1621 BC celebrates 1st year with ‘first-ever fan girls’
In its first year in the music scene, the rookie boy band 1621 BC has already managed to attract a decent-sized following. But of all the excited supporters who trooped to the six members’ recent anniversary show, no one cheered louder—and cried harder—than their first and biggest fans: their mothers.
Toward the end of the program, held at the Viva Cafe, the moms got up onstage with bouquets of flowers that matched their respective son’s designated color: red for JM, yellow for Win, green for JC, pink for Migz, blue for Pan, and orange for DJ.
What started out as a lighthearted affair turned emotional. The moms couldn’t be prouder of their kids, and seeing them all spiffed up, singing, dancing, and working the crowd with confidence, inevitably moved them to tears.
First, it was Win’s mom, Marie Tarriela. “This is what you’ve been dreaming of since you were young … you know that!” she told her son, before pelting him with kisses on the forehead. “I’m just here to support you.”
It didn’t take long for the crying bug to spread to other moms: Reivy Cadacio (JM’s), Glenda Aguaviva (Migz’s), Bheng Ledesma (JC’s), Rowena Tagubar (Pan’s), and Jean Antoniette Villaver (DJ’s).
Tagubar flew all the way from Cebu just to be with her son, Pan, on this special day. She intended to keep her arrival a surprise, hoping, half in jest, that that her presence would make Pan shed happy tears.
They both did. “I love you, dong! I love you very, very much!” she said, tugging at Pan’s arms, before full-on sobbing on his shoulders.
Big dream
Tagubar profusely thanked 1621 BC’s fans, fittingly called “Guardians,” who continue to support and watch over Pan as he chases his big dream in the big city, away from his family.
“It’s hard for him because he’s alone here. Pero nagpakatatag s’ya,” the mom said. “To everyone who loves him, thank you. Even if I’m far away, you’re here for him.”
But just as everyone was beginning to get all choked up, the mom couldn’t resist poking fun of Pan. “Huwag ka muna mang-chicks, ah?” she said, prompting his son to bury his face in his hands, like a teenager getting embarrassed in front of his friends.
DJ described his mom, Villaver, as “nonchalant.” She wasn’t. At least not at that moment. “This is something we used to just dream of. Now it’s real,” she said.
JM, on the other hand, hasn’t talked to his parents—now separated and with respective new families—in the past seven years. But in their absence, it was JM’s senior high school adviser, Cadacio, and her family, he said, who stepped up.
“She was one of the people who supported me when I was joining pageants. Because others discourage me, saying I can’t do it,” JM, a scholar at the University of the East, related. “I’m so thankful … As time passed, I grew closer to her and her family. Now, they help me get through college.”
Backstage, the members affirmed that their moms are, indeed, their first-ever fan girls.
“We all share similar stories when it comes to our moms. They were there from the very start. They were with us during auditions. They were our makeup artists, stylists, managers, and, most important of all, our biggest supporters,” Pan told Super backstage after the show, which also featured production numbers with rap icon Gloc-9 and R&B singer Jeremy Glinoga.
“We’re a product of countless rejections. But after each one, our moms were there,” JC added.
While one year doesn’t seem much, it’s still definitely achievement, especially in the world of P-pop where groups can disband as quickly as they sprout up. The group has put out a solid discography so far, which features youthfully exuberant bops and pop-R&B jams that lend well to singalongs (“TOFU: Think of You,” “Ikaw at Ikaw,” “Crush, Crush,” “Laruan”).
But moving forward, they would love to work on and put out songs they wrote themselves.
“That’s our goal. So that our message comes across more sincerely,” JM said. “We just have to go all out in every project, every performance we do. Because you never know when new opportunities will come.”
