By RAMPADOR ALINDOG
Fifteen years into their journey, Android-18 is not slowing down. If anything, the pop-punk/pop-rock band appears to be getting more ambitious.
The group, Gela Quevedo on vocals, Niokz Arcega, Koy Quevedo and Mark Mendoza on guitars, Kevs Ortillo on bass, and Ian Moral on drums, has officially entered into a new partnership with UY Records and Entertainment (UYRE), which will now handle the band’s management.
The deal marks a new chapter for a band that has spent more than a decade steadily making its way through the Philippine independent music scene.
For Android-18, however, the move is not about starting over. It is about opening more doors.
“We are excited with this partnership because we believe this will open more doors for us as a band,” Koy said.
The management deal was organized by Abaa Entertainment Inc., an entertainment and production company founded in 2022 by Russel Ynares and Koy.
For a band that began in Rizal in 2011, the timing feels particularly apt. Android-18 is currently recording its third full-length album, giving the group plenty to look forward to as it moves into another creative phase.
And while the faces, hairstyles and probably the band photos have changed over the years, Ian said the one thing that has remained remarkably intact is their passion for music.
“If there’s anything that has changed is our passion for music. We are more passionate now and we aim to reach more people,” he said.
That may be the simplest way to describe Android-18’s 15-year run.
The band has built its following the old-fashioned way: by playing live, releasing music consistently and maintaining a connection with the people who kept showing up.
Along the way, they collected some serious milestones.
The band won the Muzikademy Championship in 2012 and represented the Greater Manila Area in Red Horse Muziklaban that same year. In 2015, it received the Best Live Act award at the Philippine Indie Rock Awards.
It has also toured extensively outside Metro Manila, eventually taking its music overseas with its first international performance in Taiwan in 2025.
Now, Thailand is next.
Android-18 is set to perform there this September under Yellow Room Music Philippines, alongside fellow Filipino rock act Mayonnaise.
Fifteen years after forming in Rizal, the band is still doing what it has always done, making music, playing shows and finding new people to listen.
Only now, it has a new team helping it get there.
