Eco Del Rio, guitarist and vocalist of bird. as well as bassist of Chicosci and Party Pace, joins this week’s episode of Billboard Philippines Volumes.
In the episode Del Rio opened up about how he was able to bring Carlos Calderon (also of Chicosci), Hannah Jabla (Lindenwood), and Aaron Corvera (April Morning Skies) together. He went on to talk about their on-going album tour for oshin, which was released last year.
“We’ve been doing this for so long…the bird. shows, we want to curate how it looks, just so…that if you’re here, you just vibe with the band. Even if you don’t like the songs, there are visuals you can watch. Basta pagdating mo doon (When you arrive there), there’s something you can fixate on,” he says.
oshin was named as one of Billboard Philippines’ best EPs and albums of 2023. In a description written by Editor-in-Chief Bret Jackson, he wrote, “Hazy and shadowed by twelve noon skies, you’re sunburnt on the beach and recording life through a VHS camcorder. An immediate sense of nostalgia is built into the very core of bird’s full-length record, oshin. Sunbathing in sweet nothings, long drives and experiences you can only access through memory, bird. has taken the best parts of their influences while still delivering a completely honest, salt-infused performance. Mapapaheadbang ka sa lungkot and you’ll love it.”
Del Rio also went behind the scenes of a number of songs on the record, such as oshin‘s carrier single, “terrible things,” “weekend,” and “san juan.”
When talking about “weekend,” the guitarist-vocalist says that it was actually the first song he ever wrote, before the formal iteration of bird. was formed. “It was just about my cousin’s bachelor and bachelorette. It was about one weekend in Bataan. Basically anything that’s written in that song is about how we had a lot of fun.”
Listen to Eco Del Rio of bird. on Billboard Philippines Volumes below.