maestro
“Hold a gun to my head and I’ll pick my seven year-old laptop running on Windows XP over any guitar.”
ELECTRONIC SH I F T
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rom strings and piano keys to keypads, Migi de Belen has remodeled himself as a musician since being a part of funk rock outfit, Splitcide. He has taken the leap from the traditional instruments to the new wave of today’s computer-based beats. Even now as a solo act under the stage name Nights of Rizal, he can’t deny the influence his former bandmates had on him. “Splitcide wasn’t just a group of people I jammed with for 6 years. Through making music together, we each found our individual selves.” Coming from the usual band setup and trained in both guitar and piano, Migi’s alternate course from his traditional background to this growing trend of
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Homesick and holed up in his bedroom, musician Migi de Belen, also known as NIGHTS OF RIZAL, turned to the bright light of his laptop to produce dreamlike, electronic music filled with heavy bass beats reminiscent of 8-bit video games. By Nicole Nequinto Photographed by Aina Sevilla
programming-based rhythms and beats is rooted in a song that share the same musical ambiguity. “If I were to pinpoint a eureka moment, it’s when I first heard the guitar solo in Daft Punk’s song, “Digital Love.” Actual musicianship! I thought to myself, as my feet attempted an awkward shuffle. Little did I know that four years later, my new bandmate would be a laptop.” Since then, he has thrown himself into the genre’s scene, learning new programming techniques on the way and citing artists such as The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Safari Duo, and Paul Van Dyk as prime influences. “Electronic music production showed me that I didn’t have to limit myself to how fast my fingers can go, or how high or low I can sing. If I can hear the music in my head, I can bring it to life on my computer,” he says of his sole bandmate. Besides performing electronic, he also performs acoustic sets. When asked to compare the two he says, “Sometimes, my tracks start with a guitar riff. Sometimes acoustic songs start out as beats. I like not knowing where the next idea will come from or where it will end up–but hold a gun to my head and I’ll pick my seven yearold laptop running on Windows XP over any guitar.” Modern technology has truly lent a helping hand to Migi, who occasionally uses his phone to record song ideas while commuting. His EP, Karma Zero, is filled with personal musings of his own life. After gestating for several years, his video game-esque sounds are humanized through his honest and straightforward song writing.
“Once you feel it / You just know / When it comes around don’t let go” goes the hook of “When It Comes Around,” which Migi considers to be his personal mantra. “When I’m inspired to make music I always feel like I’m writing for the first time,” he reflects. Starting off as a personal bedroom project, Migi has immersed himself into the local music scene being part of an electronica collective called Buwan-Buwan. Their future projects would all be online, where it all started for them. The young musician has also chosen to follow this new music consumer trend of online streaming with his EP available on Spotify. “At the end of the day, I’m still thankful that I’m in full control of my music: from production to distribution to commerce. It always amazes me that anyone can listen to Nights of Rizal any time from anywhere in the world.” The music industry has indeed grown with the tech revolution. Despite critics voicing the difference between handheld instruments and the keypads of laptops, Migi is indifferent to the criticism saying, “As a bedroom producer, I think today’s electronic music has been democratized to a point where it’s reminiscent of the punk rock movement—it’s totally DIY, it doesn’t require, and it sometimes willfully rejects–formal training or expensive equipment, and it can sustain a healthy [music] scene.”
soundcloud.com/nightsofrizal @nightsofrizal