About The Blue Jean Junkies

Rock-and-Roll emerged as a defined music lifestyle as far back as the 1920’s where its elements were seen in the rhythm and blues records. Yet nowadays, some might question the whereabouts of rock-and-roll. Is it dead or just in hiatus? Well, not really… Rock-and-Roll is still around rocking and rolling. It has diversified and influenced all sorts of music genres like soul, pop, alternative rock, jazz, heavy metal and even hip hop. Rock-and-Roll is broad and its boundaries loosely defined.

And so, as inspired by the likes of Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Guns n’ Roses, a Pinoy Rock-and-Roll band was born sometime in 1999, going by the name of THE BLUE JEAN JUNKIES. They are practically one of the country’s very few that still carries, with great pride, the banner of Rock-and-Roll… with more emphasis on the roll!

The Blue Jean Junkies’ very first gig was in December of 1999 during the Tuesday show of Cousin Hoagee, “The Crossroads”, on NU 107. This led the group to gigs in Puerto Gallera, Palawan Islands, Baguio City, Boracay Island and in bars all over Metro Manila. Aside from live performances, the band also got busy on TV promotions with a very unforgettable appearance on “Late Night With Martin Nievera”, and then on MTV Lokal. In 2002, The Blue Jean Junkies released their self-titled album under Sony Records. The band’s third Boracay performance in the breeze of 2004 was well appreciated and applauded by keen, incessant listeners on the island, coming from different cultures, and different parts of the country. Thus, fueling them to pursue their music, their passion for the people and for the country. Now that 2008 is well underway, the Blue Jean Junkies are active on the scene again and have already played a whole series of gigs including major productions such as the Strawberry Woodstock Festival in Benguet and Fete Dela Musique where they played the rock stage opening for Greyhoundz. They’ve also been part of the bar scene playing bars like Bela Bar and Magnet High Street to being part of productions such as Kerplunks monthly Saguijo Nights.

Head founding member Nino Mendoza (on vocals, harmonica n’ guitar) is the only one who remained from the band’s original roster of members. Now joined by more committed members, Niko Dinglasan (on drums), Miggy Matute (on bass) Nathan Manansala (on guitars). With the trivial coming and going of band members, the now more cohesive members are going to continue pursuing their passion of spreading songs about everyday life through their music. Nino starts with the lyrics, melody and rhythm structures, then the other band members work on the growth of the song.

The direction of this line-up is to finish the second album, which is on-the-making as we speak. As compared to the first album, the process in materializing this second album is more democratic with more contribution from everyone in the band. Simple good time fun one can get out of Rock-and-Roll is the explicit image the band is reaching out and sharing to the people. Now, with such vivid members, with shared dreams and passion… the music, the journey, the name and the legacy of The Blue Jean Junkies continues.