IT was on July 20, 2007 when seven members of an advertising agency?s creative division gave a new spin to the word ?jamming.?

James Bernardo (creative director), Jet Concepcion (final artist), Windel Aboy (art director), Bogey Bernardo (copywriter), Dale Lopez (art director), Rey Tiempo (copywriter) and Tony Sarmiento (executive creative director) collectively known as ?Pasok! Mga Bwitre? went on stage to play for the first ever Band Congress, a competition among bands in the advertising industry.

What sets the seven apart from the other retro-singing, emo-core lashing groups was their set-up: a microphone; an electric guitar; and a table topped with spoons, forks, glasses, beer bottles, and a lone plastic container. And a cameo by an overweight luchador.

Albeit not winning the competition, Bwitre pursued the music, even writing originals and expanding their setup. They?re fixtures at LomoManila events and Mag:net?s Odd Congress nights, playing for beer and sheer excitement. Not bad for a band that didn?t expect to go farther than a one-night stand.

Last-minute decision

Pasok! Mga Bwitre was formed in less than a month, solely for the Band Congress. Even their name was a last-minute decision, after percussionist Windel started hitting on one of the agency?s account managers.

Even though she was seeing someone else, Windel didn?t care?he simply texted James, ?Pasok! Mga Bwitre,? describing the bird?s ability to swiftly swoop down devour the object of its desire (bwitre is ?vulture? in English).

The group set out to find something that would set them apart from other bands. ?Since it was an advertising band congress, we had to do something different, to show that we?re creative,? said Tiempo.

Getting inspiration from Beck?s ?Saturday Night Live? performance for ?Clap Hands,? where the singer used found objects as instruments, they started collecting glasses, film cans and empty bottles in the office to bang on.

The transition from playing with conventional instruments to found objects was easy, since most of the members have musical experience to back them up.

Sarmiento is the founder of Ateneo Musician?s Pool, Tiempo has an online virtual band called Mistula (http://www.mistula.com), Bogey jams with his band Delinquents, and James once played the drums for an agency band, Brainstorm. But even with such musical experience under their belts, the question was, would their audience get their shtick?

?It was scary, because we didn?t know how the audience would react to it,? James said. ?Would they think we?re crazy??

Needless to say, everyone was stunned with their performance, and perhaps didn?t grasp the group?s musical concept, except perhaps for Bong Rojales, who gave Bwitre their first gig at Mag:Net for a Lomo Manila event.

High energy

Soon enough, Bwitre became a staple at Lomo Manila gatherings. Word got around about their high-energy performance, and beer-paying gigs turned into actual-paying gigs in a few months.

What lure Lomo Manila and Mag:Net?s Odd Congress to Bwitre is not just the band?s ingenious way of marrying electric with found instruments, but its songs as well. The music ranges from funk to rock and disco with nü metal intros, paired with lyrics that reflect the band?s character? free-wheeling, often improvisational? with comments on the human condition. Its music has sincere emotion mixed with a heavy dose of humor and liters of beer.

?Pesteng Conyo,? written by Sarmiento and a friend, TJ Espinosa, is a tribute to an Ateneo urban legend of people defaming the coño bench.

?Prinsesa ng Sagada? is a tribute to a ?certain beauty? that Sarmiento claims a friend saw in the mountains (?It?s not about marijuana, I swear,? James said. Sarmiento jested, ?It?s about the beauty of the place. It?s really a tourism song.?)

?Discolangot? is a song about, well, the good ol? disco days.

Since the band?s formation, some members have moved on to work for other agencies. But this has only made them a tighter group.

?It?s really about finding the right group of people, finding that chemistry that makes a group stick together,? said Tiempo. ?I?ve been in many bands with in the past with officemates when you realize, this isn?t working out.?

Chemistry

And their chemistry is evident at every show. Not a gig is played when half the members aren?t drunk, making jokes, ratting out on one another and just plain enjoying the camaraderie they?ve formed over the year.

In fact, the appearance of the luchador at their first performance is a result of one of their insane bets.

?We told Tony about our plans to join the competition,? Bogey said. ?He said we wouldn?t make it. We said, okay, if we make it past the auditions, you have to wear a ?Nacho Libre? outfit and dance onstage. So hell yeah, he did it!? Sarmiento, a well-known personality in the ad industry, lamented that said luchador will never, ever make another appearance again.

Other things have changed in terms of their setup: once backed by a sole electric guitar, they?ve also incorporated a drum set and a bass guitar.

?That?s what the judge told us at Band Congress,? Rey joked. ?That we lacked the bass component. So there, we put it in.?

What?s next for Bwitre? The band plans to release an EP of original songs soon.

Despite the incorporation of more electrical instruments in their performance, the band hasn?t let go of their fascination with found objects.

On April 22, they participated in ?Lights Out,? an event where bands had to play without any electric instruments. An easy feat for a group that doesn?t discriminate when it comes to choosing which object to jam on. As Lopez put it, ?there isn?t a found object you can?t play with. Well, except for a feather. Or a pillow.?

?Or a condom,? James interjected.

Visit http://pasokmgabwitre.multiply.com or the group?s Facebook page.