Wolfgang is a Filipino heavy metal/ heavy rock/grunge band. It was formed around 1992. Their songs were very popular to the listeners. The band were not just recognized here in the Philippines but also in the South East Asian region, Hong Kong, Japan, United States and Canada. They were composed of four members. Basti Artadi is the band’s vocalist, Mon Legaspi is the bassist, Wolf Gemora is with the drums and Manuel Legarda with the guitars.
Sebastian Artadi (Basti) and Leslie Gemora (Wolf) started in other bands. Manuel Legarda returned here from living abroad in Spain met the Basti & Wolf and was inspired by Razorback to create new band. The name Wolfgang was suggested by David Aguirre, one of the guitarist of Razorback. Their music were influenced by the likes of Metallica, Soundgarden, Carlos Santana, Pearl Jam, The Doors, Black Sabbath, Sepultura, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Aerosmith. They started playing at the former Atrium and the defunct Kalye in Makati City. Before the arrival of Mon, bass players came and went. Upon the arrival of Ramon Legaspi (Mon), the line-up of the band was finalized.
Their big break was when they were playing in Channel 29’s RJ Junior Jam. The band submitted two demos of original composition, Darkness Fell and Left Along to local stations DWRT 99.5 and DWLA 105.9. the band signed with Ivory Records and released their debut album Wolfgang in 1995. the album went to Platinum less than a year. The cover of the said album was designed by Basti Artadi.
In 1996, the band signed with a major label, Sony Music Entertainment Philippines. They released their second album Semenelin and reached double-platinum status selling approximately 80,000 albums. Wolfgang became one of the most popular band in the Philippines. The all-English version of Semenelin was released in the United States on March 1997.
Their third album entitled Wurm was released in late 1997. Its sales were lower compared to Semenelin. T reached only platinum status selling almost 40, 000 copies. In 1998, Wurm, which was recorded in all-English was released in the world’s second-largest market for recorded music, Japan. Wolfgang performed several show there to promote their album.
Serve In Silence is the band’s fourth album. It was released locally on March 1999. Its carrier single, “Atomica” was released with music video which was considered as one of the greatest Filipino rock music videos of all time. The live album entitled Soundcheck: The Live Recordings was released on February 2000. It featured Wolfgang and other three rock bands signed with Sony music Entertainment. On the late 2000, the live concert album Acoustica was released by Wolfgang. Several artist participated including David Aguirre of Razorback and the University of the Philipine Singing Ambassador. The album reached gold status.
On April 2001, a compilation of Wolfgang materials selected from its four albums including of the first Ivory Records album was released in Australia and Tower Records stores in the U.S.entitled Volume.
The fifth album of the band, Black Mantra is a double-CD which was released in August 2001. “No Falter” is the carrier single of the album which was included in the Philippine edition of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within soundtrack. Some of the certified hits of the album were “Bow Unto Thee”, “Idlip” and “Meckam”. It is their final album prior to their dissolution on 2002. Basti was saying that the band never did break up and circumstances simply led to band members going to different paths. But they never closed the door for any opportunity to work together again.
Various members of Wolfgang and Razorback had their reunion concert at the Music Museum on January 6 & 12, 2007. During the concert, the band played a new song and Basti commented to record a new album. Later, the new album was promoted at Yahoo! Philippines music portal. “Deathsquad”, the first single of the album hit the airwaves thru NU107 on April 16, 2007.
Albums
* Wolfgang
* Semenelin
* Wurm
* Serve In Silence
* Soundcheck: The Live Recordings
* Acoustica
* Volume
* Black Mantra
* Villains
* Alive
Awards
1995
* Vocalist of the Year- Bast Artadi, NU107 Rock Awards
* Drummer of the Year- Gemora, NU107 Rock Awards
* Guitarist of the Year- Legarda, NU107 Rock Awards
* Artist of the Year- Wolfgang, NU107 Rock Awards
* Best Live Act- Wolfgang, NU107 Rock Awards
1996
* Vocalist of the Year- Basti Artadi, NU107 Rock Awards
* Drummer of the Year- Wolf Gemora, NU107 Rock Awards
* Artist of the Year- Wolfgang, NU107 Rock Awards
* Best live Performer- Wolfgang, NU107 Rock Awards
1998
* Album of the Year- Wurm, NU107 Rock Awards
* Vocalist of the Year- Basti Artadi, NU107 Rock Awards
* Drummer of the Year- Wolf Gemora, NU107 Rock Awards
* Listener’s Choice- Wolfgang, NU107 Rock Awards
* Artist of the Year- Wolfgang, NU107 Rock Awards
1999
* Album of the Year- Serve In Silence, NU107 Rock Awards
* Best Album Packaging- Serve In Silence, NU107 Rock Awards
* Artist/Band of the Year- Wolfgang, NU107 Rock Awards
* Vocalist of the Year- Basti Artadi, NU107 Rock Awards
* Guitarist of the Year- Manuel Legarda, NU107 Rock Awards
* Bassist of the Year- Mon Legaspi, NU107 Rock Awards
* Drummer of the Year- Wolf Gemora, NU107 Rock Awards
* Producer of the Year- Wolfgang, NU107 Rock Awards
2000
* Vocalist of the Year- Basti Artadi, NU107 Rock Awards
* Drummer of the Year- Wolf Gemora, NU107 Rock Awards
* Bassist of the Year- Mon Legaspi, NU107 Rock Awards
* Guitarist of the Year- Manuel Legarda, NU107 Rock Awards
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