asherdash @ bulalo fiesta ft. watsek

asherdash performs 5 songs at bulalo fiesta in novaliches courtesy of sister band Alamat and bulalo fiesta owner jun villasor. the audio of course came from the original recording because the ambient noise from the venue was simply too loud. it was hard syncing the damn thing because they had a different arrangement for the song as a live piece. anywyay, the boys got their feet wet after years of not being on stage... this is actually their first on stage performance with this line up of members... good job guys.


video by joey dela vega

edited by casie villarosa

the pictures

photography by Jerry Santos

Watsek by ASHERDASH

WATSEK
Words and Music by Freddie Lim
Produced and engineered by Casie Villarosa
Performed by Asherdash

This song is full of gripes and is dedicated for those crooked people in society. It was because of the melody that the band decided to record it. The lyrics however, were triggered by someone who crossed the path of the band prompting them to think why things are not the way they should. The band's expression of anger was through this song. That's the beauty of being a musician; the expression need not be physical...

--- asherdash

ASHERDASH - how it came to be...

It was first called “THE COUSINS” band because the members were all first cousins from the Brin family. The band did not progress enough since each member got their own thing like Freddie Lim who entered the police service, Jason pursuing a Veterinary Medicine course and the others got different jobs making them personally virtually making the band obsolete.

Two of the members however, decided to pursue their love for music and it was Freddie’s passion for music and Jayson’s unwavering desire to prove himself to his dad that triggered the beginning of ASHERDASH. The start-up however seemed improbable as the two are clueless as to would be willing to join them in their cause.

Freddie was assigned in the anti-narcotics department of Valenzuela City Police. It was one sunny afternoon when one of his “assets” named Bernard brought with him a guitar in their office. Their conversations and jamming with the guitar ended with a plan to form a band. Another acquaintance named Ryan had previous band experience wanted to join Freddie and Bernard’s plan. All three are guitarists so Ryan decided to give way and started learning to play bass instead.

Freddie introduced the two to his cousin Jayson so the four of them were able to start a band with Freddie as vocalist and lead guitarist, Jayson as drummer, Bernard on Rhythm Guitar and Ryan on Bass. They also added a female vocalist, Bernard’s niece.

They were able to play and perform on different occasions for about a year when Bernard became too busy and Freddie was not happy that he decided to replace him and find a keyboardist. With Bernard out of the group, his niece also decided to leave.

Freddie’s sister Felbie, who was also a police officer and was assigned in District Operations of the Northern Police District suggested a colleague named Jess who played with different bands before. It was sometime in June 2009 when Felbie said that his brother needed a keyboard player for his band. This made Jess curious and asked if he can jam with Felbie’s brother as he was also looking for a group.

One day, Felbie calls up Jess and asked if he was available for a jam with his brother’s band. The jam was a click and a band was born.

The group decided to take on a female vocalist in preparation for a variety act and found Joyce who was an aspiring singer and was always a contestant in singing competitions.

The band started to perform on stage with Joyce as their lead vocalist. They were accepted at the CROSSROADS Bar and Resto which allowed them to play in front of a live audience where they met bands like THE WORKSHOP and BLACKPIPE who eventually became their inspirations in bettering their craft.

The group was then named “THE PARTIMERS” but the owner of the Bar did not like the name and asked the group to look for another name they could be known for.

A lot o people made suggestions but the band didn’t like any of them. Freddie, the band leader wanted something “biblical” so he comes out with the word ASHER which supposedly means “God’s Blessing” but Jess suggested some modifications as the name seemed like somebody else’s name. He looked for a word that can be added to ASHER that will add more meaning to the group’s name and found DASH which means “force or power”. The term ASHERDASH therefore means “a powerful blessing from God!”

ASHERDASH played regular gigs and engagements until Joyce was hired as a pharmacist in a Drugstore. She decided to leave the band as the remaining four strived hard to survive as a band.

This was the time when Freddie stood up to the plate and brought out on the table his song writing skills. He laid before the band his own compositions and everything fell into place with the members’ musical collaboration they were able to make good arrangements for the songs until they decided to record their music.

At first, they went to a band rehearsal studio to record their music as it would be cheaper for them since their budget would not allow them to go with a professional recording studio. The efforts however were futile so they decided to look for a professional recording studio.

It was then that Freddie found the videos of their band inspiration BLACKPIPE in youtube.com with the tag “recorded at Sunset Records”. The band made efforts to find this recording studio using the Police PR of Freddie and Jess and the band proceeded to recording their music.

In the middle of their recording, the group decided to add a lead guitarist in order for Freddie to concentrate on vocals. As Ryan was a lead guitarist before, the group decided that he will take the place of Freddie on lead guitars. ASHERDASH found Jose, bass guitarist of TORCHBEARER and he was invited to join ASHERDASH.

As the band was about to finish their recordings, guitarist Ryan needed to leave the band as he will be migrating to Canada as his parents wanted him.

And so that’s the story… There were two, there were five and now there's Freddie, Jess, Jason and Jose… ASHERDASH!

demo album jacket

the tentative album design for asherdash by casie villarosa

ASHERDASH photos

photography by mario coloma


photography by casie villarosa









photography by jerrica javier & jerry santos

the band

design and photography by casie villarosa


photography by mario coloma


photography by casie villarosa


photography by casie villarosa


photography by mario coloma

Freddie Lim - vocals & guitars
Jason Brin - drums
Jess Mansibang - keyboard
Jose Castro - bass

espiritu ng alak by asherdash

words and music by freddie lim
performed by asherdash
recorded at sunset studios
produced and engineered by casie villarosa
for sunset records
video and photography by casie villarosa

impyerno sa mundo by asherdash

words and music by freddie lim
performed by asherdash
recorded at sunset studios
produced and engineered by casie villarosa
for sunset records
video and photography by casie villarosa

INTRODUCING ASHERDASH

photography by mario coloma / design by casie villarosa

I have been found...

One lazy afternoon, I was informed by lobby security that there were two police officers who were not familiar to them were looking for me. First thought that came to mind was, "what did I do again this time?" So I had them sent up to my office and they introduced themselves.

It seems that they have found me through the internet and that they wanted to meet up and asked if it would be possible for their band to record their music at sunset studios...

To cut to the chase... here I am making their blogspot.

Ladies and gentlemen, the latest addition to the sunset records family... ASHERDASH!