#outerhope

INTERLUDE by Outerhope

Shot and Edited by Zoopraxi Studio

This work is for sale with a pledge to Pagkain Para sa Pinoy.

All the stories we haven’t written 

Planes are circling in the distance 

Wondering what’s in tomorrow’s paper 

Outerhope - A Day for the Absent (2009; self-released)

I

Memory is a tricky substance; false ones can be woven into the fabric of your unconscious, and the realm of memory itself only appears the way that it does because of how you are interacting with it in the present, yet the vague familiarity of tracks like “An Unusual Line of Sight”, “The Story So Far”, and “Twenty Years from Now” makes A Day for the Absent feel as though it contains fragments of indeterminate scenes from a film that may or may not belong to us. It is a memory that has yet to be completed; it is only fully realised once it reaches our ears.

II

There was an impeccable string of albums released by Terno Recordings from 2007 - 2010: Radioactive Sago Project’s Tanginamo ang Daming Nagugutom sa Mundo Fashionista Ka Pa Rin (2007), Ang Bandang Shirley’s Themesongs (2008), Up Dharma Down’s Bipolar (2008), Musical O’s Debutante (2009), and Sleepwalk Circus’s Great Secret Show (2010). In the selfsame span of years, Party Bear Records brought Endings of a New Kind (2008) and Touch (2010) (by Taken by Cars and Techy Romantics respectively) to light; Lily Stars eased Pocket Guide To The Otherworld (2008) by The Camerawalls and One Dreamy Indeterminate Hum (2010) by Your Imaginary Friends (who are now going by We Are Imaginary) into birth. The three entities constructed distinct identities: albums released under the banner of Terno sounded large, boundary-shattering, and even gave off the appearance of importance with unorthodox artwork and packaging, Party Bear featured sleek, retro-futuristic production and an elegant, polished sense of cool, and Lilystars presented itself as “Manila’s finest indie pop label” and utilised a hazy, sepia-tinged aesthetic to match that statement. All these records were met with critical acclaim, and how it seemed that these were the golden, halcyon days of independent music in the country (and the word “hipster” did not have its derogatory, connotative meaning), but these were the initial stirrings of the independent music scene in its current iteration; lines were being drawn, spaces were becoming striated, territories were being established.

Enter the curious case of Outerhope, the perennial nomads releasing their debut album on their own, having it re-released by Terno Recordings, opting to press their sophomore effort without the support of Terno, quietly releasing an EP in 2012, and finally establishing their own label (Number Line Records) that featured artists as disparate as Eyedress and Tarsius, covering the entire spectrum connecting the poles of Slow Hello and Similar Objects, a new environment apart from the electrical current that flowed through the circuitboard locating the trinity of Terno, Lilystars, and Party Bear on the same virtual plane. And then there were four separate petri dishes exploding with unique, individual lifeforms.

III

Our “new” music is vitriolic; think of STIGMATICS inciting what looks like a minor riot in a small bar, think of the incandescent rage of Beast Jesus, think of Oh, Flamingo! constantly flirting with chaos, think of everything that The Gory Orgies have ever done, think of the internet’s fascination with Baron Geisler and Game of Thrones, think of how the music of bands like Nirvana or Fugazi affected you when you were in your late teens or early twenties, think of our culture infected by the ailments of global capitalism and the problem of historical revisionism, think of the perpetual threat of a physical death brought on by forces beyond your control, think of the perpetuation of hatred, think of all the fucking noise.

It is getting harder and harder to remain calm and reveal a little bit of skin beneath your personal armour, yet the duo of Micaela and Michael Benedicto revel in the most silent of moments, exposing their hearts and urging audiences to pierce them with their venomous fangs. It is the resolute honesty that makes A Day for the Absent shine so brightly amid the cloud of terror that takes hold of our cultural consciousness; sometimes we do need to retreat into daydream and feel like “we have somewhere else to go”, to remember that we are individuals with individual emotions, subjects governed by memory, and the past is sometimes more present than the present. It is not cowardice but bravery that facilitates Outerhope’s wandering and wonderment; in a world where the outside is slowly creeping in, you must also be able to confront yourself.

- Itos Ledesma