Rounding up the most musically talented individuals he knew, bassist Aeon Vue (12) gathered vocalist Romrich Brian Esparagoza (11), drummer and singer Roman Andre Oliver (11), and guitarist Kelan Javien (11) together. Then, he popped the question: “Do you guys want to start a band?”

“Last year, PCN [Philippine Culture Night] was coming up and one of the seniors at the time came up to me and had the idea of [me] starting a band,” Vue said.

And thus, RakaMB — “Raka” being an acronym made up of the members’ names and “MB” standing for “Manila Boys,” — was created.

Just like a professional band, they had promotion posts, practice session videos, and most importantly, photoshoots with a fancy car. They even had fans, though the band just prefers to call them “supporters.”

One of those supporters is Tiffany Luu (11), someone who, in addition to having already been friends with RakaMB prior to its formation, proudly labels herself as “a day one fan.”

“I already knew that [Esparagoza] could sing, but hearing him in person?” Luu said. “I was in awe because he was really good.  Everyone’s really skilled. With [Javien’s] guitar, [Oliver’s] drums, and [Vue’s] bass, each part went really well with each other.”

After their debut at last year’s PCN was “a major success,” according to an Instagram post the group made following their performance,  RakaMB planned on performing again at this year’s PCN: something that Esparagoza described as “an unconscious decision.”

“We’d already planned to go back when we first performed,” Esparagoza said. “[We wanted] to [make] it tradition.”

Given that the band only plays together to prepare for and perform at PCNs, being in RakaMB gives the members a reason to come together.

“We only practice at school because that’s the only time when everyone’s in the same place,” Vue said.

According to Javien, if given the opportunity, RakaMB would want to continue playing with one another, even outside of preparing for PCN.

“It’d be fun if we could keep this up and get everyone together to just play a song just for us and for whoever follows us on Instagram just to keep us out there not as big celebrities, but just to say we participated in this band and we’re still together,” Javien said. “And it’s fun doing it.”

At the beginning of the school year, the group added two new members, guitarist Maile Markley (11) and keyboardist Kyla Ho (11). This change called for a rebrand. Therefore, RakaMB switched its name to RakaMK, the “MK” now standing for “Maile” and “Kyla” instead of “Manila Boys.”

“I had heard of Raka and their performance because a lot of my friends participated in PCN last year,” Markley said. “I’ve been playing guitar and bass and have always thought being in a band would be a fun opportunity. Since I knew some of the members, I reached out to [Esparagoza] over summer, asking if I could help the band out.”

Ho, on the other hand, was hunted down by Raka.

“[Esparagoza] called me during lunch and was like ‘Do you wanna join Raka? Come here,’” Ho said.

According to Esparagoza, incorporating Markley and Ho into the band took no adjustments.

“Honestly, it [felt] natural because we all knew each other beforehand,” Esparagoza said. “There weren’t any complications.”

This year, the group decided to play a set of three songs: “Nangangamba” by Zack Tabudlo, a popular Filipino artist, “Tennessee Whiskey,” by Chris Stapleton, and “Lemonade,” by Jeremy Passion, a Filipino-American classic.

RakaMK only had three real weeks of practice with every member there due to conflicting schedules. Adding to the stress, the group struggled with aligning their musical timings with one another.

“When we first practiced ‘Nangangamba,’ it was always that first part, the first verse that we couldn’t get the timing fully correct,” Oliver said. “That was the biggest worry [for the performance]. We had to have belief in ourselves to figure out the timing right before we started performing.”

On the day of the performance, they were wracked with nerves. According to Esparagoza, however, every time they perform, that anxiety always fades away once they start playing.

“Leading up to the performance, you’re obviously really anxious because you don’t want to mess up in front of anyone,” Esparagoza said. “You lose all your confidence, especially when you’re on that stage behind the curtains and you can’t see anyone. But when the curtains part, at least for me, I feel like all my doubts just go away.”

Oliver said that RakaMK was able to play through their song “Nagangamba” as planned. During “Tennessee Whiskey,” though, something unexpected happened.

“During the song, I started to look out and there’s just everybody in the audience waving flashlights, waving them side to side, and I’m like ‘oh my goodness, I can’t believe this is actually happening,’” Oliver said. “[It] was kind of awesome. I’m assuming the crowd loved it, so that was good.”

While playing through “Lemonade,” the band was hit yet again with another surprise. This time, the audience started clapping.

“During ‘Lemonade,’ near the end, the whole crowd was clapping at the last chorus and I was like ‘I didn’t know we were gonna do that,’” Oliver said. “The clapping was great. Overall, our performance was very good, and I’m very proud of all of us.”

For Oliver, this performance felt surreal.

“PCN really made me remember how fun life is and how fun performing is in front of people,” Oliver said. “Immediately after [performing], my mind was like ‘I want to do it again.’ All the nerves beforehand were there, but afterward, you want to go through those emotions again because it really shows the progression [of the band]. It shows how fun it was.”

RakaMK allowed Javien to find a passion for his instrument.

“I had a guitar for over a year but practiced sporadically and never really had motivation until Raka formed,” Javien said. “Being with my friends and having a goal [of performing well] made it fun for me. Ever since Raka started up again for this year’s PCN, I felt motivated to do this not only for my bandmates or an audience but for myself as well.”

Even though RakaMK was formed simply for PCN, the group wants to continue playing with one another even outside of PCN performances. For Esparagoza, the strong connections he’s built with his friends by practicing and performing together is one of the most important aspects of RakaMK.

“I want to stay in touch with them because you know in high school, we’re all gonna go our separate ways and I feel like that band is our one connection that we have, that keeps us coming to each other,” Esparagoza said. “It’s also just fun. It’s fun to play in a band. It feels more raw than singing to a karaoke song. When we’re all in our groove, that’s the best feeling ever.”