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| Members of Rockin’ Like Thunder (L-R): Richie Reyes, Errol Calumpong, Honey Jimenez, Romar Tanjil, Anabel Perez, Al Tarabi, Efren Calumpong |
A band made up of members who found each other in Zamboanga City
after working as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in different parts of the world, is gearing up for
international stardom.
The opportunity to become international recording artists knocked
on Rockin’ Like Thunder band in September 2022 when American record producer
and concert promoter Hadley Murrell and his group happened to be in Zamboanga
City on a holiday.
A veteran in the music industry since the late 1960s -- having
collaborated with The Jackson 5, James Brown and Marvin Gaye, among others – Murrell is no stranger to Filipino musical talent. “I’ve seen it everywhere--from upscale hotel bars to cruise ships--all over the world, you’ll hear Filipino bands playing songs in English and they sound like the real deal!” he said.
Murrell
asked their designated driver where they could watch some good musicians that
night.
It turned out that their driver, Efren Calumpong, was the leader
of a band--at that time called Toxic. He invited Murrell to watch
them perform that night at a small roadside bar in Pasonanca Park.
Aside from Calumpong, the band is also composed of Honey
Jimenez, Anabel Perez and Alkabir Tarabi (vocals), Romar Tanjil (bass guitar),
Errol Calumpong (drums), and Richie Reyes (keyboards).
Murrell and his party so enjoyed listening to the band
perform covers of songs by Elvis Presley, The Bee Gees, and The Beatles that
they came back the next night.
By the next day, Murrell asked the
band to sign with his HDM Records.
In December 2022, the newly-christened Rockin’ Like Thunder officially
signed with HDM Records.
In March 2023, the Stank Brothers production team (composed of
Hadley, songwriter Dwight J. Emile, and singer Tomy Ge) flew from LA to the
Philippines to conduct songwriting and performance training sessions with the
band.
Later that month, they went to Wild Grass Studios in Quezon
City, to record 10 songs–a combination of covers and originals--with Awit
Award-winning sound engineer Nikki Cunanan.
Their first single, Rockin’ Like Thunder, has since been enjoying
vigorous airplay worldwide, thanks to YouTube, Spotify, and other online
platforms.
After their concert last Nov. 25, 2023, where they played to
an audience of 2,000 at the Paseo del Mar in Zamboanga City, Murrell gushed:
“The show that they put on tonight is at par with any small show in Las Vegas,
Nevada!”
Such success is a long way from the struggles the members have
encountered, especially during the pandemic.
Anabel, one of the vocalists, started singing professionally
while a college student. She worked as a freelance singer for bands that would
play at special events or needed a pinch-hitter for that night’s gig in the
Zamboanga Peninsula. Eventually, she spent 10 years singing at different hotel
bars in the United Arab Emirates.
Pandemic shutdowns derailed her plans to work in Singapore.
Honey, who has been performing with the band on and off for
a decade, had spent years singing not only in Zamboanga but also in different
parts of Luzon, then in the Middle East and China. She had just returned from a
stint in China when the COVID-19 pandemic started.
Bassist Romar had found work not only in Zamboanga but also
in Baguio, then in different parts of Malaysia, playing in upscale bars. He said
he thought his dreams had been fulfilled when he started working overseas, but
he missed his children so much that he returned to his hometown in 2019.
As these overseas contracts were only for a few months at a
time, the band members would reunite while waiting for the chance to leave
again.
Band leader Efren almost had the chance to work in Thailand,
when plans fell through and his recruiter disappeared--along with his passport.
He ended up playing in different venues in Luzon, including Manila, to save
enough money to fly back home to his family in Zamboanga.
Al, the lone male vocalist, started training himself as a
tenor and worked as a freelance singer around the city, before being offered a
job to sing in a band in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.
In 2022, when he found out that the band was looking for a
singer, he just took a break from painting their house gate to audition. The band
hired him on the spot and asked him to join them at a gig that same night.
During the pandemic, when social gatherings were prohibited,
the musicians had to find ways to earn their keep. Honey put together a food
cart and sold sisig at a main thoroughfare in Zamboanga. Al learned how to weld
and do other manual labor, earning by doing contractual work. Romar and Anabel
invested in sari-sari stores.
Luckily, some entertainment business owners supported
musicians in the city during the pandemic, distributing foodstuff to them.
Follow their journey to become full-fledged international
recording artists: https://www.facebook.com/RockinLikeThunder
