Parokya ni Edgar frontman tries hand at business

CHITO Miranda has been instrumental in making 12 Monkeys a popular hangout in Makati.

Parokya ni Edgar frontman Chito Miranda knows the local music industry like the back of his hand.

Over the close to 20 years that Parokya ni Edgar has been lording it over the band scene, Miranda has become an undeniable expert in writing original Filipino music and performing in front of a huge audience.

Investing and helping run the 12 Monkeys Music Hall & Pub at Century City Mall in Makati City was thus an entirely different proposition. But for Miranda, it was a prospect too exciting to pass up.

The 38-year-old Miranda is part of a group of friends and acquaintances who pooled their resources last year to set up 12 Monkeys, as they hope to make it the best entertainment place in the city, where both new and established artists can perform in carefully designed and executed surroundings—one that is pleasing to both the artists and the paying audience.

PINOY rock legends Pepe Smith (left) and Wally Gonzalez (right) and bassist Louie Talan are just some of the top artists that have performed at 12 Monkeys

In the close to six months since it opened in May this year, 12 Monkeys—so-called because of the initial 12 incorporators—is on its way to achieving its goal, with the entertainment venue becoming one of the artists’ and bands’ favorite places to perform in, since they know they will be taken care of and that an appreciative audience will be on hand to enjoy their music.

12 Monkeys was the chosen venue for such high profile events this year as the launch of Pupil’s “Out of Control” music video, launch of the new album of Kjwan and the 24th anniversary of Razorback.

Local bands are lining up for a shot at performing in 12 Monkeys. This can be attributed in part to Miranda’s extensive connections in the music scene, which he harnesses for the good of the fledgling enterprise.

Miranda stresses that, actually, helping run the business is not as easy as it looks.

“You need to hold it with both hands. You can’t have Parokya ni Edgar on one hand and then work on 12 Monkeys with the other. You have to sacrifice something,” says Miranda.

He considers 12 Monkeys his most serious venture into entrepreneurship although he is no stranger to the concepts of profit and loss, having taken up units at the College of Business Administration of the University of the Philippines. He also invested previously in much smaller ventures    such as a T-shirt business.

Miranda’s primarily role is to schedule the entertainment lineup of 12 Monkeys, which means personally calling up managers, bands and soloists to confirm the time and date of their sessions.

It helps that Miranda is in the entertainment industry himself as he is at least acquainted with the artists who perform at 12 Monkeys, making it easier for him to schedule gigs and choose artists to suit the tastes of the different patrons of 12 Monkeys, which generally appeals to the high-end market given that it is in the Makati central business district.

There are days set aside for independent musicians or those not signed up by a recording company, like jazz-inspired Jireh Calo.

12 Monkeys also has space for funk and soul acts like Sinosikat? and a range of long established names such as Side A, True Faith, Wolfgang, Razorback and yes, even Parokya ni Edgar.

“I am familiar with the bands so I know their market and also what their demands are, including those that my other partners who are purely on the business side are not familiar with. I am more like the mediator between the business people and the artists,” says Miranda.

By doing so, he was able to widen his network as he got a chance at 12 Monkeys to work with a whole new set of managers, bands and artists that he did not deal with before as part of Parokya ni Edgar.

Working with partners from the corporate world likewise opened his eyes to the finer details of getting a major venture like 12 Monkeys off the ground.

He became more conscious of what goes into the balance sheet and the income statement, and the attention to details required in preparing the food and drinks and maintaining the elegant surroundings.

He learned to his surprise, for example, that even the way the tables and chairs are arranged has an impact on sales, that costing food and drinks is a science and not left to chance.

Disagreements and sometimes heated discussions have been part of the journey, but the disputes were resolved amicably and quickly as all are driven by the same ambition to make 12 Monkeys last in an industry that has forced the closure of establishments not long after they opened.

“Working with 12 individuals who excel in their individual fields is not easy. We butt heads. But I have had good training in Parokya ni Edgar because we are also individuals with different expertise who have to work together,” says Miranda, who is scheduled to go back to the recording studio for the 14th album of Parokya ni Edgar that will be released in 2015.

After six months of operation, Miranda says 12 Monkeys is beginning to run like a well-oiled machine, with the entertainment and business sides working in concert to turn it into the bar and restaurant of choice among artists and discriminating patrons.