Manskee

Manskee
File:Manskeegreenbelt.jpg
Background information
Birth name	Manuel Francis Nascimento
Born	January 16, 1978 (1978-01-16) (age 33)
Origin	Philippines
Genres	Acoustic, pop rock, alternative rock
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	vocals, guitars, percussion
Years active	2008–present
Website	[1]

Manuel Francis Nascimento (born January 16, 1978), better known in music circles as Manskee, is a Filipino-American independent musician alternately based Agoo, La Union in the Philippines, and in California.^[1] Nascimento's musical style is eclectic, but has been described as "Filipino surfer music," as Nascimento is also active Philippine Surfing Scene. This also gives Nascimento the distinction of being one of the few artists in the Filipino music scene arising originally from the surf community, and whose music is characterized by a "surfer vibe." ^[2]

Personal life

Nascimento was raised in the town of Agoo, La Union, where the he took up his early studies, including High School at the College of Education Laboratory High School of the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University. He then took his college degree at Saint Louis University in Baguio City. After a brief stint in the US Military, he split his time between California and La Union, where he eventually married Joy Gaerlan, a friend he met in High School. He also pursued studies in culinary arts in Manila.

Musical Awakening

Album sleeve for Manskee's debut album "Love, Death, and Everything in Between."

While in California in August 2008, Nascimento figured in a car accident and suffered a concussion. He credits this event for having suddenly triggered his musical side. In a conversation with Philippine music journalist Ricky Lo,^[1] he said:

"That same night was when I wrote my first song. I knew that day that something was absolutely different about me. Looking back at this point, I can’t deny that divine intervention was involved."

Love, Death, and Everything in Between

Over the course of the next year, Nascimento was able to write about 30 songs, and record thirteen of them in various makeshift studios, with help from friends like Aaron Bradley and indie artist Brandon Wall (a.k.a. Rise Over Me) in California. Nascimento eventually released these songs independently as the album "Love, Death, and Everything in Between". ^[3]

Tracklist

Tracks on the album^[3] include:

1. Heartbreaker
2. Limbo (A Love Lost)
3. What's With The World?
4. A Long Distance Affair
5. The Promise
6. Intertwined (Instrumental)
7. At Fault
8. Chasing Fire
9. This High
10. Nocturnal Desire
11. The One
12. Of Stereos and Music Videos
13. The Promise (Acoustic)

Album Art

The album art, conceived by Nascimento, was drawn by a California-based comics artist Ramiro Montanez.^[3] Nascimento describes the album cover^[1]:

"It’s metaphorical in the sense that it depicts both aspects of my life; light and darkness. The rough ocean represents the turmoil I’ve experienced while the sky and clouds represent the better parts of my life."

Reception

Nascimento's efforts to market the songs caught the attention of indie film director Brian Patrick Lim, who in early 2009 asked him to come up with the main theme for the upcoming film "Chasing Fire".^[2] It also caught the attention of Francis Reyes, who in July 2010 invited Nascimento to guest at his NU107 radio program In The Raw, exposing Nascimento's music to a mainstream audience for the first time^[2] and eventually leading to heavier radio airplay, particularly for the track "Nocturnal Desire".

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Lo, Ricardo F. (7 June 2010), The poignant story behind a ‘personal’ CD, "How Love has made Regine Loveable to US Fans", The Philippine Star, http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleid=582007 
2. ^ ^{a b c} In The Raw. Presenter: Francis Reyes. Progressive Broadcasting Corporation. NU107, Pasig City, Philippines. 18 July 2010. 120:00 minutes in.
3. ^ ^{a b c} (2010) Album notes for Love, Death, and Everything in Between by Manskee.

External links

• The Manskee Music Facebook Fan Page
• "Love, Death, and Everything in Between" on iTunes
• Official Page for "Chasing Fire", whose main theme was written by Manskee.

Persondata
Name	Nascimento, Manuel Francis
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 16, 1978
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death