MANILA, Philippines - With the local music industry in apparent recession, not a few are surprised that Sony Music signed up three commercially-unproven young bands to their roster of artists.

“It’s not as if we simply plucked them out of nowhere,” explained Sony’s Mark Bonifacio. “These guys have talent, they write great songs and that’s enough for us.”

The three bands—Eevee, Letter Day Story and Kiss Jane—had their respective debut albums, “Paramdam,” “Sama-sama,” and “Free,” launched via a Halloween Concert of sorts held at the Eastwood Complex in Taguig.

The sound isn’t exactly fresh, recalling successful bands of yore including The Eraserheads, Parokya ni Edgar, 6Cyclemind, and Color it Red among others.

But the three new acts more than make up for it through sheer enthusiasm and energy.

“We’re very much excited,” said Enzo Villegas, leader and main songwriter of Eeevee.

“We had been given a once in a lifetime chance, which we earned through hard work and yes, a dash of luck and we aim to make good with it.”

The 4-piece band from Davao City earned their ticket to fame via the “Nescafe 3 in 1 Soundskool,” band competition,which they won in 2009. They since relocated to Manila after winning. They already have a hit in "Gusto Ko Lang Ng Girlfriend," which peaked at #12 in the OPM MYX Countdown.

“We can’t predict the future but we sure want to grow bigger as musicians and record more albums,” Villegas said.

Sharing Eevee’s success story is Letter Day Story.

The band is also a graduate of the “Nescafe 3 in 1 Soundskool,” contest, actually winning the plum the year before Eevee.

“Okay lang,” said singer Dex Yu about releasing their debut only this year and together with Eevee.

“It was management decision. We could only be happy with the chance. Ang sa amin naman, it’s not about any given time frame. As long as we’re able to reach people with our music, okay na sa amin ‘yun.”

Letter Day Story has been together for nine years. They played in various underground venues prior to hitting it big via the contest.

“We’re used to waiting. Hindi naman kami nagmamadali. One thing though, we’re here for the long haul. Pangmatagalan kami,” Yu crowed.

The same question was answered with a bit of trepidation by, Jaq Dionisio, singer of Kiss Jane.

“I really don’t know,” she stammered before turning to band drummer, Shiela Rosete for help.

“Hindi natin madidiktahan ang industriya. Ang sa amin, we are musicians, we will play our music as long as we can,” Rosete explained.

Kiss Jane rose from the ashes of the short-lived Juana.Rosete admits Juana broke up due to differences in musicality.

“Hindi nagkasundo, nagkagulo,” said she, shrugging her shoulders.

“Ganun naman minsan eh. Pero hopefully mas solid ang samahan namin ngayon with Kiss Jane. So far, maayos naman kami, masaya. We collaborate on the music so, everybody’s happy.”

Bonifacio is quite bullish about the group’s chances.

“What do we look for in a band today? ‘Di ba fresh, new, excitng? Marami nagsasabi that they always see the same old faces, hear the same sound, so, here we are offering the best of the new. I believe these guys can deliver,” he said.