Words and photos by Francis Reyes
I first met Tirso Ripoll when he was in his mid-teens. His brother Junus, then an aspiring musician and model on the side, was a friend in college. A classmate knew I played guitar and Junus was doing some recordings; maybe I could work with him? While nothing came off the two songs he recorded, we did become good friends and jamming buddies, plugging our guitars on a little amp bought in Quiapo. We’d plug in upon waking up and at one point were joined by their dad who brought out a trumpet, humorously played screaming off-key wolf tones and told us, “Guys, why’d you stop? We’re jamming. Ahhh! You guys suck!”
We listened to records and there I was agog at the Iron Maiden double LP “Live After Death” which was not available locally. Tirso said, “It’s galeng no? You wanna borrow it? Check out Ozzy’s ‘Mr. Crowley’ EP, Randy Rhoads, pare! Borrow anything you want, man.” This was probably the first time I hung out in their house. When I gave back the records maybe a month later, he reminded me to borrow anything I liked. There was no deadline, no “well, yeah but you better not scratch them and you better give them back” reminder. He didn’t play guitar then; mostly he was in front of a PC playing Ultima II or III running on DOS. Occasionally, he would pick up his brother’s by-then neglected untuned acoustic guitar, slowly and randomly hitting the low E string.
A few years later, I was in The Dawn in Makati, ready to play in a bar called Kalye. Fifteen feet away, I see a long-haired bearded Tisoy walking briskly towards me, arms spread out. Uh-oh, who is this dude, is he like gonna punch me or something? He does look familiar. “Hey man! Long time no see, pare!” and gives a swirling hug. Oh, it’s Junus! “No man, it’s Tirso!” Whoa! We catch up and chat about his brother who by then had moved to Australia. “Hey check out my band Razorback. Yeah, I play guitar now. We have this kid guitar player, he’s like 11 or something, but pare, he’s so galeng!” That kid was of course David Aguirre; that night was 25 years ago. And yes, Ripoll had plenty to be proud about even then with the classic five-man two guitar lineup playing riffy hard rock that was not exactly in fashion at the time… and they were tight. He also knew how to navigate all 6 strings. Since then they’ve recorded many albums and songs that have since become part of Pinoy Rock canon, had line-up changes, and weathered the occasional internal issues… par for the course for any band worth its salt, really.
Razorback celebrated their silver anniversary in Quantum and it was a no-frills affair in contrast to last year when they dressed up as security guards. There really is no need for any production gimmickry anyway: the revelrie is in the riffery and Kevin Roy’s numerous and lengthy anecdotes and spiels (“I haven’t told the guys yet… well, now they’ll know. I’m sick, I have a disease… HIV, Hair Is Vanishing.”) The audience generally were well-behaved, populated by fans who still could not believe that the band has been around for a quarter of a century. To call the evening “mellow” is inaccurate however, not with Legarda and Ripoll’s brute force guitars, Bryan Velasco’s forceful drumming, and Louie Talan’s driving basslines challenging the acoustics of the venue, and the cheers that greeted every warhorse they played. The set was split in two; during the break, Talan admitted “Pinulikat ako. My arms were cramping up.” A silver anniversary is a milestone and the band carefully chose songs from their catalog, but their irreverence outweighed any sense of preciousness. Velasco kept telling the road manager he needed to pee and found the time to do so before playing “Payaso” since Roy was engaged in banter that allowed a quick run to the dressing room.
Some hairlines have gone higher and mid-sections wider, sure, but what do you expect after twenty five years? Razorback continues to be one of the hardest rocking ensembles in the country. Ripoll himself may now look like a seasoned daytime businessman that he is (he runs his family’s cigar business) far and away from the rock guitar hero mien of yore, but he’s still, somehow, that kid who found his voice through a bent string.
source: radiorepublic.ph
