“This blog was posted on the Tanya Markova fan page last January 30, 2011, with some minor edits. Just wanna share.”
Countless peoples have asked the same question, “Why do you wear make up? ” and we usually remark that “We like horror movies, b-movies, and Marilyn Manson.” Wherever we go, that’s been the same answer we’re giving to them. Lately, some music writer (who is in no way near the level of Lester Bangs) has been giving us a thumbs down, and he even ranted on National TV that we’re a gimmick and a major label product, that the truth is we have no fanbase, and we should wear more make-up because we have to be ashamed of what we’re doing. We respect his opinion if we’re not suited for his ‘classy, sohisticated’ sense of taste, but his baseless accusations about us made me write this explanation. I always felt we do not owe an explanation to anyone, until now.
First off, we will never be ashamed on what we are doing. We do not give a sh*t about the consequences, cause we have experienced wearing make up and costumes while walking in public and we were never bothered. We have been ‘in character’ for the last 4 years, and we believe that a ‘manufactured’ band will never do what we are doing. We are a fun loving band, ‘pretentiousness’ will never be on our dictionary. We just have a dark and twisted sense of humor.
Another thing is that we are fans of ‘obscure’ bands and type of music. Think of The Cure, a great pop band known for its quirky frontman, Robert Smith. He’s one of the main reason (or influence) as to why we have a different approach when it comes to creating songs. We actually thought that he is wearing a clown makeup thats why he looks like a sulking vampire, only to find out that it is his natural skin color. This is useless information, but we really did not base it on KISS.
We are also think that we are part of a Vaudeville, that’s why we regard our music as some sort of a theatrical act telling a story, in order to perform a ‘horror’ show. It has been embedded on Pinoy noontime show culture that some contestants wear make up in order to get noticed especially on dance numbers, or performances — and many Filipino viewers suck up to it. We poke fun of that culture, hence our clown white appearance on gigs. Its our way of being sarcastic. We want to say to everyone that, hey, we are wearing make up, but our music really speaks for itself. We are also poking fun of people who suddenly say ‘sellout’ or ‘corny’ whenever they see funny guys wearing make-up on TV.
I guess, we just want to do something revolutionary. Something that could rile up everybody, to see their reaction. We have explained many times that our idea to form this band came up during the time when Pinoy rock and roll was all about flash and lack of substance cause there’s nothing new (I’m not generalizing because there were still many great bands during that time), when many musicians in the scene were trying to act like rock stars.
To those people who have been put off by us wearing make-up, we just want to say “Sorry, but you have to deal with it.” It’s just plain, satisfying, self-fulfilling entertainment.
frowningclown 