Names Are For Tombstones

Names Are For Tombstones (or simply NAFT) is a Filipino electronic music project started in 1997 by Noel “Nono” Acosta (born June 2, 1971). NAFT evolved as an extension of Nono’s creative writing upon discovery of recording, sampling and sequencing using computers. Prior to starting his solo project, Nono had been in a garage band fondly called Wash Tub Fill with friends. NAFT and Nono are used interchangeably by Acosta and his peers in music.

The music of NAFT is an amalgam of different genres primarily post-punk and electronic music. Starting as an experiment on turning poems into songs from 1997 to 2000, the project solidified with the recording of the album Phantoms in 2001 where Nono did everything from guitars, vocals, synth and drum programming to recording, mixing and mastering. In September 2003 NAFT started performing his music by encouragement of colleagues.

Short History

Bedroom to Stage

A feature written by Giselle Roque for the Philippine music magazine PULP in 2003 prompted NAFT to venture into performing. The first few months of doing live gigs included Wash Tub Fill band mates Arwin Tolentino (guitars, backing vocals) and Vener Valerio (guitars, backing vocals) as supporting musicians. Due to change in priorities of his band mates, Nono started performing solo armed with just a laptop and a single instrument (either a guitar or a keyboard). NAFT has also shared the stage with Boy Ramos (electronic percussions, synthesizers, vocals) on a couple of occasions who is also his band mate in the synthpop band Watari’s Machine. 2003 also saw NAFT submitting the song Exasperated Machine to the Halloween gig/compilation Ever After.

Five More Years

In 2005 NAFT participated in an online compilation Electronica Manila: One of the music consortium Electronica Manila with the track Watari’s Machine. In the same year NAFT was also included in the Philippine independent music compilation 8 Track (produced by Boom Unida) with a special version of the song Watari’s Machine (Paranoid Droid Remix) together with contemporaries in the music movement Back To The Edge. This marked NAFT’s first commercial recording feature. The success of the song Watari’s Machine prompted the creation of a synthpop project of the same name. NAFT also contributed Swan Song (Farewell) to the Halloween gig/compilation Echoes In Dead Air in the same year.

The period 2004-2006 was fondly referred by Nono as the Watari Period as he obsessed with the personal mythology character Watari who symbolized Nono’s personal struggles. It started with a chord progression that reared four different interpretations. This culminated with the recording of the Swans EP that was launched through a listening party at the cultish and defunct Chunky Far Flung in Cubao X.

In 2007 the producer of 8 Track recommended NAFT to the production company High In Chai / Kingsworld from Singapore. They contacted Nono and asked Dreams of Grandeur to be included in the benefit CD Rock In Asia. This is NAFT’s first international commercial release feature.

Marking his 5th year in the live music scene, and technically 11 years into his music project, Nono chose to concentrate on composing and honing his production skills. This meant lesser live performances to allow more music to be created. The period also included drawing the line between NAFT’s and Watari’s Machine’s identities that previously overlapped. Some of the new NAFT demos, Pyre, and Swan Song (Farewell) [Radio Edit] were included in the online compilation Overtune Project Vol. 4: Execute Transmission.

NAFT also contributed remixes to Bagetsafonik’s Halogen (Incandescent Version) and FoodShelterAndClothing’s Meet The Dead (Reanimation). Towards the end of the year, NAFT gathered a number of his music contemporaries for an online collaboration of remixes to be released January 2009.

2009 started busy for NAFT with Restart 9: The Watari’s Machine Remix Project. It is a compilation of 17 remixes / interpretations of the NAFT cult song Watari’s Machine done by NAFT and his colleagues in the electronic music scene. It was released as a free download in the NAFT website. Also pleasant news was the inclusion of NAFT and a couple other entities from the Philippines in Mick Mercer’s goth catalog book Music To Die For.

External links

• www.namesarefortombstones.com - NAFT website
• www.myspace.com/tombstones - NAFT in MySpace
• www.soundclick.com/namesarefortombstones - NAFT in Soundclick
• www.last.fm/music/Names+Are+For+Tombstones - NAFT in LastFM