Dreaming of better, post-pandemic times, Filipino indie-pop trio Parasouls released their latest offering “Sunny Beach” through Lilystars Records last July 30. Their brand new single is preceded by “Can We, Can We,” “Let’s Pretend,” and “A December Afternoon.”

The trio consists of singer-songwriter, co-founder, guitarist, and ID 118 Music Production student Dani Dimaano, bassist, co-founder, and ID 118 Multimedia Arts (MMA) student Joshua “Josh” Paul Gaces, and drummer, De La Salle University-Manila (DLSU-M) ID 119 Law student and Computer Science graduate Pedro Rodrigo “Igoy” Dimaano.

Soul-searching 

The band’s humble origins go all the way back to 2017, when Dani and Josh were classmates in DLSU Senior High School (DLSU-SHS) Humanities and Social Studies (HUMMS) strand. As the resident musicians of the class, Josh was part of the orchestra organization, while Dani was part of the vocal performing arts group Pop Ensemble.

All the while, what started as a “friend project,” Dani and Josh’s friends urged them to join Wanderland Music and Arts Festival’s Wanderband一an annual battle of the local independent bands as Parasol, the umbrella. But their classmate suggested changing the name to Parasoul, “para music para sa soul.” Moreover, Dani and Josh’s first gig was at a friend’s debut, and the two eventually worked on an extended play (EP) with five songs for their thesis in senior high school.

In 2019, they spent an entire day with friends for a music video for their second single “Let’s Pretend” and a cover of “Everyday” by Barbie’s Cradle. During this time, Igoy was “literally just driving people around at this point. I wasn’t part of the band yet.” He shared that he was mostly acting as a roadie for the band who also helps with the soundcheck.

In December of the same year, the two-piece Parasouls charmed the judges and won second prize at the Eastwood City of Music’s Amplified: Artist Search at Eastwood City competition. They could’ve won first place if only they had a drummer as a three-piece band. A couple of gigs later towards the beginning of 2020, Dani and Josh begged Igoy to play drums for Parasouls. Igoy was starting law school at the time and was worried if he may not be able to commit. But “more than a year later [in 2021], we’ve recorded stuff.”

Without practice, the band’s first gig as a trio was at the beloved Route 196 in Katipunan. But they collectively agreed that their best gig so far was the benefit gig for the people affected by the Taal Volcano eruption at the start of 2020. The lineup for the gig featured many Benildean musicians, like pop-rock singer-songwriter Barbie Almabis and live acoustic performer Johnoy Danao.

And the journey continues

Dani had always wanted to be a musician, but was rejected twice by international independent labels because of too little life experience. However, as they continued to notice advertisements for Lilystars Records, they eventually reached out. Dani had sent MP3 versions of their early videos, and eventually, the label were interested enough to request for more.

Founded by Filipino singer-songwriter and music producer Clem Castro, the label houses his associated acts Orange and Lemons, Dragonfly Collector, and The Camerawalls, which are bands that Igoy used to listen to back in high school and college.

But as the Filipino music industry struggled even before the pandemic, “It’s tough to find an audience without having gigs. Dati kasi that’s where you find people who want to listen to you.” [But] if you play gigs enough, it will stick to people and people will discover you,” Igoy said.

“Kasi ngayon, for example, since everything’s online, it’s either you need to have a really good social media presence, [or] a really good social media team. With gigs, it’s a goal to play at a gig. Even if you’re not the headliner of the gig, there’s  more chances that people who you don’t know will listen to you… and might start liking you,” Igoy added.

“I think especially for our genre na power pop, iba ‘yung feel niya listening minsan dito sa speaker. It feels different if you’re in there [in the gig]. [...] Sometimes, listening to our own songs, nasa isip ko: ‘Man, this sounds way better live.’ You can feel the energy,” Josh expressed.

Music-making in the pandemic

The creative process of Parasouls starts with Dani. They write the songs, send them to Josh, and plan something out of the new composition. According to Josh, it's hard to make a bass line independently. The magic of music is playing off each other and experimenting together. For Igoy, the difficulty to produce music lies in Parasouls’ collective inexperience and the inability to meet with each other. Both Dani and Igoy reside in Batangas, while Josh lives in Makati.

