August 02, 2008

JabbaWockeeZ: Grooving With Masked Men

By Katie C

Catch a JabbaWockeeZ performance and chances are you'll have to pick up your jaw and wonder if their feet are even touching the ground. Couple that with slick joint-defying movement and that's precisely the reason these eight guys grooved their way through to pick up the crown at Randy Jackson's reality dance competition America's Best Dance Crew earlier this year. Did we mention that they didn't even show their faces on stage?

MTV Asia caught up with Ben "B-tek" Chung, Chris "Cristyles" Gatdula, Kevin "Keibee" Brewer, Joe "Emajoenation" Larot, Phil "Swaggerboy" Tayag, Rynan "Kid Rainen" Paguio and Jeff "Phi" Nguyen who were down at Genting Highlands, Malaysia for the 2008 MTV Asia Awards. Amidst a laughter-filled session, we discover that tongue twisting nicknames, a penchant for the Macarena and mysterious masks aside; the crew are just a bunch of fun-loving guys.

What's with the name JabbaWockeeZ? Are you guys like big Star Wars and Jabba the Hut fans?

JabbaWockeeZ: We are big Star Wars fans but the name has nothing to do with it. We got the name - it's actually Jabberwocky, from a poem by Lewis Carrol who did Alice In Wonderland. Basically, the poem is about this dragon who roams Tulgey Woods and is very mysterious. That's kind of what we want to portray as JabbaWockeeZ. We come in, do the show, kill on stage and leave without people knowing who we are. We're a figment of your imagination.

Now that we're seeing you in person, we just have to ask this. What's with the masks guys? You're not that bad looking!

JabbaWockeeZ: (All of them laugh loudly) Thank you, thank you very much. Glad we're not in front of the camera right now, we're blushing! We wear the masks so the audience can see us as a whole and don't watch one individual person. They would have to watch everything. With the masks and gloves, it strips our color and our age so that way we can cater to all kinds of demographics from little kids to old people to rock 'n' roll heads to hip hop heads. Anybody that is interested in sound and movement.

You guys obviously got your big break winning America's Best Dance Crew . Are reality TV competitions the best way for dance groups to use as a career-launching platform?

JabbaWockeeZ: Not necessarily but in this particular case it worked for us. We don't want to say that you've got to do a reality show to blow up as a dance crew. For us, it was just the right time for it to happen. We've been dancing for a long time. It could've been a game show or whatever. In total, each person here has been dancing for about 10 years. As a group itself we started in 2003 and since then we've been riding and hustling. We're still hustling now, just on a bigger scale (laughs).

How much has your life changed since winning? Have you had that star moment when you just knew you've finally made it?

JabbaWockeeZ: I think when they announced JabbaWockeeZ as the victor for the show, that was the dopest thing. We were like wow, we've really done something major here.

Do you guys get recognized now? All those screaming fans...

JabbaWockeeZ: Yeah, all the time. Except for in Malaysia, it's weird (everyone nods in agreement).

Maybe that's because we've only seen you with your masks on.

JabbaWockeeZ: That could be it.

Most of your team are Asian. Are Asian performers finally getting their due recognition in the West?

JabbaWockeeZ: Pretty much. Honestly, there're a lot of Filipinos, Koreans, Japanese and now, Vietnamese (looks and points to Phi). It's not just JabbaWockeeZ, it's dancers around the world. People from the U.S. are starting to know about B-Boys in Korea and Japan. Also in season one (of America's Best Dance Crew), you saw just a few Asians and in season two, there's a whole lot more Asians contending. It's definitely becoming something. Showing that Asian people can dance too. We're all Jabbanese (laughs)!

And those moves, my god. I think you guys have got magical shoes. But seriously, how do you get the inspiration for the moves that you throw on stage?

JabbaWockeeZ: Everyday life. It could be nature, the trials and tribulations of life and what we've gone through as human beings. Even cartoons. We are big kids who sit down and watch cartoons. Some of those movements in cartoons, we go whoa... and try to incorporate that in. The pioneers of hip hop too. People who paved the way for us like Media Circus, Rock Steady Crew, New York City Breakers and even people from Germany such as the Battle Squad. Oh, and having magical shoes helps too!

Does being termed as the future of dancing and a phenomenon ever freak you out? Do you feel that you constantly have to perform at these high expectations?

JabbaWockeeZ: It's a scary thing to be the face of dance right now. That's a lot of weight and we've definitely got to represent correctly because people looking at us. Hopefully we can inspire the whole world. At the same time for us being who we are, if we stay true to ourselves it takes the weight off a little bit. Though the bar is set high and all these expectations, we can just zoom out, continue to humble ourselves and remember that this thing that we've created is from our heart and the blood that pumps through our veins. If we just remember that, then we will be alright.

Come on, let us in on a little dirt on each of the guys.

JabbaWockeeZ: Dirt? We've already showered (laughs). There are so many people who say so many things about us right now that we just don't want to contribute to it.

We've got enough dirt that we need to clean up in the first place.

Fair enough. Since you're the dance masters, what's a dance fad like the Macarena that should never ever make its way back to the dance floor?

JabbaWockeeZ: We actually love the Macarena. Every dance to us is cool because we're such random people. If you've ever seen our shows, we don't just do hip hop type movements. We appreciate movement in general. So we do appreciate stuff like the Funky Chicken, Macarena, Ocho (Ed note: a type of Filipino dance) and we even love Bollywood dancing. We will incorporate all of them in because the people who see and appreciate our shows are not just those who like hip hop but also those who do ballet and modern dancing. We're not bounded by one way, we don't just think in one way. We're very open to things like surround sound.

If you had to bust a move to charm the ladies, what would you do?

JabbaWockeeZ: The pelvic thrust and the crotch grabber. That always works in getting the ladies' attention. That's the ultimate ice-breaker and always works in getting the ladies' attention. She may not be even watching but you just have to do the move and she'll feel it. Maybe add some salsa moves too.

Any pre-performance rituals?

JabbaWockeeZ: Yeah we do. We may have different religions but we still just come together and pray. We pay respect and speak to our boy G who passed away last year. Rest in peace G. We always invite him to dance with us and he's always there with us so that's part of our ritual. He's the fallen seventh JabbaWockeeZ member. He's right here actually. Do you have a question for him? (laughs) Don't start freaking out. We also have something whenever we're tired or getting ready for the show and if someone says G-Force, you have to get up and do it. You can't complain. G-Force is basically dedicated to our man Gary Kendall.

Finish this sentence. JabbaWockeeZ dance because...

JabbaWockeeZ: It is our passion, it is the thing that completes us (sings). Why do we dance? It's like why do you breathe? We don't want to get all deep but that's the same thing. It's not a chore that we do because we have to do it. It's something that we want to do. People always say that man, you're always dancing, when do you guys ever stop? And the reply is always, I don't know, we never stop. When my heart stops that's when I'll stop dancing.

Wow, that was deep. So anyways, I heard you guys singing in the hallway. Is that a direction you would be moving in? Releasing an album anytime soon?

JabbaWockeeZ: Yeah, we're a boy band group (laughs) and we're going to be called The Boy Band Group or Ramen Noodles.

One final question. Where can I get my hands on JabbaWockeeZ gear in this part of the world?

JabbaWockeeZ: (Chorus together) www.jabbawockeez.com. But definitely be on the lookout because we're coming out with our clothing line JBWKZ and we've got a show dropping too at Jabbatv.com.