True Faith or Truefaith started in 1992, and since then, has become one of the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

' most popular and accomplished bands.

The band took its name from New Order

New Order

New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...

's 1987 hit single "True Faith", revealing the group's new wave origins. At first, True Faith mined mid-'80s new wave sounds for its breezy pop formula, but the group eventually ventured further into the Philippine mainstream, firmly embracing middle of the road radio. Under the Viva Records label, the band has 13 best-selling albums. Their music is best described as a blend of jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 and rock music

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

.

Early career

In 1993, a demo tape of the band's song "Perfect" -- a romantic ballad with jangling guitars and longing vocals à la the Railway Children and the Lotus Eaters -- hit number one on Manila Top 40 radio station DWRT. The accessibility of "Perfect" opened the doors to the masses, a much larger crowd than the cult of fans who watched them perform new wave covers in small clubs. Signed to EMI music in the Philippines, True Faith's 1995 album, Build, was the group's first big smash, elevating it to superstar status in its native land.

Awards

Through the distinct powerful voice of its lead singer and founder, Medwin Marfil, the band is able to amass numerous music awards and nominations highlighted in summer of 2000 by an Music Television

Music television

Music television is a type of television programming which focuses predominantly on playing music videos from bands, usually on dedicated television channels broadcasting on satellite or cable. Music TVs may host their own shows charts, award prizes. Examples are VIVA, Scuzz, MTV, JBTV, MuchMusic,...

 Asia award for Best Video Award for the video Awit Para Sa Kanya (Song For Her). Although Truefaith didn't win, the nomination brought the band back into the public spotlight. Memories Are Cheap: The Best of Truefaith, 1993-2000 was also released that year, a hugely successful overview of Truefaith's success and a look at how the group evolved from its new wave roots to becoming an easy listening icon. Since then, they've become a favorite contender in every respectable award-giving organization.

As they tour the Philippines through colleges, club circuits, and radio stations, they continue to build a strong following. "Faithfools", the moniker the fans called themselves, look upon the group to hear songs they have popularized like, "Perfect", "Sumasarap ang Gising", and "Dedma".

True Faith has played alongside famous artists like The Dawn, the late Ric Segreto

Ric Segreto

Ric Segreto born Richard Vincent Segreto Macaraeg, was a Filipino Italian-American recording artist, singer-songwriter, actor, teacher, journalist and historian who became popular in the Philippines.-Early life:...

, Kuh Ledesma

Kuh Ledesma

Kuh Ledesma is a popular Filipino pop and jazz singer. She is known in the Philippines as the "Pop Diva". Kuh Ledesma has been performing for 25 years in the music industry which encompasses more than 300 concerts, numerous awards in the Philippines, and 18 albums in the Philippine recording...

, Kulay and many more. They are slated to perform in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in the fall

Autumn

Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....

 of 2005.

True Faith is a band that is newly formed. They are mostly popular for singing the theme song for "Sa Piling Mo

Sa Piling Mo

"Sa Piling Mo" is a love story between both Judy Ann Santos and Piolo Pascual. This "teleserye" is one of the most popular shows in the Philippines and its pilot episode was broadcast on February 27, 2006.-Episodes:...

" entitled "Dahil Ikaw". This song bagged the Favorite Media Soundtrack category in the recent 2007 MYX Music Awards.

Nevertheless, for many observers, True Faith's nomination was a welcome boost to a rollercoaster career that dates back to their 1993 monster hit, "Perfect", which started life as a demo that spent countless weeks as the no. 1 song on the competitive 99.5 RT Top 40 chart. After riding high as one of the country's top pop bands, True Faith peaked with their 1995 album "Build", which spawned several hit singles such as "Alaala" and "Kundi Rin Lang Ikaw".

Legal action

"Build" was followed by a messy episode that involved a court case between co-founder and lead singer Medwin Marfil and three founding band members over the use of the band name. An out of court settlement ensued, with Medwin winning full rights to the name. He reformed the band with some old and new members and recorded two more studio albums for the Octoarts-EMI label. The band has only recently (2006) regained its stride, with a top-selling greatest hits album and the nomination of the band's video (by award winning video director Robert Quebral) put them back on the A-List.

New sound

In May 2001 at an MTV event in Makati the band unveiled a new twist in its sound with the inclusion of a three-piece horn section composed of seasoned members of leading big band Ugoy Ugoy. The result is a more organic soul-based sound that veers away from the electronica splashes added by co-producer (and in-demand remixer) Brian Cua in their last studio outing.

2002 and beyond

Grace (2002) the band’s next cd was welcomed with lukewarm response. Touted as a return to the pop rock realm, it didn’t quite meet the expectations of fans and even the band weren’t as happy as they were with previous efforts. The single Deadma initially made much of a stir with its video that featured FHM cover girl Diana Zubiri. All else fizzled into oblivion. True fans would disagree: they’d argue that tracks like Come Back Home and Medusa would have made great singles. As Medwin recalls today, the group wasn’t given ample time to polish the record into how it should be. The record company was also undergoing management personnel changes which didn’t help either. He also remembers that aside from Slapshock and other rap metal bands, the band scene wasn’t as vibrant as it used to be. This seeming limbo like state of the band scene was followed by another music trend. A trend that Truefaith would be a bit player of sorts.

In 2004, Truefaith released Eto Hits… Acoustic. Convinced that the band pioneered the unplugged side of OPM in the early 90s, EMI decided to release a compilation of old Truefaith songs in their original acoustic arrangement or re-done to suit the theme. It also included a cover of the Culture Club classic, Mistake Number 3. The collection did quite well.

