Ever since the inception of music, the senses are and will be an essential part of any genre; sense of touch, hearing and sight. Wrong. There are many musicians, both locally and otherwise, that are physically handicapped but still realized their passion in music. Jose Feliciano, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Rick Allen (the one-armed drummer of Def Leppard), Ludwig Van Beethoven was deaf, Toni Iommi of Black Sabbath had lost the tip of his fingers in a freak accident, Fred Panopio is a Polio victim, Willy Garte is clinically blind and countless more to mention. Locally, a band with its lead guitarist and singer have sight impairment since he was 15 yeasr old.
Meet Riane Foronda of the band Blind Side. “I was born with a disease that leads to my blindness. When i was 5 years old, I lost my left eye, and then when I was 15 years old,I underwent a cataract surgery but it had complications with my inborn eye disease. I got a lot of eye surgeries afterwards. But eventually my right eye couldn’t take it anymore. That’s when my doctors told me that they did everything they could to save my remaining eye”, laments Riane. After that catastrophic episode in his life, Riane almost went into depression and could not do anything without his sight. Or so he thought. Riane, like a storyline out of a movie, refused to be hit with a cudgel of reality that he forever will be inane and useless, learn the rudiments of guitar-playing.
“I figured, many guitarist does not even look at their guitar while playing it, I assumed that, playing this instrument needs heart and feel, which I have plenty of. I learned the basics and philosophy of guitar-playing, and to top it off, my family enrolled me in School of Rock Music School”, continues Riane. As a student, he met fellow music enthusiast and form a band. “We are part of School of Rock House Band then our current music director and other instructors encouraged me to compose original songs and start a band. Then last Feb. 1, 2017 Blind Side was formed as a three-piece rock band”. The original line up consisted of Riane Foronda on guitar and vocals, Dani Dimaano on bass and Gel Lucañas on drums.
“Then came April of 2019 our original drummer had to leave the band. At first it was hard for us to adjust, but luckily we had a lot of drummer friends in the scene who we asked to session for us. In June 2019 Wakin Ramos the 10 -yo wonder boy drummer accepted our invite to become our permanent drummer. It works for us because we’ve known him for years in the School of Rock house band”, admits Riane. Matthew Dooma soon became part of the new lineup as a bassist. After the lineup change, they found themselves motivated to play even better than before and kept their pursuit in passion for music. “Last August 2019 on a whim, I suggested to my band mates that we should audition for the first ever VivaCon at World Trade Center. We weren’t really expecting anything that day we just wanted share our music to as many people as possible. But after we played our song they asked us to sign on the spot for a recording deal with Viva. We were really surprised and very grateful that they gave us a chance. We’ve already released our first song under Viva Records last Jan 17, 2020. Its title is ‘D’wata’ our own take at a hugot song with a twist and soon hopefully we’ll be making a music video for it”, boasts Riane. ‘Paraiso ng Kadiliman’ is another of their songs, that deals with harsh reality of drug addiction. Riane composed all of Blind Side’s music.
Whenever Blind Side performs, the audience doesn’t realize that Riane is clinically blind. They thought, he was just acting cool in wearing those shades on stage. “I would want to keep it that way, Pinoys have a tendency to look down on you when you are physically challenged or they would take pity on you. I would like to be treated as a normal being not withstanding my handicap. Music is my language to reach out to the masses”, admits Riane. Thus far, they have performed for Fete de la Musique’ 2019 Alternative Stage. Shared the stage with Kevin Roy , Typecast, Hilera, Datus Tribe, Agaw Agimat, Join the Club, The Youth, Philippine Violators, Loquy, Bita and the Botflies, Razorback with Ms. Kat Agarrado just to name a few.
What are they busy with nowadays? Matt is a freshman in UST taking up Legal Management. Wakin is a grade 5 student. Riane is learning Nipponggo.
