aaamusic | On 23, Oct 2011

Questioning the truth and attempting to imagine and re-write what’s been written are the notions encapsulated in Red Eye Fugu’s debut album Watchers. Seemingly infatuated by the roots of science fiction, Enzo Tiano’s electro-pop solo project is fueled with groovy beats and filtered dream-like sounds. The album is a brush fire of thought-provoking tales and the string of events that manifests into our strange reality. Each track provides a glimpse into the mind of a time traveler, a cult member, a truth seeker and a horror movie fanatic. These characters are inspired from fragments of philosophical, political and spiritual agendas hidden behind the curtains of mainstream mentality.

After immigrating to Los Angeles from the Philippines when he was fifteen, Tiano began to develop a sense of melodic urge to write and sing his own songs. Influenced by artists like John Lennon, David Bowie, and Thom Yorke, he manifested his songwriting into an imaginative, twilight-zone, party vibe and formed his first live band Paraventure. After putting aside music to pursue fashion design for a year, he joined the band Twin Falcons which, along with his solo material, marked his rebirth into the music scene. His debut solo EP, Suspicious Characters, was released under the moniker Poster Child on January 22, 2011.

His latest full-length album Watchers is set be released on September 10, 2011. Songs like “Prophecies (I Don’t Mind)” and “Floating Sea” highlight the never-ending belief in a poignant and dogmatic end-of-times scenario following the blueprint of a tenacious biblical endeavor. Tiano explains, “After hearing about Harold Camping’s failed prediction of the supposed end of times due date, I started getting ideas. I imagined being part of a cult who’s heavily devoted to a charismatic false prophet, believing that the world will end tomorrow. The lyrical venture is a split screen satire that focuses on what happens when they wake up the next day and still having to pay tax and mortgage”.

While the subject matter of Red Eye Fugu’s songs are fairly serious and vague in nature, there is still a playfulness and child-like wonder to his work, turning the vicious cynicism of an old hippie into a psybient electro pop wonder boy. His music fits well alongside The Flaming Lips, Toro Y Moi, Memory Tapes, and Washed Out, while still maintaining its own enigmatic mantra.