MISTULA : Revelations

Lights… camera… action.
Action.
Um, action.

Behind the scenes, it was all work and no play for the ragged, renegade Mistula crew. Again, much thanks for the patience, hard work, and faith of the following people and entities for the miracles they’ve made: Marco Estacio, Rainier Pengson, Gary Gardoce, Edith Esguerra, Jojo Tatlonghari Studios, Tadpole, Industria, and Derrick Periodico.

Mistula’s “Mulat” music video is now enjoying airplay on MTV Asia and MYX. The video was initially a world wide web-exclusive through the Black Rosary, the Official Mistula Fanclub. Click here for download instructions.

Black Rosary, managed by the mysterious Black Rose, now has more than 200 members. The flock still welcomes Mistula devotees. Please click on the photo above to join. If you are having trouble with the online form, please email the information the Black Rose requires to blackrosary@mistula.com.

Though fully endorsed and supported by Mistula, Black Rosary is autonomously run and based overseas.  Inquiries on the cultural background of the band and/or questions in the Filipino language may be directed to the webmessiah@mistula.com.

Thank you for being part of the flock.

MYSTERIES, the latest series of Mistula web updates, stays true to its name.

Initially announced to last until December of last year, related updates shall actually continue until the early months of the new year with yet more, still unannounced creative efforts lined up to be revealed by the band.

They’re being tightly-lipped about it all (they couldn’t help it, really).

Mistula:Mysteries started last October with a redesign of the Main Site, the launch of Black Rosary: the official Mistula Fanclub, and the world wide web premiere of their first ever music video, Mulat. Stay tuned to all Mistula-relevant sites for the Word on this ongoing series of updates.

From Uno’s online journal, Fully Articulated.

Funny how Lugosi appears more often on freebooter sites than he does on Mistula’s legal domains. He is the favorite target of web filchers, who run away with his pictures but completely ignore his biography (and our copyright warning). On their sites, they have falsely identified him as a vampire, J-rocker (oh the curses he will spill when he hears of this), bassist, lead guitarist or guy-and sometimes, girl-next-door. Some of these people have gone as far as claiming they are Lugosi, which is especially funny when it comes from someone who is obviously female. Take this site, for example. This is the ninth of the reported offenders to feature our elusive drummer without proper authorization from Mistula. The misinformed site owner also claimed Lugosi (now with a c) is a 17 year old bassist from the Underworld, born under the astrological sign of Virgo. Betcha even Joey didn’t know that.

Screen-captured from the fake Lugosi site. Click on the photo to view it in full.

Mistula has nothing against fansites. Fansites give the band free publicity and do wonders to our egos. If you want to build a Mistula fansite, please let us know so we can thank you properly and help you with the band profiles. (No, we don’t play J-rock music. No, we are not a worship band. No, Mistula is not a Latin word. And NO, Lugosi is not the guy sitting next to you in class.) If it’s the freebies you’re after, there is a lot to download from Mistula.com: Free MP3s, free wallpapers, free poetry and free articles from brilliant, young Filipino writers. If you must have the photos on this blog – which I don’t copy-protect because I believe humans are innately good – please drop me a note and believe me, I don’t have the heart to refuse a kind request.

The only sites you can trust to provide The Absolute Truth about Mistula and its members are the following:

MISTULA : The Official Band Site of Mistula
The band’s internet home, featuring everything you need to know about the world’s first and only Filipino virtual rock band.

Revelations : The Official Mistula Update Blog
Regularly updated by the Webmessiah, here’s where you’ll find up-to-date news on Mistula’s activities, releases and media appearances.

Black Rosary : The Official Fansite for Mistula
The Black Rose’s abode for the Mistula flock, now close to 200 strong. The site holds exclusive media that may only be accessed by Black Rosary members.

Figures of Worship : The Official Mistula Fanlisting
eL’s freshly updated site has the list of Mistula fans from all over the world. Please don’t leave it without one of her pretty codes!

Mistula at Rakista
Mistula’s forum in the Filipino rock community, Rakista.com. The forum is mostly frequented by avid Pinoy rock band followers, who like to post in disjointed Filipino or the Filipino-version of SMSlang.

Philmusic.com
The number one Philippine music website and the first to let the world know that Mistula exists.

Fully Articulated
Well, you trust me, I hope?

Veritas: NO ESC
Veritas’ Livejournal. CAUTION: She may not be true to her name at all times.

Tangled Web
A very special site, and I dare say, my second home. Owned by our friends Mae and Djinn, it shows a different, more private side of Mistula.

Haven
The personal site of Mistula’s UK import, Dragan and our dear friend, Sam. A must-visit if you want to see Dragan lounging around in floral shorts.

These are the only fully-endorsed sites with first-hand and true Mistula content. The “Mistula” sites which are not on this list will probably tell you that Bella Lugosi is a vampire with big boobs who plays the ukulele. These sites are wrong. Surf no evil.

Please do not hesitate to report websites that misuse Mistula’s photos and post absurd information about the band. Help us right the wrong.

For this latest series of updates, Mistula rhythm guitarist Dragan, the band’s official UK import, wields an axe model close to his European heart.

Naming it “the British Embassy” (all Mistula guitars are named after important places), the design is inspired by the ESP Signature guitar model of Alexi Laiho, guitarist and vocalist of Finland’s own, Children of Bodom.

Mang Dading, guitar craftsman extraordinaire of legendary Philippine guitar manufacturer Lumanog guitars, painstakingly handcrafted every bit of detail in his very own workshop, where both Manx’s “Cebu” and Uno’s “Cutud” were also born. As a final touch, he baptized the six-string by etching and handpainting the ever-important Mistula logo on the headstock.

To know more about Mistula’s Custom guitars and bass, CLICK HERE.