Riding in an old model European car (Hillman brand) across the city's scenic streets, life can be summarized to just one sunset by these three humans. Looking for a place to make some good noise is like feeding an aching stomach to them. Davao City is not even proud of having farouts like them but the feeling is not mutual at all. They would rather die in this promise land than migrate to other parts of the country, especially the Imperial Manila. Across the street, Ryan glanced at NU 107, the only radio station in the city they could stomach. "Did you get the form Junax?" he sneered referring to the Rock Assembly form. It is the contest being planned for unsigned bands in the region. "I'd rather think of an entry first before going through that," Junax replied. On the front seat, Noise huskily declared silence by saying, "Then drive to Ecoland for some shit practice if that is the case, you dumb ass!" He is referring to the new found practice studio somewhere in the south of the city. These scenarios are natural when these three are together. As one, they are known today as 13th Floor Elevators. That night, Junax listened to NU 107 and heard the DJ saying something about the Rock Assembly contest. Having been in the local music scene for almost seven years now, he had regrets of having pawned his Genesis Series electric guitar and two gadgets to Rosver, a local pawn shop. Memories had been brought to hell with that cheap guitar after a friend of him named Tating (of the Post No Bail, a punk band) finally bought the pawn paper for good. He fall asleep just thinking what to do with his lead part, minus a guitar, for the next day's session at the Polyfusion Recording Studio.

The Davao Doctors College gymnasium was already overflowing with people when the first band turned the whole place into a mosh pit. Meanwhile, the Blitzkrieg band was trying to calm down their nervousness by sipping alcohol at the nearby restaurant. They have reasons to freak out. This five-man band was scheduled to performed this night for the first time. Ian (the drummer) was checking what stick to use because he had many while Tommy (the bassist) was frequently asking Junax (the guitarist) the right chords of a certain song. Dennis (the keyboardist) was at his usual formal form. At the other side of the table, their vocalist and band leader (Gary) was anxiously waiting for the cue from the organizer so that he could attend to his girlfriend. "It's your turn after that last song!", Rory (the organizer) shouted at him from the other side of the street. Minutes later, the not so clean version of the Metallica's "Enter Sandman" then blurted out from the loud speakers and mercifully the crowd appreciated it by banging their heads. "Fallen Angel" from the Poison followed and when "Sweet Child O' Mine" from the Guns N' Roses ensued, the crowd wanted to demolish the stage. The kind of songs being played by this band was laughable if not for the reason that this happened during the Non Compos Mentis concert early in 1993. Eventually, their first gig turned out to be their luck having been in the same organized follow-up concert, Headbanger's Night (Non Compos Mentis II). These guys differed in influences at that time as shown in their repertoire of covered songs. Tommy leans on to the Social Distortion kind of sound to new wave and punk while Ian likes heavy metal. Dennis was a no show. Junax played the keyboards better than him but in anyways, he liked new wave sound. Gary on the other hand idolized the glam guys, from White Lion to Poison and even up to Danger Danger. He always fought with Junax at that time who seemed to like any kind of heavy music from Deep Purple to Sex Pistols or from Nirvana to Metallica. One time, Tommy and Junax wanted to cover "Smells Like Teen Spirit" but Gary would not try it at practice. When Junax saw the Smashing Pumpkins "Today" video on MTV, he liked to cover it but not Gary. He liked Ugly Kid Joe's "Cats In The Cradle" even more. Junax was pissed off. After a couple of gigs, the band decided to get heavier by kicking their keyboardist back to his mom's lap. They opened the Headbanger's Night (1993) with Metallica's "Sad But True", Megadeth's "Go To Hell" (Naben -a certified metallist- flew from the stage with this) and rendered their original song "I'm So High" (Tommy and Junax were so pissed off with Gary because he danced -Axl Rose's style- with the song which was supposed to be heavy). That was also Ian's last performance with the band. He was so committed with his other band, The Yankees (also performed that night), so they also decided to get another drummer in the person of Anthony. Toni, as he was called, was a very good-natured man but he sure could play the drums. He was a drummer in a church. Tommy and Junax acted like demons in front of Toni but he said he was no angel also. He liked jazz and standard music but Junax made him dislike it. He later obliged. After two years of turmoils and disagreements and having played in various concerts which included Non Compos Mentis (1993), Headbanger's Night (1993), Wild Strums (1993), Mats College Gig (1993), Alternative Nation's HeadBrake (1994), Konsert Sa Tinyo (1993), Play Noise (1994), Full Blast (1994), In Memoria In Nirvana (1994) and Teenage Angst (1994) {Gary was limited by the band to just one song on this gig}; the band decided to kick Gary's swolen ass (late 1994) after he did not show up on the scheduled live-on-air unplugged show at one radio station (Magic 89.1 DXTM). The band though continued to play their piece with Junax taking care of the vocals. The result was not unplugged but distortion filled. Rendering original songs and a couple of local punk artist The Youth's and international no-pushover Nirvana's songs, the group survived. One of the bands original compositions that made it on air was "Sunny Day", composed mainly by Junax with Joy (of the Soundhole) collaborating on bass. Other original songs that Junax and Tommy liked were the punkish "Sunburn" and the downer "Blow". Playing trio (Junax on guitar and vocals, Tommy on bass and Toni on drums), Blitzkrieg shifted to grunge-punk. Their following gigs ranged from forgettable to enjoyable. One memorable gig was In Memoria, In Nirvana (June 11, 1994). After Kurt Cobain's death, one organizer decided to have a concert in his tribute. Junax, in a Billy Corgan voice, took care of the vocals doing Nirvana's songs and some of their originals. It was like Billy Corgan singing Kurt Cobain's songs. The crowd did not mind it at all and climb to the stage messing everything in sight. Junax got pissed, he slammed the microphone with his guitar, the guitar sound went out. Later, the system was back and the band continued like nothing happened. Moments before midnight, the crowd came back to the stage and Junax did not care anymore. The punks in front, understood grunge and flashed their tomahawks causing more problems to security personnel. For Junax, it was like a birthday party from hell. One time in early 1995, the band played in Digos, Davao del Sur with Vox Humana (also a local band). After the head thrashing concert (grunge-punk met heavy metal), they slept in an open cottage at one of the beaches. When they could not sleep because of the very cold breeze, the bands ended up drowning each other with alcohol and smoking papayas until 9 oclock in the morning. The organizer of the gig could not make it to his house after that. He had to be booked at one of the cottages for him to sleep and get his energy back in place. The others made it to Davao but not without the whole entourage throwing up anything inside their stomachs all over the place. Playing at clubs like the defunct The Other Side (1995, at corner Anda and Rizal Streets), Junax remembered seeing a lot of punks inside the club headed by Joey. They keep on saying "Oi, oi" every now and then but they sure asked Junax why he grew his hair too long. They said punks should be in tomahawked hair and Junax looked like Dodong Cruz because of his hairdo. Joey though admitted that the band's attitude was more punk than his gang of mommy's boys, because Junax and Tommy smoked grass like hungry horses. During that time, the band recorded their original compositions in a remote one track recording studio in Bajada (owned by Ian, The Yankees' drummer and former drummer of the band). Unfortunately, the record they named "Impaktus" (containing 7 original songs) did not even made it to the radio stations. Junax kept the record for museum purposes in the future. They played some minor gigs, including Revelry Again at Davao Doctor College (Feb. 11, 1995) and Hard Rock '95 at Digos (March 18, 1995), before getting a much deserved rest in mid 1995. Junax was then pirated by Blitzkrieg's contemporary band he had jammed with, the Sisterheads. However, Blitzkrieg proved to the city that being unknown made no person undesirable. These guys made friends even before they could count them. That was the power of rock.

