I had a blast managing The Late Isabel from 2004-2005, not only because they were unique but also because I was blessed to experience being nominated and winning awards with the band:
“My Favorite Things” music video (March 2005)
NOMINEE >BEST INDIE VIDEO at the 2005 MTV PILIPINAS AWARDS “Doll’s Head” music video (March 2004)
WINNER >BEST INDIE VIDEO @ 2004 MTV PILIPINAS AWARDS
NOMINEE >MOST STYLISH VIDEO @ 2004 MTV STYLE AWARDS
WINNER >IN THE RAW AWARD @ 2004 NU 107 ROCK AWARDS
NOMINEE >BEST MUSIC VIDEO @ 2004 NU 107 ROCK AWARDS
One of the things I really enjoyed during my stint as manager/agent for rock band The Late Isabel was the FASHION. The vocalist Wawi is definitely one of the the band's strongest asset. Her art goes beyond the songs of Isabel. Her fashion sense, and the band's image in general, is in itself a performance. They were, and probably still are, one of the most fashionable local bands in the country. That is why during my time with them I had the privilege of creating fashion campaigns for them:
The band wearing PAUL SMITH for the NU Rock Awards pictorial
@ The MTV Style Awards where they did a goth cover of Abba's "Dancing Queen" together with Filipino Scottish bagpiper Roy Macgregor-Espiritu
Modeling for the jewelry collection of the Greenbelt Shopping Plaza (photography by Becky Garcia)
It's generally hard to aim for mainstream when the product thrives in the subculture genre. But well... at least we tried with this band and it was quite an experience...
I've been good friends with THE LATE ISABEL folk even before I became their "ad hoc" manager/agent back in 2004. I've been watching their gigs until one day I suddenly found myself doing marketing for the re-issue and major distribution of their first studio album "Doll's Head" and the production of their 2nd music video "My Favorite Things" -- the nightmare version of the Julie Andrews/Sound of Music classic.
The first challenge was to find sponsors to reproduce the album and a music label to distribute the CDs. This was way before "emo" and "Twilight", mind you. Peddling the idea of fashionable vampires was still unpopular. Been there done that, indeed.
Thanks to some maverick sponsors (and good friends) The Store With No Name, 6 Underground, GBX Shoes, and would you believe even the old Greenbelt Shopping Plaza, I was able to pool enough resources to produce a new music video and the re-packaged first album "Doll's Head" which now contains not just songs but also the two music videos of the band -- "Doll's Head" and the new one "My Favorite Things"
Here's the video we produced on a shoestring budget but came out quite sophisticated.
I had a blast managing The Late Isabel from 2004-2005, not only because they were unique but also because I was blessed to experience being nominated and winning awards with the band:
The Late Isabel @ the 2004 MTV Pilipinas Awards
