3 Headed Dog is doing it all for rock ‘n roll

“Suspenseful" was the adjective singer/guitarist Dave Aguirre used to best describe the tour they were about to conclude on the night of my conversation with them. “We’ve been tired, we’ve been sick, we’ve been fatigued, but somehow the show went on," he goes on to tell me. It was the first of February at the music venue 19East in Parañaque. We were sitting in one of the tables outside the music hall. I was seated across bassist Danny Gonzalez and drummer Wolf Gemora. Aguirre was seated to my right, having his fill of what smelled like ginger tea. At first glance, the three looked more like they were preparing for a drinking session rather than a finale gig to cap off a month’s worth of touring. Quite honestly, I had some difficulty piecing together their disposition at that moment, even with Aguirre’s description of their past month. After all, playing 13 shows in seven cities around the country within that time frame isn’t an easy task to undertake. But while listening to their stories, drummer Wolf Gemora uttered a line that inadvertently explained to me the reason why their battle scars weren’t apparent. “This tour was really focused all the way," he said. That must have meant minimal logistical problems and generally smooth show executions on the part of 1 Fish Productions, which assisted in organizing the tour. In essence, the band directed its attention to the performances. This undertaking is noteworthy, because we’re talking about an independent group that put in their own resources to carry out the entire series. Aguirre fills me in on the reason behind the nationwide gig. “It’s a new band, so this is really the promo tour. This is the tour to let people know we exist," he explains. Here’s a backtrack In fact, 3 Headed Dog might be a relatively new band, but its members are no rookies. The individuals behind this three-piece unit were part of acts such as Wolfgang (Gemora), Razorback (Aguirre), and the now-defunct Southern California-based Lokomotiv (all three of them). It comes as no surprise then, for some people to call the band a “supergroup".

The band offers an entirely different opinion on the matter. “We’re the back-up band," jokes Aguirre, referring to the coming and going of their singers during their time as Lokomotiv. “There’s nothing super about each of us individually… we’re just three friends that love to rock out." On hindsight, that friendship and fondness for rocking out influenced their choice of name for the band. “We really wanted to keep it us three [this time around]," explains bassist Danny Gonzalez. “We looked for something that was representative of us wanting to be that." It may appear that 3 Headed Dog is nothing more than a rebranded incarnation of Lokomotiv, but that is an inaccurate assumption. Truth is, this group traces its roots back to a project called ADD, which Aguirre and Gemora started almost a decade ago in the Philippines. “We already wrote a bunch of songs and recorded them," recounts Aguirre. However, Gemora never had the chance to test their music in the live circuit due to his decision to move to Southern California. Aguirre pushed through with ADD with the help of some musician peers for a while, but he ultimately shelved it when he himself moved to Southern California a year later. Once there, he was invited to join the newly formed Lokomotiv with Gemora and Gonzalez. They were able to record and release an album in 2006 (with Basti Artadi on vocals) and tour the Philippines in 2007 (with Hudson replacing Artadi). After Lokomotiv split up in 2007, Gemora went on a year-long break from music. Aguirre and Gonzalez, on the other hand, revived the ADD project with another skinsman. Eventually, the two called up Gemora again to reprise his role. After a six-month stint back in the Philippines, the drummer rejoined the team full-time. They have been slugging it out for almost two years now. It’s harder than it looks Nobody said playing rock n roll was a lucrative endeavor. Most bands can attest to that – 3 Headed Dog included. “There were a couple of gigs where there was no one in the [bar]. There’s just the waitress and the sound guy," says Gemora, describing some of the gigs they have played in the States. “We just treated it as practice." Aside from playing empty bars, the band also reveals that they don’t get to perform as often as they want to when they are in the US. “Too much supply [of bands]," comments Aguirre. “[We only get to play] once or twice a week – if we’re lucky.“ “There are too many clubs that just want money and don’t care about the music," adds Gemora. “It’s hard to have a band there." Still, they seem to take everything in stride and continue grabbing opportunities that come their way whenever they can. Soldiering on 3 Headed Dog’s tenacity is admirable. It’s not an easy feat to keep afloat a band that has been peppered with challenges for almost two years, it certainly is not an easy feat to independently finance and participate in a tour on the other side of the globe, and it’s absolutely not an easy feat to do the first two while maintaining a day job. Thirteen shows in seven cities done in a span of 28 days, with a support cast of musicians that includes some heroes of the young guard Hilera, Reklamo, and Kastigo, as well as Pinoy rock godfathers Joey “Pepe" Smith and Wally Gonzales. These are the parts that made up Tour Ng Pilipinas 2011, the fruit of the labors of 3 Headed Dog and its supporters. But what’s next for the band after they go back to their daily lives? Gemora tells me that they will start recording more songs. Of course, he said that a while back, but this time around, he seems more serious. At the time of this posting, they have resumed that process already. Interestingly, they will not release an album and will instead release singles, which they will make available for download on their Facebook page. “All our music is gonna be for free. We’re gonna get pirated anyway, so might as well beat them (pirates) to the punch," states Gemora. “If the music’s for free, we don’t get any money, but the pirates don’t get any money too." It seems like a reasonable plan. Come to think of it, everything else they did as a band for almost two years – financing their tour, traveling halfway across the world, and then traveling some more within the Philippines to do the tour – seems reasonable. They do it for the love of their art. But Gemora said something better to explain why they do all these things in the name of music. “It’s really what keeps us from going insane." – YA, GMA News