All-Filipino band Rise High launched their new song, “Tinig ng Pag-Ibig,” at 19 East, Muntinlupa City on July 25.
Rise High was established in 2016 and has had a number of changes in band members, but is now set on six members: Edil Luyon on lead guitar, Jon Rivera on drums, Philippe Arriola on bass, Obet Luzon on keyboards, Dave Erin on guitar, and Lura Angeles on vocals.
The venue was filled with loved ones and close friends, as well as celebrities from their “GoodWill” sitcom family including Raymond Bagatsing, Meg Imperial, Regine Angles, David Chua, and Korina Sanchez. The band also showed their appreciation to David Chua who, as they shared, is one of the reasons why they keep writing songs. Rise High wrote Net25 GoodWill’s theme song, “Magsasayaw,” which will not be possible if it weren’t for Chua.
The event opened with performances from other Filipino artists starting from the band Janey Tearjerky who sang one of their singles, “Sikreto,” and The Lucays who covered the hit Coldplay song, “Viva La Vida.” Singers Abby Clutario and Davey Langit were also part of the show. Clutario sang her own rendition of Vanessa Carlton’s popular song, “A Thousand Miles.” Langit, on the other hand, introduced the audience to his Amianan pop in celebrating hyperlocalism and sang his song, “Gitna,” before finally giving the stage to Rise High.
Rise High started with an OPM medley of Rey Valera’s, “Naalala Ka,” and “Maging Sino Ka Man,” as well as “Umagang Kay Ganda” by Ray-An Fuentes and Tillie Moreno. After which, they sang their songs including, “Bumalik Sa Simula.” Moving to the launch of, “Tinig ng Pag-Ibig,” the band shared that the song was supposed to have been released long before the pandemic. They also asked the audience three-What ifs on what the song will be about, “What if kayo nagkatuluyan?,” “What if kayo magkasama sa finish line?,” and “What if bumalik siya? Pero may kasama ka ng iba.” The song speaks about the realities of love and the pain that comes with it.
Several other performances followed, from their friend Emanual Quibalan’s song which he wrote for his daughter, to Ella Gueverra’s version of Moira Dela Torre’s “Tagu-Taguan.”
When asked what they hope to achieve as a band, Rise High has this to say: In their capacity as a group of passionate music artists, they want to be able to inspire people to continue dreaming and to never give up, just like what they’re doing now. They also hope to hit the airwaves soon.
Rise High ended the night with the song, “Lala Land (The story of us),” which has a cover of a painting by renowned Filipino artist Yeye Calderon. They dedicated the song to everyone who believed and continues to believe in them.
Beyond the launch of the song, Rise High plans to continue promoting “Tinig Ng Pag-Ibig” through bar tours and radio and TV guestings this August. The launch of the official music video of the song is also in the works. /VT