The band used to record at the Four Corners Musicians Lair recording studio owned by friends, which is near Dani and Igoy’s houses. However, in February 2020, Josh was able to successfully finish all his drums and bass parts for the EP. As the Layout Editor for the Benildean Press Corps (BPC) at the time, Josh struggled in balancing his thesis and academics with the band work. But thereon out, things had become better for him.

It’s always sunny in…

Written during the pandemic, “Sunny Beach” was about the longing for wanting to go out amidst the lockdown. “The songs I’ve been writing now are a lot different from the songs that you would hear from Parasouls. That’s why I’m kind of having trouble finding the line between being too sad about being locked in and the happy sound. [...] [But] the important part of that is to just keep on creating things. Eventually, you’ll find a good mix of the things you want,” Dani shared.

When asked about what they missed the most about pre-pandemic life, it’s no surprise that the collective answer of the band was “friends.” Dani retells one of their favorite memories of them was “Josh visiting the condo, going to our table, [grabbing] pizza, and he asks, “Can I eat this?” and then he goes to the microwave. [...] Moments  like that don’t happen anymore, because I don’t see Josh as much as I could.” Josh also agrees, as the spontaneity of his random visits was part of his personality. 

“When you're stuck inside and not being able to see your friends face to face; you just have these feelings 'I really miss human interaction.’ I also have friends  who are musicians, who are going through the same things as I am [...] For these things, getting insights from other people is really important. I just miss people,” Dani added.

OTW to Sunny Beach

The evolution from the trio’s first released single “Can We, Can We?” towards “Sunny Beach” became more textured and layered in terms of new elements being introduced. “Sa Sunny Beach, meron siyang underlying guitar-playing along with the drums and the bass na hindi masyadong halata. [...] Ngayon, parang ‘Oh, I want this little feedback thing’ na even if people don’t realize it’s there, I know it's there, and it makes me happy,” Igoy said. 

The band says they’re not as scared to experiment this time around—marking “Sunny Beach” as the start of a more specific and “autobiographical” sound especially when it comes to songwriting. With their songs having been written from 2017 to 2020, the “very similar, very repetitive, very happy, very hopeful, very energetic” sounds of “Can We, Can We?” and “Sunny Beach” are really not that far off from each other, the same can be said for future songs that are yet to be released.

More on the songwriting aspect of their music, Dani expressed that “now that I’ve been experimenting more, I think I tapped into more personal issues. Before, I was afraid to say certain things. I don’t want other people to be like, ‘Why is she so sad? Why is she so happy?’ so I kept them vague. [...] I’m really excited to let people listen to a more mature version of my songs.”

From musician to musician

As musicians who have struggled to create music during the pandemic, Parasouls leaves any creative out there battling out the same hurdles with their messages:


Dani: “Just keep creating. Gawa lang nang gawa, even if it’s bad, just write it down. What I do when I make something, I just notice how different it is from the first song I've written. The idea of you just writing even if you don't feel like it, but remember to take breaks.” 


Igoy: “Just write. Just create. [Even if] the first things you write [seem bad], you really need to put in the work. That’s a thing that gets lost in some people. They think if they can't do it, then they can’t [ever]. Sikat musicians put so much work into it. I haven't done that much work my whole life.”


Josh: “Music for me is like a partner. You first have this honeymoon face, buong araw mo papaikutin mo sa kanya. [...] And then you get comfortable. [...] You just have to revisit why you fell in love in the first place; let your emotions out. Music isn't about technicality for me. At its core, music is expression, it’s a very emotional and personal experience.

Catch the waves of Parasoul’s “Sunny Beach” with their newly released music video on YouTube and Spotify. Be sure to stay updated on their socials (@parasoulsph) on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. 

Be on the lookout for more of Parasouls, as they are currently working on an EP to be released this year and an album for next year.