water In 10 Days that he recorded at his home using a four-track recorder and boom box (contrary to the album title, it took close to three months to finish the album).
It has been 93 days since Marcus Adoro stepped out of his apartment unit. From the start of the lockdown to the 11th day of the GCQ, Adoro has stayed indoors.
“I am pretty much an introvert so there are few things that changed for me (during the lockdown) except for access to some basic goods and mobility,” he bared. “Other than that, I made good use of this time in lockdown to reflect on a lot of things and to be creative once more.”
Adoro painted, re-wrote the final draft of a screenplay, and recorded Mr. Kubido. “There is a method to my madness and not being a loon,” he quipped. Plus, he took the time to do a Maria Kondo on his belongings and his life.
“I was listening to a lot of songs on YouTube – which is why I decided to release Mr. Kubido on YouTube – and at that time, I was sharing that to film people I was working with and one of them suggested writing a ‘kwela’ song. I said, ‘Why not?’ I had not picked up my guitar in a year and I looked around for an impetus that can be transformed into a song and I saw an ant.”
“Ang Langgam” -- a humorous and whimsical look at the world pre-global lockdown with anti-fascist rallies taking place everywhere. “My hyper-active mind constructed a funny scene where it was ants wearing facemasks, bearing flags, and out on the streets. I made a beat out of that image with breaks and pauses like on (Eraserheads’ song) “Trip to Jerusalem.” It isn’t my comment on those protesting, but more of me indulging my imagination.”
Adoro’s trademark sense of humor has been a staple of Eraserheads albums to his own solo work with Markus Highway. And the lockdown was a perfect and mischievous way to return to music after a long hiatus.
“Gitara” is probably a result of those long nights with Adoro, a guitar, and some alcohol. Adoro laughed, “I am a guitarist and naturally, an ode to the guitar is in order,” he laughed of this blues-inflected ditty.
Mr. Kubido was recorded with Adoro playing the acoustic guitar. “No bass guitar was used in the making,” he deadpanned despite him wondering if he really wanted a bass guitar in “Gitara.”
“If you’re looking for those zany interludes such as his famous “Punk Zappa” in the album, Circus, you’ll find the insane, “Pandemic Yaya” where it is nothing more than Adoro washing his hand or doing the laundry while humming.
It isn’t all a whimsical or satirical look for Adoro on his new album. On “High Horse” he wonders about those who get their kicks mercilessly shaming or putting down people on social media. “What is it that drives people to decide on the fate of other people by shaming or ganging up on them online,” Adoro asked himself when writing the song. “Is it trial by publicity? It has ruined many lives. A friend told me that the bad things that people say about one is a reflection of who they are. It is a mirror of themselves.”
As added inspiration for Marcus, he thought back to when he still had his social media and would go on a lengthy rant while under the influence of alcohol. When he sobered up, he deleted what he posted. Noted Adoro, “I looked up at what others were doing during this lockdown and it was worse than anything I tweeted. It must be the side effect of the lockdown!”
“Langaw” follows “High Horse” and is breather of sorts. It reminds me of British Two-Tone ska band, Bad Manners’ “Lorraine” where one thinks it is a love song but is instead about getting revenge. “Langaw” is a trope of a Breaking Bad episode that was dedicated to a fly. In this song, Adoro is hunting a fly that has feasted on his supply of mangoes!
“Payong” sounds like some country and western song and is a “sunnier” look at the people who went out during the quarantine to buy food and during a two-day storm that hit the National Capital Region.”
Of the 12 tracks of Mr. Kubido posted on YouTube, it is only “Sunsets” that has any form of artwork. The rest all have the words, “album art in progress” on them. Adoro intends to place his lockdown paintings as videos.
“With every musician losing a significant amount of income due the lockdown, I have been doing paintings that I hope will appeal to music fans. I hope they do sell (inquiries about the art may be made through his Instagram account marcusadoro2020),” he summed up. “It is what I am doing to support myself.”
And if a picture or a painting does indeed equate to a thousand words, then so do they in song. And Marcus Adoro’s new solo album, Mr. Kubido, is no different. Behind the dark humor, there is a lot that he wants to say.
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