Francis Reyes

Infobox musical artist
Name = Francis "Brew" Reyes


Img_capt = Francis Reyes at a Nokia event during his birthday
Img_size = 170
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Francis Florentino Saludo Reyes
Alias = Kiko, Francis Brew
Born = birth date and age|1967|06|20 Lipa City, Philippines
Died =
Instrument = Vocals, Guitar, Synthesizers
Genre = Alternative rock Experimental Pinoy rock Jazz fusion
Label =
Associated_acts = The Dawn Garlic POT Afterimage Project 1 Joey Ayala Lou Bonnevie

Francis Florentino Saludo Reyes (born June 20, 1967 in Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines) is a Filipino musician best known as the lead guitarist of The Dawn. He is currently the chief radio announcer and musical director for the rock station NU107.5 FM who uses the on-air stage name Francis Brew.

Early years

Reyes was born and raised in Lipa City, the second child of Florante, a photographer, and Teresita, a housewife. His youth was not particularly musical and his on-stage experiences were focused on oratorical contests which he regularly won. He started playing guitar at 14, helped by his elder brother Ferdinand who was a "natural" guitarist. The Reyeses were not rich, and his first proper guitar was a fake Gibson acoustic worth Php150.00 that his mother promised as a gift if he won a declamation contest during his junior high school year in De La Salle Lipa.

Although supported by his mother, Francis' choice to pursue music or fine arts in university were not encouraged by the family so he majored in Political Science and minored in Literature at De La Salle University. Nevertheless he continued to study music on his own, bringing an old Telecaster copy–a gift from an uncle in Canada–to school and practicing behind the university library. He formed a few bands with friends and played at school events. The school's prohibitive tuition fees plus the delicate financial status of his family at the time took their toll and he went looking for writing jobs to supplement his income. In 1987 he auditioned for an FM radio station and became a graveyard shift trainee but was eventually able to join NU107.

Career

NU107

At around the same time he joined NU107, he became a member of Afterimage, which was then managed by Martin Galan, who also managed The Dawn. When Francis joined The Dawn, he was juggling school, NU107, and the band. When the schedule of The Dawn began to fill up, he became somewhat negligent with the radio station and was let go amicably in 1992. He returned in 1997 to host the show "In the Raw", and has been with the station since then. He eventually was appointed its chief announcer and musical director.

The Dawn

Reyes met The Dawn during his tenure with Afterimage, although he had already known Jett Pangan in university during interpretative reading contests which Pangan regularly won. He became friendly with the group's guitarist/founder Teddy Diaz and they even spoke of forming a thrash metal side project with drummer JB Leonor's brother Dennis. Unfortunately, Teddy was murdered mere days after their talk. Reyes was then asked to be one of the three guitarists who were to play Teddy's parts in the tribute concert "Salamat Teddy" at the Folk Arts Theater in September 1988.

Reyes returned to Afterimage during Atsushi Matsuura's tenure with The Dawn and also became one of band's roadies. In November 1989, he was asked to replace Matsuura.

Reyes recorded three albums and played with The Dawn until January 1995 when the band decided to go on hiatus. Between then and until the band reformed, he became a session guitarist for Lou Bonnevie, Kulay, POT, and Joey Ayala. He credits his experience with The Dawn and their eclectic music for being able to play in different genres comfortably.

The Dawn reformed with Atsushi Matsuura in 2000, thus expanding the line-up to a five-piece. Matsuura and the band parted ways in 2003 and Reyes remains the sole guitarist to the present.

Solo work and current projects

Reyes is also currently a contractual music arranger for the Roadrunner Network. He recently contributed a piece for the compilation album "Mga Gitarista" under 12Stone Records. Although constantly encouraged by peers to create a guitar-oriented solo album, Reyes is not interested, preferring to focus his energies on The Dawn.

He formed the improvisation-oriented trio Garlic with Razorback bassist Louie Talan and Imago drummer Zach Lucero (also an NU107 alumnus) in 1998. Although the group garnered some critical accolades, they have yet to record an album.

Reyes is also a part of the supergroup Project 1.

Musical influences

Reyes credits Ritchie Blackmore's solo on the intro to Deep Purple's "Speed King" as the moment when he decided he wanted to be a guitarist, although he was an obsessive Queen/Brian May fan as well. His early heroes included Eddie Van Halen and Gary Moore, and actually put electrical tape on his Telecaster copy a la Van Halen. His current influences are Pat Metheny, Eric Johnson, Robert Fripp, Allan Holdsworth, David Torn, Adrian Belew, Matthew Bellamy, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Nels Cline, and Jimi Hendrix.

Equipment used

Electric guitars

Reyes is currently an endorser for Hamer Guitars. He plays the Hamer Standard XT and Vector XT models.

His other guitars include a Squier Standard Telecaster, a Gretsch 5235T Pro Jet, a [http://www.dame-guitars.com Dame] Mind 505, and a pre-lawsuit Yamaha Lord Player. He also still has the Casio PG380 guitar synthesizer used during his first two years with The Dawn.

Amplifiers

*Vox Valvetronix AD50VT

Effects pedals

*Digitech Brian May Red Special
*Z Vex Fuzz Factory
*Zoom G9.2tt (for pitch shift, modulation, and delays)
*Line 6 DL4 (for on-the-fly sampling)
*Korg Kaoss Pad KP3 (for sampling and spontaneous textures)

Keyboards

*E-mu XK6
*Korg EA-1 Electribe
*Yamaha vintage Monophonic synthesizer

Other equipment

Reyes also has a Vietnamese dan tranh, a Xaphoon pocket sax, and assorted small instruments such as a "kalimba" and tin whistle, all subtly used in The Dawn's recordings.

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/francisbrewreyes Francis Brew Myspace]
* [http://www.thedawn.ph The Dawn's Official Website]
* [http://watdat.multiply.com Multiply site]
* [http://watdat.livejournal.com Inactive Livejournal site]

References

* [http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=200802236&type=2 Philippine Star Article on EJ Play at CCP]
*imdb name|id=2355385|name=Francis Reyes
* [http://www.hamerguitars.com/?fa=artistdetail&id=777 Hamer Guitar Page]
* [http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=2008062625&type=2 Ride the Rock Xpress NOKIA Event]