While the issue of race has always been raised in countless competitions and that there may have been some truth to it in a few instances, it is certainly a non-issue in what is ironically the most politicized part of the world. In Washington, DC, a hard-rocking all-Filipino quartet called The Speaks has been blowing away the competition—hundreds of them, in fact—in one major battle of the bands contest after another. Thanks to a stadium concert sound punctuated by intricate guitars and raspy, growling baritone vocals and characterized by a strong sense of melody, The Speaks have been largely compared with the likes of Pearl Jam, Velvet Revolver, Stone Temple Pilots, Creed, Lifehouse and, okay, even The Calling.

Formed in the late ‘90s with Rafael "Raf" Toledo on vocals, Archie Dela Cruz and Siegfred Fuster on guitars, Jerry Delino on bass and Johnny Abelende on drums, The Speaks quickly established a steady following in the DC area just right after the release of their first independent CD called Old Man. In no time, the band has emerged victorious in such prestigious local competitions like the the 2003 JAXX World’s Largest Battle of the Bands, the 2003 DC Hard Rock Café/ SoBe Ultimate Altitude Buzz Battle of the Bands and, most recently, 2004 DC101 Last Band Standing.

Even with all that encouraging success, these guys have maintained day jobs (and pretty nice day jobs at that, mind you) that they’re not quite ready to quit just yet although they’re really dying to. His visible tattoos kind of belies it, but Raf is actually a business manager for commercial aircraft giant Boeing. You certainly can’t tell from the long Jesus Christ locks he often hides his face that Archie works as a transaction researcher in a bank, Brad Pitt-wannabe Johnny is actually a certified auto-technician for a major car dealer while the somewhat menacing goatees of Jerry and Sieg will certainly not give the impression that they’re a security technician and a multimedia developer, respectively.

Last year, The Speaks hit the jackpot when they signed a distribution slash production slash publishing deal with Warner Music Group Philippines which led to the release of a localized version of their latest CD, Life’s A Joke, an album that has so far yielded two hit singles in the title track and a power ballad called "High" that is currently enjoying heavy airplay on radio—which also explains why they’re in town for a promo tour.

So what’s the deal with the name The Speaks? Raf says they were, in fact, originally called by another name. "There are sort of two stories behind our name," he recalls. "We were originally called the Speak Easies because Speak Easy was the name of a bar where people used to have fun and get drunk during prohibition. We eventually became The Speaks because of the general perception of Asians in general and Filipinos in particular that they are submissive and shy. We want to, well, speak out and change that perception. And that’s what we’re trying to do with our music."

All of them understand that this is still a business and while the girl-friendly mush of "High" is quite a far cry from the band’s amp-busting heavy sound, they chorus "You’ve got to hold your head up high" still represents what The Speaks is trying to tell the rest of the world: "We’re Asians, we’re Filipinos and we’re so damn proud of it."

The band is also aware that a huge hit like "High" opens more doors for them and allows people to discover what they’re really all about—a formidable live act that can rock with the very best of them. "We’re not trying to be a one-hit wonder," declares the outspoken Johnny. "Hopefully after listening to ‘High’ people will also find time to listen to the other tracks and find out that they’re all good songs."

"I’m sure many of you guys here will be in for quite a shock when you watch our show," Raf says. "Our live shows are like sabong or a cockfight, you got feathers flying all over. It’s very spontaneous and certainly not choreographed. We want our audience to feel our music and when we rock, we really rock hard but when we slow down, we really slow down. We give our audience what they want but we also want to give them a good show, something they can truly remember."

With anthemic rockers like "Solitary" (the opening strains of which easily recalls Pearl Jam’s "Evenflow"), "She Said…" and a truly bizarre cover of New Order’s "Bizarre Love Triangle" that ought to be renamed as "Bizarre Rock Triangle," it’s gonna be awfully hard for anyone to easily forget them. One rocker that’s particularly special to the band is "Life’s A Joke," the title track of their album and pretty much the mantra of The Speaks.

"’Life’s a Joke’ alludes to the fact that we all have day jobs that we’re stuck with when all we really want to do is just play our music," Raf says. "So the whole thing is kind of one big joke for us."

At the pretty impressive pace their "alternate" career is going, it looks like "the joke" is no longer on The Speaks. In fact, it sounds like they’re more than ready to get their pink slips and get the last laugh on their soon-to-be "erstwhile" double life.