One thing about CHNDTR, a band that is making waves with their unique pop-rock sound, is that they are happy to release new material reflecting their growth, particularly in what themes their music tackles. Such growth drives their new single “Mine,” a bilingual song that drops on major streaming services. Released under [which imprint?], the song was composed by Anne Margarette Detera and Niko Joei Bertrand Bacani, produced by the band and Tiny Corpuz, and recorded at Line In Records.
CHNDTR says that “Mine” is their first recorded love song, contributing to an important musical tradition in original Filipino music. What they want to contribute is a throwback to music that emerged in their childhoods. “Most of the [composers of] 90s OPM love songs are fond of playing with English and Tagalog in their music,” they tell us. This practice dates back even earlier, though, with a few 70s songs from the Manila Sound movement incorporating English slang into mostly Tagalog lyrics and a mid-1980s classic, “Boy” by Timmy Cruz, alternating English and Tagalog lines in its verses.
The story of “Mine” is an experience that listeners can connect with. The band tells us that this reflects the story of two people who have been unable to admit their love for each other for two years now, yet choose to care for one another. They say that the experience of moving from being friends to lovers sounds like a cliché, but add that this is one of the strongest kinds of love, because even when there are conflicts or struggles, they choose to be together in the end.
“Mine” is CHNDTR’s way of helping people in similar situations express their feelings for their loved ones. They say that it is a song that one can send to the other, preferably through a link—which is now available on all music streaming platforms!
ABOUT CHNDTR
Getting a band together is both a joy and a challenge. Ask Chin, the lead singer and guitarist of CHNDTR, a band whose name comes from the consonants of her name. She had already been with an alternative band called Beating the Red Lights, whose minor claim to fame was making a song about comedian and host Vice Ganda (and appearing on TV because of that). The band eventually went on hiatus, but she kept writing new songs during that time. She then formed a band with some session musicians, but the lack of job prospects led them to migrate, and she was once again left on her own. She wanted to be in a band but had to settle for a long spell of being a solo performer. It was after a nine-month break that she got CHNDTR together, the ensemble she fronts to this day.
Apart from Chin, her colleagues in CHNDTR are Sean on bass, Niko on lead guitar, and Zach on drums. Exactly how they got together as a band, as Sean narrates, is a pretty standard story: the band first gets together, some people leave, others join in. He knew Chin for some time, and a founding member of the band and Chin were in school together. He sent an audition video, and they rehearsed some of Chin’s songs. It worked, he said. Then when the other bandmate left, he got Niko to join them because Niko was in a band with Sean before. Chin then got her friend Zach whom she knew from a certain circle of friends. And that was just in 2016!
Chin says that the first song they worked on together was the song “Martyr,” which they recorded as a demo with a different feel and flavor to the final product. When they recorded and released it on YouTube, they didn’t expect how much of a reaction it got. She says that other bands have covered it in “battle of the bands” competitions throughout the country.
The band members lived far apart from each other, which was a challenge. Their passion and willingness to get together to rehearse and perform, however, made them overcome that. Chin says that their goal was to make their sets something to experience. It paid off in one of their early gigs. They were invited to perform at a show where they were requested to dress up. Little did they know that it was an event where the cream of the crop of Philippine music, including National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab, all attended. The small group (of less than 20, Chin recalls) included Moy Ortiz, the members of The Company, and Noel Cabangon. Chin says that the reaction was very positive—even Cayabyab was head-banging—and the audience felt that they could relate to their music even though it was different from theirs.
As CHNDTR constantly played gigs and self-released their first EP (with the single dropped on their YouTube channel), they started gaining more and more attention in the music world. After guesting on a live music show sponsored by a recording studio with an affiliated label (a big feat for a relatively new band), the label signed them. It offered to re-release their EP and other recordings digitally. They worked on a new album with the label and launched it at an event at a supermarket, where a limited edition of 150 physical copies sold out in 30 minutes. That stunned them, Chin says.
CHNDTR’s next projects included a series of four singles working with Argee Guerrero, who is with the band Tonight We Sleep and is better known for his singer-songwriter project I Belong to the Zoo. The singles were dropped during the pandemic. Eventually, in September 2021, they joined Republic Records, an imprint of Universal Music Group. They say that their experience with the label has been very positive. They are well taken care of, they claim, even to the point of being spoiled. But they want to be back on the gig circuit again as the worst of the COVID pandemic is increasingly behind us.
CHNDTR says that what they want to be our female solo performers or female-fronted bands that they mainly admire for their songwriting and performing style. When asked who these are, they mentioned Paramore, Moonstar88, Avril Lavigne, Olivia Rodrigo, and the genre-bending Taylor Swift. And when we asked who they were listening to these days, each of the band members gave different answers. Chin is listening to Hayley Williams (Paramore), Lavigne, Swift, and Rodrigo, mainly for inspiration to write English-language songs (which is likely the direction they’re heading). Niko is listening to one of Island Records Philippines’ most prominent artists, Zack Tabuldo, because he says that Zack is a “solid songwriter and producer.” Zach prefers to listen to Justin Bieber these days, largely because of the vibes his music gives off. Sean says that he listens to IV of Spades because their songwriting and stage presence is remarkably good.
We would have wanted to end with their future hopes and dreams, but we think that it would be better to end with something we asked them—how does CHNDTR describe their music?
Whatever CHNDTR’s music turns out to be in the future, let’s hope it’s as comforting, sweet, and delicious as that.
ABOUT CHNDTR
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By Tito Nixon 
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