On Sandwich’s 20th anniversary: 20 things about the band you may or may not know

Twenty years ago, Raymund Marasigan got together with pals Mike Dizon, Diego Castillo, Myrene Academia and Marc Abaya and together they made a Sandwich. Mong Alcaraz joined the fun a few years later. Not unlike the food staple, the band was easy to love and became a force in not just in music, but in Pinoy pop culture.

On April 13, Sandwich is marking two decades of rocking good music with an anniversary show that promises to take fans old and new on a one-of-a-kind journey. I checked in with main man Marasigan for an intimate glance at their history and asked for a few tidbits about the  band that even hardcore fans may not know.

1. Raymund met Diego at BMG Records. It was Eraserheads' old label and where Diego worked at that time.

2. Three Sandwich members belonged to a band called The Aga Muhlach Experience.  Shares Raymund “He [Diego] was in a band with Myrene Academia and Mike Dizon called the Aga Muhlach Experience. We got along really well and decided to form Sandwich."

3. "Ang Nawawala" director Marie Jamora had a hand at Sandwich's history. "I met Marc Abaya at direk Marie Jamora’s party," narrates Raymund, "and when Marc left a few years later, we asked Mong Alcatraz to join us. I have worked with him on his band Chicosci’s record and he was Diego’s flatmate at the time.”

4. The logo came first before the name. “We thought <s> looked good on a bass drum. Eventually we decided on Sandwich.”

5. The band’s first ever jam happened at Mike’s garage. “We brought guitars and little amps. We started jamming on a couple of riffs and chord progressions and made a few songs that day.

6. ‘Butterfly Carnival’ and ‘Cheese Factor Set to 9’ were among the songs they made on their first jam. "I remember it felt special and was pleasantly surprised how easy it was.”

7. The band swept recognition the 1999 NU Rock Awards. Sandwich won “Best New Artist,” “Song of the Year,” and “Album of the Year” for their debut, Grip Stand Throw.

8. They always snuck in alcohol backstage. “We appreciate the awards but we don’t really care much if we won or lost. But we always snuck in alcohol backstage and got everyone and ourselves pretty wasted every year haha. The awards were always more fun backstage with the other bands.”

9. The bandmates treat each other like family. “My bandmates are my family, in all my bands. We look after each other and have the dynamic of most families. There are disagreements but for the most part, we like hanging out and sharing similar tastes in music, films, fashion and art. Working with your friends is easy.”

10. Raymund has lost count of the many embarrassing incidents that have happened while playing a gig. “There are too many embarrassing incidents because we can be a raucous punk band at times. We’ve tripped, fallen, get hit and wounded by flying guitars, suffered through wardrobe malfunctions and other ‘Spinal Tap’ moments.

11. Raymund already had a feeling that Marc was leaving before the latter actually made it official… “We kind of felt it already at the time because he was getting serious with his VJ and acting career and was missing a lot of shows. Marc had a meeting with our manager Darwin when he decided. It was painful but also necessary. He needed to leave so the band could move on.”

12. …And Mong was a natural fit after Marc left. “Since Marc was missing shows I would sub on vocals and since Mong was Diego’s housemate at the time, he knew all the songs and would jam at the shows. Eventually we just told him that we were going to pay him already since he was playing too many shows haha.”

13. The band had to adapt to a different style after Marc had left. "Most notably, the guitar dynamic of Diego and Mong. We never tried to sound like Marc’s singing and guitar playing. He was so accomplished that we couldn’t, even if we tried. So we just adapted a different style but just as honest.”

14. "Sunburn" is a result of their adjustment when Marc left. Here’s a story I always tell. When Marc left, I had to sing lead vocals and the band had to sing back ups, which was my old job. We found out quickly that singing and playing an instrument were quite challenging at the time. So one of the first songs we made was 'Sunburn', which had one chord throughout the song and a lot of singing for everybody."

15. "Procrastinor" was inspired by a Hongkong gig with Pedicab. "The plane arrived late so we were literally running from the airport to the trains and up the Lang Kwai Fong steps to the bar. At the show we caught this amazing Chinese band called Hedgehog and we became instant fans.

16. “Betamax” is a shoutout to their Pinoy idols. "And the music was inspired by the Roots and the Pixies, haha. (Figure that out yourselves).”

17. One of the band’s most memorable shows was playing the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. 'It’s where a lot of our heroes has played before us.

“The most recent memorable adventure is the recent US tour we made with our friends from Cheats where we played shows in New York, San Francisco and LA last year.”

18. A new song called Timelaps is coming out on vinyl on April 13.
“Four hundred of those are going to the first SVIP ticket holders (of the anniversary show). The B-side of the record is a surprise new song. So that’s two songs.”

19. The anniversary show is going to be one big party. “We prepared a great experience, a good venue, good food and drinks, good bands and DJs to play, a revamped live set with lights, and an awesome show and a few surprises. We’re too excited!”

20. And as for the best thing about being a part of Sandwich? “Playing, recording music and hanging out with my family is the best job ever.” — LA, GMA News

Sandwich’s 20th anniversary show called “Under the Glow of the Satellite” is happening at 8 pm on April 13, 2018, at the Metrotent Convention Center, Metrowalk, Pasig City. Tickets are at P1,500 (SVIP) and P900 (VIP).