APPARENTLY, Zach Lucero can do the impossible. He can, for example, establish dtente between natural enemies: Zach lives with two dogs named Bopya and Buffy, as well as three cats named Pavarotti, Sarah Brightman and Phoebe Cat. Yes, he?s awesome with names.
Zach is also something of a miracle worker when it comes to music. He was at the right place at the right time for some of Philippine music?s significant births. ?I started with piano when I was around 6 I think, then guitar, then drums,? says the 32-year-old who?s best known as the drummer for the band Imago.
The youngest of three children born to businessman Rudy Lucero and wife Linda, Zach was 13 when he began learning to play drums, getting serious in college when he took up fine arts at the University of Santo Tomas. He had always liked listening to everything. ?I like the ?80s and ?90s stuff ? you name it,? he says. ?Even glam.?
That diverse musical background made him a natural. ?Ever since I was a kid, I really wanted to perform and be in a band,? he recalls. He first signed up as the drummer for a band called Hungry Young Poets that boasted of, among others, a then-unknown vocalist named Barbie Almalbis. Almalbis would go on to front Barbie?s Cradle, while bassist Ricci Gurango would found Mojofly.
Zach found himself playing music in every way imaginable. For instance, that day in 1996 when radio station NU 107 interviewed him as a member of HYP. During a commercial break, he asked the DJ interviewing him, a dude named Francis, for a chance to audition as a DJ. This resulted in a stint at the station from 1998 to 2005, when he became half of ?Zach and Joey in the Morning.?
But his big break was still to come. It was the 1997 founding of Imago that took Zach to his next assignment. Taking the Latin word for ?image,? singer Aia de Leon, bassist Myrene Academia, guitarist Tim Cacho and Zach got together to make some music. ?We started the band straight out of college and we?d make songs depending on our mood. For me it?s the best way to express yourself, feel what you feel, and let it out, no planning,? he explains. ?So as the years passed, you could see what mood we were in during that particular time.?
The band would move from an experimental acoustic to a more mainstream stadium pop style. Zach points out that their first album, 1999?s ?Probably Not But Most Definitely,? was produced by Bob Aves and Grace Nono. Imago?s second album, ?Take 2,? produced by Sancho Sanchez and Raimund Marasigan, came out in 2003 after much delay. Buddy Zabala produced their third album, the 2006 smash ?Blush.?
?There you can see the differences already,? Zach says.
The group has so far enjoyed over a decade of tuneful teamwork, identifying Imago?s performance at Singapore?s Mosaic Festival as its greatest hit, so to speak.
But music courses so thickly through Zach?s veins that he wanted to inject new rhythms into his blood. He began planning an album of his own work that would be distinct and original from what he plays with his band. The songs began congealing in his thoughts as he carved out time to breathe life into his tunes during his free time between Imago albums. Over eight months, he logged more than 100 hours at Sound Creation Studio in Quezon City.
?It was difficult, not because I was doing it amid our other Imago activities but because I?m so used to ping ponging ideas with my band mates,? he explains. ?Then all of a sudden I?m in the studio alone. I?d end up ping ponging ideas to myself, talking to myself, arguing, fighting and laughing with myself.? The hardest part was making up his mind, since Imago made decisions by vote. ?When you?re alone, you have to decide by yourself, and deal with figuring out if you made the right decision on the way home.?
That solo album is ?Fall Crash Infect,? nine meticulously arranged songs brimming with intelligence and superbly blending styles and influences, such as New Wave (?Bob?) and alt rock (?Matina Town Square?), with nary a chord or effect out of place. Unlike most of Imago?s oeuvre, the songs are all in English. Aside from witty reflections on the zeitgeist (?Superpoke,? with its standout voiceover), the tracks, especially the infectious title track, seem to vibrate with personal resonance through sharp imagery and vibrant lyrics. Zach even gets sweet in one song (?My Blue, White and Red?).
He admits a lot of it is based on real life as well as the movies he?s seen. ?It also shows that no matter what the story is, it?s essentially the same bananacue, with different sticks poking through it,? he says. Part of his goal was to create the album by himself, something he identified as being the best and worst part of the entire experience. ?It?s not easy; if you?re gonna do something like this, you gotta relax and pace yourself,? Zach counsels. ?Don?t be atat [impatient].?
One has to be patient when building a dream project track by track. ?I wrote the songs, lyrics and the melody lines,? Zach says. He played drums, guitars, bass, synthesizer and sang too, whew! He also invited friends like Radioactive Sago Project?s Lourd De Veyra, Taken by Cars? Sarah Marco, Boldstar?s Marie Jamora, Cambio?s Kris Dancel, The Ronnies? Ene Lagunzad, Outerhope?s Micaela Benedicto, The Dorques? Aimee Marcos and Silent Sanctuary to appear in his album, forming a sort of Legion of Super-musicians. ?I chose them according to what I felt was bagay [a good fit],? Zach notes. Additionally, he had a dependable system for figuring out when the album was done: he stopped when he ?realized that wala na akong maisip [I couldn?t think of anything else].?
Deciding to produce the album himself instead of signing up with a big label was a natural direction for Zach. ?I just figured if I were gonna do it indie, might as well go indie all the way, at para masabi ko na nagawa ko [so I can say I did it],? he says. He took seriously the tasks of organizing studio time, coordinating the schedule of his guests and talking to radio stations, something that proved a greater challenge than he expected. ?I?m not used to that, I?m so burara [disorganized],? he admits, adding that the experience taught him how to budget.
Despite the difficulties, ?Fall Crash Infect?s? launch last March 24 at Saguijo, has allowed Zach to savor being able to share his musical labor of love with a general audience. The album is now available at Music One and Fully Booked, but the best way to score one is to approach Zach himself. ?If you see me, I?ll be lugging them around in my backpack and trunk,? he says. A music video and television appearances will follow.
So apparently, Zach also has the mutant ability to do a lot of different things at the same time. Aside from all the business surrounding ?Fall Crash Infect,? he continues on as Imago?s percussionist. He hasn?t forgotten his personal passions, such as his devotion to the rhythmic Brazilian martial art Capoeira (he?s been taking it for four years at the Escola Brasileira de Capoeira) and his love for scooters (he rides a Yamaha Fino Sport and a Gilera VXR 200).
But he can?t escape the music. Imago is gearing up for its fourth album, currently recording demo tracks. Zach wants to do another album, an instrumental one this time. ?Bahala na [We?ll see], let?s see what my mood is when the time comes,? he says. After all, Zach isn?t done innovating yet. He wants to find time to record another album, this time with his other band, Garlic, which he describes as being heavily instrumental and avant-garde. Garlic features Louie Talan, the Razorback bassist, and Francis Reyes, guitarist of the Dawn and, incidentally, the NU DJ who was interviewing Zach that day when he asked to audition.
There?s no telling where Zach Lucero?s musical wanderlust will lead him next. All that has come to pass is ample proof that his musical life has indeed come full circle, like a vinyl LP rotating on a turntable, a magnetic tape reel?s turning, and a beloved, bright CD spinning so fast it glints like a newly charted star.
