Hastang of Yesteryears

Old Coaco Building is definitely old. It’s been standing along MJ Cuenco Avenue in Mabolo for as long as I can remember. Its graying façade could use a new coat of paint, its window panes some repair. It doesn’t attract much attention at all.

On weekend nights, however, this place transforms into a sort of Mecca where artists, poets, musicians, book lovers and food enthusiasts gather together at Handuraw Café to enjoy the homey ambiance or listen to live Cebuano indie music or else drink a few beers outside on the limited parking space. Indeed, whenever you find yourself having nothing to do on a weekend night, you can just head to this place and you’ll be sure to find a friend to share a conversation with.

But now, Handuraw Café is closing down. Now, I can’t help but feel a sense of loss. I’m sure many artists and musicians echo my sentiments.

When we first started as a band in February 2005, we were essentially just an untested musical unit. Although a few of us were seasoned veterans (having done countless stints in previous cover bands), we were all virtually neophytes when it came to writing our own material and playing it live on the stage. We needed a place where we could hone our skills and a venue where we could express our original music. Handuraw Café would provide that venue.

The first Hastang gig was held in Handuraw Café. At that time, we were still compiling compositions for our album and we remember playing “Ghost of My Waking” and “Plot of My Revenge” back then. Of course, it was in Handuraw’s Jamming Studio that we sharpened the arrangements for these songs with the help of a few slices of thin crust pizza and some teriyaki-flavored rice.

Eventually, more Hastang songs would take form inside Handuraw’s walls. I recall dozens of hours spent discussing (even arguing) the best execution for the shifting tones of the song “Oblivion”. That song would later take us to the finals of the 2005 MTV Hits Cebu band competition. It was also in the same place that Roy would perfect the dual guitar melodies of the song “Random”. And with the help of our favorite sessionist Murray, we would later polish Hastang set staples like the heavy “When Misery Speaks”, the protean “Midflight”, and the urgent “Deep Descent”.

Of course, playing live in Handuraw was always something we all look forward to. I remember Makoy always referring to the place as our “home court”. In more ways than one, it was home for the Cebuano indie musician. Where else can you see the likes of Sheila and the Insects, Missing Filemon and Smooth Friction play in a single event? Where else can you see fret masters do guitar battles on weekdays? Where else could you experience musical diversity—Orange Apple on Friday, Kadangyan the next evening, PipeBombLandMines the next weekend.

We’ve met a lot of people and made a lot of friends at Handuraw. This is where we re-discovered a certain guy named Raul who quite had a nifty talent for the blues (he now plays lead guitar for Hastang).

Now, Handuraw Café is closing its doors. For all the artists and musicians, it will surely be missed.

Handuraw Café was scheduled to close on May 31. However, tragedy struck in the early hours of Monday, May 21, when two unidentified assailants broke into Handuraw and singled out one of the part-time servers with multiple gunshots. Because of this, Handuraw Café was compelled to cancel all scheduled events and close its doors earlier than planned.

guile loves his girlfriend, adores (er, adored) Michael Jackson, and wants "to be complete". When he's not playing bass for Hastang, he creates thingamajigs for icomm and writes gibberish in his not-so-secret diary.
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