During the Blitzkrieg days, another band was making a scene in Davao City and its history was somewhat entwined with the first. They started calling themselves as Sisterheads. The band played side by side with Blitzkrieg in the Alternative Nation "Head Brake" (February 12, 1994), Full Blast (March 12, 1994), Play Noise (June 18, 1994) and Teenage Angst (August 20, 1994) concerts as well as in the earlier Mats College Gig (1993). Founded by Thurix (of the defunct Deus Ex Machina) on bass and vocals, with Jerson (of the Eclectic Evolution) and Ian (of Overture) on guitars, the band's first performance was during the Headbanger's Night (1993) concert. The trio shocked the crowd when Thurix on bass and vocals, with no shirt on, blurted out Nirvana's "Stain". The kids went berserk. The band then evolved to Thurix mainly on bass, Jerk still on drums, Cocoy (of the Eclectic Evolution, later the Smiling Toes) on guitars and Noise (of the Tough Noise) on vocals. The group also held the local music scene by the throat with their grunge-styled attitude and music. One unforgettable moment of their physical talents was the karate-styled concert of Jerk, Thurix and Noise (minus Cocoy) during one of their concerts in Y gym when the crowd turned into a mob. Chairs and other hard stuffs joined the band on the stage. They also played unplugged on-air via the radio station which also featured the Blitzkrieg. They played songs from The Youth, but the coolest part was their rendition of "Mayonaise" by the Smashing Pumpkins. Noise sang one original song too and it gained airplay on that station. The only big difference about the two bands mentioned aside from (Blitzkrieg) having a good attitude drummer and (Sisterheads) having a harmonics-styled guitarist was the chemical they each put in their systems. I mentioned that because when Junax (of the Blitzkrieg) joined the band as a session guitarist later that year (because they kicked their guitarist Cocoy for unknown reasons), their differences were put to a test. During their Alternative Nation (1994) concert at Davao Doctors College, they arrived at the stage with different feelings and emotions. Jerson or Jerk came with his friends and you could not recognize what substance he must had swallowed or injected. Noise was clearly drunk but he looked-like he had taken something else deadly. Junax was sedative while Thurix and Joan (the rabadak girl of Sisterheads) were downed when they incidentally met at the PTA grounds heading to the scene. But when Naben (the stage diving boy) arrived at the grounds (they wondered how he got there but did not bother to ask anymore) the place was filled with smoke and strawberries. On the stage, Junax could not even reach the distortion for tuning and Thurix kept thumbing his bass like a new born baby. Noise screamed like he'd been hit with a hammer and Jerson might had thought he could not carry the stick when he pounded the drums with all of his weight. The result was an unforgettable night. One of the best concerts they ever had in Davao. Unedited mistakes and impromptu live performances of covered songs like Alice In Chains' "Would" and "Man In A Box", Soundgarden's "Spoonman" and Pearl Jam's "Blood" were enough to make a heavy finish of smashing microphones and kicking drums. It also featured Naben's best act...diving from the stage down to the floor without an obstacle. The band performed several successful concerts excluding the forgettable concert in General Santos City (1995) where Junax nearly got a head extension when the crowd throw debris on the stage (because the crowd were all assholes, they wanted the band to act like executives on stage). Noise and Junax drank alcohol all the way from Davao to General Santos City. They concealed the alcohol in a water jug so the inspector of the bus did not suspect something ridiculous. Noise had heart problems at that time but a nearby hospital could not help either, so Dr. Junax advised him to take booze three times a day. Noise was so drunk at that time he could not even stand and nearly had picked a fight at the bus station. Jerson was so busy taking narcotics also. Thurix was so busy with her girl Joan not knowing that Junax was screwing her too when opportunities arised. After the concert, Alvin (the organizer) was forced to steal some stuff in their own store (at Polomolok, South Cotabato) because the band wanted alcohol but the key was nowhere to be found. Jerson cut the lock using a steel saw and the party lasted until early sunrise. Thurix was tired and exhausted so he fall asleep early while Noise was too drunk to be awaken. Jerk and Alvin exchanged shots with Junax and Joan. Junax fondled the girl whenever there was a chance and Jerk enjoyed the show. He kept on saying "Klarix" with a whistle. A day after the GenSan event, another memorable but financially draining concert happened in faraway Mati, Davao Oriental (1995). They played together with Moist (a band whose members were friends of the Sisterheads) and that night the whole place was turned into a peace-grass society. The lights went out for a while because of some electrical problems. And when the lights came back, the whole stage was transformed into a smoke machine as well as the whole gymnasuim. The aroma of peace was all over the place and the band could not spoil the show. They gave all their best to the gratitude of the crowd. One fan even burned his shirt when the band played a live version of Pearl Jam's "Alive". Somebody in the audience also screamed at the band for some White Zombie songs. "Hey, we don't like that band but for a faraway place like this, that guy is even better than the bullocks back in the city," Thurix said. He meant about the Bon Jovi people and Jerson agreed by saying, "Klarix!" with a whistle