A Look at One of Cebu’s Finest: Bethany
The rise of many local talents in the Cebuano music industry has been one of the many distinguishing factors of Cebu. With many bands covering a variety of genres from the 90’s blues and jazz, to contemporary rock music, one thing is for sure, and that’s the fact that late night gigs by various performers have become one of the many staples of the ordinary Cebuano, with each band promising a unique blend of the Cebuano music taste.
Melodic songwriting, intricate guitar hooks, and electric live performances are what sets this certain band apart from other local talents here in the Queen City of the South. With genres ranging from alternative rock to progressive and pop, the more commonly known alternative arena rock band Bethany has been setting the bar high for many local music groups.
Bethany traces its roots to the year 2007 when brothers Luis Quibranza III, Angelo Quibranza and Paolo Quibranza, coming from a lineage of musicians and music enthusiasts (Their father, was a grand singing champion for a nationwide held contest) decided to form a group. The plan was to save money and yet be able to give wonderful Christmas gifts for their friends. That’s when the idea of sharing their talent come out, so they recorded a few original songs from their place, and hand them out in CDs as Christmas gifts for friends and families. The trio later decided to take songwriting a little more seriously and by December of 2008, had officially come out through social networking sites and released a “full-length demo,” dubbed “At Last, our First”
The publicly released demos gathered momentum and from there on there was no turning back for the brothers. They instantly garnered favorable attention from students and their hometown and was invited to several gigs, with their first public performance being held at UP Cookout 2009, In that same year, the band finally completed their line-up by inviting longtime friend and musician Jan Osbert Dela Cerna to play as bass.
In a span of less than a year of gigging, they have been invited to play numerous live radio and television shows. Some of these media outlets are NU 107, a rock radio station in the Philippines and RCTV 36, a television station based in Cebu City, Philippines. Bethany had already become one of the notable Cebuano talents in the music industry. In 2010, they were included in the band line up for Fete de la Musique, an international music festival originating from France, which was held in the Philippines.
The group released their debut album on July 2, 2011 independently. The album, entitled “Fantasy Fool” will contain the same songs from At Last, Our First but will be far more produced to be more acceptable for airplay. The album is produced by Brian Sacro, Luis Quibranza III and co-produced by the band.
The band is now currently part of the band roster of Sonicboom Events and Music Management with acts like Urbandub, Hilera, Faspitch, and The Ambassadors. While this band promises their unique style of performances, they state artists like U2, Muse, Queen, Coldplay, Keane, Oasis, Paramore, Mew and Switchfoot among others as their main influences.
Catch Bethany live at these dates:
The Outpost, Cebu City – September 21 (6:00 PM)
The Outpost, Cebu City – September 28 (5:00 PM)
