Rocksteddy is a band of Christian rockers, and fellow church members from the Philippines. The four members, Teddy (lead vocal), Christian (Bass, vocals), Juven (Guitar) and Jeff (Drums), were church friends before they started this alternative rock band called Rocksteddy. The band, who has been together for more than 10 years, has various singles of different genres, but they are mainly focusing on emo, punk rock and alternative rock.

Reiterating that they are considered more of a punk rock band, KpopStarz SG Team had an exclusive opportunity to speak the guys of Rocksteddy during their recent visit to Singapore for Sundown Festival 2013. They were energetic and happy throughout the whole interview. We also gained an insight to what the band thinks of their music, their changes since debut as well as what they consider K-Pop to be and their wish to collaborate with international artists. They also showed their empathetic side as they shared their condolences to the victims who are recently suffering from the aftermath of the typhoon in Philippines.

KPopstarz: How would you classify the genre of your music? Are there any genres or style you would like to venture into?

Christian: Right now we are more seen as "punk rock" band, though some may be considered emo. For our recent album, we ventured into more emotional songs and when we say emotional its bipolar (laughs), we have extreme happy songs and extreme sad songs. In the Philippines, they see us as alternative and punk rock. So that's how we would like to classify our music. Even our energy when we perform, it's like a very energetic punk group and band.

KPopstarz: What is one thing that has changed since you first started out until now?

Christian: The way we perform and the way we write music. Before we started out, our movements on stage were very reserved. We were more concentrating on how to play our pieces, but now we've learnt to incorporate movements and really perform. Sometimes incorporating choreography as well! (laughs) And that comes from the gel-ing of the members.

Teddy: For me, one thing that has changed is how we write our own music. During our first album, I think it's not that matured yet, we had not had any experience how to record songs, or what type of songs we would want to record. So recording-wise, now I can see that we have more production value. We have added little things that would make the songs better for us. It works also both ways on how we perform live and on the CD.

Christian: It's a totally different package when you listen to our CD and when we perform live. Most of the people we interact with say that we sounded much heavier than in the CD. When we perform live, we are more energetic, more punk, as compared to in the CD where we are kind of confined to a specific genre. When we perform live, we take the CD level, one more notch heavier and that's how we would sound tomorrow.

Teddy: We are also more familiar with each other. I know what he's going to do, we just look at each other and do something, and the rest would know.

KPopstarz: You have done a few collaborations. Is there any artist that you would love to collaborate with? And why?

Jeff: AOA!

Christian: I think being able to collaborate with international artist is good enough. For me personally, I would like to collaborate with Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters. He is one of the founding members of Nirvana before Kurt Cobain died. I would love to collaborate with Dave Grohl, Drake, Green Day or maybe Psy! For us the genre does not really matter, we have no problem doing different genres like Dance or Pop. We actually listen to different type of songs and we absorb.

Teddy: Metallica! If we are able to collaborate with them, I think that would be quite a highlight. Metallica is on our highest list, the top list.

KPopstarz: You started out when K-pop wasn't yet mainstream in the Philippines, do you view the entrance of K-pop in the Philippines music market as a challenge? How have things changed due to this?

Christian: I think it's pretty great that a lot of different genres are entering mainstream, like K-pop. For us, it's not really that much of a challenge. We are just doing our thing, playing our music. It's a good thing that K-pop actually came into the Philippines, it brought in a variety of types of music that weren't in the Philippines before.

Teddy: It's a great thing also that Psy broke into the mainstream with his version of K-pop. I mean, as I know, Psy isn't really 'K-pop', he's more into rock, so I think it's pretty cool that he is adopting to this kind of music and making it his own, his own funny lyrics and stuffs. I think it is also a challenge for us to allow certain genres to affect our music. But for now, I think our band is more focused on one straight genre, punk and rock. But we do listen to other genres for inspiration. It's because our band have a bit of comedic side especially in the Philippines. But we will be a bit more serious in our music now.

Christian: But for one thing that I look out for is their discipline and their dedication to their craft. It's very inspiring. So it is a challenge but there's also a lot to learn from.

Teddy: And the way they shoot their music video. I think the Philippines are way too far in terms of quality of our music videos. Their quality, the budget and the support is amazing. So I think that's one thing Filipino artists have to aspire for; to achieve the type of quality K-Pop music videos have.

KPopstarz: In the light of recent calamity in the Philippines, is there anything you would like to say to the people of the Philippines at this time of difficulty? What have you done as an artist to respond to the call of help for the typhoon?

Teddy: I think this festival is also a blessing for us to represent as well as to uplift the Filipino spirit. It is one thing good for us to represent our country and make them proud amidst all the chaos that is happening now in our country. This is to show support to the Filipino communities in Singapore as well. We are here to represent our country, to raise our flag and to help uplift the spirit our fellow countrymen.

Christian: We have also started doing beneficial. We have joined a lot of productions in the Philippines, to benefit those who were affected by the typhoon. Like a few days ago, one of the biggest music stations in the Philippines had a benefit concert and we were a part of it. So any group that aims to produce for the benefit of the typhoon victims, we would definitely make it a point to be a part of that. So far, that's what we have done. And of course, our prayers are with those victims that are suffering right now.

Teddy: For me personally, I have donated a few boxes of my own clothes and a few groceries too to one of the foundations that are bringing all the relief goods to the typhoon victims. We do our part in our own little ways. This festival would also help the Filipino community to encourage their spirit. Sundown Festival acts as an international outreach. It made it a little bit more meaningful for us to represent our country.

Even amidst their busy day, the guys of Rocksteddy were energetic throughout the interview and we were able to know them better. After the interview, the guys even posed for our camera where they candidly gave us their 'punk' look upon our request.

Interview by: KpopStarz SG Team (Ong Melin) | Writer: Sri Ayuni | Photo Credits: Ong Melin | Special thanks to: Rocksteddy, Red Spade Entertainment and MSLGROUP