#FEATURE | Pisay student bands: Banding the community together
by Katch Viernesto and Yel Deleña
Pisay students continue bonding through the power of music — and our band culture is just one proof of that power.
A long-standing tradition for any high school, student bands have constantly been a form of collaboration and self-expression among classmates, depicting how music can be a constant pull on our heartstrings.
And from the cheers of a crowd at fellow students’ performances to jamming sessions during study period, the music scene at Pisay has evidently shifted now that face-to-face events have returned. Any student musician can now gather with other students on campus to harmonize, teach each other melodies, or simply take a break by listening to songs.
Before the return of in-person classes, however, students did not stop pursuing music.
Setting up the amps
While the Pisay community adjusted to the online set-up, Shaun Alina of 9-Potassium and Ardi Marasigan of 9-Magnesium formed an unnamed two-piece band from Batch 2026.
As close friends, they found it easy to collaborate. The two performed at their online batch fundraiser concert and made song covers for genres varying from shoegaze to Pinoy indie.
Similarly, the Treblemakers, a band from Batch 2027, formed from existing friendships when 8-Dahlia students Bree Taccad, the rhythm guitarist and vocalist; Manu Cornejo, the keyboardist; and Marco Martires, the drummer, decided to perform together for a talent show for their Music course.
Before the band’s first performance, Martires would improvise by using notebooks and pens for percussion while Taccad would sing along. Later on, Idris Villasenor of 8-Camia joined as lead guitarist.
Like the Treblemakers, Pærsus, one of Batch 2023’s first bands, were mere eighth graders when they formed. Lead guitarist Jaime Palma, vocalist and rhythm guitarist David Belisario, and drummer Hugh Mejos would have small jamming sessions in the dorm, eventually including bassist Gianni Tabaloc, who stumbled upon these sessions and played with them.
When they signed up for the 2019 Battle of the Bands auditions, they planned to name their band after their friend Persus Atienza as a joke, but Mejos accidentally pressed and held the ‘e’ key, hence the ash in their name.
Despite the simplicity of it all, these acts of practicing together before a performance with random school supplies or settling on a band name after a serendipitous accident display scenes of both talent and joy from bonding with bandmates.
A band’s homecoming
For many bands, the feeling of performing live, especially in front of fellow students, is very exhilarating.
One of them is Rose Tinted Glasses (RTG), a Batch 2025 band composed of Aydan Ables of 10-Graviton, Kendrik Adorna of 10-Tau, Julian Bagtang and Colin Wong of 10-Gluon, Ayen Bermundo of 10-Electron, and Franco Kasilag of 10-Charm. They first performed for their batch’s Urbanity Bash when they were in Grade 7; however, because of the lockdown, they discontinued performing as a band. It was only when some of them were on a Discord call that they realized they could try to revive it.
RTG recently played live at their Batch Acquaintance Party for the first time in two years, along with other Batch 2025 bands Kosyne, Banda Doon Sa May Pisay, We Love Moms, and Tekni/Kolor.
Paersus has also performed multiple gigs since their formation, with one of them even being outside of school grounds, at a small bar in Pangasinan. Their first live performance since the pandemic was last September 21, 2022 at Philippine Science High School–Main Campus (PSHS–MC) for Lingon, a Martial Law Commemoration (MLC) event. Other bands of Batch 2023, namely Singko and To The Moon and Back, also participated.
“It’s really a different thing, performing live versus making recorded videos as a band during quarantine,” Paersus said. “The crowd, the chants of our batchmates, and the overall feel onstage [are] just different.”
Aside from being a form of expression, being in a band can be a means of encouragement for important movements. “For specific social causes like MLC, we believe student bands play a big role in increasing student involvement,” Paersus shared.
Lingon is just one example of how one can communicate in a band. Through music, multiple student musicians and performers are able to send a message that entices people to come together and fight for a cause, and this sense of community is exactly what SAMAPI, or Samahan ng mga Manunugtog ng Pisay, recently sought to achieve.
