Virgins No More!

January 17th, 2010 was a Sunday.

Ortigas was particularly quiet; bereft of the bustle that occupied it on regular days. The breeze gave out a Tim Burton spook in the spine. And there was ultralight traffic. For the lack of better metaphors, Ortigas Center was a ghost town.

And like The Ghostbusters on their first mission, we stepped in the Jam 88.3 booth to play on Jam Sessions, a weekly radio gig that featured homegrown talent. The program, hosted by seasoned jock Tracy, airs live every Sunday, 7PM (Manila Time) and can be heard on live streaming over the internet through Jam’s website.

The band was too excited to even bother breathing. Your Imaginary Friends are self-confessed radio show virgins—shaking fear off with self-concocted mental antidotes and deep breaths. Despite Tracy’s constant reminders not to get wound up all too tight, we still did. At this point, stage fright was an understatement.

Ahmad was finding his vocal notes as we waited anxiously for Tracy’s cue. Tanya kept her calm reserve. Khalid checked obsessively on his guitar effects. Me? I could pee where I was seated.

Then the sonic attack started. The opening notes for Danger Sign parted the waters of fear that froze us a few moments before. Excitement drew enough happy hormones for us to let out on a wild abandon. We suddenly forgot where we were. Liza came next and still we consistently dished out the notes with feverish gusto. Here are actual clips from the radio show:

Danger Sign (Live – Jam Sessions) – Your Imaginary Friends

Liza (Live – Jam Sessions) – Your Imaginary Friends

But fired up as we were, we coiled back in our coy selves like defensive armadillos when the interviews came. Tracy did a fine, fine job in setting the level of conversation in the most comfortable way, we almost forgot we were live on the air. (I became too comfortable I carelessly let out a PG-13 remark.)

While Tanya maintained her calm during the interviews, Khalid and I stuttered. Khalid and I even deliberately avoided the mic. Though slurring a bit due to nervousness, Ahmad showed us how it is to be a pro when it comes to these things. But when asked to describe the band and the sound, the shy half-Palestinian gave a bubblegum retort: “We are kind of like the Spice Girls…even better..”

And the bubbly half-Chinese drummer (me!) added: “…with guitars!”

Truth be told, I didn’t know how we came up with that since we do not dance and lipsynch. Maybe because we always safely say pop when asked about our genre. We could only name influences and music we listen to, but not our own. So, to give the audiences listening to us that night a dose of our nameless pot stew, we played more of our songs and our private version of The Postal Service’s Such Great Heights. Tracy even gave a nod to By Beautiful Intentions, which we always loved playing live.

By Beautiful Intentions (Live – Jam Sessions) – Your Imaginary Friends

After more than an hour of driving our (nameless) brand of pop, and dealing with anxiety attacks and the stutter, we wrapped the show with the song Nikita. Good thing, Nikita tuned in. And so did many real friends of Your Imaginary Friends. (Thanks guys!) At least, for more than an hour, we let the ghosts of Ortigas dance.

— Props to Tracy and the tech guys over at Jam 88.3, Lilystars Records, Clementine for the photos and the connect, Denise for more photos and that unforgettable sweet, sweet bag of happiness, Tonet for the remote support, Charlie for the help with the stuff, and Katrina for the vids and the love. – Eric Po