THIS YEAR’s Wanderland Music and Arts Festival will be a full day of art and music, with a lineup of international acts including Kodaline, Jhene, Aiko, FKJ, Daniel Caesar, Lauv, and Bag Riders, and local artists who are among the country’s best young musicians across different genres.

Wanderland 2018 will be held on March 10 at the Filinvest City Event Grounds in Alabang.

The local acts are:

Jess Connelly, an indie artist who got her start in 2015 by releasing music on SoundCloud, following this up in 2016 with her debut album How I Love, which put her on Spotify’s Artists to Watch for 2017. She became popular thanks to her soulful voice and R&B melodies, which stood out in songs like “Mine” and “Wait.” She has performed around the Philippines and Asia, opening for Macklemore and performing in the Wonderfruit Festival in Thailand.

Jose Villanueva III, popularly known as Quest, is a singer, rapper, and songwriter who’s known for having sung “Sige Lang,” the theme song of the basketball team Gilas Pilipinas in 2012. The song is part of the album Life of a Champion, which was awarded Album of the Year at the Awit Awards. In 2010, Quest also won Best Urban Music Video for “Back to Love” at the MYX Music Awards.

Then there is IV of Spades, known for its color-coordinated and 1970s-inspired look. The band formed in 2014 with members Zild Benitez, Badjao de Castro, Blaster Silonga, and Unique Salonga, and came to the public’s attention the following year thanks to Wanderband, a competition to find independent artists to perform at Wanderland. While it did not win, it went on to release the song “Hey Barbara” and play at the Scout Music Fest. The band is now known for its funky sound as much as its eye-catching style.

Ben&Ben is an indie folk band made up of twin brothers Paolo and Miguel Guico, who started out as started as The Benjamins (they wrote “Tinatangi” which was performed by legendary singers Bayang Barrios and Cooky Chua and was 2nd runner up at the PhilPop Music Festival in 2016) before being joined by Poch Baretto, Jam Villanueva, Agnes Reoma, Patricia Lasaten, Toni Muñoz, Andrew de Pano, and Keifer Cabugao and becoming Ben&Ben. Ben&Ben’s self-titled album was launched at a sold-out concert, with performances from Barrios and Chua, Bullet Dumas, Johnoy Danao, and Noel Cabangon, among others.

Describing itself as an “electronic soul project curated to share head bobbing tunes” is Asch, composed of Asch Catabona, Ben Ayes, Justin Ratilla, and Luke Abadiano. The band’s music is a blend of R&B, jazz, soul, and hip-hop. Known for songs like “IDK,” “Mobius,” and “Ashes to Ashes,” the band will soon launch its debut album Mobius.

Also performing are two Wanderland Wanderbattle winners: Basically Saturday Night and Carousel Casualties.

Basically Saturday Night is made up of Migie Garcia, Junoy Manalo, Faisal Tabusalla, Arvin Dale, and Jairus Paul, who brought a fan club that took over half the venue at the Wanderbattle. Their songs, “El Poder” and “Chemical Love,” are crowd favorites.

During the Wanderbattle finals, Carousel Casualties performed a medley of Khalid songs, getting the audience to sing along to “Location” and “Young, Dumb, and Broke.” The band is also known originals like “San Junipero,” “Safety,” and “Leona.”

For more information about the music festival, visit the Web site at go.globe.com.ph/Wanderland.html.

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