A Long Wait to Mainstream
by Gian Rodriguez
I wasn’t into OPM that much before. However, there were a few OPM songs that caught my attention, such as Parokya ni Edgar’s “One Hit Combo” and Up Dharma Down’s “Tadhana.” Recently, I was introduced to an OPM band “December Avenue”, formed in 2007 with four members from University of Santo Tomas. Those four members are: Zel Bautista on the lead vocals, Jem Manuel as the lead guitarist, Don Gregorio as the lead bassist, and Jet Danao as the drummer. The band has been playing in gigs, that weren’t widely popular since 2010. In 2016, Gelo Cruz (keyboards/pianist) was added to the band, and they have been five members ever since.
Why was the group named “December Avenue”? In an interview with One music PH, lead vocalist Zel Bautista said “December Avenue represents our songs, the meaning of ours songs. Our songs mostly talk about life, moving on, and December is actually the last month of the year which is an avenue towards the new year which is a new life.” And this explains why find their songs to be relatable in our everyday lives, and makes us feel different emotions every time we listen to them.
While the band is one of the most popular bands in the Philippines now, it wasn’t an easy journey for them to get to this point. They’ve been honing their music since their In 2017, they managed to get their huge breakthrough with “Sa Ngalan ng Pag-Ibig”, and the number of fans was growing at an even faster pace. In an interview with the Inquirer, Zel Baustista said “It was a combination of timing, patience, and luck” that got them to where they are now.. In addition, he believes one of the factors that helped them get more fans since they’re 2017 hit; was to write more of their work in Filipino, and this was thanks to their first hit with “Sa Ngalan ng Pag-ibig.”
In 2018, December Avenue and Moira dela Torre collaborated with a hit and heartbreaking song “Kung Di Rin Lang Ikaw”. As of now, their music video currently has 136.5 million views and counting on YouTube. In that same year, December Avenue and Moira dela Torre were the most streamed local on Spotify in the Philippines.
They didn’t have the privilege of being able to work with any major label to help them get more known through television or radio. As the internet continued to progress, they saw this as the best opportunity to get them the exposure they needed, and it all paid off for them in the end. Recently, they had finished their first ever North American tour going around 7 cities in the US, and also in Canada.
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