After 2 years of absence from the recording scene, Truefaith returned in a big way with the launch of their 11th cd, Stray To Be Found. Powered by the first single, the mega ballad, Dahil Ikaw (which is the theme song to the teleserye Sa Piling Mo) the band have made their comeback in a spectacular manner. Not to be left out in the burgeoning "new band wave", they have once again proven to be a force to reckon with in the local music industry. A couple of years back, Benedict Esguerra and Kenneth Ilagan entered the band as drummer and guitarist respectively. Two years was just enough time for them to gel with the band. After Dahil Ikaw, the singles, Sayang Ang Lahat, Cross My Heart (a cover of an EBTG classic), and Araw’t Gabi were released. All the videos for these singles became regular fare in MYX’s Daily Top 10. (The album also included covers of the band's favorites: Crowded House's Four Seasons In One Day, Fra Lippo Lippi's Crazy Wisdom.)

The video for Dahil Ikaw which was one of the most viewed in 2006; and was nominated in 2 categories at the MYX Music Awards of 2007 consequently winning in the soundtrack category.It was directed by Genghis Jimenez.

In October 2005, the band went to the U.S.A. for their 1st American Tour. They played 2 shows 'round San Francisco, San Diego, New York and two shows in L.A. Medwin believes that the popularity of the song Dahil Ikaw has only increased the chances of them goin back to America and possibly a tour of Europe to entertain Filipinos there. It is no wonder that the song that ushered their comeback has paved the way for them to play internationally. From 2006 to 2008 they’ve done shows in Taiwan, Hong Kong Singapore and Malaysia. In June 2009, Medwin and Eugene did a special acoustic show in Dubai which was very successful. (In the works for 2010: a North American tour, Australian tour, European tour and a Middle East tour!!)

To celebrate Truefaith's contribution to OPM and their years in EMI Philippines, the record label compiled all of the band's most memorable hits and other less popular-yet-beautiful tracks. Dubbed as "Dream Journal:The Very Best Of Truefaith 1993-2007", the two-disc 32-track album chronicles Truefaith's journey through songs that endeared them to the listening public and cemented the band's reputation as certified hit makers.

Truefaith has just recently signed up with Viva Records and is currently recording for the new album. The new album titled, "Love Parade for the Life Brigade" was slated for an Oct release. According to Medwin, the band is experiencing some delays but reassures all fans of the band that it will be out way before 2009 ends.

Released in March 2010, "Love Parade" features an eclectic mix of special guests from soul prince, Luke Mejares, saxophone wiz, Dix Lucero (on the 80's influenced inspirational track,Kaya Mo 'Yan) and Time magazine- hailed artists: Carlos Magno of the superb band Out Of Body Special and Armi Millare of critics darlings, Up Dharma Down. The latter sings on the upcoming first single, 'Yun Lang.

Current members

• Medwin Marfil - vocals
• Eugene Marfil - acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  /vocals
• Bimbo Yance - bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Allan Elgar - lead guitar
  Lead guitar
  Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
  
  
• Jake Lumacad - keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  
• Benedict Esguerra - drums

Former members

• Caryl Campos
• Eazer Pastor
• Ferdie Marquez
• Francis Guevarra
• Yeng Remulla
• Jay Valencia
• Jun Dizon
• Carlo Sison
• Kenneth Ilagan

Albums

• Perfect (1993)
• Beyond Doubt (1994)
• Build (1995)
• Looking Up (1997)
• Bliss (1998)
• Memories Are Cheap: The Best of TrueFaith 1993-2000 (2000)
• Legalized Intense Vague Emotions (2001)
• Truefaith Live: Myxed Emotions At Halo-Halo (2001)
• Grace (2002)
• Eto Hits...Acoustic (2004)
• Stray To Be Found (2006)
• Dream Journal: The Very Best of Truefaith 1993-2007 (2007)
• Love Parade (2010)

Collaborations

• Make That Cool Thing Happen (Chiclets Promo Single, 1993)
• Pasko Para Sa Lahat: All Star Christmas Album (PolyEast Records, "Formerly Octoarts", 1996)
• Acoustic Lokal (Viva Records, 2003)
• Tunog Acoustic (Warner Music Philippines, 2003)
• Acoustic Natin (Universal Records, 2004)
• Acoustic Natin 2 (Universal Records, 2005)
• Pinoy Ako (Star Records, 2005)
• Pinoy Ako 2 (Star Records, 2006)
• Pinoy Biggie Hits Vol. 2 (Star Records, 2006)
• The Best Of OPM Acoustic Songs (Universal Records, 2005)
• Superbands (Universal Records, 2005)
• Bandang Pinoy, Lasang Hotdog (Sony BMG Music Philippines, Repackaged 2006)
• Kami nAPO Muna Ulit (Universal Records, 2007)
• Toblerone National Thank You Day (2007)
• Unforgettable Kisses: Hershey’s 100th. Anniversary (2007)
• Acoustic Best: All Original Artists (Ivory Music, 2010)
• A Perfectly Acoustic Experience (PolyEast Records, 2011)

Popular Hits

• Perfect
• Ambon
• Huwag Na Lang Kaya
• Muntik ng Maabot ang Langit
• Hi!
• Alaala
• Sa Puso Ko
• Baliw
• Awit Para (Sa Kanya)
• Kung O.k. Lang Sa’yo
• Sumasarap ang Gising
• Dedma
• Dahil Ikaw
• Sayang ang Lahat
• Araw't Gabi
• 'Yun Lang
• Pangako
• Lihim