again. There were no security around and the whole place was rocking but no bad incident whatsoever happened. Except when the bands were about to get there just rewards. Jerson who was supposed to lead the negotiations for the compensation was bribed with a famous local herb. He could even make a salad with that bribe. The result was mis-communication. Noise and Thurix went home riding in a bus while Junax and Jerk rode above the truck the bands had brought along. The irony was that they were laughing all the way with empty pockets and tired bodies. The band even tried-out for a newly opened club (1995), H.E.R, hoping to have some earnings out of their personal talents. Aside from covering the songs of Hum and Soundgarden, the band first performed live their original version of "Downer". Unfortunately, the band was given a grade of 78 by the organizers for the reason that the band did not move so much on stage. "You lack showmanship and crowd communication," one judge/organizer said. "Showmanship your ass man, were out of here!" Jerk stated while holding tight an ampule. "This place sucks," blurted Noise. Thurix just flashed his demon inspired smile as if he was saying to Junax, "That was the dumbest comment I ever heard!" They also tried their wares at Two Big (1995, a defunct club), but the place was so big for alternative audiences at that time. There were bands like Subway and Eden (girl bands) that had potentials to make it big but the crowd preferred to be at Horizon (the showband type of club). The band decided to quit performing in clubs. During the pre-concert of the Sisterheads, each member had different gangs to hang with. Noise and Jerk sometimes had their own secret place. Thurix and Junax had the "Rabadak" gang. But they often went together especially at big anarchic parties. Junax's Europian automobile was the "action car" during that time. Together with Thurix, Joan, and Perix, they would party all day and night. Noise, Jerk and Junax had the bus stations as their favorite place to get drunk. They liked the place because it had cassettes to jam their records with. One night the gang had sessions at Bohol (a popular beach club at that time for outcasts) when Jerk, Joan, Naben and Junax decided to look for another place. They had chosen a better place, the Davao Memorial Cemetery. They burned the place down and Junax tried to get laid at Joan. But she did not permit him to the disappointment of Jerk and Naben who were sneaking behind the chapel. Jerk became so obsessed with his narcotic friends, he pawned everything in sight. If he could only carry the refrigerator to the pawnshop, it would not be spared either. The Ryan (the Tsoy I), Dodong (the Tsoy II) and Jerk tandem were not just intestinal but right through the veins. Noise and Junax sometimes joined them but preferred to stay not so close. The best place perhaps for the AMACC boys aside from the sideskirts of the school was the PTA grounds, especially the defunct Mang Dodong's in front of Mang Pidok's. Noise and Junax often watch the moon from the grounds and sometimes slept there too. The fortune boys (Joy, Perix, Thurix, Rory, Tating, Eugene and K-mox) often did that when they were too drunk to drive home. The Monte Maria boys on the other hand were not angels in the making. They had their own hell to be proud of too. If the Downtowners and the Fortune guys were the Mafias, the Monte boys were the Godfathers. Naben took the streets so to speak when it comes to alcoholism and children's partying. Sometimes he would use the gutter as his pillow and the hump as his teddy bear. The rest of the guys just came second. Noise would sometimes get the chance to show his wares too, but so was Leo Original, his younger brother. Tonton, Kyuting, PJ, Raffy, Neil and Richard were satisfied listening to music and getting some booze but you could not count them to refuse if you show some heavier stuff. Ryan liked being cool but if their was a crime, count him with the rest of the guys. Noise's friends Derk and Leo Klorox sometimes took visits to put fire on the ice. The guys of Monte had no reason to frown because that was life at its best when they thought it was the worst. All in all, those comprised the Sisterheads community. A society of outcasts. But if the majority were so dumb enough to distinguish the obvious from the impervious, then outcasts were born to rule them. Sisterheads and Blitzkrieg ruled the Davao music scene for almost two years before getting into a lull moment sometime in 1995. Some gigs were succesful ones and some were unfortunate. Succesful concerts included Teen Age Angst, Alternative Nation and Full Blast (all in 1994). However, the bands got robbed during the Full Blast gig by the bandits lurking near the venue. Noise ended up losing his gadgets because he tried to rescue Ryan from the assholes. Worst of all, he got slapped by a crocodile policeman during the investigation for unknown reasons other than looking drunk. Gary (of the Blitzkrieg) on the other hand lost all his money and his japorms jacket on that stampede. The punks were transformed back to mommy's boys by the bandits by bust-stroking them with their own guitars, while some of the entourage got lucky enough to escape. Tommy, Junax and Thurix were among them. They drove past the robbers riding on K-mox' jeep. They were almost caught because the jeep could not move faster anymore. There were almost fifteen people hanging on that jeep for life, including Citoi (Junax' cousin). Had one of the chasers decided to release his Indian arrow, one of the guys would surely get a very good remembrance from the scene for his future grandsons. The history was made though, and the people who experienced the moments with these two bands were as lucky as the band themselves.

