Cagayan de Oro City’s Best Cyber Band has finally arrived

By MCBC

The acronym OPM (Original Pilipino Music) defines mostly commercial tunes, but there’s also an underground Filipino music culture not fit for the masses; amazing to think that there still exists an unseen force far from the urban centres of Manila or Vancouver 5,000 kilometers away.

 My first glimpse of Cyber Band in a 3-year-old live performance video as someone outside looking in left me in awe – why aren’t these guys from Cagayan de Oro not even on the map?

 I quickly got a CD copy of their latest epic album ‘Through the Passages of Time’ from England through Royal Mail. Surely enough, I was not disappointed.

There has to be a story to be shared as to how these Gen Z rockers managed to evolve so quickly in their melodic tastes and fearlessly faced the music (no pun intended) without peer pressure nor just the typical desire to have financial gain the easy way. Yes, this deserved a story for everybody around should hear here…

Who are Cyber Band?

 Cyber Band is a purely Filipino 3-piece progressive rock band from Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao formed in 2019, owing their name to the everyday digital world we now live in. Their music explores heavy and psychedelic rock, progressive rock, new wave, cinema and experimental music. They won Best Album for “The Light” in the Indie Musicians Music Awards, as the band has been achieving global recognition through their explosive live performances seen mostly on popular social media such as Facebook and Youtube. In 2024, the band released their prog rock concept album ‘Through The Passages of Time’ – featuring the 23-minute long title track.

Andrew Patuasic is Cyber Band’s guitarist singer-songwriter, and producer who started his musical journey when he was still a grade school student. In 2018, he started to join battle of the bands as his dad encouraged him to learn the music of Canadian rock trio Rush if he wants to win the competitions; he has won many battle of the bands, discovering the passion in writing his own music as he is inspired by ’70s progressive rock giants. Andrew rocks the stage everytime, giving his 100% being wild onstage and full of energy.

Isaac Abogatal or “Saki”, is the bassist, keyboardist, backup vocalist and co-songwriter of Cyber Band, known for multi-tasking bass guitar and keyboards during a live performance. His versatility is more evident as he toggles between instruments during intricate sections of Cyber Band’s songs, influenced by classical, jazz, funk, heavy rock and metal.

CJ Alcantara is the band’s passionate drummer-percussionist and also co-songwriter, starting in drums from Grade 6 to high school when he joined Liceo’s Drum and Bugle corps; there he met Andrew and formed a band together. From then on, he has developed his drum technique by learning the famous Rush tunes as he co-founded Cyber Band with Andrew and Saki with similar inspirations in tow.

Q & A with Andoy Patuasic

Mon: You came out of nowhere, starting from poppy rock tunes to complex progressive rock, rather than more commercial rock?

Andoy: Yes, as high school kids back then we were also inspired by pop rock artists when we first started. We already love prog rock in those times but we didn’t have that much knowledge to create our own prog rock pieces at the time. Through the years we’ve learned more, that’s when we had our first prog rock album which is The Light and then came our magnum opus ‘Through The Passages of Time’.

M: Seeing the difference between production and equally-divided songwriting credits, does being a trio (guitar/vocals, drums, bass/keys) limit your creativity, especially with the average age that draws experiences upon current events? 

 A: It never limits our creativity. In fact, it makes us more creative,  as we are forced to sound like ten men, pushing beyond our limits, like Isaac playing the bass and keyboards simultaneously using his feet via midi foot controller. Although we recently played with an orchestra in collaboration with Carl Justin Go and the Metropolitan Kagay-an Orchestra, it’s a dream come true for us since all of our compositions were already imagined as an orchestral rock pieces.

 M: Are there specific Filipino cultural elements, themes, or traditional musical nuances you try to incorporate into your prog sound?

A: Still we are currently studying Filipino traditional music on how we can incorporate it. So far now it would be the songs “Kumilos Ka Na” and “Kinabuhi”.

M: Who are your biggest influences—both internationally (i.e., Rush, King Crimson) and within the Philippine music scene?

A: Our biggest influences are Rush, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Yes, and Mahavishnu Orchestra; in the Filipino music scene, it would be the Juan dela Cruz Band, especially to (its leader) our tito Mike Hanopol. He’s been a mentor of ours for years, as he’s the one that introduced me to King Crimson and Frank Zappa.

M: What is the biggest challenge in finding a crowd for technical, long-form musicin the current Philippine music landscape?

A: It’s quite a challenge to find an audience who loves progressive rock, but for us we just play to have fun and present our art – that’s it. We don’t really care that much if the masses would love our music, we care more on enjoying what we play.

M: How do you balance technical proficiency (virtuosity) with emotional depth in your music?

A: All is still rooted in the emotion, the music serves the emotions we feel from our hearts.

 M: Which local venues other than CDO away from the capital city or producers in the Philippines have been most supportive of your experimental sound?

A: Sir Dodjie Garcia have been a great help to us, we are so grateful for his help for bringing us to Manila for shows. So far we’re also working on for outside the country shows.

 M: What are your thoughts on the past and future of progressive rock in the Philippines, and do you feel part of a growing scene?

 A: My thoughts of progressive rock in the Philippines, it’s growing but never in the mainstream. Mainstream music seems to not innovate anymore and just sticks to a formula. In the underground scene, it shows artists are growing, and I can name a few of progressive rock/metal artists I love – they’re innovative artists thinking outside the box rather than playing it safe.

M: What is the ultimate “concept” or message you hope to convey through your music to a new listener – with a clear plan within five years? 

A: My ultimate message for the people from our music is to be brave to explore new paths of music and to open their eyes to the reality of this cruel society, to take a stand for what’s right.

For more of this homegrown talent and hope for the future in Philippine progressive rock music, follow Cyber Band on Spotify, Facebook, IG and YouTube.