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).