Before Parokya ni Edgar
Naming themselves Comic Relief, the band originally consisted of three vocalists – Chito Miranda, Jeric Estaco, and Vinci Montaner, and two guitarists - Miko Yap and Gab Chee Kee. They regularly played in after-school jam sessions, before performing an opening number for an Eraserheads concert. This served as their break into the local music scene and prompted them to add a drummer and a bassist – Dindin Moreno and Buwi Meneses, respectively. The same performance also marked the change of the band's name to Parokya ni Edgar.[2] After high school, Miko and Jeric decided to withdraw from the band to pursue other interests. As a replacement, the remaining band members invited their friend guitarist Darius Semaña (lead guitar) to their fold.
[edit]Parokya ni Edgar
The name Parokya Ni Edgar came from a class joke Jeric Estaco recited in one of their classes in high school. Sources state that the class subject was Filipino, and it all started when the teacher asked him where the father of Jose Rizal's fictional hero, Crisostomo Ibarra (in the novel Noli Me Tangere), was educated. However up to now, the exact background behind this is unknown.
In the early 1990's, the band started performing regularly in Club Dredd, one of the famous clubs in Manila during that time. The band slowly gained popularity during the height of the Filipino rock explosion, with the local rock community opening up to the influence of foreign grunge acts such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.
Eventually, the late managing director of Universal Records, Bella Dy Tan, signed them as contract artists after witnessing one of their performances at Club Dredd.
Soon their initial recordings such as Buloy, Trip and Lutong Bahay were heard across Philippines through radio stations. Their first album, Khangkhungkherrnitz became a triple platinum hit in the Philippines having sold 120,000 units. The other 3 albums include Buruguduystunstugudunstuy (triple platinum), Jingle Balls Silent Night Holy Cow (gold), and Gulong Itlog Gulong (triple platinum).[3]
They recently released their 8th studio album, Middle-Aged Juvenile Novelty Pop Rockers in 2010 with the carrier single "Paki-usap Lang (Lasingin Nyo Ako)". It is PNE's 11th album in total.
In 2011, Parokya joins the roster of Tanduay's First Five replacing long running Tanduay endorser 6cyclemind who has recently left the group with Bamboo, who is now replaced by Wolfgang. Parokya and Wolfgang are now part of the concert event together with the remaining original Tanduay members, Sandwich, Chicosci and Kamikazee.
[edit]Band members Alfonso "Chito" Miranda, Jr. (lead vocals) Francis Vincent "Vinci" Montaner (backup vocals / monologue / comical acts) Buhawi "Buwi" Meneses (bass guitar / backup vocals) Darius Gerard "Dar" Semaña (lead guitars) Gabriel Ignatius "Gab" Juan Chee Kee (rhythm guitars / vocals) Ferdinand "Dindin" Moreno (drums)
