Asin (sometimes stylized as ASIN) are a Pinoy folk rock band from the Philippines. They started as a trio in the late 1970s before becoming a quartet, and was originally known as the Salt of the Earth. "Asin" means salt in the Filipino language.
ASIN was formed in late 1976, the nucleus of which was the duo of Mike Pillora Jr. of Negros Occidental and Cesar Bañares Jr. of South Cotabato, who were playing at folk joints and pub houses in Manila as 'Mike and Cesar'. A year later, Lolita Carbon was recruited by the duo to fill in the missing middle voice and eventually became the third member. Pillora named the trio 'Salt of the Earth', after the song recorded originally by The Rolling Stones, later by Joan Baez, written and composed by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Other than that song's title, Pillora also meant the name of the group to allude to the Biblical metaphor "salt of the earth", which represents the humble and sincere masses.
In 1978, the trio (who were all songwriters, composers and arrangers) signed their first recording contract and localized their name 'Salt of the Earth' into its Tagalog equivalent, 'Asin ng Lupa'. They ultimately became known simply as ASIN. The members also adopted handles (sobriquets) for themselves based on local-style nicknames, becoming known to their fans as Nonoy, Saro and Nene.
In the same year, their eponymous debut LP Asin was released, giving birth to an alternative form of music that was different and distinct from what was mainstream. Their songs conveyed a message that roused a social awareness among the vast majority of Filipinos, becoming a rallying call for social and political aspirations.
In the last quarter of 1979, they launched another album titled Himig ng Pag-ibig (Hymn of Love). The group's break-up abruptly followed. However, their absence from the music scene did not hamper their growing popularity.
The group was not heard from until 1983. In the summer of that year, AIESEC (Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales), an international students’ business organization the Philippine headquarters of which was based in Cebu, made a project to reunite the group. Nonoy was summoned and was tasked to reunite his band. This resulted in a jam-packed reunion concert of the group at the Cebu Coliseum, Cebu City. From that time on, ASIN, with their manager Dindo, rolled into a series of performances in Mindanao, sporadic shows in the Visayan Region, and marathon concerts in Luzon.
This culminated in the creation and launch of their third album, Himig ng Lahi (Hymn of the Race) in the same year. Through Nonoy, Fred Aban Jr., the session bass player known by the name Pendong, was adopted by the trio and became the group's fourth member although he had not previously been a songwriter ("Mga Limot na Bayani", "Siglo", "Pag-asa", among others, were later written by Aban Jr. for the group).[citation needed] Since everybody in the group except Nene was a "junior" (each one was carrying their father's first name), Nene also proclaimed herself a "junior".[citation needed]
In early 1984, the group released an experimental album titled Ang mga Awitin ng Bayan kong Pilipinas, an adaptation of traditional and contemporary songs from various regions of the Philippine archipelago.
In November 1985, they released another original compilation that Nonoy titled ASIN...Sa Atubiling Panahon (Asin...In A Doubtful Time). This unfolded through the roll of events that happened in the beginning of the following year, among which was the EDSA Revolution that toppled the ruling Marcos regime. ASIN called the period "atubiling panahon" (doubtful time), during which the group disbanded for a second time.
In 1988, they decided to regroup once again, hoping to come up with new material to make another album that would speak of the new decade. Instead, they were urged by their new manager to make an adaptation of outdated songs, resulting in the duology album Himig Kayumanggi and Sinta.
Later on, various intrigues led to the expulsion of Nonoy. The disgruntled Nonoy went to Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Greece, Israel and Egypt to "look for his soul". Back home, the dream of making a new album was not fulfilled. Soon after, Saro and Nene, who were then performing under the name ASIN, joined the band known as Lokal Brown.
In 1990, the remaining members of Asin (who were under the leadership of a clique headed by their new manager) disbanded. Saro went back to his home province of South Cotabato, Nene formed the Nene Band, and Pendong formed Grupong Pendong.
In 1992, a concert promoter gathered the three original members, Nonoy, Saro and Nene for a reunion concert. Pendong, according to the promoter, was not included because of issues with scheduling. The concert was staged at the Folk Arts Theater. However, it was a mere one-night gig, after which each member went back to their separate ways.
Death of Bañares
At around 9:00p.m. on March 18, 1993, Cesar "Saro" Bañares was at a karaoke bar in his hometown of Koronadal when a brawl erupted among several customers. A single gunshot was fired which hit Bañares on the forehead. He was brought to a hospital but eventually died.[1]
After a seven-year trial, lawyer Gualberto Cataluña Jr. and brothers Joelito and Joel Castracion were found guilty of the murder of Bañares and were sentenced to life imprisonment. They were also ordered to pay Bañares' family more than ₱1 million in damages. According to the prosecution's witnesses, Cataluña and the Castracion brothers assaulted Bañares over a misunderstanding. Cataluña allegedly started the fight by throwing a beer bottle at Bañares' forehead. While the Castracion brothers were assaulting Bañares, Cataluña passed a handgun to Joelito Castracion who then shot Bañares.[1] The three served their sentences at New Bilibid Prison. However, on June 1, 2007, Cataluña was released after a successful appeal that downgraded his conviction from murder to homicide. The court considered his sentence served after spending 7 years in detention and another 7 years incarcerated.[2] Cataluña later resumed his law practice.[3]
Later years
Between the late 1990s and early 2000s, Nene, or Asin as she is known among her fans in Cagayan province in the Philippines' north, frequented her friend Willi Catral who arranged for some gigs. Her frequent visit to Tuguegarao helped her establish contacts with environmental groups like the Sierra Madre Outdoor Club.
