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Convinced of the song’s popularity and its potential to reach a bigger audience, the group formalized their ranks as a band and started playing gigs in La Salle ( Medwin’s college), UP and other schools’ minor functions. With his distinct powerful voice, Medwin fronted the band with Ferdie and Eazer on guitars and keyboards, Caryl on bass, and Francis on the main keyboards. Initially the band used sequencers for the programmed beats ala Depeche Mode.
By the end of that year, Truefaith was already managed by RT jock Vince St. Price and Teddy Dario. The duo got them to play in famed club, Faces to fill in the void of premiere band, Side A. About the same time, the guys hired Jun Dizon to play the drums. In early 1993, Truefaith had achieved massive cult fave status as evidenced by their SRO audiences in clubs and schools; their recording debut was eagerly anticipated.
Truefaith eventually inked a recording contract with local entertainment giant, OctoArts in February 1993. By the summer of that year, “Perfect” the debut album was released with the little track as the carrier single. With its blend of jazz, folk and pop-rock the album reached gold status in no time and instantly made Truefaith a new major force in the recording business. Three other singles were subsequently promoted in a span of one year: “Everything she wore”, “Ambon” and the club favorite, “How Much I Feel”.
But it wasn’t until the second album “Beyond Doubt” was released in 1994 that the band got immensely popular. The album went double platinum in half year with such hits as “Sa Puso Ko”, “Huwag Na Lang Kaya?” and the heart wrenching ballad “Muntik Ng Maabot Ang Langit”. (In the previous year, the band failed to win any award from among numerous nominations). Since then, the band has always been a favorite contender in every respectable award giving organization. The group toured throughout the country and was widely received in every venue. They’ve played alongside famous artists like The Dawn, the late Ric Segreto, Kuh Ledesma, Kulay and many more. Few would have dared say that Truefaith hasn’t made its veritable mark in music history yet.
In 1995, “Build”, the 3rd album was released and eventually went platinum in a month. This marked the recording debut of new bassist, Bimbo Yance. As evident in the first hit single “Alaala”, Bimbo’s funky bass playing added a deeper groove to Truefaith’s music. Included also in that album is a song written by head Eraserhead Ely Buendia and friend, Jojo Bacasmas: “Kundi Rin Lang Ikaw”. Two other singles were released the following year; they were, “Hi!” and the soul-stirring ballad, “Baliw”.
Although Truefaith continued to flourish in their pursuits in the music industry, both in live shows, and in recording, the band entered its darkest phase as the year 1996 was about to close. Fueled by professional and artistic differences, internal bickering between members and the management group have begun to take a toll on the band’s career. Unsuccessful tours, the mishandling of funds and personal disagreements only heightened the band’s probable disintegration and eventually caused the original line-up to disband by December. Medwin, along with Jun and Bimbo decided to carry on with Truefaith and attained legal ownership of the name. Slowly but surely, Medwin and company begun rebuilding the band, first by recruiting keyboardist Yeng Remulla and session guitar player Carlo Sison. “The New Truefaith” then held join sessions to beef-up live performances and started writing new material for an upcoming record.
“Looking Up” the band’s fourth album was launched in May 1996 with the rockin’ single, “Enjoy” as the carrier. Truefaith fans were taken aback by the new style which was healthy mix of guitar and piano rock (consider Billy Joel, Ben Folds Five) with poppish melodies and self-indulgent lyrics. It seemed that the tumultuous events of the past months have caused the band to fire-up some level of aggression. Despite the lower-than-expected sales of the album, Medwin & company believe that “Looking Up” is a great album as it is a personal triumph. It served more as a bridge between the heady past and the bright future that awaits the band. Little by little, music fans have come to realize, with much fervor, that one of the country’s best bands wasn’t just about to give up. Truefaith came back hot in the club circuit and continued to hold numerous gigs in digs around the capital and the rest of the country.
Having renewed its contract with OctoArts-EMI, Truefaith has just released “Bliss”. The new album is another process of reinvention the band loves to go though as an artistic move. Medwin’s brother, Eugene (who wrote “Huwag Na Lang Kaya?”) joins in the official band line-up and has written several tracks in the new record. Bliss harkens back to the folksy sound the band has been known for; but this time the music is laced with lush electronic grooves courtesy of Sound Smith Extraordinaire, Brian Chua. The style is an elegant hybrid of music combining what’s traditional with the new and futuristic. Jake Lumacad, the new keyboardist, play most of the piano tracks and has arranged the parts for the guest musicians in the album. July 2000, MTV held a one-of-a-kind live gig that served as MTV Philippine Video Music Awards. Truefaith won Best Video Award for the video (Awit Para) Sa Kanya. The band performed before local MTV executives, people from the recording, radio, TV and print industry and concerned voters who wanted to contribute to the Philippine’s cause for music video supremacy (the Philippines have won the “Moonman”). Truefaith’s eight journey in the industry has come up with MEMORIES Are CHEAP: The Best of Truefaith 1993-2000. A collection of their most popular songs.
Early this year, Truefaith released another outstanding compilation entitled “Eto Hits…Acoustic.” After being featured in most, if not all, acoustic compilations that sprouted out last year, the band has finally decided to release their own collection of their songs done acoustic style. Featuring ten songs, the band even includes two of their favorite covers: “Mistake Number Three,” which is the current single off the album, and “Different Seasons.”
Truefaith has proven that good music will never die. The band will continue to create and play great music for all music lovers that they treasure so much. Medwin believes that the real reasons for them to go on are faith in music, the fans and themselves. |