Boybands have been part of American pop culture. Let’s start with the not-so-recent ones: *NSync, Backstreet Boys, Jonas Brothers. However, as their fans mature, so does their taste in music. The current superstars—The Jonas Brothers—still have a few more years to go before they disband and pursue solo careers.
And this is where America’s newest boyband, aptly called Allstar Weekend comes in. Two members of the four-man band are Filipino-Americans—Michael Martinez and Cameron Quiseng.
With such huge shoes to fill, the band’s members are working double time.
Their story began in early 2009.
Members of San Diego’s Allstar Weekend drove up to Los Angeles to hand out flyers outside the premiere of Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience. A little over a year later, the band’s high-energy pop-punk single A Different Side of Me has sold over 100,000 copies and topped Radio Disney’s Top 30 Countdown.
So what do these clean-cut kids—friends since high school who got their start as Allstar Weekend playing local pool parties—make of the last 12 months?
“It’s been totally crazy!” says singer Zach Porter. Adds guitarist Nathan Darmody: “Super-surreal is probably the best way to describe it.” Bassist Cameron Quiseng shakes his head, still amazed that “a song that we wrote in one of our bedrooms when we were 16 is now number one on Radio Disney.”
At a moment of narrowing opportunity for new acts, Allstar Weekend’s speedy ascent might come as a surprise. (“I can’t tell you how many times we played to just a sound guy,” admits drummer Michael Martinez.)
Filipino roots
Cameron’s grandfather was born and raised in Hawaii to Filipino parents who called Manila home. Michael’s parents are both full-blooded Filipinos.
Both haven’t been to the Philippines but are excited to visit in the future to see where their families are originally from. Both Cameron and Michael were born and raised in San Diego.
“I go two generations back and I love it when I hear the story in my family. My great-grandmother comes from a wealthy family in Manila and my great-grandfather was from the mountains outside of Manila. Their families didn’t mesh well together so they decided to leave and move to Hawai’i where they had eleven kids,” Cameron recalled.
Both consider their families as their inspiration.
“I have family parties every weekend and I have tons of relatives. I’m very thankful for their love and support,” says Michael, who used to be the youth coordinator of his mother’s regional organization.
For Cameron, it’s all about the upbringing.
“Most Filipinos I know are very family-oriented and this made us very comfortable around people. It made us to be always “on” all the time, always be able to take the spotlight. That’s one thing that Michael and I both share, we’re good at stepping up,” he said.
With fondness, they look at the typical family gatherings, parties, and dances as their training ground. Growing up, both kids had to be on top of their game and ready to perform.
“There’s a lot of singing and dancing and karaoke in all these parties and performing as a kid helped me tackle my inhibitions,” adds Michael.
Catchy songs
Cameron went to high school with both Nathan and Zach. Realizing they had the same interest in music, they decided to put up a band. Michael joined the three as the band’s drummer.
“With Allstar Weekend, what you see is what you get,” Zach explains. “We do all the things that normal teenagers do, and that’s exactly what we write our songs about.”
The same goes for the group’s music videos, two of which—A Different Side of Me and Journey to the End of My Life—have racked up a combined million views on YouTube. “They showcase who we are as people,” Nathan says of the clips, “and I think that’s why people enjoy watching them. We’re just these four weird, funny guys being ourselves, you know? Our fans connect with that.”
“We hang out a lot, we have the same personality and we click well,” Cameron adds.
There’s no doubt those fans will connect with the songs on Suddenly, Allstar Weekend’s aptly titled Hollywood Records debut.
From Hey Princess, the set’s lovesick opener, to The Weekend, its exuberant closer, these seven tracks serve as a relentlessly catchy dispatch from the front lines of the American adolescence.
The band has been on tour for the past few months, promoting their debut album. Last October 19, their repackaged album, now called Suddenly Yours was released in the market.
Everyone in the group points to blink-182—another San Diego outfit with a knack for pairing polished riffs with everyday sentiments—as a key inspiration. “They were the first band where I was like, ‘That’s what I wanna do,’” says Quiseng.
“We both love Prince,” they remarked when asked who their musical influences are, something that I did not expect from them. I mean, they’re in their teens and Prince isn’t particularly famous in their age set.
Realizing that I had a confounded look on my face, Michael said, “We have young dads, and we listen to their music, 80s music.” That explains it then.
Fans & Family
The current tour has taught them a few valuable lessons, including making sure that the fans enjoy their shows.
Most of the time, they allot a couple of hours after the show to meet the fans. Of course, this works specially well when they perform before an intimate audience of only about a hundred or so. With this tour though, they were also able to perform before an audience of thousands.
Fans’ devotion continues to amaze them, and Michael says they are forever indebted to these fans who support them.
“We didn’t expect the reception. The shows have been insane and we have the coolest fans. It’s nuts that they make posters and shirts and sing along to many of our songs,” he says.
Looking back, Michael still can’t believe the fame that the band has been getting. A few years ago, he was a radiology student for two years until the opportunity to join the band arose. His family has been very supportive of this career move.
“We both have very large families, typical among Filipinos. I remember it to be very competitive at times that during parties, we would be performing for gifts or for a few bucks from aunts and uncles,” Cameron said.
A year ago, they held their practice sessions in a garage. Each one had a day job, or in school finishing a degree (“I also wanted to be a teacher,” quips Michael). Today is different.
During their recent trip to New York, the band were special guests at the Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day at the US Open. They were also able to perform before a huge crowd of fans at ABC’s Good Morning America.
“It’s like a fairy-tale story. We worked really hard and we found ourselves signed by Hollywood Records and we went on tour. We have music videos and a couple of singles. Like Michael said, more than a year ago we were performing before zero people. Zero, and now we play for thousands,” Cameron said.
For this group of young performers, success is not usually handed on a silver platter. They realize that, because they toiled and worked hard to where they are right now.
“Allstar Weekend actually gave my life direction. When you are young and in school, you don’t usually know what you want in life yet. With this, I realized that I really love music and this is what I want to do,” Michael said, recalling that he has been playing the drums since he was in the fifth grade.
Allstar Weekend will spend the rest of 2010 on the road supporting Suddenly, an experience all four musicians say they couldn’t be more excited about.
“We worked our butts off to make this record the best we can, and we’ve worked our butts off to put together a great live show,” says Zach with visible enthusiasm. “We can’t wait to just get out there and play our new songs for our fans.”
(www.asianjournal.com)
(Northern California Dec 17-23, 2010 Something Filipino p.2)
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