In 2000, Craig Burrows, MBE, originally from England but a long-term resident of the Philippines, came up with the idea to bring together the remaining members of the group and make an album. He first spoke with Nonoy, who eagerly agreed, and later brought Nene and Pendong to Nonoy's island residence. The three had a few meetings wherein Nonoy came up with the concept for the album, which the two eagerly accepted. However, the album was not released.
Nonoy's concept was never realized, and in 2002, with the support of Burrows, Nene and Pendong made their own album titled Pag-ibig, Pagbabago, Pagpapatuloy. Later, Pendong shared his stories with the media about how Nonoy finally decided to put down his guitar and settle into a peaceful life, the band's beginnings, and how together with Nonoy and Saro he met Nene at a folk-rock club called Kola House and then decided to form their own musical group, naming it 'Salt of the Earth'. This he claimed was the beginning of the group ASIN.
Nonoy continued to perform with a new partner named Ginji, performing as Noyginji Interaktiv. They distributed CDs with new compositions, such as "...Ang Karugtong" (...The Continuation).
In the middle of 2006, Nene and Pendong parted ways. Pendong and his family emigrated to the United States where he continued playing as Grupong Pendong. During the last quarter of the same year, Nonoy and his family moved to Israel and continued to perform as Noyginji Interaktiv. Nene stayed in the Philippines and played as a soloist.
On July 14, 2010, Nonoy and Nene reunited as ASIN to pay tribute to their fallen colleague Saro Bañares Jr. in Koronadal, South Cotabato. Their performance marked the opening of the 44th T’nalak Festival, a yearly celebration showcasing dances and crafts of the tribal communities as well as the produce of South Cotabato. The following day, they were invited by Manny Pacquiao to play in his home province, Saranggani, before a large crowd. On the third day, they casually played for invited guests of the mayor of Lake Sebu in Surallah, South Cotabato.
Asin was the first group to incorporate Filipino indigenous instruments into Filipino pop/rock music.[4] They also studied Filipino tribal music and did what they could to be true to the origins of the music. Instead of plagiarizing the indigenous music, they set about educating people about respecting the origins of the music and representing it with agreements from the tribal sources.
Although Asin admittedly did not set out to be a political band, their songs, most of which have themes of loneliness and longing, reflected the tumultuous undercurrent of the nineteen-seventies in the Philippines under President Ferdinand Marcos. The band's relation with the Marcos government is conflicted: the government sometimes deemed their recordings subversive and confiscated them and other times called them patriotic and occasionally invited them to play at the Presidential Palace.
Benjamin "Ben" Abcede (1983-1987) - session drummer
Former members
Cesar "Saro" Bañares Jr. (1976–93; died in 1993)
Fred "Pendong" Aban Jr. (1983-1990; 2002-2006)
Note: There are only 4 official members of ASIN, all other backup players are session musicians.
References to Asin in popular culture
"Balita"
The Tagalog lyrics of The Black Eyed Peas' "The Apl Song" is based on "Balita" (Tagalog for News), one of Asin's songs.
"Balita" depicts the tragedies that were happening in the conflicts in Mindanao. The final chorus of the song is a mixture of Hiligaynon, in the first two lines, and Cebuano, in the last two lines, translated from the Tagalog chorus of the song.
"The Apl Song", meanwhile, tells about the hardships of Allan Pineda, member of the Black Eyed Peas, which the artist experienced during his childhood in Angeles City. He chose to reference "Balita" because he grew up listening to Asin. His next song from the album Monkey Business, entitled "Bebot", also sampled the guitar riff of "Ang Bayan Kong Sinilangan (Cotabato)", another song by Asin.
"Balita" is also sampled on the sixth track of Gloc-9's 2009 album Matrikula, which features Gabby Alipe of Urbandub.
"Masdan Mo ang Kapaligiran"
This song was dedicated to Pasig River. It was used as the closing credits for the movie Engkanto, starring Janice de Belen, Roderick Paulate, Vilma Santos and the late OPM Hip Hop King Kiko; the movie was released in 1993 by OctoArts Films.
"Himig Ng Pag-Ibig"
In 2010, Yeng Constantino covered this song as the theme for the ABS-CBN TV series Dyosa, arranged by Paolo Zarate. The original version was sampled by hiphop artist Pio, featuring Lolita Carbon, released by Viva Records in 2012. The song was also covered by actress Glaiza de Castro for the Cinemalaya film Liway (2018). This has also been a cover soundtrack for the film Adan, starring Cindy Miranda and Rhen Escaño.
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