Vladimir "Jamir" Salenga Garcia (5 September 1978 – 26 November 2020) was a Filipino musician best known as the

lead vocalist The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

of the

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...

band

Slapshock Slapshock was a Filipino heavy metal band from Metro Manila. They were formed in 1996, originally as a nu metal act, with their early musical style compared to that of Korn. They later shifted towards a metalcore style. Background The group ...

Slapshock

The band was formed during the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

Fair on 14 February 1997, which was also their first ever gig. By early 1998, original singer Reynold Munsayac had left, and Garcia was brought in to replace him. The band's name came from guitar plucking and chord-slapping techniques that characterized the nu-metal sound. Rap-funk-punk-metal fusion band the

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

was a significant influence. Their album ''4th Degree Burn'' reached platinum status. "We started at a young age, and now we've matured. We evolved on our own. We don't confine ourselves to what is the mode today," Garcia claimed.'' Kinse Kalibre'', their last album under

PolyEast Records PolyEast Records (formerly Canary Records, OctoArts International, OctoArts EMI Music Inc. and EMI Philippines) is a Philippine record label in the Philippines. It is a member of the Philippine Association of the Record Industry and from 200 ...

, was released in 2011. The group produced the album themselves. They received a nomination for Best Artist from

MTV Asia MTV was a pan-Asian music pay television channel that was launched on 5 May 1995 as a standalone pay television service. The channel was owned by Paramount Networks EMEAA. History Pre-launch The first incarnation of MTV Asia was launched on ...

, and were awarded Band of the Year by

NU 107 DWNU, a radio station in Mega Manila, was broadcasting from 1987 to 2010 as NU 107 that played mainly rock music. It was owned by Progressive Broadcasting Corporation. The station's last studio was located at the ground floor of AIC Gold Tower, F ...

in 2001, 2002, and 2003. They also received the Best Album Packaging award for ''Novena'' in 2002. Some of their songs are considered

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

in genre. Slapshock performed at the

Dubai Desert Rock Festival The Dubai Desert Rock Festival was an event celebrating various styles of rock and metal music on one stage in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Originally a one-day festival, it was expanded to two days in 2007 and 2008, before its eventual cancella ...

on March 7, 2008, with

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

Machine Head A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses, and others, and ...

Velvet Revolver Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of pu ...

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, and

Marky Ramone Marc Steven Bell (born July 15, 1952), better known as Marky Ramone, is an American drummer. He began playing in hard rock bands in the New York City area, notably Dust (band), Dust and Estus. He was asked to drum for punk rock band Richard Hell ...

of the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

. "It was very fulfilling; we saw the bands that we idolize. We were inspired to write new materials. We became a band because of them," said Garcia. Though they sang a

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...

song, the audience liked their music.

Other work

In 2012, Garcia and

apl.de.ap Allan Pineda Lindo (born November 28, 1974), known professionally as apl.de.ap ( ), is a Filipino-American rapper, singer and record producer. He is a founding member of the hip hop group Black Eyed Peas (BEP). With the BEP, he has been nomin ...

collaborated on the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for the movie '' El Presidente'', which won Best Theme Song in the

2012 Metro Manila Film Festival The 38th Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is a part of the annual film festival in Metro Manila, Philippines held from December 25, 2012, until January 8, 2013. During the festival, no foreign films are shown in Philippine theaters in order to sh ...

. In 2018, Garcia collaborated with the hip-hop group Chinese Mafia on the song "Laban" from the official

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of the film ''We Will Not Die Tonight''.

Social issues

Slapshock was vocal about with its stance on issues facing Filipinos. "We get affected because we pay taxes to the government, then they can't even protect us," Garcia said.

Death

On November 26, 2020, Garcia committed

suicide by hanging Suicide by hanging is the intentional killing of oneself (suicide) via suspension from an anchor-point such as an overhead beam or hook, by a rope or cord or by jumping from a height with a noose around the neck. Hanging is often considered to ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

. He was brought to Metro North Medical Center and Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Slapshock discography

*''

4th Degree Burn ''4th Degree Burn'' is the debut studio album by Filipino nu metal band Slapshock, released in 1999. It was certified platinum in the Philippines.Sarmiento, Rachel (5 September 2008).Slapshock All-time Pinoy Pride", ''The Philippine Star ' ...

'' (

, 1999) *'' Headtrip'' (PolyEast Records, 2001) *'' Project 11-41'' (PolyEast Records, 2002) *''

Novena A novena (from , "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost, when the ...

'' (PolyEast Records, 2004) *''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient hearing, audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low sound intensity, intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be exten ...

'' (PolyEast Records, 2006) *'' Cariño Brutal'' (PolyEast Records, 2009) *'' Kinse Kalibre'' (PolyEast Records, 2011) *'' Night Owls'' (BMBX, 2014) *''Atake'' (Alley Road Records, 2017)

References

External links

Archived official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Jamir 1978 births 2020 deaths 2020 suicides 21st-century Filipino male singers Kapampangan people Singers from Pampanga Musicians from Quezon City Suicides by hanging in the Philippines Nu metal singers Metalcore singers