Lougee Basabas

Lougee Basabas

Maria Lourdes Grace Valdivia Basabas, who is better known as Lougee (pronounced "Lou-G") Basabas (born October 24, 1984 in Alabang, Muntinlupa, Philippines), is the current lead vocalist of the Filipino alternative rock band Mojofly, a position she has held since the second quarter of 2003.

Before becoming the new voice of Mojofly, Lougee was a member of Ryan Cayabyab's pop teen-group, Kaya, which released an album under BMG Records Pilipinas and one of her ex-groupmates was Pinoy Pop Superstar season 1 contestant Brenan Espartinez. Her first foray in the alternative band scene began when she had her very own indie band named Superlooj (which came from "Super Lougee") formed by Parokya ni Edgar frontman Chito Miranda. Eventually, she was referred by Mojofly veteran and guitarist Ricci Gurango to become the next Mojofly lead vocalist after Kitchie Nadal left the band to venture on a solo career.

Lougee redefined the sound of Mojofly with her powerful voice and witty songwritting. The band's presence was known again after numerous gigs and the release of their self-titled album — eventually, earning them to become the MTV Lokal Artist of the Month (March 2005). Their album, which was only available in their gigs, was finally released nationwide by EMI Philippines under the guidance of their manager Karin Araneta of the independent label luKas Music Philippines. As evident from the successes and praises of the release of MOJOFLY NOW (June 2005) and its special edition 2-CD package (August 2006), Lougee is no doubt posed to lead the new Mojofly to become one of the Philippines' premier band and eventually become one of the country’s greatest female artists.

Discovery

There are stories that aside from Superlooj, Lougee was also the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the band Chickie Bones with Mayo Suzuki and Julie Bautista. However, the existence of this band is still unknown. It is also not clear whether Chickie Bones came first before Superlooj or it was the latter that preceded the former.

There are also stories regarding who really referred Lougee to become Mojofly's lead vocalist. Aside from Ricci Gurango, some say it was Japs Sergio of Rivermaya whom she met in one of their Alabang-based Chickie Bones gigs; while some also say that it was Chito Miranda — the founder of Superlooj — who referred her personally to Mojofly's guitarist Ricci Gurango.

Songs Written Since Mojofly

MOJOFLY NOW:

• Bato
• Sa Uulitin^*
• Close to the End^*
• Mata^*
• Thank You
• Tumatakbo^*
• Minamalas^*
• Turn
• Choose^* (theme song of Creamsilk Pink Power)

^*music video available

Eat Bulaga

Lougee became a part of the longest noon time show in the Philippines, Eat Bulaga!. She started as a featured performer at one of EB's segment question category, TwinkyOke. Later on, she became as one of the noon-time host which boosted her popularity.

Trivia

• Lougee has been appearing in print ads and TV commercials since the age of 14. Some of her endorsements and appearances include Mitsubishi, Pepsi, Jollibee, Cream Silk, Penshoppe, Del Monte, SmartBro, Mobile Philippines Magazine (MPH), and Ayala Malls. Just recently, she posed for a fashion magazine — the January 2007 issue of Manual Magazine.
• She has also been writing songs during her early years; Tumatakbo — which won the Best Animated Video and Favorite Indie Video in the MTV Pilipinas Video Music Awards 2006 — along with Bato are some of the songs she wrote at the age of 14. Around 90% of the songwriting was done by her when she assumed the position of Mojofly's lead vocalist.
• Some of her musical influences are: Gwen Stefani (No Doubt frontwoman), Madonna, and the Beatles.
• She is currently majoring in Mass Communications at the Assumption College.
• She was nominated as Best Female Artist at the NU 107 Rock Awards 2005 and 2006.
• She appeared in the music video of Guji Lorenzana's I'll Be Yours Forever (Ivory Records) and in the music video of Future — a song performed by Urbandub and Dicta Licence for the MTV Staying Alive Music Summit 2006 — with other OPM bands and solo artists.
• She appeared in the tv game show K! The 1-Million Videoke Challenge twice (2006). She loses to tv/movie actress G Toengi in the final round during her first appearance, but became the champion in her second appearance months later, beating Stonefree's lead vocalist Miro Valera. She also appeared in GAME KNB? and made her way to the second round (atras-abante round) of the game show (2006).
• Lougee, and fellow Mojofly member Ali Alejandro (drums), co-hosted in the daily morning show Breakfast for one whole week (September 2006).
• Lougee is currently one of the hosts of the Philippines longest-running noontime show Eat Bulaga!.

References

All information written are taken from Mojofly's Official Websites and Mailing List (see external links).

Mojofly's Official Websites and Mailing List are moderated by Karin Araneta (Mojofly's manager).

External links

The following are Mojofly's official websites:

• Mojofly Archives
• mojofly.com.ph
• MOJOFLYNOW.com