Audie Avenido: Guitar Hero of Greyhoundz

Photo Credit: Llammado Magasin

     

           I met Audie Avenido because he is a friend of my boss and officemates. In our office, we call him brother Audie. When we had outing he was there also and jammed with us. Like the typical rocker image, he has long hair with tattoos on his body. He may look wild or aggressive but this guy is really cool. Despite the popularity of his band in the Pinoy rock scene, he is still simple and humble. This attitude makes it easy to get in touch with him. During an outing, we sang to videoke and I was surprised because he knew how to sing ballads. Who said that a rocker does not have a soft side? 

                Once, he invited me to their house because we will attend a business seminar. But before we went, he practiced playing guitar because they have a gig after the seminar. He had a band studio inside their house. He said that Greyhoundz do not practice as a group before they perform, that is why they are practicing individually. This is the first time that I heard a set up of a band like this, contrary to the belief that practice makes perfect.  But they were bandmates since late 90’s; they are already familiar with the tempo or beat of each other. This is what makes Greyhoundz different from other bands.

                While practicing alone, he also creates a new guitar sound for their new song. As a guitarist he is the song arranger while Reg Rubio, their vocalist, is the lyricist in their group. According to Audie, his idol is the late Dimebag Darryl of Pantera. But because of the talent of Audie in playing guitar we could consider him as the local version of his idol. Why not? He is only a simple person but every time he performs on stage he becomes a monster…a guitar monster! But for Audie, there are many guitarists who are better than him. He said, what makes him special or even better is the collaboration with his band. 

                When the seminar was finished we went to Kasanami Club in Makati, former RJ Bistro. From there, I witnessed the amazing performance of Greyhoundz. Their stage presence was really strong. For so many years Audie, Nino Avenido, TJ Brillantes and Reg still rocks the crowd. Their style which is rap metal is still kicking and you will see it from the reaction of the audience. They were the stars of the night. They performed next to Paolo Valenciano of Salamin band and a son of Gary Valenciano. Like Audie the other members of Greyhoundz were not snobbish because they entertained everyone, even fans asking for autograph or photo opportunity with them.

Just talk about music and cockfighting, Audie’s favorite pastimes, I’m sure that you will get his interest in an instance. Offer him also a bottle of beer but it better if it is Red Horse because they are endorsing that brand. He loves to drink beer especially if they have a gig.

Me with Audie during their gig at Cubao Expo