''Beautiful Machines'' is the debut studio album by the Filipino alternative rock band

Pupil The pupil is a hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing Company. It appears black becau ...

, released on November 11, 2005 through

Sony BMG Music Entertainment Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout ...

. The album featured the singles “Nasaan Ka?”, "Dianetic", "Dulo Ng Dila", and "Gamu-Gamo".

Background

Pupil was formed in 2005 as a spin-off of

The Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of Mon ...

, an underground band featuring

Eraserheads Eraserheads (sometimes stylized as ƎRASERHEADS or ƎRASƎRHƎADS) are a Filipino rock band formed in Quezon City in 1989. The band consists of lead singer and primary songwriter Ely Buendia, guitarist Marcus Adoro, bassist Buddy Zabala, and dr ...

vocalist

Ely Buendia Ely Eleandre Basiño Buendia (born November 2, 1970) is a Filipino musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band Eraserheads, with whom he has released seven albums since their founding in 1 ...

(vocals),

Teeth A tooth (: teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...

guitarist Jerome Velasco (guitars), Yanni Yuzon (bass), and Bogs Jugo (drums). When Velasco left the band to study in the United States, the band members recruited Dok Sergio (who also played guitar for Teeth), who swapped duties with Yuzon and played bass. The band's manager and Buendia's then-partner Diane Ventura described Pupil's sound as "more pop" while The Mongols were "guitar-driven". The band signed with

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

on September.

Music and lyrics

All members contributed songs to the album. “It’s less indulgent. It’s more focused,” said Buendia. “This is uncompromised. We are now talking directly to the audience,” said Sergio. Jugo added: “We did as we please. We don’t care about making hits.” The band recorded at Wombwork Studios in

Marikina Marikina (), officially the City of Marikina (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 4 ...

. The album featured the lead single “Nasaan Ka?”, which was written by Ventura (who also sings in the title track). A music video was directed by Quark Henares. “Nasaan Ka?” later won Best Performance by a New Group at the 19th

Awit Awards The Awit Awards are music awards in the Philippines given annually by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) to recognize the outstanding achievements in the music industry. The word "Awit" means "song" literally in Filipino ...

. One of the album tracks, "Blow Your House Down", appeared in the animated film ''

Hoodwinked! ''Hoodwinked!'' is a 2005 American animated musical mystery comedy film directed and written by Cory Edwards along with Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech, and produced by Katie Hooten, Maurice Kanbar, David K. Lovegren, Sue Bea Montgomery, a ...

'' The film, which was the first independently produced 3D animated feature to be produced in the Philippines, later premiered in December.

Release

The band sold the first hundred copies of the album at a bar in

Makati Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...

two days before it was released in stores.

Track listing

Personnel

Pupil *

- vocals, guitars * Yanni Yuzon - guitars, vocals * Dok Sergio - bass, vocals * Bogs Jugo - drums, vocals Additional musicians * Diane Ventura - vocals , backing vocals , piano * Jerome Velasco - additional guitar and keyboards Production * Pupil - producer * Patrick Tirano - producer, mixing, engineering * Zach Lucero - mastering * Diane Ventura - executive producer * Rudy Tee - executive producer * Vic Valenciano - A&R Design * Gorio Vicuna - art direction, graphic design * Ryan Agoncillo - photography * Mark Anthony Taduran - collage design * Isha Andaya - stylist * Dok Sergio - Wombworks session photos

References

{{Pupil 2006 debut albums Pupil (band) albums