MANILA, Philippines — In indie label Off The Record, seasoned expertise and digital drive meet to collaborate, seeking to open a new era in the local music scene.
When it comes to making music and creating entertainment, Off The Record is not out to reinvent the wheel. After all, if you want to play ball with the big music players there are rules you need to follow, formulas you need to master, and more than your fair share of luck if you want the gods of internet virality to smile down on you. Instead, what Off The Record does is combine its founder Ricky Ilacad’s decades of music industry experience and hit-attuned ear with the creativity and drive of its team of digital natives. The result is, rather than reinvention, a redirection of focus from admittedly catchy but ultimately forgettable bops back to what should matter most: the artists, and the music itself.
Image courtesy of Amplified Entertainment
It goes without saying that the events of 2020 have changed more than the severity of our hypochondria. The lens through which we see the world and the methods with which we interact with it have been forever altered with the outside closing in, and what Off The Record does is carve out a space on already-crowded platforms for light to shine through. Little else comforts and unifies the way that music does, and creating the best possible shared experience is what the indie label hopes to achieve with every release from its growing roster of artists.
The growing and formidable team is headed by General Manager Francis Dayao, with advertising senior Basia Joaquin at the helm for Digital. With almost thirteen years of experience, Singer-songwriter and producer Jensen Gomez completes the core team as the head of A&R. Joining forces with one of the country’s leading music marketing experts, Amplified Entertainment supports the label’s marketing endeavours.
Image courtesy of Amplified Entertainment
In just less than a year from its launch, what Ricky and his team have accomplished is very much in line with their label’s tagline “hits different”. With excitingly diverse new music from top young actress and singer Alexa Ilacad, the first ever release of Jacob Clemente’s cult favourite “Naghihintay”, a trilogy from rising indie artist rienne, the debut release of the power-pop band ASTER, they have managed to create a resonant space for their artists’ work to speak for itself.
The indie label proves that there’s plenty of room on the playing field. Pampanga-based singer-rapper DAZE’s debut single “Diwata” featuring on-line sensation and content creator Zendee keeps flying high as it becomes the next hit on the block. To complete the roster, sibling alt-pop duo No Lore signs to the label and is set to bring their listeners on an otherworldly sublime transcendence with their music inspired from their own paintings with poetry.
Off the record is, without a doubt, set to usher in this brand new era of entertainment and experience.