Rivermaya drummer breaks his silence; talks about Blanco, and the auspicious future ahead of the Philippines' one and only 'Banda ng Bayan'.

THE rumor came in at 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time last May 7, through instant message: No more Rivermaya.It was a rumor that cannot be ignored.  The forage for answers was on.

Only when the band's management released their official statement, a couple of days  after that burning instant message, did the cobwebs of speculation finally clear.

Blanco is gone. Rivermaya will go on.

Yet the thirst for first-hand information was still left unquenched by the statement,  for it was deemed too official and devoid of any personal and emotional content.

Rivermaya for a lot of people is a deeply personal matter.

And an official statement can only do so much as to straighten crumpled edges and quell the surge of wrong information.

So there was this need for someone in the band to somehow express his thoughts and feelings in a less official way - more human as possible.

Now, after months of continuous correspondence, Mark Escueta agreed to do the exact thing here on Poptimes Magazine.

THIS coming June 18 is the birthday of one of the most talented and important figures in the Fil-Am music scene- Poptimes Magazine's very own Sheryl Garcia.
She has become a part of the scene only in 2003, but she has documented its rebirth and growth through her photographs and film work. She has captured almost every gig in the East Coast from 2005- 2007, and never hesitated to share her work to all of us.

She made music videos that has become standards in our little music scene.

In December of 2006, she made her debut as a songwriter and performing artist via the Yuletide song 'Snowflakes Are Falling' , which received great praises from everyone.

Sheryl is a photographer, a film director, a writer, a composer, a musician, a friend and a sister to everyone in the Fil-Am music world from LA to NY.

On this very special day, we thank the heavens above for giving us this wonderful, beautiful and intelligent human being.

Happy Birthday Sheryl Mae!

LEAVING audiences in a state of euphoria and awe with their vibrant and haunting vocals and hard-hittingfrenetic chords, Striving In Greater Hopes, better known as S.i.G.H., breaks out of their Long Island enclave into the Tri-State area’s bustling music scene.