When Thurix left for Cebu City to find some opportunities, the remaining members decided to get a replacement. Ryan (drummer of the Tough Noise and later of the Pseudo Crack), the younger brother of Noise, accepted the offer after his cousin Dodong could not concentrate with the band. Ryan then shifted from drums to bass guitar. With Dodong, the group even played once at The Other Side. One memorable moment during that gig was that during the show, Junax was still tuning his guitar for the next song not knowing that Jerson, Noise and Dodong had gone through the back door already heading for nowhere. It was understandable because before the gig, they floated from Dodong's house in Ecoland to the venue. Walking with a heavy brain in the rain pushed the group out of right communication. After Dodong's departure, the band changed their name to 5-Cent Mary (1996, from a comic section of a certain magazine). This short but memorable debris group performed some small concerts and gigs at various clubs. They opened the now defunct Etnikus Club (along Bonifacio Street) in December 1996. They also played at The Manokan (1997, courtesy of Toto and his cousin Maui, if they were not both dumb ass, the band was supposed to play at the London Beach) in General Santos City where they were wrongly introduced as "The Alcoholic Band". When they heard the guys playing, the crowd became silent but not without clapping their hands after every song. "Never judge a band by its name," they must had thought. Before the Manokan event, the band was in a state of uncertainty because Toto spoiled the London gig. If not for the small ice they offered, the gang would be bored to death. Luckily, they ended up having a small unplugged concert at an abandoned house beside Toto's place. They sang all the songs they had known for years until the next morning. The coolest part was when the guys kept repeating the chorus of "With Or With You" of U2 a couple hundred times. Noise doing the first voice, Jerk on the second, Junax and Ryan of the third while Citoi (a cousin of Junax), Maui and Toto tried inventing their own part. After the gig at The Manokan, there was an incident Jerk could not forget. On their way to the organizer's house, there was a checkpoint by the army. Jerk had no shirt on, as he was terribly sweating because of the heat. "Where's your god-damn shirt fat boy?" ask one army. "It's very hot in here and we just came from The Manokan, you know man I'm a drummer!" Jerk sneered back. "Well if that's the case, you better watch your weight boy because you might die early with that kind of body!" the army replied. Jerk was pissed off. Citoi laughed at him all night. The whole gang (especially Citoi and Jerk) were getting bored they kept on saying words with "RRR" sound (like a drum rolling so fast it sounded like "KRRRGG") to kill the boredom. The next day, if not for Junax's cousin at the nearby beach, the band would die of hunger. They made it back to Davao though, but not without the constant begging for money of Toto from his brother (he cried in the process to his embarrassment) and Maui from his friends (he was so dumb to be embarrassed). The band continued performing especial gigs at Etnikus Club, covering songs from Sebadoh, Melvins, Hum, Jaw Box and rendering their own originals too. The original version of "Downer" was played there again while another song by the band, "Away", got its debut. Rory (Non Compos Mentis series organizer) acted as the band's manager at the time, talking with Manny (the owner of Etnikus) for some possible arrangements. But Noise and Junax did not like what was going on. One night, they went to NU 107 together with Rory for some possible airing of their recorded song "Grass". It happened that Manny was also there. The two got pissed off with the scenario, and Noise end up vandalizing the neighboring radio station's white wall with signs that read, "God is gay". He showed his ingenuity by using the cigarette's ash on that masterpiece. After Thurix, the next member to migrate was Jerson (the drummer). He transferred from one place to another. He finally settled in Siliman, Dumaguete after being a drop-out of Bohol University. Junax and Noise missed his company although sometimes he was so farout they could not understand him anymore. To them, Jerk would always be the same big guy who pounded drums with great accuracy. No wonder he won the best drummer award in one of the contests he joined. Their wish for him was to follow the army's advice. Before Noise joined the Sisterheads, he was already in a band called Tough Noise where his brother Ryan played drums too. Together with the early Blitzkrieg and Sisterheads, Tough Noise also performed during the Headbanger's Night (1993) concert. Their best rendition was Ramones' "Psychotherapy", which the still long-haired Noise sang with no remorse. Noise also sessioned with Eclectic Evolution during that night, doing back-up to Neil's (the band's vocalist) rendition of "Hunger Strike" by the Temple Of The Dog. The new wave-punk to grunge kind of influence were brought to the next splinter group of Sisterheads, the Alcohol Point Joanes. After the break out of Jerson, Ryan shifted back from bass to drums again. Noise was forced to do the bass and the vocals while Junax took care of the guitars single-handedly. The three remaining members of 5-Cent Mary decided once again to change their name. One night, somewhere in a noisy downtown and over a glass of beer, words like "The Flying Tree", "Cellophane", "Ice Water", "Table", "Stone" and "Barbecues" were heard all over again to the annoyment of the people around Noise and Junax. Finally, they settled for Alcohol Point Joanes (1997). They had chosen the name in dedication to alcohol and a girl they know in school who liked to be pointed by male reproductive organs. The trio gathered another strength and performed outside gigs, all forgettable. One time they had to bring all their instruments to the venue (Glan, Sarangani) and not getting paid by Maui (the dumb organizer). Alfred (Noise's cousin) was unlucky he experienced what supposed to be just for the band because he came along. The guys stayed there for three days with limited food for their bunghole. After the pissing concert, they stayed in a hut (because they had no money to get back at Maui's house), drank booze and smoked grass to console themselves. Alfred almost tried to nail the hut owner's daughter for some consolation. Sensing some uncertainty on live performances, their priorities shifted from gigs to recording. Using a 1979 boombox cassette recorder, they recorded perhaps the most influencial song in the history of local airplay, "Martians Go Home Music" (Boombox version). When they finished the song, Noise and Junax gave it to DJ April (now in Manila) of NU 107. The non-broadcast quality type demo pissed the other DJ's so it was only aired once. It was not the first time the band recorded something original. Sometime during the Etnikus era, the club owner Manny offered free recording sessions in his 4 track recording studio. The resulting demo of the group was the first ever original analog recording of this trio, they named it "Grass". At that time, Noise and Junax were so obsessed with their new song that they would play it repeatedly on the car stereo of Junax brother's pick-up, until they got drunk in the process. There was another recording session at Joey Ayala's former recording studio in Catalunan Pequeño. The place was introduced by the band's friend K-mox (of the Soundhole) and they recorded the original english version of "Downer" in that one track studio (their first on track recording). K-mox became somewhat like a technical producer to the band. Lending the guys with instruments he had. Weng-weng and Tating, his friends, also lended some of their instruments to the band on the later stage. K-mox was an artist too and he