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The Wuds is a Filipino punk rock band that formed in Manila in the early 1980’s. The band’s continual members are lead guitarist/vocalist Bobby Balingit, bassist/vocalist Alfred Guevara and drummer Aji Adriano. The trio is noted for pioneering punk rock music in the local music industry alongside other bands such as Urban Bandits, Dead Ends and The Jerks. The band was given the opportunity to be heard by independent music label Twisted Red Cross and Brave New World Concerts. Despite the band’s significance in shaping the Philippines’ music industry in terms of its contribution to Pinoy Rock, Wuds never reached the height of fame and mass acceptance. They remain obscure today as they were back in the 1980’s. To this day, the band has performed in numerous concerts in the Philippines and produced 5 studio albums.

Formation

“Back in 1983, we wanted to be identified with punk music. Punk is really our roots. It is our expression as part of an angst-driven generation,” says Alfred Guevara in a 2002 interview for PULP magazine. With this, the band was able to produce their first studio album entitled, Armstalk, in 1985. However, despite all that came with the band’s deep-seated roots in punk, which is characterized for its angst, chaos and anarchic nature, the Wuds managed to infuse punk with a high sense of spirituality, as devout believers of Krishna.

Brief Hiatus – Resurrection

The transition during the mid 80’s towards the 90’s gave breathing space for the band to produce their most commercially successful album, entitled “Nakalimutan na ang Diyos”. The album’s most notable track is, “At Nakalimutan Na Ang Diyos”, which questioned the lifestyle of the rich and the powerful, as well as the self-righteous.

Oplan Kahon, Gera, Nakaupo sa Puso…

However, despite the second album’s success, the cult followers of the band became fearful of the change in the band’s style, which became more evident as the bands consecutively released three more studio albums. “Before, we rarely used altered chords in our songs. Usually, we used only three chords. Raw and no rules, which was very punk”, says Bobby Balingit. Being the punks that they truly were, their response was far from being apologetic. “Punk is angry music. Over the years, we learned that your sound do not have to be loud to convey that anger. One can express his anger with a whisper,” says Guevara.

Today, the Wuds still remain active in performing music and voicing out their political stance. Bobby Balingit is currently with the Muzette Music Center in Alabang, as an unconventional guitar instructor and song-writing workshop facilitator. He is also a painter and has been working on exhibits and performance arts. In 1996, Bobby wrote an opera piece and later on formed a band in 2003, Juan Isip with several other artists from outside the country. Alfred Guevara on the other hand is a noted tattoo artist and the president of the Philippine Tattoo Arts Guild, while Aji Adriano teaches music alongside Bobby Balingit at the Muzette Music Center.