Still alive and kicking

The quartet is composed of Christopher “Peng” Sison (lead vocalist), Archie Lim (guitarist), Raz Itum (bassist) and their youngest and newest member Matthew Bravante (drummer)

COOL as their name. Frio, which means cold in Chavacano, still makes good music after all these years.

This band has truly lived by its hit song “Alive.” After 13 years in the music industry, it is still here, livelier than ever. From the collegiate band that conquered and dominated every battle of the bands in Zamboanga way back in 2006, Frio has come a long way, now a household name.

The quartet is composed of Christopher “Peng” Sison (lead vocalist), Archie Lim (guitarist), Raz Itum (bassist) and their youngest and newest member Matthew Bravante (drummer). Sison, Lim and Itum are the remaining original members of the band. Bravante, the youngest of them all, has not let his age speak for him. The latter was one of the finalists in Music Hero, a competition for musically inclined teens in popular noontime program Eat Bulaga.

It all started in Zamboanga. Sison and Lim were college buddies and Itum was their college instructor. Despite the age difference and standing in life, music — their passion — unified them.

They formed a band and joined several competitions and battles of the bands where they usually bagged the title. Having dominated every competition they joined in their province, the band gained the confidence to take regular gigs in pubs and bars around the city and eventually did front acts for mainstream artists and bands that visited their province.

After years of doing gigs, they finally decided to record their original songs. According to Itum, recording songs back then was not a thing for indie bands. They traveled four to five hours to Cagayan just to record a song because it was the only recording studio with complete equipment near them at the time.

With their recorded songs in compact discs, they sent copies to recording studios in Manila and, as they always say, the rest is history.

Ironically, Frio did not think their song “Alive” was their best piece. They have songs they thought were better but surprisingly, “Alive” was a hit.

When asked what the inspiration was behind this song, Itum, the brains behind it, replied “Sa totoo lang, trip lang talaga yun (To be honest, it was just for fun).”

He added, “Di namin alam na ganon na pala kalaki yung impact ng ‘Alive’ until we had a gig back in Zamboanga for the first time after we left. Ang daming tao, puno yung coliseum (We didn’t know that the impact of our song ‘Alive’ was that big until we had a gig back in Zamboanga for the first time after we left. There were so many people, the coliseum was full).”

Sison and Lim are now happily married, while Itum and Bravante, as they jokingly said, “can’t get out of the circulation.”

Itum works as a learning and development director in a multinational finance corporation. Bravante is teaching drum lessons; Sison works as a talent caster in a talent agency, while Lim is currently taking up his second degree in college.

Busy is an understatement for them, juggling their passion for music while being providers for their family. Fortunately, Sison and Lim don’t have problems with their respective partners in terms of their passion in music as they have ever-supportive partners.

Negative comments and harsh criticism are always accompanied by success. Frio is not exempted from these. They had been told they are ugly, jologs and jejemon. But these lads never let these harsh words from people affect them.

For them, humor is the answer. “Actually, pag may isa sa amin na nilait, may tendency kami na tawanan pa siya lalo (Actually, whenever one of us receives harsh words, we have a tendency to laugh at him more),” Itum said.

Best and worst experiences are all part of life. When asked about their worst gig so far, they shared a story about one of their most unforgettable experiences.

It was when they were hired for an opening ceremony of a cemetery, no less. They didn’t have any idea what the event was until the moment they arrived at the location.

When asked about the best thing that Frio has ever brought to their lives, the gentlemen brushed off their masculinity by saying: Their friendship.

Catch Frio live at Off the Grill Bar and Restaurant every Sunday. And stream to their newest single, “Okay Lang” on Spotify. You can also check their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/FrioOpmofficial/ for more details.

Watch Frio’s recorded live performance on TribuneNow’s Friday Mixer on Daily Tribune’s official Facebook page and YouTube account.