based his art works in painting. His works were often alien inspired like what he did at the defunct Briccoy's Bar. He painted the wall with an alien holding a bottle of beer and another one puffing a cigarette. Months passsed and the band suffered financial problems. They were forced to approached nearbly pawnshops. Unfortunately, they could not produced enough money to retrieve the pawns so they end up getting auctioned. In the end, all practice instruments of the band (drum sets, guitars, bass, amplifiers, speakers and gadgets) were all gone. Sometimes they thought that they were indeed Martians because of all the malaise they encountered on Earth. Gathered signs to that effect was amusingly debatable. The band practiced at Milky Way, GSIS, Matina. Their favorite drugstore was Mercury and they pawned their stuffs at Neptune Pawnshops. Noise and Ryan grew up in Monte Maria (Mount of Mary) near the Skyline village. They covered songs with titles like "Stars" of Hum and "Killing Moon" of "Echo & The Bunnymen". One time, Junax applied for a job at Duty Free located inside the Grand Mercure Hotel. No wonder that "Martians Go Home Music" was their first serious recording (early 1997). When they heard of Polyfusion, a 24 track digital recording studio, the band took chances and recorded "Martians Go Home Music". They spent the money paid to them in advance for their supposed appearance in General Santos City. They did not went there, in order to get back at the same organizer who pissed them earlier that month, in the person of Maui. They gave the record to DJ Chauvi of NU 107 for some airplay. Fortunately, "Martians Go Home Music" (Studio version) did good on NU 107 staying at Top 10 for 12 consecutive weeks on the Etnik Stock, the station's Sunday program intended for local artists. It stayed No.1 for 5 weeks and also placed No.11 on the year-end edition of that same program. Inspired with the result, Alcohol Point Joanes released their first independent single (late 1997) entitled "and then there's a single..." featuring "Martians Go Home Music". The band added the Seattle based band Melvins' song "It's shoved" to make the record longer. With only 100 copies and distributed manually at school and to friends, the single was sold out. Their next single "Impervious But Dulcet" also did good on air but was not released as well as the melodic "Downer". But the last two songs mentioned were not destined to be part of the Alcohol Point Joanes history. This short-lived bandname made it to the history with only one classic song attached to its belly. As what anybody could hear on the "Martians..." epilogue, Alcohol Point Joanes bid goodbye by screaming, "Up-link complete...".

When Junax went to Cagayan de Oro in December 1997, Noise phoned NU 107 to change the band's name once again to 13th Floor Elevators. Junax was suprised upon his arrival when he heared "Martians Go Home Music" playing and was pissed off when the DJ said, "...you've heard the song from 13th Floor Elevators formerly known as Alcohol Point Joanes." Noise and Ryan changed the band's name without even consulting Junax and the latter was so pissed off. "How about changing our name to Nirvana this time?" he grawled at them. But after a few exchange of opinions, Junax gave in. Noise said he got the name from one of Stephen King's novel (Needful Things) and said Ryan liked it also. "Well, what the hell!" Junax replied. "It's not the name but the music behind the name that matters most," he said again. The band, now known as 13th Floor Elevators, became serious in having an album independently so they recorded four more songs at Polyfusion Recording Studio (early 1998); "Impervious But Dulcet", the tagalog version of "Downer", "Endorphins" and the thriller instrumental "The Invisible Sound Of Alcohol". That last three songs were recorded and mixed by Les (the vocalist of Les band). The band did not like Les' style and to add insult to injury, he pissed them even more by charging them his time aside from the studio time. The first two records ("Martians Go Home Music" and "Impervious But Dulcet") were recorded and mixed by Richard (the guitarist of the now famous FreeStyle band). They did not like Richard's style either but they could take him more than Les. Junax remembered the time when they still had their practice instruments at Noise's house. The neighbors were constantly pissed off with them but the they still managed to composed most of their songs during that time. Their boombox recorder was replaced with a new component and Noise would often over dub the demos using the second deck as the track. Most of Ventolins (Noise's and Ryan's side-band with Rory on bass) demos were recorded on that unit. When the component was gone due to financial problems, the band went back to their ever reliable boombox. Practice sessions were then transferred to Polly's house (Noise's friend). The place was good if not for that god-damned olds in the house who kept pissing the whole entourage. When the guys were loaded with stuffs, the practice was often turned into a mini-concert. It went on for months before the band decided to cool down anew. Junax hated Monte Maria not because of the place but because of the distance from his cave. He would often travel by bus for thirty minutes and then get back to his place drunk for another thirty minutes. Noise was also paranoid of the downtown area and going to the mall pissed him off. There was a time when they would asked record bars inside the mall for a Sisterheads album. "Oh, were out of stock Sir," the sales lady's dumb reply. Junax and his friend Gary D. also asked the same record store for advice one day, when they went there to buy a copy of Sonic Youth's "Dirty" album. "Hey Miss, what's the best record, this Sonic Youth or this Bon Jovi album?" Junax asked the sales lady. "Of course, Bon Jovi's album," she proudly replied. "Well then, I'll take Sonic Youth's," snorted Junax. The record bar employees wondered if we had taken drugs or something. "What they did not know, might hurt them. They are too dumb to be in that business," Gary D. said in a hoarse voice. "Yeah, you're right dumb ass," replied Junax. Until now, 13th Floor Elevators continued fooling the local record bars and they were proud to have done that. Their last appearance in a club so far was at Puslan Man Pub (May 1999) where they performed for the San Miguel Beer's Club Tour 1999. The gig was quite successful. The band performed their original songs and some of their influences. Punk versions of songs from The Church, New Order, The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, Mighty Lemon Drops and Modern English took centerstage as well as Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Sunny Day Real State, Dinosaur Jr., and Hum. Original songs that the crowd feasted were "Impervious But Dulcet", "Downer" and the classic "Martians Go Home Music". The only discouraging moment at that time was when the owner of the club kept on telling the band to slow down the volume because the neighbors were pissed off. The band did not obliged and Ryan pounded his drums like he had never seen it before. Junax was so angry with his borrowed distortion (Tating's) because it did not work sometimes. The distortion itself was so far out you could only change its battery by unscrewing its back cover. Noise in the process busted the E string of his borrowed bass (K-Mox') and Junax was pissed even more. The good thing was that Thurix (who already came back from Cebu) was there to save the band. He and Junax borrowed some bass at his cousin's. K-mox though re-assembled his bass just in case. Many of the band's friends were there. The Monte Boy's, AMACC guys, Fortuners, and the Downtowners were all present and partied with the band. The Monte Boy's contributed some event by picking a fight with the waiters for some unpaid bottles of beer. Before