Vincent Ryan Borres

I went to Southampton post Boxing Day because I was working long day during boxing day.  I went straight to Guitar Central and have a look what's on sale and it was a total BARGAIN.  I was drooling from guitar amps to effects pedal and most especially the electric guitars.  ESP, Dean, Washburn and one of my favorite brand, Gretsch.  There was a guy playing this semi-hollow Gretsch and I was with my son that time in his pushchair, I was really amazed by the sound of the guitar.  It was plugged in a Randall guitar amp stack, I am not sure but it looks like a tube amp. The Randall KH-15, a Kirk Hammett's signature practise amp was on super sale and by the way, Kirk Hammett was born to a Filipino mother and an Irish American father, so technically Kirk is half Filipino.  Kirk is an avid ESP guitar user and was using Mesa/Boogie before he made his move to Randall Amplifiers. There are junior electric guitar as well that was on sale, guitar books and D...

We went to Southampton a couple of days ago just to unwind and spend time with the family.  We come across a new music store and it's called Guitar Central .  This is located just next to Maplin when you're headed towards Bargate on your left hand side.  We went inside the shop look around and check out the place, the ambience is quite nice and has a friendly atmosphere. It was also a good timing because I am planning to buy a guitar amp and this is the right place to go. I have checked some of the amps there and saw Kirk Hammett's signature series Randall KH-15 and it caught my attention.  It looks cool but I haven't tried it or heard the sound of it, although I find the price affordable.  Also the guy there recommended to me a Hiwatt amp which looks decent and affordable as well.  Me and my brother wanted to have a Cajon (wooden percussion box) so I was trying my luck if they got one.  At the moment they don't have but they've attended to us very ...

  First time for the Filipino Community in Romsey to do a Valentine's Party and it was my wife Lofel and I who prepared the event from invitation, posters, food and even lights and sound.  Of course with the support of my brother, sister-in-law and my sister back home in the Philippines. The gig was held in William IV pub in Romsey. It was a very nice event from food to music as well as the staff of William IV pub.  I bought a Disco Pod Lights from Maplin and I got it on sale for only like £24 something.  It has six colours and speed adjustments and it can be re-arranged according to your style.  Also I used my ION Center Stage portable PA system which was connected to my Behringer K450FX PA/Keyboard amp as an extension speakers.  Then I used my Behringer Xenyx 1002FX mixer for the mic in as well as my HP mini netbook and iPad for my backing tracks and DJ app for mixing. I invited Milay to sing with me that night and she sang beautifully songs from A...

We had a lot of fun during this gig especially that the band really gel together after the two-set gig at Strawhenge Festival in King's Somborne. We had a lot of songs to choose from from Pink Floyd to The Who and Deep Purple to Dire Straits. Also we did Breakfast at Tiffany's, Walking on sunshine, A little respect, Stand by me and even Paranoid by Black Sabbath. The only downside during this gig was Crossfield Hall where the Xmas Do was held, they got a sound meter and we were adjusting our volume time and again and we're very cautious that it trip the power and stall our gig.  Apart from that the crowd loved us and really enjoyed our music. To top it all up, the food was excellent. Not only us but our guests as well enjoyed the food. Oh, I remembered Beth took a pudding and did not realize it was a pudding until she started eating eat. I think it was Buko Pandan. We had the same setup, Ali's Pearl drum kit, Dave's Thunderbird Bass plugged into his Beringer ...

After the Hamper Ball 09 gig and the Romsey xmas do 2009 gig, we were invited to participate in a mini-woodstock of England which was held in King's Somborne Hampshire and they called the event as Strawhenge. The participants wore a hippie costume and they put up tent, campfire, a trailer truck stage where the bands performed. It was such a fun night. There were a lot of bands who listed but during the event there was only two bands who showed up, it was us "The Hampered Ball" and another band which was a Ska Band that I can't remember the name of the group.  Then a solo singer called "Dan the Man" and then group of girls who performed a dance medley. With this gig we had additional bandmates, Lofel was pregnant so she couldn't do the backing vocals and Beth joined the group. Then, Ali's friend Marcus joined us and played the keyboards.  He was using a Casio portable electric piano.  The band's setup initially during sound check were, M...

After the success of my first gig in England and having to setup my own gear, the band continued and we named our group as the Hampered Balls.  This time, the band was invited to be the guest band during the Filipino Christmas Party in Romsey 2009.  There was a bit of obstacle during that time as two of our bandmates were in Uni.  Dave did not make it to the gig and Ali made it and just jam along some of the songs as I gave him mp3 copy of the songs.  It was first time seeing my English mates playing Filipino songs.  We didn't have a bassist that night but we managed to get the crowd to sing and dance with our songs. Also we did a semi-unplugged session while they having the food and it was a 3-piece unplugged set.  Lofel was the vocalist, Mike was rhythm guitarist and I was the lead guitarist.  We played Torete by Moonstar88 and Wag Na Wag Mong Sasabihin by Kitchie Nadal. During the finale of our gig, we asked Abu our good friend to jam with u...

I was, by chance, invited in a house barbecue party with our friend Rhoda who's got a very close "English" friend, Caroline. There at their house, I met Mike -- Caroline's husband. Mike and I had a chat whilst others were busy with barbecue and other food. Then, I saw a drumkit which is Pearl, a lovely set.  Also in that lounge there's a mini-pool table.  I asked Mike if I can try the drums and he said "only if you win the 9-ball billiards with your mates."  I told him that I'm not very good with billiards, but he said that's the condition.  And so I played and accidentally or by pure luck, I won.  So, I had the chance to play the drums and Mike took his acoustic guitar and we jammed.  Then, I told him that I am more comfortable with the guitar and then we swapped and jammed again and he got carried away and took his Ibanez SG type electric guitar and we jammed together, one acoustic and one electric guitar. The inevitable offer came and he...

I transferred work again because my previous work which is business transcription was project based and I find it not stable.  So, I worked with Transkripsyo in Pasig and it was recommended by my good friend Topsie who was my co-trainee in Makati during OTPI days. Armand and I met again in this company and formed a band.  We rehearsed in Mang Alberto's again near Nepa Q-Mart, it was a Deja Vu because during OTPI days we tend to practise there plus Armand was also my bandmate with my previous work.  At times we practised in Gio's house because he's got his drumkit there as well as some amplifiers. We met an amazing and extra-ordinary drummer, not because he is really a very good drummer but because he is such a character.  He is above average drummer that dwells with a good brand of hardware and drumkit who would spend money for a snare drums and cymbals.  He bought a Pearl Piccolo snare, I don't know the specs but it was really very good.  Our vocalists a...

As I mentioned in my previous blog " First Gig in Manila ", the company I was working with closed so I moved on and work with other companies like M-Tech in Buendia where I was an off-site nurse.  I was assigned to work as an ambulance nurse and at times during company's annual physical exam, I assist their company physician and then I was a reliever nurse in Rockwell, Makati by the same company. So much for that it was just a transition for me from medical transcription until another opportunity came and I worked in Pasig as a business transcriptionist. There I met again musicians, a guitarist which later on when we formed a band became our bassist and his name is Armand, and he's got a good mate that's one of our colleague as well who plays the guitar and was doing some backing vocals and he is Glen, our drummer was a pretty girl called May and the instruments we were using were his brother's.... and again I was the guitarist.  Our vocalist was Armand, May...