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Caryl Campos Eazer Pastor Ferdie Marquez (deceased) Francis Guevarra Yeng Remulla Jay Valencia Jun Dizon Carlo Sison Kenneth Ilagan Bimbo Yance Benedict Esguerra
True Faith is a band from the Philippines formed in 1991. The band took its name from New Order's 1987 single "True Faith", reflecting the group's new wave origins.
In 1993, a demo tape of the band's song "Perfect", a romantic ballad with guitars and vocals reminiscent of the Railway Children and the Lotus Eaters, hit number one on the Manila Top 40 radio station 99.5 RT FM (now 99.5 Play FM). The accessibility of "Perfect" opened the doors to a much larger fanbase than those who watched them perform new wave covers in small clubs. Signed to EMI Music in the Philippines, True Faith's 1995 album, Build, was the group's first large-scale success.[2]
Early Awards
The band received a Music Television Asia "Best Video Award" in 2000 for "Awit Para Sa Kanya" (Song For Her).[3] "Memories Are Cheap: The Best of Truefaith, 1993-2000", produced by True Faith and Darrell James Laxamana, was also released that year. The album featured a new track "Kung O.K. Lang Sa'yo", a one-acoustic guitar ballad featuring then-new member Jay Valencia on guitars. This album also includes a remix version of "Get It On".
The band is mostly known for singing the theme song for "Sa Piling Mo" entitled "Dahil Ikaw", which won the Favourite Media Soundtrack category in the 2007 Myx Music Awards.
True Faith's 1995 album Build spawned several hit singles such as "Alaala" and "Kundi Rin Lang Ikaw".
Legal action
Build was followed by a court case between co-founder and lead singer Medwin Marfil and three founding band members over the use of the band name. An out-of-court settlement ensued, with Medwin winning full rights to the name. He reformed the band with old and new members and recorded two more studio albums under the Octoarts-EMI label.[5] In 2006, the band released a top-selling greatest hits album and received a nomination for the band's video (by award-winning video director Robert Quebral.)
New sound
At an MTV event in Makati in May 2001, the band included a three-piece horn section composed of seasoned members of leading big band Ugoy Ugoy. This resulted in a more organic, soul-based sound that veered away from the electronica splashes added by co-producer (and in-demand remixer) Brian Cua in their last studio outing.
2002-2007
Grace (2002), the band's next album, was welcomed with a lukewarm response. Touted as a return to the pop rock realm, it was unable to meet the expectations of fans and the band was unsatisfied compared to previous efforts. The single "Dedma" initially made much of a stir with its video that featured FHM cover girl Diana Zubiri. True fans would disagree: they’d argue that tracks like "Come Back Home" and "Medusa" would have made great singles. As Medwin recalls today, the group wasn't given ample time to polish the record. The record company was also undergoing management personnel changes which caused further issues. He also remembers that aside from Slapshock and other rap metal bands, the band scene wasn't as vibrant as it used to be.
In 2004, True Faith released Eto Hits… Acoustic. Convinced that the band pioneered the unplugged side of OPM in the early 1990s, EMI decided to release a compilation of old True Faith songs in their original acoustic arrangement or re-done to suit the theme. It also included a cover of the Culture Club song "Mistake No. 3".[citation needed]
After a two-years break from the recording, the band returned with the launch of their 11th album, Stray To Be Found.[6] Powered by the first single, the mega ballad "Dahil Ikaw" (which is the theme song to the teleseries Sa Piling Mo), the band made their comeback. A couple of years back, Benedict Esguerra and Kenneth Ilagan entered the band as drummer and guitarist respectively. After "Dahil Ikaw", the singles, "Sayang Ang Lahat", "Cross My Heart" (a cover of an EBTG classic), and "Araw’t Gabi" were released. All the videos for these singles became a regular fare in MYX's Daily Top 10. (The album also included covers of the band's favorites: Crowded House's "Four Seasons in One Day", and Fra Lippo Lippi's "Crazy Wisdom".)
In October 2005, the band began their 1st American tour.[4] From 2006 to 2008, they did shows in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. In June 2009, Medwin and Eugene did a special acoustic show in Dubai which was very successful.[7]
The video for "Dahil Ikaw" was one of the most viewed in 2006, and was nominated in two categories at the MYX Music Awards of 2007, consequently winning in the soundtrack category.[8] It was directed by Genghis Jimenez.
To celebrate True Faith's contribution to OPM and their years in EMI Philippines, the record label compiled all of the band's most popular tracks and other less popular tracks into a compilation album, Dream Journal: The Very Best Of Truefaith 1993-2007.
2010s
Released in March 2010, Love Parade features an eclectic mix of special guests from soul prince, Luke Mejares (saxophone), Dix Lucero (on the 80's influenced inspirational track "Kaya Mo 'Yan") and Time magazine-hailed artists Carlos Magno of the band Out Of Body Special and Armi Millare of Up Dharma Down. The latter sings on the upcoming first single, "'Yun Lang".
In 2017, True Faith received an invitation from MGMT to record their own rendition of their then-forthcoming single "Me and Michael", which was eventually included on the band's fourth album, Little Dark Age, released on February 9, 2018. The result of this was True Faith's New Order-inspired Filipino version of the song, titled "Ako at si Michael". MGMT then released a music video of their song which featured True Faith in the narrative. For their part, True Faith came up also with their own video of "Ako at si Michael", which will form part of the new album that they are currently working on.[11] In 2018, the band released their 10th album "Sentimental".[12] The album was reissued in vinyl format in 2021.[13]
On March 31, 2019, former member and co-founder Ferdie Marquez died due to a heart attack.[14]
2020s
In February 2022, The band released their new album titled "11". the album consists of three singles “Dyahe”, “Your Ready Smile”, and “Refriend”. The album was supposed to be released in 2020 but was delayed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[15]
↑Gomez, Rea L. (August 2, 2000). "Keeping the faith". Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. p.C1. Retrieved September 1, 2022. Just like with 'Kung Okay Lang Sa 'Yo,' our new single...
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