the gig, the gang drank booze at Weng's jeep to warm them up. The warm up seemed to had gotten hotter after the gig, because the band became anarchic. Ryan and Noise had a fight and Junax was pissed off with Noise's dictatorial attitude, so he left the scene like a hurricane before they could kick each other's bunghole. People wondered why these trio made music so different from other bands. It seemed that all of their songs were full of twisting patterns and emotional stops. Screaming guitars and humming bass became one of their trade marks. Aside from the pounding drums, the vocals wandered from whisper to scream. That was simple, if only the listeners knew their history of overflowing influences. They kept bombarding the public with sounds unfamiliar to their ears and they seemed to have been waiting for it a long time ago. Although some would still like to hear the traditional sound, the band got encouraging results from rock station, NU 107. To give you an idea about their ingenuity when it comes to sound, nine ancestor bands (The DEM, Eclectic Evolution, Sisterheads, Blitzkrieg, Tough Noise, Pseudo Crack, Ventolins, 5-Cent Mary, Alcohol Point Joanes) installed the foundation of this trio and nobody in the place could even level that. Those bands were legendary in their own ways, and 13th Floor Elevators recognized those band's contributions to their present musical scoring abilities. 13th Floor Elevators, no doubt, had the most colorful history ever in the music scene of Davao City. Their future may seemed dull but brightness could not have been seen if darkness was not present. Unseen air made them breath, untouchable sound made them live. 13th Floor Elevators were destined to kick some ass.

The 13th Floor Elevators' songs were full of emotions unlike any other band in the city. Take for example the cosmelodic "Martians Go Home Music" (7:25 song length). The song started with loneliness on the background followed by a series of denial. After the first chorus; love, angst and confusion could be felt. The song ended up though full of hope. To those who did not recognize the voice behind the prologue and the epilogue of the song, it was Kevin Bacon from the movie "Apollo 13". The title of the song was somewhat farout for the laymen. For those who had no idea, it was an independent label in the states. Just like Sub Pop and Touch and Go Records, Martians Go Home Music Records had been helping talented unsigned bands too. One of their successful bands was the Chicago based band, Hum. Junax and Noise liked the name so they made a song out of it. "Sometimes, we were drunk and the stars did shine," exclaimed Junax. No one would ever thought that the song was so Nirvanish in nature, if not for the screaming part throughout the bridge. You could say something like Smashing Pumpkins but Junax would rather accept Sebadoh for the last part. "I did got some Dinosaur Jr. techniques on Martians but the resulting guitar sound did rock everybody's ass!" he said. Noise probably was thinking of something else for his lyrics. Maybe about his father getting drunk or him relieving for some fresh air. But when Junax collaborated some of the words, the song became space minded with the help of Ryan's constant pounding on the drums. And that's how the drums should be treated. Junax noticed that if Jerk was accuracy, Ryan was intensity. "Martians Go Home Music" became the universal anthem of the outcasted and disregarded hopefuls. "Impervious But Dulcet" perhaps could be considered as the most surprising song from the band. Recorded in December 1997, they did not expect it to sound good because it was roughly mixed. "This sound so good man, yeah I like it!" Ryan exclaimed after listening to the record at his cousin Alfred's house. It was like a very good rocking Christmas gift. Junax was influenced by "Teenage Riot" of the Sonic Youth and "In Circles" of the Sunny Day Real State, so he made a bass pattern in their tribute. When the band arranged it at Biboy's (bassist of the Moist) house, it sounded like no one at all. The result was really a 13th Floor Elevators' sound in the making. Full of twist with patterns never coming back until next year. Guitars were humming through out the stanza and the bass was seemingly getting the attention of the listeners. Noise's lyrics "Nakaharap na naman sa likod ng bakuran, tinititigan na lang ang buwan. Mga panahon ay nilalason ng mga sanggol na sumisigaw" were so sedative according to one of the song's fan named Roy Alvin. Well, Gary D. could not disagree with that. Through out the new-wavish last part, a clearly inserted lyrics by Junax were heard saying "I don't know my self-debris, I got a sound but I cant hear it. Out in space I killed the trace, I fear the pain, I fear the pain". Well again, how was that for an impervious song. The most expressive element on that song was the drum parts. It was done without saying a single word. If Ryan chose to put something meant for an opera, it would have been a complete mess. But as what you heard, Ryan was meant to be the Dale Crover of the Philippines. Another song that the band also liked most was the melodic "Downer". This song took the pains of evolution. Junax first made an instumental guitar solo and when Noise heard it, he wanted to add lyrics in it, so he did. The first version was somewhat slow and true to his title. This was also one of the song that Jerk had contributed his drumming prowess (although Ryan change it all in the studio version). The other one was "Away" (not recorded by the band). How can the band forget the cherries and the strawberries if it became part of their system longer than water did. Problems could not be controlled but it can be directed. Perhaps that could be made as a reason way back then. "Time keeps feeding your wrong, I don't belong anywhere," screamed Noise during the recording session. The band were not angels so don't except them to act like one. But I could assure you they were not dumb like the ones you saw on the streets. As man progressed, so was the band. So Junax and Ryan changed the patterns and melodies of the song while Noise made the language familiar to the public. The result was the new "Downer" without the true meaning of the word but nevertheless, as effective. The band's friend and sometimes critic, Rory (the organizer of Non Compos Mentis) did a brief collaboration with Noise and Ryan. They were known as Ventolins. Noise and Ryan made original compositions with that side-band and a splinter of that was "Endorphins". Their first and only gig at one of the beaches in Davao City had Rory cut his fingers badly during the show. Not to be left out, Noise flew from the stage using his borrowed guitar as parachute. Randy, the owner of the guitar did not know what to do. Although it sounded very much like Velocity Girl, one of their tagalog songs "Schooler" was played several times on NU 107. After their break up, Noise decided to revived "Endorphins" with the 13th Floor Elevators. "My eyes were so yellow... the war is over..." went the song's chorus. With Junax shifting to bass for that song, the finished product was entered in the elevators. During the lull in the late 1998. Junax and Ryan decided to record one of their practiced patterns. The plan was to put lyrics on it later. The pattern was transformed into a thriller. Noise could not put lyrics on it so he decided to just let it flew by itself. At Polyfusion, Junax and Ryan recorded the pattern during the "Endorphins" session. Noise mixed it later by himself and "The Invisible Sound Of Alcohol" was introduced to Monte Maria. The instrumental was so powerful you could not think of words that could be attached to it. It became one of the band's trademark sounds. Up to 1998, the band recorded five original songs at Polyfusion Recording Studio and they had plans to release it as an E.P. whenever they could get some funds.

