Remixing Margarita!

How do you make a great product even better? Mix it up with other ingredients and see what happens.

Such is the case with Margarita. On the verge of releasing her debut CD, the singer-songwriter-pianist-sax player decid-ed she just no longer wanted to be alone onstage. She needed a band to give her a fuller sound during live peformances, a team of collaborators to further flesh out her music.

Meet Margarita 2.0.

The present remix of Margarita, reincarnted his time as a band, is reinvention brought to an artform. It builds on the core ingredient - Margarita herself, the pretty and petite proponent of her own, unique brand of piano-based rock. She remains the ever-beguiling paradox, pounding out Gothic grooves on the ivory keys, then rendering them syrupy sweet with angelic vocal coatings, before roughing them up again with a jarring sax solo. All this, while she stands - with an almost mischievous smile - at the centerpiece of her musical mantle, a mystery you keep trying to figure out: how can a fiery amalgamation of talent, energy, passion and beauty confine itself quietly to such a seemingly delicate elfin figure?

The success of Margarita's metamorphosis of the moment is that her musical accomplices are just that - partners in crime to that greatest of artistic heists: stealing the audience's attention, admiration and affection. Bassist Alvin provides Margarita a unique counterpoint to the piano-prevalent foundation, filling out spaces in their sound with sombre passages or joyous staccatto slaps on a six-stringer that also allows him the flexibility to strum out chords and squeeze out solos. While Alvin fills out spaces, guitarist Yohan stretches the sound further with an acoustic jazz axeman's musings, unleashing arpeggios and hooks that complement the base melody and add more texture to it. Behind them all, drummer and percussionist Raffy hammers out the steady backbeat, serving notice to both band and audience - don't let the pretty faces and the fancy music fool you; at the end of the day, Margarita is still all about rock n' roll!

What's next for Margarita? The CD will finally out by 2007. After that, they will tour in support of it.

In the meantime, they are quietly spreading the word, winning over fans and followers - be they in hotel bars, food courts or beer joints.

The buzz that Margarita brought to the music scene over the last few years has gotten better. The new concoction - with the added ingredients - is now definitely much more intoxicatingly sweet!

Cheers! Drink moderately.

Samples and downloads of Margarita's music are available at www.opmradio.ph. More information about the band may be accessed at www.margarita.ph. Margarita currently plays at Phi RestoBar, Tiendesitas, E’s Bar (EDSA Shangri-La), Customs Bar and The Lobby Lounge (EDSA Shangri-La).

Meet Margarita!

She sings. She plays the piano and the saxophone. She writes her own music. And she puts on one helluva show onstage!

Her name is Margarita!

Margarita is a rarity in the local music scene. She is a mix of medium and message, a cross of creator and content.

Her artistry is expressed in her original compositions, several of which will finally be shared with the public via her soon-to-be launched, independently-produced debut CD on her very own MAP Records. The line-up of songs pays homage to her classical music heritage, celebrates her romance with rock ‘n roll, and carries on the tradition of classic, heart-felt OPM. Over the last year, radio and TV audiences have begun to sample a taste of Margarita’s music through her sparse and soulful reworking of the foot-stomping 80’s anthem Boys Don’t Cry by The Cure, her pleading rendition of the Koreanovela theme Pagkakataon and her sneak-in single from the new CD, Never Mind.

Margarita’s art is not limited to the recording studio though. Her performing persona is simply a masterpiece in motion. Her command of the crowd is spell-binding, honed by years of experience that have brought her to stages, lounges and bars both here and abroad. Moreover, Margarita has managed to rack up a repertoire that offers something for everyone, from alternative rock to pop to dance to lounge to standards to her own original compositions. One just has to ask: where else in the world can you find an artist who sings, plays the piano and the sax, fronts her own band, and manages to trade bubbly banter with an audience – all at once?

To top it all, this Margarita comes to you in a mesmerizing package. Her breathtaking beauty alone is already a crowd-drawer. And audiences have come to follow her around, a petite and pretty Pied Piper performing the music they love.