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Iktus is a Christian band in the Philippines composed of four members. They are signed under MCA. They won the grand finals of the very first “Sun Broadband Quest Grand Finals” inter-band competition held July 2013 at the Music Museum.

Composed of lead singer Carizza Panaligan, her twin brothers Andrei and Andrew on bass and drums, respectively, and Augusto Mendoza on guitars, the Christian band Iktus representing Christian International School said their name is actually a “Tagalized” spelling of “ichtus” which means fish.

They settled for the name not just because fish is a symbol of Christianity but also because they thought Iktus was “tunog-Pinoy” and catchy enough for most people.

If their name sounds familiar, it’s because Iktus are veterans of several battle of the band contests, including the equally prestigious Globe Kantabataan and Nescafe Soundskool.

Their engaging brand of alternative pop-rock certainly proved catchy enough for the judges composed of MCA Music’s Sammy Samaniego and Francis Guevarra, Sun Broadband’s Neph Denosta and musician/Peso Movement guitarist Francis “Brew” Reyes, who thought they were better than nine other bands who made it to the finals out of 145 bands who had registered for the contest nationwide.

Citing Rivermaya, Silent Sanctuary, Sugarfree, Itchyworms, Urbandub, Paramore, Flyleaf, Switchfoot, and Run Kid Run as among their influences, Iktus dazzled the crowd with their spirited rendition of Yeng Constantino’s “Pag-Ibig” as well their own original song, “Wag Muna”.

“We really don’t know how to start expressing how we feel right now…Our journey as a band and as an individual ay sobrang exciting! Super daming challenges, failures and success! Along the way, napatunayan namin never kaming iniwan ni God…We are now excited to sign up with our country’s leading recording company, MCA! At last! Recording na!” the band posted on their Facebook page shortly after their win.

“We are thankful for this wonderful opportunity of partnering with Sun Broadband and MCA Music, and we are very excited to share our music to a wider audience,” says Iktus. “The competition gave us a great starting point, and now, we are looking forward to enhancing our craft further and maximizing our exposure to the professional music scene through our recording contract.”

Iktus has accounts on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Instagram. Their album is out now in itunes and spinnr Philippines.

Reference List:

http://www.interaksyon.com/entertainment/christian-band-iktus-wins-sun-broadband-quest-battle-of-the-bands-finale/ http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2013/10/13/1244591/iktus-inks-deal-sun-broadband-mca-music