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They leave converts in their trail. Strangers to their music find themselves tapping their feet, rat-aa-ta-ting their fingers, and given enough time, humming to their songs. The gifted are already singing along. Music, when it’s good, uplifts. When it’s excellent, it transports. And though they’re young and have far to go, yes, there is that distinct stirring sensation when one listens to FATAL POSPOROS. Composed of Kris Gorra (guitars/vocals), Donna Macalino (bass/vocals) and Annette Ortiz (d...

They leave converts in their trail.

Strangers to their music find themselves tapping their feet, rat-aa-ta-ting their fingers, and given enough time, humming to their songs. The gifted are already singing along.

Music, when it’s good, uplifts. When it’s excellent, it transports. And though they’re young and have far to go, yes, there is that distinct stirring sensation when one listens to FATAL POSPOROS. Composed of Kris Gorra (guitars/vocals), Donna Macalino (bass/vocals) and Annette Ortiz (drums/vocals), this three-womened band has in four years built a body of work that is evocative of all of young life’s definitive moment: those of innocence and rude awakening; idyll calm and pissant rage; of earnest and mock seriousness; of the ebb and flow of youth. It’s flirtatious, whimsical, mad and bouyant.

It is this multiplicity of moods and musical perspectives (which includes folk, new wave, rock, alternative, punk, funk and the ‘60s) that resonates in their listeners, that causes that visceral response. It is the fuel to the buzz and blaze slowly gathering around them. You can tell by the invites. They have been featured in NU 107’s Not Radio and In The Raw, shot for a yet-to-be-shown segment of MTV’s Out of the Box, interviewed for a couple of magazines and songhits and had the guts, not to mention, the cheek to front-act such established groups as the Eraserheads, POT, FrancisM, and Parokya ni Edgar in various venues in Metro Manila, Rizal, Laoag, Pampanga, Cavite and Subic. They’re featured at least once a month in most of the respected rock joints in the city including Mayric’s, The 70’s Bistro, Club Dredd, Asylum, Freedom Bar, Oracafe and Kampo. Carving a responsive niche even amongst these loyal crowds is a pronouncement of their original talent.

Friends for most of their lives, their repartee on-stage is psychic. They finish each other’s sentences and beat each other to the punchlines. They’re the group you wanted to have in high school because they seem to know how to have all the good times. But make no mistake, Kris, Donna and Annette have been generous with their hoard. And amidst the proliferation of girl-, boy- and kid-bands congesting the music scene and extorting the youth factor vapid, FATAL POSPOROS defies stereotypes, in their music, and more importantly, in their attitudes. Fun-loving yet not petty, reflective yet not wallowing, may libog yet not teases, witty but not smart-ass, these three explore where most people fear to tread - their selves.

by Maia Yusi, April 1998
** photo taken by Erik Liongoren circa 1995 Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.