this is what happened mga repapips.....
introvoys had their run during the 90s until such time that paco arespacochaga--their main songwriter decided to quit because he wanted to focus on his family(among other things--that i couldn't reveal because it's simply too personal)...
this was after paco was married to former smokey mountain member geneva cruz. they had a son named heaven( named after the hit song)...
taking in his role as a husband and father, paco kept writing songs and playing session drums for a few shows in the philippines and taking drum lessons from jun regalado sr....and became an endorser for jb music and zildjian...
meanwhile, jonathan buencamino and company refusing to call it quits continued with a new drummer and recorded one album which didn't spawn any major hits to rival the hits from the old albums.
this still seem to be the same old band--i mean any song sung by jonathan buencamino will sound like introvoys. but they seem to be running out of steam. to make matters worse, jonathan buencamino lost his voice because constant gigging and exposure to 2nd hand smoking in bars and clubs, asides from the stress of almost gigging every night.
with no hit song, and the frontman losing his voice---introvoys slowly faded from the limelight.
this all happened while paco was having the time of his life. having no need to play music for a living, paco settled into a life of comfort. he was still earning royalties(up to this today) and having a wife who was a celebrity, he felt no pressure to play...but then his heart was forever the songwriter...
so he formed the band mystery...fronted by jomar cruz(artista and pinasn ni geneva) and flanked by joseph and tonton cruz( keyboards and bassist extraordinaires, also cousins of geneva) and g3 misa on guitars...they had a great a lineup and with a good drummer and great songwriter like paco, what else do they need , right?
chemistry, they had tons especially onstage. but the cruz brothers coming from a clan of reknowned working musicians would not share paco's dreams---they were more suited for "biyahe" type gigs....
and it's just a basic situation where you might have excellent musicians in the band, but you all have different goals.
mystery slowly changed it's lineup, eventually becoming the 4 piece known as SKiN....fronted by norby david(now with overtone) on vocals/bass...keith ilagan on guitar(now with true faith) and henry abesamis on keyboards(now with shamrock)...paco was the band leader/songwriter/mentor....SKiN became a force in the party/bar/show band circuit in the philippines....
by this time geneva and pax had called it quits as a married couple(they would later become good friends--coz they still shared a son). also it was at this time that jonathan and jj buencamino as well as vic carpio(who was with novia at the time) patched it up with paco(they were after all friends since childbirth--something that mystery lacked)...but plans for a reunion album/tour would be impossible as jonathan was still without a proper singing voice.
SKiN was doing the rounds in the metro manila bar scene...frequent din sila sa out of town gigs/functions/beer fests... nagkaroon din ng plans for an album. kenneth ilagan had to bow out for what seems to be a more lucrative gig in mulatto( a very popular bar band)...
i joined SKiN in feb 2000 and became very good friends with paco(ninong ng anak kong si jaja--at magiging ninong din ako ng anak nya--coming soon!)
i had just come from a 5 yr stint with blue rats( one of manila's finest bluesband ever!) and i wanted a more financially stable band.and SKiN seemed to be it.
SKin was signed by MCA to make an album, but became 2nd priority because they also invited Paco to make a solo album...yours truly became a songwriter partner for paco, not that he needed my help but he became open to my ideas and we worked well together...i played a lot of guitars in that album.
paco did his solo record which nobody seemed to be aware of(lol!sorry pax!) except maybe the very loyal fans of introvoys.
it's interesting to note that paco's solo album included guest appearances by SKiN( his band during those days), ira cruz (former introvoys, passage and now in bamboo), G3 misa( now in NYC) and the original lineup of introvoys(jobert,jonathan and jj buencamino, along with vic carpio.
so it seems like everything would work out...paco has his solo record, SKiN would get it's own album out soon...and introvoys would be back on the map for a reunion......
again fate intervened....paco had other plans...he migrated to the US. he would remarry and start a new life there.
the introvoys reunion was again shelved....SKiN would get a new drummer and eventually a new guitarist( i joined first circle a year after paco left ) and then would call it quits after a couple years as well....norby would join overtone and henry would play keyboards for shamrock.....
but it wasn't over, no sir!
while paco was in the states, he met producers who were willing to bring the other members of introvoys to reunite and tour the states---also the opportunity to become greencard holders was in the mix...
but then jobert buencamino had to tend to his family business...during which ira cruz would join briefly as the band's bassist. vic carpio was also planning to go to france( where he currently resides )
so....eventually the lineup would include me on guitars and henry abesamis on keyboards/bassist....jonathan buencamino and jj b, were of course vocals and keyboards...
that lineup would end up going to the states in 2005... we recorded in dec 04-april 05 what would become the single introvoys album that was self produced ...it was called "A Brighter Day"--symbolic of the trials and tribulations that led to the US tour..
too bad it wasn't released in the philippines, it was of very decent if not great quality--featuring songs written by me and paco, the buencamino brothers and keith derrick( a bassist who became bandmates with paco, eventually leading him to become producer for the introvoys reunion album ).
but the trials didn't end.... henry wanted to go back home to the philippines( kung sya ay naging sikat na miyembro ng shamrock)..so joseph cortes was enlisted as bassist (isa syang mabait[?] na bata)
nag quit din ako. citing personal differences that i can't disclose here...pax and i would count this as something that just didn't work out.
now that official lineup includes:
steve guadiz/guitars(a great chap), chot ulep/bass....
( official because there was no mention of me, vic carpio and ira as former introvys guitar players in the website, but i'm just making it official here--apparently the personal differences has not ended!lol!)
and this lineup contines to exist---( i dont wanna say for the meantime )
more current news:
the introvoys have recorded "best friend's girlfriend" a song that paco and me wrote when we were in SKiN.
ito ay ginawang pelikula, dance showdown sa eat bulaga....hey GMA, kapuso din ako---subscriber kami dito america ng pinoy tv!!! where's our money???
they have plans to tour sa pinas, but it's uncertain wether jonathan and jj would come home to tour......
the soap opera continues......
PHEW! sorry ang haba, but i just wanted to set the record straight...introvoys is still alive.. nasa ibang bansa lang...www.introvoys.net
