The name of the band is one of the best ones – Sinosikat? You can interpret that in two ways: literally who is “Kat” or “who is popular”?
You can add a third. It is one of the iterations of singer Kat Agarrado.
Agarrado is back as Sinosikat?
Soulful her vocals may be, she is quick to adapt. Like her feline namesake, she is quick on her feet or vocal stylings whether it be the neo soul of Sinosikat?, the barreling rock and roll of Razorback, the rhymes of Stickfiggas, or her popish solo work.
“Siguro… panahon na para ibalik ang Sinosikat?” she pronounced.
When asked if the old band is back, Agarrado thought for a moment and said, “Ako lang naman ang constant member ng band."
True enough, the band’s 2007 self-titled debut was just her on vocals, Nick Azarcon on guitar, and Reli de Vera on drums, while other session musicians joined in.
The sophomore outing, "2nd Album," released two years later saw the band add Philippe Arriola and David Starck.
Fifteen years later, it’s just Agarrado, and she is about to drop her new single, “Heart Calling.”
Prior to the lockdown, she was performing with her blues band Kat Magic Express where they gave a fantastic account of themselves in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee in 2013. She recorded and toured with hip-hop supergroup Stickfiggas and was part of their incredible sophomore album, "Realistick." Agarrado provided another dimension to the rapid fire raps of Ron Henley and Loonie who also enlisted members from the rock community creating a different synergy.
The lockdown due to the COVID-19 virus saw the band go on a temporary hiatus. However, very recently, Loonie dropped a solo album. It doesn’t mean that the band is over.
"We will get back when the time is right,” promised Agarrado. “Timing is everything.”
However, the lockdown and the initial uncertainty caused by the virus forced Agarrado to keep to herself and her family.
“It (the lockdown) changed my perspective of life. It was a big lesson to us all about spending time with your family and readjusting our priorities.”
One such effect was Agarrado mulling over retirement.
“I was close to it,” she admitted. “So I prayed for a sign.”
True enough, her prayers were answered from a guitar on its rack inside her home studio suddenly making a sound, people calling her and reminiscing about the funk and soul scene from the early 2000s, and others.
“Bumubukas 'yung langit sa signs and so, I guess ituloy na after all the anxiety and confusion – go!”
On the new songs, Agarrado is working with a different set of musicians.
“Gusto ko makatrabaho sila Francis de Veyra. Gusto ko rin makasama sila Ian Umali and Mally Paraguya from P.O.T. We will see who will be the members during the launch (later this 2024).”
For now, it’s releasing a few singles beginning with “Heart Calling” that reflects her dilemma on her music career during the lockdown.
The new single will be launched this February 23 – “still in the heart month so it’s perfect,” enthused Agarrado.
So 15 years after their second album, Sinosikat? is back.
Truthfully, it could have been Kat Agarrado with Stickfiggas, Razorback (as a guest singer), or her solo career.
We are just glad that she is back with a lot to give to Filipino music.