Yano - History

History

In 1992, Dong Abay, Eric Gancio and Larry Mapolon met in Patatag, a progressive vocal ensemble. After a year, they decided to form a band called NG (pronounced as en-ji and derived from the Ng diagraph, which is included on the Filipino alphabet) with percussionist Renmin Nadela. Abay and Gancio remained and recruited musical arranger and bassist, Onie Badiang to the group. Eventually, the band's name was renamed to Yano. They recorded their demo at the home studio of alternative artist Joey Ayala in June 1993. One of the tracks, "Kumusta Na?," ("How Are You?") a song about the "EDSA Revolution", found its way to a local radio station where the group was first heard. This paved the way for Yano to become active in the local club circuit. Mayrics, Club Dredd, 70s Bistro were among the first clubs that Yano performed in. Drummers for the band included Nowie Favila (Ang Grupong Pendong), Nonong Timbalopez (Put3Ska, Ex President's Combo), Jun Nogoy (Coffeebreak Island) and Harley Alarcon (Rizal Underground and POT).

In 1994, the band's self-titled debut album came out and spawned classic Filipino rock songs such as "Banal Na Aso, Santong Kabayo" ("Holy Dog, Saintly Horse"), "Tsinelas" ("Slippers") and "Esem" (wordplay for SM or Shoemart mall). This was followed by a string of successful concerts around the Philippine archipelago. Their first album from Alpha records (re-issued by BMG) reached quadruple platinum in 1994. After producing three studio albums, Abay quit during the late 1990s because of fame-induced pressure. The group later disbanded after Abay’s absence.

After quitting the band, Abay struggled with clinical depression and stayed only in his bedroom for about five years. He came out of depression while writing new songs set into poetry. He later called Badiang to borrow a guitar and jam. Eventually they formed another band, Pan with bassist Milo Duane Cruz and drummer Melvin Leyson. Abay got the term "Pan" after reading Tom Robbins' novel Jitterbug Perfume. They released their debut album entitled Parnaso ng Payaso in 2003. Pan was later disbanded because Abay went back to school in U.P. Diliman. He released "Sampol", an EP in 2005, which was later reborn into Flipino and released in May 2006. He is currently pursuing a career as an independent artist.

Gancio returned to his homeland in Davao after the demise of Yano. In 2004, he released an EP for his solo album Sa Bandang Huli. Gancio did all the instruments in his indie-released album and mixed the music in a PC-based software. Gancio is reviving Yano as a multi-instrumentalist and is currently performing as Yano in Davao with Bassist Dave Ibao and Drummer Jan Najera. He will be releasing an album, which, according to Gancio, will be the "fourth Yano album."

Badiang played bass for Filipino folk/rock band Asin. He currently reconnected to Joey Ayala's Bagong Lumad while Favila is currently playing gigs outside the Phiippines.

Milo Cruz, one of the supporting musician, is now living in New Zealand since mid 2003 and is now a sound engineer. He still plays regularly with various Kiwi bands and founded an all-Filipino band FLIP doing both covers and originals. He also started his own production company named ATBP Productions. ATBP is an abbreviation of a Filipino expression "at iba pa", a counterpart for the Latin "et cetera".