Restart 9 is now available for download in the media section of the website. If you want to go directly there, please click here. It is the collaboration of Names Are For Tombstones and 16 of his electronic music contemporaries meant to establish creative relationships and a medium to learn from each other in terms of music production.

Nono (Names Are For Tombstones) considers it groundbreaking because (to his knowledge) it is the first time a collaboration of this sort was tried independently in Manila and on a single song for that matter. A number of the participants have this as their first remix assignment and claim to have enjoyed the experience. For NAFT, it was a challenging but rewarding experience. And it would be something he would be proud of and appreciative about for years to come. He hopes that it would be inspirational also for other creative groups to try.

Meet The Artists

Here is information on some of the participants in the project, supplied by the artists themselves:

Hyneria Moss Soundscape

HMS is an electronic, experimental band that Edgar Go and Jeniffer Lerin formed back in 2002. It was just an idea back then so they could continue expressing themselves through music while they were still in college. Fast forward to 2009, while they are recording on an irregular schedule for their full length album, HMS released their first EP, Portals Vol. I, a collection of six cinematic soundscapes. Portal Vol. I is available on their website for free download www.hyneriamosssoundscape.com.

About the remix: This is HMS's first official remix. When Nono asked for remixers, I stood up immediately because it's an honor to remix a NAFT track. I almost didn't finish the remix but i guess the dark angels pushed me and gave me more sleeping disorders than the usual to finish it on time.
I don't know how to make a dance remix so I just treated the song like a collaboration with Nono. I put myself on an imaginary studio with him and thought what would he want if we write a song together. So i deconstructed the vocal tracks, pitched, stretched and cut it to fit in with the music that I wrote. And here it is, HMS version of Watari's Machine - Deconstructed Machine. Enjoy.

Dead Electronics

Dead Electroics is a bedroom producer/remixer who loves to collect analogue devices. Inspired with past technology, he still employs a method of long-cut music making with these wares. It makes him feel more human in this complex digitalized world.

About the remix: For the NAFT's Watari's Machine Quirky Robotik mix, he summoned an arsenal of hardware and a tedious cut and paste artistry. Inspired by analogue robotics, he uses old school groovy samplings coupled with quirky soundscapes that reminds him of what robots used to sound like.

Silverfilter

Silverfilter can claim an essential part in the rise of live dance music in the Philippines due to his hard-hitting dance sets, which leaves partygoers no choice but to move and groove. Fusing the live experience to the DJ vibe, every silverfilter set is sure to be the best of both worlds and has proven to entertain crowds from all over. Silverfilter’s live performances and his original tracks have already proven to be ear candies to floor-fillers, making him one of the most sought after electronic music producers in the industry.

About the remix: The silverfilter Atari mix is a mixture of the old and new with the hoover type sound mixed into a 2009 track bringing together Nu Skool breaks and Minimal house. I don't recall ever using the hoover synth since I find it too dated but with this particular remix, I just couldn't resist and it turned out great with still a fresh and moving sound.

FoodShelterAndClothing

Indeed, its quite a delightful treat for us to be a fraction of this project. We had our first aural encounter with "Watari's Machine" several years ago when it was included in the "8 Track" compilation CD which we're proudly also a part of. We must say, we reckon it was sorta like NAFT's attempt to approximate the classic sound of Gary Numan which we're big fans of (though we never got to ask Nono bout this). And for a Pinoy act, indeed it gave us hope that we have kindred spirits elsewhere in the archipelago. Of course knowing too that he's also a "kwerky" (a term we coined referring to Kraftwerk fans) swiftly earned him a spot in our "top 40 friends list", hehe. The main thing that got us hooked though, is that it veered away from traditional pop songwriting techniques (i.e. no actual chorus, no obvious refrain, no bridge, no shit! Haha). Though, its not the first time we heard such a composition (e.g. some early Velvet Underground and Bruce Springsteen tracks don't have those elements either), but hey it's quite a refreshing thing back in 2005. But then we kinda ruined it later by adding a bridge and a coda, not to mention the guitar solo, our apologies…

About the remix: Now, fast forward to the project, somehow it got us thinking to experiment a bit, and treat it as we would our original songs, and that's to include live instruments, and vocals. Hence, calling our take a remix is a misnomer really, as it is more of a reworking. In fact, the main concept was, we'd be NAFT's backing band for the day (and boy was it tough! And he knows bout this!). And so, we'd play around his vocal stem, when normally we'd just play around the instrumental tracks and not the vocals (now we know how it is to be Ashlee Simpson's backing band! And yes, it'll be a long while before we'll do something like this again! hehe).

