IT WAS two years ago when four musicians from different bands, who grew up together in the music scene of Cagayan de Oro, decided to form their own group and made their debut during the Musikagayan Festival in 2016.
And now they will be taking on the nationwide stage as they release their debut EP (extended play) on August 25 and go on their music tour around Manila, Cebu and Mindanao.
KRNA (pronounced as kire-ina) is an Indie Dream-Pop band based in Cagayan de Oro that is composed of four members: Katrina Camille (KC) Salazar, the vocalist and guitarist; Rotsanjani Mojica, the bassist; Francis Ramos, the keyboardist and synthesizer; and Marc Janro Abian, the drums and backup vocalist.
They have already been in the music industry even before they formed KRNA as each of them were members of their previous band.
It was in 2004 when the four of them met and got to know each other, according to Salazar.
And through their mutual love and passion for music and chemistry with each other, they formed KRNA in 2016.
"It all started with us just wanted to express ourselves and just play around with our music and we love it and we love our own music. And then it's amazing that naay maka connect ingana," Salazar said.
"We're not really expecting anything pero we just want our music to be heard. Ganun lang. Ang pinaka dako nga tumong is that we just want people in the Philippines to know, especially in Manila, that what you know there, we also know here," she added.
Apart from being the vocalist and guitarist of the band, KC also composes the songs and comes up with the lyrics. Her inspiration came from her personal experiences and relationships, KC shared.
"Sa una, ginatago ra nako akong songs kay murag maulaw, wala koy confidence. Tungod sad sa akong mga bandmates karon, silay nakahatag sa ako og confidence then later on nagsalisali og kanang PhilPop na bootcamp, then nadawat man then more on didto gyud na hone sad gyud ang skills (At first, I hide the songs I wrote since I don't have the confidence at that time. It was because of my bandmates that I have the confidence to join the PhilPop Songwriting Bootcamp. I was accepted and that was where my skills in songwriting was honed)," KC said.
KC was able to create five original songs for their debut EP album titled "The River Gold."
"The River Gold, as an ode to our city. Diba we pass by the river at one point in our day to get to wherever we need to go," KC said.
"All the experiences inspired the songs happened here in CDO (Cagayan de Oro)," she added.
The songs in their debut EP includes: "And Ever," "Wide Eyes," "The One," "My Dear," and "Gray Lullaby."
According to KC, as part of the launching of the debut EP, they will sing the songs this coming August 25 during the SOFT art event in Chingkeetea, in Velez cor. Gaerlan Street, Cagayan de Oro City, and during their music tour.
Their album will also be available for sale on the same day of the launching.
"Naa sad mi ma contribute sa music scene, something different. Mao man sad hinuon ang ilang ingon nga murag among music, sa kadaghan artist from Manila, wala sya kaparehos. Mao ang ilang ingon," KC said.
"Hopefully, lang ma sell namo among music, dayon maka make mi'g more music. Mao ra na sya, sell music, sell our cds para naa mi funds to make more music," she added.
The four of them may be musicians but they also have their jobs to worry about as it's also the thing that funds their music. As such, they have to balance their time for work and their time for music.
"Lisod sya. Pero kailangan lang gyud ka og focus. Kay ang imong work, mao na ang mag fund sa imong passion (It's difficult. But it just needs focus. Because your work funds your passion). Let's face it, murag kung mahimo kang musician nga pareho sa amoa (If you want to be a musician like us), indie musician, independent musician nga you make your own songs, you record it, you produce it, it's gonna need money gyud," KC said.
"If you want to be a musician nga kanang you have your own songs gyud, kailangan mag eskwela mo'g tarong kay (that creates original songs, you need to finish school because) you need a job to fund everything, mahal kaayo mag recording (the recording is expensive)," the vocalist advised.
On August 28 to September 2, KRNA will be on their music tour in Quezon City, Makati and Paranaque. On September 15, they will be in Cebu and in October, they will be around Northern Mindanao and Davao.