If memory serves me right, I remember meeting him way back around 2000 or early 2001, when I was checking out a RAT pedal that a friend of mine told me was being sold by another friend of his..
It was somewhere down south - BF Parañaque, I think - where my friend brought me to the seller. And guess who was there jamming with him..
.. Nitoy Adriano, in the flesh!
Now, I must emphasize here that at the time, I had already heard of The Jerks, but since I'm not really a rock fan, I didn't really have any idea of how good he was ..
Well, all I can say is .. even on a borrowed Strat, and using that particular RAT pedal that the guy was selling, Nitoy's playing sounded so tasteful!
It's not the kind of shred or 'gulpi-di-gulat' playing that comes from playing a million-notes-a-minute, but more like that slow simmer and burn that comes from someone who knows the value of a carefully-placed single note ...
Merong magaling mag-gitara ... pero hindi masarap pakinggan
Merong masarap mag-gitara, kahit simple lang ginagawa ...
Si Nitoy, masarap mag-gitara ...