Before the days of Blitzkrieg and Sisterheads, the only known band in Davao that played beyond popular music was Deus Ex Machina or The DEM (1991). Going back in time, Junax was just a mere freshman student at the Ateneo de Davao University. One time, he overheard the bass player of the group (Ian) talking about their impending concert at the Ateneo High School Gym. He asked Ian if he could join the band. "We'll, if you could show me you could play Seek And Destroy better than our guitarist, then why not," Ian answered boastily. Junax knew that band was not meant for him, not knowing that Thurix (his co-member in Sisterheads) was the band's vocalist at that time. Noise on the other hand tried his wares at the Joji Ilagan Institute of Technology. When the two (Junax and Noise) met at the Sisterheads and Blitzkrieg sessions, Noise had already transferred to AMA Computer College while Junax transferred to University Of Mindanao (November 1993). Ryan at that time was with the Pseudo Crack and was also enrolled at U.M. After the breakout of Sisterheads, Junax transferred to AMACC because he thought computers were meant for him. He became a school hacker and together with other nerd students they explored the school's systems. When they get caught sometimes, he would always get the nerds in trouble. Life at AMA for these two guys was full of mis-adventures but they were not complaining at all. The most downing moment for Junax happened during the time when he was about to be brought to a rehab center. His family thought that he was so addicted with stones at that time when they chanced upon him doing slides in his room with his cousin (earlier they suspected Noise and Derk (a friend of the band) doing the same at Junax's room). The truth was, he was always so drunk with Noise and other friends he could not possibly think of something like that always. One time, Junax bought an imported wine and he drank it on the street in front of the school with Noise, Bryndon (their schoolmate and friend) and some passing kids getting a free shot. Junax also survived a freak car accident on his way alone to Cagayan de Oro. The L-200 pick-up truck turned-turtle but luckily he was unhurt. The car stereo was still playing Hum's "The Pod" when he got out of the truck. Anyways, he survived all his ordeals with the help of the always reliable alcohol and sometimes seek advice from the green green grass of home. Cherry Pie made his brain numb to problems anymore that sometimes he wished he would catch a cold so that he had reasons to take them. Noise on the other hand was not doing well also. He was suffering from asthma and family problems but his treating priority seemed to be his cough. His adventures were different from Junax but when they were together, the same predicament was shared. Their favorite places to hang out and get drunk were bus stations and secluded areas like Opal, Farmers, Bislig, Annie's and Mang Dodong's to name a few. One night, Noise father was so angry with Junax. His reason was quite acceptable. Noise was not able to stand up anymore when Junax and Digoy (a friend who run away Junax's car stereo later) brought him home from a session. That night, the three guys took off from Gary's house after yanking each system with alcohol and Merco (a popular expectorant at that time). Then, they headed to Monte Maria and stopped at the corner store to get drunk and puff something that smokes. "Let's smoke this man so that our brain wont get dry," Digoy said in a black sheep manner. "I can not take it anymore man, passed it to Junax," Noise replied. "Oh yes, this is the best night of my life, have some more Noise", was Junax reply. After that, Noise could not make it home, he wanted Digoy to call a taxi. Knowing that his house were just a hundred steps away, the two guys carried Noise up to the front porch. Noise's father wondered why they were still standing up except his son. He did not know why the two became silent after that. Well, he maybe had understood them if he only knew that his images to them were already three. The two guys made it home but they forgot how they did it. Few days later, Junax and Noise blamed Ryan for having slept in his room like a breathing corpse. Had he woke up, their father would not have been awaken by the heavy knocking of Junax at the back window. Ryan was the most secretive of the three when it comes to his experiences. He has friends of his own and that was better for him because He and Noise always fought each other for no reasons at all. Getting tired of their non-sense conflict, Junax avoided having the two together except on practice sessions. Noise and Ryan had friends to console in their village. Among them were Ton-ton, Kyuting, Richard, PJ, Naben, Neil, Raffy, Alfred, Leo Clorox, Leo Original and some other kids. Junax on the other side had sessions with the Downtowners, the likes of Roy Alvin, Gary D., Omeng, Digoy, Sinio, Cres, Dennis (the mayor), Darwin, Ronan, Vio, Corps, Citoi, Nonno, and Jerk (when he was still around). But anybody's friend was everybody's friend in this society so when everybody was happy, the gang must have been there. People might think that these guys were just a bunch of losers. But then again, they survived personal problems and turmoils with great pride, and bravely without resorting to suicide. Those were the bloodstreams of the band, and without such, maybe their life would have changed the course of its destiny.

