BASSIST BUWI MENESES (3rd from left) is pictured here with a couple of Franco bandmates and premier lead guitarist Francis Brew Reyes (extreme right). (Photo by Nina Rosario Sandejas)

The iconic Parokya ni Edgar is known as one of the tightest units in the local rock scene, with all six members still intact through this day. Yet, a crack inside the household may have started leaking after bassist Buwi Meneses has quite surprisingly appeared as an official member of new band called Franco. More telling is his perception that Franco’s sound is more his kind of music.

In an exclusive interview with the Bulletin Entertainment, Buwi noted, “Masaya yung ginagawa ko for PNE (Parokya Ni Edgar), pero mas music ko ang Franco. I get the opportunity to move in a different level on my bass playing even more, playing without chord charts, memorization, tuning, picking and different measurements that drive my crave for learning crazy!”

Franco is MCA Music’s buzz-creating rock act which earned instant supergroup reputation since the members come from various established groups. Aside from Buwi, two members of Urbandub and a guitarist from Queso are also part of the band’s mighty personnel. Frontman Franco Reyes has his own colorful background, though his star-studded sidemen certainly made his group more attractive to the core.

The band launched last May its self-titled debut CD that released the rock hit “Castaway.” The song significantly leads a pack of aggressive all-originals like “This Gathering,” “Next Train Out,” and “Memory Kill.”

However, the PNE bass player expressed that he can look straight into anybody’s eyes and say that his affiliation with Franco is in no way signaling the end of his attachment to his “mother outfit.” In a tone of assurance (for PNE fans especially), he revealed, “My bandmates in PNE knew eversince how I wanted to experiment more when it comes to projects. They knew naman I have been trying to work out different outlets in music instead of ours without conflict of course. In fact, they were very excited and supportive.”

Both in sound and lyrics, PNE and Franco are at opposite poles. PNE is mostly Tagalog songs with strong pop hooks and comedic flavor, while Franco is an act with deeply poetic English tongue and bravely heavy sound. PNE is composed of seemingly ordinary folks born to joke around on stage, while Franco as expected is a gang of in-character rock artists.

If there’s one thing the groups share, it’s them being both under Backbeat Management of Richard Tan which should put Buwi in a more relaxed mood especially that he need not worry about dealing with the hectic schedules of his two bands.