MAESTRO
OFF
THE
WALL
Rendering electro-retro remixes, disco-pop trio TANDEMS ‘91 steals your uncle’s playlist and puts their art into the soul. Go on, spread the word: Funk’s not dead. By Pola Beronilla Photographed by Grace de Luna
S
tep inside the electro house of Aaron David Cruz, Ignacio Cuyegkeng, and JR Jader, collectively known as Tandems ’91, and be greeted with a solace of musical sunlight that bursts out in every hook and melody. Painting fairly cheesy tales of modern love and budding relationships, their tracks are wrapped around ‘70s-style orchestral string stabs, pops of brass, and buoyant basslines over Aaron’s tender vocals. Infusing a contemporary twist in their retro habits, this is what our parents have been waiting for: the reinvention of the golden age of funk and soul. Following the French electro trend served by the Parisan heritage including the likes of Justice, SebastIan, and Breakbot, their songs easily remind us of a quality Ed Bangers record. With influences of Giorgio Moroder, Daft Punk, and Shook, the group dug through the underground Internet scene, gaining thousands of hits on their Soundcloud. As Aaron laments, “When should we stop waiting, only time knows when / But we will not ever be this young again,” they groove through a digitalized funk, blending the youth of today to yesterday’s sound. Originally, Tandems ’91 was a solo project of Aaron. But when the time came that he was booked for a live gig, he needed a tandem to back him up. Enter Ignacio and JR. “The politically correct term is Tandems and Friends,” Aaron quips. However, as gig after gig kept flowing, their musical bond grew thicker. “At first, I gave them my tracks to study overnight,” recalls Aaron. “But eventually, they started drifting away from my original material, and it actually turned out sounding better.” This chemistry doesn’t come as a shock, considering that the three of them go way back in high school. With different forms of exposures to music during their own childhood, the three of them rekindled their interest in the art form by joining an org in their school. Who would’ve thought that their musical rapport was the result of the cultural break of the emo scene during the early 2000s? “We really had a room in our
78 - statusmagonline.com
org where we’d have our heart-to-heart talks with one another,” JR recollects. “With the lights turned off, you’d hear emo songs playing in the room and crying sounds in the background.” From promposals to early lovelorn woes, these three grew up to create what makes up the current sound of Tandems ’91. Combining a fizzy fusion of celebratory disco and contemporary pop, sugary harmonies slide along basslines and lasers synths in songs like “All This Time (First & Last)” and “Finally.” While tracks like “First Dusk (A Similar Feeling)” and “What You Want” somehow channel some 1970s soft porn soundtracks, Aaron’s delicate falsetto falls lightly on the retro beats backed up by Ignacio and JR’s modern techniques. As they remind us of the glory days of Chic, James Brown, and Prince, they haven’t forgotten their homeland’s rich music roots, sampling a Filipino classic by VST & Company in “At Last.” Though their jams are arguably best heard in the comforts of your bedroom whilst picturing a long over due tropical retreat, their live gig is definitely the getaway you’ve been dreaming of. “The Tandems ‘91 you [hear] in Soundcloud and the Tandems ‘91 you see performing are totally different,” says JR. Bringing a whole new set of tricks every other show, we highly suggest that you see them play live.
soundcloud.com/tandems-91