"Just make sure that this song did not gained airplay on any stations," Raquel of the NU 107 said. "Or else this will not qualify," she blurted again. "It has gained airplay but not on radio stations though," Junax answered in a crocodile manner. "What's the title of this, Mygod what?" she asked. She was referring to the title of the song being entered by 13th Floor Elevators in the Rock Assembly contest. "Mygod Point Exe, or you can call it anything you want if that bothers you." Junax replied. "Is this a rock station or what? They should have allowed anything as long as it rocks." he must have murmured. The sixth recorded song of 13th Floor Elevators is intended to be radio-friendly. Recorded and roughly mixed by Bong, the new mixer of Polyfusion Recording Studio, the song turned out as expected. Heavy but understandable. Farout but reachable. "This is for the judges, this is how far we can adjust ourselves just for the judges otherwise it would not be a decent one," Junax said before giving the tape to the secretary. A month later, 13th Floor Elevators played at the NU 107 Rock Assembly contest held inside the Victoria Plaza Mall. They played superbly eventhough they were too drunk to perform. The Davao people got its first live performance of "Martians Go Home Music", their entry song "Mygod.Exe" and their new-wave styled covered song "Hummer". The bullocks crowd and the folk-musician-manager judges did not understand what "artistic attitude" really means and as expected by the band, they did not win that night. But in the eyes of "certified intelligent rockers and critics" {defined as: people who bought neverheard records (imported or local CD's and cassete tapes), who don't care what other people say about their attitude towards anonymous musical influences, who search information about the record they had bought before, who knew and understood the classifications of music, who will not listen to radio stations first before buying a record, who are definitely not the one who do not have records but pretends to have one}, they are the grandslam winner. The underground societies are so disappointed with their lose because it is hard to find a power trio in this city who happened to be in their kind of music, influence or performance. Considering how big Davao City is, a band whose proud array of influences include Melvins, the melodic Sunny Day Real State, The Jesus Lizard, Eric's Trip, Superchunk, records of Home Alive, Velocity Girl, 7-Year Bitch, Spinane, the peotic Sebadoh, the stargazing Hum, Christdriver, Portrait of Poverty (the first 13 bands mentioned were not available in the Philippines except Hum's 3rd album "Downward Is Heavenward"), the whispering Dinosaur Jr., Novoselic's Sweet 67, the arbiter of cool Sonic Youth, the Chamberlin days of Smashing Pumpkins, the gods of Nirvana, the mafias of Soundgarden, the Andrew Wood friends Temple of the Dog, Jaw Box, the old Pearl Jam, the classic Alice in Chains, the still Red Hot Chili Peppers, the influential The Doors, The Who, John Lennon and Yoko Ono Band, the no-chord pattern Pavement, Joy Division, Mighty Lemon Drops, The Cure, The Cult, The Church, U2, the garage days Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Shonen Knife, the early Rage Against The Machine, Girls Against Boys, the very Deep Purple, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Sex Pistols, the marijuanic Pink Floyd, Echo and the Bunnymen, the experience of Jimi Hendrix, Ramones, Pixies, the birthday partying Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, super local Nice Stupid Playground, records of Twisted Red Cross, the Young Angry Bands Unite, the no-holds-barred Juan de la Cruz and Pepe's Down Beat, the retarded Aga Muclach's Experience, the son of The Youth, the independent Food, Clothing and Shelter, the legendary The Dawn, the out of this world The Faust and many other less heard but critically acclaimed bands, is indeed very hard to find. So many bands nowadays are influenced by only few artists like Pantera, Sepultura and Korn. These bands are not bad but the bands covering them are. It does not mean that 13th Floor Elevators did not heard of them. In fact, Junax thought of covering Korn's single "Blind" way back in late 1995. Junax got the single with other tracks like that of Nada Surf, from a New York station airplay recorded by his cousin Mokie. What the hell, that was a long time ago and Korn was not an every household name during that time. Pantera was good, but what are these guys been doing before they became heavy metal? They are a bunch of cowboy-glam rockers with long hairs that reminds us of Cher. No offense meant to unscarred Felisiano "Phil Collins" Anselmo. Their attitude change after Mettalica sprung into the limelight. Metallica is legendary but enough of those bands who still cover Kill 'Em All, Master of Puppets and Black albums. Blitzkrieg used to do that but that was 7 years ago for heaven's sake. If they really want to hail James Hetfield and company then they should try And Justice For All instead of Seek and Destroy, Sad But True or Sanitarium. "GO TO HELL!", Dave Mustaine (of the Megadeth) might have screamed to them. "I left that band many years ago and now you still cover songs I collaborated with. Listen to it damn ass but please do not cover it like a xerox machine. If you can make a punk version out of it, like what I did to Sex Pistol's "Anarchy in the U.K.", then I would salute you with my ass open for your convenience and fuck me to my symphony of destruction", he would have sneered. If they thought 13th Floor Elevators needed to win badly, they are absolutely wrong. The band has undergone trials more than a legal judge has experienced, so another one will make no difference. The point is, as long as they like the songs they are making, they would keep on going until the day they will reap their just rewards. And they don't care if this will happen on Earth, on the next world or perhaps on Mars. The band wanted to bury Manila because of bands like Parokya Ni Edgar and April Boys, who keep making music that sounds like DOREMI, but still go platinum. Now, they realized that the crowd of Davao is even worse. They hated Manila as a base. They do not think Cebu is the place either. Does Malaysia accepts immigrants nowadays? Noise, Junax and Ryan contributed enough to the local music scene and it is Davao City's turn to prove to them that it is worth staying in this huge place. Look for their Bloodstream of the Planet EP and be a Martian. The Sisterheads and Blitzkrieg started it all. Five-Cent Mary and Alcohol Point Joanes seasoned it. Now, 13th Floor Elevators are not afraid to face even the so called monsters of rock and roll.

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