Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Rock lovers of Bahrain are guaranteed a great night out down at Diggers in the Delmon International Hotel with resident band Heavy Traffic.
The seven piece band consists of Dong (male lead voals) Lawrence (bass), P.J. (drums), Flor (lead guitar), JoJo (keyboard and 2nd guitar), Myra (vocals) and Janice (female lead vocals). GW went down to have chat with them and find out more about what they’re all about.
Where does the name Heavy Traffic come from?
The name goes back to the 1970s with the original members and it’s been transferred from new generation to new generation. We stuck with the name because heavy traffic is something all Filipinos go through and it’s easy to remember – especially on a Friday afternoon when the highway turns into a parking lot. We like to say that only the people stuck with heavy traffic (as in the band) are going to be the only people happy when they are caught in the heavy traffic (as in the road) because we will give them a good time while they’re waiting.
How did you all get together and who of you are the original members?
Lawrence, JoJo and P.J. are original members. Lawrence and P.J. were classmates in college and the original singer in Heavy Traffic was a friend of JoJo’s and brought him into the band. Flor, Janice and Myra were introduced to us through our agent.
You’ve been through different line-ups since you first came to Bahrain. How do you see your current line-up affecting your style?
Obviously with a new line-up things do change a bit because new people bring their own styles. New songs come in and this year will do a lot more 80s and 90s rock but our classic rock is still there because that’s what we are basically all about.
What do you think of the music scene here in Bahrain?
We think it’s very alive. We never realised that there would be so many good musicians here because the place is so small. The music scene here is really great but a lot of the bands go down the same route. We’re trying to be a bit different and follow our rock roots instead of following what a lot of the bands do here by going with what is popular and in the charts.
How does the live music scene here compare to back home in the Philippines?
There are many rock bands and bars in the Philippines. If you go from one bar to another you will hear a lot of the same songs. That is one of the reasons we decided to try our luck here in Bahrain because not many bands play the kind of rock we play.
Where do you see yourselves in five years?
(Laughing) Older but still rocking and doing what we do. We’re not really looking to do an album we just want to keep having fun with what we love to do.
What song would you never play?
(More laughter) Dancing Queen by ABBA.
If you could play for one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
Wow, that a hard question. Can we play for you? Gosh that really difficult… Gandhi or Elvis maybe.
If you were offered a million dinars each to put down your instruments and never play again, would you take it?
YEAH! Of course. I guess we’d still play for ourselves just not in a band. We’d go behind everyone’s back. In truth anyone that said no to that would be a hypocrite.
Marie-Claire
