The Future of Indie-Pop in the Philippines is Nameless

Just a few seconds into listening to Nameless Kids’ single, “Habits,” you’ll find yourself easily hooked by the honesty of its lyrics, the catchy beats, and the dreamy mix of electronic, pop, and indie influences. The song talks about getting out of a toxic relationship before losing yourself, and the band was able to masterfully capture the tension and confusion of experiences like that. 

Well, we do not want bad habits in a relationship, but we do want to get into the habit of listening to promising artists and bands, like Nameless Kids. Their singles convince us the future is brighter for OPM and the indie-pop genre.

So, who make up this rising band? Meet Tati De Mesa (bass), Kyle Perry (vocals and guitars), Kim Allen (vocals and guitars), Imay Alconaba (drums), and Nhiko Sabiniano (electronic aspect). 

Nameless Kids was formed in 2019 as a result of the merging of two bands. Initially, Nhiko was working with Kyle, and then Tati, who was in a separate band with Imay and Kim, joined. They then decided to merge the two bands and rebrand themselves as Nameless Kids.

The group describes their sound as “indie-pop na experimental.”“We put in a lot of elements to our indie,” expounds Nhiko. “It’s in the path of indie pop, but it’s still very experimental, kasi for us, music is a never-ending experiment.”

On “Shoes Out The Door”

The band’s first album features a mix of different life experiences. The inspiration behind the name came from the idea of capturing the process of creating music, the one thing that binds the tracks together. Featured in this EP are tracks “Habits,” “’Till Love Means Love,” and “Faded.”

Kyle tells Metro.Style, “[The title] ‘Shoes Out The Door,’ kind of, like, represents what we do at the studio, right before we start to record. It’s like an unspoken rule, everyone has to keep their shoes out the door. By doing that, it’s kind of like our way of saying… we leave all of our outside worries outside, all our transgressions, leave it out the door.”

“Ako, personally, for me, stress reliever talaga ang music. So, parang ’pag nasa studio kami, fun times lang,” adds Kim.“’Pag magkakasama na kami, ’pag nasa mood na kami mag-work, kahit mag-start kami ng mga 7pm tapos hindi namin namamalayan… morning na,” shares Imay. 

“Habits” is the key track of “Shoes Out The Door.” This song, the band shares, was the result of an initial guitar loop: “’Yung nangyari nu’n, gumawa ako ng guitar loop, which is the intro, tapos nilagyan ko siya ng iba’t-ibang effects, tapos ni-reverse ko siya. So ang nangyari, ni-reverse ’yung guitar part, so parang naging medyo weird ’yung tunog niya,” Tati recalls. 

“Ano ’yung tone ng habits ’yung gusto kong gamitin?,” Nhiko reflected as he was contributing to the song. “And nag-sink in sa’kin, medyo tense ’yung feel ng intro, so kailangan ’yung concept ng song, doon sa binibigay na tension ng bad habits.”

Different personas merging in music 

Similar to the songs, the band was formed by people from different backgrounds. Before being a band member, Kyle had acting and modelling gigs, while Tati was a graphic artist who also dabbled in music production.

Nhiko grew up as an athlete and has been playing baseball for years. Imay has always been involved in creating music and is actively participating in their church. Kim is an acoustic singer and songwriter, who was also a vocal mentor and pre-school teacher.

Where to, next? 

“I’m sure naman na in five years, we’re still gonna be doing our thing. Siyempre, in the longer run, we acknowledge that there will come a time when we will have to move on with our own lives, but I guess in five years, nagko-continue pa rin kami mag-pusue ng music, probably the music or the sound would have evolved in terms of being experimental. I guess mas established na sound namin,” Nhiko muses when asked how the band sees themselves in five years. 

Nameless Kids just released their version of the iconic track “Kabataang Pinoy,” and they’ve also been included in the roster of performers for the biggest music festival of the year, 1MX Manila 2021.

With new songs in store for their growing fanbase, Nameless Kids is sure to continue establishing their name and brand as well as carving their niche in the music industry. We’ll keep listening to them, and we recommend you do the same, too!