The sense of community
SAMAPI, the official music appreciation club of PSHS–MC, rolled up their sleeves and held their first Blob Jams after over two years last November 29 and December 13. As the Blob Jams of years past, the club encouraged members of the community to watch and perform themselves, marking a sense of normalcy for Pisay as traditions like this return.
Jer Segarra, the club’s president, explained that the Blob Jams aim to ensure that the audience members, organizers, and performers enjoyed themselves. They remarked: “[S]eeing the audience reactions live and on social media[,] like Twitter, I think we succeeded!”
They also emphasized the importance of student bands and music overall, may it be through having listening parties of Taylor Swift’s new album or singing along to classic Original Pilipino Music (OPM) songs.
Ma’am Maria Elena Pinlac, SAMAPI’s adviser, also commented on the positive effects of bands on those watching: “During performances, the audience also gets to enjoy the camaraderie and the sense of community that gets built up over time.”
Both Ma’am Pinlac and Segarra added that SAMAPI plans to host other music-related events soon, namely more Blob Jams, workshops, and the Kwentuhan Sessions, a series of talks and performances by local professional musicians.
Segarra also mentioned that they were not as passionate about music before becoming a Pisay student, but seeing their upperclassmen jam in the Flob and Blob made them start thinking about following in these students’ footsteps. And that they did.
“Now[,] as the president of SAMAPI, I [want to] encourage and strengthen that same culture and mindset that influenced me and many others to start their own bands and perform,” Segarra said.
Other members of Pisay bands shared the same sentiment that music is a way to both bond and relax.
For Marasigan, student bands allow members of the Pisay community to appreciate music together: “[M]usic is an art form that many people can relate to because most people listen to music every day, and that fact alone connects [P]isay students with each other.”
RTG’s Bagtang expressed that hobbies and extracurricular activities, such as being part of a student band, maintain the high morale of the community despite the stress of being in Pisay.
“I’m seeing more and more batchmates pick up an instrument[,] and it makes us very proud knowing we contributed to that,” he added.
The reverberating cheers
Even if they are not onstage playing instruments, the impact of a song can still be felt by the audience.
For Vicky Tuason of Batch 2025, witnessing the Blob Jam made them realize that watching live performances is different from simply listening to music through a screen. “Some of my friends are in bands, so [it’s] always great to watch them and cheer them on,” they added.
Matti Campos of Batch 2026, a member of SAMAPI, expressed that the club’s meetings exposed them to band performances, which was refreshing to them, considering the two years of online learning students had to undergo.
“The music itself can tell stories that some people might find relatable or tell stories that people can connect to themselves in some way,” Campos added.
The Treblemakers also shared that playing together helped both them and the students in the audience alike return to their musical passions and eagerly anticipate a non-academic event for a change.
Despite not actually being part of the bands, music is a way for audience members to band together — to collectively watch, sing along to, and appreciate the performances and to even see and support a whole new side of their friends who are passionate about their sound.
“[Student bands are] a way for students to express themselves artistically, to find an outlet for their creative energy, or even to find inspiration amidst the pressures of academic responsibilities,” Ma’am Pinlac remarked.
The coda of a performance
Even though PSHS–MC is a STEM-focused school, music is a pillar in the Pisay community. It gives students an outlet for their creativity and an opportunity to shine and appreciate each other through the arts.
And as this year’s Battle of the Bands approaches, we will finally be able to see old and new student bands perform in one night, where people can wear their hearts on their sleeves and relive that ever-present magical atmosphere during the last night of every school fair.
A singer’s voice over the crunch of guitars, drums, and bass can inspire hope and send powerful messages to anyone listening, whether it be the courage to take action against social issues, an arm around their shoulder when they are feeling upset, or simply the confidence to get through the day despite all the difficulties they may experience.
Whether as a performer harmonizing with your bandmates onstage or an audience member singing along with other people, bands will always continue to spark the musical flames within students