The original mix was recorded at 80bpm, and we messed around a bit with another mix at 110bpm. Surprisingly (or maybe not hehe), Nono preferred the one version on "crack", even though we deliberately smashed the coda to smithereens by adding loads of cacophonous shit which we usually do with our own tracks. Oh yeah, we're giving him props for insisting that Jem's gonna do his FFF (i.e. our metal side project FucktheFuckingFuckers) bit of growling and primal screaming in the bridge part of the track. The words (yes there are words in it!) were lifted from an FFF track called "Waste". As for the sample in the coda, we got it from an old mix tape, bout some redneck hating Santa Claus so much (who doesn't really? Hehe). So yeah, most of it has got nothing to do with Watari at all, but we reckon most remixes got nothing to do with the originals anyway.

So there, now y'all know what happens if FS&C be NAFT's backing band in some dingy pub of your choice, at say around 2 in the morning. To paraphrase a Pink Floyd song, "Welcome to the Machine…Watari."

Funeral Frost

Maggoth and Funeral Frost are veterans in the underground scene, spanning 13 years of shock rocking masses. The track "Watari's Funeral" (Satan's Canary : The Dem Bones Mix) is the Frost Men's first attempt in a collaboration compilation as well as doing a rendition of an exsisting song. Maggoth takes full credit in re-inventing this track.

About the remix: "I was excited in the remix project. It is rare for these things to occur, so when I was asked if I wanted to do it, I grabbed the oppurtunity and started tinkering on things. It was a fun experience." - Maggoth

Wallster

Wally Contento, a.k.a. Wallster, is drummer for the band The Vince Noir Project; keyboardist for the electro band Dayuhan; Motorola iDj champion and frontman for the rock 'n roll band Sters.

About the remix: The Wallster remix was inspired trough the simplicity of old school beats and mixed every bit of the music the old school way via new technology.

Demolee

As a solo act, Demolee (Franco Madrid) specialized in producing downtempo and chillout songs which can be attributed to the likes of compilations such as Cafe del Mar and Buddha Bar. He also produces songs for the trip hop group "Flavours and Caffeine". To further his musical growth, he derives influences from various genres such as Acid Jazz, House, New Wave, Rock, Hip Hop, and collaborates with other Filipino electronica artists such as Spintech, Cardinal Zen, and Acid42 to name a few. Currently, Demolee is busy in his home studio further developing his sound and producing more of his amazing chillout tracks for his solo live electronica performances, and trip-hop and ambient songs for Flavours & Caffeine. (profile originally written by JC de Leon; edited with permission)

About the remix: I wanted it to have a bit more of an industrial feel to it, more reverbs for it to sound massive... I can't say much about it except that Watari's Machine is a very nice track. I was too careful not to ruin the eighties vibe to it. Hope you like it!

Blend:er

Blend:er (a.k.a. Cris Garcimo) – electronic music composer/producer; synth player; soundscape, field recordings and noise enthusiast based in Cavite, Philippines. His music has been described as cinematic, imaginative, touching and stimulating. He started experimenting with audio acrobatics and technoid sonic landscapes in 1999. His compositions have been featured on both local and international releases/compilations (US/Japan) and net radio (Canada). His music has appeared in Mood Swing Theater (2004) which was released by Kittenwhip Compilation in Atlanta, U.S.A. One of his tracks was also chosen for S.A.B.A.W. Anthology – the first anthology of sound art, noise, electronic, and experimental music in the Philippines. As a performer, he has been invited to various electronic music performances, art galleries and music/sound art festivals. He has also performed as part of "The Motzkin Gangan Ensemble", which was conceived by Tengal of S.A.B.A.W. and conducted by media artist and filmmaker, Tad Ermitano. He has also collaborated, both improvisational performances and studio/remix projects, with musicians and sound artists from E.X.I.S.T. and S.A.B.A.W. and Electronica Manila Collective. Blend:er also plays synth for Project Ganymede, an assemblage of artists/musicians fusing classical, electronic, ethnic, and ethereal elements.

DJ Boy Ramos

Boy Ramos is the other half of the synthpop project band Watari's Machine.

About the remix: DJ Boy Ramos remixed the song with moving electro to ripple the dance floor.